I'm really not doing business

Chapter 728 Qi Jiguang, why don’t you usurp the throne!

Lee Sun knocked on the gates of Anzhou and Jeongzhou twice, but the civil and military guards who had surrendered to the Ming Dynasty closed the gates tightly, citing the Japanese invasion as an excuse, and refused to let Lee Sun enter the city. This was because these surrendered civil and military guards had accepted the orders of the Ming Dynasty, which had issued an edict to abolish Lee Sun's throne. Since they had made their position clear, welcoming Lee Sun into the city again would be treason again.

After Lee Sun returned to Pyongyang with no other options, he was immediately placed under house arrest in the Central Palace of Anhak Palace by Lee Sun-sin. Lee Sun-sin did not blame him too much because the rebel army needed the royal flag. However, after Lee Sun was placed under house arrest in the Central Palace, he wrote a letter in blood and asked the eunuch to send it to the Japanese pirates' camp, hoping that the pirates would come to rescue him.

The reason for doing this is simple. It doesn't matter who is the suzerain state, he wants to be the king.

Lee Sun-sin scolded Lee Sun for being ungrateful because this was not the first time that Japanese pirates invaded Korea, but the third time.

The first time was in the 17th year of Yongle, when King Taejong and King Sejong of Joseon attacked Tsushima Island and forced the island lord to surrender, and finally signed the Treaty of Guihai. The second time was in the 5th year of Zhengde, when the Miura Japanese Rebellion broke out, and the Japanese in Jipoura, Busanura, and Yanpu rioted. The Tsushima clan and the Mori family immediately sent troops to invade Joseon, and King Jungjong of Joseon drove the Japanese pirates into the sea.

This is also the reason why Oda Nobunaga put all his efforts into deploying 150,000 troops at once, because judging from historical conflicts, Korea had a record of unbroken victories.

The fact that Korea was defeated so quickly was actually beyond Oda Nobunaga's expectations.

"boom!"

Lee Sun-sin lifted Lee Sun up, threw him to the ground, and spat at him viciously. Only then did the anger in his heart subside a little. This anger was not only due to Lee Sun's poor performance during the Japanese invasion, but also due to long-standing resentment. If the Ming Emperor had not issued an explicit order, Lee Sun would have been killed long ago.

In Lee Sun-sin's opinion, the complete relaxation of Joseon's military preparedness was all due to the military registration system devised by the idiot in front of him.

Before Lee Sun, Korea was a country that had a little bit of influence from the Song Dynasty and a little bit from the Ming Dynasty. It was indeed a country that valued culture over military. However, because many Ming Dynasty elements were added, the harm of valuing culture over military was not actually that great.

Korea and the Ming Dynasty had the same military system, that is, military settlements and garrisons, and there were military households from generation to generation. Korea had a total of five garrisons. Before the law of collecting cloth from military personnel, some military households who did not want to serve in the army had to avoid military service by paying cloth. When paying the cloth, they needed to find someone to serve on their behalf, which was called a "daili".

You don't have to be a military household, but you must find someone to replace it to ensure the completion of the quota.

Although North Korea valued culture over military, it always won in the end when it came into conflict with Japanese pirates and the Jiannu because it had a complete military structure.

But when it came to Yi Sun's hands, in order to accumulate wealth, Yi Sun established a law to collect military cloth. As long as one paid the military cloth, there was no need to find someone to be a military household on his behalf, and the military cloth could be used directly to pay off his military service.

Because of the previous "Dai Li", all the cloth paid was swallowed up by the military generals of the garrisons, which did not benefit the King of Korea and the court at all. So Li Sun thought that he should make some money from this money, directly legalize it, and even exempt himself from military service. Just for the sake of collecting money, Li Sun took this money.

The decision made by the ministers in the court immediately triggered a widespread avoidance of military service. Military service was originally compulsory, but now it could be replaced by military service. The military structure of the eight provinces and five garrisons in Korea suffered a devastating blow, and there was no one left.

