Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

After walking out of the Purple Pavilion, the ministers felt as if they were in another world.

Before entering the Purple Pavilion, they had never imagined that the emperor would suddenly propose to finalize the list of Purple Pavilion meritorious officials in one go.

What's more, no one expected that while the emperor was finalizing the list of meritorious officials, he also reviewed the entire history of the Ming Dynasty and evaluated almost all the gains and losses of the emperors of all dynasties.

The emperor took them through the more than 200 years of Ming history, and the officials felt that they had been baptized and had a better understanding of how to govern.

In addition, stimulated by the treatment promised by the emperor to the Purple Pavilion Meritorious Officials and the Purple Pavilion Wise Officials, many people could not wait to get to work and leave their own biographies in the Purple Pavilion.

It can be said that Zhu Youjian's selection of Purple Pavilion heroes was a very successful move. It unified the thoughts of the ministers in the court and let them know in which direction to work hard.

After the selection of Purple Pavilion heroes was completed, Zhu Youjian led his ministers back to Qionghua Island.

At this time, the Qionghua Banquet for the new Jinshi was coming to an end. Zhu Youjian looked at these Jinshi and said:
"The Purple Pavilion's meritorious officials have been established, and the whole world should celebrate."

"The praises for the meritorious officials have not yet been decided. Let these new scholars draft them."

"It doesn't matter if it's a couplet or a poem, as long as the praise is well written, it can be included in the collection of meritorious officials' writings."

"And write the best praise on the portrait of the hero!"

He ordered the officials of the Honglu Temple to inform the new Jinshi of the Purple Pavilion meritorious officials, and asked Dong Qichang to write the names of the 19 people in large characters and collect praises from the new Jinshi.

The scholars did not expect that at the same time as the Qionghua Banquet was being held, the emperor and his ministers selected the Purple Pavilion Meritorious Officials. After learning about this major event, they all felt honored.

It is believed that this Qionghua Banquet will definitely be talked about with great relish along with the Purple Pavilion heroes.

So they all racked their brains to write praises for the Purple Pavilion heroes they were familiar with.

Among all the meritorious officials, the most well-known ones are of course Yu Qian, Wang Shouren, Hai Rui, Zhang Juzheng and other famous officials. Shang Lu's name is also very famous among scholars, after all, he is the only person in the Ming Dynasty who passed the imperial examinations and became the prime minister.

Many scholars chose to write eulogies for these people, but some people chose to write eulogies for others as the competition was fierce.

Under the name of each hero, there is a group of people gathered, pondering the name, and even sharing with each other the deeds of the heroes they have read.

Zhu Youjian watched from the side and found that among the Purple Pavilion meritorious officials, Yu Qian was indeed the most respected, with the most Jinshi gathered under his name. The least favored one was of course Lu Bing, and many people felt that he was not worthy of being a Purple Pavilion meritorious official.

Fortunately, these scholars were self-aware and knew that the list of Purple Pavilion meritorious officials was determined by the emperor and ministers, and there was a deep meaning behind it. No one was so blind as to question the qualifications of a meritorious official and was rejected by the emperor and ministers.

However, their likes and dislikes were still reflected. Except for the people from Lu Bing's hometown or the military scholars from the garrisons, few scholars wrote praises for him.

This made Zhu Youjian more aware of the people's support, and he was glad that he had listened to Liu Zongzhou's advice and postponed Zhu Zaiyu's affairs.

It was rare for him to be able to forcefully promote one of the 19 Purple Pavilion heroes. If he pushed for another, it would probably reduce the credibility of the Purple Pavilion heroes.

Zhu Zaiyu was not without fame at this time, but he was not widely known. If he had few Jinshi to write praises for him like Lu Bing, it would be embarrassing for the emperor who pushed them as meritorious officials. It would be better to postpone it for 20 years until Zhu Zaiyu became widely known.

At this time, Zhu Youjian had already decided to compile a collection of essays for Zhu Zaiyu according to the treatment given to him by the Purple Pavilion Meritorious Officials, and to encourage people to make musical instruments and compose related music according to his music theory.

When musical instruments made with the twelve-tone equal temperament were widely used and Zhu Zaiyu's name became well-known, his name was listed as a Purple Pavilion Meritorious Official.

Zhu Zaiyu's idea of ​​"reasons are revealed in numbers, and numbers come out of reason" should be vigorously promoted. Let him be the representative of Ming Dynasty mathematics and help Xu Guangqi, Zhang Pu and others to develop science.

As these thoughts were turning over, Zhu Youjian saw some Jinshi already reciting the written praises. He immediately ordered people to record them and asked the ministers to comment on them.

These Jinshi were able to stand out from the candidates, and they all had talent and learning. Even if someone was not good at reciting poems, they could write couplets and articles.

There were quite a few good sentences among them, which were praised by all the ministers.

