Vertical arch hall.

Zhu Guoxiang handed over an official document: "Most of the prefectures and counties in Guangdong have been decided. However, several prefectures and counties were occupied by the peasant army, and Li Bao divided his troops to go to the town of Guangzhou, and found that the chief officials in Guangdong should be killed. He couldn't be the master, so he asked for instructions from the imperial court. ”

Zhu Ming had already received Li Bao's letter, pretended to read the official document, and said: "Escort back to Beijing and kill again, so as not to be frightened by the local officials." ”

The situation in Guangdong is particularly comical and extremely erosive.

First, Zheng Liang was transferred to Beijing to report on his work, and was reported for corruption and excessive looting, and he filled his pockets under the guise of Huashigang.

At that time, Song Huizong had not yet fled Tokyo, and as soon as he heard that his Hua Shigang was greedy, he immediately arrested Zheng Liang and imprisoned him for interrogation.

Who knows, the day after Zheng Liang was imprisoned, he died directly in Dali Temple Prison.

Song Huizong was furious and sent the Imperial History Statement to Guangzhou to investigate-Zheng Liang had been an official in Guangdong for a long time, so he simply settled in Guangzhou.

At this moment, Jin Bing went south, Zhu Ming went north, and Song Huizong ran away in fright.

Yu Shi stated that he was ordered to investigate the case, and took advantage of the chaos of the country to raid the house of Zheng Liang, who died mysteriously, and embezzled hundreds of thousands of his property.

And then, the statement also died in Guangzhou!

Guangdong transfer envoy Yin Zhongchen and deputy envoy Xu Geng joined forces to swallow this huge amount of money.

When Li Bao divided his troops to occupy Guangzhou, he reported Yin Zhongchen and Xu Geng for killing people and goods, embezzling stolen money, fishing for the common people, and exploiting businessmen.

Li Bao casually sent someone to inquire, and found that Ren Xiaokai was not a good thing.

The officialdom of the whole of Guangdong has been rotten, not only has the peasants been made extremely poor, but even the gentry and merchants have complained that life is difficult, and only those temples are still very nourishing.

Hearing that Li Bao occupied Fujian, Guangdong officials surrendered one after another, and wanted to continue to be free in the new Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Guoxiang said: "Corruption in Guangdong is more serious than in other places. Although the magistrates there have contributed to the sacrifice of the city, I intend to remove them all and return to their hometowns without any need. The notorious ones even have to have their homes and beheadings! ”

"Yes, anyway, the territory is already about the same, and there is no need to worry about any negative impacts." Ju Ming supports this approach.

In the traditional concept, father and son are unkind.

Those Guangdong officials gave up their land to join the new dynasty, and they were not rewarded for their merits, and they even had to dismiss all of them, and even kill the notorious.

The reason why Guangdong officialdom is completely rotten is that the emperor is far away, the second is that the officials are rotten, and the third is that there is oil and water to squeeze.

Take Xu Geng, the deputy envoy for transshipment, for example, after this guy was transferred to Guangnan, he thought that he had been belittled in disguise, and he had no career to pursue in the rest of his life, so he began to frantically exploit and make money.

While Xu Geng was corrupt, he also wrote a poem to complain: "Set aside the rights and wrongs of the Southern Wilderness, and the sex is really all taken from the time when it is not born." The water in the front stream passed day and night, and the owner of the upstairs did not know. ”

Directly in the poem, Guangdong is called the "Southern Wilderness".

Zhu Guoxiang said: "Even if all the officials are dismissed, they must be replaced one by one, so as not to cause any chaos in the middle." ”

Zhu Ming said: "This version of Zhejiang Province is too big, and it is still necessary to prevent a rebellion." Since Fujian is almost pacified, Wenzhou and Chuzhou (Lishui) should be included in Fujian's jurisdiction. ”

"That's okay," Zhu Guoxiang said, "In the future, some of Zhejiang's surplus finances will be used to support Fujian." ”

Transfer, i.e., fiscal transfer.

Fujian is too poor, Zhejiang is too rich, we should help each other.

