In the Xuanwu Street of Zhongdu, there is a place called "Ming Army School", which used to be the lecture hall of the Loyal and Righteous Army, and most of the officials of the Loyal and Righteous Army have received study with this, and it is also the highest educational institution of the Ming Army now, and the officers of the Ming Army have graduated from here, even many of the official assistants who have been incorporated must receive at least half a year of training here.

This school was established to train qualified and competent military attachés.

Although after the earthquake, the school's teachers and students lived in tents for safety reasons, but the normal teaching did not stop.

Of course, for the graduating students, they are here waiting for the final graduation ceremony, which was postponed due to the earthquake, and after the ceremony, they will go their separate ways.

Lin Dong just lay on the marching bed in the tent, thinking about how to get up. The dazzling sunlight shone through, and the tent screen shone into the tent and on his face.

Do you get up, or do you lie down?

Lin Dong thought so in his heart. Maybe it was because of the hangover, so his head hurt, but he didn't feel bad. He decided not to get out of bed for a while. Keep lying down.

I'm retiring.

Such a thought popped up in Lin Dong's heart.

Just yesterday, the ranking of graduates came out, and he ranked 317th, and the army will only retain 250 previous graduates this year, which means that 213 people after 250 will have to go home to be ordinary people. As compensation, a resettlement fee of 500 taels per person will be paid. Lin Dong failed to become the top 250, so naturally he could only take the placement fee.

Just yesterday, he did something stupid and said something stupid to the instructor.

"Why do we have to abide by the ranking, and the sons of the nobles don't need to be ranked, they can directly enter the army to serve?"

Although according to the ancestral system, meritorious heroes and horses have to enter the Tai to study military affairs. However, after orthodoxy, heroes and others often refused to study military affairs as young children. However, the "Law on Succession to Titles" enacted after the Xingqian Dynasty stipulates that children of lords who are not allowed to enter military schools to study military affairs and who have served for more than five years are not allowed to continue their titles. Because of this, if the children of meritorious heroes want to go through the ranks, they must enter the military academy to study and serve, so they are outside the ranking, not limited by the ranking.

And Lin Dong's accusation is undoubtedly questioning the laws of the dynasty, and the reason for the restriction is that the size of the army does not require more officers. It is precisely this kind of unfairness that makes Lin Dong indignant.

Thinking of all this, Lin Dong's thinking became a mess.

Now what?

Yes, maybe the school won't pursue its stupidity, but what happens after graduation? Although Lin Dong knew that he could still do other people's work, he preferred to stay in the army, which was his dream. Lin Dong, who was lying on the bed, stared at the top of the tent, he kept thinking in his mind, recalling why he came to this school back then.

"How about it, let's go have two drinks tonight?"

Two years ago, that is, in the library of the provincial capital with friends, when the two of them left the library against the cold wind, in that evening, Lin Dong couldn't help but swallow his saliva, and even now he feels a little ashamed when he thinks about it - he wants to go out and drink two bad.

Not for the wine, but because he hadn't eaten meat for a month.

Even now, Lin Dong can still remember the embarrassment at that time.

He's poor!

is a real son of a poor family, and there are only a few acres of thin land at home, which is why he once pinned his hopes on the scientific examination, but the scientific examination was canceled, and he wanted to change his order, and there was only one way, which was to be admitted to the academy.

Like many children from humble families, he didn't want to stay in the countryside forever, and this awareness grew stronger as he read more books. I don't know if it was luck or misfortune, the imperial examination was abolished, which made him lose the opportunity to compete before he even had time to compete for the qualifications of the students.

Three years ago, when he saw that report in the newspaper, Lin Dong walked out of the courtyard in the evening.

Looking at the dilapidated countryside, there was only one thought in his heart.

Unwilling!

Could it be that his future will be bound to this village?

Once upon a time, he was also full of fantasies, fantasizing about the streets of Quamma, fantasizing about a day when he would serve the king.

But the reality was cruel, he lost this possibility, and even had no chance to compete, and Emperor Xingqian directly abolished the imperial examination.

That night, he decided to leave his hometown to study in the provincial capital, because if he wanted to be admitted to the academy, he needed to read a lot of books, and he might be able to buy one or two copies of those books that he actually learned, but he couldn't afford to buy them all, and he also needed to learn practical knowledge.

The next day, Lin Dong took seven taels of silver, which was all his belongings. Then he went to the provincial capital, rented a village near the provincial capital, and began his school career.

While studying, I also worked.

It's so cold!

That night, when he left the library, he was still wearing the simple cotton coat made of Manchu-style robes, which was a style of the student's shirt, because it was the sign of a scholar, but the clothes were old, even the inner lining was quite torn, and the patches fell one by one.

