The Prosperous Era of Longwan

"Lai Lihong, do you have any idea how to deal with the Ming army's camp?"

After hearing what Dekole told the Ming army camp, Wang Gao looked at his general Lihong.

Lai Lihong was one of the few tribesmen under him who was both wise and brave, and was loyal to him, so Wang Gao also allowed him to lead a city by himself, showing his full trust in him.

Lai Lihong observed the Ming army camp for a while, and then thought about the layout of the Ming army camp described by Kohler, and felt a headache.

In the past, battles with the Ming army were all based on sneak attack tactics. The Ming army was often on the defensive side, so he was able to make repeated military exploits.

But this time it was obviously different. The Ming army's defense was extremely tight, making this battle difficult to fight.

"Does the Ming army have large groups of troops coming out to harvest wood or where to get water?"

Lai Lihong thought for a long time and finally asked.

"The Ming army has to leave the camp to cut wood and collect water, but there are not many people and horses. Could it be that Lord Zuoling wants to sneak attack the Ming army's small team outside and attract the Ming army to come out of the camp for rescue?"

I have been observing for several days, and the Ming army was cautious when leaving the stronghold, and it seemed that "

Dekler whispered.

"What does it seem like?"

Lai Lihong asked nervously.

"Based on my judgment, even if the Ming army is attacked by a small team outside, I am afraid that the Ming army will not send troops to rescue them.

Every time people leave the camp, the camp gate will be blocked by the horse, and it doesn't look like they can move out quickly. "

Dekler explained.

"This is a bit troublesome. The Ming army is probably worried about a sneak attack by our army, so they are very careful in doing things.

If this is the case, even if we attack the Ming army's squad outside, I am afraid that the Ming army will not risk the camp being attacked in order to save these people. "

Lai Lihong said distressedly.

"You can't help it?"

When Wang Gao saw that the people he brought specially had no idea about the Ming army's cautious approach, he felt very anxious.

If the Ming army really established a foothold in Kuandian, it would be difficult to attack them in the future.

"Manzhu, let's do this for today. I'll think of a solution when I get back."

Lai Lihong had no choice but to say.

Continuing to wander near the enemy camp is also a very dangerous behavior in itself. Once discovered by the Ming army, they may attract a sentry team.

The large Ming army will choose to defend the camp, but if they find that there are only a few Jurchens, they will probably send a small team of cavalry to pursue them.

By then, they will be in danger.

"Forget it, let's get here today and let's go."

Wang Gao said immediately.

He is the leader of the Jurchens in Jianzhou. Although he has been granted a title by the Ming court and is regarded as an official of the Ming Dynasty, he also knows that the Ming court does not regard him as one of its own, otherwise it would not often ask him for various requests. kind of goods.

Even in the limited mutual trade every year in the Ming Dynasty, the prices of the goods they brought would be reduced in every possible way, so that their income could not meet the needs of the tribe.

Well, in Wang Gao's view, he and Ming Ting were enemies because he was actually forced by Ming Ting.

If Akito does business with him fairly and allows his people to gain what they need through the transaction, he will naturally not be an enemy of Akito.

But these Ming people were cunning and insidious. They tried their best to lower the value of their goods and raise the prices of Ming supplies. They often suffered huge losses in the mutual market, to the point where they could no longer feed their people, so they would plunder. .

It's just that there is no way to attack the Ming army's camp for the time being, so Wang Gao will naturally not attack the Ming army's camp with his tribe.

The loss was too great and he couldn't bear it.

In the land of Liaodong, the number of men and horses under his command determines the tone of speech.

He, Wang Gao, has a strong voice in Jianzhou Jurchen, and even in the entire Jurchen Three Guards, not just because of the strength of his subordinates.

If the losses in the battle with the Ming army were too great, it would naturally be detrimental to him and would weaken his influence among the Jurchen tribe.

They quietly retreated with Lihong and Dekole, joined the soldiers behind them, and rode away into the distance.

Although the Ming army set up their camp more conservatively, they also sent out scouting horses around. Therefore, the camp chosen by Dekoler and the others was relatively far away from the Ming army's main camp, because they were worried about being discovered by the Ming people and alerting the enemy.

"Manzhu, I will read Mingren's book when I get back and think of a solution."

Riding on the horse, Lai Lihong also said to Wang Gao.

"Although Ming people are not good at it, their ancestors still have the ability to fight. Otherwise, they would not have driven the Mongols back to the grassland."

Wang Gao was very impressed by Lai Lihong's words and immediately said: "Read more of their books. Those strategies are really powerful."

"Yes, Manzhu, I watched "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms" when I had nothing to do. I don't even know what to say about the tactics used against Mingren. Anyway, if I didn't see those things, I would never have thought of such a method."

Lai Lihong said with a smile.

"Sir Zuoling, do you know where I can find Akito's book?"

