Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

The martial arts conference in Shaanxi was regarded by Sun Chuanting and Yuan Shu as a recruitment conference and was held with great fanfare.

Martial arts conferences in other places were mostly tepid.

Especially in the southern Zhili area, they didn't pay much attention to the martial arts conference that the imperial court was going to hold. People here talk more about the destruction of the eunuch party and the expansion of imperial examinations.

As the stronghold of the Donglin Party, Nanzhili is the hardest hit area by the eunuch Party. Among the Six Gentlemen, Zuo Guangdou and Gu Dazhang, and among the Seven Gentlemen, Gao Panlong, Zhou Shunchang, Miao Changqi, Li Yingsheng, and Zhou Zongjian were all from Nanzhili.

The people here witnessed the eunuch's persecution of the Donglin gentleman, and most of them applauded the eunuch's destruction.

In mid-December, news of Wei Zhongxian's death reached Suzhou. The people here immediately bulldozed Wei Zhongxian's shrine and publicly commemorated Donglin gentleman Zhou Shunchang.

At the same time, five people, Yan Peiwei, Yang Nianru, Ma Jie, Shen Yang, and Zhou Wenyuan, who died in the riots when Zhou Shunchang was arrested, were buried together at the original site of Wei Zhongxian's Shrine and on the embankment of Shantang River in front of Huqiu Mountain outside the city. They were called the "Five People" Tomb".

Zhang Pu, a famous scholar in Suzhou, wrote "Tombstones of Five People" to commemorate this event.

Zhou Shunchang's eldest son, Zhou Maolan, wrote a letter to the court explaining his father's grievances.

The former governor of Yingtian, Mao Yilu, who caused this unjust case, was so frightened that he fell seriously ill and was about to die before the imperial edict came.

When Wu Shangmo submitted his letter, the news came that Zhu Youjian had dismissed the weaving eunuchs in Suhang and fully rehabilitated the Donglin Party. People here support Zhu Youjian even more, believing that the new emperor can distinguish right from wrong and can be called a wise king.

Especially after the news of the expansion of imperial examination enrollment came, the scholars here supported Zhu Youjian even more.

"The Jinshi Department will recruit at least 400 people, and the Mingfa Department and the Mingshu Department will be newly established, with each department recruiting 100 people."

"Next year, at least six hundred scholars will be required, which is double the usual amount."

"This is the emperor's holy grace. You must take the exam with all your heart!"

At a gathering of Suzhou literati, Wen Zhenmeng, the number one scholar in the second year of Tianqi's reign and Wen Zhengming's great-grandson, told a group of Suzhou scholars.

Jiangnan is home to a large number of people, and many people believe that it is even more difficult to pass the imperial examination than to pass the imperial examination.

However, there will always be candidates who fail to pass the Jinshi examination, or even fail to do so for many years. For example, Wu Shangmo, who submitted a letter before, is an example. After passing the provincial examination Yayuan, it took him another twenty-two years to pass the Jinshi examination and become an official.

Now that the emperor is going to expand the recruitment, these candidates who have been failing for many years will suddenly have an opportunity. They are all likely to pass the Jinshi examination in this subject and be appointed as officials by the court.

Today's gathering was initiated by Wen Zhenmeng and invited these people to attend.

Also participating were famous literati from South Zhili. For example, Suzhou celebrities Zhang Pu and Zhang Cai, known as Loudong Erzhang, Yang Tingshu, the founder of Yingshe; Songjiang celebrities Xia Yunyi, Chen Zilong, Xu Fuyuan; and Changzhou celebrities Ma Shiqi, Yangzhou celebrities Mao Qizong, Tongcheng celebrity Fang Yizhi... These people attended the meeting one after another.

However, at this literary meeting, he and he, the "celebrities", couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed when they watched those candidates discussing next year's imperial examination and imagining their entrance into the exam next year.

Especially Zhang Pu and others, the original intention of establishing Yingshe was to study the Five Classics with each other in the society in order to prepare for the exam.

As a result, Zhang Cai passed the provincial examination this year, but Zhang Pu, Yang Tingshu and others failed. The expansion of Jinshi enrollment next year has nothing to do with them.

Today, they were invited to attend the party as celebrities, and it was really embarrassing among all the celebrities.

