Ming Dynasty: Domination of the World from the Imperial Examination

Chapter 34 Leaking secrets under orders!

Xia Zhibai gave a few instructions and left.

He did not look very happy. There were too many homeless people in this world like Heiwa and Huaque'er.

The world has just been settled, and everything is new, but the dead are dead and will never be resurrected. Many people whose families have been broken up and displaced still have no place to live.

He could temporarily provide Heiwa and the others with food to eat.

But I can’t give it for a lifetime.

Before the productivity of this society had achieved substantial development, Zhu Yuanzhang's policy of "building strong camps and fighting stupid battles" was actually correct to some extent. He gave priority to ensuring agricultural production and took feeding the people as the purpose of governing the country. However, Zhu Yuanzhang misjudged one thing.

That's human nature.

What Zhu Yuanzhang sought was to occupy an invincible position first.

Then slowly seek victory.

But this is a long process that requires sufficient patience and perseverance.

This was what Zhu Yuanzhang himself and the officials of the Ming Dynasty lacked. In the end, it turned into officials protecting each other and conspiring to gain wealth. Officials did not serve the people, but only thought about getting promoted and making money.

The whole world came to a complete standstill.

Even a regression.

The real appearance of the world should be as the New Youth said: 'free rather than slave, progressive rather than conservative, enterprising rather than reclusive, world rather than closed, practical rather than empty, scientific rather than imaginary'.

Zhu Yuanzhang is now following the old path of 'wise rulers and loyal ministers, centralizing power and weakening the people'. This old historical path has been wrong from the beginning, and the further it goes, the more wrong it will become.

It will only get further and further away from the 'living people' that Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to achieve.

What he wants to do is to change all this.

Xia Zhibai glanced at the busy market and prepared to return to the inn where he was staying.

"Brother Xia!"

A joyful voice suddenly called out to Xia Zhibai.

Xia Zhibai frowned and looked in the direction of the voice. He recognized the person. It was Jie Min, a big man from Shandong whom he met in the Imperial Examination Hall.

Xia Zhibai cupped his hands: "Brother Jie."

Xie Min walked closer and said teasingly with a smile: "Brother Xia, you've been a hard thing for me to find recently. If someone hadn't seen you here yesterday, I might have been able to find you."

Xia Zhibai asked doubtfully, "Brother Jie, do you want to talk to me about something?"

Xie Min looked around and said teasingly, "It's okay, so I can't find you?"

"If I can't find you again, I'm afraid people will gossip that you were captured by the Royal Guards that day, otherwise how could they not find you?"

Xia Zhibai touched his nose awkwardly.

He smiled helplessly.

It was indeed him who was captured by the Embroidered Uniform Guards.

However, it was difficult for those who were captured by the Jinyiwei to escape alive, and now he appeared on the street in a swagger. Even if he told the truth to Jie Min, I am afraid Jie Min would not believe it and would just think he was joking.

I thought about it.

Xia Zhibai didn't explain either.

Xie Min smiled and said, "But I came to you this time because I really have something to tell you. Two days later, a banquet for scholars will be held at Yuhua Villa on the bank of Qinhuai River."

"Officials from the Ministry of Personnel will be present."

"The scholars invited are all the best in their respective provinces, and they all have a great chance of passing the imperial examination, so there are not many scholars invited to participate, only about fifty people."

"I only have ten students from the north."

"I can go this time because of you."

"If Huang Zicheng and others hadn't specifically asked you to go, and they couldn't find you for the time being, they would have had no choice but to let me come forward to notify them. Otherwise, I would have no chance at all." Jie Min smiled bitterly, feeling helpless and depressed.

He is also quite famous in Shandong.

As a result, in Yingtian Prefecture, he became a person who shouted.

If he hadn't had a certain friendship with Xia Zhibai, and if Huang Zicheng and the others hadn't really been upset about what Xia Zhibai said in the Imperial Examination Hall and wanted to find an opportunity to get back at him, he wouldn't even be qualified to participate. Xia Zhibai was stunned.

It's also quite laughable.

Huang Zicheng and others are really vindictive and cannot bear any loss. Even if it is just verbal, they will definitely get it back somewhere else.

But he was very confused. Now that the results of the imperial examination have not yet been announced, how could the officials of the Ministry of Personnel hold a banquet so blatantly?
If Zhu Yuanzhang heard about this, some people would definitely lose their heads.

Xie Min seemed to see Xia Zhibai's confusion and said with a smile: "Brother Xia, you may have misunderstood. This banquet was indeed organized by officials from the Ministry of Personnel, but the Minister of Personnel and the Vice Minister of Personnel, these high-ranking officials of the court, are unlikely to come."

"We are not qualified to be received by these high officials of the imperial court."

"The person taking the lead this time is the Ministry of Personnel."

"They did not participate in the examination of the imperial examination papers, nor did they have the right to participate in the ranking of the examination papers. According to our own speculation, this banquet may have been leaked by imperial order."

"Leaking secrets under orders?" Xia Zhibai seemed to be thinking about something.

Xie Min nodded and said, "The imperial examinations in our dynasty have been suspended for ten years. This time, it will probably be different from the past. The test questions will also be slightly changed. In addition, there are many scholars taking the exam this time, so there has been speculation that more scholars may be selected than in the past."

"There are three more exams, which one is more important?"

"These are all things that scholars like me are concerned about. The court may have noticed this, or perhaps discovered that someone has been deliberately asking about it, so they arranged such a banquet to inform us of the relevant situation in advance so that we can be mentally prepared in advance."

Xia Zhibai nodded.

The imperial examination in the Ming Dynasty was suspended for ten years and has now been reopened. The outside world knows very little about the selection criteria, the number of candidates selected, the key points of marking the papers, etc. It is possible that the government informed the outside world in advance and passed on the information.

And those invited are the best from each province.

If nothing unexpected happens, these people are basically among the top three.

They will also be officials of the Ming Dynasty.

That's normal.

Are you just going by yourself?
If he went there, he would be harassed by Huang Zicheng and others, but those who could attend that occasion had a high probability of passing the exam and would serve as officials in the same dynasty in the future. Besides, no one knew the exact ranking of the examinees, so how could Huang Zicheng dare to go too far?

Moreover, he didn't think that Huang Zicheng could make things difficult for him.

It’s good enough that he doesn’t provoke Huang Zicheng and others.

If I can meet some like-minded friends at this banquet, it will be much easier to promote things in the world in the future.

It seems like a good idea to go to the banquet.

After pondering for a while, Xia Zhibai gave up.

Nowadays, there is a huge gap between scholars in the north and south. If you want to build closer relations, you still have to rely on your own abilities. Otherwise, even if you speak eloquently and logically at the banquet, people will only think you are frivolous and rebellious, which will only lead to misunderstandings.

Compared to what you say.

He prefers to take action.

Let your actions speak for themselves, and friends will come to you.

He doesn't need to know so many inside stories.

Because he was the top scorer.

He had been chosen as the top scholar by Zhu Yuanzhang.

The path he wants to take is also different from that of ordinary Jinshi.

He relies more on the people.

After sorting this out, Xia Zhibai's eyes became clear. He looked at Jie Min and said with a bow, "Thank you, Brother Jie, for telling me."

"It's just that I won't be attending this party."

"My rank has already been determined, and attending the banquet will only cause unnecessary conflict."

"Brother Jie, you can rest assured."