Chapter 002 It’s a new day
On the fifth day of the first lunar month of the sixty-seventh year of Changxing, everything was going well. As descendants of the Duke, Song Boxian and his sister Song Borong got up early in the morning. The first thing they did was to take out their mobile phones, open the conference video connection, and enter the conference group of their family. The group watched the live broadcast of the enthronement ceremony.
This is a boring thing, at least in Song Boxian's opinion, they, the descendants of the partial family, are not qualified to meet the emperor, and they even have very little time to meet the uncle who is a duke.
The memories from time travel were slowly digested a few days ago. At that time, Song Boxian knew that although he had traveled through time and became the first duke of the Ming Dynasty, the Duke of Qin's family, the unfortunate thing was that he was only a descendant of the side house of the Duke of Qin. Although The Ming Dynasty has abolished the distinction of legitimate concubines since the beginning of the Holy Ancestor Emperor Chen Cao. However, when the title is passed down, the first candidate for the title is still selected from the legitimate son of the principal wife.
Song Che, the first Duke of Qin, was the ancestor of the Holy Ancestor Emperor and an in-law of the Ming Dynasty. In later generations, just like the second Duke of Chu, the women in the family took turns to be the Crown Princess of the Ming Dynasty, and then became the queen and empress dowager of the Ming Dynasty... .
Song Xuan, the 11th generation Duke of Qin, was unable to have children due to physical reasons and died of illness at the age of only 48. According to legend, the Duke could only be found among his brothers. However, at that time, his brother was doing business in Yingzhou Province and used the name of the Duke's Mansion. Being disposed by the court to seize other people's property under the banner of the imperial court is tainted and cannot inherit the dukedom according to etiquette.
Therefore, the title of the Duke of Qin has been passed down to the concubines starting from the 12th generation. It was passed down twice in the middle of the generation, and both were concubines. Although they are all the descendants of the 10th generation Duke of Qin, the bloodline inherited by the legitimate sons after Song Che started from the 12th generation. Dai Bian died young.
Their family has no chance to pass on the title. According to the routine of more than 500 years, the descendants of the duke's side family are generally engaged in business. This is the simplest and most effective way to survive. After all, the Ming Dynasty is the largest empire in the world. The population is vast and there are ways to make money everywhere.
The ancestral business of the Duke of Qin is oil from Xizhou. In addition to the two major oil companies directly under the Ming Empire, there are also oil companies controlled by the Ming Empire Foreign Trade Group directly controlled by the Royal Household Office, and the remaining five private oil companies , the Duke of Qin occupies one of them.
This is also the reason why the heirs of the side house of the Duke of Qin can have a long history.
Although Song Boxian's father, Song Ankang, was the second eldest son in the family, he was only the eldest son of a concubine, and his share of the family's oil industry only consisted of a subsidiary.
Like many descendants of lords passed down from generation to generation, Song Boxian was admitted to Songjiang University, which ranked 13th in the empire, based on the Duke's 20 extra points in the college entrance examination. It was not that his grades were not good enough, but that there were too many smart people in the Ming Dynasty. A huge empire needs a steady stream of political force, and Songjiang University is a good springboard.
After the boring live broadcast meeting, Song Boxian was showing his sister suitable schools. Song Borong, who looked exhausted, almost fell asleep while watching the live broadcast. It was obvious that he played the game for who knows how long last night.
"Don't look at me brother, you don't have to think about the first three..."
Song Boxian turned around and gave her a look. Over the past five hundred years, more than a dozen of his descendants have been admitted to the top three of Imperial University, Imperial Polytechnic University, and Imperial Military University. After graduation, they have all become high-ranking officials, and even two have been admitted. As a cabinet minister, in addition to having scores above 700 in all subjects, Confucian studies must also score above 300, otherwise they will not be admitted at all.
"I can't even pass the exam, why do I still expect you?"
Song Boxian said and continued to read. The fourth place is Jinling Medical University, the fifth place is Peking University, the sixth place is Nanjing University, the seventh place is Imperial Naval University, the eighth place is Jiangnan University of Science and Technology, the ninth place is Korea University, The 10th Yingzhou Medical University, the 11th Xizhou University, the 12th Jiaozhou University, the 13th Songjiang University, the 14th Imperial University of Science and Technology, the 15th Jinling Maritime University, the 16th Jiangnan Medical University, 17th Shanghai University, 18th Ryukyu University, 19th Imperial Air Force University, 20th Northwest Aeronautics and Astronautics University...
Songjiang University, where Chen Cao was admitted, was formerly Huating Institute of Technology. It was renamed Songjiang University during the reign of Emperor Zhenwu. It is a comprehensive university and the only one among the top twenty universities in the Ming Empire that integrates general subjects, medicine, and A comprehensive university integrating science, engineering, aerospace, and chemical technology.
The identity of the first president of Songjiang University was not simple. He was Chen Xuance, the fifth son of Emperor Zhenwu, who was awarded the title of Prince of Huating. The line of Princes of Huating has been handed down to this day. For the honor of their ancestors, every Huating Prince is a high-level intellectual. , was one of the few hereditary and replaceable princes in the Ming Dynasty. Therefore, as long as every Huating prince passed the Imperial College examination, he could become the president of Songjiang University and enjoy a national salary.
Based on my sister's half-assed standards, there is probably no chance of her getting into the twenty universities in front of her. Even relying on extra points is probably better than nothing.
Seeing her eldest brother sighing repeatedly, Song Borong stepped forward and comforted him: "Brother, it's okay. At worst, after marrying into a famous family, you won't be poor."
