On March 26 of the first year of Jingtai, Shen Yichen and Yang Hongze sat in the lobby of the Yamen of the Ministry of Rites, waiting for the newly admitted 300 tributes to come to pay their respects.

Only after experiencing the "apprenticeship ceremony" can Shen Yichen officially become one of the "three masters", and the new Kegongshi or Zhun Jinshi will become his protégé disciple.

Originally, the apprenticeship ceremony should have been held immediately after the release of the list, but it coincided with the famine in the north, and many things could not be handled due to the turmoil in the imperial court, so the palace examination originally scheduled for the first day of March was postponed for a month to the first day of April, which made the apprenticeship ceremony also postponed.

At this moment, Shen Yichen and Yang Hongze were sitting on their knees, showing a dignified posture of a teacher, but after waiting for a long time, it was impossible to stand like a sculpture after all, Yang Hongze hesitated for a long time and finally said: "I didn't expect that the food crisis in the north can really be solved in your hands." ”

When he said this, Yang Hongze had a kind of embarrassment in his tone, he once held his original intention and thought that he was the official who made a life for the people. As a result, after entering the turbid officialdom and seeing the injustice, I realized that I was far from being as noble as I thought at the beginning.

On the contrary, Shen Yichen, who has always been regarded as a despicable villain and tends to be inflammatory, has done what many people can't do and dare not do.

Compared with the achievements of water control and counterinsurgency praised by the outside world, this kind of shock brought by witnessing the reversal of the tide can touch Yang Hongze's heart even more.

"A lot of things are man-made, and when you do it, you find that it's just that."

Shen Yichen replied that the overall situation of the famine in the north was almost entirely under his control. Even if the grain shops under the name of Huichang Bo Sun Zhong and his party were seized, they could not come up with any strong countermeasures except to protest with the emperor and blow the wind in the ears of the empress dowager.

The biggest weakness of the Empress Dowager Sun is that she is a woman, and when she announces that she will retire to the harem and no longer care about the government, she will completely cut off her influence on the previous dynasty. Unlike Emperor Zhu Qizhen, even if he is now imprisoned in Nangong, he can still control his courtiers who are loyal to him.

Even taking a step back, even if there is no 3 million stone rice grain shipped from the south, as long as we can go out and turn the table and seal it up, we can still alleviate the food crisis in the north. It is nothing more than that the Southern Expeditionary Army has to delay its departure from Beijing again, waiting for the rice and grain harvested in the south to arrive in Beijing through Cao Yun, and then proceed to the next step.

The latter can not only be done by Shen Yichen, but also by Yang Hongze relying on the power of the Ministry of Rites, the Shangshu Hu Hui, and the civil official group. The biggest difference between the two is whether they are willing to do it.

"Really? Then I am indeed not as free as you. ”

Yang Hongze showed a wry smile on his lips, this was the first time he publicly admitted that he was not as good as Shen Yichen, and what made people feel even more desperate was that he realized that he seemed to be getting farther and farther away from the other party.

It didn't take long for a group of new branch gongshi to walk in from outside the house, and Hui Yuan was the first, so the first to step into the lobby was Shen Yichen Li and won the new branch Hui Yuan Peng.

For Peng Shi's understanding, Shen Yichen relied on a few words from the history books, and had never had any contact in private, and today was the first time they met.

Peng Shi Yongle was born in the fourteenth year, and now he is in the prime of his thirties, compared to Shen Yichen, who seems to be a little older than the Chinese style, but in fact, he can be about thirty in the Ming Dynasty to take the Gongshi examination, which can already be called the four words "young and promising".

Many candidates will not be able to enter the Forbidden City Palace Examination in their lifetime, and they will be full of silver hair when they reach the middle school.

Compared with Shen Yichen, who maintained a calm expression on the Taishi's chair, Peng Shi saw his own master, and there was a trace of irrepressible excitement on his face. There is not only the gratitude of winning the middle of the Yuan, but also the excitement of seeing the life coach.

The concept in "Shen Xue" has accompanied Peng Shi countless days and nights, and he wants to be like Shen Yichen and become an official who does practical things for the common people in the world. At this moment, his emotions are almost exactly the same as when He Wendao met Shen Yichen on the West Lake Yaji!

The first batch of people who came in to pay homage to the master were not only Peng Shi, the Huiyuan, but all the five classics and Kui walked into the lobby, and the emotions in the hearts of He Wendao and Feng Zheng could be said to be similar to Peng Shi.

They are all followers of "Shen Xue", and they have long regarded themselves as Shen Yichen's disciples.

