Ming Dynasty: Tanks blocked the door and you said to me, "Long live Ming Dynasty"

The child hasn't even been born yet, but you've already decided to give him to Concubine Rong for adoption?

He looked at Concubine Rong speechlessly and asked, "What kind of magic potion did you give Qingyu to make her so devoted to you?"

Concubine Rong was also caught off guard and quickly smiled bitterly and shook her head.

"Your Majesty, what are you talking about? How could I......"

Before she finished her words, Qingyu interrupted her.

"Please don't blame me, Your Majesty. This is all my own will and has nothing to do with my queen."

Zhang Yan looked at them, master and servant, and felt inexplicably uncomfortable.

Although it was not uncommon for the harem to adopt children, they were usually adopted by the queen so that she would have the opportunity to make further progress in the future.

But what does it mean to be adopted by the imperial concubine?

Money can't buy someone's willingness...

There is no other solution!

She could only smile generously and said, "Sister Qingyu is indeed loyal and righteous."

"In that case, then Concubine Rong should not refuse."

"Anyway, even if the child is adopted by you, it will still be Sister Qingyu's wealth and honor."

"You two will continue to live together in Yonghe Palace. If anything happens, you can take care of each other."

Her words set the tone for the matter.

The palace maids in the palace had no idea that things would be completely different from what they imagined.

When they looked at Qingyu again, their eyes were full of shame.

In the evening, Zhu Youxiao had a banquet held in Kunning Palace, one to celebrate Qingyu, and the other to welcome them.

During the banquet, all the concubines in the harem were present. After learning that Qingyu was pregnant, whether it was Concubine Liang Wang, Concubine Hui Fan, or Concubine Chun Duan, they all presented their own gifts.

Youtong and Liuyue were also called over.

Also coming along were eight selected Xuanwu men and four female doctors, who were servants prepared for Qingyu.

After all, she has the title of concubine, so she should be treated accordingly.

At the same time, only these trained people can make Zhu Youxiao feel at ease.

As for the fact that Liu Yue exaggerated his illness and caused him to drink tonic for two months, Zhu Youxiao had no intention of pursuing the matter.

After all, your body is your own, so there's no harm in taking care of it, right?

After the banquet, the concubines returned to their palaces, but Zhu Youxiao stayed in Kunning Palace.

He could tell that although Zhang Yan tried her best to act more natural, she could not conceal the loneliness in her eyes.

After washing up and lying on the bed, Zhang Yan turned her head, stared into Zhu Youxiao's eyes and said.

"Your Majesty, please depose me from my position as queen!"

Zhu Youxiao was shocked when he heard this: "You are kidding! Don't say such things again in the future!"

Zhang Yan smiled bitterly and shook her head: "Your Majesty, I am no longer able to bear children, so how can I still be qualified to be the queen?"

"Now that Qingyu is pregnant, it means that your Majesty is in good health."

"As long as we take more concubines, the royal family will surely have many descendants in the future."

"By then, your majesty will have chosen a crown prince, and you can appoint another virtuous woman as queen."

Although she appeared calm when she said these words, the sparkle in her eyes betrayed her inner feelings.

"Okay, don't think too much! I'll ask Wei Zhongxian to look among the common people. There are millions of people in the Ming Dynasty, and who knows how many medical experts there are buried among them."

"Forget it, go to sleep! We'll talk about these things later!"

As Zhu Youxiao spoke, he took Zhang Yan into his arms and gently stroked her smooth back with his right hand.

Some things really need to be discussed later...

As time went by, ever since Wei Zhongxian led his men to Shaanxi, no one was so blind as to mention Li Zicheng again.

The six departments are all busy with their own affairs.

The Ministry of Revenue was preparing food and fodder for the war after the weather warmed up. Of course, Guo Yunhou had no money, so he had to bite the bullet and borrow another 5 million taels of silver from the treasury.

The Ministry of War was also very busy, and Sun Chengzong frequently went in and out of the Beijing Camp. Everyone knew that the newly built Shenji Camp would definitely go to battle this time.

The Ministry of Works was busy with civil engineering.

It's not just Song Yingxing's breeding farm, there's also Pan Dan and their blacksmith shop, and most importantly, there's the shipyard in Tianjin!

It is definitely not enough to rely solely on the craftsmen who are on duty. A large number of craftsmen need to be drawn from the vicinity of the capital.

Most of the memorials related to local criminals that had been piled up years ago had passed through Zhang Yan's hands. The Ministry of Justice needed to cooperate with the Ministry of Public Security to implement these cases, and kill those who should be killed, imprison those who should be imprisoned, and review those who should be reviewed.

In addition to preparing the manifesto, the Ministry of Rites also had to work with the Ministry of Personnel to prepare for the imperial examinations.

Just when everything was going in an orderly manner and developing as planned, a piece of news that made Zhu Youxiao furious was reported by Sun Kangwang.

Chapter 214: This is the first time in the three hundred years of the country!

The imperial examinations in the Ming Dynasty were held every three years and were divided into three sessions.

The first session will be on the ninth day of the second month, and will test three questions on the meaning of the Four Books and four questions on the meaning of the classics.

