The results of the Dingchou year imperial examination were posted. Some passed with flying colors, while others failed. Some were full of ambition, eagerly anticipating entering the imperial court, while others were packing their bags to return home.

This is probably a common occurrence in every imperial examination, a perfectly normal phenomenon. However, this Dingchou imperial examination seems to be developing in a direction that many people did not expect.

I don't know when it started, but some people began to voice their opinions about the injustice of the imperial court.

The northern scholars felt a deep sense of injustice; why should they have a significantly lower number of places available to them than the southern scholars? Moreover, even with fewer places, almost all of the top-ranking candidates were from the south.

However, scholars from the south found this quite normal, because the north was not a cultural sanctuary to begin with, and they also faced continuous invasions from the north year after year.

Over thousands of years of struggle, they had developed a rugged culture, with everyone valuing martial prowess. Moreover, the north had only recently been recovered; for over a century prior, it had been ruled by foreign tribes.

This made many northern students uncomfortable. They were fighting desperately against the enemy in the north, while southerners enjoyed the scenery and the pleasures of studying in the south. Under such circumstances, the imperial court did not care for the northern scholars, and there were too many officials of southern descent in the court.

Discrimination certainly exists here. Regional discrimination is not only common in feudal society, but also very common in modern society.

Many things are just like that, and even though Zhu Yunying was the emperor, he couldn't change anything. What's more, in this matter, Zhu Yunying was actually playing a role in fueling the flames, leaving even those who knew a little about the inside story completely confused.

This was the first imperial examination since the current emperor ascended the throne, and many people thought that he would pay special attention to it and make the scholars in this examination role models. However, unexpectedly, the current emperor took the lead in making a big fuss about this examination.

The situation escalated, with many scholars shouting their grievances in front of the examination hall. At this moment, someone took the lead in shouting, and some scholars immediately marched aggressively towards the Ministry of Rites. They wanted to submit a joint memorial and go to the Ministry of Rites to appeal their grievances.

Some scholars also felt that this was the 'capital,' filled with civil and military officials, princes, and nobles. They felt compelled to voice their grievances; they would cry out their grievances along the way, blocking officials' sedan chairs to petition and file complaints!

If we don't make a big fuss, we won't be able to reach the ears of the emperor, and we won't be able to get the high-ranking officials in the court to deal with these injustices.

In the capital, Zhu Yunying learned of these events immediately and couldn't help but laugh. Things were still under his control, and many things were proceeding according to his plans.

This is good news for Joo Yun-young. This pace and rhythm should be maintained so that things can proceed steadily. For Joo Yun-young, the fire isn't burning bright enough yet; he needs to continue fanning the flames and increase the intensity.

Zhu Yunying, who was secretly pleased with himself, did not rush to issue any decrees, but decided to wait a little longer.

He walked towards the Qianqing Palace with a smug look on his face. This was something Zhu Yunying was willing to brag about a little, and he had to tell Old Zhu about it.

At this moment, Emperor Zhu was also reading the secret reports from the Embroidered Uniform Guard. He, the retired emperor, was not like Li Yuan. Nowadays, Emperor Zhu simply didn't want to go to court most of the time; he could read many memorials and secret reports whenever he wanted.

Zhu Yunying didn't actually try to hide anything from Zhu Yuanzhang, nor was he worried about anything related to power. Since Zhu Yuanzhang was willing to abdicate, Zhu Yunying naturally had no reason to be 'stingy'. Moreover, Zhu Yuanzhang had long ago entrusted state affairs to the Crown Prince and his grandson, and Zhu Yunying was well aware of Zhu Yuanzhang's magnanimity and care.

Seeing Zhu Yunying approach, Old Zhu looked up and laughed, "Your first imperial examination after ascending the throne was such a mess?"

Zhu Yunying couldn't help but laugh and said, "If it's not chaotic, this imperial examination will be meaningless. I already asked around, and this year's examination doesn't have many outstanding talents. Most of them are just mediocre people who can manage a county or a prefecture, and that'll be about right."

“We think even if there are one or two great talents, you’d be willing to let them go.” Old Zhu knew his grandson too well and said with a smile, “You handle this as you see fit. If things don’t go well, let us know and we’ll help you sort things out.”

Zhu Yunying laughed, looking very confident, "I know what's going on with this matter, it's all under my control."

Hearing Zhu Yunying say this, Old Zhu couldn't help but laugh. His grandson should be so ambitious, his grandson should have such a confident look.

As if remembering something, Zhu Yunying said, "My grandson's new learning has yielded some results, and he has also improved the landmines during this period."

Zhu Yunying quickly pulled out some memorials and said, "Grandson, have someone rush to make them. They might come in handy when we go out to fight this time. It's hard to say about other things for now, but they would be a great tool to deal with those cavalry."

Old Zhu looked at the memorial with interest, though he didn't quite understand why Zhu Yunying had been working on the Ministry of Works Academy all these years. It was just a bunch of craftsmen; it wasn't worth spending so much gold and silver. But considering the academy had achieved some results, and mainly due to his grandson's persistence, Old Zhu accepted it.

Upon seeing the memorial, Zhu Yuanzhang suddenly became interested. "Oh? If that's really the case, then when our army is engaged in battle, we must slow down those Tartar cavalry. Those guys are as swift as the wind; if our cavalry can't get going, then we can easily subdue them."

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