Emperor Ming Dynasty

Zongxue, this is an institution set up during the Wanli period.

As early as the Jiajing period, when there were more than [-] royal families in the country, the imperial court spent millions of shi grains a year, which was a heavy burden.

After Jiajing ascended the throne, reforms were carried out. For the clan below the county king, the June [-]th opening was implemented, that is, [-]% of the grain and [-]% of the banknotes.

In addition, the imperial family is forcibly restricted from taking concubines, and it is forbidden to inherit from side branches. In other words, unless you have a son, brothers, nephews and nephews cannot inherit the title.

During the Wanli period, we made persistent efforts to establish Zongxue, and allowed clans below the county king to take the imperial examination.

But this kind of thing belongs to doing one's best, obeying the destiny, and has no coercive effect at all. For decades, there has not been a Jinshi.

After Zhu Yixi established a new dynasty, he was as casual about Zongxue as before.

After all, as long as you are self-motivated, you can learn without anyone chasing after you.

"The clan's regulations have only been around for decades, so they are naturally inferior to the folks." King Qi said softly, "I think that although civil servants can be minions, they are less cordial compared to my own family."

"If you use more distant sects, it will be more suitable and more convenient."

"It's impossible for me to promote directly regardless of the situation, right? Now it's different from the past, the rules of the court have been established..."

Although the rules are meant to be broken, Zhu Yixi does not want to break the new rules that have been shaped for a long time.

Seeing this, King Qi came up with a good idea: "Father, my son heard that in Liaoning, Jilin, Heilongjiang and other places, no matter how good the conditions are, there are not many scholars who want to take office."

"Since there are so many official vacancies, why not give this to the clan?"

"What do you mean?" the emperor wondered.

"Just like the imperial examination, holding a clan imperial examination, Enke, conferring an official is a vacancy at the border, and then kill two birds with one stone..."

King Qi said cautiously.

The emperor stroked his beard and fell into thought.

Undoubtedly, compared with the real imperial examination, this imperial examination within the imperial clan is much less difficult and has great opportunities.

The emperor was quite happy about this.

Because when he got here, he suddenly thought, isn't this equivalent to another road?

Just like the Manchu Qing Dynasty, the reason why civil servants were treated like dogs was that in addition to the Mongolian people to govern the country, he also had the children of the Eight Banners.

In other words, the literati stopped playing and went on strike, and the emperor still had something to pick.
In this case, the emperor will be invincible and aloof from the outside world.

At this time, Zhu Yixi thought of this, and showed a smile: "Your suggestion is good, I have adopted it—"

"Father is wise—" King Qi praised.

So, after some investigation, the emperor ordered Jilin, Anxi, and Liaodong to produce ten magistrates, twenty general judges, and county magistrates to hold this imperial examination within the clan.

As soon as the Clan Mansion released the news, there was an uproar in the capital immediately.

Regardless of the folk discussions, the clan's interior can be said to be full of surprises.

The residence of Zhou Xian, Shaoqing of the clan's mansion.

At this time, after hearing about this matter, Zhou Xian couldn't wait to return home, almost ecstatic:

"Princess, overjoyed, overjoyed—"

Three steps at a time, he came to the courtyard and saw Princess Changping who was reading in the shade, his voice subconsciously slowed down a lot.

The whole person was leaning lazily on the desk, with his single arm outstretched, turning the pages of the book. On his smooth face, there was an obsessed look, and the delicate facial features looked particularly good-looking.

Glancing sideways, the slightly plump upper body is undoubtedly revealed at this time, and the graceful arc is almost intoxicating.

"My son-in-law, what's the matter?"

Auntie Zhu turned her head slightly, and retracted when turning the pages of the book, with a little doubt on her face.

She understood that Zhou Xian had always been a calm and calm person, and if he was like this today, something must have happened.

"The Holy Majesty issued an edict that an imperial examination will be held to award official vacancies such as county magistrates and county magistrates."

Zhou Xian couldn't wait to say: "In this way, you don't need to step into the Jinshi threshold, and you can directly become an official. This is really a happy event for us Jia'er."

When Princess Changping heard the words, a look of surprise appeared on her plain face.

Qi Jia'er is her eldest son, Zhou Jia, who is now a scholar. He just passed the college examination last year and became a scholar.

I wanted to make persistent efforts and respond to Qiu Wei with one fell swoop, but it's so easy to raise people's notice?
The expansion of Shuntian Prefecture, more than 300 counties, 120 million people, the number of applicants is only 5000, but the competition for scholars exceeds [-].

