Guangzong Yaoming

Chapter 254: New King Enters the New Palace

"We're doomed to fail! We've even assigned some men to take the lambs and station them on the mountain. Are there two hundred left? There are over ten thousand troops on the other side!"

This confrontation lasted all night, and after dawn, there was finally movement.

The North Korean scouts who remained here could only watch from afar and could not hear clearly what was being said on the other side.

But the river bank was long and narrow, and only a few hundred people could rush towards the weaker side. Then they saw one of the generals stabbing several people with a spear, and their faces suddenly changed.

Perhaps his bravery frightened those hundreds of people, or perhaps the stronger side had some other plans, in any case the confrontation lasted until noon.

When another 500 or so reinforcements for the weaker side arrived from behind, the North Korean side saw that it was the weaker side that took the initiative to attack.

Then they stared in amazement at an incredible battle, and they trembled with fear at the end of it.

Obviously, the weaker side had more reinforcements arriving, so why did they just sit back and watch the less than a thousand people in front fight against the enemy's army of over ten thousand?

The stronger side had an army of over 10,000, so why did they suffer a crushing defeat?
The battle at Wujieyan would later spread through the Korean border troops, Jianzhou Jurchens and Haixi Jurchens, but the first person to know the battle report from the front was Nurhaci in Hetuala.

In the third year of Taichang, the headquarters was moved here, and three years had passed.

"Kill three thousand people? Seize five thousand horses and five thousand armors? Good! Good!" Nurhaci stood up excitedly, "Now, the Huifa tribe will surrender! From the winding road to the mouth of Tongmen River, there will be no obstruction!"

The Ming Dynasty was changing with each passing day, and Nurhaci now did not dare to think of touching the Ming Dynasty.

In that case, we can only go east, north, or south!
This strategic road leading to the eastern coast of Mount Sikhote-Alin is the most critical link.

From now on, the space between the white mountains and the black waters has become wider!

The news of the battle on the Tongmun River reached the Korean capital of Seoul. In addition to being afraid of the bravery of the Jurchen barbarians, Gwanghaegun Yi Hun was more worried about the issue of the crown prince.

He could not forget his father's disdain for him when he went to pay his respects before, saying that he was only a temporary crown prince, so why did he always have to pay his respects?
The king had another favorite son, and the Liu Party in power exiled all the important officials of the Dabei faction who supported him.

Isn’t this all because his status as the crown prince was not recognized by the superior country when he went to the capital to pay tribute?

The city of Beijing is very busy at this time. The results of the palace examination will be announced today.

In the newly completed Fengtian Huangji Hall in the Forbidden City, a ceremony to announce the new scholars was being held.

"The first place in the classics, history and humanities category is Huang Shijun from Shunde, Guangdong!"

"First place in the Natural Science Subject, Wang Zheng from Xi'an, Shaanxi!"

After the third singing, 38-year-old Huang Shijun and 37-year-old Wang Zheng excitedly walked out of the class together and looked at the towering Fengtian Huangji Hall.

Here, there are the emperor and the five ministers’ warm room.

The South Palace is called Fengtian, where the four ministers obey the emperor's orders and help govern the country.

The North Palace is called Huangji, which is where the imperial study is located and where the emperor ascends the throne to hold court.

But they have become one.

These are three completely different halls, but this is the new Ming Dynasty.

As you enter the palace, you can already see the throne two hundred steps away.

There is a long corridor from the Fengtian Hall in the southernmost part to the Huangji Hall in the northernmost part.

Now, the three screens that usually serve as partitions have all been removed. This is the first time in the Ming Dynasty that two people have won the top spot in the imperial examination on this long road.

On both sides of the two neat rows of stone pillars, the court officials stood on both sides, watching them walk towards the emperor.

Zhu Changluo stroked his short beard with a smile on his face.

This is the first time. Now we can say that there are two top scholars in the Ming Dynasty every three years, one in liberal arts and one in science.

There will be six second and third place winners respectively: under the subjects of classics, history and humanities, there are three lists of "Generalizing the Classics of Civilization", "Governing the World and Benefiting the People", and "Expounding on Etiquette and Law". Under the subjects of "Investigating Things and Natural Sciences", there are three lists of "Exploring the Works of Nature", "Benefiting the People with Hundred Arts", and "Astronomy and Geography".

The top scorer can be considered a generalist, while the second and third place winners have their own strengths in certain subjects.

In fact, the examination papers for the imperial examinations were no different from the previous ones, except that there was one more test, which tested the opinions of 100 schools of thought. The palace examinations further tested the opinions of 100 schools of thought, and the scores were ranked, and finally the papers were ranked according to the areas in which the scores were mainly focused.

For the first time since the founding of the country, no one cared whether the scholars were adaptable or not. However, Ye Xianggao and Zhu Guozuo, who were very eager to show off, were different from Shen Shixing in these three years. They urged the academic officials in various places to work for the changes in this subject.

During these three years, the only change in Ming Dynasty policy was probably the change in the imperial examination rules during the Ministry of Rites examination in the seventh year of Taichang.

For this reason, after the results of the provincial examination were announced, the rules of the imperial examination were introduced in detail through the "Xueyong" morning newspaper.

During the ceremony of announcing the names of the candidates one by one, Zhu Changluo only had to smile, nod and say a few words of encouragement.

