Ming Dynasty: I risked my life to teach the prince, the emperor begged me not to die

Chapter 434 Bet!

Wen Zhengming and Xu Zhenqing had not seen Tang Yin and Zhu Zhishan for a long time, so today they specially invited Tang Yin and Zhu Zhishan to a small gathering.

The four of them reunited again and couldn't help but sigh about the past.

The four people made different choices. At first, Chen Ce wanted all the four talented men of Wuzhong to go to the southwest to take up official positions, but in the end only Tang Yin and Zhu Zhishan chose to go far to the southwest.

Wen Zhengming and Xu Zhenqing declined Chen Ce's invitation and studied hard at home for two years, preparing to take the imperial examination again this year.

When Wen Zhengming and Xu Zhenqing heard that Zhu Zhishan had become Chen Ce's disciple, they always felt that Zhu Zhishan was still a little impulsive.

But on second thought, if it weren't for Chen Ce, Zhu Zhishan would not have gone to the southwest to serve as an official, so it was normal for him to be grateful to Chen Ce.

When the four of them met again this time, Wen Zhengming and Xu Zhenqing still had the wildness and arrogance of the Wuzhong talents, but they obviously felt that Tang Yin and Zhu Zhishan had become much calmer, and even their words had become much softer and more tactful.

From just a few words, one can sense that Tang Yin and Zhu Zhishan's speech became more and more official, and they would not easily chat about the political affairs of the southwest with Wen Zhengming and Xu Zhenqing.

This inevitably created a certain distance between Wen Zhengming and Xu Zhenqing.

"Bo Hu, Yun Ming, we are also your disciples."

Wen Zhengming spoke somewhat embarrassedly, as if he was ashamed to speak.

Tang Yin asked curiously, "Oh? It's rare to find a great scholar that you are willing to become his disciple. Who is it?"

Xu Zhenqing thought for a moment before he spoke: "Marquis of Shouning and Marquis of Jianchang."

"what?"

How could Tang Yin not know who the two teachers Xu Zhenqing mentioned were? Aren’t they the infamous Zhang brothers?
However, since Li Mengyang was transferred away from the capital, the bad reputation of the Zhang brothers did not seem to spread far and wide.

Tang Yin asked uncertainly: "My two uncles... why?"

Wen Zhengming said: "We must always think about the future. If there is no one in the officialdom, even if we become an official in the future, I am afraid that we will not be able to move forward..."

Xing saw the miserable state of the people who took the Jinshi exam in the last session. A total of 173 Jinshi were admitted in the last session. Except for 20 who entered the Hanlin Academy, among the more than 150 Jinshi, only half of them were actually sent out to serve as officials in the past two years, and the other half were still observing government affairs and filling vacancies in the six ministries.

This is the consequence of not having official support.

Wen Zhengming didn't want to end up like them after passing the imperial examination, so he came to Beijing this time and became a disciple of the Zhang brothers.

Tang Yin and Zhu Zhishan felt a little emotional and asked Wen Zhengming and Xu Zhenqing why they did not become Chen Ce's disciples.

But they soon figured it out. Wen Zhengming and Xu Zhenqing were inherently arrogant, and Chen Ce was even younger than them, so they were too embarrassed to ask Chen Ce to be their teacher.

The four of them chatted briefly for a while, and then Tang Yin bowed and prepared to leave.

Xu Zhenqing asked Tang Yin, "Bo Hu, we finally get together once, and there will be fewer and fewer opportunities in the future. Why are you in such a hurry to leave?"

Tang Yin smiled and said, "The examination is approaching, so I have to go back and study hard for the exam."

Wen Zhengming and Xu Zhenqing were slightly stunned.

Tang Yin was never like this before. He has indeed changed a lot.

Zhu Zhishan smiled bitterly and said, "I am not as good as Bo Hu. I am still unsure. The teacher said that he would teach me well during this period of time. I must seize the time to learn from the teacher."

Chen Ce? Teach you?
What can these ten days teach you?

