The sky is slightly bright, and the sun rises in the east. The fiery sun shines on the earth.

The capital, which had slept all night, seemed to have just woken up. Countless people walked out of their homes, some pushing carts, some carrying burdens and walking, starting a new day of life.

On the streets one by one, groups of students will appear from time to time. At the same time, there are many noble carriages driving by.

These people come in groups, and they will burst into a few laughs from time to time, and some will argue, but all their directions are in one place.

In the crowd, you can occasionally see the figure of a warrior. They took their swords and carried their swords on their backs, and they walked forward step by step.

Many people are full of hope, with feelings for the future in their hearts, and their steps are very firm.

On a road, a horse-drawn carriage that seemed to be a little unusual was slowly moving forward.

The carriage was surrounded by a group of heavily armed black-clad guards, all dressed in uniform leather armor, all armed with various knives and guns, and even carrying crossbows and arrows.

At a glance, you can see that this line of people is extraordinary.

The curtain of the carriage was gently raised, and Zhu Youxiao looked at the crowd moving forward, revealing a thoughtful expression.

Glancing at the old man who was in the same car with him, Zhu Youxiao said with a smile: "Aiqing doesn't need to be so nervous, I just came out to take a look, I want to see the prosperity of my Ming Dynasty." It's good for Aiqing to accompany me. ”

"Your Majesty, this Jingshi is already chaotic, and today is the day of the Royal Academy exam, and the flow of people is complicated, if there is anything to do, how can the minister afford it?" Xu Guangqi said with a sad face.

How did you meet such a majesty?

Zhu Youxiao smiled and said with relief: "It's me who wants to leave the palace, how can I blame Aiqing?" Besides, this Jingshi is the Jingshi of the Ming Dynasty, how could such a thing happen at the feet of the Son of Heaven? ”

Saying that, Zhu Youxiao waved his hand and said, "Let Aiqing accompany me today, in fact, I also want Aiqing to help me take a look." After all, this Royal Academy is also the first time to take the exam, so I don't know what will happen in the future. If you don't do it well, I'm afraid you'll be in trouble again in the future. ”

Hearing His Majesty say this, Xu Guangqi's expression suddenly became serious.

The Royal Academy is their foundation. Although now he has been inserted by Han Yi, and a Feng Congwu has been inserted to come in as a sacrificial wine. But in fact, the Royal Academy is still under the management of the Ministry of Rites, and Shen Tingyun, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, is his own person.

In other words, Feng Congwu came to the Royal Academy. At most, it is the sand mixed by His Majesty. So the Royal Academy is still theirs.

Now hearing His Majesty say this, I can't help but feel that Xu Guangqi is not nervous.

After all, the Royal Academy is their foundation, and they have even formulated a development strategy.

In their vision, the academy of Jingshi will be bigger and stronger, and then the royal academy will be opened all over the thirteen provinces of the Ming Dynasty.

Every time it opened, all other academies in the area were closed. If you want to study in the Academy, you can only enter the Royal Academy of the Ministry of Rites.

In such a situation, it is possible to train the personnel of your own side to a large extent. In addition, the traditional master-apprentice relationship can be severed.

Now the master-apprentice relationship in officialdom has reached a very perverted point. The relationship network compiled through the mentor-apprentice relationship has become the biggest help for forming a party and running a private business.

The Royal Academy is different, and the teachers of the Royal Academy will always stay in the Academy.

The officials who came out of the Royal Academy would also form a party similar to the same year to some extent, but their power was much smaller.

What's more, there are more branches of the Royal Academy, and it is not so easy to divide factions.

Of course, it may also be because of the region, but that limitation is much stronger.

Regardless of the rest, for Xu Guangqi, it is only beneficial for him to cultivate his juniors, which is an important reason why he cannot give up the Royal Academy.

