On February 9 of the third year of Zhengde, the capital. 【Reading.com】

Although it was already spring, the traces of winter had not yet disappeared, and although the snow on the eaves of the roadside had melted, the morning sun still appeared very late, at least until the end of the day, when the sky would be completely bright.

Since Zhengde adjusted the time of the court, Chang'an Avenue is much quieter in the early morning, even if there are some pedestrians, most of them are passing by on foot, and cars and horses are relatively rare.

However, around the end of the day, Chang'an Avenue became noisy again. The carriages and horses are like a stream, all of them are freshly dressed and angry, and they are very magnificent; Pedestrians are weaving, all of them are green shirts and scarves, elegant and graceful, because this day is the period of the quadrennial examination, and it is a ceremony for the imperial court to select talents.

However, in the attic of the Ministry of Rites, the mood of the Ministry of Rites Shangshu Zhou Jing was very low, even if he presided over the examination and was able to form a relationship with hundreds of new scholars, it could not make him happy at all.

Not only because the situation in the DPRK and China is becoming more and more severe, but also because the future of the scholars is becoming more and more bleak.

Although there are still a lot of people who come to take the exam, there are two or three thousand, compared to the number of Jinshi, it is quite large, and the proportion of Jinshi is not high, Jinshi is still a big hit.

However, if it is compared with the grand occasion of previous years, it will be dwarfed, two or three thousand people? Even if it is an ordinary township test, it is impossible to have only this scale, if it is a child test in the county, it is almost the same.

Including the year when Zhou Jing was a scholar in his high school, which time would he not be able to try to come to tens of thousands of scholars, one out of a thousand, one in a hundred, the scale is better than a year, that is called the national ceremony!

But now? Although the number of Jinshi places is small, there are always two or three hundred, that is, one out of ten people who come to take the exam will be selected! God, is this still the imperial examination? Is there still a sacred meaning of being a soldier for the country?

The reason, of course, is that the academy has been effective in poaching operations, as long as you enter the capital, you will be bombarded by the academy's all-round ideas, laying out facts, reasoning, giving examples, all kinds of persuasion methods, of course, the most powerful is the continuous repetition, no matter where you can hear the relevant information of the academy.

Zhou Jing didn't know what others thought, but he thought to himself that when he was young, he might not be able to resist such temptation. As soon as you enter the department, it is not an exaggeration to say that this is not an exaggeration, even if it is also after the family, but Zhou Jing is not admitted at one time, after all, there are more wolves and less meat, and the number of places is so small.

How many people have been stuck in the level of the test, and they have not been able to cross this threshold for many years, twenty old Ming Jing, fifty young Jinshi, this is very vivid. In fact, not to mention the ability to try, even the township test and the children's test have also made countless readers sigh.

The academy is different, it is the opposite of the imperial examination, it is easy to enter and difficult to graduate, there are many places to enroll, and there is a title of protégé of the Son of Heaven, and it also saves money...... The primary school of the academy does not charge money, the junior college is just a symbol of the surname, the tuition fee of the university is relatively high, but it is not as much as the annual exam, on the road and in the capital to spend more, after all, the university is full of room and board.

Even if you are from a poor family, it doesn't matter if you are shy in your pocket, because the tuition fees of the university can be paid on credit and then slowly repaid after graduation, and in addition, if you study well, the college also provides a large number of scholarships.

The risk is small, the treatment is good, and the future is not bad, these factors are concentrated together, and it is impossible for them to be distracted. Even a talented man like Tang Bohu, who was originally famous in the south of the Yangtze River and is now famous all over the world, has a horse that misses his feet, who can guarantee that he will definitely be a jinshi?

Even many people who are familiar with the situation in the DPRK and China are moved, and unlike the Hanmen scholars, who consider themselves alone, these people either uphold the wisdom of the sages and intend to bet on many sides; or simply optimistic about Zhengde and think that the emperor of heaven and earth is the greatest; There are also a few people who, like Li Dongyang, think that the momentum of the rise of imperial power is difficult to resist, so the surname Suo broke into the interior and stirred up chaos and anti-governance in the process of the other party's governance.

Thinking of this, the corners of Zhou Jing's mouth moved, revealing a wry smile, even Yang Tinghe's son, who was about to enter the cabinet, and Yang Shen, a prodigy who was only famous in the capital, abandoned the imperial examination and went to the academy to register, which shows how unstoppable the strong rise of the academy is.

This incident caused a great repercussion, and many people were still hesitating, intending to take the imperial examination first, if they did not win, the scholars who went to the academy to register were all hit, and after the collapse of their beliefs, there were many people who switched to the academy.

Although the propaganda offensive on the side of the academy is in full swing, the concept of the imperial examination, which has been implemented for thousands of years, is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people after all, if it were not for this sudden change, even if the scale of the examination will be reduced, it will not fall into the current situation.

Now it is not only a problem of decreasing the number of people, but also the age structure has also changed a lot, and those who stay to take the exam, there are many middle-aged people with gray temples, and there are many elderly people with frost and snow, most of these people are the kind that have repeatedly failed, and in the overall proportion, they account for at least six or seven percent, and the proportion of teenagers is simply pitifully low.

