The academy actually got seventh place in the examination?
Song Cai's jaw dropped.
When Zhao Jun came out, he said that he did not do well in the exam.
As a result, they directly took seventh place.
This is outrageous.
You must know that those who can get in the top twenty in the interpretation test have a high chance of passing the Jinshi exam.
Because this means that they have a high level of knowledge about the imperial examination, so it is easier for them to get a high ranking in the Jinshi subject.
Generally, those who take the exam for "The Book of Filial Piety" are poor students. Even if they succeed, they are still at the bottom of the list. This is why Song Cai looked directly from the bottom of the list.
Who would have thought that even though he was taking the "Book of Filial Piety" test, he directly reached the seventh place, which is really surprising.
But what Song Cai didn't know was that Zhao Jun, who ranked seventh, had failed in the "Book of Filial Piety" test and made a few small mistakes. Otherwise, he might have been competing for the top spot.
The main reason is that the proportion of classics and meanings in the imperial examinations in the Song Dynasty is indeed not high, with poetry, policy discussions, and poems being the main ones.
Zhao Jun's poems, strategies, and poems are all the best. After all, Fan Zhongyan's poems, Su Shi's poems, and his excellent strategic vision make it difficult not to rank.
If he can memorize "The Analects of Confucius", "Book of Rites" and "Spring and Autumn", even if he is a Jinshi subject, as long as he does not make more than six mistakes in the meaning of the classics, he will not really be unable to enter the Chui Gong Hall and win the top prize.
Song Cai left the rankings in a daze. Although he was very happy to win the exam, he was not happy to see that they were all taking the "Book of Filial Piety" exam and the rankings were so different.
No wonder people are doing it.
Even when taking the "Book of Filial Piety" test, everyone ranked in the top ten.
Song Cai could only sigh in her heart.
After coming out of Xingguofang, where the ceremonial court is located, the group went to a restaurant to celebrate.
Soon after eleven o'clock in the morning, they almost had breakfast and lunch, and kept eating and drinking in a nearby restaurant.
At this moment, a carriage, protected by a hundred guards, slowly passed through the street.
Song Cai happened to be next to the window and caught a glimpse of the situation below. She recognized that it was Zhao Jun's motorcade and quickly said, "I'm going out." and hurried downstairs.
The others were confused, but Song Cai might have something to do, so they didn't care.
At this moment, people were coming and going in the streets and alleys, and the horse-drawn carriage was slowly moving forward among the crowds. Song Cai trotted over and finally caught up with him when he reached the intersection.
Seeing someone approaching, many guards went up to stop him. Fortunately, Song Cai had a card given by Zhao Jun, which allowed him to meet Zhao Jun smoothly.
"Zhiyuan."
Song Cai came over and bowed her hands respectfully.
When Zhao Jun saw it was him, he smiled and said, "It turns out to be Brother Song. How about it? It seems like the results will be released today."
"Thanks to the Imperial Academy, I am ranked 376th."
Song Cai was a little embarrassed.
Ranking third from the bottom is indeed not a glorious thing.
"As long as you win the exam."
Zhao Jun smiled and said.
Song Cai said: "Compared with Zhiyuan, it is still far behind."
"oh?"
Zhao Jun said in surprise: "I won't be hit too, right?"
He really didn't pay attention to this matter.
After all, it was Lu Yijian and others who tricked him into taking the imperial examination.
As early as when he was blind, Lu Yijian and others brainwashed Zhao Zhen and asked Zhao Jun to take the imperial examination to become an official.
Now that they have woken up, fought hard, and forced Lu Yijian and others to compromise, there is no need to pay attention to the imperial examination anymore.
"Yes."
Song Cai made a gesture and said: "Zhiyuan ranks seventh."
"The ranking is quite high."
Zhao Jun became happy. Unexpectedly, not only did he win, but he was also ranked at the top.
But it's normal to think about it carefully. I copied the poems and songs of Fan Zhongyan and Su Shi, and added strategies. As long as Jingyi didn't annihilate the whole army, it would be a ghost if he didn't rank high.
Song Cai complimented: "The talents of Zhiyuan are naturally beyond the reach of ordinary scholars like us."