A few words from the father and son decided the southeast ecology, and Wenzhou and Chuzhou will belong to Fujian Province in the future.

Zhu Guoxiang looked at the sky, got up and said, "It's almost time." ”

The two walked south together, and soon came to the Daqing Palace.

"The Emperor has arrived!"

"The prince has arrived!"

The Northern Song Dynasty palace test was held in the Jiying Palace.

Now it is replaced by Daqing Palace, which is more spacious, open and bright!

The soldiers, who were already sitting there waiting for the exam, were surprised to hear the shouting.

The palace exam should be the emperor's main exam, why did the prince come with him?

saw Zhu Guoxiang sit down and write a line of words, and the questions of the palace examination were finished.

The guards went to the hall and read out the title: "The system said: Try to discuss the gains and losses of the old Song Dynasty governance, please write it in the article, do not generalize, I will read it for myself!" ”

The candidates raised their heads in unison and looked at the emperor in amazement, this kind of palace exam question is too direct, right?

Most of the candidates were stunned, so anxious that they wanted to scratch their ears and cheeks.

This thing seems simple, but it's actually very difficult to write.

First of all, you have to determine a core idea, and then discuss it, and you have to cite scriptures, otherwise the article will not be wonderful.

Secondly, the gains and losses of the old Song Dynasty must be written, but it is difficult to control a degree.

Finally, you have to be quite familiar with the overall situation of the old Song Dynasty, and you must have something to say.

Li Tong and Hu Quan, who had carefully studied Zhu Ming's articles, began to write almost at the same time: "The minister is right: the minister heard the words of the "Book of Shang", the people are only the state, and the country is solid and the country is ......."

The choice of words and sentences is slightly different, but the main idea of the two of them is the same.

Halfway through the writing, differences begin to appear.

Li Tong mainly expounded on the "loss of morality" of the old Song Dynasty, while Hu Quan was biased to discuss the "loss of merit" of the old Song Dynasty.

Zhu Ming sat and read books in the Daqing Hall for three hours, and suddenly got up and began to stroll, going back and forth to check the candidates' articles.

It's like the invigilator walks around and makes the candidates extremely stressed.

In the end, Zhu Ming stayed by Li Tong's side, and even picked up a draft page that had already been written.

After reading, gently put it back.

The second stay was by Hu Quan's side.

After reading the volumes of the two, Zhu Ming preferred Hu Quan's article.

Suddenly, Ju Ming stopped beside another candidate.

"The minister is right: the five dynasties of the late Tang Dynasty, Kyushu is in turmoil...... At the beginning of the Zhao and Song dynasties, the people were disgusted with the soldiers, and the world was happy to ...... with the rule of culture."

This candidate first wrote how Zhao and Song established the country and how they governed the country to be rich and prosperous.

He also wrote about the three redundant issues, as well as the gains and losses of Wang Anshi's changes.

In the end, he spent a lot of space angrily accusing Song Huizong of cruelty to the people, and also scolded this faint monarch for not repenting when he arrived in Hangzhou.

Zhu Ming glanced at his name and suddenly smiled.

Qiantang, Zhang Jiucheng.

This Zhejiang examinee was harmed by Song Huizong a lot, and he sprayed unabashedly and heartily.

Zhang Jiucheng's ancestral hometown is Kaifeng, and his ancestors moved to Qiantang, but his family background was not thick, and he was repeatedly tossed by Hua Shigang. By the time he was eighteen years old, he was so poor that he gave up the imperial examination and went to work as a tutor for a rich family to make a living.

After making some money, Zhang Jiucheng went to Beijing to study, and during this period, he also got a copy of "Taoist Strategies".

After running out of entanglements, Zhang Jiucheng returned to Qiantang and continued to teach for a living. A year before the great Confucian Yang Shi died of illness, he accepted Zhang Jiucheng as a disciple, but he mainly relied on self-study.

In addition to self-study and teaching, Zhang Jiucheng insisted on studying Buddhism for the rest of the time.

Perhaps too disappointed with reality, Zhang Jiucheng is a little misanthropic, thinking that this world is an illusion - this gentleman is the real ancestor of psychology, and he took the lead in proposing the idea of "heart is reason".

