Late Yuan Dynasty: I am the true emperor

Chapter 103: A piece of paper reflects one's heart, honesty is unbeatable

Luzhou City, the group finally arrived at their destination.

Those scholars were taken to Chongwenguan by soldiers arranged by Bao Heng, while Chang Yuchun took a group of people to report to Lu Jin.

"Marshal, I have brought all of Liu Ju's family and subordinates here. Please make arrangements."

In the government office, Lu Jin looked at the people brought by Chang Yuchun, especially the 12-year-old Lan Yu. At this age, he was the most rebellious and mischievous "primary school student". When he arrived at the Marshal's Mansion, he couldn't help looking around.

Lu Jin looked at Lan Yu and couldn't help laughing secretly in his heart. Is this the arrogant and domineering Lan Yu who later returned in triumph, demolished his own city gates, and raped a concubine of the Yuan Dynasty?
The contrast is really big. Now he looks like a chubby and naughty kid, but he is actually quite tall, about 12 meters tall at the age of .

Lu Jin looked at Lan Yu's father, "Are you Lan Chun?"

"I am Lan Chun, nice to meet you, Marshal!" Lan Chun quickly clasped his fists and said.

Lu Jin nodded and made arrangements. "You and Yuchun will both be the battalion commanders for the time being. Let Lan Rong be the company commander under you. Your son..."

"This boy's name is Lan Yu." Lan Chun introduced immediately.

"Yes, Lan Yu, this boy is still young, he can go to the training camp to study and learn martial arts first, and then make arrangements for him when he becomes a talented person in the future.

"I'll ask Zhu Shou to arrange accommodation and troops for you. You will be organized into two combat battalions and stay in Luzhou temporarily for training while you wait for your assignment."

"Yes, I will obey your command." The two men clasped their fists in agreement at the same time.

Lu Jin was just about to wave his hand and tell them to go down, but Chang Yuchun spoke again.

"Marshal, we met a mother and son at the Chao County dock. The mother was seriously ill and dying, leaving behind a 16-year-old child. She wanted to entrust the child to my family, but I had to march and fight, so it was difficult for me to take care of him.

"I've heard that the Marshal is kind and righteous, and has adopted an orphan. Why don't you let the Marshal take care of this mother and child as well?"

Lan Caiyun brought the weak mother and son over, which immediately surprised Lu Jin. Of course, he didn't know Mu Ying. He didn't expect that Chang Yuchun would come to him for all kinds of troubles. This guy is really an honest man.

Moreover, he is an honest man with ulterior motives. He comes up to me and says that I am kind and righteous. Is it not possible for me to not take him in?

"Oh? I did adopt a son, but I've just gotten married and have no children. This child is adorable, but his mother is still alive, so I can't take her away by force."

As soon as these words came out, Mu Ying's mother wanted to say something, but Lu Jin quickly raised his hand to interrupt her.

"You and your child can stay in the Marshal's Mansion first. I can also help raise the child. You go get treatment first. If the disease cannot be cured, I will definitely raise the child. If the disease can still be cured, you abandon your own child. Wouldn't that make him lonely and helpless? It's better for him to have his mother around."

Upon hearing this, the woman pulled the child and kowtowed to Lu Jin, "Thank you, Marshal, for saving my life."

"Okay, get up. Take the child down first. I'll ask someone to get a doctor to treat you. By the way, what's the child's name?"

"My name is Mu Ying." Mu Ying opened her big eyes, looked at Lu Jin and answered quickly.

“???” This time it was Lu Jin’s turn to be surprised.

Is this Mu Ying? Lu Jin only remembered that Mu Ying was from Dingyuan. His father died early, and his mother took him to avoid wars and famines. Later, his mother died on the way, and Mu Ying wandered around and begged by himself. When he was eight years old, he was spotted by Ma Xiuying and adopted as her son. Zhu Yuanzhang named him Zhu Wenying.

As for where exactly he was taken in, some say it was Haozhou, Chuzhou, Heyang, and others say everywhere. However, Mu Ying was wandering around at that time, so it is possible that he was found anywhere.

Now Lu Jin came early, and Mu Ying's mother was just seriously ill but not dead yet. This was different from what happened in history.

Lu Jin couldn't help but sigh at this fate, and immediately asked, "How old are you?"

"I'm six years old."

"That's about the same age as Liao Sheng, who is only seven years old. So you should stay here first. I will treat your mother's illness, and you can stay here to study, okay?" Lu Jin looked at him and asked.

When little Mu Ying heard that Lu Jin was willing to treat his mother, he immediately knelt down and kowtowed, saying, "Thank you for treating my mother. I am willing to stay and study."

"Okay, then you can stay."

