Rise From the Humble

It was drizzling in the morning. As soon as Zhu Ping'an opened the door, he saw dense raindrops falling gently, like mist steaming from the air. It fell on his face with a cool and refreshing feeling.

A cluster of unknown wild flowers that naughty children were playing with in the yard had quietly bloomed and filled the branches. The red and blue flowers were blooming under the roots of the tree, like a cloud of colorful clouds surrounding the roots of the tree.

"Uncle, have breakfast before going out."

Baozi's little maid came to Zhu Pingan's courtyard early, carrying a food box and a paper umbrella under her arm.

Breakfast was as good as ever. After eating, the little maid Baozi forced an extra paper umbrella into Zhu Pingan's hand before leaving with the food box.

Zhu Ping'an went out with the oil-paper umbrella under his arm, but did not open it. The light rain was as fine as cow hair but did not wet his clothes, so there was no need to open an umbrella. Zhu Ping'an just wore his clothes and sleeves wide and leisurely went out to the Imperial College. Today is the day when Zhu Ping'an and other upstarts in the officialdom perform the vegetable serving ceremony. The places for the vegetable releasing ceremony are the Imperial College and the Confucius Temple.

The ceremony of releasing vegetables is the last procedure for the new emperor to enter the officialdom.

After the vegetable release ceremony, Zhu Ping'an and the others can change into the official uniforms of the officials. From then on, they will officially break away from their civilian status, officially enter the officialdom, and become officials. From then on, they will enjoy the country's salary and power.

Zhu Pingan met Zhang Siwei and Wang Shizhen when he was approaching the Imperial College, and the three of them entered the Imperial College together.

At this time, the Imperial College was the highest institution of higher learning in the Ming Dynasty, and also the most advanced institution of higher learning in the world. There was no one, and it was much more influential than Harvard and West Point in modern times. If someone from countries in regions such as the Western Regions, the Korean Peninsula, and Southeast Asia could further their studies in the Imperial Academy of the Ming Dynasty, they would be able to serve as high-ranking officials directly after returning home.

The Imperial College is located in the Dongcheng District of Beijing. The street in front of the Imperial College is called Imperial College Street. Next to the Imperial College is the Confucius Temple. You can go directly to the Confucius Temple from the Imperial College.

This is Zhu Ping'an's first visit to the Imperial College.

There is a dismounting monument not far from the Imperial College. Everyone must dismount regardless of their official position. This is a requirement to respect teachers and moral principles. After passing the dismounting monument, you will soon reach the main entrance of the Imperial College - Jixian Gate.

There are two tall archways in front of Jixian Gate, which are exquisite and grand. The main decoration is yellow colored glaze, which was very luxurious in the Ming Dynasty. The front of the archway is engraved with the words "Huanqiao Jiaoze", and the back is engraved with the words "Xuehai Jieguan". The first word means that there are many teachers in the Imperial College to give lectures, and the second word means that there are more people in the Imperial College to monitor the classes. The inscriptions on the archway are the same as those in later generations. It can be seen that the inscriptions on the archway in the Imperial College of the Qing Dynasty in later generations were copied from the Ming Dynasty. Historically, it was said that they were inscribed by Emperor Qianlong himself. Now it seems that the Qing Dynasty revised the history books and erased a lot of things from the Ming Dynasty.

The Imperial College is mainly red in color. As soon as Zhu Ping'an, Zhang Siwei and Wang Shizhen entered the Imperial College, the architectural style of the Imperial College's red bricks and red tiles hit their faces.

After entering the Imperial Academy, many people from the same year came to greet Zhu Pingan and the three of them, and Zhu Pingan also returned the courtesy one by one. While Zhu Ping'an and the others were greeting each other, many of the students studying in the Imperial College were watching from a distance with envious eyes.

The supervisors all knew that today the newly promoted Jinshi would be holding a dish ceremony, so they took their seats early to watch from a distance, watching with envy and jealousy from a distance.

