King Luhuang of the Ming Dynasty: My father, Ming Taizu

Ma Wensheng and Zhu Tan both frowned. This matter was really difficult to handle and even the cabinet ministers could not make the decision!

Needless to say, Zhu Tan's reputation was so high that everyone avoided him.

The same goes for Ma Wensheng. If Ma Wensheng had some connections, how could he not even be able to get into a department?
Could it be that he could not get the ticket passed and could he still think of a way to go to the Ministry of Revenue?
Seeing the expressions of Zhu Tan, Ma Wensheng and others, Ma Cong said, "In fact, there is no need to go through any cabinet meeting. As long as the Marquis is on good terms with the Minister of Internal Affairs, the matter can be handed over to the Silijian, and the eunuchs of the Zhibijian will come forward to suppress it. Although this is against the rules, it is just to leave a proof for people. The key lies in the timing, and the rest can be ignored."

The eyes of Zhu Tan and Ma Wensheng both lit up.

Zhu Tan praised: "Brother, what you said is absolutely right. Let's do it this way!"

Ma Wensheng never expected that his ordinary son would be so smart. Did he underestimate him?

Zhu Tan is busy. Tomorrow is the birthday of Empress Dowager Zhou, and he will definitely attend. As for the imperial examination, he also has to be careful to avoid being stabbed in the back.

So he took Ma Wensheng's letter and decided to stay in the palace for one night.

Zhu Tan was indeed not on good terms with any eunuchs, and he had no relationship with Dai Yi from the Imperial Household Department. After much thought, he had no choice but to set his sights on He Wendi.

After He Wendi became the commander-in-chief, he had even more free time. When he saw Zhu Tan coming, he was very surprised.

Zhu Tan did not consider himself an outsider. He could not tell He Wending about his experience, but he thought that He Wending should understand what he meant.

He Wending laughed: "It's not that easy to get the memorial from the Imperial Household Department. Without the consent of the cabinet, it won't count. Lord, do you understand what it means to bring disaster to the country and the people?"

Zhu Tan looked impatient. "I have something urgent to do. Just tell me if it's okay! If it really doesn't work, I'll ask the Queen for mercy. This time, what I want to do is something very important."

He Wending smacked his lips and said, "I'll tell Dai Yi not to show up, so as to avoid ruining the situation."

Zhu Tan also rolled his eyes at him. It turned out that in the eyes of some people, he was a bad guy!

After traveling through time for so long, his personality is still the same as before, and his heart is so tired.

Things have come to this point.

Led by Zhang Wei, Tang Bohu and Xu Jing came to Shuntian Palace and threatened them.

Xu Jing even had someone deliver a silver note of 100,000 taels to Zhang Wei, right in front of the official.

After the City Defense Bureau's publicity, many candidates who came to Beijing to take the imperial examinations knew about this.

For them, this was a great victory, forcing the notorious Marquis Jianchang to surrender and let them go.

It was understandable that Xu Jing lost the money. After all, Tang Bohu had never painted a picture for Zhu Tan. Instead, he used his own money to give it to a master, which was in itself a very unfair thing.

The first group of people who came to greet Tang Bohu and Xu Jing were all famous talents in Jiangnan, most of whom were Tang Bohu's classmates.

Tang Bohu was the top scholar in the previous session. Although he had some fame among scholars, it was impossible for him to have such a great influence.

Since Tang Bohu was arrogant by nature, he was not popular. If it weren't for his face, I'm afraid so many people wouldn't have come.

Tang Bohu's fellow villager and also his friend, Du Mu, who was Tang Bohu's friend, invited them to have a drink to calm them down.

Tang Bohu was broad-minded and had the support of Ma Wensheng and Zhu Tan, so he did not appear timid and remained arrogant.

On the contrary, Xu Jing finally came to his senses after Tang Bohu kicked him.

These people get together and talk about everything and anything. In modern terms, they are a bunch of typical keyboard warriors.

At the banquet, most people were attacking Marquis Jianchang, saying that such a royal relative was a disaster to the Ming Dynasty and deserved to be put to death.

The two talked for a few more words, and finally talked about the imperial examination two days later.

This is the most important exam in their lives and the last stone that determines whether they can enter officialdom.

As he was speaking, he heard the news coming from outside that the chief examiner had been confirmed. The examiner for this exam was Li Dongyang, the Minister of Rites, and the deputy examiner was Cheng Minzheng, the Right Prime Minister of Rites.

The invigilator was Lin Tingyu, the supervising supervisor was Zhang Jin, and there were twelve other invigilating teachers.

Du Mu smiled at Xu Jing and said, "Brother Xu Xian, you are so lucky to have Mr. Cheng as your teacher!"

