In the blink of an eye, Shaowu's thirty-year anniversary passed, and it was Shaowu's thirty-first year.
This year is the year of spring, and nobles from all over the country are rushing to Beijing. All kinds of poems and essays are flying at once, which is very lively.
Although the imperial examination has been reformed, the examination for boys at the bottom still requires eight-legged examination, and the poems in the provincial examination and the general examination are not small, which makes poetry more and more prosperous.
After all, the prosperous years also need literati to accompany them.
Zhu Yixi also left Yuquan Mountain, where she had lived all winter, and returned to the humid Forbidden City.
As the number of vassal states increased, the number of candidates participating in the examination became larger and larger, reaching as many as ten thousand people.
Some people even live in the capital for up to a year just to compete for the 400 places.
The level of the vassal states varies. Among the four hundred quotas, a dozen vassal states can only admit 20 or 30 people at most, and the rest are all served by Ming Dynasty emperors.
"Are they from Jiangsu again this time?"
Zhu Yixi couldn't help but frown as she looked at the list of tributes put forward by the examiner.
Seven of the top ten are from the South, which is simply an exaggeration.
"Is there any province that has never produced a champion?"
"Your Majesty, Shanxi, Sichuan, Gansu, Liaodong, Suiyuan, Anxi, Guangxi, Guizhou, Chongqing, Ningxia and other identities..."
Hearing this, Zhu Yixi choked.
He shook his head, speechless.
A few days later, the palace examination was held.
Murong Dai from Shanxi was ranked first, Qin Wenjun from Liaodong was ranked second, and Fang Lianyun from Anhui was ranked third overall.
And Murong Dai became the first number one scholar in Shanxi Youming Dynasty, which is a great honor.
For a moment, the whole hall was shocked.
Soon, the emperor seemed to feel tired of staying in the capital for too long, and decided to visit Chengde in the north to escape the summer heat and at the same time preach to the Mongolian nobles.
In June, the sound of horse hooves resounded in the grassland, the sound of camel bells gradually began to ring, and a huge team arrived at this smaller palace complex.
The huge Chengde immediately fell into joy.
The emperor rewarded them greatly, and every household was given wine and meat.
The pastures are soaring, the rivers are meandering, and the laughter of the Mongolians can be heard from time to time.
Groups of Mongolian men were drinking and singing, or wrestling and playing around. Children were playing and having fun beside them.
At this time, there was a rapid sound of horse hooves, and the jubilant herdsmen immediately became alert. They gathered the children, raised their bows and mounted their horses, and their murderous intent began to brew.
"It's one of our own!"
At this time, the flag in the distance became conspicuous, and everyone came into a trance.
Relax, and the alert ends.
A moment later, a group of well-armored and majestic cavalry came on horseback, unafraid of these herdsmen.
With their superb riding skills, their majestic horses, and their arrogant eyes, there is no doubt that they are the Beijing Cavalry.
The herdsmen didn't care at all and just moved aside to give way.
Some of them who were literate could bear the flying huge "Northeast Governor" flag and immediately reported it.
For a moment, everyone knelt on the ground, extremely respectful.
Prince Zhu Cunqu, who was riding on a horse and lamented the vast grasslands and fertile land here, did not take it seriously when he saw this:
"It's quite interesting!"
"Master, they are from the sweat tent!" At this time, the knight on the side said:
"Generally speaking, even if they see ordinary officials, the herdsmen will not kneel down, they will just bow. But because of your status, the herdsmen in the sweat tent must kneel down."
"They are His Majesty's subordinates."
Zhu Cunqu was suddenly enlightened, and his gaze at the herdsmen became much softer and more careful.
Compared with ordinary herdsmen, his clothes are neater, his face is rosy, there is wine and meat on the table, and his life is not bad.
Soon, surrounded by the Beijing camp, he arrived at Chengde Villa.
As the governor of Northeast China, he should have replaced the lands of those nobles in Jilin, and at the same time began to lay out the plan to establish Jilin as a province.
He was needed to take care of the yamen, treasury, officials, land planning, etc. in various places. Fortunately, this was not his first time. It was naturally in order and there was not much trouble.
Only the matter of changing land is the most complicated.
There are fertile fields, wasteland, and woodland. Naturally, everyone wants fertile land. But where does Jilin come from so much fertile land?
Besides, the original intention was for the nobles to carry out the development, so how could we make it easier for them?
All of this requires him, the prince, to take charge personally in order to subdue many nobles.
Because of this, he also had a rough understanding of the nobles' property in Liaodong.
"My son, please see your father!"
"Get up!" Zhu Yixi looked at the slightly tired prince and praised softly: "You did a good job in the Northeast and you were able to withstand the pressure for replacement."
