Daming: At the start of the showdown, Lao Zhu was stunned

Chapter 1021 The Resentful Poor Family

After arranging the details of Wu Qu Port, Zhu Su asked someone to bring Le Loi to him. Since the last Annan examination, Le Loi had asked for an audience several times, but Zhu Su was busy arranging matters in Thang Long City and had no time to see him. This back and forth took nearly a month.

However, Zhu Su also had some guesses as to why Le Loi came to find him.

Although "Fan Huai" prayed for the Li family for all ordinary science students... Oh no, it should be called Hu family now, because "Fan Huai" prayed for the Hu family's guarantee, a group of ordinary science students were able to participate in this Annan imperial examination. However, the results of the ordinary science students were not satisfactory.

Except for the "naturally gifted" Fan Huai, who won the first place in the imperial examination, most of the other ordinary science students only passed the Tongsheng examination, and only a few passed the provincial examination. Besides Fan Huai, only Le Loi was left to participate in the metropolitan examination, and Le Loi failed the exam and had no chance of becoming a Jinshi.

This made the ordinary science students in the academy depressed and many people were confused.

In fact, it was normal for them to fail. First, it had been less than half a year since Zhu Su opened the school and recruited poor students from Annan. In just half a year, it was impossible for these people to learn anything significant.
Secondly, although Hu Jilin gave them the guarantee, he did not dare to risk offending all the Annan nobles by allowing these poor children to pass in large numbers. After all, the number of Jinshi candidates was limited, and if one more poor child was admitted, it would mean one less place for the children of the nobles.

Zhu Su even speculated that even if these ordinary students had enough talent to pass the imperial examination, Hu Jilin would not let them pass the examination. Even with Fan Huai's talent, he would never have been able to get the top spot without Hu Jilin's green light.

Giving them the qualification to take the exam does not mean that they will pass it. To put it bluntly, this time, issuing a guarantee letter for the poor scholars was just a political show by Hu Jilin.

It was not as ordinary scholars speculated that he really wanted to reform the malpractices in the imperial examination system in Annan.

As Zhu Su guessed, when Le Loi saw Zhu Su, he had a look of frustration and fatigue on his face. He knelt down respectfully and bowed to Zhu Su, then said, "I heard that Your Highness will be returning to Ming soon."

"Your Highness...are you disappointed that we, ordinary science students, have such poor performance and are going to abandon us?" Li Li was still kneeling, his eyes filled with pleading.

Zhu Su reached out and helped him up, saying softly, "How could this be?"

"I have seen how hard you study. How can I blame you for just one result?"

"After all, I am a prince of the Ming Dynasty, not an Annan native. It is inconvenient to stay here for too long. Now that my homeland has called me, I must return to my homeland. Don't think too much."

"As men, we should have the will to never give up. Why do you look so depressed after just one failure?"

"The academy has taught you all the Five Classics and the Four Books. If you study hard, you will eventually pass the imperial examination."

"Your Highness, it's not that the students are depressed... but," Li Li said with an indignant look on his face. "But, in the next exam, I'm afraid that poor students like us will not have the opportunity to take the exam again!"

"Hmm?" Zhu Su's eyes narrowed, and he asked, "What do you mean?"

"The day before yesterday, Li had an argument with several classmates from the elite department. One of the students from the elite department spoke rudely, saying that next year there would definitely be no noble family providing insurance for us..." Li Li said, his clenched fists trembling slightly.

"They said that they allowed poor students like us to take the exam this time because of Brother Fan and your Highness. However, next year, even Prime Minister Hu will not dare to risk the world's disapproval and issue a guarantee letter for poor students like us."

"They are so sure of what they say that we have no choice but to believe them... Your Highness, the nobles are so arrogant and domineering, are we just going to sit there and wait for death?"

"Your Highness, the Annan nobles are in control of everything. We have no chance of making a name for ourselves. We would like to follow Your Highness to the Ming Dynasty. Please grant us permission!"

He looked at Zhu Su with burning eyes, as if he wanted to get the answer to the question that had troubled him for a long time from Zhu Su. Zhu Su narrowed his eyes slightly. Even he did not expect that there would be a son of an elite family who could not wait to lift up this fig leaf.

