Cui Zhi set off for Yizhen the next day. Wei Ming here, he also met Gui Zhiyu in the same year, Cao Fen, the magistrate of Tianchang County.

Cao Fen read Gui Zhiyu's letter, and said goodbye to Wei Ming, although he was young, he was steady and not impetuous, and looked Wei Ming up and down with his beard, and the more he looked at it, the more satisfied he was.

"I haven't seen your instructor for many years, but I didn't expect him to be studying in Anqiu now, with such an achievement, to be able to teach a student like you, I think it is not far from the spring of the spring again."

Gui Zhiyu now holds the power of the county school earlier than in his previous life, and it is indeed not far from him being able to return to the examination room.

Cao Zhixian said: "When you go south this time, what guidance does Gui Xun have for you?" ”

As soon as Wei Ming heard this, he understood, and he said: "The instructor mentioned the Xiuzhu Academy in Yangzhou, saying that the Xiuzhu Academy has people from all over the world, and if the students can go to the Bamboo Academy to see it, they will definitely have great benefits." ”

Cao Zhixian stroked his long beard and laughed, "I knew that your discipline was so intended!" ”

Tianchang County is very close to Yangzhou, Cao Zhixian naturally has contact with a group of officials and gentry in Yangzhou, and he didn't talk nonsense, he directly called the scholar and wrote a letter of recommendation, which was used as a stepping stone for Wei Ming to go to Xiuzhu Academy.

"This letter of mine is of little use." Cao Zhixian beckoned Wei Ming to continue to sit down and speak, "The words of Xiuzhu Academy to attract people from all over the world are a bit exaggerated, but as long as the students of the world are willing, they can go to listen to the lectures." It's just that the school house is limited, and if you want to live in the bamboo courtyard and study with your husband, you have to rely on your ability. ”

Xiuzhu Academy must first be a talent before entering, and Wei Ming meets this rule, needless to say. But there are so many talents in the world, everyone wants to come, and the academy can't bear it. Therefore, a threshold was set up, and only those who could get the article in hand could enter the academy.

It seems that Wei Ming came to study and did not study in the academy for a long time, as long as the question was made by Mr. Academy on the spot, and it passed the eyes of Mr. Wei. If you want to stay in the college for a long time, you must be able to go through the large and small investigations in the future.

Of course, most of the gentlemen in the bamboo courtyard are from the two lists of jinshi, and most of them are people who do not want to be officials or be deposed in the court, and it is not a simple matter for the little Xiucai's article to want to pass their eyes.

Cao Zhixian first talked to Wei Ming about the difficulties of the Bamboo Academy, and Wei Ming knew about it, and asked from time to time about the current situation of the gentlemen and students of the Bamboo Academy.

“...... The mountain chief Ye Yunzhen is old, and rarely appears in front of people, mostly his younger brother Ye Yunfeng, and his son Ye Yongqu manage the academy on his behalf. Last year, Ye Yongqu's eldest son, Ye Lanxiao High School, was a sixth, very much for the face of the bamboo dean, and there were four students in the academy high school jinshi, there were twenty-eight people in the middle of the year before last, and the bamboo courtyard was really up, so even your husband heard about it in Qingzhou, and specially asked you to come to study...... "Cao Zhixian is very lamented by the grand occasion of the bamboo courtyard, if he is a few years younger, when he returns to the imperial examination, he will definitely go down to Yangzhou to study in Zhushan.

"The bamboo courtyard can have today, it can not be said that the luck is bad, where there is no luck, even if there is nine points of strength, there is also a fallacy." Cao Zhixian said it and sighed.

Xiuzhu Academy has been able to have its current grand occasion since Ye Shilang has been in a hurry for more than ten years, and its fortune is indeed good.

Wei Ming thought for a while and asked, "It is said that the Ye family has devoted all their family resources to support the rise of the academy, and the Ye family's merit should be the first merit." ”

Cao Zhixian laughed, "The Ye family single-handedly built the academy, which is naturally the first achievement, but this is a matter of exhausting the family's resources, but it may not be." ”

These words made Wei Ming stunned.

By the time he gained a firm foothold in the court, the partisan struggle had entered the final stage, when Xiuzhu Academy experienced some turmoil, and was controlled by his son-in-law Shen Pan for many years, and then returned to the Ye family, that is, Ye Lanxiao, who had just been named on the gold list. Everyone was convinced by the Ye family, saying that the Ye family was a well-deserved family of the head of the academy, after all, the academy was built by the ancestors of the Ye family from scratch.

It is impossible for such a large academy to have such rapid development without the help of money.

He asked, "Isn't there a grant from a righteous businessman?" ”

Shang Jia liked to sponsor the academy, and used this opportunity to get the opportunity to make friends with the official eunuchs, so as to be blessed.

But Cao Zhixian still shook his head, "There are businessmen who are also secondary." I heard a colleague in Yangzhou mention that when the Ye family first established the academy, the funds were not sustainable. Because of that Ye Shilang's remarks, he offended the internal officials, and was dragged by the internal officials to the first emperor, so he was dismissed from office and returned home. Yizhen businessmen with heads and faces are all mining to make money, but the mining tax revenue is mostly controlled by internal officials, what kind of businessman dares to invest in Ye Shilang to build a academy? ”

Ye Shilang built the academy in the first place to scold the internal officials!

Cao Zhixian laughed, and Wei Ming also felt funny. Speaking of which, it is really a coincidence that Ye Shilang built the Bamboo Academy.

This squire was dismissed and returned home because he was sued by the internal officials, and he was very angry in his heart, and when he returned to his hometown, he saw the infinite scenery of the eunuchs who collected the mining tax, and those businessmen nodded their heads, and they were even more angry, and immediately cleaned up their own courtyard on Zhushan, opened the altar to give lectures, no, scolded the internal officials.

Who knew that a stone stirred up a thousand waves, and a word reached the hearts of the officials in the world who were plagued by internal officials, and the bamboo courtyard soared without warning.

But to soar, you have to have money to help.

Wei Ming asked, "But there are officials who fund it?" ”

Cao Zhixian didn't want to guess, "Because no one knows who made this money." ”

Wei Ming was surprised, and Cao Zhixian explained: "Someone donated a large amount of silver to the academy, which pushed the bamboo courtyard up. It's just that who gave it, I don't know, the Ye family doesn't want to say much, maybe I don't know, maybe I can't say it, in short, this is the luck of the bamboo courtyard! ”

With this money, whether it is continuing to criticize the internal officials, or starting to recruit students, the Xiuzhu Academy has calmed down a lot, which has led to today's prosperity, and there has also been a situation in the following decades, the bamboo party headed by the teachers and students of the Xiuzhu Academy, and the internal party headed by the internal officials, fighting each other from top to bottom.

However, party strife was the fuse that caused Daxing to collapse with a bang.

Cao Zhixian said some unexaminable things about the bamboo courtyard to Wei Ming, this is an old county full of interesting stories, Wei Ming has been taught for two days, and it is time to leave. Cao Zhixian didn't keep him much, "Go!" In a few days, when it is time to inspect the students of the Bamboo Academy, the gentlemen will inevitably gather, you can seize the opportunity! ”

Connections are more important than knowledge for officials.

Wei Ming left and arrived in Yangzhou in a few days. He went to find Cui Zhi and a few people according to the address that Yin Shan had left for him before, and whoever thought that a few people had already gone to Yizhen. It is said that Xiuzhu Academy is also in Yizhen, and Wei Ming went just right.

It's just that he pondered it, carried his bags, and headed southeast to Taixing County.

Wu Li, who was driven away by Wu Tao, was in Taixing, and Tang Gong's clansmen were also there.