Zhu Su was almost stunned. This old man would give up just to steal someone's face. Why did the Imperial College have so many students running away? Isn’t it to help you, the old man, transform literati and promote new learning?
Now you come to dislike the Imperial College again? The millstone hasn't been removed yet, and you want to kill the donkey?
It is a pity that Zhu Su has no say in his son, not to mention that his eldest brother Zhu Biao also died later. It is difficult to find a loyal minister like Tie Xuan throughout the ages. If he can grow up with Zhu Xiongying early, he will be the Optimus Jade Pillar of the Ming Dynasty in the future. Building the sea and golden beams can ensure that the third generation of the Ming Dynasty is still strong.
Of course he also wants to give his son a chance to compete.
In the end, Zhu Su had no choice but to compromise. As a result, Tie Xuan first studied with Zhu Su in the Imperial College these years, and when Zhu Xiongying grew older, he became Zhu Xiongying's companion and grew up with Zhu Xiongying. With a loyal minister like Tie Xuan who is also a teacher and friend accompanying Zhu Xiongying, Lao Zhu and Zhu Biao can rest assured that Zhu Xiongying will not grow as crooked as Zhu Qizhen.
It's just that the three of them, father and son, were quarreling over Tie Xuan, but they frightened the two Tie brothers beside them to the point of being flattered.
Tie Xuan was even more surprised: The one who made the meritorious service was obviously my eldest brother, so why now it seems that His Majesty and the two Highnesses are competing for me?
Illusion, it must be an illusion...
…
"Is that Tie Xuan really the Tie Xuan who defended Jinan and would rather die than surrender?" In the harem, Queen Ma hugged Zhu Xiongying with an interested look on her face. Lao Zhu smiled and said: "It must be! Sister, you haven't seen the appearance of that little baby."
"He may not be very handsome in appearance, but his steady demeanor makes him a born loyal minister! 'Why wouldn't a loyal minister be willing to bear the flesh of a filial son?'... At first glance, he is a child who can say this!"
"Oh, it's a pity that I'm too young to work for us. Why are all our subordinates just like these stupid guys..."
"It would be a blessing to have such a minister in hundreds of years." Queen Ma advised. "There will be Yu Qian and Wang Shouren in the future. With these three people here, it will be enough to ensure the peace of our Ming Dynasty for several generations. My Ming Dynasty is already uniquely blessed!"
"That's right." Lao Zhu nodded. "You just have to be more careful and don't let such a famous minister die young again."
Zhu Di on the side shrank his neck, as if reflexively, feeling a dull pain in his butt.
"Seeing Tie Xuan this time is the first time for me to feel that the 'history' that Xiao Wu mentioned is so close." Zhu Biao sighed beside him. "I wonder if my father's hard work over the years has pulled Ming Dynasty out of the abyss of history."
"It's only been two years, why are you so anxious?" Lao Zhu was full of confidence. Zhu Biao's words also turned his attention from Tie Xuan back to the current situation in the court. He asked Zhu Di: "Fourth brother, what is the origin of that Qi De who caused trouble at the gate of the Imperial College? Have you found out?"
"I figured it out, dad." The topic finally moved away from Tie Xuan, and Zhu Di perked up. "That man is a disciple of Zhan Tong, the Minister of Civil Affairs. He said that he wanted to repay his kindness, so he incited the scholars to go to the Imperial College to block the door."
"It is said that Zhan Tong became angry because of Enke's incident. Seeing that his benefactor was so anxious, Qi De took matters into his own hands..."
"Huh, are you making your own decisions?" Lao Zhu sneered disdainfully. "He is such a loyal minister and a righteous man. If he uses such despicable methods, why should he pretend to be like this?"
"Fourth brother, go and lead the royal guards immediately, and raid Zhan Tong's house immediately. If you dare to be clever under our noses today, you will dare to ride on us and dominate us tomorrow!"
"In addition, let us convey to the officials in Beijing that anyone who dares to obstruct the Enke examination openly or covertly will be sentenced to prison!"
"...Yes." Zhu Di nodded, picked up the knife and went down.
"Dad, punishing Zhan Tong is only a temporary solution after all." Zhu Biao spoke. "Without one Zhan Tong, there are still thousands of clean civil servants."
"They manipulated public opinion and discredited Enke, and Enke couldn't do it."
"In my opinion, we still need to deal with this problem well before Enke can be truly accomplished."
"It doesn't matter, we already have a solution." Lao Zhu looked confident, even with a look of watching the excitement on his face. "We want to see if these so-called clean officials can cover the sky with one hand!"
…
The story of Tie Zhong's single-handed fight against the scholars spread widely, and the number of Enke candidates in the Imperial College began to increase. But it's just a revival. After all, this story is more popular among the lower class people. Most of the middle-class scholars sneer at this story and don't want to believe it. Although the common people highly admired this story and gradually began to support Xinxue, to be fair, their support's impact on the number of Enke applicants was ultimately limited.
After all, things like scientific examinations are, to put it bluntly, more closely related to people who read, and have little to do with the illiterate common people at the bottom for the time being.
But soon, a new edict came from the palace regarding this Enke. This edict was very simple, with only one line of words, but just this one line caused an uproar among the Confucian scholars!
Because Lao Zhu said in the imperial edict that anyone who succeeds in Enke and serves as the newly established tax department will be granted the title of tax department envoy, with a rank of sixth rank!
Sixth grade official!
You should know that many of the serious Jinshi and Jinshi-born people were sent to serve in some counties and towns. Most of them have to start as junior officials of the seventh or eighth rank and work hard for several years before they can reach the sixth rank.
Even those who came first or second in the rankings could only be a sixth-grade official with mixed qualifications in the Hanlin Academy!
What is the concept of being able to become a sixth-rank official as soon as you pass the exam? It's equivalent to just passing the Enke exam this time, and you will save decades of hard work. Moreover, His Majesty has already said that the function of the Taxation Department is to manage, calculate, and supervise the world's commercial tax. At the level of commercial tax, the authority Still above the household department.
This is the real power yamen! If you pass the exam, you can become a sixth-grade official!
It’s not a false position! It's real power!
Those scholars who were relegated to political affairs yesterday and criticized this Enco went crazy after seeing the imperial edict.
Yesterday, I was throwing stones at those who came to sign up, thinking that they were insulting to politeness; today, everyone rushed to the gate of the Imperial College, scrambling to get signed up.
I'm afraid that if I'm too late, I won't be able to take the Enke exam this time.
Many people were even in the tavern just now and criticized Enke with righteous indignation. After returning home and learning the contents of the imperial edict, they came to the Imperial College without changing their clothes.
There were even friends who had been friends for many years, and they started fighting directly in front of the registration booth over who should be in line:
Yesterday, you said that Enke was insulting the gentlemen this time. Why did you come here to register your name today? Are you still ahead of me?
What is so insulting to politeness? I'm not, I didn't, don't talk nonsense, I never said that!
In fact, as long as you are more sober, you can understand the value of this sixth-grade official: the tax department is an yamen that is internal and closed to the outside world. The duties of these tax officials are only to calculate the account books in the yamen. In Zhu Su's words, it means being a social beast behind closed doors. As for the title given to this social beast, whether it is a middle-level reserve or an assistant to the general manager, aren't they all the same? It's just paying for a worthless name.
An imperial edict and a sixth-grade official position are just an insignificant piece of meat bait thrown by Lao Zhu. However, it was easy for the public opinion blockade created by these scholars to be broken from within.
(End of chapter)