Then Ye Xianggao said solemnly: "The selection of talents should be based on lofty aspirations. To serve the country and the people. The newly-appointed scholars will line up to leave the Meridian Gate, pass through the West Market, and enter the Imperial College to boast of their achievements. They will climb the Wansui Mountain, pay homage to the sages in the temple, look south to the emperor, his ministers, and the people, and then set their goals for the rest of their lives!"

This was also a newly established part of the etiquette. They were asked to walk along West Chang'an Street through the downtown area, go around to the north to enter the Imperial College, and then go to Wansui Mountain from the west side of the Forbidden City.

In this life, the top three candidates in the imperial examination were allowed to leave the Forbidden City from the Imperial Road and lead the new scholars to enjoy the cheers and envy from the common people and the students. Then they would pay homage to the ancient sages together in the newly built holy temple on the top of Wansui Mountain. They would then be allowed to overlook the Forbidden City and the vast capital and Ming Dynasty to the south.

How far you can see and what ambitions you can set for the rest of your life depends on each individual.

At night, there will be a banquet in the East Garden.

Jinxianyuan and Imperial Study are both celebrating for them at the Tongzheng Academy, and will also begin a two-week pre-appointment assessment.

Zhu Changluo lived in peace and stability for three years. Now at least the central government of the Ming Dynasty was in order under the leadership of the five ministers.

After the new scholars had expressed their gratitude and left the hall, the officials who had participated in the ceremony also left. The increasingly elderly Chen Ju looked at Wang An, who bent over and went over to make arrangements.

"Let Liu Ruoyu and Zou Yi go and invite Wang Xijue and Zhu Geng. I will stay up there. Wanhua, please go and take a look at Weichuan on my behalf."

"Yes."

Chen Ju looked at the emperor's back, and after giving instructions to Liu Ruoyu and Zou Yi, he went to see Tian Yi.

Or it can be said to be tomb sweeping.

In two days it will be a year since Tian Yi passed away.

He was buried at the foot of Cuiwei Mountain in the west of the city. His Majesty, in gratitude for his contributions, granted three altars for sacrifice, built a stele pavilion in the Xiantang, and personally inscribed the name of the shrine for him, "Xian De".

Chen Ju is very old now, and he thinks it will probably happen in the next two years.

His eyes turned to the south again.

Although the Fengtian Huangji Hall is integrated into one, it can still be roughly divided into three areas.

The original base of the Jinshen Hall, the northernmost one, was actually the same size as the Fengtian Hall, but in terms of regulations, the Jinshen Hall was much smaller.

The symbol of the emperor’s residence now is the Huangji Hall, which is mainly made of stone and can be made relatively larger.

The large logs taken down from the Forbidden City in Nanjing can be used as beams to build on the stone pillars.

So a screen was used to divide the original Huagai Hall into three areas.

Because the newly built hall occupies a larger area on the cloud platform, each area is wider than before.

Even if a screen was used to separate the passages vertically, the aisles on both sides could still allow news to be quickly transmitted from the four courtyards of the Fengtian Hall in the south.

The former Huagai Hall area, which was separated only by a partition, was the daily office space shared by the Silijian and the Imperial Study. It was only used for the transfer of memorials that were about to be presented to the emperor or sent to the four courts.

Going out through the doors on both sides and down the stairs, the two courtyards are the Silijian and the Imperial Study respectively.

Chen Ju walked out slowly and went down the steps. Wang An, who had just notified the duty officer in the imperial study, came over and hurriedly supported him: "Godfather, please walk slowly..."

The courtyard of the Imperial Household Department is already busy. Everything that needs to be moved is being moved back into the palace to restore the interior of the Fengtian Huangji Palace to its normal state.

Because unless it is an extremely special ceremony, there is no need to expose the long corridor in the Fengtian Huangji Hall.

By utilizing the open-air space between the original three main halls, the space of the Huangji Hall's Mingtang is large enough to hold regular court meetings and accommodate everyone.

It is only during grand court meetings, ceremonies and banquets that the pavilion needs to be temporarily moved away so that everyone can participate indoors without having to avoid rain or snow.

"Please help me prepare. His Majesty has ordered that I go to Weichuan to pay homage to the dead on His Majesty's behalf." Chen Ju said.

Wang An was stunned for a moment, then sighed, "It's been a year in the blink of an eye. Godfather, it's better for you to rest and recuperate. How about I ask His Majesty to do it for me?"

Chen Ju shook his head: "I will go, so that His Majesty can show his nostalgia for Weichuan. There are many things going on in the palace, so you have to stay in charge."

Looking at him, Chen Ju smiled, then looked up and said, "Let Ruoyu and Zou Yi go to assist the Prime Minister. His Majesty has summoned them."

Wang An also looked up: "Is it up there?"

"Go and make the arrangements. I'll take a break first."

He sat down on the seal chair that belonged to him in the Imperial Household Department, quietly watching the hustle and bustle in front of him, and also watching Wang An leave neatly.

Yes, Wang Xijue and Zhu Geng are also old, and it is not easy for them to go up.

But there is no shortage of young and strong people inside and outside the palace.
After three years of stability, Chen Ju now feels at ease.

What kind of wine should I bring to Cuiwei Mountain later?

(End of this chapter)