Zhao Jun looked at the time and said: "Speak less compliments, do more practical work and less empty talk. Did you come to me for anything else?"
Song Cai hurriedly said: "When I return to the Academy, I have already had a close relationship with Saburo Daiken during this period. I have learned a lot of news about Izumo Country and Iwami Country from him. I have compiled it into a book and am about to present it to the Academy. .”
As he spoke, he took out a pamphlet from his arms and handed it over respectfully.
Zhao Jun took it, casually opened it and glanced at it. After looking at it for a while, he nodded with satisfaction and said: "You did a good job. The Song Dynasty needs talents like you. What are you going to do next?"
Song Cai said: "The villain knows that he is not qualified to pass the Jinshi examination, so if he can serve the Academy, he must do his best. I will not participate next spring. I plan to wait until next spring, and I will work with the great health-conscious Saburo. In the name of going to Japan for trade, I went to Izumo Country and Iwami Country to see for myself.”
"Well, it's better to travel thousands of miles than to read thousands of books. It's great if you have this ambition."
Zhao Jun pondered for a while, and then said: "In this way, from now on, you will be the head of the Imperial City Division, and that badge will be your identity. When you go to Japan in the future, transfer a group of people from the Imperial City Division In the past, I was stationed in Japan and became the Japanese branch of the Imperial City Division. When I arrived there, I must focus on understanding the situation."
"Thank you, Zhiyuan."
Song Cai knew that she had made the right move and suddenly became excited.
Although Zhao Jun gave him a waist card last time, he did not give him an identity. Now he plans to go to Japan in person, and he is indeed taken seriously.
He knew that he might not be able to pass the Jinshi examination because of his ability. Even if he got the title of Juren, he would be no different from ordinary people, and his future would still be bleak.
But now that he's on Zhao Jun's thigh, it's different.
Although he held a military position, Xia Song also transferred from a military position to a civilian position. With Zhao Jun's power, if he can do his job well, maybe he can become a civilian official in the future?
Thinking of this, Song Cai bowed her hands repeatedly and said excitedly: "The villain will definitely live up to the trust of the magistrate."
"Um."
Zhao Jun smiled and said: "The most important thing when going to another country is your own safety. Everything is focused on investigating information. Don't put yourself in danger."
"Yes Yes Yes."
"Go ahead."
"Thank you, Zhiyuan."
Song Cai happily took a few steps back, stood respectfully, and watched the carriage leave.
The carriage started slowly, heading towards the outer city.
In the car, Zhao Jun read the brochure given by Song Cai.
He had some time at noon today, so he planned to visit the former Guangbei Siege Bureau in the outer city, now the Firearms Department.
Zeng Gongliang and Ding You have expired and have been transferred back to the DPRK. Now he serves as the Quanzhi Firearms Department, responsible for the research and development of firearms and equipment.
Zhao Jun used to point out the direction of research and development for him, and secondly, he also took a look at the development of firearms in the Song Dynasty.
Unexpectedly, he met Song Cai again on the road and gave him a big gift.
At present, Zhao Jun has established a firm foothold in Bianliang.
A large number of evil forces such as Wuyou Cave and Guifan Tower were eliminated at the bottom. Corrupt officials in Kaifeng Prefecture were wiped out at the top. The court also eliminated two big tigers at the deputy prime minister level, Han Yi and Liu Yuanyu.
Many people from the other Yushi, Sanya, Sansi, Liubu, and Privy Council were also arrested, and the Han family, Ma family and other prime minister families were also destroyed. It can be said that they have done a lot of great things.
There are also many supporters in the officialdom. Basically, no matter how happy the opposition is, there is nothing they can do against him. Zhao Junzhiyuan's status is as stable as a mountain.
But doing these things only makes Bianliang better.
Nowadays, the entire Song Dynasty is still in a precarious stage. Land annexation in various places is serious, and the people are in dire straits. They only look at the wind, flowers, snow and moon in Bianliang, and cannot forget the people of the world.
Therefore, he plans to leave Beijing next year, based on seeking truth from facts, to inspect the situation in various places, investigate the grassroots level, and find out the problems in various places in the Song Dynasty.