Among the four talented scholars in Wuzhong, Zhu Zhishan's talent was slightly lower than that of the other three, and he was also the most dangerous among the four to pass the imperial examination.

Moreover, Zhu Zhishan would not lie. He had previously said that he was not very confident about passing this year's Jinshi examination, which meant that he might not be able to pass.

But what could these ten days change? Wen Zhengming and Xu Zhenqing smiled bitterly, and then watched Tang Yin and Zhu Zhishan leave. …

East Palace.

"Nephew, how about betting?"

The Zhang brothers persuaded Zhu Houzhao to take a gamble.

"That Tang Yin and Zhu Zhishan, right? They are both great talents in Wuzhong."

"Our two students, well, although they are also talented people in Wuzhong, their talents are naturally not as good as Tang Yin and Zhu Zhishan."

"Let's make a bet on who will pass the exam. Each person will bet one thousand taels of silver. How about that?"

"For example, if we win two prizes, we will win two thousand taels of silver. If Chen Ce's students win two prizes, you will also win two thousand taels of silver. In this way, we will be even."

Zhu Houzhao: "..."

Do you think I'm stupid?
Zhu Zhishan was the one with relatively low academic attainments among the four talented scholars. He failed in the last imperial examination, and his ranking was much lower than that of Wen Zhengming and Xu Zhenqing.

If you want to cheat me out of one thousand taels of silver, just say so. Do you think I'm a fool?
Zhu Houzhao shook his head: "How about this, I will bet with you guys on Tang Yin alone. He is worth two thousand taels of silver. How about that?"

Zhang Heling smiled slightly. As for Tang Yin, he was a stable guy. What was there to bet on?
The essence of gambling lies in Zhu Zhishan. What we want is the one thousand taels of silver on Zhu Zhishan's body!
"Nephew, haven't you heard? Chen Ceke said that he would teach Zhu Zhishan in the next ten days!"

"Don't you believe in your little brother? After your little brother's teaching, Zhu Zhishan still can't pass the high school? Isn't Chen Ce too rubbish?"

Zhang Yanling also smiled and said, "Yes, we will also train Wen Zhengming and Xu Zhenqing. We are all teachers. Do you admit that Chen Ce is not as good as us?"

Zhu Houzhao sneered, "Haha! Then let's gamble! Don't cheat and refuse to pay the money when the time comes."

"A word is settled!"

"Sign a bet!"

"A liar has to swallow a thousand needles."

The Zhang brothers were very excited. They happily took the bet and swaggered out of the East Palace.

"Our eldest nephew is so stupid!"

Zhang Yanling seemed to have seen the one thousand taels of silver about to enter his pocket.

Zhu Zhishan's grades were already rubbish. Is Chen Ce a god? Can he figure out the exam questions? Otherwise, can he completely change Zhu Zhishan in these ten days? Why don't they believe it?

Just now they deliberately provoked Zhu Houzhao because they knew that the Crown Prince's weakness was Chen Ce, and he would not allow anyone to deny Chen Ce's talent.

That's why Zhang Heling deliberately angered his nephew, the crown prince. It seems that the strategy is very successful so far!

Zhang Heling was so happy that he felt as if he saw one thousand taels of silver waving towards him.

"Brother, is it possible that Chen Ce was really trained by Zhu Zhishan?"

"What if both of them pass the exam?"

Zhang Heling laughed and said, "So what if he passed the exam? At most we won't make any money or lose money!"

Zhang Yanling hurriedly said, "Brother, wait a moment. This is based on the premise that both of our students have passed the exam. If Wen Zhengming and Xu Zhenqing have not passed the exam, wouldn't we have to give the prince two thousand taels of silver?"

Zhang Heling's body trembled, but he soon laughed and said, "Mao! Wen Zhengming and Xu Zhenqing practiced hard for two and a half years! Tang Yin and Zhu Zhishan were busy handling government affairs in the southwest for the past two and a half years. How could they have time to read books and review their lessons? So our two students will definitely pass the high school!"

(End of this chapter)