Chapter 534: Born in a New Dynasty, All Went Overseas

After the Qionglin Banquet, 600 new Jinshi entered the Honglu Temple for "pre-job training", mainly to learn various official etiquette such as court meetings and sacrifices.

Compared with the previous allocation model of new Jinshi, the imperial examination system of the Ming Dynasty has undergone great reforms.

The Hongzhi Dynasty broke the traditional way of appointment based solely on palace examination results and personal background, and adopted a dual examination of imperial examination results and interviews to find more outstanding talents.

Li Wei got up early today, bought sesame cakes and pickles at a street stall, walked through the busy Chang'an Street, and then came to the solemn and mysterious Xijiang Rice Lane.

The towering walls here and the majestic stone lions in front of the gate made him feel an unprecedented pressure, and it was also the place he longed to work.

If he could enter these government offices, he would not only be ahead of other new Jinshi, but also contribute to the construction of the Ming Dynasty.

Finally, he came to the destination of this trip, a government office with a brand new plaque "Ministry of Foreign Affairs".

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is now one of the twelve ministries of the Ming Dynasty. Its main responsibility is to liaise with the Governor-General's Office overseas. It not only serves the Governor-General's Office overseas, but also restrains some improper behaviors of the Governor-General's Office.

This is a government office in a completely new field, but it is also the place where Li Wei longs to work.

For him personally, he has the opportunity to take a ship to travel overseas to see the world, and he can also work in Beijing to take care of his family. It can be said to kill two birds with one stone.

Li Wei took a deep breath and stepped into the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

I thought I came early enough, but when I entered the courtyard, I found that there was already a queue of dozens of people here. These were all here to participate in the interview of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Although everyone is of the same age, they are actually in a competitive relationship with each other, so they have no time to care about the courtesy and etiquette of the officialdom, but are nervously queuing up to wait for the interview.

"I'm so nervous!"

"I'm nervous too, I want to change clothes again!"

"Who wouldn't be nervous about this? Relax!"

...

The relationship between the newly-appointed scholars was quite good. Although they came to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs together, they encouraged each other, but the nervousness was lingering.

"The chief judge has arrived. The interview is now officially started. All candidates whose names are called come to this official!" A middle-aged man in a sixth-rank official uniform appeared in front of them and announced in a businesslike manner.

Li Wei's palms were sweating unconsciously. Looking around, he found that the first few interviewers seemed calm and even confident, which made him feel more nervous.

Their right to stay or leave depends entirely on the government office they interviewed, but these government offices are bound to be partial to each other and the admission quota may have been determined by the first few newly-appointed scholars through their relationships.

"Will our top three candidates just go through the motions?"

"If you think so, then you've failed your majesty's efforts!"

"Your majesty is avoiding empty talk and pursuing the real. You want people who can do things. Even if Chen Kuan is a second-class candidate, he can't help the Ming Dynasty at all!"

...

As more and more new Jinshi candidates came out after the interview, everyone observed their reactions and saw some clues, and everyone agreed that the top three Jinshi candidates were not just going through the motions.

As for whether there are a large number of internal candidates here, it is unknown.

For example, it has been rumored that the top scholar Tang Yin made friends with the wealthy Xu Jing and bought the examination questions from Song Cheng. Until now, some people have regarded it as an inside story, but more and more evidence shows that this is indeed malicious slander.

Li Wei's heart seemed even more nervous, because he was not only a top three Jinshi candidate, but also had no family background. In the future, he must be a remote county magistrate or a prefecture magistrate.

"Li Wei!"

Finally, it was his turn to be interviewed.

Under the gaze of other interviewees, Li Wei walked towards the interview room nervously.

In order to relieve his nervousness, he made up his mind and stretched out his hand to pinch his thigh flesh fiercely, diverting his attention through the pain of the flesh.

Following an official into the room, he saw several interviewers sitting upright with their eyes sharp, and the one sitting in the middle was naturally Liu Zhang, the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

"Li Wei, if you follow a general and are ordered to go to a large tribe on an island, and this general wants to stay here and establish himself as a king after ruling this tribe, what should you do?" Liu Zhang, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, did not even raise his eyes, and the question was asked by the subordinates next to him.

Liu Zhang's attention at this moment was not on Li Wei, but suddenly thought of his luck in life.

Although he did not actually rebel against the court that year, he chose to resign from the court after all, and had the idea of ​​moving his family to the American continent, so Hongzhi's not pursuing him and retaining his title was already a great favor.

He also realized his political mistakes, so in the following years he took the initiative to promote potatoes, sweet potatoes and corn. In addition, he secretly brought back some golden potato seeds, which made a great contribution to the entire China.

