Daming: My boss Zhu Yuanzhang

After deciding on the top three, Zhu Yuanzhang personally gave the three Lu Xiu crowns, court uniforms, and hundreds of treasures. Then he and Zhao Hao, Song Ne, and others decided the rankings of the next Jinshi and Tongjinshi, and then ended the palace examination.

The students left the palace. Umbrellas and ceremonial guards had been prepared outside the palace gate. They were prepared for the number one scholar.

This time, Zhu Yuanzhang specifically selected Zheng Zhihua, the man who had offended the ministers the most, as the number one scholar. This made the ministers even more dissatisfied but helpless. They all resented the new champion and his teacher, the traitor Li Wei.

In addition to Zheng Zhihua, who won the first prize, Ye Qingyun and Lu Xiu, the second and third overall picks, also had their entourage send them off, knocking them all the way back to their respective homes.

In Xicheng, a place close to the outskirts of the capital, Zheng Zhihua was escorted by a guard of honor to the door of his home.

His home is a dilapidated small courtyard surrounded by earthen walls. Ever since his father was no longer the mainstay of the family, life has been very difficult. If it weren't for Li Wei's support, he and his mother would not have been able to go to school, let alone go to school. He and his mother had a younger sister. All had to endure hunger.

When he heard the noise, his mother and sister were already waiting in front of the house.

His mother is a woman in her thirties. In this era, women get married early. Zheng Zhihua is already sixteen or seventeen, while his mother is only in her early thirties. However, at this time, this woman in her early thirties did not have the charm that she would have in later generations. There were already many wrinkles on her sallow face. Coupled with the worn linen clothes, some people would believe that she was in her forties or fifty. .

As for his sister, she was a little girl in her mid-twenties, with a smug look on her face, and she was obviously not doing well.

Zheng Zhihua left the ceremonial entourage behind him, took two quick steps to kneel down in front of his mother and said, "Mother, I won the top prize!"

"My son...won the first prize!?"

His mother stared at him blankly, in disbelief.

"Yes, mother, look at this ceremonial guard and the court uniform I am wearing, they were all given by His Majesty!"

"My son won the first prize, won the first prize..."

His mother looked at the gorgeous robes on his body and cried with joy. She kept murmuring. It took her a while to react. She wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes and stepped forward to help him up.

"Get up, stop kneeling!"

Zheng Zhihua stood up and said, "Mother, this is a great event, why are you still crying?"

"Mother is happy, happy!"

His mother wiped away her tears with a smile of relief on her face.

His sister hid behind her mother timidly, looking at the entourage who sent him back.

After Zheng Zhihua comforted him for a few words, he walked back to thank the official from the Ministry of Etiquette who led the team: "Thank you, sir. I'm already home. Please come back."

This official was already quite dissatisfied with him as the number one scholar, but when he saw that he had no eyesight at all and didn't even give him any wedding money, his face suddenly became even more ugly.

However, after taking a glance at the dilapidated courtyard of his house, the official knew that there was no way to squeeze out any profit, so he could only bow his hands with a face, turned around and left with the honor guard.

Zheng Zhihua's family watched the group leave, and the surrounding neighbors who were watching the excitement came to congratulate them. Some wealthy people even came to the door with gifts.

After a period of excitement, Zheng Zhihua returned home with his mother and sister and closed the door. His mother looked at his No. 1 Scholar uniform with a smile on her face. After a while, she suddenly said:

"Xiaohua, you are here today thanks to your benefactor, don't forget it!"

Zheng Zhihua said with a smile: "Mom, don't worry, I will remember it and I will never forget it for the rest of my life!"

When his mother heard this, she nodded with relief...

A similar scene to Zheng Zhihua's family also happened at Ye Qingyun's family. Ye Qingyun's family had more people, not only his mother, but also uncles. These relatives who had previously ignored them became extremely enthusiastic at this time, and the neighbors also the same.

That is to say, they are closer to the capital, and their relatives and neighbors are not ready. For those who are a little further away, wealthy businessmen have already visited them when they returned home after being admitted, and have prepared everything for them, including the wedding money for their entourage.

Compared to the two of them, Lu Xiu's situation was better. After all, his father was the ambassador of the Arms Bureau. Although he was only a low-ranking official, his status was not low because of Li Wei's relationship.

Lu Ti was also very happy to learn about Lu Xiu High School, and he was even more grateful that he decisively sent his son who was studying in a private school to Li Wei's sect. Otherwise, he would not even be able to be a scholar in this life based on his own studies and scientific examinations. You will definitely pass the exam.