However, the other two of the Five Classics showed a completely different look, they were the juniors jointly selected by the civil and official group, and one of them was originally going to be a high school member.

As a result, he was blocked by Shen Yichen like this, and without the respect of Huiyuan, he could only be ranked as one of the top of the Five Classics. Don't look at the rankings, in fact, a hundred runners-up are often not worth a champion, and the same is true in the imperial examination.

So when they saw Shen Yichen, it was like seeing themselves "killing their father and enemy", and they could suppress their true emotions and make a cold face, which was already a good cover-up.

"Students Peng Shi, Tao Zhongxuan, Qiu Yongshi, He Wendao, Yue Zheng, meet the teacher!"

After that, the Five Classics knelt down and bowed to Shen Yichen and Yang Hongze.

"You are the pillars of the country, and I am very pleased to see your high-spirited appearance today, so get up and take a seat."

Shen Yichen replied with a smile, and then the void raised his hand, signaling that a few people could get up.

"Get up."

Yang Hongze also responded at this moment, although the Ming Dynasty will not be as clear as the Qing Dynasty, but everyone knows who is the real president.

Coupled with his admiration for Shen Yichen's solution to the food crisis in the north, this time Yang Hongze did not compete for the top and bottom, and put himself in the position of vice president.

"Thank you."

After Wu Jingkui and the others got up, the officials of the Ministry of Rites who were standing on the side immediately came over with tea and asked them to offer tea to the two presidents of the meeting. To know the process of paying homage to the master, you have to submit a protégé post and offer tea to the teacher, and then the status of teacher and student is officially determined.

The five people, led by Huiyuan Peng Shi, gave tea to Shen Yichen and Yang Hongze in turn, and bowed to the teacher. According to the practice of previous years, the master said some polite words to encourage the new Kogong scholars to come to Japan and achieve good results in the temple examination.

However, just when everyone was about to go out after the apprenticeship and replace the next batch of new Kegong scholars, Yang Hongze looked at the high-spirited Wujing Kui, and couldn't help but say a few more words with some emotion: "Looking at you, it is as if I saw the former self of this official, and I am also such an excited and nervous worshipper to worship the master, looking forward to showing my strength in the officialdom in the coming day." ”

"In fact, as an official, the most important thing is not to forget your original intention, don't forget the sage books you read, and don't forget to be worthy of the king and the people."

"The worries of the world first, the joy of the world after the world, all the gentlemen encourage you!"

Yang Hongze's heartfelt words, Wujing Kui may not have much feeling, but Shen Yichen was deeply touched after hearing it.

After all, he is in the same year as the same subject, and he can barely be regarded as an old rival, Yang Hongze used to be a standard nerd rotten Confucian in the eyes of Shen Yichen, holding the unchanged Confucian classics for thousands of years, but he couldn't see the real world.

may have been beaten by officialdom, and even saw the dark side of it, Yang Hongze realized how ridiculous the words of the saints he insisted on at the beginning were in front of fame and fortune, and at the same time realized that he was not so noble and noble, and he was also a layman in Vanity Fair.

His words are not so much to warn this group of junior students, but to listen to himself, don't forget the original intention of taking the middle school as a tribute and about to step into the officialdom to change the world.

"Students follow the teachings."

Wujingkui bowed very respectfully, whether he really listened to it or not, at least the scene was respectful and in place.

Influenced by Yang Hongze's words, Shen Yichen gave up his usual politeness, and said in a sighy tone: "Everyone, Yang Zhongtang has already said what should be said, and this official just wants to remind you one thing." ”

"That is, instead of writing all the peaceful things, it is better to bow down and see the common people."

"I hope that in the future, when you look back on half of your life, you will still see the same way you were at the beginning."

When Shen Yichen said this, Peng Shi, He Wendao, and Yue Zheng obviously understood, and their faces were quite moved.

This is what the teacher has always emphasized in his academic concept that he should not talk about righteousness and reason, but should take governing affairs and saving the world as his lifelong goal. No matter where you are, you should never look at the higher places, but instead look down at the suffering of the people at the bottom.

"Mr. Xie's words are remembered by the students!"

Before Tao Zhongxuan and Qiu Yongshi could react, Peng Shi and the others bowed deeply to Shen Yichen, realizing that they would be official in the future.

"Go ahead."

Shen Yichen waved his hand with a smile of relief on his face, signaling that these people could leave.

