"Childe, you're awake. Breakfast is ready. ”

Zhang Fan just got up early in the morning and saw that Xiao Xiangmei had already cleaned up the housework, and her mother was also very satisfied with this diligent girl.

Zhang Fan smiled and nodded, without saying anything. Today he has to go to Guozijian to report, just after dinner, Steward Li arrived in front of Zhang Fan's house. Zhang Fan took his stationery and the books he wanted to bring and went out with Steward Li.

Zhang Fan followed Steward Li to the main entrance of the Zhongdu Guozixue, that is, the Guozijian, this building really shows the unique temperament of a scholar, but today is April 26, it is the day of endorsement, Zhang Fan really didn't hear the sound of reading. The main gate of this country is called Jixian Gate, which is a yellow glazed archway.

In the Ming Dynasty, the Guozi supervised the sacrificial wine, the priest, the supervisor, and the pawn. The sacrificial wine is from the third grade, and the business is from the fourth grade. He is in charge of the seven schools of teaching, Zongguozi, Shufan, Taixue, Simen, Guangwen, and Vinaya. The supervisor is from the six products, the supervisor is in charge of the judgment, and every year there are students who graduate, and they are tested together with the sacrificial wine and the priest, and the good test is reported to the Ministry of Rites. Pawn book from the seven products, palm prints, supervision supervisors. A formal supervisor who came to pick up Zhang Fan.

"Zhang Gongzi is here." The old supervisor was very enthusiastic about Zhang Fan, "Master Zhang told me everything about you." The old man Wang Shengqing. ”

"In the next Zhang Fan, the word is far away." Zhang Fan said.

Bidding farewell to Steward Li, Zhang Fan followed Wang Shengqing in. The scenery along the way is extraordinarily exquisite, but it just makes Zhang Fan feel so lonely.

Along the way, Wang Shengqing introduced Zhang Fan: "Today's sacrificial wine lord is Zhao Zhenji Zhao. There are five doctors, five teaching assistants, four direct lectures, and two doctors of the Five Classics; Taixue has six doctors and six teaching assistants; Guangwen Hall has four doctors and two teaching assistants; There are six doctors, six teaching assistants, and four direct lecturers in the four halls; There are three doctors and one teaching assistant in law; There are two doctors and one teaching assistant; There are two doctors and one teaching assistant in arithmetic. ”

Saying this, the two of them have walked through a lot of prisons, and Zhang Fan has gradually seen people, but there are very few people.

Zhang Fan couldn't help but ask with some confusion: "Supervisor Wang, why aren't there many people here?" ”

Wang Shengqing was very embarrassed when he heard Zhang Fan's words, and said after a long time: "Zhang Gongzi, you are also a person recommended by Scholar Zhang, so I will tell you directly." Those who come here to study are all prisoners, and there are four major sources of prisoners: those who are in prison to study, those who are in prison are called tribute prisons, those who are in prison are called shadow prisons, those who raise people to prison are called prison supervisors, and those who donate money to prison are called regular prisons. Prisoners can be officials directly, especially when Emperor Taizu was in power, the local officials were empty, and there were countless prisoners who went to the local government to serve as officials as soon as they graduated. However, after becoming Emperor Zu, the opportunities for prisoners to become officials directly became fewer and fewer.

"Now you also see that the most learned of the four types of prisoners is the one who is promoted to prison, but since they are all for the purpose of becoming officials, why should those who are promoted come to suffer this sin. Nowadays, there are fewer and fewer prisoners here. If it weren't for the fact that inmates could directly participate in the general examination without the township examination, I am afraid that there would not be so many people now! ”

Zhang Fan was a little indifferent when he heard his words, he didn't expect that the highest institution of learning in feudal society was now in such decline. No wonder he came here to study, although he was only a borrowed student, it made Wang Shengqing so happy, and his feelings were not based on Zhang Juzheng's identity, but on Zhang Fanju's identity.

Zhang Fan followed Wang Shengqing all the way to the sacrificial wine room. "Lord Zhao, Zhang Juren is here."

The first image of Zhao Zhenji is that of a literati, with a bookish face. He also received Zhang Fan very warmly: "Zhang Gongzi is so young that he is a middle-aged person, and his future is limitless." Scholar Zhang has a high opinion of you. ”

"Thank you for the praise of the wine lord in the late life." Zhang Fan said.