When Cheng Minzheng was in politics, he once accepted Xu Jing as his student. Xu Jing also came to take the imperial examination. Du Mu was right. The chief examiner was the examiner in charge of the examination.

If this is the case, Xu Jing, Cheng Minzheng's disciple, has definitely gotten a great advantage.

Xu Jing responded politely, then his eyes flashed, and he lowered his voice to Tang Bohu and said, "Brother Bohu, I just met the steward of the Earl of Changhua. I'll leave now."

Tang Bohu nodded: "When the enemy comes, we will stop him. When the water comes, we will block it with earth. Remember, don't come again and again."

Tang Bohu was well aware of the friendship between the Xu family and Changhua Earl Shao Xi, and was afraid that Xu Jing would stab him in the back, which would be a huge trouble.

Xu Jing nodded. He was not a fool and knew how to protect himself.

Moreover, Ma Wensheng has the emperor's support. No matter how powerful Shao Xi is, he cannot compare to the emperor!
Xu Jing said a few polite words and then followed Shao Xi's manager to the jade shop where Shao Xi was.

Xu Jing was surprised to find that Shao Xi didn't say anything, but just comforted him with a few words and asked him to prepare well for the exam.

He also specially prepared a valuable gift for his teacher Cheng Minzheng.

Xu Jing suddenly became alert and a feeling of despair rose in his heart.

Shao Xi's words had forced him into a desperate situation. Was the friendship between the two families really so fragile?
Xu Jingshun thought of Zhu Tan and Ma Wensheng's instructions, and said, "Thank you, sir. I'll leave now."

Xu Jing withdrew with the valuable gifts, and Shao Xi turned and went to the backyard, among whom was Zhou Yu, the Earl of Changning.

Zhou Yu had already heard the previous words and laughed, "Brother Shao is very generous. From now on, the Xu family's source of income will be cut off."

Shao Xi shook his head. "You can't say that. I have already distanced myself from him. I have given the bigger gifts to Cheng Minzheng's servants. I will give the questions at noon today. The rest depends on you."

Zhou Yu was delighted when he heard this. He didn't expect Shao Xi could create his own exam, which involved a lot of tricks.

"I will take action after the assessment is over. Have you discussed this with Hua Chang?"

"Everything is ready, everything is ready, only the east wind is missing." Shao Xi sent Zhou Yu away and said unhappily, "With your character, if I didn't need you, I wouldn't even bother to see you."

"Uncle!" a voice came from behind.

As soon as Shao Xi finished speaking, a young man walked out from behind the screen. He looked to be in his twenties and had a pretty handsome appearance.

Shao Xi was very respectful to him and waved at him.

This man was called Lu Song. He was Zhu Youlang’s nephew, his most trusted son, and his biological nephew.

After Zhu Youhua returned to Beijing, Lu Song's father Lu followed him to the Prince Xing's Palace and became a member of the Imperial Guard. They were both loyal to Zhu Youhua, so Shao Xi also had a high opinion of Lu Song.

"Your Highness has come to the capital this time to celebrate the Empress Dowager's birthday. I wonder if Your Highness has anything to say to her?"

Lu Song nodded, "The prince asked me to send a message to you to tell you that everything is fine in Anlu Palace, please rest assured.

Among Shao Xi's three nephews, he favored the eldest son Zhu Youlang the most. He also thought that the eldest son was more suitable than the current Li Chunfeng.

But he just thought about it and didn't think too much about it.

What is even more surprising is that before Zhu Youlang ascended the throne, his eldest son Zhu Houcong ascended the throne.

Shao Xi called Lu Song over because he wanted to ask him something.

"There is a person I want you to take a letter to. Is that okay?"

Lu Song quickly said: "Sir, whatever you ask, I, Lu Song, will do it."

"Okay, you send this document to the store on Tianjing Lane, facing the street, and don't worry about anything else."

Shao Xi was also unwilling to implicate his nephew Zhu Youlang, because after Zhu Di's rebellion, the Ming Dynasty had exercised very strict control over the kings.

If they knew that Zhu Youlang was colluding with other ministers, it would be a big problem.

However, Shao Xi wanted to spread this matter without anyone knowing, so he had no choice but to use Lu Song.

Lu Song understood, put the letter away, and then stepped back.

On the second day, Queen Mother Zhou celebrated her birthday and many people came to celebrate.

Zhu Tan did not participate in it, but met Wang Hua in Zhu Houzhao's palace.

Wang Hua repeated the Analects to Zhu Houzhao, and finally looked at Zhu Tan and said, "My Lord, we can't have the class anymore!"

Zhu Tan chuckled, "Mr. Wang, I have no ill intentions. I just want to talk to you. I wonder what you think about this year's imperial examination? I wonder if Brother Bo'an has any plans?"

