The days when I fished in Daming

Zheng Xiong opened his throat with a cough and spoke loudly.

"You must be tired after taking the exam for so long!"

"I know you are very tired, but don't get tired yet."

"I have read the test papers. They are all well written. I have some good news. Do you want to know?"

The whole place was silent, no one showed up to show their support, and the only thing you can ask is that you are tired.

Fortunately, the secretary nearby saw Zheng Xiong's predicament.

"My Lord, have a cup of tea to moisten your throat."

Zheng Xiong's embarrassed expression flashed away and he picked up the teacup naturally.

"I will not keep you in suspense. Congratulations. From now on, you are members of the government office. I will give you two days to rest. Report to the government office the day after tomorrow."

Due to the previous awkward silence, Zheng Xiong didn't say anything about whether he was happy or not, and just waved his hand.

"Today's test ends here. Everyone go back to your homes and find your mothers. That's it."

After saying that, he went home.

It's really embarrassing, and I feel a bit socially dead.

Leave in a hurry.

People are funny sometimes.

When Zheng Xiong was around, everyone looked listless, as if they were exhausted.

After Zheng Xiong left, these women's reflexes immediately slowed down, and they started to whisper with the girls next to them while packing their things.

"I don't even know how many questions I got right. I thought I had no chance to be the Marquis. I never expected that my luck would turn and I would get it right. Hehe."

"You can do it! You're much better than me. I just wrote nonsense in the beginning and barely managed to write a few words in the final policy paper. You still passed with that. I suspect smoke is coming out of my ancestors' graves."

"Ancestors, please bless me. Since you have smoke coming out, please make more smoke. May you bless me to become the Marquis' concubine. It will not be in vain for you to smoke."

"you..."

"Tsk tsk, you have no place as a concubine, but you can barely be a maid serving tea and water."

"You're looking for a fight. I'll scratch you to death."

"Tickle her, and I'll tickle you too."

The women formed small circles of two or three, and at this moment, they chattered non-stop.

"Xiao Xiao, this time I am grateful for your advice, otherwise I would not have gotten this good thing. I am so grateful. My husband-to-be and my parents-in-law are still waiting to see me make a fool of myself. I have to go back and show off so that they won't look down on me again, haha."

"There's a limit! Don't let your wife be left with nothing to eat after you get married."

"Tsk, I'll be the emperor's breadwinner in the future, if you don't give me food, I'll complain to the Marquis and make him pay for it."

"Come on! Although the Marquis has shown a lot of favors to us women, I'm afraid he won't take care of this kind of family affairs. You should just take it easy."

"Don't worry, I have a measure."

The sound gradually faded away, and the people who were cleaning up the examination room finally quieted down and packed up their things quickly.

The exam ended successfully.

Some people are happy and others are sad.

The women taking the exam and their families were naturally very happy.

Because many of the women's families are wealthy businessmen with extra money to cultivate their children, it is a pleasant surprise for them to pass the exam.

What is the center of power? It is talented people like Zheng Xiong.

Being able to have close contact means being able to step into the center of power.

By then, even if he couldn't get close to Zheng Xiong, he could still gain some benefits for his family, so of course he couldn't be unhappy.

Another small part of them read some books by chance.

Books! The more I read, the more confused I become.

Thinking about those days that seem to have no end in sight, I hold my breath and give it a try.

Because of my courage, I was blessed this time.

I'm in a pretty good mood.

In addition to women, this exam is also good news for a group of people who are waiting to see the show. The only ones who may be frustrated are the men who were originally preparing for the next exam, weighing the gains and losses.

Over night, things started to develop rapidly.

However, Zheng Xiong still went to work as usual. What happened yesterday no longer caused him any trouble.

"Old Wang, have you found out?"

"My Lord, I have some clues, but I think it is unlikely."

"If you have any clues, just tell us. Don't be so fussy."

"It seems like someone greeted me."

That’s right, Zheng Xiong said without thinking much.

"Is it that bastard Hu Weiyong who did this?"