"I heard Master Zhang say that Gongzi Zhang is going to take the exam this year, right?" Zhao Zhenji asked.

"Exactly." Zhang Fan replied, "I'm going to bother you in the past few months." ”

"Hehe, it doesn't have to be this way." Zhao Zhenji said, "Since Zhang Gongzi is going to take the examination in four months, there is no need to ascend the throne now." I don't know if Zhang Gongzi is going to live in the prison or ......"

"When I came here to study in my later years, I naturally wanted to live here." Zhang Fan said.

"Very well, I've got a room ready." Zhao Zhenji said, "Today is the day of endorsement, Zhang Gongzi can go with the prisoners, or in his own prison." ”

"Thank you for your arrangement." Zhang Fan thanked.

Zhang Fan followed a teaching assistant to his prison cell, which was a single room, and it seemed that this priest took great care of himself. Zhang Fan didn't have any special feelings, so he stayed. Everything in the prison cell is very basic, but it is all daily necessities, and there is no superfluity. The shelves are lined with standard textbooks such as the Four Books and the Five Classics. Zhang Fan didn't bring anything superfluous, just pack up a little.

In his previous life, as a top student at a key university, Zhang Fan had never gone to self-study, but he had never been to this ancient self-study. With a curious attitude, Zhang Fan took the books to a "classroom". There are more than 30 prisoners reading in it, shaking their heads and looking very serious, but they don't pay much attention, as soon as Zhang Fan enters the door, many people are looking at him, although his head is still shaking, and his mouth is still chanting, but he can still read the book there. Zhang Fan took a look, although the prisoners in front of him were all wearing the same clothes, he could see at a glance that most of them were eunuchs and children of rich families, and they probably came for the identity of being able to take the entrance examination directly. Zhang Fan didn't care about the eyes of others, found a seat and sat down and began to read.

In this way, Zhang Fan really began his study life in the capital. Zhang Juzheng told him about the things in the court, Zhang Fan would also think about it from time to time. Zhang Juzheng may already care about his teacher Xu Jie, but because of the teacher-student relationship, there is no way. Zhang Fan also knew that he also wanted to help him when he summoned himself to the capital. Even if a person is upright and selfless, if he wants to do a great career, it is not enough to rely on his own strength, but when an honest person chooses a companion, he will look for people who are like-minded with him, not only people with ability. In some respects, this is similar to the norm of "only the most obedient people, not the most capable people" in Chinese society, except that the people who employ people do not have bad intentions. Zhang Fan doesn't care about this, at least for Zhang Juzheng and him, the intersection between the two is reflected in the talent, but the abbreviation of character is also preserved in the talent, which may be the weirdness that only literati can embody.

The things Zhang Juzheng said also made Zhang Fan feel that the Ming Dynasty was already on the verge of crisis, but the territory was too large, and so many problems seemed insignificant, so many people did not notice it. Zhang Fan was able to analyze these with the general vision of later generations, and Zhang Juzheng, as an ancient person without modern education and an authority in the imperial court, was able to perceive these things so clearly, which has to be admired. But think about it, there has never been a shortage of such people in Chinese history, it just depends on whether the times give such people a chance.

The day before yesterday, he and Zhang Juzheng mentioned the reform in their conversation, Zhang Fan knew that Zhang Juzheng would indeed implement reforms in history, whether it was the "test method" or the "whip law", it would make the Ming Dynasty rejuvenate again. It's just that those who have always carried out reforms in China's feudal society, such as Shang Ying and Wang Anshi, are not allowed to die well. As the so-called ancestral ritual law cannot be changed, if you want to reform, you want to "dig the ancestral graves of your ancestors", where are those feudal defenders who don't work hard with you. And without the support of the higher-ups, how can this reform begin! Today's Emperor Longqing has just ascended the throne for more than a year, and the Ming Dynasty has been singing and dancing in addition to the Tatar disaster in the north.