It just so happens that Fan Zhongyan is going to the northwest next year, and Song Cai is going to Japan, so the three fronts are running in parallel.
Zhao Jun dealt with local land annexation issues in various parts of the Song Dynasty, Fan Zhongyan dealt with national defense issues in the northwest, and Song Cai looked for foreign exchange issues in Japan. Working together in the three directions may bring about unexpected results.
The carriage moved forward slowly, crossing the Cai River, and arrived at West Street. To the west of Yanzhen Temple, there was a large courtyard with a large area. It was completely surrounded by walls and was larger than a city.
Here are the East Workshop and Wanquan Workshop in Bianliang, which contain the Armor Institute, the Imperial Arms Institute, the Arms Manufacturing Institute, and the Duzuo Academy. They are the places where weapons are manufactured. Di Qing’s later residence was nearby. Opposite Xijiofang in the west, it was historically the home of Queen Wencheng Zhang.
After arriving at Dongshoufang, the carriage was hung with a sign of the Constitutional Yuan, and they entered it unimpeded. When they arrived at the former Guangbei Siege Bureau, which has now been renamed the Firearms Department, Zeng Gongliang had already received the news and went out to greet him. .
"The lower official Zeng Gongliang has met the magistrate."
Zhao Jun got off the carriage, and Zeng Gongliang, who was wearing a red robe, stepped forward and saluted.
Before Ding You, Zeng Gongliang was only a seventh-rank secretary-general. However, although his official career was slow, his qualifications were relatively older. He was a Jinshi in the second year of Tiansheng, and he was in the same class as Song Xiang.
However, Song Xiang was already admonishing the officials from the fourth rank and held an important position in the admonishment platform, while Zeng Gongliang, who was also on the same list, was still ups and downs in the seventh and eighth ranks.
After Zeng Gongliang was recalled to Beijing this time, Cai Qi promoted him to the position of Chief Political Officer and Chief of the Firearms Department.
The Zhisi of the Firearms Department is a dispatcher, and the Zhizhidu Chengzhi is a postal officer. It is a subordinate official of the Zhizhi Yuan and is the fifth rank.
Now Zeng Gongliang is also wearing a crimson robe.
Zhao Jun looked him up and down. He was a middle-aged man in his forties with an elegant face. He nodded and said, "I have always heard of Mr. Ming Zhong's name. I heard that you have a wide range of interests and are good at ordnance."
Zeng Gongliang smiled and said: "I have read many miscellaneous books before. I didn't expect that for this reason, the imperial court would let me take charge of the Firearms Department."
At this time, it would still be three years before he and Ding Du co-authored "The General Martial Arts", but before that, Zeng Gongliang had accumulated a lot of ordnance knowledge, and only then was he able to write the famous military work.
Zhao Jun smiled and said: "Firearms are the development direction of future weapons. In the future, the Song Dynasty must move towards this trend, and the Firearms Department must develop better firearms."
"yes."
Zeng Gongliang nodded, stretched out his hand and said, "Please come inside and take a look."
Zhao Jun followed him into the Firearms Department.
Entering inside, a strong smell of saltpeter hits your face, but the yard is very clean and there are no debris.
Passing through the hall and courtyard in the front, and reaching the workshops in the back, you can see a large number of craftsmen making firearms in various wooden houses and sheds.
There are various medicines and ores in it. Craftsmen obtain what they want by burning, beating, distilling, etc., and then mix these things together, pack them, and turn them into a small ball.
Zeng Gongliang introduced them one by one: "Zhiyuan, this is the fire ball, this is the smoke ball, this is the iron-billed fire harrier, and this is the bamboo fire harrier."
He mentioned more than a dozen types of firearms in one breath, all of which were recorded in the "Wu Jing Zong Yao", but there were no muskets and artillery, because these two things were invented in the Southern Song Dynasty, one during the Xiaozong period of the Song Dynasty and the other during the Lizong period of the Song Dynasty.
Moreover, the muskets and artillery are not very powerful, especially the muskets, which are made of bamboo and are basically disposable items. Compared with the matchlock guns of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, they are backward products.
