"My real name is Xu Xianzhong. We classmates can get to know each other again."
"Sure enough!" Yu Qian said calmly, not too surprised.
"Did you guess it?"
"That's what I just guessed. After all, being so familiar with the court's procedures must be due to family education."
Xu Xianzhong blinked and said, "Yes, no one knows these things better than my father."
Yu Qian lowered his head, and after a moment, asked: "Then... let me tell you, what do you think of me as a classmate? Why are you willing to help?"
"Help? Didn't I say, you help me first! As a classmate, how can I let you suffer!" Xu Xianzhong said with a smile: "How about it, don't think I'm usually sloppy, but I'm still useful at critical moments. Go ahead.
You can also take over the matter of cleaning the house later."
Yu Qian laughed and said, "Just let me do this, wouldn't it be an advantage?"
"It doesn't matter." Xu Xianzhong said with a smile: "Anyway, I am optimistic about you, and I will rely on you in the future!"
Yu Qian was surprised. Although he was from a scholarly family, he was incomparable to the Xu family. He was in heaven and on earth. Moreover, he seemed to be the son of the Xu family and had the status of Wuyang Marquis.
"As an imperial student, what can I do to help you? What's more, I may not be able to pass this test right now."
"No, no, no!" Xu Xianzhong shook his head repeatedly, "Classmate Yu Qian, do you know why I said I should rely on you?"
Yu Qian shook his head.
"It's very simple. You study well!"
Yu Qian was startled for a moment, shook his head and said: "There are many good students, but I don't seem to be anything!"
"That's different... If you study well and have integrity, that would be amazing."
Yu Qian blinked his eyes and said with a wry smile: "That was a poem I wrote a few years ago. Naturally, I was a little arrogant. When I arrived in the capital and entered the Imperial College, I found that things were not that simple."
Xu Xianzhong smiled and said: "Actually, it's not that complicated. It's just that over the years, although science has been advocated and students are required to be generalists, in fact, the proportion of liberal arts is still too large... Of course, for someone like you who can write poetry,
Those who are good at arithmetic and better than me are extremely rare."
Yu Qian paused and did not refute... He basically dominates the rankings in Taixue. Xu Xianzhong is far behind, and can even be said to be at the bottom. The only thing worthy of praise is that his arithmetic scores are not bad and he can often get close.
Top three.
But nowadays, Taixue still focuses on articles...and the more beautiful the articles are and the more obscure the words are, the easier it is to get high scores.
Some people even say privately that ancient Chinese is the most difficult. If you can learn ancient Chinese and learn other things, it is easy... The same is true in the imperial examinations.
More than half of the newcomers who sneak into the officialdom every year are from classical Chinese.
Yu Qian wrote an article to refute this trend. As a result, he stirred up a hornet's nest and was questioned by the Inspectorate.
"When I write articles, I just express what I think in my heart. People speak lightly, so it's hard to say what's the use... I just can't bear to think that in the future, I will be just some mediocre people living in officialdom."
Xu Xianzhong smiled and said: "That's it, classmate Yu Qian, do you know Chen Xun, the top scorer in the last subject?"
Yu Qian blinked, "I know, I saw him when he praised his official position. He was a very handsome and elegant person."
"It's stupid too!"
"madness?"
"Well, last year, he signed an agreement to sell a coal mine in Liaodong to a merchant at a price... But he miscalculated the cost of road construction and did not consider the compensation for the Jurchen tribe...
The result is a loss of three million taels!"
"Three million taels? So much?" Yu Qian said in surprise: "Then the champion is probably in trouble."
"No, he has been promoted to Imperial Academy."
"How could that happen?" Yu Qian asked in surprise.
"There's nothing surprising... Not only that, he also became a lecturer for His Highness the Crown Prince."
"lecturer?"
"Yes... about the laws of the Ming Dynasty, especially the commercial law part."
"This is ridiculous!" Yu Qian exclaimed: "How can the court stand by and watch such abuses?"
Xu Xianzhong spread his hands and said, "In fact, many people are unwilling to pursue this matter."
"Why?"
"First...he is the number one scholar and a scholar sets an example. It is inevitable that he will make some mistakes. Secondly, such mistakes are common."
"They are everywhere?" Yu Qian couldn't believe his ears.
