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When Nikan heard the sound of horseshoes, he turned his head and saw a long spear coming towards him.He hurriedly leaned down to dodge, Wang Fuchen shot in the air, and simply raised his gun and smashed it down.

The gun barrel of this gun is made of composite materials, with a certain willfulness.It was said to be a smash, but it was actually a wrist shake. With a flick of Wang Fuchen's wrist, the gun barrel fell on Nikan's back.

Falling only one foot away, Nikan seemed to be hit by a sledgehammer, lying on the horse's back and spitting blood.

What a fierce general, not only has great strength, but also uses cleverness!

Nikan felt that his internal organs had been displaced, his mind went blank, and he just held on to the rein tightly.Suddenly there was a pain in the waist, and the whole body was poked to the side, and the lower body fell off the horse's back, still holding the rein in his hand, and was dragged by the horse for several steps before letting go.

"what!"

Another Datong cavalryman stepped on Nikan with his horse, breaking his spine.

Wang Fuchen's troops chased for a mile before gradually stopping.More than 200 people were killed by our own side, mainly because they were knocked off their horses during the charge.The enemy's [-] cavalry were completely defeated, about one-third escaped, and the remaining two-thirds were all killed.

Wang Fuchen ordered to regroup, and the dense formation began to trot, and then gradually accelerated to run towards the flank of another Manchu cavalry.

"Come on!"

Seeing that the situation was not good, Man Dahai immediately led his troops to the hills further north.

Hauge's reaction was the same. Manchu Qing cavalry without armor, facing Datong cavalry in cotton armor or breastplate, no matter how fierce the Manchu warriors were, they could not turn the tide of the battle.There were disadvantages in the fights everywhere, and some Manchu cavalry had already collapsed, and there was no way to escape if they continued to fight.

"The Tartar commander wants to escape, follow me!" Datong Cavalry Commander Wang Tingchen, with the cavalry division's Chinese reserve team, personally chased towards Hauge.

Wang Yaochen, chief mission officer of the cavalry division, led his troops to chase and kill Man Dahai.

Isn't it very confusing, Wang Tingchen, Wang Yaochen, and Wang Fuchen are all in the cavalry division.

Actually, apart from Wang Tingchen, the other two were changed later.

Especially Wang Fuchen, a bandit from Shanxi, whose name was changed only after he voted for the army of the Ming Dynasty.

The two princes Hauge and Man Dahai fled, and the morale of the Qing cavalry who was fighting suddenly fell to the bottom.Even while Lausa was still fighting bloody battles, the other Manchu and Qing cavalry units fled in all directions.

The main force of the Tartars who ran back from Tianjin lost all their lives in the first battle. They were chased and fled all over the mountains and plains in the hills of northwestern Liaoning.

After being pursued by Wang Tingchen, Hauge finally became completely angry, and turned around to fight with his troops.

Both sides had only a thousand or so people, they abandoned any tricks, did not shoot arrows at each other, and went directly to hedge in a loose formation.

Wang Tingchen was born in the Three Thousand Battalion of the Great Ming Capital, and followed Cao Bianjiao to Nantou.Cao Bianjiao's promotion was not as fast as Wang Tingchen's. It was purely because the old Cao's military discipline was not good enough, and he was punished four times one after another.

In the first hedge, Wang Tingchen killed one person.

The two armies passed by on the wrong horse, and each slowed down and turned around.Many of the Datong cavalry were injured, but less than [-]% were killed in battle, while [-]% of the Manchu cavalry were directly killed.

"Come again!"

Wang Tingchen shouted.

This time, Hauge spotted Wang Tingchen, and he charged with all his might, while he himself rushed towards Wang Tingchen with all his strength.

The two fired their guns almost at the same time, dodging each other.

But there were more Datong cavalry, and Wang Tingchen stabbed in the air, while the Datong cavalry on the other side stabbed Hauge's horse under his crotch.

"Hiss!"

