On the seventh day of the first lunar month, the imperial court officially announced the chief and deputy chief examiners, the chief and deputy chief examiners, the eighteen co-examiners, two examiners each, two supervisors, two examiners each, two examiners each, and four examiners each for the examinations. In addition, there were four examiners each for the examinations, ... and four examiners each for the examinations.

What made Zhao Hao happy was that the people were still the same and there was no deviation.

The above 46 examiners were all civil servants of rank 7 or above, with clean records and no previous punishment. Moreover, most of the examiners were Hanlin editors, with the second assistant university scholar and Hanlin academician as the chief and deputy chief examiners, and the Minister of Rites and the Right Vice Minister as the chief and deputy chief examiners. The examination was of such high standard that it was worthy of the name of a grand ceremony for selecting talents.

In addition to the civil officials, there were also a number of inspectors and gatekeepers, all of whom were military officers of the third rank or above...

In the past, these positions were mostly held by officers of the Jinyiwei of the East Factory. This time, the factory guards were completely excluded from the Imperial Examination Hall, which made all the scholars in the capital celebrate, believing that this was another manifestation of the emperor's wisdom, being close to virtuous officials and keeping away from villains.

~~

Little did people know that the good-tempered Emperor Longqing would get angry for the first time this year because of this.

In the eastern warm room of the Qianqing Palace, he looked gloomily at Zhu Xizhong, the Duke of Chengguo who was in charge of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and Feng Bao, the chief scribe of the Silijian and the eunuch in charge of the Eastern Depot.

After a long while, he managed to say, "You guys are really good."

Well, this is what Emperor Longqing got angry about...

Duke Chengguo looked ashamed and innocent. He was the great-great-grandson of Zhu Neng, a hero in the Jingnan Camp, and had inherited the title for thirty years. His real job was to be the governor of the military affairs of the Beijing Camp, and the job of Jinyiwei was just a side job for him, just a figurehead.

In fact, being the governor of the Beijing Camp was not his main job. Zhu Xizhong's most important job was to represent the emperor in worshipping heaven and earth. So far, he has represented the emperor in worshipping heaven 56 times, and the record is still increasing...

Let’s put it this way, if we were to choose the most respected and virtuous person among the court officials, he would probably be ranked ahead of Lord Xu.

Duke Chengguo was able to survive the ups and downs of the Jiajing reign and was praised by both the court and outsiders. The secret was just one word - stay out of trouble.

I will never take care of things that are not my responsibility. I will try my best to take care of things that are my responsibility. If I really have to take care of something, I will suddenly have a stroke and be unable to take care of things. I will stay at home for a year or so, and then come out after I have recovered.

Now, the Jinyiwei, from Lu Bing to Lu Yi, two generations of great spies, have been convicted by the court. The investigation of Lu's party is still ongoing, and there are constant revelations, implicating a wide variety of people. This is a mess that cannot be touched!

Why would the old man interfere?

So he hurriedly said, trembling and shaking, "I have had a stroke recently and I didn't know about this..."

"Hey, Master, you've worked hard, go home and have a rest."

Longqing had no idea what to do with this old fox. He could not say anything and could only let him pass the blame.

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your understanding." Duke Chengguo bowed his head to express his gratitude, then took his leave and went to have fun with his new 32nd concubine.

As soon as he left, Feng Bao said angrily, "Your Majesty, it's this old man's fault. The cabinet showed him the list, and he had no objection at all. The East Factory is alone and dare not go against the cabinet."

"Okay, stop talking. At least Duke Cheng is loyal, and we still have to rely on him to keep the three camps in check. Don't let those people in the southeast drag even my imperial guards over."

Emperor Longqing comforted Feng Bao, saying, "It has already happened this time. Next time, you should open your eyes wide and don't let others play tricks on you all the time. If you keep doing this, you, a eunuch in the East Factory, will lose face, don't you know?"

"Yes, Your Majesty is right." Feng Bao hurriedly accepted the instruction, feeling aggrieved and about to cry. He secretly thought that I am just a dog, and dogs can only be fierce when they rely on the power of their masters. You, as the master, are like a melon, so who would take the East Factory seriously?

Of course, this is not a problem that only existed in this dynasty. The Jiajing Emperor learned from the lessons of the Zhengde Dynasty and was very wary of eunuchs' disorderly politics, so he transferred the power of espionage to the Jinyiwei. In addition, he was very capable and fierce, so he naturally managed to keep a group of civil servants in line.

