After returning to Zhaojia Hutong, Master Zhao asked Wu Chengen to write a petition to Xu Kezheng titled "A Petition from Overseas Survivors, Written with Tears and Bleeding, Requesting the Emperor to Recover Luzon", which was submitted through official channels the next day.

What official channels? Don't forget that our Master Zhao is a fourth-rank official, the Minister of Rites, the Superintendent of the Four Barbarians' Office, and is also in charge of shipping and other maritime affairs.

This was originally within his scope of responsibility, but the matter was of great importance and he could not take charge of it, so he brought Xu Kezheng to the capital to seek help.

There has been no response since I submitted the petition, but the results of the imperial examination have been announced.

On February 28th, the Ministry of Rites posted the list of successful candidates in the spring examination of the second year of the Wanli reign.

Master Zhao was at home, drinking tea and talking about science with Shen Shixing, Wang Xijue, Yu Youding, and his disciples including Wang Wuyang, while waiting for the results of the Spring Examination.

This is already the third time that Zhao Hao has waited for the results of the imperial examination. Unlike the initial nervousness and anxiety, he is now very calm.

At least he had to pretend to be calm. Given his current status, he had to be as steady as a rock.

In the afternoon, Yu Shensi and others who had gone to see the list came back. While still in the courtyard, he shouted, "Great victory! Master!"

"Wow, that's great!" Wang Wuyang immediately led the atmosphere group to cheer, and some people were about to open the champagne.

"Oh, what do you mean?" Young Master Zhao asked elegantly, holding the teacup steadily. If Yao Kuang were here, he would find that he was imitating his father-in-law intentionally or unintentionally.

"A total of 300 people passed the examination this year, among whom..." Yu Shensi took out a handwritten copy with wet ink from his sleeve and excitedly presented it to Zhao Hao, saying, "Master, you should read it yourself."

"Is this still a big victory?" Unexpectedly, Master Zhao was still unhappy. He looked at the copy paper and said expressionlessly, "It didn't meet expectations."

"Ah..." The disciples who were originally preparing to open the platinum spade tip were left with their hands hanging for a moment, not knowing whether they should remove the cork.

But Master Zhao said quietly, "I thought we could break 100 this time."

"Hi..." The whole room was filled with laughter. Everyone smiled bitterly, thinking that the young cabinet minister was being too Versailles.

"This course has one hundred fewer students, so it's normal that the number of successful candidates is less than the previous one. Not only did you not have fewer, but you actually had seventeen more. What are you not satisfied with?" Wang Xijue took the list from him and glanced at it. He saw that ninety-eight students from three academies passed the exam. And the five champions, including Huiyuan Sun Kuang, were all from Zhao Hao's school!

"It's a big victory! Master is so amazing!" The atmosphere group popped champagne, and Wang Wuyang took the lead in celebrating. As long as they are not embarrassed, others will be embarrassed...

But it was indeed a great victory. In the last imperial examination, 400 people passed the exam, 81 of whom were from Yufeng Academy and Xiangshan Academy, with a passing rate of 20.25%.

There were 300 successful candidates in this subject, 98 of whom were from Yufeng Academy, Xiangshan Academy and Fenghuang Academy. The passing rate was as high as 32.66%, a full 12.41% increase over the previous year!

Among the three successful candidates in the imperial examinations, one was a disciple of Zhao Hao. Isn’t that great enough for him?

Of course, Mr. Zhao is not completely Versailles, because in terms of high-level data, his performance in this examination was indeed not ideal.

Hua Shuyang, director of the Education Group's teaching and research department and chief mathematician, immediately conducted a data analysis.

In the autumn examination last year, Yufeng Academy had 101 new juren candidates, Xiangshan Academy had 40 candidates, and although Fenghuang Academy had only been established for two years, it also had 32 candidates.

Together with the 61 people who had passed the examination before, a total of 233 students from the School of Science had qualified for the examination. However, eight students had to wait until the next time because of illness or mourning.

Therefore, in the end, 225 disciples participated in the examination, accounting for 5% of the total number of examinees.

The admission rate of the imperial examination in the second year of Wanli was a pitifully low 6.7%, which means that only one jinshi was produced among fifteen juren. It was really not easy to become a jinshi.

The admission rate for students majoring in science was 42%, with an average of two out of five juren becoming jinshi.

The admission rate for the last science exam was 59.1%. Judging from this data alone, it is indeed a significant decline.

Although it is still more than six times the average admission rate, Mr. Zhao has always had high standards and strict requirements. Only a strict teacher can produce an excellent student.

According to Hua Shuyang's analysis, there are three reasons for the landslide.

First, while the number of test takers increased slightly, the number of admissions dropped significantly, and the admission rate naturally dropped sharply.

Second, the admission rate for the imperial examination of Phoenix Academy was relatively low, at only 15.6%, which dragged down the overall performance.

The third reason is that the growth of the group’s teaching staff has not kept pace with the expansion of the academies. In addition to the Phoenix Academy, the group also opened the Xiling Academy in Hangzhou, the Yuhua Academy in Jinling, the Baiyun Academy in Guangzhou, the Daminghu Academy in Jinan, and the Wushan Academy in Fuzhou...

Although the students of these five academies were still following the rules set by Mr. Zhao and studying science courses honestly, and were unable to participate in this competition, they still occupied a large number of teaching staff of the group.

In fact, Phoenix Academy had only been established for two years, and students were not allowed to take the imperial examinations. However, Zhao Hao did not impose this restriction in order to unite the gentry in Lingnan.