The war horse screamed, raised its hooves, and threw Hauge off the horse's back.

"Hurry up and save the prince!"

Hauge's soldiers reined in their horses one after another, trying to rescue him, but the Datong cavalry took the opportunity to charge again.

Wang Tingchen stabbed out with his spear, and overturned one of Hauge's personal soldiers.The rest of the soldiers were also killed by their subordinates, and they turned their horses to look, but they saw Hauge's dead body lying on the ground, and no one knew whose horse had trampled him to death.

Wang Yaochen, who was chasing Man Dahai, came back and said annoyedly: "After the bandit general divided his troops, he ran away with dozens of soldiers!"

"Don't be afraid, haha," Wang Tingchen laughed, "These are Tartars who came back from Hebei. They are so embarrassed that they don't even have the armor. It is obvious that Lord Fei won. Even if they can escape hundreds of horses and go back, the Tartars The elite is also lost, at most next year we will be able to recover the entire Liaodong."

On the other side of the main battlefield, the Manchu Qing warrior Lausa was still fighting in eight wounds, and the cavalry around him were almost dead.

The Datong cavalry surrounded the dozen or so cavalry and just watched.

Lausa roared: "Kill again!"

Datong Xiao cavalry took out their bows and arrows, and hundreds of people shot at a dozen Manchu cavalry.

Lauza shut up and instantly turned into a hedgehog.

Chapter 572 [Bad Bones]

Mao Bijiang and Wu Weiye couldn't bear to be officials, they hang out in Susongchang Lake for a long time, and they can live comfortably all day traveling in mountains and rivers.

Accompanied by the interest of mountains and rivers, a batch of excellent poems came out, making them more famous. . .

Wu Weiye's "Meicun style" took shape ahead of time, which developed from Bai Juyi's "Changqing style" and incorporated Li Shangyin's style.It pays attention to rhythm, likes to use allusions, has ups and downs in structure, colorful rhetoric, is mainly narrative, and often responds to and criticizes real problems.

At the beginning of this year, Wu Weiye wrote a song "Jiangzuo Song", which aroused enthusiastic response in the Jiangnan area.

The cause was the third clan division triggered by the Quzhou case, and a large number of Jiangnan clans were forcibly split up.The imperial court took back the land of these big families without giving any compensation, and forced the children of the big families to move to Henan and Shandong to register and divide the land.

The imperial court issued an order, and local officials did not dare to neglect it. The specific implementation would inevitably appear rough, and it also caused many contradictions and tragedies.

Wu Weiye's "Jiangzuo Song" describes a love story.A man and a woman from the wrong family, because of mutual admiration, finally made a marriage contract after going through hardships, and got the approval of both parents.The government suddenly wanted to move the clans, and the local officials took the opportunity to occupy the man's family property.The man quarreled with the government, was thrown into prison, and exiled to Taiwan for disobeying the emperor's order.

The woman escaped from her home and went to Yangzhou, the provincial capital, to complain.The woman returned to Suzhou, but failed to sue. In order to attract attention, she wanted to bump her head to death outside the big court.Fortunately, she was rescued in time, and she did not die, but her family was ashamed, after all, she hadn't been married yet.

This story was not made up by Wu Weiye, but a real case that actually happened.

Inspectors of anti-corruption began to pay attention to this case when the woman hit the wall and committed suicide.Until Wu Weiye's "Jiangzuo Song" came out, the investigation of the case just ended, and the officials who took the opportunity to seize the property of the rich family were executed, and the officials of the judicial and anti-corruption departments who had their corpses as vegetarian meals were dismissed from their posts.

It is clear that the inspectors of the clean government are doing their duty and eliminating harm for the people, but the timing is too coincidental, and the people all attribute this to "Jiangzuo Song".

Wu Weiye's reputation among the people in the south of the Yangtze River reached its peak, and the Datong government became a complete villain.