After receiving praise from the ministers, these scholars worked even harder. It was rare for them to be noticed by both the emperor and the ministers at the same time, so they had to perform well.

After the evaluation of the officials, the praises of many Purple Pavilion heroes were decided. However, there were some praises of the heroes that were not outstanding. After reading them, Zhu Youjian first selected the best sentences from several praises and decided on the praise of Lu Bing, and then pointed to the names of Yu Qian, Hai Rui, Zhang Juzheng and others and said:

"Praise for these heroes is collected from the whole nation in newspapers."

“If there are any good ones, they will also be included in the collection.”

"The praises of the other heroes will be published as examples."

Treat the praise event as a large-scale call for submissions to increase people's motivation to submit to the newspaper.

After all, well-written praises can be included in the collection of works by meritorious officials.

Zhu Youjian also generously rewarded the selected Jinshi scholars and encouraged them to actively contribute to newspapers and keep up the good work in the future!

At this point, the Qionghua Banquet was completely over. Zhu Youjian asked these Jinshi to have a good time in the capital, and after the Shujishi examination, they would go to the Imperial College to study. In the future, they would be assigned to the Guanzheng Yamen according to their academic performance.

As for the selection of officials, it will be arranged in July, and they will be assigned positions before the selection in August.

When all the Jinshi heard this, they all shouted "Long live the emperor". According to the practice in previous years, not everyone who passed the Jinshi exam could be appointed as an official immediately. Some even had to wait for a year or two before they could get an official position.

The emperor gave them priority in choosing official positions before the August selection, which was truly a great favor from the emperor and made them very happy.

And that was not the end. After the emperor and his ministers left, the group of Jinshi had not yet taken their leave when they were informed by Wang Chengen, the seal-holder of the Imperial Household Department, that all new Jinshi could use their status to borrow less than one thousand taels of silver from Shuntian Bank.

If someone already has a loan, the Imperial Household Department and Shuntian Bank will help them solve it.

This policy has no impact on newly minted scholars from wealthy families, but it can help those who are short of money to solve their urgent problems.

After all, they still have to stay in the capital for a few months, and some people's luggage is already insufficient.

Therefore, the way these people looked at Wang Chengen began to change. They felt that this eunuch was not so hateful, but rather amiable.

Wang Chengen continued to talk, and explained that this was the emperor's will. After hearing about the debt in Beijing, the emperor reduced their burden. All the Jinshi and Fubang who were about to become officials could enjoy this treatment.

This made the scholars feel the emperor's grace even more deeply, and they resolved to serve as good officials and repay the emperor's kindness.

The Qionghua Banquet was held on April 9th, and the next day was a double-day day, which was not the time when the "Beijing News" was published. However, under Zhu Youjian's arrangement, the "Beijing News" published a special supplement on April 10th to report the grand occasion of the Qionghua Banquet and the Purple Pavilion heroes.

Especially the matter of the Purple Pavilion heroes was placed on the front page, and the names of the 19 heroes were all listed.

Coupled with the eulogy written by the newly-minted Jinshi at the end and the advertisement for soliciting eulogies, this supplement aroused heated discussion.

People were talking about it everywhere, in restaurants, teahouses, on the streets, in alleys. After all, who in the world didn't know the names of Yu Qian and Hai Rui? There were also illiterate people who heard that the emperor had included Hai Rui in the Purple Pavilion Meritorious Officials. Although they didn't know what the Purple Pavilion Meritorious Officials were and couldn't read the words on the newspaper, they spent money to buy the newspaper and put it in their homes for worship.

With this help, the circulation of Beijing News exceeded 100,000 copies for the first time. Almost every household in Beijing had this issue of the newspaper.

The Wensi Academy's workshop reprinted several times to meet the demand. And after selling it for many days, people were still pointing to this issue to buy.

In the streets and alleys, people are talking about the heroes of the Purple Pavilion everywhere.

This was the scene that Gao Yingxiang, Li Zicheng, Zhang Xianzhong, Liu Zongmin and other military men who followed the Shaanxi Jinyiwei into Beijing saw after arriving.

They found that the scholars and common people in the capital were all talking about Hai Rui and other meritorious officials. Some people even carved a tablet of Hai Rui and brought it back home to worship him.

"Your Majesty posthumously awarded Hai Rui the title of Earl of Integrity and the God of the City of Suzhou and Songshan."

"Hai Qingtian has become a great master and a god."

"Should we also pray and ask for the blessing of the sea and blue sky?"

Li Zicheng told everyone the information he had obtained and made a proposal.

On the way from Shaanxi to the capital, he successfully convinced Liu Zongmin and others with his excellent communication skills, and with the support of his uncle Gao Yingxiang, he had considerable say.

Although Hai Rui never served as an official in Shaanxi and his reputation was more famous in the Jiangnan area, people in Shaanxi also knew his name and knew that he was an honest and upright official who stood up for the people.

