The Ming Dynasty started with caution

Yan Chengjin wanted to leave the hall, but Zhu Houzhao called three or five guards to hold him tightly.

Zhu Houzhao blinked, spread a large piece of rice paper on the ground, and handed over a huge brush with a smile.

Here, draw it!

Yan Chengjin's mind suddenly appeared the scene of Zhu Zhishan asking Tang Bohu for a painting. It seemed that the new emperor, who was extremely curious, would not let him leave without revealing a little map of the world.

"I can only show it to the new emperor."

Zhu Houzhao stared at Yan Chengjin's chest with an anxious look, forgetting to search Lao Gao's body.

"All retreat, no peeking."

Gu Dayong muttered a few words of dissatisfaction, and left with three or five guards, not forgetting to close the door of the hall.

Yan Chengjin reached into his chest and pulled out a thin piece of cowhide. The map and anti-arrow cloth armor "Star Difficulty Map of All Countries in the World" was spread on the gold brick.

"Lao Gao, what is this?" Zhu Houzhao opened his eyes wide, looking like he had seen something.

On the square map, many plates were drawn with detailed lines.

Neatly marked with words and stars:

Holy Roman Empire, attack difficulty: *****

Ottoman Empire, attack difficulty: ****

Wala, attack difficulty: **

...

Zhu Houzhao's eyes lit up, picked up the map, and tried to remember every symbol on it, "Lao Gao, what map is this?"

"I made a difficult map myself."

Yan Chengjin's expression was solemn, the highest skill in Sun Tzu's Art of War, a complete victory.

It is to conquer the enemy without fighting, to annex the western plate, you need to clearly understand the difference in the strength of both sides, Wang Shouren also has a similar map in his hand.

After giving Zhu Houzhao a few glances, Yan Chengjin rolled up the map on the ground and put it back into his chest pocket.

Walking out of the East Warm Pavilion, he ran into two scholars.

"Hello, Lord Yan."

"Thank you Lord Yan for your kindness."

Zhang Cong's eyes were a little moist. In order to allow the two of them to pass the exam, Shuntian Prefecture actually expanded the number of candidates for the imperial examination. He suddenly felt that the burden on his shoulders was heavier.

I must repay Lord Yan in the future.

Yan Chengjin glanced at the two of them. They were doing the questions given by Zhu Houzhao. I don't know if they can still pass the imperial examination.

"Don't take the questions given by the new emperor seriously."

"Don't worry, Lord Yan. We can get more and more questions right."

This... I don't know why, Yan Chengjin actually began to worry.

But these two people are Zhu Houzhao's disciples. From the moment he entered the palace, he couldn't control them.

Lu Wan went to Datong, and Wang Xian, the left assistant minister of the Ministry of War, went to Liaodong for inspection. The Ministry of War was left with only my father to support it. Now the court and Wala are at war. I don't know how my father will mobilize?

Why can't I see the memorials from the Ministry of War these days?

Yan Chengjin walked into the duty room of the Ministry of War. Several chief clerks were reading the memorials sent back today. The southeast coast, the nine borders and the southwest...

Yan Kesong was writing something at his desk. Datong had withdrawn tens of thousands of soldiers and horses, and the vacancies needed to be filled. Recruiting required silver, and he needed to apply to the Ministry of Revenue for settlement.

In addition, Yang Yiqing led 150,000 soldiers to the north to Wala. The march of the barbarians had shortcomings...

Today's workload is a bit heavy.

"Dad is writing a letter to Yang Yiqing?"

Yan Chengjin secretly glanced at the words on the book, which told Yang Yiqing how to march.

Once the generals in the front started a war, the court could not dispatch them.

It would take at least a month for the memorials to be sent to the front line. When they were sent to the generals, the situation had changed, and the generals were not obeyed by the king's orders.

The cavalry marched erratically and might not be able to find the army.

"Just write some thoughts."

Not knowing when his son stood beside him, Yan Kesong felt a little guilty, "There is no memorial from the Nine Frontiers. Dad has fought more with the Tatars than Yang Yiqing, and can provide some useful war reports for him to deploy troops."

"Don't write, you will lose."

"..." Yan Kesong.

Yan Chengjin has read Yang Yiqing's family files. He is better than his father in planning and managing the three frontiers. If his father sends this memorial, Yang Yiqing will think it is the will of the court and will be more confused.

A few days passed in a flash.

Today is the day of the provincial examination. Early in the morning, scholars on the street gathered in Shuntian Prefecture.

Yan Chengjin came to the dismounting monument outside the Meridian Gate and saw Zhang Cong and Xia Yan coming out of the palace, holding the pens and lamps of the East Warm Pavilion in their hands. They bowed slightly to him and walked towards the tribute hall.

Today is the morning court with food, and all officials sat for a while.

"New emperor, with the increase in the number of candidates in the country, the Imperial Academy may not be enough to hold the joint examination."

The Minister of Rites Mao Ji calculated carefully.

The Imperial Academy was built by the Yuan Dynasty's Ministry of Rites. The Jukui Hall, Huijing Hall, Eighteen Rooms and other places can accommodate more than 5,000 scholars.

Now that the number of candidates in the country has increased by more than 2,000, they can still sit in the queue, but it is easy to...

cheating.

"I think that the new Ministry of Rites should be used as the examination venue." Mao Ji added.

Zhu Houzhao thought about it carefully and agreed. Apart from the affairs of the nine frontiers, the officials had no other matters to discuss in the court. They just wanted to know where the emperor had gone and had not been seen for a few days.

A few days later, the provincial examination ended, and the candidates waited for the Imperial Academy to post the list.

The increase in the number of candidates recruited made some candidates who were discouraged by the imperial examination return to participate in the imperial examination. As a result, the number of answer sheets in the Imperial Academy increased by thousands compared with previous years.

In the East Pavilion, Zhang Cai and Mao Ji each brought examiners from the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Personnel to review the essays and admit more than a thousand people.

“These scholars have become government students, which is a waste of money.” Mao Ji sighed.

"Mr. Mao, these two papers need to determine the winner."

On the last day, the official next to him submitted two papers. The answers and opinions were quite similar, but the writing style was slightly different.

"Could it be cheating?"

"I have thought about it before, but the two rooms are very far apart."

Mao Ji put the two papers aside, and when all the papers were reviewed and the list was copied, he opened the two sealed papers.

Only one name was written as Xia Yan, and the other name was written as Zhang Cong.

...

After the provincial examination,

Zhang Cong and Xia Yan returned to the wing room of the pawnshop and waited anxiously for a few days. Tomorrow was the day to announce the results.

At night, in the dark.

The two figures tossed and turned, excited and anxious, unable to fall asleep.

"Brother Zhang, are you asleep?"

"Yes."

"If I fail this time, I will return to my hometown to inherit the family business, and the rent is enough for three months."

Xia Yan looked at the figure in the dark, implying that he would have to solve his own food, drink, defecation and urination in the future.

Seeing Zhang Cong silent, he continued to ask: "If you can't pass the exam, what are your plans, Brother Zhang?"

Ten years have passed if I take the exam again.

If I can't pass the exam even after the expansion, it means that I am really not an official material. My family needs an accountant. I have seen Zhang Cong save money in the past few months and he is quite good at accounting. He is a talent.

After a moment of silence in the dark, Zhang Cong said: "I should take the exam again. As long as I live, I will not stop the provincial examination. If I become an official in the future, I will not forget Brother Gongjin's kindness."

The morning sun rises in the east, and the roosters in the dentistry make two screams. It's time to get up and go to the Imperial Examination Hall to see the list.

………………………………

Book recommendation:

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