According to the wishes of Lee Sun, the minister at the court at that time, all the collected military cloth should be used for the new army, that is, to recruit soldiers.

However, these military troops have been collected for so many years, but have not yet been transformed into a new army. The reason is very clear to the Korean king and his ministers. The words of the court minister Liu Chenglong, "Keeping an army without doing anything is inviting trouble", are the consensus of all the ministers in the court.

The original fubing system collapsed, and military cloth replaced military service, but the military cloth did not turn into a conscription system, which was the fundamental reason why Korea was defeated by the Japanese pirates this time.

"Maintaining troops when there is nothing to do is just inviting trouble. Now there is trouble, how can we put down the trouble!" Yi Sun-sin kicked Yi Sun's leg hard again and asked sternly, "We soldiers eat worse than the prisoners in the county government! You didn't follow the previous king's order to strengthen the military at all!"

In the Ming Dynasty, Emperor Wuzong died without an heir, and Daoye's side branch became part of the main clan. A similar thing happened in Korea, and it happened twice in a row.

After Injong's death, there was no heir, and Myeongjong succeeded to the throne. After Myeongjong's death, there was no heir, and Yi Sun succeeded to the throne.

Lee Sun was different from Myeongjong. When Myeongjong was in power, he was still trying to strengthen his military power by reviving the military. But when Lee Sun came to power, he completely sided with his ministers.

Lee Sun held his legs and wailed non-stop. His hair was disheveled. When Lee Sun-sin asked him, he whispered, "Is it all my fault? The ministers in power only care about forming cliques, pursuing personal interests, and enriching themselves and their families!"

"I saw that the new policies of the Ming Dynasty were effective, and I also asked the ministers about the military revitalization. I ordered the Minister of Military Affairs Li Er to revitalize the military, intending to raise 100,000 soldiers for military preparation. But Liu Chenglong formed a clique and strongly opposed it. What was Li Er's fate? He died in a prison cell!"

"The Ming Dynasty opened the sea and the east wind rose. Even Nagasaki and Hiroshima of Japan became pearls on the sea. I wonder if our Yizhou, Incheon and Busan are good ports? I ordered the Minister of Revenue Jin Taizuo to build Mingguan, intending to trade with the Ming Dynasty in the three places. Jin Taizuo was a wealthy family of Andong Jin. What was Jin Taizuo's end? He died in the manure under the fence for no apparent reason!"

"What can I do, Yi Sun-sin, tell me, what can I do?!"

Li Cheng let go of his hand, leaned against the wall, looked at Li Shunchen, spat out a mouthful of blood and phlegm, looked out the window, and said blankly: "The Emperor of the Ming Dynasty is lucky. He ascended the throne at the age of ten, and the chief minister protected him well. The young ruler made the country suspicious, and Zhang Juzheng ignored his reputation and usurped power. At first, I was still laughing, but you see, Zhang Juzheng will definitely take his place!"

"The young emperor at that time trusted Zhang Juzheng so much that he even promoted Qi Jiguang, a disciple of Zhang Juzheng, to be a general and command the Beijing camp. The young emperor would definitely be usurped by this civil and military duo."

"It would be fine if Zhang Juzheng wanted the throne, but he wanted to revive the Ming Dynasty! He actually returned power to the emperor!"

Before the 12th year of Wanli, Korea could pay tribute regularly, that is, it could pay tribute and trade multiple times a year. Lee Sun knew everything that happened in the Ming Dynasty. At first, he was waiting to see a joke. The whole court was full of Zhang Juzheng's people, both civil and military. The emperor believed in the words of the officials and made it possible for Zhang Juzheng to have the final say.

When Qi Jiguang was the general of Qian'an Earl, the emperor was only ten years old, a real orphan and a widow.

With an orphan and a widowed mother, and powerful officials and generals, it would be a huge miracle if nothing happened!