After Song Huizong fled to Hangzhou, he caused prices to skyrocket, and excessive taxes and miscellaneous taxes emerged one after another. Zhang Jiucheng still has to support the whole family, his salary is difficult to support the expenses, so he can only sell the land one after another, and he can't wait for Song Huizong to die as soon as possible.

Li Bao captured Hangzhou and quickly quelled the chaos, which Zhang Jiucheng praised.

Through Yang Shi's old friend, he got a quota for lifting, and then borrowed money to enter the Beijing imperial examination.

This old man, who was so poor at this time, lived in a dilapidated house in the suburbs, and it took two hours to walk into the city for the exam.

At noon, the eunuch and the guards brought the food and quietly placed it on the candidates' tables.

There is also a large vat of soup outside, and candidates can leave their seats to make soup, or they can be accompanied by guards to poop and pee.

Zhang Jiucheng, who hadn't eaten fine grains for half a month, gobbled up meat buns with chopsticks.

It's so cool!

Zhu Ming glanced at the cloth clothes on Zhang Jiucheng's body, and actually made several patches.

It can only prove one thing, this person is very stubborn and has a strong self-esteem.

Otherwise, with his status as a tribute, he doesn't have to open his mouth in person, and many people will send money.

After Zhang Jiucheng passed the Ministry of Rites exam, he must have refused the help of countless people!

Zhu Ming continued to walk back and forth in the examination room, and found that most of the well-written articles were from the three southern provinces, and some were from the Lianghuai region.

And the scholars in Sichuan and Kaifeng, the top-notch ones have long been officials, and they don't have to participate in the imperial examination at all. For example, Yu Yunwen, who was directly promoted by Zhu Ming, has already gone to the grassland as a messenger.

Most of the top ten Sichuan candidates in the Ministry of Rites Examination belong to the second-rate goods, mainly relying on mathematics and physics to score points.

Of the 350 answer sheets, it took the marking officer three days to rank them.

First place, Li Tong. second place, Hu Quan. third place, Zhang Jiucheng.

Zhu Guoxiang read all the top ten and said to Xiao Chu, Hu Anguo, Huang Sheng and others: "The article on the third place is too scattered, and half of the article is scolding Zhao Ji. I know very well what you have in mind, and I don't have to do it again in the future. ”

"Your Majesty Shengming!"

The crowd hurriedly responded.

Zhu Guoxiang said to his son: "You come and re-rank." ”

Zhu Ming was also polite and rearranged all the top ten.

First place, Hu Quan, a native of Jiangxi.

Second place, Yang Ji, from Sichuan.

Third place, Li Tong, from Fujian

Fourth place, Li Gongmao, a native of Jiangxi.

Fifth place: Wang Dabao, from Guangdong.

Sixth place, Li Yi, a native of Huainan.

……

Tenth place, Zhang Jiucheng, from Zhejiang.

Yang Ji, a Sichuan scholar who was designated as the eye of the list, was born in the Yang family in Shuzhong, and his brother worked with Zhu Guoxiang for two years.

He followed his brother and knew the thoughts of the emperor and the crown prince very well. Although the style of the strategy is not very good, the content is very solid, which can be regarded as Zhu Ming's appetite.

"Your Majesty, please." Zhu Ming held the scroll and handed it back.

Zhu Guoxiang took the answer sheet easily, didn't even bother to read it, and ordered: "Just write the yellow list according to the prince's ranking." ”

"Yes!"

The ministers were extremely shocked in their hearts, and the ranking of the palace examination actually let the prince call the shots.

After writing the yellow list, everyone left the palace one after another.

Hu Anguo invited Xiao Chu into his carriage and said in a low voice: "As a courtier, you shouldn't talk about the king and the prince." But today's court is really worrying, the military power is in the hands of the prince, in case one day...... One year or two years is fine, but Your Majesty is healthy, what about ten or twenty years later? ”

"How can you be far away?" Xiao Chu smiled, "Haven't you understood it yet?" Everything is dominated by the crown prince, and His Majesty's move today may have the intention of abdicating. ”

(End of chapter)