It seems that Zhang Juzheng's road to reform and rejuvenation has a long way to go, and Zhang Fan is also tied to these two chariots, but Zhang Fan has no complaints. Zhang Fan actually thought about a question for a long time, that is, why he was reborn and returned to the Ming Dynasty. God has never given himself any foreshadowing, and he has not encountered any catastrophe in his previous life that requires people to go back to the past and change. For a while, Zhang Fan just regarded this rebirth as a mistake of God or a game, but now Zhang Fan began to wonder if he was going to do something. Life is short for a few decades, but these decades can only be said when looking back on those old people who are about to die, and for Zhang Fan, he has not read it in these decades, so why is there any hurry! I have to have a personal goal in life and a dream. This dream is to make China stand on top of the world, and this goal is to let the sons and daughters of China have a peaceful life. The goal seems difficult, but there is still a chance to achieve it, and this dream seems illusory, but it is an encouragement to forge ahead. Zhang Fan will never speak too highly of himself, but he will not be arrogant, life still needs some ideals to be more exciting, no matter how difficult the road to this ideal is, Zhang Fan still has decades to go, at least he has worked hard. He never thought that he would be a savior or anything, but he also thought that he would be able to help more people as long as he was able. Now a great opportunity is in front of him, how can Zhang Fan give up.

Zhang Fan thought about it himself, whether he made this grand decision too quickly, and within two days of talking to Zhang Juzheng, he had such a plan, but he was not surprised at all. Human beings are inherently complex animals, and even they don't know what they're thinking, but this is precisely the source of the power that people can create all kinds of things, Zhang Fan is not surprised at all.

However, the road is long, there is a long way to go, and it cannot be achieved overnight, and now Zhang Fan is still striving to learn, but he is not just learning things in books. Unconsciously, Zhang Fan has been in Guozijian for more than a month, and he has a hot fight with his classmates around him. Now most of the people in the country are the children of official eunuchs, or the descendants of rich families. Zhang Fan wants to learn another skill from these people - communication. What is the most important thing to enter the officialdom in the future? It's not learning, it's not ability, it's people and relationships. No matter how knowledgeable and capable you are, no one agrees with you, so what's the use! It's just that Zhang Fan found that these "rich second generations" are proficient in communication through a period of time, and they are just some naïve boys who can fool around, but they admire Zhang Fan's identity very much, of course, some inmates who think that as long as they graduate, they can participate in the examination are also quite disdainful of this. Zhang Fan returned to the embrace of books, except for the days when he could lecture and repeat, Zhang Fan would go to listen to the doctor's class, and Zhang Fan would be in his prison at other times. There are no beautiful scenery in this country, and most of them are books. When Zhang Fan was bored, he could only pass the time by reading books, but while reading a wide range of books, his knowledge increased a lot.

The first and fifteenth days of each month are holidays, and Zhang Fan will return home to visit his mother. Xiao Xiangmei, this girl is really diligent, and she has to take care of all the housework at home. Zhao also likes this little girl very much, and even teaches her to recognize some words or something when she has time. Zhang Fan didn't object, he didn't have the concept that a woman is virtuous if she was not talented, and he felt that it was a good thing for a person to have some knowledge. Now his family is also harmonious, but in his spare time, Zhang Fan will also start to miss his fiancée Ru Xue. In the past few months, Zhang Fan has written a letter to her every two or three days, although the capital is very far away from Anhua, and sometimes Zhang Fan's letter has not yet arrived, and the second letter has already been on the way, but he is still like this. Zhang Fan also received a lot of letters from Ru Xue, and the two also complained to each other in their hearts, which was very sweet. There is also a small episode, Zhao Xue, the girl, somehow sent a few letters to Zhang Fan, which objectively told Zhang Fan Ruxue's situation, which made Zhang Fan feel a lot more at ease. Don't say in a letter from Zhao Xue that since Zhang Fan's mother and son moved away, Ru Xue has lived in Zhang Fan's original place, and lived in the bedroom where Zhang Fan once lived, which really moved Zhang Fan.

Mother Zhao also misses her prospective daughter-in-law very much, and every time Zhang Fan comes home from vacation, Zhao always has to say a few words by his side. Xiangmei, the girl, knew that her young master had a fiancée who had never passed through the door, although she had never met, but she had listened to the Zhao family talk about it all day long, and Ru Xue's appearance had a rough idea in her mind. The little girl thought about this hostess she had never met, although she heard that she was very gentle, but she was inevitably a little scared in her heart.