After Zhu Ping'an and the others had been here for a while, Ouyang Zishi walked in surrounded by a group of newly promoted Jinshi. To say that there are people in the court who are good at serving as officials, this was most vividly reflected in Ouyang Zishi. Zhu Ping'an and the others had not seen the leaders of the Imperial College for a long time, and none of them showed up. A few minutes after Ouyang Zishi entered the Imperial College, the Imperial Academy's Jijiu, Si Ye, Jian Cheng and several Xuezheng appeared. .

The previous Jijiu of the Imperial Academy was Xu Jie. After Xu Jie was promoted to Minister of Rites, the current Jijiu of the Imperial Academy took Yan Song's back door and was able to serve as the Jijiu of the Imperial Academy. Therefore, the Imperial Academy's sacrificial wine was particularly enthusiastic about Yan Song's nephew.

In this dish-releasing ceremony, Zhu Pingan, the number one scholar, should have been the protagonist, but in this dish-releasing ceremony, Ouyang Zishi became the protagonist.

Although every time Zhu Pingan stood in front of everyone, the protagonist was Ouyang Zishi, who received a lot of attention from the Imperial Academy. Ouyang Zushi also showed off his superiority in front of Zhu Pingan from time to time.

On the way to the Confucius Temple, the drizzle in the sky gradually became heavier.

Several officials from the Imperial College led the way, and the rest of the newly promoted Jinshi followed. The three ministers of the Imperial Academy and the Chief Supervisor of the Imperial Academy walked behind, talking to Ouyang Zishi and others while walking, and took great care of Ouyang Zishi.

Zhu Pingan, Zhang Siwei and Wang Shizhen were walking together. They hadn't arrived at the Confucius Temple yet, so there was no need to sort them out. When they arrived at the Confucius Temple, they would have to line up and strictly observe etiquette.

"Is the rain a bit heavy?" Ouyang Zishi said as he walked, and then his eyes intentionally or unintentionally looked at the umbrella under the arm of Zhu Ping'an who was walking in front.

The look in Ouyang Zishi's eyes was noticed by the Imperial Academy Jiujiu. Ouyang Zishi was the nephew of Mr. Yan Ge, and the Imperial Academy Jiujiu also heard that Mr. Yan Ge intended to marry his daughter to Ouyang Zishi. Now he was interested in Ouyang Zishi. Showing goodwill, that is, showing goodwill to Mr. Yan Ge. Whether he can mention his rank in the future depends on Mr. Yan Ge's attitude.

"Ahem, is that safe?" The Imperial Academy came to Zhu Pingan's side while offering wine, and asked.

"I've seen the wine sacrifice, the student is Zhu Pingan." Zhu Pingan bowed his hands.

"Well, okay, don't you use that umbrella?" the Imperial Academy asked again, "Ouyang Zishi is not feeling well and cannot tolerate rain."

Zhu Ping'an smiled after hearing what the Imperial College said about offering wine, and then sent the umbrella in his arms to the Imperial College to offer wine.

It's raining so hard that your clothes won't get wet, so you can't help it? Feeling unwell? I see you look very rosy! Zhang Siwei and Wang Shizhen, who were beside Zhu Pingan, looked unwilling. They looked at Ouyang Zishi behind him with strange eyes, vaguely complaining for Zhu Pingan.

"Ahem, why are you so embarrassed? Isn't that Zihou going to be caught in the rain?" Ouyang Zashi took the umbrella handed to him by the Imperial Academy in a pretentious manner, and looked at Zhu Ping'an as he deliberately declined.

It seemed that if Zhu Pingan didn't nod, he wouldn't continue.

Then, the Imperial Academy Jiujiu turned his attention to Zhu Ping'an, with a hint of pressure.

"This little rain doesn't hurt me, I'll give you the umbrella." Zhu Ping'an readily comforted Ouyang Zishi.

Hearing this, the Imperial Academy offered wine and touched his beard with satisfaction. Ouyang Zishi took the umbrella half-heartedly, then opened it and held it over his head, looking at it with pride.

Zhang Siwei and Wang Shizhen didn't understand why Zhu Pingan gave the umbrella to Ouyang Zishi so readily, but when Zhu Pingan said something, they laughed.

Because what Zhu Pingan said is: "If he doesn't lift it, it will be sunny."