It was originally his act of atonement, but it unexpectedly attracted the attention of the emperor.

The court had just established the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Emperor Hongzhi suddenly summoned him to the palace for an interview. Since he really wanted to work for the Ming Dynasty, the emperor handed over the newly established office to him.

Today, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs he was in charge of was like other ministerial offices. It screened the new scholars who came for interviews and kept the talents he thought were the most suitable.

Of course, although he, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, had absolute personnel power, he knew that this was the emperor's trust in their ministers, so everything was aimed at picking the best talents.

As for those who wanted to use internal connections, they were directly rejected. This was not only basic loyalty to the emperor, but also an inevitable practice for his Ministry of Foreign Affairs to stand out in the competition among various departments.

Since the emperor gave him a chance to start over, he not only had to manage the Ministry of Foreign Affairs well, but also strive to be the best minister who helped Emperor Hongzhi create a new prosperous era.

Li Wei didn't even think about it, and immediately gave the answer: "I follow it!"

Huh?

When several examiners heard this answer, they looked at Li Wei in surprise. None of the candidates before him dared to give such a treasonous answer.

"Why?" Liu Zhang slowly raised his head and looked at the unremarkable young man in front of him seriously.

Li Wei seemed to be encouraged and answered with certainty: "Standing up against each other will only be used as a sacrifice by him! Your Majesty taught: empty talk will ruin the country, and hard work will make the country prosperous. If you ignore the birth of a traitor in the Ming Dynasty for a little personal reputation, that is disloyalty! Even if you die, you should die for a good cause, rather than encountering a traitor and not thinking about getting rid of him for the emperor."

"So, you followed the traitor, which is really a temporary measure?" The Minister of Foreign Affairs next to him heard the implication and smiled slightly.

Li Wei seemed to be offended by this question, and he immediately stopped being nervous and talked freely: "Of course it is an expedient measure! The emperor cares about the people of the world, and the people live and work in peace and contentment. The country is even stronger and stronger, which is a situation that has not been seen for thousands of years! The thief ignored the emperor and the country because of one person's selfishness. This thief should be eliminated as soon as possible! ... The thieves can gather for a while, but they will have gaps over time. At that time, we can win over the useful people and then kill them to eliminate this harm for the Ming Dynasty... Anyone involved in the case will not turn back until death, and the nine clans will be killed!" This place seemed to have become Li Wei's home court. In the eyes of other examiners, he stood in the hall and talked freely. Perhaps he had a firm heart to respect the emperor, or perhaps he hated such traitors, so he performed exceptionally well in this interview. Finally, after he finished answering, he won a lot of applause. After the interview, Li Wei walked out of the gate of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and at this moment he seemed to be dreaming. When a ray of sunlight fell on his face, he seemed to have a new understanding. He looked up in the direction of the Forbidden City and saw the towering city wall.

Although he was an inconspicuous one among the 600 new scholars, he respected the current Emperor Hongzhi from the bottom of his heart and could not tolerate the thieves betraying the Ming Dynasty.

Although he had not experienced the Kaiyuan Prosperity and had not seen the Renzong Prosperity, he saw with his own eyes that the villagers who were starving were getting better and better.

If China really had a prosperous era, he thought it was the Hongzhi Prosperity in front of him. Because in this prosperous era, not only did the people's lives get better and better, but the country became stronger and stronger, and the Ming Dynasty was slowly becoming a world empire.

The interview was still in full swing, and Li Wei was not an exception.

These 600 new scholars witnessed the rise of the Hongzhi Dynasty and saw a thriving empire. So many of them were loyal fans of Emperor Hongzhi, and they all had a determination to do practical things for the country.

It is the reform of the Hongzhi Dynasty that now every new Jinshi has the opportunity to stay in the central government to work. They can choose a central government for an interview to show their expertise and appearance.

This is a blessing for most new Jinshi. The worst result for them is to be sent to the local areas according to convention, but now they have the opportunity to stay in the central government, at least they want to be familiar with the bigwigs in the capital.

In the next three days, some people passed the interview smoothly, some people failed repeatedly, and some people who only knew Zhihu were sent to the local areas to serve as non-county magistrates.

The talent selection in the 12th year of Hongzhi ended, and these best scholars in the Ming Dynasty were about to be sent to various places to become the new seeds of the Ming Dynasty's second entrepreneurship.

The suburbs of the capital in April seemed like a palette of nature.

The spring breeze blew gently, and the tender green leaves swayed gently, as if telling the story of spring. The golden rapeseed flowers in the fields form a golden ocean, the winding river allows you to see fish happily swimming around, and a few butterflies dance among the wild flowers... This place is in harmony with the blue sky and white clouds, forming a beautiful pastoral painting.