But Emperor Longqing not only did not have the ability of his father, but he was also deceived by civil officials and paralyzed the Jinyiwei as soon as he ascended the throne.

Now that he saw that he was unable to get involved in anything and no one took him as the emperor seriously, Emperor Longqing became anxious.

He finally came to his senses and realized that the purge of the Jinyiwei last year was purely his own fault.

Only then did he send the most capable eunuch under his command, Feng Bao, to supervise the East Factory.

Unfortunately, the ice is three feet thick and it didn’t freeze overnight. Eunuch Feng has worked hard for a year, but now the East Factory is just a place where he can gather information.

Longqing also knew that with that group of covetous censors watching closely, it would be extremely difficult for the East Factory to restore itself to its former powerful institution.

But he had to do it no matter how difficult it was, otherwise even the dogs in Wenyuan Pavilion would dare to bark at him, the emperor.

"Starting tomorrow, you will also be in charge of the Imperial Stables." Emperor Longqing could only use the limited resources at his disposal to strengthen the East Depot as much as possible.

The Imperial Horse Administration was not only responsible for raising horses, but also for managing the imperial guards of the inner court, the Warrior Battalion and the Four Guard Battalions. During the Zhengde reign, it commanded 40,000 men, and although it had been reduced repeatedly over the past few decades, it still had nearly 20,000 men.

Emperor Longqing now asked Feng Bao to take charge of both the Eastern Depot and the Imperial Stables.

In addition to her immense trust, she also hoped that he could become stronger as soon as possible so that she could protect herself and not be bullied by the civil officials...

"Yes, I will live up to your high expectations!"

While Feng Bao was happy, he also felt a heavy burden on his shoulders.

~~

The decree to appoint the chief examiner was quickly passed on to Wenyuan Pavilion, where the cabinet was located.

Although Li Chunfang, the deputy assistant, had known for a long time that he would be the chief examiner of this year's exam, he was cautious by nature and would never give any chance to others to criticize him.

Only after receiving the imperial edict did he order his attendants to pack up their belongings, while he himself sorted out the memorials and official documents on hand, preparing to hand them over to his colleagues one by one.

Next, he will stay in the Imperial Examination Hall for more than a month until the results are announced, and naturally he has to sort out the government affairs before leaving.

In fact, Li Chunfang had already prepared a draft in his mind. After a while, he took a pile of memorials to the Prime Minister's residence to report and say goodbye.

The Prime Minister’s residence was not in Wenyuan Pavilion, but in a small courtyard behind Wenhua Hall.

There are three main rooms in the yard. The kitchen is on the east and the storehouse is on the west. They look narrow and cramped, but they are a symbol of the prime minister's status.

Even Li Chunfang, the deputy assistant, could only sleep in his office when he stayed in the palace...

Seeing the second assistant coming, Xu Jie's family hurriedly opened the gate.

After Li Chunfang entered, she saw Xu Fan put his finger to his lips and whispered, "Father has just gone to bed, let's talk next door."

After saying that, he led the deputy assistant directly into his own room. The young cabinet minister had to accompany his father to work, so of course he had to have his own room.

After entering, Xu Fan politely asked Li Chunfang to sit down, and he also sat behind the desk piled with documents and skillfully handed over government affairs to him.

Li Chunfang appeared polite on the surface, but he felt a little depressed in his heart. As the second assistant minister, he actually had to report his work to the first assistant minister's son!

He thought that his temper was decent enough, but he still felt somewhat humiliated. He really didn't know how Lord Xu had been able to endure it all those years ago.

Is this the fate of all the junior assistants? Li Chunfang smiled bitterly in his heart.

Unexpectedly, he was distracted and didn't hear clearly what Xu Fan said last time, so he had to ask again.

"What advice did you give me just now, young master?"

"I mean, what do you think of science?"

Xu Fan closed the memorial in his hand and looked at Li Chunfang with sharp eyes.

ps. The first update is here. It’s the last day of this month. Please give me monthly tickets and recommendation tickets~~

ps2. I recommend a book called "Return to the Ming Dynasty to Become a Tyrant" which is currently published in Sanjiang. It has very good performance and it was written by a girl.