Now that His Majesty says so, Xu Guangqi himself is responsible. He must shoulder the responsibility and let His Majesty know how much benefit the Royal Academy is, and how much effort his people have put into the Royal Academy.

So Xu Guangqi said: "Your Majesty, look at the scholars on the street, they are full of hope one by one, and they are all heading towards the Royal Academy, which shows that the Royal Academy is very popular. This proves that His Majesty has done so wisely. ”

Zhu Youxiao glanced at Xu Guangqi and was unmoved by his sycophant remarks.

Nodding slightly, Zhu Youxiao said, "I remembered another thing. We seem to have underestimated the attraction of the Royal Academy to the warriors. You see, there are a lot of martial artists on this street. ”

Zhu Youxiao really didn't expect this, he originally thought about establishing a military academy, but now is not the time.

Unexpectedly, this time a royal academy was set up, and countless martial artists flocked to it, which made Zhu Youxiao a little happy.

If there are more martial artists among the graduates, it is not a bad thing for themselves, or even a good thing.

Xu Guangqi looked at His Majesty cautiously, and did not dare to let go of even the slightest change in expression. He wanted to see if His Majesty was satisfied or dissatisfied with the fact that the martial artists were rushing to take the exam.

Seeing the smile on His Majesty's face, Xu Guangqi knew that His Majesty was very satisfied with this, so he was relieved, and at the same time he had an idea in his heart.

Xu Guangqi smiled and said, "It can be seen that martial artists are also oriented to the Ming Dynasty. As for why they came to the Royal Academy for the exam, the minister thought that it had something to do with the relatively narrow path for the martial artists to ascend. ”

Zhu Youxiao was stunned for a moment, and then asked, "Then Aiqing will talk about it in detail." ”

Although Zhu Youxiao has some thoughts in his heart, it is not clear, nor clear, and even a little vague.

Since Xu Guangqi has brought it up, let him talk about it and see if he can give him some inspiration.

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Xu Guangqi nodded solemnly and said: "Since Emperor Taizu ascended the throne, what the Ming Dynasty has done is the military household system. ”

"During the reign of Emperor Sejong, because the south had to fight against the Japanese and the north had to deal with the Tatars, the military strength of the court was insufficient, and the recruitment of soldiers and military households began to be carried out in parallel."

It was after that that the Ming Dynasty recruited troops many times. In Chen's view, recruiting soldiers is indeed very good, but this also means that the military household system has completely collapsed. ”

"It's okay when recruiting soldiers in the imperial court, and the warriors still have a way to rise; Once the imperial court reduced the recruitment of troops, the warriors had nowhere to go. ”

"Especially the hereditary warriors in various places, the eldest son who can inherit the position in the family, and everyone else has to fend for themselves. If they can recruit soldiers, they will have a good way out; If there is a reduction or no recruitment, then their livelihood will be somewhat difficult. ”

Zhu Youxiao knew that Xu Guangqi was talking about middle- and lower-level military attachés, which was basically a common phenomenon in the Ming Dynasty.

To put it bluntly, it is because the population of the Ming Dynasty has increased, not only the people are increasing, but also the number of scholars, scholars and military generals is also increasing.

After all, there is no family planning in this era. Like the warriors at the bottom, if there is no problem with their livelihood, they can be guaranteed to have a few more children. Over 200 years of accumulation, this is a very large group.

Xu Guangqi continued: "Although the imperial court did not prohibit the children of martial artists from taking the imperial examination, the ministers can be regarded as empathetic to how difficult the road to the imperial examination is. ”

"Coupled with the children of martial artists, they are born with a disadvantage. Many people are reluctant to befriend them and find the warriors vulgar; Even some scholars are reluctant to accept the children of martial artists as students, maybe there is no problem with enlightenment and literacy, but if you want to take the imperial examination, it is even more difficult. ”

This is especially evident among the noble children of Jingshi.

