Zhao Ning would choose this way, naturally he had his deep meaning, but Wei Wuxian had the same reaction as him, which made him somewhat surprised, and he couldn't help but glance at Wei Wuxian more.

But seeing this scheming fat man from Jiangmen, he gave him a look full of meaning, and Zhao Ning knew that Wei Wuxian had similar thoughts to him.

During the conversation, Zhao Ning and others learned that these two young scholars were not only new science and technology scholars, but also a role model and a flower. The serious "first-class jinshi", a veritable talent, now has a seven-grade official body edited by the Hanlin Academy.

The two are from the same state and can be regarded as fellow villagers.

The one who was beaten with a blue nose and swollen face but didn't say a word was Bangyan, surnamed Tang Mingxing, and before he sat down, he even made three bowls, and thanked Zhao Ning and others for their rescue.

He said: "If it weren't for your rescue, with Xu Zhiyuan's domineering, he would inevitably break his bones and tendons today, this grace Tang Xing remembered in his heart, he was driven by the day, Tang Xing would definitely do his best to serve!"

Although he was beaten and drank three bowls of wine, he seemed to have forgotten about it, and his face did not look like a decadent person, but was in good spirits.

The one who persuaded him was Tanhua Zhou Junchen, compared to Tang Xing, he was much more worried, even if he drank wine, he still felt anxious, and he wanted to speak several times and stopped.

Tang Xing was a talkative person, and quickly explained the reason for today's events.

It turned out that although he was the leader of Jinshi and the first, and was awarded the rank of the seventh rank, his situation in the Hanlin Academy was not good. In fact, not only him, but all the scholars of the poor family usually live in the shadow of the high-ranking dignitaries of the family, and they are driven by it, and if they are disrespectful, they will suffer from difficulties.

Xu Zhiyuan is from the Xu family of Xishui, or the son of the prime minister of the dynasty, today he came to Yanlailou to have fun, in order to increase some talents, and win the worship of the Qing children, he called the new science list and Tanhua.

Although Xu Zhiyuan has not yet come out, after all, he is the prime minister's son-in-law, Tang Xing and Zhou Junchen accepted the invitation and did not dare not come. Unexpectedly, Xu Zhiyuan looked like he was on top during the banquet, pointing fingers at Tang Xing and Zhou Junchen, and asked them to write poems on the spot.

Tang Xing wrote three poems in a row, Xu Zhiyuan was still dissatisfied, and laughed shamefully, so that Tang Xing couldn't raise his head, and he didn't know if he was drunk, and later asked Tang Xing to write glamorous lyrics.

Although Tang Xing was born in a poor family, he was also a dignified example, conceited and talented, and arrogant, where was he willing to comply, plus he was holding back his anger in his heart, and he couldn't help but say a contradiction.

This immediately made Xu Zhiyuan furious, and he ordered someone to beat him on the spot, chasing him from the private room to the corridor, and until he reached the room of Zhao Ning and others.

After hearing what happened to the two, Chen Anzhi was furious, slapped the table and gritted his teeth: "Xu Zhiyuan, this bastard, a dignified first-class jinshi, a future pillar of the imperial court, was so humiliated by him, he is simply not a son of man!"

Looking at him like this, he obviously regretted that when he beat Xu Zhiyuan before, he was too light, making it too easy for the other party to run. Wei Wuxian expressed deep sympathy for Tang Xing and Zhou Junchen's plight, and raised his glass to comfort.

After drinking the wine, Wei Wuxian said in a seemingly casual tone: "Although the imperial examination appeared in the previous dynasty, the scale of the scholars at that time was too small, and there were only a few dozen people at a time. Moreover, even if a scholar has the background of a jinshi, he only obtains the qualification for a scholar, and if he wants to really get an official position, he must pass the official examination.

"At that time, there were not many poor scholars among the civil officials, most of them were from families and were recommended. ”

"For more than 100 years, the scale of scholars has increased gradually, and now the imperial court has to take hundreds of scholars every time. Especially after the accession to the throne of today's son, the number has expanded unprecedentedly, and this spring it has reached an unprecedented number of more than 840 people!

Because of this, countless scholars from poor families have been able to carp and leap into the dragon gate and become the pillars of the country, and His Majesty is also praised by scholars from poor families all over the world. However, this is a great disaster for the civil service.