Of course, Hu Jilin would not provide them with a guarantee letter anymore. The Ming Dynasty, which he represented, would not waste its political resources to put pressure on Hu Jilin for these poor students from Annan... Even if they did, Hu Jilin might not agree. Allowing poor scholars to enter the government would affect the interests of all the Annan nobles. Now that Hu Jilin wanted to unite all the Annan nobles to fulfill his ambitions, he would naturally not put himself in opposition to the Annan nobles. Even with the pressure from the Ming Dynasty, I'm afraid Hu Jilin would not be easily shaken.

Moreover, Zhu Su had been secretly stirring up conflicts between the nobles and the poor. Naturally, he could not come forward again to bridge the conflict between the poor and the nobles. However, the power of the Annan nobles was still overwhelming. Looking at Le Loi's appearance, he seemed to be depressed and had lost all hope.

But now is not the time to stir up the conflict between the poor and the aristocratic forces, let alone let the ordinary scholars follow him to the Ming Dynasty. Without "Fan Huai", Le Loi is the well-deserved leader of the ordinary class, and the ordinary class is the representative of the poor children of Annan, which has extraordinary significance.

If I let them follow me to Ming Dynasty, wouldn't all my previous plans be in vain?

Zhu Su thought for a moment, then shook his head and said, "You are all from Annan. If you follow me to Ming, what will the ruler of Annan think of me?"

"Even if it's my father, he would never allow me to abduct the scholars of the tributary states back to my country. No, absolutely not."

"Then..." The hopeful look on Li Li's face instantly collapsed, "Then, are you going to let me wait here in Annan, with my talent and knowledge never making a difference?"

"Oh my God...Annan and Ming Dynasty are both part of the same Chinese lineage. Why do students from Annan have to be oppressed by those pedantic aristocrats? Why are they unable to realize their ambitions? Their talents are destined to be buried and they are destined to die in depression?"

Li Li said this and hit his knee angrily.

Looking at this angry young man, Zhu Su sighed inwardly. The anger of the Annan poor who were blocked from advancement had reached a critical point, and this Le Loi was undoubtedly the representative.

He certainly didn't think that Le Loi was indignant because his talent was about to be buried... After all, it was because the social classes were solidified and the ladder for the lower class to advance to the higher class was completely closed.

Previously, the poor were used to it and just endured it silently, cursing the greedy nobles in their hearts. But when Hu Jin's Baowen opened a loophole for the poor, he immediately closed it.

The resentment of the children from poor families could no longer be tolerated, and it instantly reached the point where it was about to explode.

However, it was not the right time to explode now. Zhu Su needed to cover up the explosion again and wait until the right time to achieve the right effect. He said to Li Li: "What you heard is just one-sided words from some elite students. You are also a student, how can you listen to one side and ignore the facts?"

"What about next year? It's next year. Maybe after Hu takes power for a year, Annan will be peaceful and prosperous, and this bad policy will be abolished. Then isn't it ridiculous for you to be sad and depressed today?"

"I know you admire the Ming Dynasty, but you were born in Annan after all. If the people of Annan are in dire straits, and you go to the Ming Dynasty alone... can your conscience be at peace? Can you be worthy of the people of your hometown?"

"Your Highness, I..." Li Li was speechless.

Although Zhu Su's high-sounding words moved him somewhat, they still did not completely convince him. He hesitated for a while and said, "I understand what your highness said."

"But if the nobles still regard us as traitors and do not want us to have the opportunity to advance, should we remain silent and continue to compromise?"

There seemed to be a flame in his eyes, looking at Zhu Su intently.

"If so..." Zhu Su pondered for a moment and said, "You should remember, 'A gentleman hides his abilities and waits for the right time to act.'"

"Your Highness, do you want me to continue to swallow my anger?" Li Li smiled bitterly.

"No." Zhu Su shook his head. "I'm not asking you to 'hide your weapon', the key is to 'wait for the right time'. To rise up in anger and hit a rock with an egg is not what a wise person should do."

"In the past, China was also ravaged by the Mongols. The Han Chinese were bullied by the Yuan invaders, and their situation was twice as bad as your poor family in Annan. But in the end, it was not until my father rose up that he finally achieved peace and prosperity."

"If the nobles really go against the grain, they will be hated by the gods and the people in the future. By then, you will be able to take advantage of the situation and create a bright future for Annan... Why do you have to complain about it now?"

