The Ming Dynasty started with saving the eldest grandson

Chapter 407: The Legend of the Borer

What arrived before Zhu Yuanzhang was his anti-corruption achievements in Sichuan, which were written in great detail.

Although he was well prepared, Chen Jingke still felt heavy after watching it.

"So much money, the temptation is too great."

Zhu Xiongying sneered, "It's tempting, but this is what happens when you can't control yourself."

"According to the feedback from the Imperial Guards, wherever Grandpa Emperor has been, the administration has become much more peaceful."

“There are more officials who are doing practical work.”

Chen Jingke sighed: "The infrastructure plan is still a bit hasty."

"Old-school officials only know how to govern the people and collect taxes. This is what they were taught by their education."

"Developing local industries and infrastructure is indeed beyond their capabilities."

"If you don't understand the new policy and you have such a large sum of money, it's inevitable that you will spend it carelessly."

Zhu Xiongying said: "Even so, this is not a reason for them to embezzle."

"What's more, they are not just corrupt, they are also disregarding human life, causing harm to the local area, and deceiving their superiors and subordinates. Any of these offenses is punishable by death."

Chen Jingke shook his head and said, "I'm not speaking for them, I'm just expressing my feelings that they are short of people."

Zhu Xiongying spread his hands and said, "It takes ten years to grow a tree and a hundred years to cultivate a person. This is written on the wall of Luoxia Academy. There is really no rush."

"But the current situation is already very good, we must learn to be content."

Chen Jingke laughed and said, "Oh, you also know how to be satisfied. Normally, you are the most anxious one."

Zhu Xiongying said angrily: "I am trying to comfort you. You really don't know how to appreciate kindness."

Chen Jingke pretended not to hear him calling him a dog, and said:
"After the Chinese New Year, the imperial examination will begin, right?"

Zhu Xiongying said: "Yes, the imperial examination will be expanded this time. Five hundred people will be recruited for the Jinshi exam, five hundred for the Mathematics exam, and two hundred for the Criminal Law exam."

In the regular imperial examination, three hundred people were admitted each year.

A total of 1,200 people will be admitted this time, which is three times the number.

Especially for mathematics, the number of admission quotas has increased over the years.

Initially there were fifty people in each class, but now it has become five hundred.

At the beginning, the civil service group was very dissatisfied and opposed this matter a lot, but they were all ignored by Zhu.

Once the five-year plan was implemented and large-scale infrastructure construction was launched, the situation changed.

The traditional civil service group finally felt the pressure from accounting.

The five-year plan requires quantitative management, which cannot be achieved by traditional accountants.

Only those who have received systematic mathematics training can do this job.

Currently, the only institutions capable of training such talents are the Imperial College and the mathematics circle formed by Chen Jingke.

The number of graduates each year is less than a thousand.

For a country as big as the Ming Dynasty, such a small number of people are just a drop in the bucket.

Without accounting, there can be no digitization, and without digitization, all work cannot be carried out.

The most frightening thing is that one is not greedy, but because one does not understand finance, one is coerced by the people below.

Some people actually like messy accounts, because it is easier to fish in muddy waters.

However, the Embroidered Uniform Guard, the Censor-in-Chief, and the Imperial Envoy went out to conduct inspections everywhere.

Even more terrifying is Zhu Yuanzhang. Whenever he took action, he would commit a series of crimes. In the past two years, the number of officials who died at his hands added up to two to three thousand.

Emperor Hongwu retired, but after retirement he had more time to investigate corrupt officials.

Who is not afraid?
Actual needs have forced the civil service group to adjust themselves, and now they are pretending not to notice the court's expansion of admission quotas for mathematics.

Many people even took the initiative to ask the Ministry of Personnel for talents in mathematics.

As for the criminal law department, there is not much to say.

It is difficult to train a judicial officer who meets the requirements, so the assessment standards for the criminal law department are higher, even higher than those for the Jinshi department.

It is not certain that the 200 places available every year can be filled.

However, even if the enrollment is full, the three departments combined will only have 1,200 people, which is still not enough.

But he also knew that this matter could not be rushed.

"The induction training of Canghai Province and Temasek is already in good shape."

"Some of the talents who pass the imperial examination next year will be sent to Canghai Province, and some will be sent to Temasek."

"Only after you pass the assessment there will the Ministry of Personnel officially grant you an official position."

After talking about talent for a while, the two brought the topic back to the beginning.

Zhu Yuanzhang sent the files back not only for filing, but also for publishing them in newspapers.

Nowadays, there is a page in weekly newspapers that is used to publish anti-corruption achievements by default.

In addition to the cases investigated by Zhu Yuanzhang, the achievements of institutions such as the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the Inspectorate will also be published on it.

The purpose is naturally to kill the chicken to scare the monkey.