"Why! Whatever the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty wants to do, Zhang Juzheng and his civil officials are willing to help him, and Qi Jiguang and his elite military officers are willing to help him. And what do I want to do? I finally find someone who wants to do the job, but what happens? He is drowned in a cesspool! Why? He is so lucky." Li Sun was in so much pain that he almost fainted, but he was still indignant.

Li Shunchen sneered and said, "Even if I tell you the truth about how to be a man, you still won't understand. I will report your blood letter about going to Japan to pay tribute to the emperor! You will be punished for collusion with Japan!"

Lee Sun did not lie, he really tried hard. He also tried to change the military into a new army, but the resistance was too great. The wind of opening up the sea in the Ming Dynasty blew more than once. Even Nagasaki was in the hands of the Ming Dynasty and became a dazzling pearl on the sea. There were 1700 million people in Korea. What a scene it would be if the wind of opening up the sea blew all over Korea!
Jinmu's Minister of War was a second-rank official in Joseon, equivalent to the Minister of War in Ming Dynasty. Kaihae's Minister of Revenue was equivalent to the Minister of Revenue. Moreover, the Minister of Revenue Kim Tae-ja was from a wealthy family of Andong Kim. As a result, because of Kaihae, he was drowned in a cesspool. When he was found, he was already a bit like a giant.

Li Sun felt it was unfair. Why was the Ming Emperor so lucky? Why didn't Zhang Juzheng and Qi Jiguang usurp the throne?

Lee Sun-sin soon received the military order from Qi Jiguang and sent Lee Sun to Yizhou without much hesitation. Pyongyang was now a war zone and was in danger of falling. If Pyongyang fell, Lee Sun-sin would kill Lee Sun. Even if he wanted to surrender to Japan, he could only be a hero, which was the last dignity for Korea.

It is really shameful that the King of Joseon went to Japan to visit Luo and became a Japanese pirate.

The Ming Dynasty asked for Lee Sun, which obviously meant that the 30,000 troops of the Ming Dynasty’s capital camp had arrived, and the Ming Dynasty’s army was already strong enough on the Korean battlefield.

Yi Sun was sent to Yizhou. Qi Jiguang was in Yizhou. When he saw Yi Sun, he looked at his miserable state and asked in confusion, "How did you get beaten like this? Your legs are broken."

"Yi Sun-sin beat him." Chen Dacheng sighed and said, "Yi Sun-sin was very resentful, or it can be said that the Korean soldiers were very resentful."

"That's not surprising." Qi Jiguang smiled and shook his head and said, "When Yi Sun-sin was in the Ming Dynasty, he kept talking about the current situation of the Korean soldiers. Tsk tsk, since the liberation and collection of cloth, the soldiers originally had a piece of land to grow enough to feed themselves, but later they even lost the land."

North Korea copied the military system of the Ming Dynasty. This system is naturally not perfect, but it can be used after some repairs and revisions. After all, the Ming Dynasty used it for two hundred years without perishing, right?
North Korean soldiers also farmed, but after being released and collecting land, some soldiers did not want to leave and were also released because someone wanted to annex their land. The problem of land annexation further worsened in North Korea.

Korea also has all the problems that the Ming Dynasty had, and Korea also has the problems that the Ming Dynasty did not have.

What made military generals like Yi Sun-sin and Han Ke-sung even more unbearable was that the Joseon court had a bunch of Hwarang who rode on the heads of these warriors. The first requirement for Hwarang was that they had to be handsome. They put on makeup and had oily hair and powdered faces like women, and then they had a lot of tattoos on their bodies. They were proficient in everything from playing the piano, chess, calligraphy, painting, poetry and songs, but they could not fight.

Qi Jiguang was already very angry just by hearing it. Li Shunchen would definitely be even more angry after experiencing it. It would be bad enough that he had a low status, but he was also being ridden on the neck by a group of fake men who were monsters and demons. Li Shunchen was really very rational for not killing Li Sun!