In fact, except for the guy who took the opportunity to seize property, the other officials who were dealt with felt wronged.They don't want to come out to take care of things, because they are afraid of delaying the emperor's policy of family separation and migration, and they will be "slapped" when they are traced.

Wu Weiye couldn't get along in Suzhou anymore, and all the local officials hated him to the bone, so they invited Mao Pijiang to go to Nanjing as a "Beijing drifter".

When the two arrived in Nanjing, they were warmly welcomed by celebrities and gentry, and they were invited to attend literary meetings every now and then.

Booksellers also like to ask Wu Weiye to write prefaces, and the finishing fee is often ten taels or twenty taels, and they can live worry-free just by making a living.

Emperor Zhao heard about this a little bit, and said something that the female officer couldn't understand: "Wu Meicun, Wu Meicun, "Yuanyuanqu" must be gone. Weeping and crying, the six armies are all plain, and they are angry with the crown. , it’s best not to present this poem.”

"Great victory, great victory, great victory on the front line!"

It has been two months since Wu Weiye and Mao Bijiang came to Nanjing. At this time, they were having a banquet in a restaurant when they suddenly heard the noise of people on the street.

Mao Bijiang pushed open the window on the second floor, and saw a horse galloping past, waving the good news in his hand and shouting: "General Wang Tingchen, led the Datong cavalry out of the fortress, annihilated [-] elite Tartars (slightly exaggerated), beheaded the Tartars The false king Hauge captured countless animals, people, war horses, and goods... Generals Xiao Zongxian and Hu Dinggui led their troops to conquer the west of Liaoning, and they won consecutive victories and recovered Jinzhou, Ningyuan, Yizhou, and Shanhaiguan..."

Wu Weiye was stunned for a moment, then he slapped his chopsticks on the table, picked up his wine glass and laughed loudly: "Ning Jin and Shanhaiguan have finally been recovered. Gentlemen, drink this cup to the fullest, and wish Master Wang to recover the entire Liaodong!"

Mao Pijiang was also very happy, turned around and picked up the wine glass and said, "Congratulations to the soldiers who fought bloody battles!"

A group of literati raised their glasses and drank heavily, laughing and laughing endlessly.

They are all scholars of the former Ming Dynasty who have not been officials. They are usually full of complaints, and they are very disgusted with the Datong court.The imperial examinations have not yet been fully restored, and they have been separated and relocated three times. All these made them call the emperor stupid when they were drunk.

But on the other hand, they admired the emperor's generosity.

Someone got drunk and scolded the emperor in a restaurant, and the street patrol was alarmed by the scolding, and he was arrested and detained in a prison pending trial.The judge didn't know how to judge. After reporting layer by layer, Emperor Zhao smiled handsomely: "Don't make a fuss about a few poor drunken words, let's let them go."

This victory in Hebei, Shaanxi, Liaodong, and Liaoxi made the poor literati even more proud.Open your mouth and shut your mouth and say, our Datong soldiers are getting stronger day by day, and the Tartars are nothing but clowns. Sooner or later, we will be able to restore the territory of the Han and Tang Dynasties!

"Bang bang bang bang!"

In the city of Nanjing, there was the sound of crackling firecrackers.

Especially the trading companies involved in northern business had already prepared firecrackers.The more territory the Datong Army regained, the better their business would be.And as immigrants enrich the north, it contains unlimited business opportunities. In recent years, many merchants have become rich because of it.

"Meicun is well-known all over the world, why not let Meicun take the lead, and let's jointly invite His Majesty to resume the imperial examination." Shi Kecheng put down his glass and said.

Shi Kecheng was Shi Kefa's cousin, who surrendered to Li Zicheng in Kaifeng's hometown, and then surrendered to the Qing Dynasty in Kaifeng.When the Datong army besieged Shangqiu, this guy fled to Shangqiu again, trying to join Emperor Zhao, but too many rebels failed, so he hid in the mountains halfway and survived.