After Zhao Jun saw these firearms, he asked as he walked: "What is the gunpowder ratio of this fireball?"
Zeng Gongliang said: "There are 14 liang of sulfur, 7 liang of wohuang, 40 liang of saltpetre, 14 liang of rosin, as well as arsenic, fixed powder, yellow pill, dry lacquer, bamboo root, maru, yellow wax, tung oil, thick oil, clear oil, etc. A few."
"It's too complicated and affects the power."
Zhao Jun shook his head and said: "What I want is pure gunpowder. When producing gunpowder in the future, one pound of gunpowder must contain 12 taels of saltpeter, 1.6 taels of sulfur, and 2.4 taels of charcoal. Do you understand?"
This ratio was the optimal ratio of black gunpowder for later generations, that is, 75% saltpeter, 10% sulfur, and 15% charcoal.
After hearing his words, Zeng Gongliang thought for a while and called a craftsman to give instructions.
The craftsman then got into the shed, carefully took out the corresponding amounts of saltpeter, sulfur, and charcoal using a scale, and then mixed them together to form a dark black ash.
"Chiji!"
The craftsman came over holding the black ash.
Zeng Gongliang asked Zhao Jun: "Zhiyuan, is this pure gunpowder?"
"Um."
Zhao Jun looked over, thought for a moment and said, "Get some more egg white."
"yes."
Zeng Gongliang asked people to find eggs.
After a while, someone brought a bowl with egg whites in it.
Zhao Jun ordered: "Pour in the egg whites, mix them together, and knead them into granules."
Granular?
The craftsman didn't understand, but he knew what mixing meant, so he simply put the handful of gunpowder into the bowl and stirred it.
After a while, a large amount of granular black gunpowder appeared.
"Zhiyuan, it's done."
Zeng Gongliang looked at the gunpowder particles in the bowl and said.
"Use it to make fireballs and test its power. Remember not to put any messy things, just put some iron pieces."
"good."
Zeng Gongliang responded.
The processes in the workshop are all ready-made. The craftsmen directly used the thunder and fireball method to create a small clay pot with leads on it.
"Wu Jing Zong Yao" records that this thing was put on a catapult, ignited, thrown into the city and then exploded. The power mainly came from the broken clay pot outside and the fragments hurting people.
Soon the thunderbolt fireball was ready, and there was the school field in front of it. Zhao Jun asked someone to bring a few scarecrows and put them in the middle of the clay pot, and then asked someone to light the clay pot and leave quickly.
The experimenter did so.
At this moment, the afternoon winter wind was blowing on the school grounds, and the sky was gloomy. Zhao Jun, Zeng Gongliang and others were standing in the distance, and the other officials accompanying them were also watching the excitement.
A craftsman placed the clay pots on the school field in the distance, surrounded by several scarecrows, and the leads were stretched extremely long - Zhao Jun specifically ordered them.
After everything was placed, he lit the fuse with a fire stick and ran away immediately.
Fortunately, the lead wire was long and the craftsman ran a hundred meters away.
He looked back.
Almost as soon as he turned around, the thunderbolt fireball exploded!
"boom!"
As an explosion sounded that was several times louder than the usual thunderbolt fireballs, countless dust exploded on the spot in an instant.
Even if the craftsman is a hundred meters away, he can feel a wave of wind mixed with dust blowing towards his face.
"What's going on? Has Earth Dragon turned over?"
"The sound sounds like it's from the school grounds."
"What happened? Go and have a look."
Many craftsmen in the rear workshop were startled when they heard the loud noise, and they all put down their work and ran over to watch.
At this time, the straw men around the school field had been blown to pieces.
The ceramic fragments were even embedded half a foot into the ground!
Zeng Gongliang and others opened their mouths and looked at all this in disbelief.
Only Zhao Jun showed a satisfied smile.
I believe that pure gunpowder granular grenades will definitely give Xixia and Liao a big surprise.
The last chapter is indeed a bit watery, but the important plot advancement of this chapter cannot be watered down. I just came back from the hospital and my condition was not good. I won’t be hydrated anymore.
(End of chapter)
