Chapter 1975
Late Ming Dynasty 11
After the announcement of the winners, all the successful candidates entered the main hall to express their gratitude.
The top two scholars and Tan Hua stood at the forefront of the group of successful candidates and bowed to the emperor.
The emperor's voice reached everyone's ears: "Rise."
Xia Xueyi: This voice sounds so much like Master's.
He couldn't help but lift his eyelids and sneak a glance upwards.
Xia Xueyi was stunned.
Isn't that his master?
Zhu Youjian smiled slightly at Xia Xueyi.
Xia Xueyi was certain; this really was his master.
Xia Xueyi: "..."
What would you think if you found out that your master was the emperor?
I don't have any particular feelings, I just feel tired.
Because he was his master's favorite disciple, his master treated him like a beast of burden, making him do everything for him.
Of course, the master's reward was also generous.
He rose from a lowly seventh-rank scholar to a third-rank official in just two years.
This rapid promotion made many ministers extremely envious.
But don't they even look at how busy they are?!
His dark circles never disappeared, making his handsome face look haggard and reducing his appearance by several degrees.
His wife has started to dislike him.
Xia Xueyi's wife is named He Hongyao, yes, the same He Hongyao who was dumped by Xia Xueyi in the original novel.
These two are truly destined for each other.
Without Xia Xueyi's deception and theft of the Golden Snake Sword, the two would have become husband and wife.
After mastering her martial arts, He Hongyao left Miao territory and came to the capital to find Liu Yinxia as agreed.
Liu Dong brought her into the palace.
Liu Yinxia was overjoyed; this was a helper delivered right to her door.
So he hired He Hongyao to help him with his work.
He Hongyao thus had the opportunity to meet with Xia Xueyi frequently, and sometimes they would even work together.
As they spent more time together, feelings developed between them.
As a result, the two got married.
In the second year of their marriage, He Hongyao gave birth to a son for Xia Xueyi.
In the third year, He Hongyao gave birth to another daughter.
Xia Xueyi named her daughter Xia Qingqing.
Liu Tong: "..."
Even though the mother was changed, Xia Qingqing was still born?
Liu Qiu watched from the side. With the guidance of her biological parents, Xia Qingqing here was completely different from the Xia Qingqing in the original work. Although she was still a little willful, she was well-mannered and knew when to stop.
Xia Qingqing married Yuan Chengzhi after she grew up.
In this world, Yuan Chengzhi did not lose his father.
The Later Jin dynasty is still in chaos, and the border is relatively stable, so Yuan Chonghuan is not accused of colluding with the Later Jin.
Zhu Youjian had a certain appreciation for Yuan Chonghuan in this world, and appointed him to lead troops to suppress bandits.
The so-called bandits were the rebel armies that rose up across the country.
This is all Zhu Youxiao's fault, but Zhu Youjian has no choice but to take the blame.
Zhu Youxiao left Zhu Youjian with a lot of messes, causing Zhu Youjian a great deal of headaches. He didn't even want to acknowledge his own brother anymore. As soon as Zhu Youjian ascended the throne, he wanted to get rid of Wei Zhongxian, the "Nine Thousand Years Old," but Liu Tong stopped him.
Liu Tong told Zhu Youjian that Zhu Youxiao's favoritism towards Wei Zhongxian and the power he granted him were his means of checking the Donglin Party members.
The Donglin Party's power had become too great, threatening the imperial authority. Zhu Youxiao had no choice but to remove Wei Zhongxian to counterbalance them.
Zhu Youjian wanted to kill Wei Zhongxian, which was fine, but someone else needed to check and balance the Donglin Party members, and ideally, the Donglin Party members should be completely dispersed.
Zhu Youjian realized his predicament and couldn't help but lament loudly, "Being an emperor is so difficult!"
He really doesn't want to be emperor anymore!