He was pleased not that Peng Shi and the others understood his words, but that there would be more good officials in the officialdom of the Ming Dynasty in the future, and his concept of "applying it to the world and seeking truth through dialectic" would be passed on.

Once Shen Yichen spurned the Ming Dynasty's party and personal interests, it can be said that the Ming Dynasty has a large part of the responsibility for the party struggle. Now he has a more rational concept, the word party itself is not good or bad, and the key point of the decision lies in the word "private" at the back.

If you want to do something big, it is impossible to be alone, Yu Qian finally died on this, and the Manchu Dynasty civil and military could not find a fellow person.

No matter what the future trend will be, at least for now, Shen Yichen will carry out the formation of a party and gather a group of like-minded people to change the world of Daming step by step.

For Shen Yichen, the self-examination is just the beginning.

The long salute of the master finally ended after the last batch of new Kegong soldiers left, Shen Yichen breathed a long sigh of relief, and then moved his stiff muscles and bones to sit upright, and sighed that it was not easy to accept students.

However, at this time, Zhao Ranyuan, a member of the Zhongshu House, suddenly ran in and said to Shen Yichen: "Elder Shen Ge, Elder Yang Ge, Yuan Fu convened the entire cabinet to discuss the matter, and please come over now." ”

Cabinet discussions?

Hearing Zhao Ranyuan's words, Shen Yichen was a little surprised, he has been in the cabinet for almost half a year, and there has never been such a precedent for suddenly convening cabinet members to discuss matters, could it be that something big happened in the palace?

As soon as he thought of the big thing, Shen Yichen naturally thought of the word "palace change", so he hurriedly asked Zhao Ranyuan: "Zhao Zhongshu, what is the matter with Yuan Fu convening the cabinet?" ”

"The lower officials only know that Liaodong has changed, and they don't know the specific matters."

Hearing that it was Liaodong, Shen Yichen breathed a sigh of relief, after all, the Tile Thorn Department was about to move, and he had long expected it.

"The Cabinet Department knows, so I'll go over now."

After finishing speaking, Shen Yichen looked at Yang Hongze and said, "Yang Shaoqing, let's go together, please." ”

Hearing Shen Yichen's name for himself, Yang Zhongtang, who had faced the student before, changed back to Yang Shaoqing with a derogatory meaning. Yang Hongze snorted coldly, got up and walked away directly.

Looking at Yang Hongze's angry appearance, a smug smile appeared on Shen Yichen's face. Although the relationship between the two has eased recently, in the end they still belong to the kind of Tao differences that do not conspire with each other, and it is far from being a handshake.

Now don't tease Yang Hongze, sooner or later, this kid will have to come to trouble himself, and the one who strikes first will not lose.

There was a solemn atmosphere in the Wenyuan Pavilion at the moment, Chen Xun, the first assistant of the cabinet, sat on the main seat in the center of the top, and several cabinet ministers below sat in turn according to their ranks, and at the same time it happened to correspond to the time of entering the cabinet.

Theoretically, during the Jingtai Dynasty, there was still no clear name of the head of the cabinet, but Chen Xun could convene cabinet meetings and serve as the chairman, which was enough to highlight his special status, which was also inherited from the Sanyang cabinet.

Miao Zhen, Gao Qian, Shang Chen, and He Pingyan were already sitting in their positions, quietly waiting for the arrival of Shen Yichen and Yang Hongze. If something major hadn't happened, under normal circumstances, these two people would not have called them over out of the blue.

The distance between the Yamen of the Ministry of Rites and the Wenyuan Pavilion was not far, and after about a pillar of incense, I saw Shen Yichen and Yang Hongze hurrying over.

After entering the Wenyuan Pavilion meeting hall, Shen Yichen and Yang Hongze first saluted Chen Xun: "I've seen Yuanfu." ”

"Shen Zhongtang and Yang Zhongtang don't have to be polite, take a seat."

"Yes, Motosuke."

After the two returned the salute, they sat down in their seats.

Compared with Yang Hongze, Shen Yichen's seat is arranged on the left hand, which is the highest position among the four newly promoted ministers, and many differences in officialdom are reflected in inadvertent small details.

After all the cabinet ministers arrived, Chen Xun glanced left and right before clearing his throat and said, "Presumably, your colleagues were summoned to discuss the matter, and they must have guessed what happened in their hearts. ”

"Almost at the same time, the DPRK received several letters, all of which were about the military situation of the Liaodong Metropolitan Division, and the most important one was a letter of state from the Mongol Tile Division."

"You heard it right, it's a letter of state from the Tile Spur Department, and the former Taishi is also called Khan first."