After the whole family was swept away, I lay down flat

Chapter 655: Change of Track
Haitang overheard her grandmother Ma talking to her grandfather Hai Xiya: "Why did Sister Ma suddenly come up with such an idea for Chang'an? Chang'an is the son of our Hai family. He has grown up safely and everyone knows who he is. Now that the Zhenguo Mansion doesn't mind his identity, he said he wanted to change his surname back to Chang. What do people think?"

Hai Xiya whispered, "Since it was Ma Shangyi who came up with the idea, she must have known what was going on and would not let Chang'an suffer any loss."

"Then what do you think? We have worked so hard to raise this child and are planning to let him take your place and serve in the army. If he changes his surname back to Chang, can he still be considered a member of our Hai family?"

Hai Xiya was silent for a long time before answering: "This matter is a little inappropriate. We don't need to worry about it here. It depends on what Chang'an thinks."

Haitang quietly left the window and walked towards the study in the west wing.

In the west wing study, Hai Jiao was immersed in his study. The year-end exam had already reached the last subject, which was the most difficult subject for him to learn. He had to hurry up and read a few more pages of the book, so as not to be unable to answer the questions in the exam tomorrow. The teacher of this subject was the most difficult, and never gave students some simple questions to deal with easily.

Haitang sat beside him for a long time before he looked up: "Okay, I just finished reciting a text, I need to take a break. If you have anything to say, just tell me."

Haitang then told him what she had just overheard.

Hai Jiao was surprised, then he pondered for a moment: "Ma Shangyi still wants to let Second Uncle go to Beijing as a descendant of the Chang family's side branch to slap the Chang family in the face, right? She is an old person in the Cining Palace, and she keeps in touch with the Empress Dowager and Concubine Xu in the palace, and can even pass messages to the emperor. Naturally, she feels that she is confident in recommending someone to serve in front of the emperor. Even if he is just a small military officer in the imperial guards, it is much better than the Chang family who can only rely on the Ji Wang Mansion. However, she recommended Second Uncle out of her own selfishness, and probably didn't consider Second Uncle's future prospects. If Second Uncle wants to enter the army as the adopted son of the military household Hai family, it will be more convenient to continue with the surname Hai than to change back to his original surname. Otherwise, in the future, someone will find fault with him and question whether he is qualified to join the army. If he is not careful, he will even lose his military position."

Haitang thought that this matter was nothing: "As long as the emperor issued an order, no matter who he is, anyone can occupy a place in the imperial guards, regardless of whether he is from a military family or not. I think Second Uncle himself is unwilling to change back to the Chang surname, but he does not want to disobey Ma Shangyi's wishes, so he has been struggling and unable to make a decision."

Hai Jiao sneered, "If he really doesn't want to change back to his original surname, it's simple. Changing his surname was his late father's last wish before he died, and he just said he dared not disobey. Filial piety is the most important virtue. With the will of old man Chang Gengxing, no one can find fault with him. Even if he said this in front of the emperor, he could still say it with confidence."

Haitang thought that she would go to talk to her second uncle and second aunt about this matter soon, so she changed the subject: "I proposed that second uncle take over grandfather's job in the army, just to let second uncle take over for you for a few years, but judging from what Ma Shangyi said, this process may take a long time, until her revenge on the Chang family is over. Will this affect your future career?" "It's okay." Haijiao didn't take it to heart, "Even if second uncle keeps this quota, or even passes it to Xiao Shitou, it doesn't matter. Maybe the Hai family will have objections, but it doesn't matter to me. Others value this quota because they have no other way to enter the army. But I have confidence in myself. Even if I don't have this quota, I can still get Tu Rong's favor and rise quickly in the army."

Even if he didn't get Tu Rong's golden thigh, he could still use the relationship with the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion to get himself a military position. No matter what, his real ability is visible to everyone. His family and friends are familiar with the Zhou family, and he is also a good friend of the young masters of the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion. With such good conditions, why can't he make a name for himself?
Haitang thought about it and said, "If that's the case, brother might as well try the martial arts exam. Second uncle didn't participate in the martial arts exam because he wasn't sure when it would resume, and Ma Shangyi didn't want to wait too long. But brother is still young and not in a hurry to join the army, so he can patiently wait for the day when the martial arts exam resumes."

Haijiao was stunned for a moment, and then fell into deep thought.

What my younger sister said made sense. My second uncle was almost thirty years old, and he couldn't wait for the martial arts exam, but it didn't matter to me. Apart from anything else, he knew exactly when the martial arts exam was resumed. Even though many things had changed in the past two lives, and he couldn't rely on what happened in the past life, at least he knew more than others!

He lowered his voice and said to Haitang, "In my previous life, the provincial examination was resumed next year, but the imperial examination was cancelled due to the death of the empress dowager. When it was resumed again, two years had passed. At that time, the entire Zhenguo Mansion had moved to the capital, but they were still in mourning and could not participate..."

Now that Empress Dowager Zhou is in good health and has reconciled with the Emperor, the relationship between her family and the Emperor has also improved greatly, so they may not die at the same time. Since Ma Shangyi received news that the provincial military examination will be resumed next autumn, the examination the year after will also be held as scheduled. Even if something unexpected happens and it has to be postponed for two years, what kind of trouble is that for the young Haijiao?

If he grows two or three more years older, he will be taller and stronger, and he will have more time to prepare. Both his literary and military skills will improve greatly, and he will have a better chance of passing the martial arts examination.

Haijiao whispered, "I don't remember what the questions were for the military examination in my previous life. In fact, I didn't think it had anything to do with me at all at that time, and I never asked about it, but I know what subjects the military examination will test. First, the strategy will be tested, and then the martial arts. The strategy will test both the Military Classics and the Four Books, and the martial arts will mainly focus on riding and shooting. At that time, most of the candidates failed in front of the Four Books, but those who couldn't pass the strategy test couldn't take the military examination. Therefore, the top three candidates who were finally selected were more like literati, and their riding and shooting skills were far inferior to the rookies in the army. The border war broke out again, and they did not perform well in the war and failed to overwhelm the generals of the Northwest Frontier Army. Later, when the court held the military examination again, it no longer tested the content of the Four Books. In addition to the Military Classics, it added questions such as the Art of War, astronomy, and geography. The military examination was also a must for everyone. If you are an outstanding martial artist, you can get extra points by taking the weapon test."

If the imperial court reinstated the military examination in this life and followed this rule, Hai Jiao felt that he had a good chance of passing the latest exam or the one a few years later. He could not say that he would definitely win the title of Wu Zhuangyuan, but he could still strive for a Wu Jinshi.

If he had the title of military scholar, even if it was far less popular than the title of civil scholar, he could still be appointed an official by the imperial court. At that time, would he still need to worry about the number of military households?
He originally did not want to join the Northwest Frontier Army directly, lest he be trapped in Chang'an by military orders and unable to return to Zhili with his family smoothly. But if he was directly granted an official position in the capital, he would have nothing to worry about. As for whether he would be feared by the powerful officials in the court because of his long-term residence in the northwest, and thrown to a remote guard post at random... that would depend on his plan at that time. Since he was reborn, he had worked hard to climb up the backers, could they still be made of clay?
(End of this chapter)