The head of the fourth battalion of the Yan Luo General is a well-known anti-Qing rebel army active in Jiangxi, and its leader, Luo Rong, the governor of the five armies who was promoted to the head of the fourth battalion of the president of the Yan Luo Battalion, is a quite capable officer in the Jiangxi anti-Qing rebel army. In history, Luo Rong was defeated and captured and killed by the Qing army, and the Qing court also excitedly declared that "if you win this qu, you will win and kill hundreds of thousands", which is the more well-known "Jiangxi Four Heroes" have never received attention.

Due to the combat effectiveness of the head of the fourth battalion of Yan Luo in the Jiangxi Righteous Army, Chen Kai chose to come to Shaowu Mansion to discuss with Luo Rong at the first stop of his trip, and strive to lead him closer to Tingzhou Mansion, so that the strength of the Ming army in southern Fujian can be further strengthened, and it will also be of better help to Zheng Chenggong's next series of counteroffensive operations that are about to be launched in southern Fujian.

Yu Gong is like this, Yu is private, and the head of the four battalions of Yama is the Jiangxi Ming Army, which is controlled by the Jiangxi Governor Jiezhongxi. Luo Rong's troops fought in Tingzhou, responding to the Fujian Ming army, and did not belong to the Fujian Ming army, so that Chen Kai could better operate in it, and accumulate more counterweight before Zheng Jing had a stronger political force.

However, according to Tao Qian, Luo Rong's department and Ning Wenlong of the Jiulong Battalion have already left Taining County, some say that they went to Tingzhou Mansion, some say that they entered Yanping Mansion, and some say that they returned to Jiangxi.

"This should be the three provincial capitals in history that aimed to destroy the anti-Qing movement in Jiangxi."

The so-called suppression of the capitals of the three provinces was a joint action launched by the Qing army in the three governors of Jiangxi, Fujian, and Nanjiang provinces after the Qing court recaptured Guangdong in the south, and aimed at the four battalions of Yan Luo and the Jiulong battalion of Ning Wenlong, which were stationed in the areas of Jianning, Taining, Nanfeng, and Guangchang, as well as the Jiangxi anti-Qing armed forces led by the Jiangxi governor Jie Chongxi and other lords stationed in the Wuyi Mountains in the south of Guangxin Prefecture and camped and raised troops in Tuntian as a long-term plan.

The three provincial capitals were suppressed, the scale was huge, and the Qing army such as Jiangxi Biao, Nangan Town Biao, Fujian Biao and Fujian Left Road Town Biao were all involved.

However, due to the expansion of Zheng Chenggong's troops in southern Fujian and eastern Guangdong, Wang Zhigang's troops were tied to Zhangzhou Mansion, not to mention, even Yang Minggao's Fujian promotion was killed because Ma Degong was killed, and the entire army of Fujian Right Road Zhenbiao had to be rushed back from the Jiangxi battlefield to help defend Quanzhou Mansion. The three provincial capitals were not worthy of the name, and without the interception and attack of the Qing army in Fujian, it seems that the situation of the Ming army in Jiangxi was not as bad as in history.

Thinking about this, Chen Kai was not in a hurry to continue to make a decision, on the one hand, he also needed the confession obtained from Cai Qiao as evidence, and on the other hand, he did not want to leak too much information to cause greater change.

"By the way, Tao Juren, you said that you are from Jiangxi, why did you come to Fujian to participate in the township test?"

Logically speaking, the township test should be participated in in the provincial capital of the province where the household registration is located, generally referring to the north and south of Beijing and the location of the political envoys of the provinces, and in Jiangxi, it should be in Nanchang. Exceptions are not absent, such as people with Wei nationality, there were also people who returned to their ancestral hometowns to take the imperial examination in the Ming Dynasty, but Chen Kai didn't remember what kind of guards had been set up in the county in Tao Qian's mouth.

Chen Kai pulled the topic back again, and Tao Qian was not surprised, but silently replied with a sentence "In the second year of Longwu, the first emperor decreed that all candidates from Jiangxi, Zhejiang, Huguang and other provinces should go to Fujing to participate in the township test", and he did not continue to explain.

In the second year of Longwu, the first emperor naturally referred to Emperor Longwu. Chen Kai vaguely remembered that it was Zheng Chenggong or someone who seemed to have mentioned it, saying that it was the first year of Longwu and the second year of Longwu that the Ming court held three imperial examinations.

"I've heard of this, saying that in November of the first year of Longwu, the first emperor ordered the ministers Zhu Jizuo and Su Guansheng to invigilate the exam, and there seemed to be only five candidates, who were selected."

