Chapter 360 Feeling Surrounded by Spies of the Yi Army

Wang Fuzhi was influenced by the spiritual philosophy taught by Chao Ping and paid attention to sincerity and pragmatism, and even later formed simple materialist thoughts.

He could notice Liu Sheng's pragmatic ideas on the reform of the provincial examination, and so could Wang Chaopin, so he no longer had any hesitation in letting his sons become officials.

After Wang Jiapin finished talking about the provincial examination, Wang Chaopin said: "I already know about Da'an's opening of the provincial examination. Third brother, if you have nothing else to do, please come back."

Although Wang Jiapin had guessed Wang Chaopin's thoughts, he was not sure. He immediately asked: "Do you want me to introduce them to participate in this provincial examination? You must know that if you miss this time, the competition in the next provincial examination will be even more intense. They may not be successful at that time.”

Upon hearing this, the three Wang, Fu and Zhi all looked at Wang Jiapin nervously.

Even Wang Jiezhi, the eldest brother, was only thirty-six years old. He considered himself a scholar and had never been an official. How could he be willing to die in obscurity and die in the countryside?

Under the gaze of the three brothers, Wang Chaopin closed his eyes again. After a moment, he said: "Da'ei's reform of the provincial examination does have a new atmosphere. Let them go and see it."

Upon hearing this, Wang, his wife, and the other three were immediately overflowing with joy and excitement.

Wang Jiapin also burst out laughing, "That's just a good companion for my family, Yunxiu. In addition, Huguang is now divided into two provinces, Hubei and Hunan. Hunan candidates no longer need to go to Wuchang for the provincial examination, they can just go to Changsha, which is much closer than before. many."

Wang Jiapin also agreed with this point, "Yes, you can go down the Xiangjiang River from Hengyang to Changsha in one day. I don't know how much more convenient it is than before."

Wang Jiapin chatted with Chaopin for a few more words and then left.

Then Chaopin looked at the papers of the three people and judged them on the spot.

Wang Jiezhi's paper was considered to be the best, while Wang Shenzhi's and Wang Fuzhi's were inferior, so they were educated by the imperial court.

After Wang Zhaopin finished his instruction, Wang Fuzhi couldn't help but ask: "Father, do we want to participate in the fourth round of the provincial examination?"

"Do you want to participate?" Wang Chaoping asked.

As the youngest son, Wang Fuzhi was less afraid of his father. He hesitated and said truthfully: "I heard that in Damei, formal officials can also be promoted, and there are no obvious bottlenecks like in the Ming Dynasty.

If you want to enter an official career as soon as possible but did not do well in the first three tests of the provincial examination, participating in the fourth test may be a good choice. "

After saying this, Wang Fuzhi was quite uneasy and even prepared to be scolded. After all, in the scholarly world, becoming a Jinshi and then becoming an official was the right path.

Unexpectedly, Wang Chaopin said: "You only took the fourth test because of your official career and thought that you did not do well in the first three tests.

But my father believes that no matter whether you do well in the first three exams, the three of you must take this fourth exam. "

Wang Jiezhi asked in confusion: "Why did my father say that?"

Wang Chaoping said: "You all know about the changes made by Da Wei to the provincial examination just now. Didn't you realize that this fourth session is the focus of the reform of the provincial examination in Nanjing?

It is foreseeable that the Dawei Township Examination is likely to continue to reform in the future and continue to move closer to the content of the fourth examination.

Therefore, regardless of whether you intend to have an official career or not, as long as you pass down the family through literary work, it is best to take part in the fourth provincial examination, experience it, and gain something for yourself. "

The three of them, Wang Fuzhi and Wang Fuzhi, thought about it a little and felt that what Chaopin said made sense.

Anyway, the results of the fourth exam are calculated separately and not together with the first three exams, so you will definitely not suffer any disadvantage if you take the fourth exam.

At most, it’s just one more exam.

After the Ministry of Rites determined the various specific aspects of this autumn's rural examination, it spread the news to all provinces and made special publicity to let scholars in the seven provinces know the relevant news of this autumn's rural examination in Da'ei.

Except for a few who had Ming ambitions and stubbornly disagreed with Damei's rule, the vast majority of the scholars were delighted when they heard the news.

Due to the drastic changes in the world, many students had no idea about applying for the provincial examination this autumn, and even became unfamiliar with the art of imperial examination. Now, while there is still more than half a month left for the provincial examination, they are intensifying their review in the hope of passing the examination.

Regarding the fourth session of the provincial examination, a small number of scholars have similar views to Chaoxing, believing that it represents the future direction of the imperial examination reform in Da'ei, and they must participate in the experience session.

There are also some people who have similar views to Wang Fuyi’s initial views, believing that it can be used as a retreat for poor results in the first three exams.

Some people are worried that if they take the fourth exam and do well, they will be directly recruited by the Da'ei imperial court to join the "Academy of Science" and miss the opportunity to pass the exam or even become a Jinshi.

Some may think that if they take the fourth exam, they will be associated with accountants and officials, which is a sign that they have no ambition and will not be successful in the future. This will affect their future in the officialdom, so they make up their mind never to take the fourth exam.

···

While officials and candidates from the seven provinces under the rule of Da'ei were preparing for the provincial examinations this autumn, espionage activities led by the Xunfengwei of Da'ei's personal guards were also carried out in Fujian, Guangdong and Guangxi, Sichuan, Guizhou and even Yunnan. Provinces are in full swing.

Again, even if the Yi army has high combat power and can conquer these provinces by force, it will still consume a lot of money and food, even sacrifice many soldiers, and it will take a long time.