It is said that Zhou Jing should be relieved to see so many backbones who have been defeated and fought again and again, and they are still obsessed, but in fact, he is not happy at all, he knows very well what these people are thinking.

Some people feel that the number of people taking the test is small, and they can come to pick up the bargain; The other part of the idea is very practical, they have read the Four Books and the Five Classics for most of their lives, and they will only do this. But the things taught in the academy are varied, they don't have the ** to learn, and they don't have the energy, even if they do, they are not the opponents of those young people.

After all, the age gap is here, more sophisticated than the old, of course, the older you are, the better you are, compared to accepting new things, learning new knowledge, where can middle-aged and elderly people compare with young people?

There are backbones, but they are all nerds, reading has broken their brains, except for crying and scolding people who quote scriptures, other things are completely unexpected, such people, how can Zhou Jing see it in his eyes?

Yang Shen's entry into the academy caused far more turmoil than these, as Yang Tinghe expected, this incident caused great doubts within the Shi Party, and some people even believed that this was a precursor for Yang Tinghe to defect to the enemy.

In fact, Zhou Jing also has this kind of doubt, people's hearts are separated from the belly, the Jin Party is chaotic, the Chinese New Year's Eve plan is difficult to achieve, and the hope of Jiangnan Shiren's plan to be fully successful is not high, in this situation, it is not incomprehensible that Lord Yang, who has always been wise, has found another way.

In the end, it was Lee Dong-yang and Hangul who solved the problem.

Li Dongyang came forward to say that Yang Shen's entry into the academy was his strong initiative, in order to know himself and his opponent, and to mix sand into Xie Hong's team, regardless of success or failure, the ultimate responsibility is borne by him as a teacher.

When the first assistant said this, it was difficult for others to say anything, and Scholar Li was originally this style of liking to pretend to be snakes with the enemy, and there was nothing strange about things. However, many people also saw through the deep meaning of Li Dongyang and Yang Tinghe, that is, to leave a way back, so among the applicants of the academy, there was another group of students who were not bad for money.

However, Zhou Jing was quite touched, no matter what else, just saying that Li Dongyang's care for his disciples was already very moving, and it was even more touching than another type of teacher.

Zhou Jing tilted his head slightly, and glanced at Liang Chu who was contemplating with the corner of his eye, and a trace of disdain flashed in his eyes. I think that back then, this Lord Liang also had a talented student, but when the student had an accident, he didn't even move his brows, so he abandoned him like a shoe.

When it comes to many bigwigs, Tang Bohu will not be able to turn over in his life, and he will give up if he abandons it, if necessary, Lord Liang will not hesitate to step on it again. But no one expected that the feng shui would take turns, and the other party would turn over, in the past two years, Yushi Tang Yin has already had the posture of leaning towards the government and the opposition, this time, it was Liang Chu's turn to worry.

As the backbone of the anti-Xie Hong, Liang Chu really has a last resort.

The relationship between teachers and students is very iron, how deep is cuteness, how strong is hatred, he is really afraid of Tang Bohu's revenge, if he wants to deal with Tang Bohu, Xie Hong is a hurdle that can't be bypassed, so Liang Chu has always spared no effort when dealing with Xie Hong, not only for justice, but also for his own safety.

Once related to their own family, scholars have always been very positive.

"Lord Liang, the hour is about the same, shall this begin?"

The early spring morning was still very cold, but the air was very fresh, Zhou Jing took a deep breath, inhaled a trace of cold into his body, and moistened it into his heart, otherwise, it was really difficult for him to stay calm.

If it weren't for Han Wen's sudden discovery, maybe the Shi Party would have been torn apart, but now, he is still confident, as long as the plan can be implemented smoothly, the two-pronged approach, and the multi-faceted flowering, will definitely make the two of them take care of one and the other!

"Well, there's a labor department." I don't know if I felt Zhou Jing's sudden rise in emotion, the faint morning light reflected on him, and Liang Chu's old face also looked very radiant.

"Dang!" The bell rang, as if with the heaviness accumulated for thousands of years, the gate of the Gongyuan slowly opened, and the door opened, it was dark and gloomy, and another trial began.

…… After the imperial examination began, it took nearly an hour for the registration office of the Royal Park to begin to gather, and the routine here was consistent with the Forbidden City, otherwise how could it be called a royal industry?

At this time, the sky has been bright, the fountain on the rockery has also begun to operate, through the water color waves, the morning sun turned into a rainbow, making people feel refreshed and happy, like in a fairyland.

This beautiful scenery alone has already made the applicants feel that the trip is worthwhile, and the melancholy caused by not being able to participate in the imperial examination, and the trace of doubt about the uncertain future, are all gone.

"When you enter the academy, you are a protégé of the Son of Heaven, no matter how high or low your knowledge is, as long as you are sincere in learning, the emperor will treat you as a national scholar...... In the face of science, everyone is equal! ”

Thousands of people gathered, generally speaking, it can provoke the host's speech**, but the official sent by the academy just said a few words, then shouted a slogan, and then waved his hand, signaling the students to enter the exam.

“…… Next, please go to the examination room according to the subjects you are applying for and take the entrance exam. ”

(To be continued)