Chen Jingke flipped through the files in his hand, and said with an idea:
"How about compiling the emperor's achievements in fighting corruption over the years into a book and publishing it to the world?"

Zhu Xiongying's eyes lit up and he said, "Good idea. All new Jinshi candidates must study this book."

Zhu Xiongying immediately issued an order to the Hanlin Academy to send a suitable person to take charge of the matter.

The Hanlin Academy did not dare to delay and quickly sent someone over.

However, what Chen Jingke did not expect was that the candidate recommended by the Hanlin Academy was Yang Shiqi.

Even Zhu Xiongying was a little surprised. He didn't expect it to be such a coincidence.

He had investigated Yang Shiqi before and had a relatively good understanding of this man's experience.

Although Yang Shiqi's experience can be considered inspirational, that's all.

No matter how hard it is, can it be harder than Zhu Yuanzhang? No matter how ambitious you are, can it be greater than the Hongwu Emperor?

As a dynasty founded by grassroots people, the Ming Dynasty had no shortage of inspirational talents.

The only bright spot is his filial piety. After his mother remarried, he took some soil and made incense at his stepfather's house to commemorate his deceased father.

Because of this action, he was able to restore his original surname.

Apart from that, his characteristics of "being stronger even when poor" were nothing in Zhu Xiongying's eyes.

But I didn’t expect that this person would be admitted to the Hanlin Academy.

This couldn't help but arouse Zhu Xiongying's interest.

It took only half a year for him to go from a commoner to this point. It seems that Yang Shiqi does have some abilities.

Chen Jingke did not find it strange at all. If Yang Shiqi could not do this, he would be unworthy of his reputation as one of the Three Yangs.

He found it interesting that the task of writing an anti-corruption book actually fell on Yang Shiqi's shoulders.

You have to know that in his previous life, Yang Shiqi was a loyal and capable minister, but he was definitely not an honest official.

The things he did would have been considered the lightest punishment during the reign of Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang, when the entire clan was exterminated.

It is really funny to have such a person writing this book.

But he didn't object, as he said before.

They would not give Yang Shiqi any help, but they would not deliberately set up obstacles either.

Now the Hanlin Academy has sent him to take over this job, which is his good fortune.

I just hope he can learn some lessons from this book, restrain himself and his family, and not follow the same path as in his previous life.

In his previous life, there was someone to back him up, but not in this life.

In fact, when Yang Shiqi learned that he was going to compile a book for the retired emperor, he was so excited that he almost fainted.

Even now, he felt a little dazed.

The changes were so fast and so great that he could hardly believe it.

By attacking materialism, he had two more articles published in the Ming Weekly.

This time he became completely famous.

Many conservative scholars took the initiative to express their friendship to him.

Relying on the relationships with these people and his solid historical knowledge, he successfully joined the compilation team of "Jianzhang Dadian" and obtained an official position.

Then, not long after, because the common affairs were handled in an orderly manner, I began to manage some administrative work.

At this point, he completed the triple jump.

From common people to technical bureaucrats, and then to administrative bureaucrats.

But at this time, he was just a minor official of the eighth rank. Moreover, the Hanlin Academy was no longer a place for Jinshi to maintain their reputation, but a simple propaganda agency.

There is still a long way to go before you can truly succeed.

His original plan was to compile the Jianzhang Da Dian well, and wait until the book was completed and he had achieved political achievements before seeking other positions.

However, no one expected that a big pie would fall right in front of them.

The prince wanted to write a book, and the Hanlin Academy gave him the task.

This meant that he had direct access to the Crown Prince.

Once you catch the prince's eye, that would be the shortcut to success.

He naturally knew why this job fell on him.

It’s not because I’m popular, nor because the people above me are kind, but because no one is willing to take on this hot potato.

Write an anti-corruption book for the emperor emeritus.

On the surface, this seems to be a eulogy for the retired emperor, but if you think about it carefully, it is a story of treason.

So many things happen in the Ming Dynasty every year, and so many corrupt officials are uncovered, that no one is in the mood to pay attention to this every day.

After a few years, no one mentioned it and everyone forgot about it.

But it’s different when it’s written into a book.

Anyone who is included in this book will be nailed to the pillar of shame in history.

Their descendants will not be able to hold their heads up because of this.

For the Chinese people who value their reputation after death, the consequences are too serious.

Whoever writes this book is their mortal enemy.

There were too many people executed by the retired emperor, and their relatives, friends, students and former officials were spread all over the court and the country.

One can imagine what kind of criticism the person responsible for writing this book will receive.

Those people in the Hanlin Academy were unwilling to do this offensive job, so it fell on their heads.

Yang Shiqi had a very clear understanding of this.

Then, he took the job without hesitation.