"General Qi! Why don't you usurp the throne!" Li Sun's leg was broken. He was in so much pain that he couldn't sleep at all. He looked haggard. When he saw Qi Jiguang, he immediately blurted out the question, somewhat crazy.

Zu Chengxun felt something was not good when he heard this. The army was now outside, and if Qi Jiguang took such provocative words seriously, wouldn't it be disastrous?

"Hahaha!" Qi Jiguang and Chen Dacheng laughed loudly, pointing at Li Sun. After laughing for a while, Qi Jiguang shook his head and said, "I heard about your story. You just want to sit back and enjoy the fruits of others' labor. There is no such good thing in the world. When I first met the emperor, Your Majesty was practicing martial arts. I was shocked by the audacity of Zhu Xixiao, the commander of the imperial guards."

"You probably don't understand the principles of a real man's work. If you did, you wouldn't have left Seoul. This question is easy to answer. The Capital Camp has always been your Majesty's Capital Camp, from the very beginning."

Everyone in the Beijing camp knew His Majesty. His Majesty would review the troops every day. At that time, the Northern Tartars were still there, and His Majesty's daily review of the troops put too much pressure on the soldiers. A string that is kept stretched will break sooner or later. It was Qi Jiguang who insisted on reviewing the troops every other day. But His Majesty would go every day, and even if he didn't review the troops, he would still communicate with the soldiers.

Mutiny to seize power? How did Qi Jiguang give this order? If His Majesty just stood there, no one would take action.

Zu Chengxun was the Lieutenant General of Liaodong. He had never been to the Beijing camp, which was why he felt terrified. But in fact, as long as he went to the Beijing camp, he would know very well that it was impossible for the Beijing camp to rebel. Chengzu left behind the method of reviewing the troops and horses every day, which solved a very serious trust problem, that is, the emperor was a little tired.

This method is actually impossible to last long. Few people born with nobles are willing to work so hard. Prince Lu Zhu Yiliu is a control group. When Prince Lu heard that the emperor was about to return to Beijing, he immediately gave up his job and left the emperor with a memorial that would take three days to complete. His Majesty did not blame him, but instead gave him many beauties from all over the world. His Majesty is a natural noble, but Wang Jinglong assassinated the king in the first year of Wanli, which awakened His Majesty's sleeping soul.

"You asked Yi Sun-sin what to do, but Yi Sun-sin didn't know how to answer. In fact, your ancestors have left you a way. If you encounter these difficulties, you can go to Ming Dynasty and cry for help, and you will be able to break the deadlock."

"Take care of his illness and let him stay in Yizhou for the time being. After this war is over, let the Korean royal family submit a memorial to thank the Ming Dynasty for its rebirth and submit to the Ming Dynasty." Qi Jiguang had no intention of killing Lee Sun. This guy and his son Gwanghaegun were still useful. The Ming Dynasty also had to maintain its dignity when doing things. No one could find fault with the Korean king's submission.

In order to save face, the Ming Dynasty, Lee Sun ran to the Ming Dynasty to cry for help, and the Ming Dynasty really helped him. However, whether Lee Sun himself could return to Korea was another matter, after all, Zhang Juzheng was already prepared to let him fall into the water.

Zhang Juzheng was a scholar, and at most his name was recorded in history books. Zhang Juzheng guessed the emperor's thoughts wrong, so he could only be granted the title of Marquis of Yicheng.

Qi Jiguang was not in a hurry to attack, as the pressure of attack was on the Japanese pirates.

He had already explained this to the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty in the court, but in order to prevent strange things like Li Cheng commanding Han Kecheng to advance from happening, Qi Jiguang wrote another battle report, elaborating in detail why the pressure of attack was on the Japanese pirates.