There's no money.

In this regard, anyone only needs to take a look at Lin Dong to know.

Actually, it's not all, there is still money. In any case, he still has a monthly salary of three taels of silver, and it is more than enough to rent a house with two taels of silver, and then eat and clothe himself every month. However, Lin Dong did not dare to spend money lavishly, and he also had to save some money for future tuition fees - the academy collects tuition. Unless he can get a scholarship.

It is precisely because of this that Lin Dong's life will be very tense, after all, in addition to tuition, he also has to send his younger brother a tael of silver and a few books every two months, and he hopes that his younger brother, who is studying in social studies, will be able to be admitted to a better academy in the future.

Maybe, I won't be able to get into Qinghe Academy, but Lin Xi can! He's smarter than I am.

As the elder brother, Lin Dong has special expectations for his younger brother, and it is precisely because of this that he is willing to endure hunger and cold in the provincial capital, and his friend invited him to eat at a roadside stall outside the library that day.

“…… Actually, you don't need to work so hard. ”

After three rounds of drinking, Wang Mingjiu looked at Lin Dong and said.

"Now there are also publicly-funded schools, not only are all tuition fees waived, but also living expenses are provided, and even pocket money is provided like normal schools."

It is free in Daming Normal School, but that is not what Lin Dong is willing to take, he is not willing to be a teacher in the school, even if it is a teacher in the county school and the government school who can get dozens of taels of silver a month, it is not what he wants.

"Oh? In addition to teachers, there are such schools? Where is it? ”

"Of course, it's Zhongdu, the best schools in the country, all there."

"What kind of school is it?"

"Daming Army School."

"What kind of school is this?"

"A school for soldiers!"

What the hell is this?

Lin Dong looked at Wang Mingjiu puzzled, he was unfamiliar with this school. In fact, after Xingqian, the enrollment of the army school did not expand, although the first and second phases had already been studied in the school, but because the officers of the Zheng Jiajun, the Jiangxi Ming Army, Li Dingguo and the Jin Army and other local armed forces that were incorporated at that time all needed to be trained in the school, the number of students in the first and second phases was not large, and they had not even had time to announce it to the whole country.

And the news of the third phase of enrollment this time was released in the name of the government, and when it reached Taiyuan, it was already winter.

"Actually......"

Wang Mingjiu looked at Lin Dong and said.

"This is also an opportunity! The new dynasty attaches great importance to military merits, and may still be able to achieve fame. How's that, is there any interest? ”

"I didn't even think about it before!"

Lin Dong said softly. So far, I have been studying hard to get into the college. Now he was suddenly asked if he wanted to be a soldier, how did he answer?

And traditionally, scholars look down on military attachés.

Maybe the new dynasty attaches great importance to military merits, but it is certain that the current army must be full of a large number of heroes and their former subordinates, or their relatives and friends, even if he is admitted, what kind of development prospects will he have in the future?

"It's definitely not good to take the test! After all, there are a lot of relatives and friends of the heroes. ”

"Of course, there are a lot, but this is a school, it is to be examined, as long as it is a Ming person, anyone can take the exam, as long as it is examined, it must be very fair."

If the traditional imperial examination has had any impact on Chinese scholars, it is that they believe that the examination is fair.

"Can I do it too?"

"You can too, so can I, so can he, anyone!"

Wang Mingjiu pointed to passers-by outside and said.

"As I said, now, since there is no longer the right way to take the imperial examination, then, as a child of a poor family, if you want to study in the academy, you can only go through the road at public expense, so I specially told you this. The first thing that poor children should choose is to save themselves by "not wanting money". Like it or not, it's not in the picture. ”

Indeed, the children of poor families do not have the right to choose, even if they are admitted to the academy, they are the first choice to be willing to provide scholarships.

Lin Dong thought so.

"If you want to go, if you don't rush to Zhongdu right now, it's too late to hand in the exam application, oh, there is one more thing, that is, you need a letter of recommendation from the county."

The letter of recommendation of the county is very easy, you only need to go to the county office, and if there is no violation of the law in advance, the county will be very happy to open a letter of recommendation for him, after all, it is also his responsibility to recommend talents for the country, and he is also happy to do so.

In fact, if needed, he himself did not even need to go to the county office, he only needed to write a letter.

Everything went so smoothly that after getting the recommendation letter from the magistrate, Lin Dong immediately left Taiyuan, crossed the Yellow River through Henan, and arrived in Zhongdu.

Then I was successfully admitted to the army school and now graduated.

But what about the future?