Chapter 1599 The Last Carnival

The next day, Shen Shixing went to the cabinet to report. Although he had been enlightened by Mr. Zhao yesterday, he still felt uneasy when he really faced Mr. Zhang.

However, just as Zhao Shouzheng said, Mr. Zhang was not angry at all. Instead, he thanked him for choosing his second son.

Shen Shixing said anxiously: "But Jingxiu..."

"It's his fault that he didn't learn the skills well enough. Besides, he is still young. He can try again next time." Zhang Juzheng was in a surprisingly good mood and did not look like someone who would settle scores later.

This made Shen Shixing breathe a sigh of relief, but at the same time he was secretly wondering where the sun was rising from.

"Have you heard of the divine tortoise?" Zhang Juzheng's next words made him suddenly realize. "My daughter sailed around the world and brought back a tortoise from an overseas fairy mountain. It is at least 5,000 years old. Its shell is as white as jade and has a mysterious scripture on it. People who have seen it say that it is the same one that existed during the time of Emperor Huangdi."

Upon hearing this, Shen Shixing thought to himself, wow, White Lotus, White Swallow, and now here comes the White Turtle... Brother Gongming even figured this out, he is really amazing.

"The divine turtle came out of Luo?" He adjusted his mood instantly, and said with a look of surprise: "The map came out of the river, the book came out of Luo, and the saints followed it?"

Luoshu was called Turtle Book in ancient times. Legend has it that a divine tortoise emerged from Luoshui, with a heavenly book on its shell. It is a top auspicious sign that a saint will be born.

"I have already found out its origin, and it's pretty much like this. Go back and write a congratulatory letter based on this idea and use it in the ceremony to welcome the divine tortoise." Zhang Xianggong ordered in a deep voice.

"Yes..." Shen Shixing responded respectfully.

~~

On the eighth day of the third lunar month, a grand ceremony was held in the Forbidden City to welcome the thousand-year-old sacred tortoise back to its throne.

The civil and military officials of the court had long heard that the fleet that sailed around the world brought back a magical tortoise from overseas to present to Zhang Xianggong. But Zhang Xianggong had always guarded it tightly and did not let anyone see his magical tortoise.

Everyone was joking privately, saying that Mr. Zhang was "happy when he saw a turtle", and this time he had encountered a good omen from his own family.

They all guessed that this time it was probably a similar auspicious sign as the one during the reign of Emperor Chengzu when Zheng He used a giraffe as a unicorn to fool people.

However, when the super-giant divine turtle was carried up in a sedan chair carried by thirty-six people, guided by a grand procession of ceremonial guards, everyone was stunned.

Such a big turtle is beyond imagination. It is ten times bigger than those century-old turtles!

Coupled with the ethereal and sacred sound of music, it really looks like a thousand-year-old divine turtle.

Now everyone was stunned. The divine turtle had a spirit, so they didn’t dare to speak nonsense...

The Wanli Emperor, who was sitting on the golden stage, was also stunned.

He is already fifteen years old. He is not as fat as he was when he was a child, and his figure and appearance have become more like an adult.

However, he had not yet taken power, and everything had to be ordered by Empress Dowager Li who was behind the scenes.

Empress Dowager Li was a Buddhist. When she saw the huge white turtle filled with sacred aura through the pearl curtain, she chanted "Amitabha" repeatedly and was so excited that tears streamed down her face.

"The appearance of this divine turtle shows that the emperor is a saint who will revive the Ming Dynasty!"

What did she know about the "Hetu Luoshu"? This was all instilled in her by Zhang Juzheng. Empress Dowager Li obeyed Zhang Xianggong in everything, so she naturally took his words as the truth. She whispered in the emperor's ear:

"That's great, that's great, it's really great..."

"This divine tortoise is white. I heard that Mr. Zhang's original taboo name was 'Bai Gui'." Feng Bao laughed softly from the side, "It seems that Mr. Zhang is the divine tortoise who came to the world to assist the saint in reviving the Ming Dynasty!"