Kuang Lu had some impressions, Chen Kai listened, and swept towards Tao Qian, it seemed that there was no panic in it, there was just surprise, relief and feelings that seemed to be nostalgic. However, Kuang Lu did not finish his words, in fact, the background of that exam was that Emperor Longwu set up the Chucai Pavilion to recruit and reserve administrative talents, but in the follow-up Chucai Pavilion, Su Guansheng, the Hanlin bachelor in charge, failed to manage it well, so that "there are many narrow-minded people who solicit them, and they are tired of it."

This time it was not possible to achieve the effect of recruiting talents, so in May of the following year, Emperor Longwu held a court examination, and from one hundred and five tribute students, Li Caohui, Wan Jing and other twelve elite scholars were examined, and handed over to Zhu Tianlin, Shao Zhan, to discipline and teach, but finally recruited a group of "protégés of the Son of Heaven".

"This young Zhan Shi Zhu Tianlin has already entered the cabinet a few years ago......"

Kuang Lu whispered, and Chen Kai vaguely remembered as if it was mentioned in any of the holy decrees or who he heard about it when he was in Guangzhou. However, if you think about it carefully, it is normal, after all, the control area of the Ming court is getting smaller and smaller, and the possibility of famous and capable officials in the court paying homage to the prime minister is greater. Just like Zeng Ying mentioned some time ago, non-Shu Jishi can also enter the cabinet, and it seems that only Wen Anzhi is from the cabinet of the Yongli Imperial Court.

Aside from the first two times, the third time, that is, the one Tao Qian participated in, was a routine triennial township test in the Ming Court. Although it was late, Longwu's cleverness that distinguishes him from Hongguang, Lu Jianguo and Yongli is here—that is, he would rather be late than not be there. Because as long as the imperial examination is held, the scholars have a way to enter the system, they will be better able to serve the Ming court, and they will be more dedicated to the emperor, even if they are not admitted, they will be concerned, so that they can better compete with the Qing court for the help of scholars, rather than relying on the so-called loyalty alone, to wrestle with the Qing court who is busy holding the imperial examination.

"This township test, I heard that Liangguang, Yunnan and Guizhou were held first, and then the first emperor aimed to hold a township test in Fujing. Since the provincial capitals of Huguang, Jiangxi, and Zhejiang have all fallen into the hands of the Tartars, the students of the three provinces went to Fujing for reference...... Well, it seems that candidates in Zhejiang still have a separate paper with the exam......"

As far as Kuang Lu said, Tao Qian told the story of the scientific expedition he participated in. It is not a secret that the candidates in Zhejiang are asked separately, at that time, Emperor Longwu was still fighting with Lu Jianguo for orthodoxy, and this move was nothing more than to win over the scholars and doctors in Zhejiang for his use, but it is understandable. It's just that when it comes to the back, Tao Qian actually revealed the secret of the imperial examination fraud, and the disdain and anger on his face seem to have not diminished in the past four years.

“…… fell into the fourth, arrested the house examiner Wang Sanjun and went to prison, and recovered 10,000 taels of silver to help the water master's salary. ”

Chen Kai can understand these feelings. What comes out of the township examination is to raise people, and they can already become local officials, which is basically equivalent to the civil service examination, and it is also an examination that can become a county-level cadre. can be tested from thousands of students, and the more than 100 lifters and more than 60 sub-lists have been studying poetry and books for I don't know how many years, and they naturally hate bribery and fraud.

This exam took place in June, and in August Emperor Longwu was martyred, and Tao Qian probably returned to his hometown at that time, but he encountered an accident on the road, and finally had to live in exile for the time being.

"I see."

After talking about it, Chen Kai also figured out that these people were nothing more than poor people, forced by hunger to take risks. Subsequently, Chen Kai's understanding was also confirmed from Cai Qiao. Whether it is the identity of these people, or the fact that Tao Qian just mentioned that the head of the fourth battalion of Yama is no longer here.

In this regard, Chen Kai didn't intend to embarrass them, but just raised his face and lowered it gently. It's just that when it was time to leave, he couldn't help but ask Tao Qian a word about robbery.

"That's right, we have already discussed it, and if we come across a caravan, stop them and ask for some floating wealth, and when the right to pay for the toll, let them go; If you touch a tartar, you will kill them all. ”

"You've killed Tartars?"

"No, it's just going to be that."

“……”

After confirming that the answer that made him speechless was not misheard, Chen Kai and his party left without permission. Only this time, instead of moving on, he went back the way he came. At least, in Chen Kai's opinion, the encirclement and suppression troops chasing the Qing army could not catch up with the head of the fourth battalion of Yan Luo. Rather than this, it is better to turn in time and change to the next target.