Several students, including three of them, were told by their families after returning home to remember Li Wei's kindness. All the students also kept this in mind, and after settling down at home, they went to thank Li Wei together.

In the small courtyard of Minghuang Academy, Li Wei sat at the top, Fang Xiaoru sat beside him, and all the students bowed down together.

"Thanks to the teacher's careful teaching, the students have lived up to expectations. Today Denkot came to thank the two teachers!"

In the small courtyard, there were not only Zheng Zhihua and Lu Xiu, but also other students who had won the Jinshi.

Li Wei looked at them and nodded with satisfaction: "The teacher is also very happy that you can go to high school, but you must remember to guard against arrogance and impetuosity. In the future, when you become an official in the court, you must stay upright and live up to the teacher's expectations! "

Fang Xiaoru on the side frowned slightly and reminded: "Don't live up to His Majesty's expectations! The most important thing for these students to pass the imperial examination and high school is that Your Majesty allows them to take the Encore Examination!"

"Ah, right, right." Li Wei said perfunctorily, and then looked at Lu Xiu and others.

"Teacher, don't worry, I will definitely live up to the expectations of the teacher...and His Majesty!"

Lu Xiu and others replied in unison.

Fang Xiaoru was very dissatisfied when he heard that they put Li Wei in front.

But Li Wei didn't give him a chance to interrupt at all, and said directly: "That's good. From now on, you can use the skills taught to you by the teacher to focus on politics. If you encounter difficulties, you can also come and ask the teacher."

"Thank you, teacher!"

Everyone thanked them respectfully, and then Li Wei told them some experience in serving officials before letting them leave.

The next day, the imperial list was posted. In addition to the three people who had already been appointed as Lu Xiu, there were more than a hundred other Jinshis, and the number of fellow Jinshis was nearly three hundred.

The imperial examination had been suspended for more than ten years, and Zhu Yuanzhang's sword was too fast. The imperial court had been very short of people, but this was finally relieved.

Among the three hundred Jinshi, there are dozens of people from Minghuang Academy. Although the total number is not large compared to the Imperial College, the proportion of successful candidates is horribly high. Almost all of them have passed, especially Lu Xiu and the other three. Sanding Armor is even more shocking!
"What is the origin of Minghuang Academy?"

Some of the onlookers were amazed and asked the people next to them.

"I heard that this academy was founded by the newly promoted Duke of Han, and Fang Xiaoru, a favorite disciple of Duke Taishi of the Song Dynasty, taught there."

The other party said calmly.

"Is it so dangerous?" The scholar was surprised.

"Hmph, yes, but you must not go to Minghuang Academy. Duke Han is actually a traitor!" the other party snorted coldly.

"How to say?"

"The Minghuang Neo-Confucianism he founded is incompatible with the classics and meanings we learn, and he also advocates that the gentry and gentry should receive food as one body..."

"What? This is unreasonable! How can we, Han Chuang, who have been studying hard for more than ten years, be treated equally with the common people?" The scholar was instantly furious.

"Yes, so he is a traitor!"

"Humph, you're a traitor!" After hearing that Li Wei actually advocated that the gentry and the gentry should be one and the same, the two scholars immediately reached an agreement and cried bitterly that Li Wei was a traitor.

Minghuang Academy was famous for its excellent results, but Li Wei's reputation was exactly the opposite. Because Zheng Zhihua proposed in the palace that the gentry should receive food from one body, he was collectively hostile to the gentry class, and he was once again labeled as a traitor. No., and it is still firmly imprinted and cannot be wiped off.

In the Ordnance Bureau, Laifu was reporting to Li Wei what happened at the Chamber of Commerce, and Abu and Chen Su were also there.

"Sir, the servants and relatives of those officials have all left the Chamber of Commerce for unknown reasons in the past two days. They would rather give up this month's salary than insist on leaving. I asked people to stay for a while, but I didn't."

Laifu said worriedly.

Li Wei frowned slightly.

He had also heard about what happened during the imperial examination two days ago. When he found out that Zheng Zhihua had proposed to share the family with his wife, he knew that this would happen sooner or later.

These officials would rather not give up the high salary offered by the chamber of commerce, but also call back all the servants and relatives, just to sever ties with him.

In fact, this matter is easy to understand. After all, compared with the benefits obtained from the family's huge land without food, the salary of the Chamber of Commerce is insignificant.

After pondering for a moment, Li Wei said calmly: "Just leave when you leave. It doesn't matter. The Chamber of Commerce is just running its normal business."

After hearing this, Laifu breathed a sigh of relief: "Yes, sir."