In other words, it is one out of thirty, the difficulty of which can be imagined.

After passing the exam, Zhou Jia's confidence was frustrated. Although she was still preparing for the exam, she still had to wait for three years.

How many three years can life have?

In this case, Zhou Xian originally wanted him to enter the Imperial College and become a supervising student, so he could directly participate in the general examination.

But now, there is a better opportunity in front of him, who doesn't want to seize it?

"To take the exam as a scholar, I'm afraid it will be difficult to advance in the officialdom in the future." Princess Changping showed some hesitation.

"Princess, you are worrying too much. Do you think that just because of his status as the son of the princess, there is no training?"

Zhou showed a smug smile: "As far as I know, this is Zong Kao, not only to give those clan children a way out, but actually it's a personal emperor looking for minions."

"In other words, the emperor wants to have more sympathetic and caring people in the court. If he can be selected at this time, he will have a bright future."

"Not only is the emperor protecting us, but we are also here, and my father has some connections, and I, as a young minister, will definitely be on the rise after some dredging."

Princess Changping finally showed a relaxed smile: "In this way, as a scholar, wouldn't Jiaer be very sure?"

"There are no great talents in the clan, so it must be stable."

The husband and wife are very happy, the son has a way out, and it is a bright road,

The sun is rising, and the grass leaves are still stained with the dew from last night. The sun has not completely dispelled the mist in the sky. The air in the morning is relatively humid, and the red sun is very bright on the horizon.

In a town outside Xuanwu County, the crowds were crowded, and the towns and villages began to go to the market.

On the edge, a simple wooden platform was built, which is a platform for performing operas in the countryside.

There were many benches standing on both sides, and there was a lot of noise nearby. Many people stretched their necks and looked up there.

Suddenly, someone knocked on the gong: "Today's libretto, the imperial conquest of Sichuan."

Crashing, I suddenly thought of a burst of applause.

Then, I saw a big man with a face full of concern for the country and the people, and he sang:

"Today I heard that the western bandits entered Sichuan and set my son in flames. As a general of the Ming Dynasty, can he ignore it?"

"General, without the order of the court, we can't send troops without authorization—"

"Absurd, now the imperial court can't take care of itself, millions of people are in dire straits, how can they take care of so much?"

The big man who played the role of the emperor had a burly figure, well-shaped features, and was wearing a costume, not to mention his image.

The audience applauded.

And Zhu Chengyun sat bored, feeling bored about it.

This kind of folk opera is said to be organized by the imperial court. Whenever there is a market, they will come to sing a few books.

But the common people are also happy, in addition to creating human beings, going to the theater is considered the cheapest, not to mention that it is a free movie provided by the government.

When the singing is on the rise, the people in the audience will throw copper coins, or meat, rabbits, etc., and let the troupe beat their teeth as a sacrifice.
In this case, the opera singers became more enthusiastic.

Because they are receiving money and food from the court, the money is extra income, so they are naturally very happy.

But Zhu Chengyun was bored.

He has watched this play several times, and he can memorize it all.

Nothing, because he is the one who arranges the opera.

As the sons of the clan, the emperor relaxed the prohibition and allowed them to do business and politics freely, which can be said to be loose.

Under such circumstances, Zhu Chengyun found a good job in the imperial court because he had studied for several years, which can be regarded as eating the imperial food.

Write a playbook.

If you are not a reader, you cannot write at all.

The play was written by him and arranged by him. It can be said to be chewed back and forth repeatedly. It has been chewed to pieces, and there is no taste at all.

Emperor Shaowu fought for four or five years. Although there are many things to write about, there are also many theater troupes under the sun!

In the Ministry of Rites, there are dozens of theater troupes like him, some of them are walking around Shuntian Mansion, some of them are walking around in various provinces, passing on this kind of opera script to the public.

Of course, Gyeonggi is the focus and has an enlightening effect, so it is a regular walk, and people run almost every day.

"I heard that His Majesty once went to Chengde and met the Mongolian kings there, and it can also be included in the play—"

After a day, the whole market didn't disperse until the sun set to the west, and the group of them went back home.

The county is not far away, twenty miles away, driving an ox cart or a donkey cart, it takes half an hour to arrive.

After the goods were unloaded in the yamen, Zhu Chengyun was exhausted all day and was just about to rest when he was disturbed:
"Brother, your luck has come, the luck to be an official."