Wang Peng waved his hands repeatedly. Zheng Xiong and Hu Weiyong had a falling out. Zheng Xiong dared to scold him, that was his ability. He dared not say anything nonsense, not even a word in agreement, so he quickly answered.

"No, no, I suspect that the Kong family has spread the word that you use both men and women, which is not Confucianism, but worse than the devil. Confucianism does not tolerate it, and we cannot associate with you."

"Hey."

This was something Zheng Xiong had not expected.

After all, the Kong family is in a bit of an awkward situation now, and Old Zhu doesn't have a good impression of the Kong family.

When Jin came, it surrendered to Jin; when Meng came, it surrendered to Meng; when Ming came, it surrendered to Ming; when Qing came, it surrendered to Qing. The main goal was to surrender for all eternity.

This is Zheng Xiong’s impression.

It's nothing. You just need to do the surrender letter obediently. Zhu just wants a nominal recognition. The whole country and the scholars will be united. That's enough.

But the previous generation of Yanshenggong clung to the Mongols and Yuan Dynasty.

Even when the battle reached Qufu, Kong Kejian avoided the enemy and instead asked his son Kong Xixue to come forward.

After that, the country was settled, and Zhu summoned Kong Kejian to Nanjing. Kong Kejian still refused to see him, so he asked his son to go over.

You should know that the title of Yanshenggong belongs to Kong Kejian.

To Zhu, Kong Kejian's absence seemed like a sign of despisation.

This undoubtedly pissed off Lao Zhu.

The imperial edict was extremely severe.

I heard that your ancestor Confucius taught the world and established moral principles, so that his descendants are not ordinary people. Therefore, for dozens of generations, they have often been guests of the royal family. Is it only today? The Hu Yuan invaded China and disregarded the rituals and teachings. The traditional ethics were corrupted, and the heaven was really disgusted with them, because they lost their teacher. I led the people of China to obey the will of heaven and drive out the Hu, to bring peace to China, and to restore the old ways of the ancient kings. Although I started from common people, I actually inherited the tradition of the ancient emperors. Moreover, the ancient who started from common people and became emperor was the Han Dynasty's Gaozu. Where the will of heaven is, who can go against it?

This imperial edict is tantamount to pointing at the nose and calling a traitor. How dare you look down on me?

There is no other way.

Kong Kejian had no choice but to come to Nanjing in person.

Even when Lao Zhu came, he was not in a good mood.

"Old scholar, come closer. How old are you?"

He replied, "I am fifty-three years old."

Old Zhu: "I think you are a happy and blessed person, so I won't entrust you with anything. You often write books to your children, and I think you have a good temperament and are a good person to start a family. Your ancestors left behind the Three Bonds and Five Constant Virtues, which are good laws that will last for generations. Your family doesn't read books, which means they don't follow the laws of your ancestors. How can that be right? You always write books to teach your children, so don't be lazy. In my dynasty, can't you have another good person in your family?"

Despite the twists and turns, Zhu Yuanzhang still wanted to confer the title of Yansheng Duke for the sake of ruling. However, the candidate was not Kong Kejian, as Zhu Yuanzhang had always been resentful of Kong Kejian's failure to come to court before, so he chose to let his son Kong Xixue inherit the title.

In Jiachen, Xixue, the 56th generation grandson of Confucius, inherited the title of Yansheng Duke, and Xida became the hereditary magistrate of Qufu.

Although Kong Kejian was disliked by Zhu Yuanzhang and the Kong family was not allowed to serve as officials in the court, he was still given due courtesy and preferential treatment during the Ming Dynasty.

In the end, the Kong family remained the same Kong family. When Li Zicheng entered Beijing, the Kong family surrendered.

Dorgon conquered Shandong, and the Kong family submitted another "First Memorial"

Even when the Qing Dynasty issued an order to shave one's head, the Kong family took the lead in shaving their heads. Their behavior was outrageous and despised by others.

Because of all the things that happened, the Kong family was naturally disliked by Zheng Xiong.

However, Zheng Xiong could not have imagined that the Kong family actually had the spare energy to find trouble for him in his own Yingtian Prefecture. Perhaps they were just living too comfortably.

(End of this chapter)