"There are only so many official positions in the world, and every year there are so many scholars from poor families, and a large number of new official positions are occupied, and the way out for the sons of the family has become a problem. It is inevitable that you will be troubled by the nobles. ”

Speaking of this, Wei Wuxian shut, didn't go any further, just raised his glass and invited him to drink.

Tang Xing's eyes changed several times, and then he suddenly realized, and hurriedly raised his glass to thank Wei Wuxian for solving his doubts.

Zhou Junchen glanced at Wei Wuxian strangely, thinking about the intention of his words, the sorrow in his eyes was even stronger, as if he was worried about his future fate - the matter of the civil official group, a general like Wei Wuxian could not help.

Nowadays, most of the high-ranking ministers in the court are from family families, and they have a deep background in officialdom, alliances with in-laws, mutual invocation, and firmly hold authority.

It is not easy for a scholar from a poor family to gain a firm foothold in officialdom, and it is even more difficult to become an important minister.

Not to mention anything else, Xu Zhiyuan dared to let people beat the eyes of the new science list. Although this incident happened in Qinglou, it was not good to hear and damaged the official reputation, Tang Xing and Zhou Junchen would definitely not dare to speak out, but the nature was very bad.

In this case, what is the way out for the poor Jinshi, and what is the future?

Is it to stammer with the family, become their minions, endure humiliation and be driven by them, in exchange for their own future, glory and wealth, or do they have no ambition to guard their dignity for a lifetime?

For most people, this choice is not difficult to make.

Zhao Ning took Zhou Junchen's look in his eyes, put down his wine glass, and said to him with a smile: "Actually, you don't have to worry too much about your future. You are all protégés of the Son of Heaven, Your Majesty Shengming, since you are allowed to be a leader, I will definitely not sit idly by and ignore your situation, and will give you the opportunity to display your talents and ambitions. ”

The so-called protégé of the Son of Heaven is that after the palace examination, the emperor re-named the new science and technology jinshi.

The champions, the list of eyes, and the flowers were all hand-picked by the emperor to show the emperor's grace. In this way, the emperor demonstrated his authority, and the jinshi also thanked the emperor, which helped these jinshi to serve the emperor.

Speaking of this, seeing that Zhou Junchen was thoughtful and puzzled, Zhao Ning turned his gaze to Tang Xing, shrugged his shoulders, and said lightly: "Of course, even if you are a protégé of the Son of Heaven, Your Majesty may not be able to fully know your situation and thoughts after all. ”

This sentence, which sounded like nonsense, fell into Tang Xing's ears, like a morning bell and a dusk drum, which made him shake all over.

As for whether he was really mentally shocked, Zhao Ning didn't dare to guarantee it, anyway, the other party looked like he was being empowered.

"Thank you Zhao Gongzi for solving your doubts, and suddenly open it in Xiamao!" Tang Xing's face was happy, very excited, raised his glass to each other, and drank it all in one fell swoop.

Zhao Ning and Wei Wuxian glanced at each other, the corners of each other's mouths slightly hooked.

When Chen Anzhi saw this scene, he was a little puzzled in his heart, how could he feel that his two brothers were quite embarrassed at this time. It was a strange feeling, something unprovoked, yet so real, but no matter what he thought, he couldn't figure out what the joints were.

Zhao Ning, Wei Wuxian, Chen Anzhi, Tang Xing, Zhou Junchen, the two poor scholars, it stands to reason that they will not sit and drink together, but today's coincidence allows them to sit together and talk happily.

This is their first meeting.

More than an hour later, Tang Xing and Zhou Junchen said goodbye to Zhao Ning and others.

The former was very drunk, and had already vomited twice in the middle, but when he came back, he still drank heartily and behaved heroically, and now he needed to be supported by the latter to staggering and reluctantly going downstairs.

When these two new first-class jinshi left Yanlailou, there was no carriage to sit on, so they could only lead the donkey and stagger away.

The official rank from Qipin is actually not so low, and Yu Lu is not thin, but the two great talents who were chosen for a while, not to mention the settling-in allowance stipulated by the imperial court, even Yu Lu was owed a lot by the officials from the family.