"There is nothing surprising about this... In recent years, industry and commerce have developed rapidly, and many things have far exceeded the imperial court's expectations. It is normal for those ministers to make mistakes. It is said that if this matter is pursued, Huang Huai will be implicated
Mr. Huang, after all, he was the one who made the decision to call Chen Xun to take charge of the contract."
Yu Qian was dumbfounded when he heard this. Huang Huai was currently serving as the Secretary of the Du branch, and he had an astonishing amount of power...
After Xu Jingchang resigned as the General Secretary, although the General Secretary was still the head of the officials, his authority was much weaker.
At present, among the major departments with real power in the Ming Dynasty...the first one is the personnel department that manages people, and the second is the branch department that manages financial power.
How much money flowed out of a large pen from the Du branch... It’s unimaginable that this yamen actually arranged a stupid car!
Yu Qian frowned deeply, "I really don't understand, is it so difficult to judge the case impartially and distinguish right from wrong in this kind of matter?"
Xu Xianzhong said: "Maybe it's not difficult, but it requires courage."
"Courage?" Yu Qian said seriously: "What should we do?"
Xu Xianzhong smiled and said: "I only know that His Royal Highness will hold a sutra banquet in the near future."
"Sutra feast?"
"Yes!" Xu Xianzhong said with a smile: "The speaker at that time was still our top scholar Chen Xun!"
Yu Qian frowned. It was too much to let such a nerd teach the prince... But when he thought about it, he felt helpless, "What can I do even if I know? I can't do anything."
Xu Xianzhong thought for a while and said with a smile: "Let me ask you something. If you could appear at the Sutra Banquet, would you be able to expose Chen Xun?"
Yu Qian said lightly: "What if there is a way? They won't invite me to go! Can't you make the decision?"
Xu Xianzhong said with a smile: "I can't make the decision, but it's not difficult to stuff someone up. You know, when it comes to fighting crickets, His Royal Highness is no match for me."
"Fighting crickets?" Yu Qian muttered: "How can His Highness lose his mind by playing with things?"
Xu Xianzhong laughed and said: "He didn't have much ambition to begin with... He was about five years old. When I was five years old, he couldn't beat me."
Yu Qian was a little surprised, "You are so awesome, why haven't I seen you play?"
Xu Xianzhong smiled and shook his head, "I'm tired of playing with hawks and walking dogs, raising grasshoppers to fight crickets, and training dogs to chase rabbits. I'm proficient in everything, but I don't like it very much. After playing with it, I throw it aside.
"
When Xu Xianzhong said this, he pulled Yu Qian and said, "Let's go outside the Jubao Gate and pick out some good crickets. I'll go find His Highness the Prince and tell him that he fights crickets, and ask him to stay with us to listen to the lecture. Then I'll take Chen Xun with him."
Tear off your face!"
Yu Qian paused, still hesitating, but Xu Xianzhong couldn't wait any longer. He stretched out his hand to pull Yu Qian and walked out...Xu Xianzhong, this boy, was really familiar with the road, and he arrived directly outside the Jubao Gate.
It's really lively here...all kinds of food, drinks, entertainment, and entertainment are available.
"I'm telling you, crickets, grasshoppers, these insects are nothing... What really costs money are hunting dogs, famous horses, and sea greens... These things are not cheap. Once you get involved, you will lose your money.
."
Xu Xianzhong said, and pointed to a stall next to him, "Did you see that this place sells pigeons? Pigeons are not easy to raise. I want to train them well. Without a fortune, it is not enough. I don't know which prodigal son likes it."
Play with this..."
As he was talking, he noticed a carriage coming from the opposite side and stopped exactly in front of the stall.
Xu Xianzhong's face suddenly turned green, the old prodigal son is here!
"Um...classmate Yu Qian, let's leave quickly!"
"Let's go? Aren't we going to pick crickets?"
At this moment, a man jumped out of the carriage. He just glanced at it and said, "These pigeons are not very good! They are all ordinary products. If you put them out to set up a stall, they will only fool laymen!"
The boss immediately said: "Your sage... isn't it true that there are very few knowledgeable players! In ten days and a half, I haven't met an expert like you... I can see it, and I will immediately move the best for you."
Come."
The man nodded, looked around again, and happened to see Xu Xianzhong.
"That... prodigal son is looking at you!" Yu Qian reminded in a low voice.