Worshiping his deity might help him get blessings at the martial arts competition. After all, many people died and were injured at the martial arts competition in Shaanxi.

Sun Chuanting had the purpose of recruiting them, but he did not spare their lives. He even deliberately made the competition in Shaanxi Martial Arts Conference more cruel to make these people grudge against each other.

Gao Yingxiang and others still have lingering fears after experiencing the Shaanxi Martial Arts Conference. Even if they are confident in their own martial arts, they don't mind worshipping the gods.

After seeing that the people in the capital were worshipping Hai Rui, they also went to worship the god out of herd mentality.

These people were dressed differently from the people in the capital, and their accents clearly showed that they were from Shaanxi. When the people in the capital heard that they were paying respects to Hai Rui, they did not laugh at them, but pointed them out:

"You are from Shaanxi, so you should worship Li Wenzhong. He is the God of Shaanxi City appointed by Emperor Taizu."

"He was ranked third among the founding heroes and was posthumously named King Qiyang!"

This was spread secretly along with the release of the Purple Pavilion's list of heroes. Zhu Youjian proposed to deify the founding heroes and the heroes who helped to pacify the rebellion, and spread the news to test public opinion.

As long as local people don't object, he will officially announce it in the future.

For example, Xu Da, the King of Zhongshan, was named the City God of Henan Province, Chang Yuchun, the King of Kaiping, was named the City God of Shanxi Province, and Li Wenzhong, the King of Qiyang, was named the City God of Shaanxi Province... These were all spread by his orders. Let the people from various provinces living in the capital know first and listen to their feedback.

How could Gao Yingxiang not know the name of Li Wenzhong, the King of Qiyang? After all, Li Wenzhong had fought with Xu Da in Shaanxi, and the posthumous title of King of Qiyang was also a place name in Shaanxi.

In addition, Li Wenzhong was a military general, which suited his taste even more. So when he heard this name, he immediately said to the Shaanxi warriors:

"King Qiyang is the god of the city of Shaanxi. Let's go and worship him!"

"He is in heaven and will surely bless us Shaanxi people!"

Everyone agreed and continued to pay homage to Li Wenzhong.

Li Zicheng became more cautious and asked a few more questions:
"I am from Yan'an Prefecture. Which god should I worship?"

The people of the capital were delighted to hear this and said:

"Don't you know the Purple Pavilion heroes?"

"The God of Yansui City is Wang Yue!"

"He is the one who was named Earl of Weining and won the great victory at Weining Lake."

"I heard that he also recovered Hetao and made many contributions in Yansui, Ningxia and Gansu."

"Your Majesty intends to confer him the title of God of Yansui City to protect the soldiers there!"

This is another famous official. The position of General Administrator of the Three Borders, or Governor-General of the Three Borders, started with Wang Yue.

How come the warriors in Shaanxi don’t know this person?

Upon hearing that he had become the city god of their hometown and would protect them in the future, Li Zicheng and others were very excited and thought that they should worship this god.

Other people from Shaanxi whose hometowns are not in Yansui also think that they should worship, hoping that the deity can bless them.

Some people were even inspired to ask who the city god of their hometown was.
Surrounded by a group of Shaanxi people, the man was annoyed by the questions and said:
"You ask questions all over the place, can't you buy a newspaper and read it yourself?"

"It's clearly written in the newspaper that someone is going to be named the city god of a certain place."

Direct them to go to the newsstand and buy a newspaper to read.

Everyone suddenly realized what the people in the capital were talking about. Li Zicheng took his nephew Li Guo and hurried to buy a newspaper.

His family had been horse farmers for generations, and his family was quite wealthy when he was young. When he was eight years old, he went to a private school with his nephew. It was not until his father died and his family fell into poverty that he had no choice but to apply for a job as a postman.

Compared with other military men, Li Zicheng and his nephew Li Guo could be considered literate scholars.

The two bought a newspaper and read it to their companions. Only then did everyone know what a Purple Pavilion hero was.

After hearing that the emperor would reward the Purple Pavilion's meritorious officials with not only divine status, but also hereditary positions and the promise of opening up a fiefdom and becoming a prince, they were so excited that they gasped for breath, with raging ambitions blazing in their eyes.

How desirable it is to own a territory of your own or even establish a fiefdom and become a prince.

This can be said to be the greatest expectation of a warrior!

Thinking that ten of the Purple Pavilion heroes were military generals, and that there were other military generals who were not included in the Purple Pavilion heroes but were also allowed to establish vassal states because of their titles, they all felt that an era belonging to the military was about to come -

In today's world, it is the time for warriors to serve. As long as they have made meritorious contributions, titles, fiefs, and even godhood after death will follow.

The upcoming martial arts tournament is their chance to stand out! (End of this chapter)