Do you know that my grandfather was entitled to be enshrined in the Imperial Ancestral Temple?

Chapter 18 Heading to Bianjing

"I was overthinking it."

How could Wang Youcai possibly guess how old he was or what the emperor was thinking?

Although he was a little uneasy, since the Ministry of Justice had agreed to his decision, there shouldn't be any problems.

Wang Min shook his head and ordered someone to summon all the officials of Shouzhou, both high and low, to review the Ministry of Justice's approval.

After some discussion, they decided to officially post the announcement the next day to bring this matter to a satisfactory conclusion.

Wang Min returned home after dark.

During the meal, Wang Min told Wang You that the Ministry of Rites had approved the list of candidates selected for the prodigy examination and the specific time.

"On the fifth day of the eighth lunar month, the Imperial Academy will conduct the preliminary examination for the selected child prodigies. My colleagues and I have discussed it and decided to send the selected child prodigies from Shouzhou to Bianjing in early July. When do you plan to depart?" Wang Min asked.

If it were the imperial examination, the local government would not send anyone to escort the candidates to the examination.

But the prodigy test was different; the youngest of the seven prodigies selected from Shouzhou was only six years old.

Although almost all the selected child prodigies come from wealthy families, there are also two from families of modest means.

Such families could afford to send their children to school, but they could hardly afford the expenses of sending their children to Bianjing.

Therefore, the examinations for prodigies were always escorted by local government officials who also covered the expenses along the way.

Of course, you can also go on your own, and you will have to bear all the costs yourself.

Wang You had previously mentioned that he wanted to go to Bianjing (Kaifeng) to visit his elder brother at the Imperial Academy in Luoyang, and then travel around Bianjing.

"When I went to Yangzhou before, my uncle reminded me that during the imperial examinations, candidates often suffered from acclimatization problems, which affected their performance. He suggested that I leave earlier when I took the prodigy exam."

Wang You said, "Therefore, I plan to set off at the end of the month, firstly to get used to the place in advance, and secondly to have some fun in Bianjing."

Wang Min opened his mouth, intending to say that they had gone too early.

It takes about twenty days to travel from Shouzhou to Bianjing by water.

We set off at the end of May, which is more than a month ahead of schedule.

However, considering that Wang You had been sensible since childhood and had never troubled him except for insisting on participating in the prodigy exam, he nodded and said, "It's good to go early. Your grandfather has a few students in Bianjing. I'll prepare some gifts, and you can visit them one by one."

"Where will You'er stay in Bianjing?" Madam Feng asked.

"Mother, I'll stay in the ancestral home," Wang You said.

"That ancestral home has been uninhabited for many years, with only a few old servants guarding it. It's probably in a terrible state of disrepair now," Madam Feng said, frowning.

"You'er will be leaving in a while. Why don't you send someone to Bianjing tomorrow to have a courtyard renovated?" Wang Min said.

"That's the only way."

Feng actually wanted to go with Liang An, but she couldn't leave her family.

After the meal, when Wang You bowed and took his leave, he noticed that his father seemed hesitant to speak.

However, he didn't think much of it, only assuming that his father was worried about him going to Bianjing alone.

…………

The next day, Madam Feng sent several servants to Bianjing and at the same time sent someone to contact Shi Keng and his wife, asking them to come to Shouzhou at the end of the month to escort Wang You to Bianjing.

When Old Mrs. Wang learned that Wang You would be going to Beijing at the end of the month, she invited him to stay for lunch when he went to pay his respects in the morning.

The old lady didn't like to talk while eating. After finishing her breakfast, she took the tea offered by the maid to rinse her mouth, and then moved to the main hall before saying, "You've been sensible since you were little, and you've always been decisive. Since you want to go to Bianjing at the end of the month, then go."

When I arrived in Bianjing, I took my visiting card to pay a visit to Ouyang Xiu, the Prefect of Kaifeng.

When you see him, greet him with the respect due to a son or nephew, and simply say that I sent you to pay him a visit.

"Grandson understands."

Wang You responded and said, "When I went to Yangzhou before, my uncle said that my grandmother would send me to pay my respects to Prefect Ouyang. She said that I could visit him, but if Prefect Ouyang wanted to take me as his student, I must not agree."

"Could he explain why?" Old Mrs. Wang asked.

"No." Wang You shook his head.

After hearing this, Old Madam Wang pondered for a moment and said, "I have not been to Bianjing for many years and do not know much about the court."

Your uncle is a cautious person; there must be a reason for what he said. Just do as he says.

"Grandson understands," Wang You replied.

"Besides that, there are a few of your grandfather's students in Bianjing. You should visit them when the time comes," Old Madam Wang instructed.

"My father also mentioned this matter," Wang You nodded.

…………

Until the day before Wang You set off, Wang Min still had not received a reply from the emperor regarding the matter he had reported.

Wang Min finally couldn't resist and called Wang You to his study after dinner.

"Cough cough~"

Wang You cleared his throat to hide his unease.

"That day you advised your father to write to the Emperor and request that corresponding laws be formulated for cases similar to Li Dalang's. After careful consideration, your father felt that it made a lot of sense. So I wrote a letter and sent it to Bianjing."

However, the Ministry of Justice has already issued a reply to the case of Li Dalang, but the petition submitted by my father to the Emperor has been ignored.

"I'm unsure of His Majesty's intentions, and as his father, I've always felt uncertain."

Wang You smiled and said, "Your son congratulates you, Father."

"Um?"

Wang Min was taken aback and asked, "What's the cause of your joy?"

"Father, the Ministry of Justice's reply was so quick. Excluding the time spent on the round trip, it didn't take long at all."

Normally, such matters should be discussed for some time before a result is reached.

"The Ministry of Justice's approval was so swift; it's very likely they received the Emperor's approval," Wang You said.

Not only were government officials slow in their work in later generations, but the same was true in ancient times.

Such ambiguous matters cannot be rushed.

Because officials are afraid of taking responsibility, they need to reach a consensus so that everyone can share the responsibility.

If no solution can be reached after a long period of discussion, the matter will be reported to the Emperor for judgment.

The main idea is that everyone shares responsibility; if that's not possible, then nobody will take responsibility.

The Ministry of Justice responded too quickly; it was clearly not a decision made by the Ministry of Justice.

"But since the Emperor approves of this approach, why is there no response to what I wrote?" Wang Min asked, frowning.

"No response is a good thing."

Wang You said, "Father has already made an appearance before the Emperor. Normally, the Emperor should issue an imperial decree praising Father."

Since the Emperor has not issued any decree, it means that the Emperor has other plans for Father. I think Father is very likely to be promoted next year.

"Really? The Ministry of Personnel's evaluation still has a year to go," Wang Min said in surprise.

"Since the Emperor approves of Father's handling of the matter, he will at least issue an imperial edict of commendation. Since there is no edict yet, it is highly likely that Father will be promoted. As for whether that is the case, Father will know in a few months," Wang You said.

Wang Min was still somewhat incredulous upon hearing this, but Wang You, seeing this, said, "Anyway, the Emperor hasn't issued an edict reprimanding Father, so why are you worried?"

"You're right, I've been worrying unnecessarily."

Wang Min chuckled self-deprecatingly and said, "You're leaving for Bianjing tomorrow, and I've already given you all the necessary instructions these past few days. It's getting late, so go back and rest early."

"Your son takes his leave!" Wang You said, bowing.

…………

The next day, as dawn was breaking, before Mu Jie'er woke up, Madam Feng took Wang You to the dock.

The little girl is very attached to Wang You; if she knew, she would definitely cry and make a fuss about going.