The Ming Dynasty started with saving the eldest grandson

Chapter 84 Xu Da returns to court
Chen Jingke didn't know that Zhu Biao actually had the idea of ​​letting him be his consort, otherwise he would be so scared that he couldn't sleep.

Fortunately, Zhu Yuanzhang still knew what was going on and did not agree with Zhu Biao's opinion.

Time passed slowly, and soon it was the end of October, and there were only a few days left before the imperial examination started.

A tense atmosphere spread.

The faces of scholars no longer looked relaxed as before, and few people gathered together to give advice.

However, at this moment, Zhu Yuanzhang made a big move.

Li Xin, the newly appointed Minister of Civil Affairs, submitted a list of as many as 7000 people.

Don’t get me wrong, this is not a death list, but a resume of opposition talents compiled by the Ministry of Officials.

However, in terms of the dangers of officials in the Hongwu Dynasty, this is roughly equivalent to a death list.

Chen Jingke was speechless when he saw this pile of resumes by chance.

Wasn't it agreed that the official dogs of the Hongwu Dynasty were not worthy of their duties?
Why are there so many things that are inferior to dogs?

Complaints are complaints, and he once again admired Zhu Yuanzhang's methods.

He was still thinking before that just cleaning up the big local households would not solve the fundamental problem.

The current problem of the court is that there are not enough local officials, which gives big families the opportunity to seize power.

The only way to fundamentally solve this problem is to fill the gap.

But where can we get so many qualified officials at once?
Just rely on the imperial examination to select officials, even if it is held once a year, it will not be enough to fill the vacancies in 20 years.

Enyin can do that.

However, it is easier for enyin officials to form cliques by relying on their ancestral connections, and the hidden dangers are greater if there are too many of them.

Chen Jingke has also been thinking about how to solve it.

Now he finally knows.

At the same time, I also understood a truth more clearly: there will never be a shortage of people who want to be officials.

But it’s normal to think about it. The Ming Dynasty had a population of more than 6000 million, and even if the literacy rate was only 60%, there were more than [-] people.

It is not difficult to select thousands of these people who can become officials.

In fact, what Chen Jingke didn't know was that since the rise of private academies in the Song Dynasty, the literacy rate in ancient times has been rising year by year.

The literacy rate in the Song Dynasty was about [-]%, and in the Ming Dynasty it was about [-]%.

Of the total population of more than 6000 million, more than 600 million people were literate. There was really no shortage of officials in the Ming Dynasty.

With so many resumes, it is naturally impossible for Zhu Yuanzhang to choose one by one.

He adopted the imperial examination quota allocation system and selected candidates according to regions.

Try our best to have people selected from every Chief Secretary and every prefecture and county.

In the end, 900 people were selected and awarded official positions.

Except for a very small number of these people who were directly appointed as chief officers, most of them were deputy ministers.

Here comes the essential part, the chief officer is vacant and the deputy officer is in charge, which deputy officer doesn’t want to take a step further?
Otherwise, if a chief officer comes from the sky, he will be knocked back to his original form.

Once they have tasted power, no one is willing to give it up.

If you want to become a regular employee, you must show results.

Under the current situation, how can we achieve results as soon as possible?

Cooperate with the imperial court to fight against corruption and crack down on big local families who seek wealth and are unkind.

After thinking about this, Chen Jingke had to sigh again:
Lao Zhu is indeed a man who conquers the world with just one bowl.

And the appointment of so many officials at once completely ignited all scholars.

With such a huge shortage of officials in the imperial court, our opportunity has come.

But the court had no time to worry about their thoughts, because another big event happened soon.

Wei Guogong Xu Da returned to the court to report on his duties.

Xu Da is well-deserved No. 1 in the founding of the country. His return to the court is definitely a big event.

Zhu Biao went out of the city thirty miles to greet him, and Zhu Xiongying, as his grandson, was no exception.

As his grandson's companion, Chen Jingke also had to follow him to welcome him.He was very curious about this legendary figure.