Zhu Youxiao nodded and said, "I know this. The princes and nobles in the Beijing division have been the princely family of the Ming Dynasty since the time when Taizu became an ancestor. ”

"They have been passed down for so many generations, the family has multiplied very large, and the court does not have so many positions for them, and there are not many people who can get favors. So they spend their days idle, and most of them are gentlemen. ”

"There is no shortage of participation in the Shuntianfu side, saying that these people gather hundreds of miles within the capital division, eating, drinking, prostituting and gambling all day long to make trouble; Seventy or eighty percent of the various cases that occur in Beijing every year are related to them. ”

Xu Guangqi also nodded, and said with a smile: "Shengming has no fault with Your Majesty. It is precisely because of this that many martial arts families still hope that their sons can have a way out. ”

"Readers can't look at it. They don't necessarily look down on it. For example, the academy, in their opinion, this is personally led by His Majesty's holy decree, and it is a good opportunity for them, so they are willing to come over and be loyal to His Majesty. ”

"For the noble family, it is good to let the children of the family come over, and it is naturally good to be able to test a promising person; Even if there is no one who has a future, at least it is not worse than the original, it is nothing more than a child who is not ranked in the family, it is not a big deal. ”

"What's more, in the noble family, except for those who can inherit the title, everyone else has to fend for themselves after all. So this time there are more martial artists, and it is precisely for this reason. ”

Zhu Youxiao nodded, with a slight understanding in his heart.

I still underestimated the attractiveness of the emperor's signboard. This is influenced by some ideas of later generations, who feel that those civil officials, who shout all day long with backbone, will fight against themselves.

But in fact it is not like this, but those who shout and do are recorded in small books; Most people will still be submissive and silent.

For example, in this Royal Academy exam, there are still many scholars who are willing to come. The reason is also very simple, this is the only remaining way for them to ascend in this society except for the imperial examination.

For some wealthy readers, they have the capital to jump around because they have money.

They have accumulated a lot of money by oppressing the people, so they can not worry about life. Even if they don't become officials, they can travel the mountains and rivers, write poems and essays, and live a chic life.

But for most readers, especially the poor, this is an opportunity for their families or even generations to change their class.

So these people will not give up this rare opportunity because of something inexplicable.

Even for the martial artists, this is a very good way to get ahead, and they naturally have to go for it.

After thinking about this, and looking at the disturbing crowd outside, Zhu Youxiao's face showed a smile.

In this way, it proves that the Ming Dynasty has not been brainwashed by all those people, and it proves that the Ming Dynasty can still be saved!

Seeing the happy expression on His Majesty's face, Xu Guangqi's face also smiled.

In Xu Guangqi's view, although many people are cheering above the court, it is because they are standing on the court and have a loud voice, which can let more people hear their voices, giving people the feeling that they are extremely strong.

But that's not the case.

In fact, for a lot of people, they just can't speak. If you give them a chance to speak, the voices of these people will definitely shake the whole world.

Now that I have given them a chance, the Royal Academy is their opportunity, and at the same time, it is also their own opportunity, and it is also an opportunity for Daming.

As the carriage got closer and closer to the Royal Academy, the streets became more crowded and congested.

The speed of the carriage slowed down slowly, and at last it was difficult to move an inch.

Sensing that the carriage was not moving, Zhu Youxiao stretched out his hand to lift the curtain of the carriage, glanced at Chen Hong, who was driving the carriage, and said, "Find a place to stop the carriage and walk over." ”

Chen Hong was stunned for a moment, thinking about how to speak.

Xu Guangqi on the side said a little eagerly: "Your Majesty, it's too chaotic here, let's be safer in the carriage." If you really get down there, people are crowded, and I'm afraid there will be problems. ”

Zhu Youxiao waved his hand and said indifferently: We don't have any destination, just follow the crowd. If you can, you can go, if you can't go, find a place to sit and rest, and when they are over, we will go. ”

"I can't just watch it from the carriage when I come out this time, right? You have to go down and take a walk. ”

Seeing his majesty's determined look, Xu Guangqi could only shake his head helplessly and get out of the car with His majesty.