"Keep it up, I'm behind you."
"Yes!" Zhu Cunqu smiled happily: "With the support of my father, how can I not complete it?"
After that, he talked about the situation in Jilin.
With the migration of nobles, the population of Jilin increased rapidly. In less than half a year, there were 20,000 to 30,000 people.
At the same time, a large number of forests were cut down, reaching nearly one million acres, which temporarily caused a sharp drop in the price of timber in the north.
After a large amount of noble money was imported, Jilin became more and more prosperous at a speed visible to the naked eye.
The prince did not hesitate to praise the emperor's request for replacement.
Zhu Yixi nodded: "The development of Northeast China must continue."
He started walking and stated his thoughts in front: "The population in the north is gradually recovering, and the Northeast is the best place for development with thousands of miles of fertile land."
"This is the future granary of the imperial court, we cannot ignore it!"
The prince nodded seriously.
Suddenly, the emperor mounted his horse, leaving the latter stunned.
"Come on, let's go shopping!"
The prince could only obey.
Under the protection of a group of cavalry, the father and son strolled around.
Some Mongolian white yurts come into view.
Many Mongolians came out and knelt down to salute.
Zhu Yixi held a riding whip, pointed at the group of herdsmen who were kneeling sincerely, and said to the prince:
"There are now tens of thousands of people in the Khan tents, organized into ten thousand households and one hundred hundred households, with a total of more than 60,000 people. They are basically distributed in Chahar, Horqin, and Suiyuan. Chahar has the largest number. There are seven thousand accounts, but there is not a single noble among these people, and I am the only noble."
"They only need to pay me one sheep every year, and they can live a relaxed and happy life as they herd livestock."
"But the condition is that you dedicate your loyalty to me and the Zhu family."
"On weekdays, I will select some people to join the Guards Department and the Beijing Camp, and let them be my eyes and ears, as well as generals."
The prince looked at the emperor with deep eyes and was quite surprised for a moment.
"Civil officials are easy to use, and nobles can be useful, but the obedient Mongols are the best source of confidence and soldiers."
The emperor seemed to understand his thoughts and chuckled:
"The eunuchs and eunuchs guard the ceremonial department and can monitor the civil servants and prevent the world from turning upside down."
"And these Mongolians are the eunuchs and domestic slaves in the army. Their wealth and food are all given by us. What will happen if they disobey?"
"I also intend to build another cavalry of about a thousand people, all of which will be staffed by people from the Khan tent. Compared with the trusted Beijing camp, they are like sharp daggers, invisible and easy to use."
Since the beginning of the imperial examination, there have never been civil servants in the world who usurped the throne, only powerful ministers.
The most vulnerable link of the emperor is still the warrior.
Different from the hereditary system of guard posts in the previous Ming Dynasty, today's Beijing camp, frontier army, and patrol camp all have a recruitment system. If you have milk, you will be a mother.
Although the guard system of the pre-Ming Dynasty had various shortcomings, it was undeniable that the hereditary nature of officers effectively restricted the possibility of military rebellion.
Although the status of Hundred Households and Thousand Households is low, there is no doubt that a group of people basically followed Zhu Yuanzhang's rebel Yuancong faction in the pre-Ming Dynasty.
They left Anhui and went to various parts of the world to become hereditary military officers. They became rich and powerful and tightly controlled the military power.
Even if a large number of nobles were slaughtered, the guards never wavered. They were Lao Zhu's guarantee and confidence.
Under the recruitment system, Zhu Yixi was always uneasy.
Khan's army was his back-up force.
"To command them, you don't need to go through the Beijing Ying Envoy, the Yamen and the Ministry of War. The number is small and small, and they can be used at any time."
"The entire Khan tribe can not only export troops, but also possess a large number of talents. They can go to the grasslands to serve as officials of hundreds or thousands of households. They can also participate in the imperial examinations, the Naadam Conference, and enter the officialdom."
"They're a special group of people."
"You have to remember, don't dislike the smell of sheep, they are more trustworthy than the smell of books and ink!"
After talking a lot, Zhu Yixi felt a little tired, so she wandered around and came back.
A few days later, the nobles from the Mongolian grasslands came here to meet the emperor and offered their loyalty.
At the same time, the emperor was not stingy with rewards. Silk, porcelain, gold and silver, and horses were scattered like snowflakes, making the poor nobles very happy and cheering.
In particular, there is a group of rare seafood, including tortoise shells, whale oil, pearls, etc. It can be said to be rich.
The prince also appeared before them, once again establishing his prestige.
As usual, the emperor took in a few prairie girls and gave a few to the prince at the same time.
