Ru Chang now feels this deeply, and even has some regrets!

Who are Huang Shi and Huang Zicheng?

He achieved first place in the provincial examination and third place in the palace examination in the eighteenth year of the Hongwu reign, and subsequently served as editor, compiler, and minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices.

This is undoubtedly a talent in the eyes of many, a pillar of the nation. However, over the years, specifically during the reign of Emperor Hongwu, Huang Zicheng's career, while seemingly developing well, was not particularly outstanding, merely following the promotion path of a third-ranked scholar.

Being a third-place scholar is nothing special; every three years, there will be a third-place scholar, a second-place scholar, and an even more dazzling top scholar. The Hanlin Academy is never short of editors and compilers; they can only revise books and accumulate experience.

For many top scholars who achieved the highest honors in the imperial examinations, that moment was perhaps the very moment they passed. However, for many of these top scholars, their official careers were not necessarily particularly successful, and some even fared worse than those of their classmates who ranked lower when they first passed the examinations.

Although Huang Zicheng's official career was not smooth, his reputation among scholars was quite good. He was indeed talented; at least in addition to being well-versed in classics and history, he was also accomplished in poetry and prose.

Fang Xiaoru, on the other hand, was intelligent and studious from a young age. He had also studied under the great Confucian scholar Song Lian and was highly regarded by his peers. In fact, he was also the junior brother of Emperor Xiaokang, Zhu Biao, and indeed had a great reputation.

Fang Xiaoru's fame stemmed primarily from his status as one of the most outstanding students of the great Confucian scholar Song Lian. This scholar, who disregarded literary writing and took it upon himself to proclaim the principles of benevolence and righteousness in governing the world and to achieve peace and prosperity, was considered by many to be the next great Confucian scholar and a potential master of scholarship.

Moreover, Fang Xiaoru was of good character; he was content with poverty and could be considered filial and fraternal.

His political essays, historical essays, prose, and poems were all excellent, but they were too idealistic. During his years in Yingtian Prefecture, Fang Xiaoru seemed to become increasingly famous, showing a tendency to become a "seed of learning," but this was just fame.

Although Emperor Hongwu did not give Fang Xiaoru a high position, he appreciated him and thought Fang Xiaoru was of good character and worthy of being entrusted with important responsibilities by his successor. After Emperor Yingshi ascended the throne, he only let Fang Xiaoru teach and educate people, and had no intention of bringing Fang Xiaoru into the central government.

All of this is obvious to all, which naturally makes some people feel that their talents are not being recognized and they may feel depressed.

Perhaps they harbored some resentment in private, or maybe they were thinking of doing something to attract His Majesty the Emperor's attention.

Fang Xiaoru and Huang Zicheng were both frustrated and unfulfilled, and they considered themselves to be exceptional talents who could save the world. Perhaps it was because of their high self-esteem that they were extremely dissatisfied with their current situation.

The six ministers left dejectedly; they needed to devise a plan. Having learned some of the details, they no longer needed to speculate and could now seriously address the situation.

However, it was precisely because he knew these things that he felt even more uneasy. If this was not handled properly, it would truly shake the foundation of scholars, and these ministers of the Six Ministries would be subjected to the scorn of the literati, becoming in the eyes of many as sinners for all time.

Unfortunately, they only have one day and must devise the best countermeasure in the shortest amount of time. They must control the impact, and most importantly, they must not allow the actions of a few individuals to extend to all scholars in the world.

Therefore, in this situation, sacrificing a pawn to save the king would be a reasonable and probably correct course of action.

Watching the worried ministers of the Six Ministries leave, Zhu Yunying chuckled to himself. He had indeed been very angry at first, but this matter also gave him an excuse to do something better.

These were all unexpected windfalls; Zhu Yunying was merely using this as an excuse to make a fuss. This matter definitely needed to be controlled, and Zhu Yunying certainly didn't intend to suppress the scholars so severely that they couldn't recover, nor was there any need for it.

Even though Zhu Yunying didn't have much affection for Confucianism, he still had to admit that governing the country required a sufficient number of officials.

Zhu Yunying was well aware of these things; in fact, these were experiences he had learned from his father, Zhu Yuanzhang.

It's important to know that when Zhu Yuanzhang was conquering the country, many scholars looked down on him. It was only after Liu Bowen and other scholars from eastern Zhejiang gained his support that Zhu Yuanzhang was able to build a group of scholars and establish his own civil service.

When Zhu Yuanzhang unified the south, he also discovered that there were not enough qualified officials to govern the people. Even though Zhu Yuanzhang tried his best to entice and coerce all the scholars to become officials, there were still not enough people.

This is one of the reasons why the Imperial Academy was established at the foot of Jiming Mountain—to bring in people into the official system, as the Ming Dynasty needed a reserve of officials. These scholars would certainly be used when the time came.

Not only now, but even hundreds of years from now, many scholars will still enter the political system.

Old Zhu quickly learned of what had happened at the morning court session. Although he frowned slightly, he wasn't too worried. He trusted his beloved grandson to handle the situation.

The more important thing now is to teach my great-grandson; this is what Old Zhu considers most important right now. He abdicated long ago, and there's nothing left for him to be nostalgic about in the affairs of the court.

“Great-grandfather, Father always said we should hold a book in one hand and a sword in the other.” Little Zhu said, somewhat puzzled, “When I think about it carefully, that’s how a scholar should be. I’m the emperor.”

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