Dekole noticed that Manzhu Wang Gao and Zuoling Lailihong both praised Mingren's books, so he immediately joined in and asked.

Well, Xianyu also wants to make progress. He also wants to be called Manzhu's subordinate and lead a city to enjoy a prosperous life, so he also wants to read Mingren's book.

"Are you literate?"

But Wang Gao didn't say anything, but Lai Lihong sneered.

When Zuo Ling asked him if he could read, Kohler immediately lowered his head.

Forgot, he is not literate at all, how can he read Mingren's books.

The Ming Dynasty was peaceful for a hundred years. Even so, the literacy rate in the country was frighteningly low, let alone among outsiders.

Among the Jurchen tribe, only a small number of nobles were exposed to Han culture and learned some Han knowledge and etiquette.

For the vast majority of the Jurchen tribe, even if those books were placed in front of him, they would not know what was written on them.

Wang Gao secretly observed the Ming army's camp, but was not discovered by the sentinels sent by Pei Chengzu, so until now, the Ming army did not know that they had been noticed by the Jurchens and were planning to attack them.

Thousands of miles away in the capital, in the Forbidden City Cabinet, Wei Guangde was handling official duties when he heard footsteps coming to the door.

Soon, Lu Bu quickly entered the room and whispered in his ear: "Master, there is a decree from the palace that I will be the chief examiner of this examination.

The angel delivering the message was already outside, and he asked the master to come over and receive the message. "

Hearing this, Wei Guangde just frowned slightly, then put down his official duties and stood up.

Speaking of which, if it weren't for Ding You, he would have been the chief examiner of Longqing's five-year examination.

When he came to the door, he saw a eunuch standing outside with a chamberlain holding an imperial edict. People from the Zhongshushe in the nearby cabinet were already kneeling there, waiting for the edict to be announced.

After Wei Guangde passed by, he immediately knelt down to receive the order.

The eunuch turned around and took the imperial edict from the eunuch's hand. He immediately unfolded it and read aloud: "There is an edict, and I order Wei Guangde, the crown prince, Taibao, the Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, and the scholar of Jianji Palace, and Wang Xilie, the left minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs and the academician of the Hanlin Academy, to be in charge. Become an examiner for the examination."

"I accept the order."

Wei Guangde stretched out his hands to take the eunuch's gathered imperial edict and read loudly.

When he got up, Zhang Juzheng, the chief minister of the cabinet, and Lu Tiaoyang, the assistant minister, had also heard the news. Apparently they heard the news in their respective duty rooms. An imperial decree had been passed to the second assistant duty room, so they came to see what the decree was.

However, Wei Guangde felt that Zhang Juzheng was just pretending not to know, and that this incident had actually been anticipated.

Zhang Juzheng had been the examiner of the joint examination, and as usual it was his turn to be Wei Guangde.

The next examination, which is the fifth year of Wanli, should be Lu Tiaoyang.

If, at that time, he was still in the cabinet but had not yet taken office.

However, the deputy chief examiner appointed by the palace this time was somewhat beyond Wei Guangde's expectations, because he thought it would be someone else, but unexpectedly he chose Wang Xilie.

You know, he and Wang Xilie are both from Jiangxi, so they shouldn't make such a mistake.

The chief examiner and deputy examiner are from Jiangxi. If too many candidates from Jiangxi appear on the list this time, I'm afraid there will be a big incident.

Thinking of this, Wei Guangde couldn't help but glance at Zhang Juzheng suspiciously.

Yes, at this time he will only look at the problem from the worst-case scenario.

They were worried that during this examination, Wei Guangde deliberately selected young people from Jiangxi to serve as officials, so he resorted to such a trick to prevent them from promoting too many fellow villagers.

As for all the Jinshi this year, they can barely be regarded as his disciples of Wei Guangde, then he can only hehe.

You must know that an army of at least three hundred Jinshi people is naturally divided into distant and distant relatives. If fellow students and disciples are added, they will naturally become closer.

If you are just a disciple, then it depends on your talent and eye connection.

After exchanging a few words with Zhang Juzheng and Lu Tiaoyang, Wei Guangde could only follow the eunuch who delivered the order.

What to do, of course, is to go to the Tribute Academy and prepare for the test.

Once the imperial edict appoints the chief executive of the examination, he will have to live and eat in the Gongyuan until the examination is over and the results are released before he can regain his freedom.

"Go back to the house and let me know."

When Wei Guangde left the cabinet, he just gave Lu Bu instructions.

When he followed the eunuch into the Gongyuan, Wang Xilie had already arrived here first.

Like Wei Guangde, he was accompanied by the eunuch who delivered the order, and he could no longer contact the outside world after that.

Along with them, there are also selected room masters and other personnel, there are twenty or thirty scattered here and there.