Because the Japanese pirates had to destroy the Korean royal family, they attacked very quickly, like autumn wind sweeping away fallen leaves, and the rebel army was everywhere in the occupied areas.

Hwangju, Haeju, Kaesong, Seoul, Gunsan, Suncheonfu, Busan Sampo, Chungju and so on are all areas where the rebel forces are active, and each place has a rebel force of over 10,000 people. If the Joseon royal family cannot be eliminated, or if the Joseon royal family does not enter Kyoto to pay homage, these rebel forces will continue to operate behind enemy lines.

Even if the Korean royal family was destroyed, or Lee Sun really fled to Japan to visit Luo, it didn't matter. The Ming Dynasty had already abolished Lee Sun's throne in advance. When he went to visit Luo, he was deposed as a king. The rebel army could still rely on the Ming Dynasty's soldiers to operate.

If the Japanese pirates are unable to capture Pyongyang and Yiju and completely conquer Korea, the activities of the volunteer army behind enemy lines will require enormous manpower and material resources to clear them out and ensure logistical supplies.

Qi Jiguang set up the Longmen formation in Pyongyang, waiting for the Japanese pirates to arrive. The Korean battlefield needed a big victory. Now the First and Second Corps had too few people. Even if all 35,000 people were wiped out, it would be a serious blow to the Japanese pirates.

The battle report was quickly sent to the capital of the Ming Dynasty in the hands of the coastal defense inspector. Zhu Yijun received Qi Jiguang's battle report the next afternoon.

Pyongyang has not fallen, the defense of Pyongyang has been completely completed, the Longmen formation has been established, the Korean royal family and ministers have been completely controlled by the Ming Dynasty. Similarly, Qi Jiguang once again elaborated on the offensive pressure of the Japanese pirates, and the strategic initiative was in the hands of the Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Yijun received a lot of good news and said to Feng Bao happily: "It's good that Pyongyang has not fallen. Can I also issue an order to let Ma Lin move his position under Jinxiu Mountain forward three meters?"

"Um, three meters ahead is the Taedong River." Feng Bao didn't quite understand what His Majesty said and didn't respond.

Zhu Yijun smiled and said, "Song Taizong Zhao Kuangyi invented the battle formation map. When the army was marching, they had to follow the battle formation map to determine when to arrive and where to camp. As a result, the hydrology changed and the camping site was in the river. The generals could not violate the battle formation map because the eunuchs who supervised the army would report the truth. So they ended up camping in the river."

Jokes about the military actions of the Northern Song Dynasty. If these jokes were compiled into a book called "Xiao Lin Guang Ji", it would probably be able to fill a hundred volumes.

The Northern Song Dynasty valued culture over military affairs, so it is no wonder that Zhao Kuangyin bullied orphans and widows and put on the yellow robe. When Zhao Da was in power, the Song Dynasty was also strong in both men and horses. When Zhao Er was shot with two arrows on the banks of Gaoliang River, he did not escape in a donkey cart, but led his army to kill the enemy. The two Song Dynasties would not have been so passive.

Zhu Yijun felt that it was somewhat unfair to blame Lee Seong-gye for the collapse of Korea. Some things were due to one's own shortcomings and one should not blame one's ancestors. The law of collecting military personnel was invented by him, Lee Sun, and the current lack of military preparations in Korea was Lee Sun's fault.

North Korea has been emphasizing culture over military for a long time. If it can defeat others but not it, it must have done something wrong.

As for the question about Li Sun, why Qi Jiguang did not usurp the throne? The reason is actually very simple. Under stable political conditions, even if Qi Jiguang wanted to, he couldn't do it, and he didn't want to.

By the time the Beijing Camp was established, Zhu Yijun had grown up.

"Isn't General Qi's plan of catching the Japanese in a trap too obvious? Even I can see it. Will it work?" Zhu Yijun said in surprise after reading the battle report: "General Qi wants to give up the lower reaches of the Taedong River to let the Japanese pirates cross the river, and then fight a decisive battle with the Japanese pirates on the plain between Mudan Peak and Pyongyang to the west of Pyongyang."

