I am Emperor Wanli

Chapter 340: Occupation of the Imperial College

Wei Jianping and Gao Ce hurried to Nanhua Gate, handed in their signs, and waited in the gatehouse on the left.

Nanhua Gate is a newly opened gate in Xiyuan, located between Nanhai Zi and Baochao Si, next to Chang'an Street, and named Nanhua Gate.

After two years of slow improvement, the Baochaosi and Lingtai, located to the east of Nanhaizi in Xiyuan and west of Jinshui River in Shejitan, were built into a row of attic rooms and renamed Rong Government, becoming the office of the Rongzheng Supervisory Office.

The Military Government, which was established in the 29th year of Jiajing's reign and was specifically responsible for supervising the three major camps of the Beijing Army and governing the military affairs of the Beijing camps, was abolished, and its name and powers were incorporated into the Military Affairs Supervision Office.

The former Imperial Household Department, separated by the Jinshui River, was changed to the Silijian, and it was moved from the Ziguang Pavilion where it was temporarily residing.

From then on, Ziguang Pavilion was where Zhu Yijun handled daily state affairs, Wanshou Palace was where he lived, Taiji Hall in front of Wanshou Palace was where he summoned his ministers and held court meetings, and the Daguangming Hall next to it was still being slowly renovated, and it was said that it was used to receive members of the royal family and foreign vassals.

The former South Training Ground was moved to the more spacious Inner Training Ground.

The two were waiting to be summoned when they suddenly saw a group of people walking towards them.

The leader had a straight body, wearing a dark blue quilted straight-legged coat with a floral pattern, a belt around his waist, a cloak on the outside, and a big hat on his head.

Seeing this person, Wei Jianping and Gao Ce knelt down immediately.

"I pay my respects to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

"Stand up!" Zhu Yijun waved his hand. "Last time you came to report victory, we had a quick meeting. I wanted to ask you about the Liaodong war in detail, but there were a lot of things waiting for me, so I had to give up.

I have to go out for something today, so I asked you to come over and accompany me for a walk. We can talk while we walk."

"Yes."

"Once you leave Nanhua Gate, I will be Zhu Dalang, a descendant of an aristocratic family. You can call me Young Master. I will also call you by your given names."

"I will remember it."

"Okay, Fang Liang, let's go."

"As ordered, I will immediately send someone to inform Commander Song outside that His Highness has come out."

Zhu Yijun, Wei Jianping, Gao Ce and their entourage hurried out of Nanhua Gate and turned to Taipu Temple on the right side of Xiyuan, where Song Gongliang was waiting.

"Sir, the mounts are ready."

Zhu Yijun turned to the back of the mounts and saw that each horse had a cloth bag behind its butt. Then he nodded with satisfaction.

"I trust Sanlang Song to do the work. The cloth bag is packed, and I don't have to be nagged by Liu Fuyin. Cultivate virtue, make long plans, and mount your horse."

Wei Jianping and Gao Ce followed suit and mounted their horses. Together with Zhu Yijun and two personal guards, there were only five people on horseback, while the rest were on foot, following from a distance.

Song Gongliang and Fang Liang each hid among the guards in plain clothes.

Wei Jianping and Gao Ce mounted their horses and couldn't help but turn their heads to look at the horses' butts a few more times.

There are so many strange things in the capital city, even animals have to wear bags on their buttocks.

Zhu Yijun saw through their confusion and explained, "Now that we have opened the border trade and horses from the northeast, more and more people in the capital are riding horses. They ride tall horses, look very excited and show off.

It's just that these people on horseback look decent and bright, but their mounts are walking and pulling all the way, leaving horse manure everywhere on the streets of the capital, and the stench is overwhelming. Pedestrians are walking on thin ice, and if they are not careful, they will step on horse manure and get into trouble.

Shuntian Prefecture Governor Liu Laofu took the trouble to order all the mounts and pack horses in the capital, as well as camels, pack oxen, mules, donkeys, and other animals, to have cloth bags on their buttocks to hold gold treasures.

It turned out to be the case.

Wei Gao and the other man rode their horses slowly, listening to Zhu Yijun talking about these things.

“Many people find it troublesome and are unwilling to install it.

Old Master Liu was not a kind person. He sent out patrol soldiers and even requested the transfer of the guard army to patrol everywhere. Those who refused to put on the horse bag were fined. The first time, they were fined a certain amount of silver. The second time, it was doubled. The third time, the animal was confiscated and the person was imprisoned in Shuntian Prefecture for a month. "

"Master, so strict?"

"Of course we have to be strict. If we weren't, the capital would have become a shit city long ago! I have ordered all horses in the capital's camp and Fengchensi to hang cloth bags on them whenever they go out on the streets, as a military order.

Master Liu became even more confident. The third son of Xu Yuanfu, the eldest son of Zhang Ge Lao, and the eldest son of Chen Ge Lao who had just passed the imperial examination, all fell into Master Liu's hands and accepted the punishment obediently.

With their example, no one dared to stand up to Master Liu. In three months, the capital was in great order. Look, there are so many horses and livestock on the streets, all with cloth bags, and the streets are clean.