"That must be the case. I have long seen that Mr. Zhang is not an ordinary person." Empress Dowager Li nodded hurriedly and instructed Wanli, "Your Majesty, when you take power next year, you must respect Mr. Zhang as you do now and follow his teachings. With him around, your country will prosper! This is God's will and cannot be violated!"

"Yes, mother." Wanli looked like a good boy. Under Feng Bao's guidance, he personally went forward to place the divine tortoise, burned incense on it, and then returned to the throne.

After the Minister of Rites read the congratulatory message, Wanli asked Du Mao to read the imperial edict, saying that the appearance of the divine turtle was a good omen from heaven, which showed that the current situation in the Ming Dynasty was very good. The reforms were in line with the will of heaven and in line with the people's sentiments, and were supported by people all over the world, so the reforms must be continued unswervingly.

Then he said, "I am still young, this is not my own merit, this auspicious tortoise appeared in the world, it is all the merit of Prime Minister Zhang's kindness. I owe it to you to have the beginning of today's prosperity, it is a response from heaven and man, so I conferred Zhang Juzheng the title of Taifu, and one of his sons the title of Shangbao Cheng. All the senior officials including Lu Diaoyang were also rewarded, and a general amnesty was granted to the whole country!"

The prisoners in the Ming Dynasty are lucky. This is the third amnesty in less than ten years.

Zhang Juzheng thanked the emperor and refused, but the emperor refused. The empress dowager also advised him, saying that you have made such great contributions to the emperor's country, so what is this reward? It's a pity that civil officials cannot be granted titles, otherwise they can also be dukes. Zhang Juzheng had no choice but to thank the emperor and accept the title with fear and trepidation.

Oh yes, and there was also the divine turtle, which was also named "Protector of the Nation for a Thousand Years" and sent to the Yingtai in the Western Garden to be well cared for.

The divine turtle is Mr. Zhang, how can it be difficult to raise him?

~~

Zhao Hao didn't see such a wonderful live show.

Because at this moment he was already at Xiangshan Academy, conducting the ultimate special training that one hundred and thirty Chinese disciples had been waiting for for a long time.

Because too many officials were removed from their posts under the Kaocheng System, the imperial court was in urgent need of fresh blood, so this examination admitted one hundred more people than the previous one.

Because Xixi Academy was added to the science department, the number of candidates reached a record high of 400. With these two factors combined, it is not surprising that the number of Chinese candidates reached a new high.

In addition, various high-level data have remained basically stable, indicating that the expansion of enrollment has not had a significant impact on the quality of teaching.

Moreover, in the next session, students from Jinling Yuhua Academy, Guangzhou Baiyun Academy, Jinan Daminghu Academy and Fuzhou Wushan Academy will also begin to take the imperial examinations.

Mr. Zhao was both happy and worried. He was happy that after ten years of development, the Jiangnan Education Group had made great progress and was about to occupy half of the imperial examination market.

What is worrying is that as the academy grows larger, the situation will become more and more dangerous.

The most realistic danger is that two years later, that is, in the seventh year of Wanli, my father-in-law will suddenly issue an edict to ban and destroy all academies in the world!

By then, all the academies, teachers and students in the world will definitely use the Jiangnan academies as a shield.

Maybe my father-in-law will order me to close the academy just to win the support of the public...

Although he already had a plan, he still felt overwhelmed just thinking about it.

Precisely because they will be passing through the gates of hell in two years, they should cherish the opportunity now, so that at least this group of successful candidates can get a good ranking.

Therefore, Zhao Hao invested heavily and once again invited a luxurious guest lineup. In addition to the regular guests and the six ministries and nine ministers, Zhang Xianggong's reformers, such as Wang Guoguang, Li Youzi, Wang Zhigao, Wang Zhuan, Zeng Shengwu, etc., were also invited to the Xiangshan Forum.

