Great Ming Dynasty Wen Chao Gong

Chapter 195 Imperial Examination Troubles
The next day, Shulhaqi couldn't wait to visit.

"This Prince Consort's Mansion is indeed extraordinary. It is indeed a place worthy of a princess and a Prince Consort." Shuerhaqi couldn't help but sigh as he entered.

"Governor Shu, I want to correct you. This Prince Consort's Mansion is just for me to live in. The princess lives in the princess's mansion. I also have to go to the princess's mansion before I can meet the princess." Zhang Xiao explained.

"Is that so? Then isn't this prince-in-law your son-in-law?"

"Yeah, maybe it's better to be a live-in son-in-law. I heard that your brother was also a live-in son-in-law. I wonder if that's true?"

"Mr. Zhang, please forgive me. Shu Mou was a little arrogant for a while. My brother did serve as a son-in-law in the Tong family before. The two of us brothers were able to raise an army with the support of Mr. Tong. Otherwise, we More than a dozen people don’t even have a place to eat or sleep.”

Sincerity is the most powerful weapon. Seeing Shuerhaqi's immersed expression in recalling the bitterness and sweetness, Zhang Xiao couldn't say anything more.

"General Shu came to visit this time because he had something important to say." Zhang Xiao saw that Shuerhaqi didn't get to the point for a long time, so he just said it himself.

"Mr. Zhang, you have always been a popular person in front of His Majesty, and now you have become the consort. Can you ask the court for me? That is, I, Shuerhaqi, am now the governor of Jianzhou like my brother. The court is Isn’t it the intention to let Shu lead the army alone?”

"What is the imperial court's intention? Zhang dare not say anything. General Shu, your military position is the same as that of General Nu. You are an official of Jisi. General Nu is just an extra dragon and tiger general. This does not mean that General Shu will Accept the command of General Nu. As for how the power between you and General Nu should be distributed, this is the internal affairs of the Jianzhou Ministry. The court will not interfere with the internal affairs of each ministry unless there is a special need. You cannot attack privately, let alone have the intention of rebellion, otherwise when the soldiers arrive from tomorrow, you will not know how many killings will occur, which is what your Majesty does not want to see. "

Looking at Shuerhaqi acting loyal in front of him, Zhang Xiao couldn't help but not knowing what to say. He even wondered what Shuerhaqi would think if he knew that he would be killed by his brother. Such a drama What impact will it have on the overall situation of the world? However, this kind of thought is fleeting. After all, political struggle depends on talent. Even if He Jin got "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms" or "The Chronicles of the Three Kingdoms", it would be better if you don't believe it. If you believe it, it might be better than those who died in history. Earlier and uglier.

"Is that true? Then what does the court need Shu to do? Shu will be willing to go through fire and water without hesitation." Shuerhaqi said eagerly.

"The imperial court wants me, the Jianzhou Department, to look after the various tribes in Eastern Mongolia. This is not a big problem. After all, the Jianzhou Department now has no interaction with other Mongolian tribes except for making peace with the Horqin tribe. Even when my brother and I were in Liaodong Li When the old man was under his command, he fought several fierce battles with the Mongols. But what happened to keeping an eye on North Korea? Didn't the imperial court just help North Korea recover? Why did it still entrust the Jianzhou Ministry to keep an eye on North Korea? "

Thinking of this, Zhang Xiao put on a warm smile again.

"The Jianzhou Ministry has always been loyal to the imperial court, and I, Shuerhaqi, are even more so. This time at the imperial court, I proposed to His Majesty that I would personally lead the elite of the Jianzhou Ministry to attack Yang Yinglong's tribe, but His Majesty said that the imperial court would The system did not agree to Shu’s request.”

"That's because although the Korean state is relatively submissive compared to some rebellious tributary countries, it is still not loyal and practical enough to the Ming Dynasty. The reason why the Japanese invaded Korea and caused such a big stir was that the Korean monarchs and ministers were not loyal enough to the Ming Dynasty. The military strength of the Japanese country was seriously misjudged, and they did not dare to report the news of the Japanese invaders to the court in time. Otherwise, the court would know the exact news, and there was a request for troops from North Korea, so they would send a large army to help earlier, fearing that it would be a large Japanese army. If they dare not move at all, even if they dare to move, Konishi Nobunaga and Kato Kiyomasa will probably suffer an unimaginable defeat early on."