Now, if someone's livestock drops gold and treasure on the ground, passers-by and neighbors will surround him and ask him to pick it up, or report it to Shuntian Prefecture and ask Liu Fuyin to punish him. Good habits, although a little tortuous, can be formed. However, good habits are somewhat against human nature, and need to be forced to form, which can bring endless benefits. On the contrary, bad habits conform to people's nature of liking leisure and hating work, so they don't need to be cultivated. They will form as soon as you relax a little, but they will cause endless troubles. "

"human nature?"

"Yes, human nature is a term often mentioned in new studies. You two," Zhu Yijun glanced at the two of them, "should learn more new studies in the future. It will be of great benefit to both the public and private sectors."

Now the prince is fond of new learning, just like the late emperor was fond of Qingci.

Learning new things well will be beneficial to your future.

The prince was right to remind you!

But the two of them always felt that there was something else behind the prince's words!
The group went diagonally from Taipu Temple to Xuanwumen Li Street, headed north, passed Xi'an Gate, went around the west wall of Xiyuan and turned to Dalonshan Huguo Temple, walked east to Deshengmen Street, and crossed Jishuitan to the north.

Then turn from Deshengmenli to Xiejie, walk down to the Drum Tower, continue east to Shuntianfu Street, the end of which is Andingmen Street, go north past Shuntianfu Yamen, turn into Chongjiaofang, and you can see the Imperial College from afar.

Wei Jianping and Gao Ce, who had been telling Zhu Yijun about the Liaodong war along the way, finally realized that the Crown Prince was going to visit the Imperial College today.

When they arrived at the gate of the Imperial College, Zhu Yijun dismounted first, followed by the others. An attendant came forward and led the horses away. Song Gongliang came forward and reported, "Sir, everything inside has been arranged."

"Well, how many students are left in there?"

"Sir, according to the list, there should be 6,416 students in the Imperial College, but the actual number is 5,341. 1,075 of them are children of officials or those who cheated to get in. They have no intention of studying and are just there to enroll. They have all been expelled.

After the Yu Changde case was exposed, another 914 students who had been admitted for personal gain or fraud were found, some of whom had committed crimes and were transferred to Shuntian Prefecture. The rest were all dismissed and sent back to their hometowns.

After Lord Zhuo Wu took over the Imperial College, he held a major examination and expelled 2,455 unlearned students. The remaining 512 people voluntarily dropped out or were persuaded to drop out.

There are still 1,560 people left in the Imperial College."

it is good!
Zhu Yijun nodded with satisfaction.

He wanted to establish his authority through Yu Changde's case. In addition to giving a slap in the face to the conservative factions, he also wanted to seize the Imperial College and use it as an important base for training talents.

There was more than one Yu Changde in the Imperial College, and they were also involved in manipulation. There were more than 20 officials and clerks who bought and sold the places of students in the Imperial College, and their business was booming.

It was because the Imperial College was so rotten, so rotten that even the conservative faction didn't know how to clarify and cover up the matter, that Zhu Yijun felt justified in taking heavy-handed measures.

He first instructed Li Zhi to hold a comprehensive examination. In name, the purpose was to examine and eliminate those incompetent people who were unlearned and living in a daze. In fact, it was to select out and expel all the students who were conservative, rigid, old-fashioned and pedantic through the examination.

Those who stayed behind were people with active minds who truly cared about the country and the people. Some of them were able to become disciples of the new school.

Big waves wash over the sand!

Zhu Yijun took Wei Jianping and Gao Ce inside.

The Imperial College was very quiet, with houses and trees everywhere.

There was a layer of snow on the roofs of the houses, and the trees were bare with icicles hanging from their branches.

Song Gongliang has been here before and now acts as a tour guide.

"Sir, this is the National Academy, and next door is the Law Academy. That door leads to the Mathematics Academy, and next door is the Physics Academy."

"No student housing?"

"In reply to your question, students used to live in the Imperial College, but the place was crowded, and some students felt uncomfortable and refused to live there, so they moved out. Gradually, most students rented houses outside, and only some students from poor families lived in the Imperial College."

"Tell Mr. Zhuo Wu to set up rules. The Imperial College is a closed-door institution. You have to eat and live in the academy. You can only go out and relax on holidays. Otherwise, how can you study?
Look at what kind of people were raised in the Imperial College in the past? The court spent a lot of money to teach those idiots? And you keep shouting that you have no talent and no way to serve the country. You should say you are a talent first, but in the end you are nothing! "

Wei Jianping and Gao Ce witnessed for the first time Zhu Yijun's ancestral method of sarcasm.

"What do you think? Should we also set up a martial arts school like the Imperial Academy?"

"Young master, there is a martial arts school in the capital," Song Gongliang reminded.

"I know, that martial arts school is a tiny place, not even as spacious as the royal room in the West Garden, it's just a rat hole! It's hard to study even if we're all squeezed together, let alone practice riding and archery? Without riding and archery, how can we cultivate martial arts talents!

Well, Chaotian Temple is quite spacious, so I'll leave it for martial arts. You all should think about what to name the new martial arts school. Think of a catchy and meaningful name!"

(End of this chapter)