The ten-day forum was hosted by Zhao Hao himself. He still gave a topic every day and asked the guests to speak freely about it. He controlled the direction of the discussion to avoid going off topic.

But this time, compared with the previous two forums, the topics were more focused and completely focused on reform.

Because of the policy essay topic of this palace examination, almost any old man chatting on the street could guess that it must be Mr. Zhang’s reform topic.

When everyone can guess the topic, they will compete to see who has a more accurate and profound understanding of the reform. And most importantly, who can meet the wishes of Mr. Zhang...

Therefore, the six ministries and nine officials are responsible for the depth, and Zhang Dang’s key personnel are responsible for explaining Zhang Xianggong’s mental journey in reform, to enrich the details and provide direction.

Obviously, the latter is more important than the former. Zhao Hao knows very well that idols, who are reformers who are determined to move forward despite the opposition of thousands of people, need recognition from others the most. As long as the article can resonate with him, your ranking will definitely not be low!

~~

Ten days passed in the blink of an eye, and the disciples took a special course titled "How to Write the Top-Grade Paper" as usual.

The main speakers three years ago were the three top scorers: Shen Shixing, Fan Yingqi and Yu Shensi.

But as Mr. Shen is the head of the undergraduate course, it is not appropriate for him to come to the academy to give lectures, otherwise the other two-thirds of the students will blame the teacher for being partial.

Fortunately, Zhao Hao has no shortage of top scorers under his command, so he let Jiao Hong, the top scorer in the second year of Wanli, take over. There are still three top scorers who will share their experiences and teach you how to become a top scorer. The lineup has not shrunk at all!

On March 13, the candidates bid farewell to their master, teachers and senior brothers, and went down the mountain to take the exam with full confidence.

Two days later, when the policy essay questions were handed out during the palace examination, as expected, the entire question was about reform, reform, and more reform.

Moreover, unlike the previous subject which emphasized knowledge testing, Zhang Xianggong's questions this time were all very subjective. It was clear that he wanted to test attitude so as to select those who truly agreed with the reform.

The candidates who came prepared wrote eloquently, and one after another, brilliant essays came into being. After noon, they handed in their papers and left the palace, heading straight for the Eight Great Hutongs that had reopened...

The examiners of the examination were again Zhang Juzheng and Lü Diaoyang. Both of them had petitioned to be excused from the examination. However, Wanli issued an edict saying that examination was a serious matter and that you were the prime minister and you should be impartial and promote talents, so you did not need to be excused.

Moreover, the examiner did not cover the names of the students, which made them feel very embarrassed.

Even a powerful minister like Zhang Xianggong, who was not afraid of what people said, was ashamed to put his son in the top ten. In the end, he gave Sixiu the 20th place and Lu Xingzhou the 30th place.

Because the top ten papers would be shown to the emperor. It would be better to take a ranking near the top of the second class, so that you can get benefits and save face.

Who would have thought that when Emperor Wanli arrived at the Wenhua Hall, he asked as soon as he sat down, "What was the ranking of Mr. Zhang's son?"

Zhang Juzheng quickly reported back, twentieth.

"Too low." Wanli said sincerely, "I have no way to repay you, and your descendants will repay you less. So I want to select him as the top scholar."

Zhang Juzheng was so moved that he quickly knelt down to thank him, but he also advised: "My son is not the top scholar, it is good enough for him to be ranked second. If his talent is not worthy of the position, he will suffer. Please think twice!"

"Well then." Wanli gave in a little, and only gave in a little, and said: "Then choose him as the runner-up, so that he won't be conspicuous, right? Okay, old sir, this is the decision, I won't change it!"

Zhang Juzheng had no choice but to thank him again. So his second son, Sixiu, became the runner-up in the fifth year of Wanli...

Although Mr. Zhang appears to be very nervous, he is actually very proud in his heart.

Just like the emperor said, this is what Bu Gu deserves!

ps. I have good news for you all. The comics of "Little Elder" are now online, on Tencent Comics. If you are interested, please collect and support it~~~~

(End of this chapter)