After getting out of the carriage, Xu Guangqi found Qi Yuanfu for the first time, and asked with a little worry: "Have all your people arrived?" ”

"Don't worry, Elder Ge, I've already arranged it. There were 300 people within a hundred paces around, and they were all guards I had arranged. Qi Yuanfu looked respectful and said confidently.

Xu Guangqi nodded with satisfaction and walked to Zhu Youxiao's side.

Xu Guangqi and the two of them spoke in a loud voice, Zhu Youxiao naturally heard it, and understood that the two of them deliberately let themselves hear it.

You can't whisper in front of Your Majesty, it's really a loss of dignity for a minister.

However, hearing Qi Yuanfu say that he had arranged for three hundred people to ambush around, Zhu Youxiao shook his head helplessly.

These 300 people are just lying in ambush around, and the devil knows if there are any more than two streets away?

Originally, it was lively today, there were so many people rushing to take the exam, and Qi Yuanfu also got so many people to protect himself, it would be strange if it wasn't blocked here!

I was thinking about how to block it like this just now, but now it seems that it was all caused by myself. If you don't come, I guess it's not so blocked.

Zhu Youxiao shook his head helplessly, he can't let them all withdraw now, right?

It is estimated that they will not be able to withdraw if they are withdrawn, so they can only do this first.

Zhu Youxiao said helplessly: "Okay, let's go." ”

The group followed the crowd and swayed forward, Zhu Youxiao held a folding fan in his hand, and looked left and right from time to time.

Zhu Youxiao is looking for some interesting people to see if he can talk to anyone.

Soon, Zhu Youxiao saw an interesting person.

This person is wearing a scholar's uniform, and you can see it by looking at the dress, this is a lifting person.

However, this person is different from other people's lifters, although he also carries a wooden box for the examination in his left hand, which contains the four treasures of the study, but this person carries a knife in his right hand.

From the style of that knife, Zhu Youxiao could see at a glance that this knife was definitely not decorative.

The scabbard is very simple, and the handle is very worn, and it can be seen that it is the result of years of use, and the knife body hangs when holding the knife. It was a perfect angle for him to pull the knife out.

Behind the figure was a large bow of python skin, and a quiver with feathered arrows stuck in it.

The most important thing is that this person is followed by an entourage. The attendant didn't take anything else for him, but just carried a large spear for him, which was much taller than the size of the attendant.

This person-friendly dress successfully attracted Zhu Youxiao's attention.

He has a reputation for being a person, but he is dressed as a martial artist, and he is not pretending to be like this, which shows that he is a very professional martial artist.

How could this person not attract Zhu Youxiao's attention?

Zhu Youxiao took the initiative to lean over to this person, and soon came to him.

Zhu Youxiao arched his hand at him with a smile and said, "Little brother Jingshi Baiyu, I don't know what Brother Tai is called?" ”

This person was stunned when he saw Zhu Youxiao, and couldn't help but look Zhu Youxiao up and down.

With this dress, if you want to say that he is not a rich son, but also a super-rich and super-rich kind, no one believes it.

Look at the clothes on this white jade, the high-quality Jiangnan green silk surface; Look at the hairpin on the head, the jade, just this hairpin, it is not good to say that you can change a house in Beijing.

The jade pendant on his waist and the folding fan in his hand, there is not a cheap thing on this son.

This is no longer a matter of whether you are rich or not, and this identity is definitely not ordinary. Look at the old servants who served beside him, and then look at the dozen or so guards in black and leather armor who followed him, this look is the children of the powerful family of the Jingshi.

It's better not to offend such a person, not to mention that people still come up to say hello in a kind tone.

The man hugged his fists and said: "In Xia Lu Xiangsheng, Nanzhili is from Yixing County, Changzhou Prefecture. ”