"If I were a Japanese pirate, I would never go. The most powerful weapon of the Ming army is firearms. If I cross the river and march forward, wouldn't that be a reward for General Qi's military merit? It's no secret that the Ming army is good at queuing and shooting people."

"But it seems that we can't not go. If we don't go, we will have to gather a large number of troops on the east side of the Taedong River to prevent the Ming army from attacking. Then the activities of the rebels in the rear will be unable to be suppressed. By then, we will be trapped from both sides, and the logistics will be harassed by the rebels. We can only wait for death. Tsk tsk, General Qi is worthy of being General Qi. This is an open conspiracy!"

Qi Jiguang played an open game on the Korean battlefield. The Japanese pirates' every move was led by Qi Jiguang. Zhu Yijun put himself in the shoes of the Japanese pirates' general, but all he got was despair. He had to jump into it even though he knew it was a fire pit.

The open conspiracy is, so what if you can see it? It is impossible to crack it.

"It's unfortunate for the Japanese pirates to have fallen into the hands of General Qi." Zhu Yijun reviewed Qi Jiguang's memorial, which was composed of hundreds of words, rambling on about some things in the capital. The summary was just six words: the shortage of money and food.

Zhu Yijun had just gotten rid of the Nan Ya Cotton Gang and confiscated two million silver coins from their properties. In addition, the killing of the Japanese pirates would inevitably help the Guoxing Zhengmao and sea merchants, and the Tanggu Warehouse in Tianjin Prefecture, so there was really a lot of money and food.

Killing the Japanese pirates really received universal support. Some old rich men in Jiangnan blocked the door of the government office and asked whether the court was short of money and food. Before, the old rich men were still waiting and watching, but when they heard that Qi Jiguang had gone to Korea, it was definitely not a false pretext, and the old rich men also had blood debts.

"Your Majesty is mighty, and the Ming army is mighty." Feng Bao said with a smile. Qi Jiguang, Li Rusong, Ma Lin and even Xiong Tingbi, these brave generals, have been saying one thing, that is, the personal bravery of generals is declining and is no longer the decisive factor affecting the outcome of a war on the battlefield.

After all, the tactic of firing squad has been widely used. After the artillery bombards, the infantry charges, and after the infantry charges, the artillery bombards. Even His Majesty himself can command.

However, a victorious general like Qi Jiguang still has a great influence on the morale of the army on the battlefield, so generals are still very important.

"Send a memorial to the Ministry of Revenue, asking them to keep an eye on the grain in Tanggu Warehouse in Tianjin Prefecture! If there is any problem, they will be charged with colludinous with the Japanese. Those grains are the lifeblood of the soldiers on the front line. They cannot fight on an empty stomach. Even the strongest soldiers will lose their will to fight after three days of hunger." Zhu Yijun's purpose in issuing this decree was very clear: when it comes to war, we must be serious!
On normal days, it would be fine if the fire dragon burned the warehouse, that was corruption, but if anyone dared to mess around with military rations, the emperor would definitely kill them, that was collusion with the Japanese, which was of a different nature.

Feng Bao was not a nitpicker. He actually knew that the Ming soldiers would still have the will to fight even after being hungry for three days, because when Duntai Yuanhou went deep into the enemy camp, it was common for them to be hungry for three days. Chen Mo, the commander of the criminal department, had been running around in the grasslands for five years, and it was common for him to eat raw meat and drink blood. When he was extremely hungry, he would even eat cotton.

Zhu Yijun was holding a memorial in his hand, which was jointly written by Hai Rui, Li Youzi, the Chief Censor of the Censorate, and Wan Shihe and Shen Li, the Minister of Rites, to popularize mathematics education and increase the weight of mathematics in the provincial and academy examinations, or to set mathematics and mathematical physics as the threshold.