With the end of the term of office of the new Jinshi, the officials who received the commission will go to various places to take up their posts.

Tang Yin was very handsome in a white dress. After receiving the entry fee from the court, he spent money to buy two good horses and prepared to take up his post with his old slave.

Although he was the top scholar, the Hanlin Academy was no longer the Hanlin Academy that was known as the cradle of the prime minister in the past. Now it has declined under the suppression of Emperor Hongzhi.

He was assigned to the Indian Ocean Governor's Office controlled by Wang Zhi, and served as the Tongpan of the Indian Ocean Governor's Office, so he needed to go from the capital to the Indian Governor's Office to take office.

Since the Ming-Myanmar Highway had been repaired, Tang Yin planned to go southwest along the post road to the Indian Governor's Office located at the port of Baigu.

Although the journey was long, the current Ming Dynasty not only had an invincible navy, but also the local army was getting stronger and stronger. If the robbers dared to rob officials, the local army would quickly suppress the bandits, so Tang Yin's trip would not be too dangerous.

Under the warm spring sun, the suburbs of the capital were full of vitality.

Zhu Yunming, wearing a brocade robe and a high crown, came to the Shili Pavilion with several friends to wait. He had prepared wine in the pavilion to see off his close friend Tang Yin.

"Thank you all, brothers!" Tang Yin has become more mature and steady, and bowed to Zhu Yunming who came to see him off.

Zhu Yunming raised his glass to toast Tang Yin, and his words seemed sincere: "Brother Bohu, the journey is long, I wish you a safe journey and make achievements as soon as possible."

"Not really! You can't take credit when you go to the Indian Ocean, and everything should be stable!" Tang Yin thought of the emperor's advice to him and shook his head bitterly.

Among the several overseas governors-general, the Indian Ocean Governor's Office led by Wang Zhi is the most aggressive and aggressive government office, and the army under his command is a fierce army.

Under the leadership of Da Gama, the Indian Ocean Governor's Office is sailing westward along the road that Da Gama came from. The latest developments have already grasped the west coast of the Indian Ocean, and it looks like it is going to attack Western Europe.

Although it was Wang Yue who was conferred the title that year, everyone knows that it was actually Wang Zhi who first came up with the idea of ​​raiding Weininghai. Wang Zhi is a real military madman.

Now Wang Zhi is the governor of the Indian Ocean, and he has the absolute trust of the emperor.

Over the years, the Indian Governor-General's Office has provided food, soldiers and weapons to the court. Wang Zhi is simply the biological son of Emperor Hongzhi.

Of course, although Wang Zhi is very crazy in military actions, he is absolutely loyal to the emperor. He just heard that the Indian princess is beautiful and snatched the princess away.

Today, Emperor Hongzhi is a man of great talent and strategy. Although he was the first to propose the strategic concept of a military power, he has never been a war maniac, so it is obvious that he wants to suppress Wang Zhi's restless heart.

After all, the Ming Dynasty has not yet reached the period of unrestrained expansion, and now the main focus is still on developing the country.

Zhu Yunming naturally knew that Wang Zhi was a war maniac, and he seemed to understand very well and said: "I heard that Governor Wang once again petitioned to go west, or to appoint him as the governor of the east coast of the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, but was rejected by the emperor!"

"European countries are now plagued by the epidemic of morning glory, and there is neither gold nor silver, nor dry food, and even furs are not abundant here! Your Majesty has long-term plans, and now is not the time to enter!" Tang Yin entered the new role well and bowed in the direction of Beijing.

Or he is about to go to the Indian Ocean, so his mood is obviously different. What he thinks about is not how much territory he occupies, but how many resources he will bring back to the Ming Dynasty. He is obviously more pragmatic in his heart.

Zhu Yunming looked at this good friend who was ten years younger than him with great satisfaction, and clearly felt the changes in Tang Yin. Not only did he lose his original frivolousness, but he was also obviously more mature and wise.

The emperor sent Tang Yin to Wang Zhi, maybe he really wanted to promote a perfect match of civil and military affairs, so that the Ming Dynasty could completely control the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean.

Zhu Yunming was in a good mood and decided to write: "We are separated today. I don't know when we will meet again. I will write a poem for you to practice for you!"

As he spoke, his pen tip flowed on the white rice paper, and he wrote a poem that will be passed down to future generations: "The willow branches do not break the plum blossoms, and take the old things to the West Sea. The white snow and yellow clouds confuse the wild geese, and the sail will be in India tomorrow." (End of this chapter)