Although the low admission rate of Phoenix Academy this time is mainly due to the fact that Lingnan is far away from the cultural center and the level of scholars is relatively low, it was chosen to be admitted in the most competitive southern volume. Even after the special training of Jiangnan Academy, it is difficult to improve to the same level as the candidates from Jiangsu and Zhejiang.

However, Master Zhao still blamed them for not receiving a solid scientific education, and bitterly taught the disciples of Phoenix Academy a lesson: "You should know your shame!"

In fact, these disciples are already very content. In previous years, they were the ones who accompanied the prince to study, and less than one in a hundred could pass the imperial examination. Now, they can achieve more than twice the average admission rate, so what else do they want?

But the teacher's rebuke broke their complacency, and the Guangdong disciples were ashamed to say that they would never seek quick success and instant benefits again, and would practice their inner strength in a down-to-earth manner first. Even the five disciples who were selected said that they would go back to study science for three years before making any decision.

"Forget it." Zhao Hao waved his hand and said, "You five should take the palace examination first. It's unfair to the failed candidates to give up the examination easily."

What a joke! I was just talking, did you take it seriously?

"I will follow your teachings." The disciples hurriedly and respectfully accepted the instruction, feeling that their souls were sublimated.

It turns out that the master not only teaches science, but also teaches his disciples how to be a good person... It is such a blessing to be able to study under the guidance of science!

There are just too few opportunities to listen to his teachings...

Many of these Lingnan disciples were seeing him for the first time.

~~

Fortunately, Master Zhao was well aware that there were too few emotional ties between him and his disciples, so the fourth brother rushed to the capital when he was just one month old to carry out the reserved project of the Science School - special training for the disciples before the palace examination.

In fact, last year, all the successful candidates went to Beijing to take the exam as soon as possible to avoid the endless banquets and celebrations after being named on the list. They all arrived at Xiangshan Academy before the twelfth lunar month and began to follow the rules set by Zhao Hao, putting away their impetuous and arrogant hearts and preparing for the exam wholeheartedly.

Visiting professors such as Shen Shixing, Wang Xijue and Yu Youding also took turns to teach them at the academy. Various targeted exercises before the exam, even the test questions, were also carried out step by step.

In addition, the academy also arranged daily physical exercise so that the students could have strong bodies and sufficient energy to cope with the three arduous nine-day examinations.

The most outrageous thing is that the academy even set up a physiotherapy department to provide health massage and foot therapy services for the candidates, so that they can fully relax after their intense studies and greet the spring examination in the best condition.

It can be said that after several consecutive years of experience accumulation, the science school has become meticulous and perfect in dealing with the imperial examination. The disciples only need to concentrate on listening and doing as they are told.

Science has truly become a subject that is subject to imperial examinations!

"Eh, it seems a little off track?" On the way to Xiangshan Academy, Mr. Zhao fell into deep thought.

In his hand, he still held the list of Chinese candidates who had passed the imperial examinations at the academy.

He circled a bunch of names on it in pencil, the three most eye-catching ones were Zhao Nanxing, Li Sancai and Gu Xiancheng.

The three early giants of the Donglin Party have already arrived...

According to Mr. Zhao's memory, Zhao Nanxing and Li Sancai were indeed Jinshi in the second year of Wanli, but Gu Xiancheng passed the imperial examination in the eighth year of Wanli, two years later.

But the world has changed a lot. Gu Xiancheng entered Yufeng Academy three years ago, so it is not surprising that he stood out two years ahead of schedule.

As for Zhao Nanxing and Li Sancai, they were both from Xiangshan Academy. They didn't expect that because of them, these three troublemakers would gather together in advance...

"How should we deal with them?" Master Zhao finally resisted the urge to bury them in Xiangshan.

He was only responsible for setting up the stage, and he had no intention of performing on stage himself, just like a theater owner, who naturally had to give all the actors a chance to perform.

No matter whether it is a mule or a horse, they must be pulled out for a walk. What if they are the ones who can play the leading role and make the theater business prosperous?

However, it is still necessary to take proper care of them.

"After the palace examination, send all those circled people to the most remote counties." Zhao Hao handed the list to his older brother Zhao Jin, who was sitting opposite him. "Zhao Nanxing, Li Sancai, and Gu Xiancheng, send them all to the far north."

After Yang Bo retired last year, Zhang Juzheng promoted Zhang Han, the left vice minister of the Ministry of Personnel, to the position of Tianguan, and Zhao Jin took over Zhang Han's vacant position.

When the court recommended the Heavenly Official, the first person recommended was Ge Shouli, the Left Censor-in-Chief, followed by Zhu Heng, the Minister of Works, and then Zhang Han. However, Zhang Juzheng disliked Ge Shouli's recklessness and Zhu Heng's pride... To put it bluntly, he thought they were too old and he couldn't control them, so he specially promoted Zhang Han.

Zhang Han had very little experience and knew that he would not be able to win the support of the people if he came to power. Therefore, he not only followed Zhang Juzheng's lead in everything, but also showed great respect to his deputy Zhao Jin.

Zhao Jin has a strong reputation and is the elder brother of the young cabinet minister. He doesn't want to provoke such a great man. This matter is naturally out of the question.

"No problem." Zhao Jin nodded. This was his mission in this position. And it was not shameful to use a backdoor.

"Others all look for lucrative jobs for their children, but you always send them to busy, impoverished, difficult, or border counties. It's really hard to be your disciple." The older brother put away his manuscript and sighed.

"Young people should gain more experience. People who do not know the sufferings of the lower classes will bring disaster to the country and the people if they sit in high positions." Young Master Zhao looked at the "Science is a Ball" that was gradually coming into view and sighed:

"No matter which path they take in the future, I hope they can have the whole country in their hearts..."

ps. This chapter is from yesterday.