Zhu Youjian could only temporarily put aside his intention to kill Wei Zhongxian. Wei Zhongxian also understood why Zhu Youjian spared his life, so he worked even harder to deal with the Donglin Party members, killing many of the pillars of the Donglin Party, which made the Donglin Party teeter on the brink of collapse.
Wei Zhongxian bore all the blame, while Zhu Youjian was innocent and was seen by everyone as a good emperor who was bullied by eunuchs.
Afterwards, the Donglin Party's power was completely shattered by Wei Zhongxian.
In Jiangnan, eight or nine out of ten officials and gentry were killed by Wei Zhongxian, and the wealth confiscated from their homes left ordinary people speechless.
Ordinary people: It turns out that the seemingly honest officials are not honest at all!
In the past, scholars said that eunuchs wielding power was not a good thing.
Ordinary people believed it.
However, after the confiscation of their property, the people began to doubt the scholars' claims.
Those officials and gentry exploited the people and amassed wealth, they were not even as good as those eunuchs!
The Donglin Party's reputation among the people plummeted, and after that, the Donglin Party completely disappeared.
Wei Zhongxian also knew that his end was near.
He didn't want to die, so he recruited many martial arts masters in the Jianghu (martial arts world) and brought them into the palace, intending to kill Zhu Youjian and then put Zhu Youjian's son, a baby who was only two or three years old, on the throne. He would still be the Ninth Prince and control the government.
Unfortunately, he knew nothing about Zhu Youjian's background.
It is unknown whether Zhu Youjian was a martial arts master or not, but Empress Liu Yinxia's martial arts skills were even higher than the emperor's.
The men led by Wei Zhongxian were no match for Zhu Youjian and Liu Yinxia.
They were beaten to death by Zhu Youjian and his companion. Zhu Youjian then personally sent Wei Zhongxian on his way, ordering him to chase after the old woman who had been sent away by Zhu Youjian earlier.
If Zhu Youjian couldn't kill Wei Zhongxian back then, couldn't he at least deal with Granny Ke?
This woman, relying on being Zhu Youxiao's wet nurse, committed many evil deeds. She even forced Zhu Youxiao's empress to abort her pregnancy.
Zhu Youjian handed the maidservant over to Zhu Youxiao's empress.
The next day, palace servants carried the body of Granny Ke out of Empress Zhu Youxiao's palace; there wasn't a single piece of good flesh on it.
After that, Zhu Youxiao's empress became a nun.
She realized that her brother-in-law, Zhu Youjian, was not someone to be trifled with and would not be controlled by her, his sister-in-law. She also discovered that Liu Yinxia was equally assertive. Zhu Youxiao's empress wisely left the palace.
Getting back to the topic, because of the troubles caused by the Donglin Party and the eunuchs, many people in the countryside who could no longer make a living rebelled.
After Zhu Youjian ascended the throne, he promoted the cultivation of sweet potatoes and issued an edict that those people who had been forced to become bandits in the past would not be held accountable.
As a result, many people returned to their hometowns and became farmers again.
Many of the rebel armies disbanded on the spot.
But some people are unwilling.
How can those who have tasted power be content to remain ordinary farmers?
These people were the targets of the imperial court's elimination efforts, with the largest group led by Gao Yingxiang.
Gao Yingxiang was the "Chuang King" before Li Zicheng. Now Li Zicheng has submitted to Gao Yingxiang and works under him.
Yuan Chonghuan led his troops to wipe out Gao Yingxiang's group, and Li Zicheng died at Yuan Chonghuan's hands.
Yuan Chonghuan was promoted for his merits and took a position in the Ministry of War.
He worked with Xia Xueyi for a period of time and they became friends.
The two children met through this, and Yuan Chengzhi and Xia Qingqing grew up together as childhood sweethearts, eventually getting married.
There is no Ajiu in this world, but there is Princess Changping, the youngest daughter of Liu Yinxia, nicknamed Qiqi.
When Zhu Qi was seventy years old, Zhu Youjian remembered his promise to Cheng Qingzhu and sent his daughter to the Qingzhu Gang. (End of Chapter)