The second session will be held on February 12. It will include an essay test with five judgments and one question to be answered from an imperial edict, imperial decree or memorial.

The third session will be on February 15th, and will test five questions on classics, history and policy.

During the more than 200 years of the Ming Dynasty, the implicit rules of the imperial examinations gradually increased.

In the early Ming Dynasty, there was no distinction between the north and the south in the examination, but in the first year of Hongxi, the north-south ratio was set, with 60% of the total admissions being from the south and 40% from the north.

There was no quota for the number of admissions at first, and all candidates admitted in the provincial examination could participate. After the 11th year of Chenghua, the custom of selecting 300 candidates gradually became established.

During the Xuande and Zhengtong periods, it was divided into three volumes: South, North and Central, and the number of volumes also changed from time to time.

Those who were selected in the academy examination were called Huiyuan (the first place winner) and the rest were called Gongshi (tribute scholars).

These people will also need to participate in the subsequent palace examination to determine the winner.

In the palace examination, the emperor would determine the top three based on their performance.

The first class consists of the top three, known as Jinshi, namely Zhuangyuan, Bangyan and Tanhua.

A number of people in the second class were awarded the status of Jinshi.

A number of people in the top three were granted the status of fellow scholars.

Since Zhu Youxiao had been away in the south since the beginning of the year and had not returned, many things had not been settled. In addition, the decision to hold an additional special examination was made in late August last year. In order to give the scholars sufficient preparation time, the examination date was postponed by one month.

It was February 15th, the eighth year of the Tianqi reign, and there were still more than ten days before the exam.

Sun Kangwang came to the Qianqing Palace with an anxious look on his face.

"Your Majesty, I'm afraid there have been changes in the imperial examination!"

Hearing this, Zhu Youxiao's face suddenly turned cold: "What's going on!"

Since he traveled through time, he has dealt with a large number of officials, and now there are still a lot of vacancies.

Therefore, this time, Enko is extremely important to him, and no accidents are allowed to happen!

Sun Kangwang took two steps forward and spoke in a low voice.

"Based on the experience of previous college examinations, the number of scholars coming to Beijing is about 5,000."

"But a few days ago, I heard people below me occasionally say that the city didn't seem as lively as before the college entrance examination. I originally thought it was an extra special examination, and some scholars were not well prepared and did not come to participate."

"But after I sent people to investigate, I found out that the situation was far from being like that!"

"There are only about 1,300 scholars who have registered at the Ministry of Rites, and 90% of them are from the north!"

"His Majesty!"

"The southern scholars intend to boycott the exam!"

"what?"

The word "boycott the exam" made Zhu Youxiao stand up suddenly.

I've heard of business strikes and labor strikes.

But I don't want to take the exam......

It's ridiculous!

He slammed his fist on the imperial desk, causing the teacups to jump up.

"What do those scholars want to do!"

"Investigate for me! Who is behind this?"

Sun Kangwang bowed and replied: "Your Majesty, there is a scholar from Zhejiang outside the palace right now, and he knows some of the inside story."

"Let him in!"

Afterwards, a scholar in his twenties was brought in by the Jinyiwei.

As soon as he entered the hall, the scholar bowed and saluted politely.

"Guan Hui'e, a scholar from Jinhua, Zhejiang, pays respect to Your Majesty!"

Zhu Youxiao waved his hand and said, "No need to be polite. Tell me what is going on with the cancellation of the exam!"

Guan Hui'e stood up and recounted in detail what he had experienced.

In fact, he and Song Yingxing were in the same subject and had the same fate, both of them failed the previous subject.

After learning about the special examination, he studied hard at home. It was not until the seventh day of the New Year that he packed his money and luggage and set out for the capital with his good friends.

But for some reason, along the way, those friends who originally had ambitions to become the top scholar suddenly withdrew one by one!

There isn't even any reason!

At night, they slept side by side in the same room, but when they woke up the next morning, they were gone!

He just left a note saying that he would not take part in this course.

Before leaving Zhejiang, Guan Hui'e was the only one left in the group!

Until the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, when he was drinking alone facing the full moon in the sky, several men in black came to his door!

And it was because of this incident that he found out the reasons why those friends quit Enke!

These men in black actually forced him to go back home in the name of his mentor!

After hearing this, Zhu Youxiao already understood!

Someone wants to use the imperial examination to intimidate the imperial court!

But who are the people behind this and what do they want to do?

A surge of anger surged back and forth in his chest as he looked at Guan Hui'e in front of him.

If the so-called master-disciple relationship were placed in later generations, many people would probably shake their heads in disdain.

But in this era, it’s so useful!

This bunch of literati are like dogs with eggs, you cling to me and I cling to you, and almost no one can stay out of it.

This is how the Donglin Party, which was dealt with by Wei Zhongxian two years ago, came about!

It is meaningless to investigate who Guan Hui'e's master is at this point.

Those who dare to say so must have prepared a backup plan.

Or, what the mentor said...

It is also possible that Guan Hui'e had someone else's handle on her and did not dare to speak directly when facing interrogation, so she fabricated the story.

Or maybe he did something that violated the laws of the Ming Dynasty, or maybe it was a moral issue...

And his companions must have been persuaded to quit with similar arguments.

But none of this matters anymore.