However, Mr. Zhao also went to his father-in-law's house to show his courtesy. It can be said that "my father-in-law abused me a thousand times, but I treated him like my first love."

The Spaniards silently unfollowed...

However, Zhang Xianggong worked hard for the court, and the emperor had to hold a plowing ceremony in February and a tomb-visiting ceremony at Tianshou Mountain in March. These were the last two ceremonies that marked the emperor's complete adulthood, and the two palaces and Zhang Xianggong himself attached great importance to them.

Therefore, most of the time, Mr. Zhang was not at home, and Mrs. Gu had passed away. But Zhao Hao had a better person to show his filial piety to, and that was Zhang Juzheng's mother, Mrs. Zhao.

Previously, in order to make Prime Minister Zhang serve with peace of mind, Empress Dowager Li and the Emperor ordered Wei Chao, the manager of the Qianqing Palace, to bring his mother, Zhao, back to Beijing to take care of her.

The whole journey was truly "grand and magnificent, with crowds of spectators blocking the way". It was another human drama that cost the people a lot of money and labor, and was greeted respectfully by all the officials.

It is said that when the old lady arrived at the Yellow River, she saw the turbid waves of the Yellow River emptying, and she was so sick that she dared not cross the river. So the local officials connected the boats into a floating bridge, filled it with soil, and planted willow trees on both sides. Walking on it was like a dam, and the old lady crossed the Yellow River without noticing.

After coming to Beijing, the old lady enjoyed all the wealth and glory, and the empress dowager and the emperor often sent envoys to express their condolences. However, the old lady left her familiar environment, especially her old sisters who played with her all day long. Although she had children and grandchildren around her, she still felt deeply lonely.

Young Master Zhao was good at pleasing the elderly. When he was in Jiangling, he had already charmed the old lady so much that she had already adopted her grandson-in-law as her godson.

This time, he finally met his family. The old lady held his hand and cried, asking him to talk to his father-in-law to see if he could send her back to her hometown. Zhao Hao agreed and tried every way to make the old lady happy.

For an old man of this age, there is no trouble that cannot be solved by a round of mahjong. If there is, then just play a few more rounds.

So he invited Grandma Ye and Li Yihe's mother to come and play mahjong with the old lady. Soon, the old lady became happy and didn't miss home anymore.

In addition, he also had to take time to serve as a caddy for the old man at the Qilizhuang Golf Course to prepare for the upcoming 'Yilan Soda Cup' Ninth Chuiwan Invitational Tournament.

There is no other way. I have to pretend to be the grandson when I return to Beijing, not to mention that he is a real grandson.

~~

Soon, after the three exams were over, the exhausted candidates all lay down and rested for several days before coming back to life.

On February 28th, the Ministry of Rites announced the results of the Gengchen Imperial Examination, and 400 successful candidates were born.

While the number of candidates and the admission rate for this subject remained basically unchanged, the number of admissions of Jiangnan Group reached a new high - 210 students passed the exam, accounting for more than half of the total number of admissions for the first time. Finally, Mr. Zhao's dream of occupying half of the imperial examinations was realized.

There is nothing strange about this, because after Yufeng Academy, Xiangshan Academy, Fenghuang Academy and Xixi Academy, Jinling Yuhua Academy, Guangzhou Baiyun Academy, Jinan Daming Lake Academy and Fuzhou Wushan Academy also began to send scholars to participate in the imperial examinations.

The number of candidates reached a record high of 800, so the number of successful candidates would naturally increase.

However, the high admission rate of science students did not attract much attention this time. First, there are more academies now, and after the academies have blossomed, they are not as eye-catching as before. Second, people have become accustomed to science being the subject of the imperial examination. Now, if a science student does well in the exam, it is not news, but if he does not do well in the exam, it is news.

Moreover, there are some eye-catching aspects in the Gengchen exam, such as the rise of candidates from Huguang. In this exam, 60 candidates from Huguang passed the exam, ranking first among all provinces, which is unprecedentedly more than the giant Nanzhili.

Among the 70 candidates from Huguang, in addition to Xiao Liangyou, the champion, there were also two sons of Zhang Xianggong, Jingxiu and Maoxiu. When people fail, they always like to find objective reasons. Seeing this result, those candidates who failed in the exam inevitably thought that it was the chief examiner who flattered the current emperor and sacrificed their future to please Zhang Jiangling.

For a time, the public was outraged, and everyone in the government and the public were looking at each other with awe. Some people even ran to the residences of Yu Youding and Xu Guo and posted big-character posters scolding the two for not selecting talents impartially and for being running dogs who only knew how to wag their tails and beg for mercy!

However, now all the officials in the court have been completely subdued by Prime Minister Zhang, and no one dares to speak nonsense in the memorial when he is so happy, so these noises will not reach his ears.

The palace examination was not affected at all and was held as scheduled on March 15th.

Although Zhao Hao conducted special training for 210 Chinese disciples, and because it was the last Xiangshan Forum to be held in a short period of time, this time both the guest lineup and the depth of discussion were stronger than before.

But Zhao Hao still gave his disciples a warning that the ranking of this palace examination might not be very good. But it doesn't matter, the future road will be faster and faster...

As expected, his words came true. Three days later, the list of successful candidates was announced. Zhang Xianggong's third son Maoxiu won the first place, Xiao Liangyou won the second place, and the third place was Dong Sicheng from Xixi Academy...