Since everyone was gathered together, there was naturally nothing to say. As the CEO of this conference, Wei Guangde immediately asked people to prepare a sumptuous banquet.

Yes, for a banquet, the dishes need to be sumptuous.

After entering Gongyuan, all expenses will be paid by the court, so you can't treat yourself badly.

In fact, presiding over the examination is still very boring, because the people below do everything, including invigilating the exam. Even after the final exam is over, the answer sheets of the exam are all reviewed by each room master and selected by them. Only the good answer sheets were sent to him and Wang Xilie, who determined whether they were on the list.

In the past, he was tested by others, but now it was his turn to test others, and Wei Guangde was not affected by this.

In fact, after he entered the Hanlin Academy, many Hanlin officials had more or less opportunities to go on foreign missions, that is, they were sent to various provinces to participate in the provincial examinations.

Although he is not the chief examiner, he is also one of the invigilators sent by the imperial court.

But Wei Guangde has never had such an opportunity, so this is the first time for an older girl to sit in a sedan chair to preside over the imperial examination.

Fortunately, Wang Xilie was here, and he had participated in the examination in the fifth year of Longqing, but he was an official at that time.

But you haven’t seen pork, haven’t you seen pigs running?

Well, with the old man Wang Xilie here, he arranged the test according to the diagram.

In fact, there is nothing to arrange. The positions of the people who are brought here have already been determined. It is just a matter of getting them ready.

The rest of the time is free, so while waiting for the exam, a group of people often gather in the pavilion in the back garden of Gongyuan to play chess.

There are also those who don’t like playing chess, so they just read books and drink tea.

After all, the time is too free and chatting is no fun.

At this time, Wei Guangde called Wang Xilie and walked in the garden. It seemed that he was admiring the flowers, but in fact he was talking about other things.

"Zizhong, this time you and I were called here. This is really weird."

Wei Guangde stated his suspicions bluntly.

The feud between Wei Guangde and Wang Xilie is actually not a secret in the official circles of the capital, and many people know about it.

Wang Xilie was dissatisfied with Wei Guangde, saying that he was young and had risen to power by flattering the two emperors Jiajing and Longqing, and his words were very disdainful.

Seeing his attitude, Wei Guangde naturally didn't like him either.

Well, the two fellow villagers were supposed to have a good relationship, but instead they became antagonistic.

In fact, Wei Guangde did secretly suppress Wang Xilie many times because of his attitude towards him, that is, not giving him the opportunity to gain political achievements and not allowing him to be promoted.

Otherwise, no matter what, the official level will crush people to death.

But when he got here, Wei Guangde felt that he should have a good talk with him to avoid falling into someone else's trap.

Losing one's official position is a small matter, but losing one's reputation is a big matter.

If he is somehow involved in some imperial examination fraud, his future will be ruined.

"Mr. Wei Ge, actually when I received the order, I also felt weird."

Wei Guangde said this, and Wang Xilie also whispered his opinion.

In fact, in his mind, the more speculation was that there was something going on between Wei Guangde, Zhang Juzheng, and perhaps Feng Bao. They were trying to trick each other, and he was the one who was involved, and he was the unluckiest one.

"What I fear most is that this time I will try to cause trouble."

Wei Guangde nodded and said again.

"What's Mr. Wei Ge's solution?"

Wang Xilie made a gesture of listening attentively and waited for his next words.

"The palace has no intention of raising questions, and I didn't get any news beforehand this time."

Wei Guangde first emphasized that he had no knowledge of this matter, and then said: "Since the palace does not set the questions, we will do it, so I plan to let the examiners from each party come up with their own questions and put the questions into the Dendrobium. Feel free to ask a scribe or school captain to draw questions.

It doesn't matter which question you get drawn. Although we still can't say that you and I are innocent, at least the officials in this examination are aware of it. "

Wei Guangde expressed his thoughts.

There are two ways to cheat in the ancient imperial examinations. One is to know the test questions in advance, find someone to be a gunman in advance, write essays on the test questions, and then memorize them by rote or bring them into the examination room.

The second is to leave links on the answer sheet, such as the opening or closing words of a certain word, so that the examiner will notice his article and know who wrote it, so he will put the answer on the list.

In both cases, naturally the examiner and the examinee can only cheat if they cooperate with each other.

As for some people who think that making cheat sheets of the Four Books and Five Classics and bringing them into the examination room, in fact, their actual use is limited, or they are meaningless at all.

Most people who do this are making assumptions.

They guessed the questions the examiner might ask, but they couldn't remember their own essays, so they made cheat sheets.

Although Wang Xilie was quite dissatisfied with Wei Guangde's idea, and felt that he should be frank and honest if nothing happened, but he would only lose a small amount of success.

But thinking that since Wei Guangde said this, he couldn't just brush him off, so he immediately nodded and agreed. (End of chapter)