Lu Jin called the guards to take the mother and son away, and asked Zhang Yunxiu to arrange accommodation for the two and find a doctor to treat them. He also called Zhu Shou to arrange accommodation for Chang Yuchun and others and set up a combat camp.

There are quite a few military generals who remain in Luzhou waiting for assignment, including Chang Yuchun and Lan Chun, the father-in-law and son-in-law, Li Pusheng who changed his name to Li Ruizhong, and Han Qinglu, the surrendered general from Wuwei. All of them are temporarily waiting for assignment in Luzhou.

However, they all had to wait for Guo Zixing's Eighth Regiment to be established, and Guo Zixing had to wait for Zhu Liangzu to capture Dingyuan.

Fortunately, the imperial army did not arrive so quickly, so he still had time to train and expand the army.

At this time, Bao Heng came in to report, "General, many scholars have come today."

Lu Jin asked curiously, "What are these people doing in the city?"

"Some people exchange knowledge with others in Chongwen Hall, and others worship in the ancestral temple in the city."

Hearing this, Lu Jin immediately smiled and said, "Then your Bao Gong Temple must have a lot more incense."

Bao Heng said quickly, "You are joking, Marshal. There is more than just the Bao family in this Luzhou ancestral hall."

This is true. There are not many famous temples and Taoist temples in Hefei, but there are many ancestral halls. Hefei has produced many celebrities. The most famous one in the late Yuan Dynasty was of course Bao Zheng. Later generations also had the ancestral hall of Li Hongzhang here. It was really lively.
"Go and tell those scholars that the registration will end at noon tomorrow. They should gather at Chongwenguan at that time. I want to give them a speech. The exam will start at noon tomorrow." Lu Jin arranged for him.

"Yes." Bao Heng immediately accepted the order.

"Is the examination room at the palace ready?" Lu Jin asked again.

"It's ready. I borrowed tables and chairs from a restaurant in the city, and gathered some stationery. It should be enough for a few hundred people."

"Okay, let's arrange it this way."

At noon the next day, the last batch of scholars arrived by boat, and almost all those who should have arrived had arrived. The main reason was that there were only a few counties in total. If you are not enthusiastic about taking the exam to become an official, then what's the point of taking it? There was no point in waiting any later.

They summoned everyone to gather at Chongwen Hall, and at 11 a.m., Lu Jin showed up on time, wearing a white cotton round-necked robe, with his hair tied up and a net scarf on his head.

Before traveling through time, Lu Jin didn't have a buzz cut. Now, after growing his hair for two months, he can tie it up. With a net scarf, you can't tell how long his hair is.

As soon as the tall and strong Lu Jin appeared, more than 300 scholars bowed respectfully and said, "Greetings, Marshal!"

"No need to be polite, students."

After everyone stood up and looked at him, Lu Jin continued speaking.

"The Yuan Dynasty was tyrannical and cruel, and it tortured the people, treated them like livestock, and opened the river and changed the currency, which aroused the anger of the people, causing chaos in the country and the rise of rebel armies.

"Now that the Yuan Dynasty is about to end, I, Lu Jin, follow the will of heaven and the will of the people, and have raised an army to revolt in order to drive out the Tartars, restore China, establish laws and disciplines, and help the people. Fortunately, with the help of like-minded people, we have achieved the current situation.

"In recent days, more and more people have come to the Marshal's Office to recommend themselves. Among them, some have made contributions by surrendering the city, and some have made contributions by offering advice and suggestions. They can all be directly awarded official positions. However, the rest have made no contributions at all. If I directly grant them high positions, some people will inevitably say that I am unclear about rewards and punishments and that I am unfair.

"In this case, why not hold an exam, and let each student perform based on their ability, and those with outstanding results will be employed by the Marshal's Office, so we have this exam."

As soon as Lu Jin finished speaking, Hu Weiyong in the crowd immediately shouted, "The Marshal selects candidates through examinations and rewards and punishes fairly. He is truly a wise ruler. I wish I could die for him and help him conquer the world sooner!"

Upon hearing this, Lu Jin looked over and saw the scholar with an exaggerated expression, as if he had surrendered too late. He immediately labeled him in his mind as a bootlicker!

However, with this flatterer around, if the others said nothing, it would seem that they were ignorant. Upon hearing this, more than 300 candidates all bowed and saluted in unison, "The commander is wise!"

"Silence! Listen to me."

Lu Jin cursed the troublemaker inwardly before continuing.

"This exam is divided into two parts, civil and military. The civil exam does not test Confucian classics, but focuses on practical learning. There are six questions in total. The exam will be completed this afternoon. Those with excellent scores will be selected to be county magistrates, chief clerks, and several clerks in the general's office.