After talking to Laifu, Li Wei turned his eyes to Chen Su and said softly: "Are you ready for everything I asked you to arrange?"

"My lord, everything is ready. All we need is your order and we can take action," Chen Su said.

Li Wei nodded lightly: "Then take action."

"Yes!"

Chen Su accepted the order with his hands raised.

Li Wei took a breath. Originally, he felt a little guilty for creating such an unjust case to exclude dissidents, but now that he has seen through this incident the shameless faces of these officials and gentry, he no longer feels guilty.

Although he did not intend to implement this policy, it was indeed beneficial to the country and the people for the gentry to share their income. For their own interests, these gentry strongly opposed it and even called him a sycophant. How shameless!
He no longer needs to be soft-hearted towards such people.

"Okay, you all go back."

After giving instructions to Chen Su, Li Wei waved his hand, picked up the tea bowl and took a sip.

"Yes!"

Both Laifu and Chen Su respectfully resigned, but Abu did not go with them.

Li Wei looked up at him and asked, "Do you have anything else?"

Abu stared at Li Wei, hesitated and said in a deep voice: "You haven't been back home for a long time."

Li Wei looked at him in surprise, why did Abu suddenly become concerned about this? He had never asked much before.

"What? Is there a problem?"

Abu frowned and hesitated to speak, and finally sighed and said: "It's okay, I'll take my leave now."

After saying that, he turned around and left.

Li Wei looked at his back and narrowed his eyes slightly.

After seeing what happened to Xiao Qing, he has become much more cautious, and sometimes he is even full of suspicion of the people around him like Zhu Yuanzhang.

In addition to the craftsmen and students around him now, Laifu and Abu, the two domestic slaves who had been following him for a long time, were the most trustworthy. But at this time, Abu's behavior made him suspicious.

After a moment of silence, Li Wei also stood up and walked out. He found a craftsman and gave him a few instructions.

After a long time, Chen Su, who had left, was chased back by the craftsman he sent.

"Master!" Chen Su came to him and bowed his hands.

Li Wei nodded lightly and took him back to the house. After sitting down, he said in a deep voice: "I will take the time to check what Abu has been doing recently and whether there is anything unusual."

When Chen Su heard this, he couldn't help but be surprised: "Cha Abu?"

"Yes!" Li Wei said.

After receiving the confirmation, Chen Su was immediately surprised.

Abu is one of Li Wei's most trusted people, and he is said to be more reliable than him, but now Li Wei wants him to check this confidant, which is obviously suspicious of him.

After a moment of pause, Chen Su suppressed the surprise in his heart and answered, "Yes!"

Li Wei nodded, then waved his hand: "Go down."

Chen Su then bowed respectfully and turned to leave.

Li Wei didn't rush him about this matter. Although Abu behaved strangely, it didn't look like a rebellion. The top priority now is to implement the previously planned things quickly, otherwise it will be too late by the time this failed scholar leaves Beijing.

……

Along the Qinhuai River, there are many simple houses, which are called river houses because they are scattered on the river bank. These scholars who came to Beijing to take the exam lived here.

Many of those who have passed high school are fawning, and even if they are penniless, they don't have to worry about food and accommodation, but those who have failed the exam do not have such good treatment.

Gao An was one of the scholars who failed the exam. He came from a poor background, and his family had already risked their fortune to support his education. Unfortunately, he failed in the end.

Just as he was packing his luggage and preparing to leave, Liu Guan, who lived next to him, suddenly came to the door.

"Brother Gao An, are you ready to return home?" Liu Guan asked.

"Hey, yes," Gao An sighed helplessly, "My family has already paid too much to support me rushing to take the exam this time, and I can't go on any longer. I have already left my name in the Ministry of Personnel, and there are many job vacancies in the Ming Dynasty. I believe that it won’t be long before I can be given an official position, so that I can take care of my family’s worries as soon as possible.”

Juren are qualified to serve as officials directly, but they have to wait until there are vacancies before they can be arranged, and the positions are usually very low, usually county magistrate, chief registrar, etc. If you have the status, you will have the opportunity to become such a small official. It's just that once you become such a small official, it is very difficult to be promoted. You can't compare with those Jinshi who have reached the rank.

Therefore, unless they are too old or have no other choice, they will insist on taking the scientific examination in order to enter high school and become a temple.

Gao An looked disappointed, but Liu Guan, who also failed, was different at this time. Not only was he not disappointed, but he had a hint of anger.

"Brother Gao, haven't you noticed? The scholars who ascended the throne this time are all from the south, and there are none from the north!"

Liu Guan reminded.

Gao An was stunned for a moment and looked at him in surprise. (End of chapter)