"So now the imperial court is not only worried about Yang Ni, who is rebelling in Bozhou, but also the Jurchen tribes. After all, no matter which Jurchen tribe they are, they are in conflict with the imperial court, and now the various tribes are attacking each other. The Jianzhou tribe is now one of the Jurchen tribes. First of all, in addition to paying tribute to the court diligently, there is another important task, which is to unite the Jurchen tribes. All tribes must live in peace and pay tribute to the court on time. They must also help look after the various tribes in Eastern Mongolia and North Korea. ." Zhang Xiao said in a deceitful way.

"General Shu, don't worry. The Jianzhou Ministry was faced with a strong enemy before, and it was willing to send troops to aid the Korean War. The reinforcements were led by General Shu yourself. The court will remember these achievements, and no one on the left or right will treat General Shu badly."

"Now the imperial court does not need anything from North Korea. In the past, the Japanese country Toyotomi Hideyoshi dared to offend the power of heaven. As a result, he lost his troops and his prestige. This caused the Japanese Kanto samurai to follow Tokugawa Ieyasu in rebellion. Toyotomi Hideyoshi was also angry to death. The remaining A child named Toyotomi Hideyori was also said to be a bastard, and the government could not tell Osaka City. I am afraid that the people of Osaka would not believe that the Toyotomi family was orphaned and widowed. As for Mongolia's Buyan Khan, it cannot be trusted. His father, Tuman Khan, was so good at fighting that he could not win over the princes and win their hearts. He only pretended to be a fool in the grassland and discovered the jade seal of the Yuan Dynasty. , I can say that all day long, and say that I am a Mongolian orthodox, a direct descendant of Dayan Khan, but why does this come from, not to mention that the Oara tribes in the west ignore him, he is a descendant of Anda Khan. The so-called Mongolian Khan's decrees are treated like waste paper. As far as I know, even the Khalkha tribe, which is closest to the Chahar Khan Court, now ignores the new Khan. "

"There were rumors before that the North Korean country originally wanted to fight against both sides, but the Japanese country saw through the truth and recruited a large army to make a desperate move. This is true or false. This small Japanese country actually has such fighting power."

"So now the court is also wondering whether the technology of the Folangji people using fire guns and artillery was secretly passed on to the Japanese country, so that the Japanese country could act as a pawn, and then the European countries followed suit. Then Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi, It is very likely that it is a chess piece supported by the Folangji Kingdom. Otherwise, when would the Japanese country have such courage? Of course, this is just one of the many assumptions about the Japanese country. Whether it is true or not depends on General Shu. Just think about it for yourself." Zhang Xiao started talking nonsense again, leaving Shuerhaqi stunned.

While Zhang Xiao was still chatting with Shuerhaqi, as they were close friends with each other, the imperial examination had begun as expected. After the results of the provincial examination came out, Li Zhizao rushed to the place where the results were announced and found that he was already in high school. Although he did not rank among the top few, compared with Sun Shan's appearance, Li Zhizao's heart was already full of positive energy. However, Li Zhizao's happy moment did not last long. Soon Li Zhizao discovered that the classmates who congratulated him for passing the exam were a little colder to him. The classmates who did not congratulate him for passing the exam looked like they had seen through everything. Li Zhizao's eyes even had a hint of disdain. Although Li Zhizao had some doubts, now was the glorious moment to be named on the gold list, and he was still indulged in the high-spirited imagination of "the spring breeze is so proud that the horse's hooves are so bad that he can see all the flowers in Chang'an in one day". It wasn't until the break that a classmate of Li Zhizao finally couldn't bear it. He couldn't bear that his friend was still being kept in the dark, and quietly handed a copy of the newspaper to Li Zhizao. Although Li Zhizao was confused, he still found a Li Zhizao quietly opened the newspaper copy in an unattended corner, but when Li Zhizao saw that the warm and comfortable handwritten newspaper from the Imperial College was gone, it was replaced by an article full of fighting meaning, and the content seemed to be directed at himself, and the connotation He relied on Zhang Xiao's connections to cheat in the imperial examination and get the questions in advance, so that Li Zhizao suddenly became a supervisor of the Imperial College from a failed foreign scholar, and also became the first in the provincial examination. It must be because Zhang Xiao was arrogant and used to bossing around various ministries, so the Ministry of Rites had to give in to Zhang Xiao's unreasonable request and quietly revealed the title of the composition. This article was not enough. When Li Zhizao flipped through the following chapters, he also found other articles that were also mocking him.

