It’s not about how Wang Keshou’s official career was. This was just the promotion process of an ordinary official in the Ming Dynasty. There’s nothing commendable about it.

What was strange about Zhu Youxiao was not this, but the fact that Wang Keshou built a academy for Feng Congwu.

Feng Congwu is now in the court. He is a complete member of the Donglin Party. Even if he is not a member of the Donglin Party, he can be considered half a member of the Donglin Party.

He also followed Neo-Confucianism, so it was interesting that Wang Keshou was able to build a college for Feng Congwu.

Zhu Youxiao looked at Luo Sigong and asked calmly, "Are you sure that Wang Keshou's lineage can inherit Li Zhi's legacy?"

You have to know that Li Zhi's legacy is not so easy to inherit, and Wang Keshou is obviously not that kind of person. Although he is Li Zhi's student, judging by his style of doing things, this person is obviously a bureaucrat.

He did not have Li Zhi's ideas and mentality, and he did not have any school of thought or tradition in his heart. He was just an official anyway. How could he inherit Li Zhi's mantle?

"Your Majesty, Wang Keshou is not qualified," Luo Sigong said directly, "but Wang Keshou's students are qualified. As far as I know, Wang Keshou has a student named Chen Kedao, who is very arrogant and highly respects Li Zhi's teachings."

Zhu Youxiao looked at Luo Sigong and asked, "How old is Chen Kedao and what is his status?"

"Your Majesty, Chen Kedao is only thirty-six years old and is a rising star in the Taizhou School." Luo Sigong said after thinking for a while.

Zhu Youxiao frowned. It was not that he selected people based on age or qualifications, but the thing he wanted this person to do required the person to have qualifications and be able to control others.

This Chen Kedao was obviously not feasible. Thinking of this, Zhu Youxiao looked at Luo Sigong and asked, "Is there any other suitable candidate?"

"Your Majesty, in this case, it can only be the Jiao Hong lineage." Luo Sigong thought for a moment and then said.

Jiao Hong? The name sounded very familiar, but Zhu Youxiao couldn't recall anything special about this person.

"Tell me!" Zhu Youxiao looked at Luo Sigong and asked directly.

He is now beginning to become curious about how much this Luo Sigong knows. It seems that Luo Sigong has really done in-depth research, or has he been influenced by the Taizhou School?

However, according to Zhu Youxiao's knowledge, this did not seem to be the case. The Taizhou School was very powerful among the common people and was a prominent school of thought, but this was not the case among the upper echelons.

"Your Majesty, Jiao Hong took part in the imperial examination in the 17th year of Wanli's reign and won the first place in the first class. He was appointed as a compiler in the Hanlin Academy and later served as the Nanjing Siye." Luo Sigong said hurriedly.

When Zhu Youxiao heard this, he immediately laughed.

This person is quite interesting. He is a top scholar and was awarded the title of Hanlin Compiler. According to common sense, he can't enter the cabinet, but he should be able to get into the six ministers, right? Even if he can't get into the six ministers, he should be able to get into the six ministers, right?

In the end, there was none of them, so they just set up a Nanjing Siye.

Obviously, this is not as simple as offending someone. This is being disliked by the emperor. The reason should be very simple, that is, this person must have done something that made the emperor very unhappy.

Although there is a reason for this, that is, Jiao Hong became the top scholar at the age of fifty, it is not that tragic.

Zhu Youxiao also remembered some things about Jiao Hong at this time. It was a news he saw in his previous life, about the "Chinese Thinkers Biographies Series", which was called "the largest research project on traditional Chinese thought and culture" by academic circles at home and abroad.

The series aims to explore the profound heritage of traditional Chinese thought and culture and reveal the internal laws of its development and changes. It has selected more than 100 people from Confucius to Sun Yat-sen who have made outstanding achievements in various fields such as literature, history, philosophy, economics, agriculture, industry, medicine, politics, military, education, science and technology, and religion over the past 2,000 years.

Jiao Hong, an "encyclopedia-like" figure, was elected alongside his contemporaries Hai Rui, Huang Zongxi, and later Gu Yanwu, Pu Songling and others, attracting attention from all walks of life.

Zhu Youxiao also paid attention to it at that time and even looked up information about Jiao Hong.

One very interesting thing is that Jiao Hong was the teacher of someone. This person was Xu Guangqi, whom he had always wanted to employ. Jiao Hong was Xu Guangqi's teacher.

Could it be that the Jiao Hong lineage that Luo Sigong was referring to was Xu Guangqi?

Zhu Youxiao now understood why Xu Guangqi had been marginalized in the officialdom. Xu Guangqi's ideas were similar to those of his teacher, and since he himself advocated for something, he was lucky not to have been labeled a heretic.

"Although Jiao Hong is dead, his student is still alive, and that is Xu Guangqi." After saying this, Luo Sigong bowed his body and stopped talking.

Zhu Youxiao finally understood why Luo Sigong mentioned Wang Keshou's lineage first. The reason was very simple, that is, he didn't want to mention Xu Guangqi.

He asked Xu Guangqi to return to Beijing, summoned him personally, and wrote a letter of consolation to Xu Guangqi to retain him. In Luo Sigong's view, this was a very obvious symbol.

He was going to appoint Xu Guangqi to another position, so Luo Sigong did not mention Xu Guangqi, but instead mentioned Wang Keshou's students. Now that he had rejected them, he mentioned Xu Guangqi.

Although he said so, Zhu Youxiao also knew that Jiao Hong could only be regarded as Xu Guangqi's teacher. It is hard to say how much of Jiao Hong's ideas Xu Guangqi inherited.

Of course, Jiao Hong and Xu Guangqi had a close relationship. When Xu Guangqi was 36 years old, he took the Shuntian Prefecture Examination. The chief examiner was the famous scholar Jiao Hong. He discovered Xu Guangqi's talent from the failed papers and considered him a "famous scholar", thus ranking him first.

In the 25th year of the Wanli reign, Jiao Hong was ordered by the emperor to select talents for the country and served as deputy chief examiner for the imperial examination. He found Xu Guangqi's paper among the rejected papers. "(Jiao Hong) was amazed by it and clapped his hands, exclaiming, 'This is undoubtedly a renowned scholar.'" He resolutely promoted Xu Guangqi, who had already failed the exam, to first place.

Jiao Hong and Dong Qichang also introduced Xu Guangqi to their fellow Denglai Governor Yuan Keli, allowing Xu Guangqi to put his talents in weapons to good use.

Although it sounds beautiful, Zhu Youxiao feels that there are many things hidden in it.

For example, when Xu Guangqi failed the Shuntian Prefecture provincial examination, Jiao Hong selected Xu Guangqi from the failed papers; when it came to the metropolitan examination, it was Jiao Hong who selected Xu Guangqi from the failed papers again.

This seems to be a deliberate attempt to dethrone Xu Guangqi, while Jiao Hong saved him. There is a sense of factional strife here, perhaps even a struggle for orthodoxy, between the School of Mind and the School of Principle, or between the Taizhou School and other schools.

If things were really as he guessed, then the relationship between Xu Guangqi and Jiao Hong would not be that simple.

Of course, the facts also proved Jiao Hong's vision.

Xu Guangqi later served as Minister of Rites, concurrently serving as Grand Secretary of the Dongge and Wenyuange. He devoted his life to the study of natural sciences and technologies such as astronomy, calendar science, water conservancy, surveying, mathematics, and agronomy, becoming a farsighted Ming Dynasty scientist and politician with a comprehensive understanding of both Chinese and Western culture.