Yongli Ming Dynasty

Chapter 69 Enke
The Regent looked up and drank the wine in the glass. After finishing the glass of wine, the Regent seemed to be less interested and sat back in his seat.
After the oath just now, although the generals have not yet thought clearly about what happened today, they have begun to realize that there is no good banquet. Today's banquet seems not so easy to eat.

The generals were thinking about His Highness's actions just now. At this moment, everyone sat in their seats with solemn expressions. No one dared to speak casually.

Yang Yandi, Zhao Xing and other rash generals, after receiving repeated warnings from the generals above, finally came to their senses. They stared with their eyes wide open, sitting upright at the table, not daring to speak casually.
At this point, the slightly relaxed atmosphere after a morning of fun had disappeared.

The atmosphere in the field was solemn. All the generals were holding chopsticks at this time, but their hands did not move at all. Instead, they looked at His Royal Highness the Regent above.

But the prince above seemed to be unaware of it. After taking a few bites of food and wine, he continued to speak. The faces of the generals below also immediately turned stern.

"All the generals present here today are the best talents in our dynasty. I wonder how many of them are from the military examinations."

The generals below were originally waiting for His Highness the Regent to continue the topic of restoring the country, but His Highness had cornered them all at once. Before they could react, they were forced to swear an oath to recover the Northern Kingdom. I think there will definitely be other plans for them later.
But when I heard His Highness' words, I found that what His Highness said had nothing to do with what happened just now.

The solemn oath just now was just started, but it was stopped right there and forgotten.

The generals were a little slow to react for a while. After a while, a few of them raised their arms. However, among the fifty or six generals on the field, only five or six raised their hands in the end. And these five or six were all generals from Guangdong Province.
Deng Yao and Liu Qijiao looked at each other, a trace of embarrassment flashed across their faces.

Almost all the soldiers in their two armies were recruited. Since they were recruited soldiers, they were all from the common people. How could they possibly recruit warriors who were selected through the military examination?
How could those who could pass the military examination risk their lives to join the army for a few taels of military pay? Even if they joined the army, they would directly serve as generals.
Deng Yao and other lieutenant generals all rose to the top by fighting and accumulating merit step by step.

They have made countless contributions to get this position of lieutenant general. If they had a legitimate military qualification, they would have been generals by now.

The young Regent seemed not to notice the embarrassment on the faces of the people below, but sighed softly.

"Only a few of them are from the martial arts examination?"

His Highness the Regent had a look of emotion on his face, and the faces of the generals below changed slightly.

The Guangdong generals who were born in the military examination had a hint of joy on their faces, raised their heads slightly, and waited for His Majesty the Regent to ask questions.
They are the legitimate descendants of the imperial court. Those peasants know nothing about marching and fighting.

"Generals, you have been working hard for your country all day long, but you even missed the military examination. It is really a pity and respectable," the young prince sighed softly.
The generals below were slightly shocked when they heard this, and then their expressions relaxed. They all nodded secretly in their hearts. Yes, we are working hard for the country, so we don’t have time to take the martial arts exam. It has nothing to do with whether we pass the exam or not.

The young prince above hesitated for a moment before continuing to speak.

"I wanted to grant you the status of Juren, but think about it, you are all talented people in the Ming army, both wise and brave. What does a mere military examination mean to you?"

The generals looked at the hesitant Regent above them, and their hearts tightened. They all shouted in their hearts, "Don't forget it!"

Although we have no time for state affairs and do not care about the military examination, if His Highness insists on granting us a status of a juren, then they can accept it reluctantly.

They were military candidates. With this status, they were promoted first. They were also qualified to take up some official positions that were not open to them before. Their room for advancement increased instantly.
Who doesn't want to be a martial arts candidate?
"I originally wanted to grant the generals a military examination, but if I only grant them fame, the senior officials of the previous dynasty will certainly make a fuss, which will be bad. Besides, with the talents of the generals, the military examination will be easy for them."

"Well, it happens that all the generals are gathered here today. You may as well take the exam here, so that I can legitimately give you this honor." When the generals below heard the words of His Royal Highness the Regent, a hint of joy flashed across their faces, and then their expressions froze, and a hint of worry flashed across their faces.

The happy one is naturally according to what His Highness said, today he is really going to give them a military candidate's background.

I was worried that I wouldn't be able to pass the exam.

Although His Highness is in charge of the exam today, the difficulty is definitely not as great as the regular martial arts exam, but everyone is still unsure whether they can pass.
Although the generals in the field are warriors, most of them are able to become mid- to high-ranking generals and are naturally literate.
But although they can read, they can only read the military documents normally. It is absolutely impossible for them to take the imperial examination.

Today, His Highness has specially opened a military examination for them. This may be their only chance to obtain a legitimate career in this life. Moreover, the candidates are a group of rough soldiers in the army. Everyone feels that they have a great chance this time.

But it was also because of this that everyone became nervous. Since it was an exam, there would naturally be ups and downs.

There are at least fifty or sixty people in the field. I'm afraid at least half of them will be eliminated. It's impossible for everyone to pass. Then why bother taking the test? Wouldn't it be better to just grant everyone a status?
When the generals thought of this, they all looked worried. For a moment, no one spoke, and the field fell into a strange silence.

"What do you think?"

Seeing that no one responded, His Highness asked again:

The generals were awakened by the speech. Liu Qijiao hesitated for a long time and said

"We thank Your Highness for your kindness, but I wonder if this matter is against the rules."

"What's wrong with this? The new dynasty has just been established, so I'll just treat it as a special examination. If the elders of the previous dynasty still have objections, I will argue with them. Generals, just give it a try."

"We thank Your Highness for your grace."

The generals looked at each other and shouted in unison, "Thank you!"
"All of you generals are military officers, and I think you must be among the bravest. In this case, we can skip the test of bravery and only test your military strategy today."

The generals looked at His Highness who looked as if it was natural, and they all shouted in their hearts, "Stop!"

These people were able to fight their way out of the army, and they were all quite confident in their own martial arts. They were just waiting to get points in the test of bravery, so how could they not take the test?

However, His Royal Highness the Regent above ignored the wailing of the generals below and waved to Li Guoyong on the side.

Li Guoyong followed the order and left. Before everyone could react, a group of palace servants had already walked into the room, cleared away all the food and wine on the table, and placed writing brushes, inkstones, and paper on the table.

(End of this chapter)