Xu Da went to the Northern Yuan Dynasty in January of the 14th year of Hongwu's reign and stayed in Peiping to guard after his victory.

Peiping was the fief of King Zhu Di of Yan, and Zhu Di was Xu Da's son-in-law.

The purpose of Lao Zhu's doing this is self-evident. Please train your son-in-law well and stay out of the public eye.

Chen Jingke had never seen Xu Da in the palace for so long.

There is also Lan Yu, who has not returned from the expedition to Yunnan and has not seen it.

Now that Xu Da is back, he naturally wants to take a look at this legendary figure.

Zhu Xiongying was also very excited. Influenced by Chen Jingke, he was very interested in opening up new territories.

Naturally, he was more curious and valued about a general like Xu Da.
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Zhu Biao took everyone out early in the morning and went to the dock on the bank of the Yangtze River to wait.

The Forbidden Army surrounded the dock, and the ships on the river had been notified long ago and all sailed away.

The surface of the river looks unusually open, and when you look up, you can see only sparkling waves, which makes people feel excited.

Xu Da's fleet did not arrive until noon.

Looking up, I saw a huge fleet of boats appearing on the river, with a large flag with the word "Xu" hanging on it.

Everyone else was fine, but Zhu Xiongying was the most excited, standing on tiptoes and staring straight at the warships.

It seems that he wants to personally command the army and defeat the enemy.

Chen Jingke smiled in his heart, although this kid is smart, sometimes he still has a childish nature.

When the fleet approached, a general wearing a military uniform walked out first.

His chest was as straight as a spear, his steps were steady, and his eyes were firm and profound.

Even if he has never seen Chen Jingke before, he is sure that he is the Duke of Wei, Xu Da, just by looking at him.

After Xu Da got off the boat, he quickened his steps and came to Zhu Biao, bowed down and said:
"The last general, Xu Da, meets His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and the Grand Sun."

Zhu Biao quickly held his arm and said: "The Duke of Wei is exempt from courtesy."

Xu Da stood up and said gratefully: "Your Highness, I will be ashamed to welcome you personally."

Zhu Biao smiled and said: "The Duke of Wei has worked hard for the country and made great achievements. As a junior, I should welcome him personally."

Then he waved to Zhu Xiongying and said, "Ying'er, why don't you come and pay homage to your Uncle Xu."

Zhu Xiongying took a step forward and said, "Xiongying pays homage to my great-uncle."

Xu Da quickly bowed down and said, "If you can't do it, you can't do it. Your great grandson will destroy the last general."

Zhu Xiongying restrained his excitement and said: "Grandpa Huang often said that my great-uncle was the first contributor to the founding of the Ming Dynasty."

"When we see you, we should treat you as our father and ancestors without any disrespect."

Xu Da's eyes filled with tears of gratitude, and he bowed in the direction of the palace and said, "Your Majesty, Da Wei has no choice but to repay you with his death."

The people accompanying him were all moved by this scene. The king and his ministers were so wise and virtuous.

Chen Jingke watched all this silently. Whether it was true or false, at least it looked like it was done.

And judging from history, there must be some truth in this play.

As for Zhu Yuanzhang, he was afraid of Xu Da's achievements and killed him with a roast goose.

Chen Jingke naturally didn't believe such baseless rumors.

As a doctor, he has never heard of any disease that prohibits eating goose meat.

Among the founding heroes of the Ming Dynasty, the one whom Zhu Yuanzhang trusted the most was definitely Tang He.

But Xu Da can definitely be ranked in the top three.

And because of his ability and personal integrity, his status in Zhu Yuanzhang's mind was even higher.

It's not like Lao Zhu is really crazy. He would just think that such a brazen minister would die too early, and he really couldn't think of any reason to inflict harm.

After the process was completed, everyone started back to the palace without any further delay.

Zhu Yuanzhang is still waiting for his old comrades.

(End of this chapter)