Upon seeing Jiang Wei's hesitation, Shang Guan Qi also sighed: "People in the central region do not care about us who are on the outskirts!"
"Let alone our Tian Shui commandery originally belonging to Liangzhou, even Zhang Ji, Marquis Zhang of Zifeng, such a man of great merit, could only serve as a prefect in Liangzhou until his death! Where is there a place for us from the borders of Yong and Liang commanderies among the high-ranking officials and titles in Luoyang?"
"Being admitted to the TaiXu through this time's quota is already an uncommon good policy!"
Jiang Wei remained silent for a moment upon hearing this. Born into the Jiang family of He county, since his childhood Jiang Wei had studied classical texts. Since he was seventeen or eighteen years old, scholars in his district had seldom been able to match him.
It is common for the border regions to have fewer scholars. When he was young, Jiang Wei often thought that if he could have been born several decades earlier in a time of peace, and if he could have seen great scholars like Ma Ridi, Zheng Xuan, and Lu Zhi in the central region, he must have been able to master true classics.
However, after his father Jiang Chen died in the Xianzhui rebellion, Jiang Wei temporarily abandoned his aspirations for learning and instead focused on seeking fame and fortune in the county. He even secretly cultivated dozens of loyal followers to serve as his wings. In a chaotic world, one must take precautions.
And now, he had the opportunity to enter the TaiXu in Luoyang? At twenty-four years old, as a member of the influential Jiang family in his county and currently serving as an assistant official there, he was confident that he would certainly secure a spot among the applicants for this year's quota.
Jiang Wei looked at Shang Guan Qi: "Zixiu, this matter is of utmost importance to me. As for our friendship, I won't bother to express my thanks to you. I need to return to the magistrate immediately now. Please look after this horse stable for me for a while."
Shang Guan Qi nodded and agreed: "Boyu, with your intelligence, you should be heading to Luoyang to show off your talents, why waste time inspecting a horse stable in Jixian?"
Jiang Wei did not hesitate, bowed and then walked to his white horse and mounted it, heading directly towards Jixian.
......
Tian Shui commandery, Jixian county, the magistrate's mansion.
Jiang Wei returned to the county, and it was not yet noon.
The magistrate Ma Zun saw Jiang Wei coming and was quite surprised: "Boyu, didn't you go to inspect the military supplies at the horse stable today? How did you come back so quickly?"
Jiang Wei performed a bow: "Magnate, my lord, I have heard that there are imperial edicts here from Luoyang, saying that the Emperor has reopened the TaiXu. May I ask if this is true, my lord?"
Upon hearing Jiang Wei's words, Ma Zun's expression immediately grew cold. Ma Zun was from Xiangyang, Jingzhou, and was only sent to serve in Tian Shui by the court in Luoyang after the Cao Wei pacified Liangzhou.
Although Tian Shui is in the same region as the Three Capitals, it is still a commandery of Liangzhou, and therefore, in the eyes of Ma Zun, a native of Xiangyang, Tian Shui is a border region.
It should be noted that Liangzhou has always been plagued by wars and rebellions, and the local noble families have been the ones maintaining order. In Tian Shui commandery, for example, all matters, both large and small, have traditionally been handled by the four major families: Jiang, Yan, Ren, and Zhao.
These four great families have always maintained a respectful yet distant attitude towards this official from Jingzhou, the magistrate. In simple terms, you, Ma Zun, do your job as the magistrate well, and matters of great importance in the commandery will still be handled by us four families.
When Ma Zun first came to Liangzhou, he had still wanted to compete with the local people for power. However, the harsh reality quickly made him realize: taxes in the county are paid by the four families, most of the county officials are from the four families, and even the county's militia has countless connections with the four families.
A floating official, still wants to get involved?
At this moment, Ma Zun's expression was displeased, and that was exactly why. The document from Luoyang had only reached him a quarter of an hour ago.
Jiang Wei had been at the outer horse stable since early this morning, and it would take at least an hour to travel from the city to the horse stable and back. How did Jiang Wei know this?