"To create a bright and prosperous world for Annan..." Le Loi repeated blankly, with a gleam in his eyes.

"Go, go back to your hometown and study hard to improve your knowledge." Zhu Su said. "Although we have only been teacher and student for a few months, I still hope that you can make Annan a place where the people can live and work in peace and contentment."

Li Li no longer struggled, the frown on his brow had dissipated, and he felt as if his thoughts were clear. He knelt in front of Zhu Su, kowtowed three times respectfully, and then said goodbye and left.

As he walked, his steps became extremely firm, as if he had already thought clearly about what to do next.

Afterwards, I don’t know how he talked to the other ordinary scientists, but the resentful ordinary scientists put away their emotions and came one by one to say goodbye to Zhu Su.

Afterwards, Zhu Su disbanded the academy in Wuqu Port and prepared to return to the Ming Dynasty.

When Zhu Su left, Hu Jinyi and a group of Annan officials, as well as many Annan scholars who had listened to his preaching, came to see him off. After saying goodbye to them one by one, Zhu Su finally boarded the fleet back to Ming Dynasty. At this time, the routes from Ming Dynasty to neighboring countries were already very mature. Zhu Su did not encounter any storms along the way and arrived at Suzhou Port safely. Then he went straight along the official road from Suzhou Port to Yingtian Prefecture.

Yingtian Prefecture has now become a huge city. Due to the strong national strength and prosperous business of the Ming Dynasty, countless civilians and merchants live in the surrounding areas, forming an extremely large urban building complex around the city wall of Yingtian Prefecture. Judging from the scale alone, it has far exceeded all the cities Zhu Su has ever seen. I am afraid that only the Chang'an City of the former Tang Dynasty can be compared with it.

Along the way, red-haired foreign merchants, Persian merchants, and chained Kunlun eunuchs hawking their wares on the streets were very common. The Ming people along the streets had long been accustomed to these originally rare races, and even when they saw them, they did not show any surprise, and at most avoided them with a slight look of disgust.

The capital of the Ming Dynasty, because the Ming Dynasty was far more powerful than other countries, had gradually become the center of all nations and the most dazzling pearl in the world.

"Who are they?" On the way into the city, Zhu Su keenly discovered a group of people dressed very differently from others. Even though Yingtian Prefecture now has people of all races, merchants and priests traveling from north to south, they can all be seen here, but people like this in strange clothes still seem particularly out of place.

In terms of appearance and skin color, these people were very similar to the people of the Central Plains, but their clothes were very strange. Most of them wore cloth robes, their hair was tied up, and their clothes were right-side-open, just like the Han people. However, they also decorated their heads and bodies with feathers of various colors, and occasionally wore gold and silver ornaments. In the sunlight, the colorful feathers and gold and silver ornaments shone.

Although they had their hair tied up and their clothes turned right, this mixture of Han clothing still had a somewhat ostentatious style, which was obviously not from the Han style. Not to mention Zhu Su was surprised, even the people who were used to the costumes of all kinds of strange races stopped to watch these people in strange costumes.

The one who came to greet Zhu Su this time was Yang Shiqi. Yang Shiqi worked in the Maritime Affairs Department and was very familiar with these foreign visitors. He looked in the direction of Zhu Su's finger and suddenly realized, "Oh, Your Highness, these people are the Yindian people from Fengmingzhou, the ancient Chinese people."

"When the Fengmingzhou fleet returned, Lord Tie Xuan brought several Yindian leaders to pay homage to the emperor of China. Lord Tie was also summoned to the palace early this morning. If Your Highness enters the palace now, you may be able to meet Lord Tie."

"Dingshi is back from Fengmingzhou?" Zhu Su was startled when he heard this, and then he was surprised. This "disciple" of his was loyal to the Ming Dynasty in running Fengmingzhou. For many years, he provided countless gold and silver minerals to the Ming Dynasty. However, he and Mao Xiang stayed in that bitter and cold place and never returned home.

I haven't seen him for several years, and I really miss him. In addition, my father has granted Fengming Island to me. This time, Tie Xuan happened to return from Fengming Island, so it was a good opportunity to ask him about the scenery of the distant Fengming Island.

(End of this chapter)