A black-faced and reckless man barged in rudely and slammed the dilapidated wooden door, causing Zhu Chengyun to tremble with fear.

"Be careful, this door is troublesome to repair." Zhu Chengyun shook his head, dismissively said: "I didn't even win a scholar, how could I become an official?"

"Hey, I'm here to tell you!"

The black-faced man was also unambiguous. He sat down on the wooden chair, picked up the hawthorn on the table, and sent it to his mouth:
"After all, the emperor still cares about us and hasn't forgotten us. It's a good thing—"

As he said that, he recounted the matter of Zong Kao in detail, and finally concluded: "I asked someone to ask. There are at most 800 clan members in the entire capital, and most of them are illiterate. .”

"Brother Yun, you have a great chance!"

Zhu Chengyun trembled, his lips turned white, and then his cheeks became bloodshot suddenly, the whites of his eyes rolled up, and he passed out like this.

Obviously, such an opportunity is no less than a carp jumping over the dragon's gate to him.

After waking up, he muttered repeatedly: "Holy grace Zhaozhao, holy grace Zhaozhao——"

The entire clan in the capital is like adding cold water to a hot oil pan, and it boils all of a sudden.

The clan members here include Yibin, who adopted the daughter of the clan, and his son.

Many bystanders were so sour.

It is really enviable for the emperor to openly give the clan the opportunity to be an official.

At such a noisy time, a certain civil servant quietly entered Beijing.

The wheels of the carriage were turning, but the flat road was not bumpy much. Zhu Yiquan sat in it, feeling the ground that belonged exclusively to the capital.

He is from the Xi'an Prefecture, he was born in the clan, and he won the Juren.

Later, as the emperor went south, he sought a county magistrate in Huguang.

Later, as the emperor ascended the throne, he continued to be promoted, from the magistrate, to the inspector, the chief minister, and finally the governor of Jiangsu.

Then he was transferred to the governor of Anhui, the governor of Yingtian, and finally, when he was about [-] years old, the imperial court called him to Beijing to appoint and remove him as the governor of Shuntian.

If there is no accident, he will serve in this position for the rest of his life.

As for the reason, it is very simple, because he was born in Juren.

Even if the emperor took care of him repeatedly, it would not be easy for him to climb up to the governorship of Shuntian, basically it was a top match.

"Compared to Jiangnan, Beijing has a different taste."

Feeling the dryness of his skin, Zhu Yiquan couldn't help smiling, and added water.

The son on the side said softly: "Father, the fallen leaves return to their roots. Now that His Majesty has settled in the capital, our family is no exception. I think the capital is very good."

"Look at the bustling here, let's have a lot of fun!"

Zhu Yiquan snorted softly: "I'm too old, and I don't know how to restrain myself, so I act recklessly all day long."

Soon, he got out of the carriage.

In the capital, he had already bought a house.

As soon as he took a few breaths, Zhu Yiquan hurried to Yongshou County Prince's Mansion to pay his respects to the nominal suzerain.

The old king of the county has been dead for seven or eight years, but now the king of Yongshou County is calm and calm, he doesn't put on any airs of suzerain, on the contrary, there are many flattery in his words.

Obviously, he also heard something about Zhu Yiquan.

Later, Zhu Yiquan visited Zhu Mou, the second assistant of the cabinet.

The reason is very simple, because it was Zhu Mou who recommended him during the shogunate period, and won the post of a county, and since then he has made steady progress and reached his current position.

"Yiquan, you have come all the way and worked hard!"

Zhu Mou smiled lightly, and the whole person seemed to be much more relaxed.

"Nowadays, the imperial court is changing with each passing day, so my little hard work is nothing."

Zhu Yiquan sighed: "From Tianjin to Beijing, three hundred miles away, it takes only a few hours. The world is different after all."

"Above the imperial court, you and I have the highest official positions among the clan members. As officials in the capital, the most important thing is to be cautious..."

As Zhu Mou spoke in a soft voice, Zhu Yiquan couldn't help nodding his head in agreement.

After leaving, Zhu Yiquan showed a pensive look.

Obviously, as a clan, it is not as easy as imagined to be in charge of Gyeonggi.

The next day, Zhu Yiquan came to Yuquan Mountain to meet the emperor.

Zhu Yixi was quite patient with this pure clan official.

Asking east and west, chatting about Xi'an Mansion, and then about official road.

The two were chatting and laughing, suddenly, a sound of footsteps came to my ears first, and then I saw a eunuch rushing over:

"Your Majesty, King Fu is critically ill—"