"No ambition..."
Song Boxian sarcastically said, but his sister was telling the truth. There are still many lords in the Ming Dynasty who have been handed down from generation to generation. Lords' families usually marry each other, just like his mother is a girl from the Houlou family in Huai'an. Girls from different houses marry each other, except The most important thing about marriage is to allow the family leader to have a say in the House of Lords.
"Even if you can't become the Crown Princess, you have to think of being a prince or princess. Even if you can't become a princess, marrying a motivated commoner is no worse than marrying someone from an aristocratic family. How many of those people are as clean and self-sufficient as your brother? of?"
Song Borong joked: "Brother, you wouldn't tell me these things normally. These words seem to be what dad often says. Why are you following dad's tricks? Hahaha..."
"Brother, tell me, what if you could be admitted to the Imperial College?"
"Is the Imperial College?" Song Boxian let out a long sigh. It was the other pinnacle of the Ming Dynasty besides the three major universities, and it was also the pinnacle of all students in the Ming Empire.
Anyone can enter the Imperial College, but there is a prerequisite. They must be students from the top fifty universities in the Ming Empire. With this status as a college student, they can register in the Ming Imperial College Examination held every five years. Only three hundred people were admitted in the first exam each time. These three hundred people were equivalent to the top students of the Ming Dynasty, and were also the direct source of the empire's political blood.
After graduating from the Imperial College, the first fifty students will be given priority to serve as trainee officers among the six departments. After one year, they are usually transferred to the county level to become county magistrates, or they enter the army, starting as battalion-level officials. The remaining 250 students will be assigned to city-level officials to become mayor-level officials, and in the army they will become company- and platoon-level officials.
This is the Imperial Academy of the Ming Dynasty, where students can directly advance to become officials. As for ordinary college graduates who want to enter politics, they can only take the national civil service unified examination held every three years. After passing the examination, places will be allocated according to local quotas. .
"Who doesn't want to take the exam... If our family is admitted to the Imperial College, our status will be different..."
"Hey brother," Song Borong came up and asked, "Is there any way to merit a title?"
Song Boxian turned his eyes and looked at her as if he were looking at a fool: "You have read a book after all. Let me ask you, since our Ming Dynasty expedition to Spain in 1783 and fought with those white people in Europe, have you ever done anything again? About the knighthood?"
Song Borong frowned. She couldn't remember clearly what happened in the history class, and then shook her head.
Song Boxian said: "I ask you to study more on weekdays. If one day your uncle or others ask you about history, how will you answer? What are the benefits of being scolded for no reason? What if our family's source of business is deducted?"
"In the 26th year of Xingwu, the Spanish court disregarded the majesty of our Ming Dynasty and brazenly invaded Sri Lanka, a tributary of our Ming Dynasty. For this purpose, Emperor Zhongzong sent 500,000 troops to garrison in Xizhou and ordered the King of Han to be the general marshal to conquer Spain. Although the battle was a great victory, our Ming Dynasty still suffered heavy losses from the European coalition forces in France. Fifteen years after the establishment of the war, our Ming Dynasty has not had a national-scale war for more than 300 years. The sporadic wars that followed have also occurred. It’s just a lesson to the small country. After this, our Ming Dynasty has never been awarded a title again.”
"I know, I know..." Song Borong hurriedly interjected: "After the death of Lord Xingwu, the fourth generation of King Han rebelled in Xizhou and swept the entire Xizhou..."
"You are very enthusiastic when it comes to rebellion. Don't talk nonsense outside. People from Jinyiwei and Dongchang are everywhere."
After a lesson, Song Boxian then answered: "If the commander of the Tianxiong Army had not been deceived and did not send troops, the King of Han would not have succeeded. The Wang family even took the blame and resigned. If it were not for the achievements of the first Duke of Wei, Wang Xiaojie, There, Lord Xiaowu, who has ascended the throne, will abolish the first lineage of dukes..."
"Brother, why do you think the previous Han kings are just like King Ning of the Zhu family? Why do you always want to rebel?"
Song Boxian chuckled, and then whispered: "Let me tell you a piece of popular news. The biological mother of the first Han King Chen Bohui was the noble concubine of the Holy Ancestor. However, this Zhou Guifei was the emperor of the former Zhu family before she became the woman of the Holy Ancestor. Zhu Youjian’s queen..."
Naturally, Song Borong had never heard of such royal secrets, and he immediately became interested: "I know, it's the emperor of the Zhu family who was hanged on the crooked neck tree in Meishan..."
Song Boxian knocked his sister on the forehead: "You should be more respectful. The emperors of our Ming Dynasty all respected the emperors of the previous dynasty extremely. Besides, Zhu Youjian died tragically, and he can be regarded as a national hero of our Han people. ..”
After being educated, Song Boxian continued: "It is precisely because he disliked that his origin was not pure enough, so for some reason, all the kings of Han Dynasty had the intention to rebel. The first king of Han Dynasty, Chen Bohui, could not bear to kill his son. After giving him a whip, Let Master Zhenwu deal with it, Zhenwu was kind and escorted him back to Nanjing and imprisoned him in the Zhongshan Imperial Tomb until he died of illness;
The second-generation King Han was the younger brother of the first-generation King Han. Although he did not make any rebellious moves, it was only after the fourth-generation King Han failed to rebel that the Jinyi Guards searched the palace of King Han that they discovered that both the second-generation and third-generation King Han were actively preparing for rebellion. It’s just not enough time;
If Lord Xingwu hadn’t been deceived by the fourth generation of Han kings, the Han palace would not have been able to control the army in Xizhou..."