Seeing that Zhu Houzhao was unable to teach, Zhu Tan asked him about the imperial examination, and Wang Hua put the books aside.

"Thank you for your guidance at Guangle Tower. I heard that Bo'an is very capable. He should have no problem getting the top two spots."

Zhu Tan knew very well that Wang Hua and Li Dongyang were close friends, so he could not tell Wang Hua about the mistakes he made in the exam, as that would have the opposite effect. Therefore, he changed it to be more tactful.

"I heard that some people seem to be selling the questions for this year's examination. What do you think, Mr. Wang?"

Wang Hua laughed and said, "My Lord, you may not know that many people are selling these questions for the imperial examinations held every three years. These questions are the ones that have been summarized over the past ten years. Although they can be used as reference, there are not too many of them."

Wang Hua then explained to Zhu Tan what the questions of the exam were, and this move played exactly what Zhu Tan wanted.

"Mr. Wang, since the questions were written by the examiner, there is a high possibility that the news will leak out. Brother Bo'an, you have to be careful. I heard that Cheng Minzheng's questions are the most difficult to solve."

Wang Hua smiled. He was the top scholar and a very talented person. What he hated most was someone asking this kind of questions. He was very close to Li Dongyang, but compared with Cheng Minzheng, he was nothing like him.

Zhu Tan planted this idea in Wang Hua's mind, and then became grateful for Wang Hua's hint to him yesterday.

Wang Hua also said seriously: "My Lord, this imperial examination is of great importance. Everyone is the hope of the country. Don't let them down. My Lord, it would be great if you could let these two children go."

Zhu Tan smiled slightly and invited Wang Hua to Zhou's birthday party.

Wang Hua was an outsider and could not enter and leave the palace at will. Wang Hua had no choice but to go to Qingning Palace with Zhu Tan and his nephew.

As a descendant of Zhu Qizhen, Zhou's status was unique both inside and outside the palace.

In the early morning, guests came to celebrate Zhou's birthday, but they were all very polite. Only the outside officials came out to show their faces, and the female family members stayed in Qingning Palace to accompany Zhou. The atmosphere was full of joy and happiness.

Zhu Youtang was the first to pay his respects to Zhou, and the other ministers, including the six ministries and nine officials, also paid their respects to him.

And those below the rank of Shangshu and below the third-rank officials are not even qualified to enter.

Just like Wang Hua, if there were no Zhu Tan and Zhu Houzhao, he would only be at home, wishing the emperor a happy birthday from afar. It was also an honor to be able to come as a subject.

Zhu Tan quickly left Wang Hua, and after talking about some trivial matters with Zhu Youtang, he was summoned to Qingning Palace by Empress Zhang.

Zhu Tan then realized that it was his brother-in-law and sister who were helping him to make connections!

Zhang Huang smiled slightly and waved at Zhu Tan.

"Wait a minute, my dear, come with me. When we get to the birthday banquet, choose one carefully."

Zhu Tan thought, what if I fall in love with a married woman? Sister, are you going to kill me?

This kind of joke was just something he thought about. Looking at Empress Zhang's smiling face, he didn't say much and just nodded.

If he annoys his sister and says something in his ear, who knows who she will marry.

Zhu Tan turned around and paid his respects to Zhou, Queen Mother Wang, Concubine Shao, and several concubines of Emperor Yingzong and Emperor Xianzong, appearing to be very obedient.

Perhaps only Queen Mother Wang Yan knew what kind of person Zhu Tan was. When she saw Zhu Tan, Wang Yan's heart trembled.

Zhu Tan simply wanted to cause trouble for Wang Yan, and she was actually very close to Zhou, Wang Yan and others.

Due to the different positions, the position between him and Wang Yan should be slightly forward.

"Yan'er, I have prepared the salt permits and will give the money to Wang Yuan tomorrow."

The thing Zhu Tan asked Zhang Wei to do was indeed just a trivial matter.

Wang Yan almost frightened herself to death when she heard Zhu Tan's call.

Although she and Zhu Tan were the only two people in the palace who knew her name, Zhu Tan was so bold that he felt a little nervous and did not dare to talk to him.

Zhu Tan was talking to Wang Yan while observing his surroundings.

Zhou was indeed an old woman. She was the wife of Zhu Qizhen, the most famous general of the Ming Dynasty. She was already very old. In addition, most of the emperors of the Ming Dynasty had short lives. From Zhou to Emperor Xianzong Zhu Jianshen, their wives were all less than 40 years old.

The woman of the Shaw family is the most beautiful, she is in her thirties, Wang Yan is the second most beautiful, and Zhu Tan is also about 85% good-looking.

But Zhu Tan was certain that Shao Shi was definitely not as healthy as Wang Yan, because he had personally confirmed Wang Yan's identity! (End of this chapter)