When he went out, Tang Xing vomited twice, but when Yan Lailou couldn't see it, he suddenly stood up straight, his demeanor returned to calm, and he no longer needed Zhou Junchen's support.

"You ......" Zhou Junchen looked surprised.

"Why be so surprised if you're just pretending to be drunk?"

Tang Xingshun smoothed his robe, and before Zhou Junchen said the second sentence, he waved his hand and said, "Zhao Gongzi and Wei Gongzi, do you understand?"

He asked this question very solemnly and seriously.

"I understand some of them, and some of them don't. Zhou Junchen barely suppressed the curiosity in his heart.

In fact, just two sentences are the key. A protégé of the Son of Heaven, a sentence must let the Son of Heaven know our situation and thoughts. Only these two sentences, Zhao Gongzi said twice. In the flow of people, Tang Xing walked steadily.

"What do you mean?" Zhou Junchen asked with a frown.

"It's simple. Tang Xing answered very quickly, "We are protégés of the Son of Heaven, and we are to be used by the Son of Heaven." What is the purpose of the Son of Heaven to open the imperial examination and win the people from the poor, we have to do it. ”

"What do you mean?"

"Do you know how the scholar of the Han Sect is different from the scholar of the Mendi?"

"The scholars of the poor family have no roots in the officialdom, no power to protect them, and can only rely on their own hard work; the scholars of the Mendi have a family and have a good relationship, so it is very convenient to do things, and it is easy to be promoted. Zhou Junchen said.

Tang Xing's eyes were deep, and he said unhurriedly: "There are still differences." ”

"What's the difference?"

"The family has a deep background in officialdom, and the men are officials, relying on the support of the family, not completely the imperial power, and the families are united with each other, so they have the ability to fight against the imperial power;

"And the Hanmen scholars don't have this kind of power, we can only rely on the imperial power to exist, without the support of Your Majesty, our official position will not be guaranteed, so what Your Majesty asks us to do, we must do. ”

Zhou Junchen frowned, not knowing why Tang Xing said this.

Tang Xing continued: "The previous dynasty opened the imperial examination, but for a few decades, the society has become unstable, what is the reason? In the final analysis, it is the family that senses the crisis and does not want to give up their official positions and interests, so they are no longer of the same mind as the emperor.

"And they have huge power, wealth, and power, once there is a war in the world, they no longer support the emperor, but to support their own soldiers and horses, and the dynasty has to collapse!"

Zhou Junchen's brows furrowed even deeper.

Tang Xing sighed, "The emperor opened the imperial examination and let the scholars of the poor family become officials, in the final analysis, it is to use us, who have no roots and can only rely on the emperor, to suppress, suppress, and weaken the power of the family, eliminate the constraints of the family on the Son of Heaven, and strengthen the imperial power!"

"Isn't that simple?"

Zhou Junchen frowned: "But the fall of the previous dynasty is the disaster of the feudal town......"

Tang Xing patted his forehead, "I'm not talking about this previous dynasty, it's the previous dynasty." ”

Zhou Junchen lowered his head and sighed.

"Now you should know, how can we get out of the predicament, become an official and become a knight, and show our ambitions?" Tang Xing Zhengse asked his fellow countrymen. The two have known each other since childhood, and have been taught by the same husband, and they have been classmates for ten years.

Zhou Junchen asked, "What should I do?"

Tang Xing was speechless for a while, and then said: "After we came out, the settling-in allowance and monthly income given by the imperial court were all owed by the officials from the family, and today we are humiliated in front of Xu Zhiyuan, what is the root cause?"

Without waiting for the other party to answer, Tang Xing continued: "This is the civil official family using the identity of you and me to list the eyes and explore the flowers, giving us all the humble men to get off the horse, boiling our temperament, and letting us know who has the final say in this court!"

"They want us to recognize the reality, to surrender to their obscenity in the future, to be willing to be driven by them, and not to dare to fight with them because of His Majesty's orders, which is not good for them!"

"Because of it!"

Tang Xing's voice was raised a point, and when he saw the pedestrians around him looking over, he hurriedly lowered his voice again, gritted his teeth and said: "We have to let Your Majesty know that the family is making things difficult for us, and we have not given in! We are always ready to face the difficulties for Your Majesty's plan to suppress and weaken the family's family, and we will not hesitate to do so!"