Clearly, someone in the county government must have just received the imperial edict and immediately dispatched a rider to inform Jiang Wei!
But Ma Zun couldn't vent his anger. Having failed to gain power when he first came to Tian Shui, Ma Zun was only thinking about the day he could be transferred back to the Central Plains by the court. A person accustomed to weakness now found the officials cunning, and he was too lazy to care about it.
Ma Zun looked at Jiang Wei, and seeing Jiang Wei's polite bowing posture, he found some comfort for his damaged heart.
Ma Zun saw Jiang Wei ask and slowly said: "The emperor has rebuilt the TaiXu, which is indeed the case. According to the document, the TaiXu will admit five hundred people this time, and my Tian Shui commandery only has one quota this year."
Jiang Wei slightly hesitated. In a whole commandery, there could only be one position among the five hundred?
Jiang Wei slightly puzzled: "Can I ask your excellency, if we divide according to prefectures and counties, how can Tian Shui commandery only have one or two positions?"
Ma Zun slightly shook his head: "Boyu, there are some things you may not know. The academic atmosphere in the central regions is stronger, the scholars from Yanlu, Luoyang and Yue in Henan crowded each other. How can such an edge-of-the-world region as Tian Shui commandery even think about it?"
"This time, being able to select one person from Tian Shui to enter the TaiXu is probably due to the emperor's order that each prefecture must have someone admitted. In the Han Dynasty, I'm afraid Tian Shui wouldn't even have one seat!"
Jiang Wei took a deep breath and deeply bowed to the magistrate: "May I report to the magistrate, although I am a county official in this county, I am under thirty years old and still meet the qualifications for entering the TaiXu this time. I have been reading classical texts since childhood and would like to go to the TaiXu in Luoyang. Please grant my request!"
Ma Zun simply smiled, looking at Jiang Wei's respectful appearance, his heart was full of joy. Having been in Tian Shui for a long time and being bullied by the local nobility, Jiang Wei's family, the Jiang clan, was one of them. Now that he had the chance to make the Jiang clan dependent on him, how could he not be happy?
Ma Zun merely ran his fingers through the stubble on his chin, not saying anything for a moment.
Jiang Wei, who was downstairs, saw his inept magistrate acting like this and immediately knew that the magistrate's usual pretense had surfaced. If it were any other day, Jiang Wei might even have a bit of fun with Ma Zun.
But this time the TaiXu reopened and recruited scholars, with the emperor clearly stating that outstanding students would have a promising future. This opportunity Jiang Wei really didn't want to miss.
Jiang Wei slowly straightened up. At seven feet and five inches tall, he fixed his gaze on the magistrate sitting on the dais. Beneath his sharp eyebrows and bright eyes, his solemn expression somehow exuded an air of commanding presence.
Jiang Wei slowly said: "I think that the talents in my county are not many. If I cannot go to Luoyang this time, there may be no one else in the county who can go."
Ma Zun was taken aback upon hearing this. He could sense the dissatisfaction in Jiang Wei's words and quickly put on a smile. After all, the major and minor affairs of the county still relied on the four major families to handle. If they did not support him or caused trouble during the state examination, when would he ever be able to return to the central plains?
Ma Zun was just thinking that it would be good if he could control his subordinate. If he couldn't, then so be it. A seat in the TaiXu isn't anything special, really. People from the outskirts truly lack understanding.
Ma Zun slowly walked over to Jiang Wei's side, forcing a smile and looking at Jiang Wei: "I have always known your talent. Among the young scholars in the county, if you are ranked second in terms of scholarship, then no one dares to be ranked first."
"If that's the case, I will write a letter of recommendation. Boyu, find a time and set out for Luoyang!"
Jiang Wei did not hesitate, stepping back half a step and deeply bowing to Ma Zun.
Luoyang... TaiXu... Jiang Wei became curious, what kind of people are there in the Central Plains?