But they had to give Wen Zhenmeng face. In particular, Zhang Pugang wrote "Tombstones of Five People" and praised Wen Zhenmeng and his nephew Yao Ximeng as "sage officials". How could he not come to the party?
I could only force a smile as a foil, and watched those unknown old people talking loudly at the party with mixed emotions.

Zhang Pu came from an official family, but his mother was a maid and concubine, so he suffered a lot of humiliation at home. After his father died at the age of fifteen, he left his mother to live in the western suburbs and studied very hard.

The humble house he lived in called itself "Qilu Zhai", which means that the books he read must be copied by hand seven times and then burned. The fingers holding the pen are callused, and everyone who knows them admires him.

Because of this, although Yang Tingshu initiated the restoration of society, he gradually took the lead and was deeply trusted by the brothers of Yingshe. At this time, Zhang Pu listened to the opinions of those Juren on Mingfa and Mingshu, and said to the brothers of Yingshe:

"The New Book of Tang says: Among all subjects, Jinshi is particularly valuable and has the greatest success."

"This was true in the former Tang Dynasty, and it was also true in the former Song Dynasty. They all respected Jinshi."

"Nowadays, the imperial court has added the Mingfa and Mingshu departments, but in my opinion, the Jinshi department should be the main one."

"What do you think, brothers?"

Everyone present in the society agreed with this. The purpose of their establishment of Yingshe was to study the Five Classics.

Nowadays, many people have not even passed the examination, so they have no energy to distract themselves from law and calculation. So they plan to concentrate on the meaning of the scriptures and ignore other knowledge.

Different from these people, Fang Yizhi, a famous scholar in Tongcheng, planned to establish Zeshe. He not only wrote poems and compositions, studied classics and history, but also cared about the principles of all things and studied mathematics and other knowledge.

Chen Zilong, who finally became a scholar despite repeated setbacks in college examinations, also became interested in Mingfa and Mingshu.

Because in his opinion, the questions in these two subjects are more objective and less affected by the examiner's personal thoughts. He will not be dismissed repeatedly due to some personal reasons.

Therefore, he planned to study these two subjects while studying classics and history. If you can pass the Mingfa or Mingshu subjects at the same time as Jinshi in the future, according to the regulations of the imperial court, you will be admitted to the second class.

This made him attach great importance to the two exams.

It can be said that because of the establishment of the Ming Law Department and the Ming Shu Department, Jiangnan literati began to divide. It is hard to say whether Zhang Pu can merge the various societies and establish a Fushe in the future.

This change is not obvious yet. Mingfa and Mingshu have not yet gone deep into the rural examinations. Most literati who have not passed the rural examinations pay more attention to the meaning of classics. Mingfa and Mingshu are still a little far away in their eyes.

For some people, even the provincial examination is far away, and they don't even have the opportunity to participate in the imperial examination.

Li Yu, who came from a humble background, is an example.

His father was a servant in the palace of the great scholar Shen Shixing, so he was restrained from taking part in the imperial examination.

Although he is talented and knowledgeable, he cannot change his status.

Regarding this situation, Li Yu often felt depressed. Until he heard that Feng Menglong and Ling Shuchu had been called to Beijing to take up posts because of their drama scripts, and that they might even be given the title of Yuanshi, with status equal to that of Jinshi.

This ignited a fire in his heart, and he decided to write dramas in order to gain recognition.

The first thing to be created is "Occupying the Courtesan" which is based on the article "The Oil Seller Monopolizes the Courtesan" in Feng Menglong's "Eternal Words to Awaken the World".

However, this drama has an original script and is not entirely original. And as far as the content is concerned, there are some that are vulgar and not very high-minded.

Li Yu was worried that the play would not be appreciated. After watching the people of Suzhou erect tombs for five people, he decided to create a play based on facts: "Qing Zhongpu".

All plots are "according to facts" and are completely created based on what actually happened.

With the background of the struggle between the Eunuch Party and the Donglin Party, he believed that after the play was created, it would be a sensation in the world and attract the attention of court officials.

Therefore, after collecting a lot of materials in Suzhou, Li Yu took the manuscript and went to Beijing with Zhou Maolan to avenge Zhou Shunchang.

This son of a slave is also actively seeking change. (End of chapter)