Perhaps this is the only chance in this life. Once you miss it, you may waste your whole life and achieve nothing.

What do a few obstacles matter?
If you are afraid of wolves in front and tigers behind, how can you accomplish great things?

After seeing the prince, he didn't dare to look sideways, nor even raise his head to take a closer look.

Just a secret glance and he remembered Zhu Xiongying's appearance firmly in his mind.

Instead, he paid more attention to the person sitting below the prince, who looked younger than him.

But he didn't dare to look down on the other party at all.

There is only one person in the world who can sit in this position, Chen Jingke.

He is a legendary figure who is no less outstanding than the founding group of the Ming Dynasty.

Although his official position was only the prince's tutor, everyone knew that he was actually doing the job of a prime minister.

There are countless legends about him among the people.

The most famous of these is the Prince Consort series.

There are countless versions of the opera performed by the people themselves, and almost every place has its own version.

The revised version of Tongxing Tianxia has already reached the fifteenth volume.

Of course, the stories in The Prince Consort's Biography are all fabricated, and everyone knows that.

Generally, fictional stories tend to exaggerate the protagonist's abilities.

Yang Shiqi had studied Chen Jingke, so he knew that the Biography of the Prince Consort did not even record one percent of his achievements.

Solving cases, speaking up for the people, and fighting wits and courage with villains are all too easy.

A truly capable person is one who can control the world.

This young man in his twenties did it.

How much he can achieve in the future depends not only on the attitude of the emperor and the prince, but this young man also has the right to decide.

Therefore, I must seize this opportunity and use this book to please the prince, while also establishing a certain connection with Chen Bandu.

He had even thought about it and planned to visit Chen's house to discuss the book editing matters.

Once you become familiar with the situation, show your understanding of the new policy and get recommended.

Chen Jingke didn't know yet that this man named Yang Shiqi had already begun to attack him.

But it doesn’t matter even if you know.

There are countless people who try their best to please him every day, and there is no one more than Yang Shiqi.

As long as he really has the ability, he will naturally be placed in the right position.

If you don't have the ability, no matter how much you say, it's useless.

The two asked Yang Shiqi about his views on anti-corruption, and the results were naturally not surprising.

Termites are shameful and should be killed.

When asked again about his opinion on the book, Yang Shiqi's answer was still firm and must be recorded truthfully.

It was used as a supplement to history books and circulated throughout the world.

"We need to make those termites infamous for eternity, so that they can serve as a warning to others."

Zhu Xiongying was very satisfied with his attitude and issued an edict on the spot, formally appointing him to compile the book.

He also issued a special decree allowing him to read the files of various departments, and all officials were not allowed to stop him.

Yang Shiqi was naturally very excited and quickly expressed his gratitude.

After discussion, Zhu Xiongying and Chen Jingke decided to name the book "The Biography of Woodworms".

The official name will be decided after Zhu Yuanzhang returns.

But under normal circumstances, Lao Zhu would not offend them.

This name is most likely the final name.

After receiving the imperial edict, Yang Shiqi was very excited and finally embarked on the shortcut to Zhongnan.

When he returned to the Hanlin Academy, he found that everyone's attitude towards him had changed.

No matter how close the relationship was before, it became polite and distant after this incident.

Obviously, she wanted to draw a clear line between herself and him.

But he didn't care. After staying in the Hanlin Academy for a few months, he had discovered that most of the people working here were simple literati.

There is no doubt about his moral qualities, but as for his ability to do things, it’s better not to mention it.

It is obvious that the imperial court had no intention of letting these people govern an area.

In this case, the attitudes of these people are not that important.

After that, he devoted himself to the work, hoping to finish editing the book as soon as possible.

On the other hand, the Ming Weekly published the retired emperor’s anti-corruption achievements in Shu, but it did not attract much attention.

There are so many of them that everyone has gotten used to them.

What everyone is paying attention to is another article about Nanyang.

There is not much to say about the first half of the content. It introduces the situation in Southeast Asia and advocates the great enfeoffment.

Completely turn this place into Chinese territory.

But in the second half of the article, the author raises an issue that cannot be ignored.

Nanyang is a very large country, and in the past, it was not considered too many to confer titles on eight or ten princes.

But there are not enough adult princes in the Ming Dynasty now. What should we do?
We can't wait until the remaining princes come of age before conferring the title, can we?

The imperial court can wait, but the people of Southeast Asia cannot.

Of course, it would not be impossible if each prince’s fiefdom was larger.

But the importance of Nanyang is obvious. If the prince's fiefdom is too strong, it will still not be good news for the Ming court.

Therefore, the feudal state in Southeast Asia should not be too large.

So the question is, there are not enough adult princes, how to solve this problem?

This is an unprecedented view, which attracted everyone's attention and discussion once it was put forward.

(End of this chapter)