Most of the 60 Jinshi from Huguang ranked at the top, which seriously lowered the ranking of Jinshi from other places. The new Jinshi dared not speak out, but the atmosphere was strange during the subsequent parade to praise officials and the banquet for the release of officials... No one dared to show any favor to the son of Zhang Xianggong, so the runner-up Xiao Liangyou became the target of ridicule and sarcasm of all the candidates.

The writers are so good at insulting others, beating around the bush, and saying things insincerely. They are just short of saying that he is not as good as Shen Maoxue from the previous term...

Shen Maoxue was also the first in the imperial examination for licking the buttocks of the prime minister's son. But you, Xiao Liangyou, only got the second place, which obviously means you are not good enough at licking...

Xiao Bangyan was ashamed and angry, and he had no way to defend himself. In fact, Zhao Xianggong, who was in charge of the examination papers, originally selected him as the top scholar and Maoxiu as the third scholar. However, when the examination papers were presented to Wanli, the emperor said that Zhao Xianggong's son was ranked second in the previous exam, so how could he not make progress but regress this time? So he promoted Maoxiu to the top scholar and dropped him to the second place.

But no matter how angry he was, he didn't dare to bring this matter up in the open, otherwise his whole family would be in trouble.

As a result, he became increasingly angry and fell seriously ill. He did not go to the Hanlin Academy for a single day and simply resigned from his post on the grounds of illness and returned home.

But who cares? Mr. Zhang now has six sons, three of whom have passed the imperial examinations, and one has become the top scholar, and the worst, Zhang Jingxiu, has also been selected as a scholar. The reputation of "four Hanlin scholars from father and son" is not unprecedented, but it is definitely unique in the past 200 years of this dynasty.

However, this time the prime minister's residence did not celebrate as grandly as last time, because a few days before the announcement of the golden list, news came from Jingzhou that Prime Minister Zhang's third brother, Zhang Juyi, had passed away again.

Old Lady Zhao, who had lost her son, suddenly fell ill, which frightened Mr. Zhang. He has been on leave at home for the past few days, staying by his mother's bedside and urging the doctors at Jiangnan Hospital to treat her well.

Li Youzi, Wang Zhuan, Zeng Shengwu and other core members of Zhang's party were also panicked. They burned incense and prayed to gods and Buddhas everywhere, hoping that the old lady would get better.

They were still haunted by the storm of love that was set off when Old Master Zhang passed away three years ago. They were afraid that something bad would happen to the old lady again. How would they live then?

Now, who among the six ministries, nine officials, governors and ministers is not Zhang's party? How could the officials of the whole court let them outshine them? So the ministers followed suit, some fasted and prayed, some released animals and made vows, and some made donations on the streets, praying for the old lady in various ways.

It is said that even Empress Dowager Li copied the "Diamond Sutra" for the old lady, and now even the women in the family could not sit still.

Just when this drama was about to spread to the local area, to everyone's surprise, Mr. Zhang actually submitted his resignation...

In his "Petition to Retire from Government", he said with a firm attitude:

During the past nine years, I have been working very hard and have not avoided slander. As a result, I have fallen ill and suffered from the criticism of the world. Whenever I think of the ancient saying "one cannot occupy a high position for long, and one cannot occupy great power for long", I feel uneasy. However, because the emperor is still young and cannot rule the country, I have not dared to resign rashly.

Today, thanks to the blessings of heaven and earth and ancestors, the Ming Dynasty is peaceful and peaceful, and the emperor's grand wedding, plowing, mausoleum worship and other coming-of-age ceremonies have all been successfully held. Now that the emperor's will is set, his virtue is renewed day by day, and the court is full of loyal and virtuous people.

With the emperor's wisdom and the assistance of wise ministers, it is not difficult at all to create a peaceful and prosperous era and preserve the great cause of our ancestors.

I finally dared to bow my head and return the government to its original position.

Moreover, I am weak to begin with, and have worked too hard in recent years. In addition, my family members have passed away one after another, and I have suffered many setbacks. I am exhausted, my blood and energy have prematurely declined, and my hair and beard have turned white just after I turned fifty. I will definitely become dull and slow. If I don't resign early, I will definitely fail and fail to complete my king's work.

In addition, I was unable to serve my father at his bedside for a single day, leaving behind a lifelong regret. Now my mother is seriously ill and is getting old and weak. She is like a candle in the morning dew and yearns to return home day and night. I humbly beg the emperor to show mercy and let me return home so that I can visit her morning and evening and prepare medicine for her for the rest of her life. This would be like a blessing from heaven.

I have not yet exhausted all my loyalty, and I will let my descendants repay me by serving me like a slave for generations!

~~

After submitting this memorial, he closed the door to visitors and said that he would not return to work.

His attitude of wanting to leave can be said to be very firm.

But "the tree wants to be still but the wind does not stop". In the current situation, how can Zhang Xianggong retreat just by saying so?

His decision to resign from power was completely unexpected by Wanli and his mother and all the officials. For a time, everyone was shocked and confused, and no one knew what Prime Minister Zhang was up to.

In fact, when a minister tells the emperor that "one cannot occupy a high position for long, and one cannot occupy great power for long", there is no doubt about his determination to leave...

Sadly, however, both his cronies and the officials in the court tended to believe that Prime Minister Zhang was retreating in order to advance, taking the opportunity to consolidate his power and see who dared to dissent from him.

So all the government offices immediately submitted petitions to retain Mr. Zhang, and Emperor Wanli also immediately issued an edict to retain him, saying that I can't live without Mr. Zhang for a day, why did you suddenly ask for retirement, which made me uneasy? You must put the country first, always be by my side and assist me, and never submit a petition to resign again!