"There will be another military examination tomorrow. Those who pass the examination will be military officers, in charge of military supplies, military law, military education, etc. Students, please take note.

"The so-called military officers are the civilian officials in the army. Once they are enlisted as military officers, they can no longer be transferred to government positions and can only serve in the army."

As soon as these words were spoken, more than 300 candidates were suddenly shocked and looked at Lu Jin one after another, but after what happened just now, they didn't dare to speak this time.

If you are a military officer, you can't switch to a government official. Who would want to be one?

However, then Lu Jin continued to speak.

"But you don't have to worry. Once you are recruited as a military officer and serve in the army, you will naturally have a share of the commander's military achievements. If the commander is promoted, you will be promoted as well. If the commander is defeated in battle, you will also be held responsible.

"If the commander-in-chief can be awarded a title for his meritorious service, the civil servants in the army will naturally be promoted as well. In the future, they may be promoted directly to the Privy Council, and then from the Privy Council to the cabinet to be appointed prime minister. Being a military minister is also a prime minister!
"The Song Dynasty went too far in correcting the wrongs, using civil officials to control military power, which led to repeated defeats and ultimately the fall of the country. This was because civil officials were not familiar with military affairs, or they had power but no responsibility. Regardless of whether the war was won or lost, the civil officials did not have to bear responsibility. This was a bad policy.

"From now on, I will have civil and military ministers under my command. If it comes to military and national affairs, the prime minister cannot make a decision easily without the approval of the military minister. Therefore, military officers can also be prime ministers. You students don't have to worry about your future."

After hearing this, the examinees could no longer hold back and began to discuss in low voices, "A military officer was promoted to military prime minister? This is indeed interesting, there has never been such a thing before."

Scholars who were familiar with each other discussed what changes this reform would bring, and soon some of them started arguing in low voices about the affairs of the former Song Dynasty.

Seeing that the situation was becoming increasingly chaotic, Lu Jin shouted again.

"Silence! You can take a short break here. Chongwen Hall will provide lunch. After lunch, someone will lead you to the examination room. Everyone can take the written test. Those who fail the written test today can take the martial arts test again tomorrow."

"Thank you, Marshal, for the meal!"

Lunch was not very sumptuous, just porridge and pickled vegetables and salted fish. In those days, people were used to having two meals a day, and there was no lunch, so the landlord would just have some snacks to fill his stomach.

However, the Shengwu Army was able to have three meals a day. Meat was also in short supply in the army, but fortunately, they could supplement protein with soy products, and they tried to have tofu every day.

Fish should also be provided as much as possible. Although fish is white meat and does not provide as much energy as red meat, it is better than nothing.

A group of scholars ate the porridge, took a short rest and then went to the Imperial Examination Hall which was temporarily converted from the royal palace. It was indeed quite makeshift, with even the tables and chairs not being standardized.

There's no need for a body search, as long as you don't bring any books or weapons in. There's no way to cheat by leaking the test questions in advance, because Lu Jin hasn't revealed the test questions yet, and even Li Shanchang and Feng Guoyong don't know them, so how could the questions be leaked?

After the examinees were seated, Bao Heng led a group of soldiers to hand out the examination papers to them. They were just a few sheets of white paper with eight large characters written on them: "A piece of paper reflects one's heart, honesty and trustworthiness will never fail."

Lu Jin sat in the middle hall and laughed secretly, saying, "You must also taste the hardships I suffered in my previous life."

"The first question is about criminal law."

Lu Jin set the questions himself, and as soon as he said the topic, the candidates immediately pricked up their ears.

“We do not examine the judgment of cases, because judgments must be based on laws, but now we have no laws to follow. The Yuan court is tyrannical, and many of its laws are harmful to the people, so they cannot be used.

"However, re-editing a set of laws will take a long time and cannot be done in a day. But we cannot judge cases as we please. What should we do?"

The candidates all looked at Lu Jin stupidly, not knowing what he was going to test on.

Lu Jin said again at this time.

"I heard that when Emperor Gaozu of Han, Liu Bang, entered Xianyang, he also found the Qin laws too harsh to be effective, so he made three laws with the people of Guanzhong, saying that anyone who killed someone would be put to death, anyone who injured someone would be punished, and anyone who stole would be punished. Guanzhong was then stabilized, and the people were pleased.

"Now I want to follow the example of Han Gao. We do not need to stick to the three chapters. All the laws that the students think are important can be written on paper. Each person is limited to twenty articles."

As soon as this was said, the candidates were immediately happy. This was simpler than judging the case according to the legal provisions.

Li Shanchang and Feng Guoyong also found this question interesting.

There will be more later

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(End of this chapter)