It would be better if we could use espionage, persuading surrender and other actions to make various places directly submit to Dawei and subjugate the enemy's troops without fighting.

Xunfengwei has been established for nearly three years, and Liu Sheng has never been short of funds, and the priority of talent recruitment has always been relatively high. In the past year or two, not only has it sent many spies to Huguang, Jiangxi, South Zhili, Zhejiang and other places, Many informants were deployed, including Sichuan, Guizhou, Fujian, and Guangdong and Guangxi.

Only Yunnan, due to the long distance, is relatively low in Da'ei's attack plan. Currently, Xunfengwei has not sent anyone there.

Chongqing Prefecture, Sichuan.

The government governs Ba County. Ba County in the late Ming Dynasty was not Ba County in later generations, but Chongqing in later generations.

In the back house of the prefect's Yamen.

Wang Xingjian, the prefect of Chongqing in the Ming Dynasty, held a letter with a solemn expression.

This is a letter from home, written by his eldest son who is far away in his hometown of Yixing, Changzhou, Nanzhili. It was handed over directly from the government office this morning.

The reason why Wang Xingjian looked solemn was because this was the third letter written by his eldest son to him after Southern Zhili was occupied by the Yi army.

Logically speaking, Huguang, Jiangxi, and Nanzhili were all occupied by the Yi army, so it was unlikely that the eldest son's family letters would be delivered to him.

However, all three family letters arrived safely without any mistakes.

Every time he thought about this, he felt shuddering.

He judged that the Eijun army must be involved in this matter, and spies from the Eijun army might have penetrated into the city!

It's even possible that spies have placed their spies in his yamen!

After having this idea, Wang Xingjian felt that everyone in the government office looked like spies of the Wei army.

It's not that he is suspicious by nature - except for the safe arrival of the three family letters, there are many doubts about the people and events in the government recently.

For example, he occasionally heard officials talking about how it was not only easier for officials to be promoted in Da'Ei, but there were no official career bottlenecks as low as those of officials in Ming Dynasty, and the salaries of Da'Ei officials were even higher.

Many official officials such as Shushu and even Liufang Dianli expressed their envy about this matter. Some people even said in public that it would be great if they could serve as officials in Da'ei.

For another example, the cooks, firewood men, and vegetable buyers in the Houya could also comment, saying that they heard that the Yi army had strict discipline and did not commit any crimes against the people, and was in no way better than the Ming army.

Although these people's comments stopped immediately when he heard them, they seemed to be evasive. But if you really wanted to hide it, how could you let him hear it?

He was not afraid to speculate with the greatest malice, maybe these government servants and servants let him hear these words on purpose!

This made Wang Xingjian feel as if he had become a moth trapped in a spider's web. He had been tightly entangled in a large net laid by the Yi army, and it was difficult to escape.

Judging from the second letter sent by the eldest son and today's letter, his eldest son and even his family and relatives in Yixing have also become part of this big network.

Even a crucial part!

At first, Wang Xingjian suspected that his family had been arrested by the Yi army, or at least placed under house arrest.

But judging from the first letter sent by the eldest son, this is not the case.

In that first letter, the eldest son still cherished his loyalty to the Ming Dynasty, and even said that he had prepared to follow the famous gentry in the county to gather troops to resist the Yi army. He never thought that after the Yi army came, the Ming army company defending the city would Without holding on for two quarters of an hour, the city fell.

After the city was broken, the Wei army was indeed in compliance with the rumors. After entering the city, they maintained strict discipline and did not commit any crimes against the good people.

They just killed a lot of rioters and local gangsters who took advantage of the situation. A few days later, they also tried several families of evil gentry and bullies with bad reputations who had bullied men and women.

Fortunately, his family was not considered a big one in Yixing, and the family tradition was very upright, and no children ever bullied men or women.

For this reason, the eldest son even applauded the public trial and execution of the few criminals who had committed crimes in large households.

Through the words in the letter, Wang Xingjian could feel that his eldest son's feelings towards Wei Jun had obviously improved.

Sure enough, when the second letter came more than a month later, the eldest son's letter mentioned the Eijun army and the local governance of Damei local government, and almost all of it was full of praise.

For example, in Taihu Lake near Yixing, there was a group of water bandits who did many evil things. They not only robbed business travelers, but also went ashore many times to kill people. The people suffered greatly.

Because of their collusion with a few large households, the Ming Dynasty's officers and soldiers repeatedly suppressed it without success, but instead caused the people to pay a lot more miscellaneous taxes.

As a result, when the Tai army arrived, they not only quickly wiped out the evil bandits, but also found out and uprooted several large households that had colluded with them, which made the people applaud.

After that, almost all the local bandits and water bandits in Yixing and Changzhou Prefecture were wiped out by the Yi army, and for a while there was a sense of peace in the world.

In addition to suppressing bandits, the Yi army also built roads, canals, and bridges in Yixing and other places, and even restored the operation of the almshouses and Luzeyuan, and it did not collect much related money and food from the local people.

Even if the people are allowed to participate in these things, it is hiring, not levying corvee.

Therefore, within a month or two, the people in Yixing and other places all wanted to go to Dawei, especially the common people and poor families.

If we talk about the first two letters, Wang Xingjian saw a clear change in his eldest son's attitude towards the Yi army, and finally wanted to support the Yi army, but it just made him feel helpless.

So the third letter sent today and what the eldest son said made Wang Xingjian feel completely trapped and forced into a corner.

Because, in this third letter, the eldest son mentioned that Dawei will start the provincial examination this autumn.

The eldest son has already signed up to take the Da'ei Provincial Examination and the fourth "Royal Selection Examination", and is determined to become an official!

 First more.

  

 

(End of this chapter)

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