The memorials, which contained thousands of words, summarized the development process of the imperial examination system in the past. In fact, they were just saying one thing: the imperial examination had been becoming more fair. During the Sui and Tang dynasties, not everyone could take the examination. During the Song Dynasty, the system of anonymous examinations appeared, but 70% of the officials in the Song Dynasty were appointed through favors and recommendations. In the Ming Dynasty, there were no official titles or official positions without any honors.

The purpose of testing mathematics is to make the imperial examination fairer and better achieve the goal of selecting talents for the country.

What Hai Rui meant was that one can create a genius in poetry or song, but not a genius in mathematics. As for mathematics, if you know it, you know it, and if you don't know it, you don't know it.

The specific practice was that all the provincial mathematics examinations were set by the provincial governors, which was a closed-door system similar to the metropolitan examinations. The mathematics scores were based on the scores of the entire province, and the median was taken as the passing threshold for the Juren. The median mathematics score of all the scholars in the province represented the average level. If one could not even reach this threshold, there was no need to become a Juren.

"Reforming the imperial examination system is not that easy. I have approved this memorial, and I am afraid that there will be many mistakes when it is implemented, and it may even become a tool for some people to cheat. It is okay to test mathematics in the metropolitan examination, but I will take my time to think about the provincial and academy examinations." Zhu Yijun was a little hesitant about this memorial.

The whole set of measures proposed by the Ministry of Rites was actually to extend the mathematics examination to the local provincial and academy examinations.

In the capital, under the supervision of Zhu Yijun, the mathematics examination is generally fair, but when it comes to the local level, it will probably be full of difficulties.

And the most critical problem here is: studying is expensive and mathematics is difficult.

Some students from poor families have never learned mathematics, let alone those who have no knowledge of mathematics. Passing the imperial examination is like a change from a wild chicken to a phoenix. At this time, it is not so difficult to make up for it with mathematics.

When the granaries are full, people know etiquette; when they have enough food and clothing, they know honor and disgrace. This sentence also applies to mathematics.

Zhu Yijun hesitated here. In his attempt to promote mathematics fairly, he ended up creating greater unfairness, which was not worth the loss.

"Sometimes, the most difficult thing is not to go to the West to obtain the true scriptures, but to set out." Zhu Yijun thought about it again and again, and finally approved the memorial. He did not approve it in full, but partially. He increased the weight of mathematics in the provincial examination for juren, but as for the academy examination for scholars, mathematics was still not tested.

This is determined by the current situation of the Ming Dynasty.

When spring comes and flowers bloom, it is very lively outside the Donghua Gate on the east side of the Daming Imperial Palace. Today is the day when the results of the imperial examination are announced. The results of two groups that had attracted much attention before the exam have also been revealed: there were 401 repeaters, and only one made the list, while there were 160 students of Empress Wu, and 28 made the list.

The repeaters farmed for the emperor in exchange for a chance to take the exam again, but the repeaters failed to create a miracle because all the candidates who took the repeat exam had failed three times. On the other hand, the performance of the students born under Empress Wu was exceptionally outstanding, and the proportion of Jinshi from military families increased to nearly 40%!

The proportion of Jinshi who came from military households in the Ming Dynasty was about 30%, and the outstanding performance of these Wu Hou students increased this proportion. To some extent, this represented that the civil and military affairs of the Ming Dynasty were approaching a balance again. However, the significance of this will have to be proven by time. The happiest thing now should be to announce the good news!
Zhu Yijun stood on the top floor of the Cultural Building, holding a record of successful candidates in the imperial examinations, feeling somewhat emotional. The first place winner of this exam was a student born after Empress Wu, who even got full marks in mathematics, taking the lead.

Zhu Yijun was very pleased that Empress Wu was becoming an extremely important force in the Ming Dynasty's political arena, which was one of the achievements of the Wanli Reform.

(End of this chapter)