On this day, Zhang Fan was studying, Zhang Juzheng sent someone to see him, and the appearance of the person who came was still a little urgent, Zhang Fan didn't know what was going on, so he had to follow him.

When I came to Zhang Juzheng's house, I saw Zhang Juzheng talking to another person, who looked very old, and Zhang Juzheng's words with him were full of respect.

"Yuande, come to see my teacher." Zhang Juzheng saw Zhang Fan coming, and introduced him very enthusiastically.

This person is none other than the current cabinet chief, the great hero Xu Jie, who defeated Yan Song. Zhang Fan didn't dare to slack off, and immediately stepped forward to salute: "Zhang Fan has seen Xu Ge Lao in the late life. ”

"Well, yours is Ju Zheng told me." Xu Jie's voice revealed a majesty in his old state, "The young man is very good, and he has attained it at a young age. ”

"The elder has won the award." Zhang Fan said.

"This time I always want to hear your opinion." Zhang Juzheng said.

Zhang Fan didn't quite know what he meant, and looked at him suspiciously.

"Juzheng, you are the old man's protégé." Xu Jie said, "It was also the old man who personally promoted you to the cabinet." But do you have to act like this regardless of the relationship between master and apprentice? ”

"Teacher, the students can have today, and I thank the teacher for his promotion." Zhang Juzheng first saluted Xu Jie, and said, "It's just that the court seems to be fine now, but it is really on the verge of crisis." ”

"Presumptuous, how could you think like that." Xu Jie said in a fierce voice, "I have endured for many years for my teacher, and only then did I get rid of Yan Song, a big trouble, for the imperial court, and now that everything is stable, you are alarmist here." ”

The conversation between the two made Zhang Fan understand that Xu Jiemust have disagreed with Zhang Juzheng's idea of reforming the government. It's just that he doesn't know why Zhang Juzheng called him over, and now he has no status.

"The ancestral rituals cannot be changed, but you ...... But ......" Xu Jie seemed really angry, "Now that you have found a backup, what do you want to do?" Don't say I don't agree, but I don't care, even if you and him will be ranked as the third prince in the future, there is no one in this court who can agree with your ideas. ”

"Elder Xu Ge." Zhang Fan felt that he should say something, "Lord Zhang's idea is also a good intention, now this court seems to be calm, but the things that maintain it are too fragile, once something happens, but I can't afford it!" ”

"How dare the vertical man make such a false statement!" Xu Jie said, "I don't have any knowledge with you, you have a good future, so you should get out early, so as not to make mistakes." "That's a real threat.

Zhang Fan was fearless, and said to Xu Jie: "The people of the world are in charge of the affairs of the world, and Lord Zhang completely agrees with this thought." Moreover, I also know that this is a difficult road, and I will not give up. ”

Zhang Fan's words made Zhang Juzheng impressed, he didn't expect Zhang Fan to be as firm as his own determination.

"Okay, the old man will see what you do." Xu Jie said, "Juzheng has already entered the cabinet, and the emperor also favors him, so it is difficult for the old man to move him." But don't forget what the old man said is also the head of the cabinet, and now that Gao Gong is no longer there to sing against the old man, I want to see if you can stand up to the old man. After speaking, he waved his sleeves angrily and left.

To be honest, Zhang Fan was a little worried at this time, after all, the other party was the first assistant of the cabinet above 10,000 people under one person, and it was not a matter of moving his fingers to deal with a small person for himself, but Zhang Fan himself also had some arrogance, and it was not impossible for him to become inflammatory, but this kind of principle problem was really not said.

"Yuande, I want to thank you here, I'm very pleased that you can insist so much." Zhang Juzheng said, "It's just that you were really unwise to do this just now!" ”

"I appreciate Lord Zhang's kindness." Zhang Fan thanked, "It's just that these words came out, but there was no way to take them back." ”

"Alas, in fact, he has been in the cabinet for a long time, how can he not see the current situation of the imperial court." Zhang Juzheng sighed and said, "It's just that the teacher is old, not only the body, but also the heart." ”