In this way, Li Zhizao's face, which was still bright and sunny while reading the article, suddenly changed.

Li Zhizao really couldn't stay any longer, so he hurriedly took leave from his teacher, without even going back to see the house where he lived. After all, this time was really a big event.

Of course, by the time Li Zhizao arrived at Zhang Xiao's home to seek advice, Zhang Xiao and Lu Zhang had already had a heated discussion on the matter. Seeing Li Zhizao's arrival, neither of them were surprised. Instead, they asked Li Zhizao to sit down and chat together.

Seeing Zhang Xiao's calm look, Li Zhizao couldn't stand it any longer. He told Zhang Xiao how hard he had studied in the past few years and the grievances he had suffered. Especially the feeling that he suddenly went from being on top to being knocked down today made Li Zhizao speak out.

"Zhenzhi, I already know about this matter. No matter what, it's still very hard for you to come all the way to talk about this matter. Wenhua and I discussed it for a long time. Maybe this problem may really arise on my side. It seems that Zhang went to Henan on the emperor's order, and somehow felt that he had offended so many people. Otherwise, since you are now successful in your studies, since Zhang is already here, it can be regarded as a good thing. It's embarrassing for you. You got the first place in the provincial examination this time, which is valued by the big bosses in the court. You might as well find a teacher quickly, maybe someone can help you. This place is really weird. , It seems that you won’t have to come here anymore,” Zhang Xiao said.

"Mr. Zhang, who do you think I, Li Zhizao, am? Li was able to enter the Imperial Academy with your sponsorship, Mr. Zhang. Mr. Zhang, you had previously discussed confidential matters with Li, which benefited Li a lot. Now that I have a literary name in the imperial examination, I have to cut off the virtue of respecting teachers and respecting morality. So Li Zhizao solemnly explained.

"So Zhenzhi, what are your plans now?"

"Mr. Zhang, I want to officially accept you as my teacher. Li will not take the next examination. Since it is Mr. Zhang who has given these conveniences, Li will shine. Now because of Li's imperial examination, Mr. Li is so embarrassed. "

"Zhenzhi, why don't you go ahead and take the imperial examination. These people just don't like me. Even if you don't take the imperial examination now, they won't say anything good to me. Instead, they will delay you in vain." Zhang Xiao reminded.

"Thank you, Master, for your guidance." Li Zhizao nodded seriously.

However, Zhang Xiao still underestimated this rumor that appeared out of thin air. In the end, there were even various weird message versions. The most outrageous one said that the court would soon come to punish Zhang Xiao. There were even He said that His Majesty had ordered Zhang Xiao to commit suicide for the sake of royal dignity, and described the process so vividly that it made Zhang Xiao's neck feel a little raw. He touched his big head and really didn't know what was going on after taking it off. use. However, the plot is well written. Zhang Xiao thinks it would be great if the next novel could adapt these rumors into stories.

The first person to come was Matteo Ricci. Zhang Xiao couldn't bear it anymore. After all, Matteo Ricci still didn’t know how this official who he thought loved Western culture was going to trick him.

"Mr. Li, have you found a talent who is familiar with your painting techniques and how to paint buildings there?" the emperor asked.

"Zhang Consort, I really admire you. As far as I know, you have been caught up in a big political change. If you can't get out of this political change, it will be too bad. . But in such an urgent situation, you have not forgotten my promise to you. Please rest assured, Prince Consort, the talent you need will be here soon," Matteo Ricci couldn't help but say.

"Mr. Li, your words are too heavy and too exaggerated. There is nothing wrong with me, I just feel sorry for brother Zhenzhi. He ranked first in the provincial examination, but now he has to be so humiliated. I really don't know what to say. What's good?" Zhang Xiao sighed.

"Zhang Prince Consort, I've seen your imperial examination system and I'm still very interested. What I've seen along the way these days is that the candidates are all different, with a big gap between rich and poor, and a big age gap, but they are all very willing to believe in the imperial examination. It’s unimaginable in Europe that we can change their destiny.”

"Because the imperial examination system is an important system passed down from the Sui and Tang Dynasties, it is the main basis for the selection and appointment of people by the imperial court. Chinese scholars' belief in the imperial examination has long been deeply rooted. From a certain perspective, it is much stronger than Confucius's own belief. "There are many reasons why Dayuan was so powerful that it lasted less than a hundred years, and the delay in starting the imperial examination was one of the important reasons."

(End of this chapter)