He also did not let go of the princes who were still studying in the capital, and arranged Mongolian concubines one by one.
Marriage and rewards are the most superficial and most effective ways to win over people.
Maintaining the long-term peace and stability of the grassland is a necessary strategy.
…
An imperial examination is of little importance to the people at the bottom, and it is elusive.
The children in the countryside are all people who can compete with the village chief. It is too far to reach the rank of Jinshi.
Although private schools are blooming everywhere and social studies have increased a lot, there are still too few scholars in the world, and it is really difficult to raise a retired scholar.
Being busy with three meals a day and living has exhausted all the strength of the peasants. How can they expect to take the imperial examination?
Therefore, when the population of the Ming Dynasty hovered around 230 million, the number of scholars in the world, that is, those who knew 2,000 characters, was only 10 million.
A quantity close to twenty-third.
In the past, Zhang Tieniu did not feel the excitement of the imperial examination. He only felt that farming was the best thing in the world.
However, after his son was born, especially after he gritted his teeth and sent him to social school, and was praised by his teacher and his cousin, he felt hope for the first time.
This passion continued to burn in his chest, overwhelming his passion for farming.
Once a son achieves fame, he will not only be able to enjoy happiness in his old age, but also be able to honor his ancestors.
However, the cold reality made him unable to help but remain silent.
The family only has ten acres of dry farmland and two and a half acres of saline-alkali land. Even if they work all day long, they can only save a few yuan a year.
It is no problem to provide for his son to gain enlightenment, but it is difficult to advance and start a career.
The Four Books and Five Classics, paper, ink, pen and inkstone, good teachers and helpful friends all cost money.
"Dad, why don't you eat?"
Seeing the mainstay of the family put down his chopsticks and his wife hugging her youngest son, she couldn't help but say.
"I can't eat it!" Zhang Tieniu sighed: "Daniu is very smart, but we can't afford it. This, this..."
"Might as well be stupid!"
It's such a tortured feeling to have hope before your eyes but to be forced to give up.
The wife also thought of this, bit her lip and said, "How about borrowing some?"
"Your mother's family is also poor, so why borrow? Besides, if you borrow it, it's only for a short time. You will have a long time to study!"
At night, Zhang Tieniu tossed and turned.
During the day, I was drying rice, gathering straw in the fields, and digging rice roots.
At this time, he ran to the private school in the village and asked his cousin who taught:
"Brother, I am just a farmer and you are a scholar. Is there any way I can make more money?"
The young man in a long robe looked at the mud on his cousin's short-clothed straw sandals and couldn't help but take two steps back:
"Cousin, you don't have much skills. When it comes to farming, have you heard of vetch?"
"I planted an acre." Zhang Tieniu nodded:
"After the milkvetch, one acre of land can yield one and a half more bushels, which is useful, but not enough!"
Milkvetch can indeed increase production, but if you can't afford it, you still need land to plant it. After all, even the wasteland has an owner, so who would allow random planting?
One acre of milkvetch can produce two to three thousand kilograms, but at least three to five hundred kilograms must be spread on one acre of land to increase the yield by one or two bushels.
Sacrifice one acre of barren land and increase production by four or five acres, and the total output is only three or four dou. For people with small families, it is useful, but not too much.
Only those wealthy families with a lot of wasteland and cultivated land like milkvetch to increase their production. Once the amount increases, they make more.
"Then what else can we do?" My cousin didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "If we want to increase production, we can only pour more manure."
“There isn’t much excrement in the countryside, you can’t even buy it!”
A bucket of dung costs only five cents, and you can earn it back by increasing production by one liter. Everyone can understand the benefits of dung, but they can't grab it.
"Wait a minute, I heard in Haimen County that someone is selling bird droppings!"
"It's only twenty cents per load, which is very cheap."
Zhang Tieniu arrived in Haimen County with hope.
Sure enough, at the pier, someone was selling bird droppings lively.
It's just different from what my cousin said. The price of a load of bird droppings is thirty cents, and there are many people buying it.
The guano is lumpy and varies in size, some are broken pieces and some are like sand, but they attract everyone.
"Everyone, I brought this from the sea. Everyone knows that it is not easy on the sea. The price is also reasonable. I guarantee that you will gain weight by spreading it on the ground. Anyone who can can buy it——"
"From the sea?" Zhang Tieniu was stunned: "Is there so much bird droppings on the sea?"
"Hey, there are guano islands in the sea, just pick them up like stones!" the person on the side replied abruptly.
Zhang Tieniu saw that everyone was buying quickly, so he also bought four loads of bird droppings and couldn't wait to drive his mule back home.