As for Shangshu's request to resume the imperial examination, it has to come once a year, and Zhao Han is too lazy to bother.

Wu Weiye shook his head and said, "Your Majesty has his own arrangements for the resumption of the imperial examinations. It's useless for me to say more."

"Meicun's words are wrong," Mao Bijiang said. "Ming Taizu also abolished the imperial examination, but if he didn't use the imperial examination to select officials, there must be many problems. Ming Taizu also realized this, so he ordered the restoration of the imperial examination. Now there are corruption everywhere. The fraudulent case has been exposed, and if things go on like this, the current emperor will also think about restoring the imperial examination. I wait for the scholars, and insist on going to the sparse every year, which is also a step for His Majesty to restore the imperial examination."

"Well said, we should persevere!" Tian Younian praised.

This Tian Younian has the same name as the cabinet minister Tian Younian who retired this year.But this field is not that field.

Tian Younian in front of him is from Anhui, and he was the No. 13 Jinshi in the 5th year of Chongzhen in history.He and his younger brother Tian Fengnian specialize in studying Mao's poems, and they are also considered one of the founders of the Qing Dynasty's textual research school.

Wu Weiye shook his head and said: "Ming Taizu abolished the imperial examination and wanted to recruit talents from the Imperial Academy. How can the small Imperial Academy recruit talents from all over the world? Today, Your Majesty has established primary schools, middle schools and universities. He has also opened up a system for selecting officials at all levels. , If you pass the registration examination, you can become a reserve official. A reserve official does not spend half a year in politics with a salary. Once you are familiar with copywriting work, you can become a full-time official. There are also rules for each level of examination and promotion according to the department. In this way, local officials Being able to govern, sweeping away the mediocrity of officials in the late Ming Dynasty."

"Otherwise," Mao Bijiang said, "if this method is used for a long time, and officials are selected regardless of their origin, there will inevitably be many disadvantages. The officials of a county, who can pass the exam, and who can't, have already practiced fraud. There are a large number of mediocre officials in the city. This year, the inspectors of the clean government found a major case in Rugao. There was a former Ming scholar who was the head of Rugao County's official department. In the past two years, [-]% of Rugao officials passed the exam. They are his relatives and friends. Some people don’t even know a few big characters, and they only passed the exam because he secretly changed the answer sheet. All civil servants in a county are like this, so what about the whole world?”

"Indeed, the disadvantages have been revealed, and the restoration of the imperial examination is imperative!" Shi Kecheng clapped his hands.

"Clap clap clap!"

Suddenly someone knocked on the door, and it was very hasty.

The door opened, and Xu Lianggong rushed in: "Everyone, something serious happened!"

Xu Lianggong is Xu Xiake's nephew, who died this year in history, and the slaves rebelled and killed him.This guy has long been separated and relocated, and his new home address is in Shandong. He thought Shandong was too poor after the war, so he took his wife and children to do "Beijing drifting" in Nanjing for a long time.

"Why are you so flustered?" Wu Weiye asked.

Xu Lianggong spread out a piece of paper, the ink was still wet: "I copied a copy of the notice that was posted today, and the imperial court re-set the ranks of officials. Officials continued from the previous Ming Dynasty, and they were still at the ninth rank and eighteenth rank, while the officials were changed. There are six grades and twelve grades. The officials in the town are the lowest from the sixth grade. When it comes to the county government, the chiefs of each department are the third grade officials."

This is nothing, the civil servants of Ming Dynasty also have ranks.

Everyone looked at the notice, gradually showing surprise, because it faintly revealed information about the imperial examination.

Perhaps because of the serious cheating in the selection of officials in various places, the Datong court made stricter regulations.

To prepare for the civil servant examination, one must hold a primary school graduation certificate to take part.In other words, those who do not have a primary school graduation certificate will not even be qualified to be reserve officials in the future.At the same time, officials from the third class can work in the county.The third-class officials and above, that is, the county government section chief and above, must abide by the principle of reassignment from other places.

It is also stipulated that those who hold a high school graduation certificate and take the preparatory official examination can be directly designated as a third-class official when they become a regular official, or directly serve as a junior official at the end of the ninth rank.

"Oh," Wu Weiye sighed, "Your Majesty's thoughts are clearly revealed in this notice. Even if the imperial examinations are resumed in the future, I am afraid that we must have a university diploma. Our fame in the former Ming Dynasty will definitely not count."

"Your Majesty is confused!" Mao Pijiang couldn't help blurting out.

No one stopped it, and it didn't matter if they scolded the emperor in private, and the government didn't care if they knew about it.

Shi Kecheng stood up abruptly: "Farewell, gentlemen, I will return to Henan tomorrow."

"I wish you all the best in your career!" The crowd said with hands clasped.

The notice said that in Henan, Shandong, Sichuan and other places, due to the incomplete construction of primary schools, the previous method of selecting officials was temporarily used.

Shi Kecheng used to disdain to be an official, but now he wants to go home quickly. Before he gets stuck, he will be an official first.If there is any hesitation, you won't even be an official in the future!

More than one person had this kind of thinking, and even the children of the rich families in the south applied to emigrate to the north on their own initiative, because they wanted to go to the north to be an official.

A bunch of scumbags, they don't eat a toast and eat fine wine!

Chapter 573 [The people can let them know, but they can't make them know]

"Your Majesty, Beijing has been restored, please revise "History of Ming Dynasty." Qian Qianyi asked at the court meeting. . .

Zhao Han nodded and said, "Yes. Order the Imperial Academy History Institute to compile "History of the Ming Dynasty", with Qian Qianyi as the president and Wang Tiaoding as the vice president."

"I take orders!" Qian Qianyi was overjoyed.

This matter has been settled long ago, and it is very important to bring it to the court meeting.

Although Qian Qianyi is the president, he can only work in the professional field.The one who is really in charge of the overall situation is Wang Tiaoding, the vice president. This "History of Ming Dynasty" must be compiled in accordance with Datong theory.

As for Zhang Pu, he became seriously ill again and had to stay in bed every year, but he just couldn't die.

Zhao Han also said to Chen Wenkui, Shangshu of the Ministry of Criminal Justice: "Chen Wenkui temporarily resigned from his position as Shangshu, collected cases over the years, combined with the criminal laws of previous dynasties, and compiled a "Datong Law". There are seven parts: law, publication law, and land law. The constitution does not need to be compiled for the time being, and I will compile it myself. When it will be compiled is really uncertain.”

This matter was not agreed in advance, and Li Banghua was puzzled: "Your Majesty, the etiquette law is understandable, so what is the publishing law?"

Zhao Han took out a book and threw it in front of all the officials: "This "Remains of the Ancient Ming Dynasty" is full of nonsense, and there are many pages in it that I edited. Yes. I know that there is a book called "Gushan Bizhen". The author knows how to argue, and readers would rather believe it. In that book, what does Wan Guifei look like? Publishing Law is the law that specifically manages the publishing of books. !"

The black material about Concubine Wan Gui originally came from Shen Xing's "Gushan Bijing".

However, when Yu Shenxing was writing the book, he added a special sentence: These things were said by an old eunuch, maybe the old eunuch was spreading rumors.

Mao Qiling compiled "Supplements to the History of Sheng Chaotong", which quoted Yu Shenxing's content, but deleted the questionable sentence in the original work.Mao Qiling edited "History of the Ming Dynasty: Biography of Concubines" for a while, and moved "Supplements to the History of Sheng Chaotong" intact, so the unofficial history directly became official history.

Mao Qiling was the gangster who offended Zhao Han and was thrown into a petty official, and he presided over the punishment of the Kong family in Shandong.

"It should be so." Li Banghua quickly echoed. He also read "Gushan Bizhen", which became very popular during the Wanli period.