Zhu Yuanzhang Returns from Modern Times

Chapter 186 The New Official Takes Office, Three Blazing Fires from Zhu Yuanzhang

Um? ! ! !

Inside the Hall of Literary Glory, Zhu Yuanzhang uttered a single sentence.

Many court officials were taken aback.

For a moment, I even doubted whether I had misheard.

What did the emperor say?
Is he to take on the role of Imperial Academy Chancellor?

How could he possibly be qualified?!
Imperial Academy Chancellor!

This is the Grand Master of the Imperial Academy!

Those who were initially delighted that Song Ne had been expelled from the Imperial Academy were no longer chuckling.

This result is absolutely unexpected!

Good news: Song Ne is no longer serving as the Chancellor of the Imperial Academy.

The bad news is that Zhu Yuanzhang himself will take on the role of Chancellor of the Imperial Academy.

In fact, judging from Zhu Yuanzhang's consistent behavior...

It would be better to let Song Ne take on the role of Chancellor of the Imperial Academy!
That bastard Zhu Yuanzhang, that beggar, had so many things to do every day.

They're still relentlessly trying to seize power.

He seemed to want to seize all the power for himself.

Aren't they afraid of exhausting themselves?

It's one thing to decentralize power from the Secretariat, but now they're even taking on the role of Chancellor of the Imperial Academy themselves!

Where can you find someone like him?

Zhu Yuanzhang looked at the Huagai Hall, where the atmosphere had changed dramatically the moment he uttered those words.

I couldn't help but smile to myself.

Those bastards, Liu Sanwu and his ilk, are only thinking about their own good fortune.

Do they really think that just because they've taken Song Ne down, they can do whatever they want?
That's wishful thinking!

This time, I've caught these people red-handed and killed so many. If I make such a big move, I can then appoint the new chief priest to be the person they want.

Wouldn't all that effort have been wasted?
He enjoys seeing these people rendered speechless and looking like they've eaten shit by the methods he uses.

You know what, it’s pretty good.

Liu Sanwu and many others felt that the emperor was full of tricks and were extremely angry with the dog emperor.

He quickly released the pent-up frustration he had been feeling.

And some new aspects came to mind.

Zhu Yuanzhang's appointment as the Grand Master of Ceremonies was indeed unexpected and surprising.

It's not a good thing.

However, if you really think about it, it's still much better than Song Ne being the chief priest.

Zhu Yuanzhang was different from Song Ne.

Zhu Yuanzhang was the emperor, and he had too many political affairs to handle.

Zhu Yuanzhang was always reluctant to delegate power to others and insisted on doing things personally.

Even if he's more capable than a donkey, can he really control everything?

After becoming the Chancellor of the Imperial Academy, could he really handle all the affairs of the Imperial Academy personally, big and small?

impossible.

Ultimately, we still need to delegate authority.

Once he delegates authority, many things will become much easier to handle.

As long as Song Ne can be expelled from the Imperial Academy, even if Zhu Yuanzhang becomes the head of the Imperial Academy, some things will still be beneficial to them.

The advantage can be said to still be on their side.

Although they lost, they didn't lose too completely.

“Song Qing, we will take on the role of Chancellor of the Imperial Academy.”

From now on, you'll be demoted and appointed as the Director of Studies at the Imperial Academy.

We can't possibly do everything ourselves at the Imperial Academy.

Song Qing, as the Director of Studies at the Imperial Academy, please take on more of this responsibility.

Please keep an eye on the Imperial Academy for us.

You will handle the specific tasks.

Zhu Yuanzhang looked at Song Ne and said with a smile.

"Your Majesty, I will obey your decree! I will certainly not fail in your trust!"

Song Ne bowed to Zhu Yuanzhang.

He showed no displeasure whatsoever at being demoted from the position of Chancellor of the Imperial Academy to Vice Director of Studies.

Song Ne may seem old-fashioned, but that doesn't mean she doesn't understand anything.

Having served as the Chancellor of the Imperial Academy for so long, how could he not know how much people hated him for holding this position?

Especially after His Majesty suspended the imperial examinations and vigorously developed the Imperial Academy, and now has introduced many new courses within the Imperial Academy.

The position of Chancellor of the Imperial Academy was a hot potato.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have been targeted like this by Jin Wenzheng and others.

In the past, His Majesty trusted him and appointed him as the Chancellor of the Imperial Academy, entrusting him with an important responsibility.

Under these circumstances, he naturally had to live up to His Majesty's trust.

No matter how difficult it is, we must do what the Imperial Academy should do.

Now, His Majesty has removed him from his position as Chancellor of the Imperial Academy and appointed him as Vice Director of Studies, responsible for specific affairs.

How could he not see that this was His Majesty's greatest protection for him?

His Majesty was appointed as the Chancellor of the Imperial Academy, a prominent position.

That way, the hopes of many people can be dashed.

No matter how powerful or arrogant those people are, if they don't like the Chancellor of the Imperial Academy and want to bring down the Imperial Academy, they will not change their minds.

Do you really dare to use underhanded tactics against His Majesty and remove him from his position as Chancellor of the Imperial Academy?
Of course not!

He did not serve as the Chancellor of the Imperial Academy, but only as the Director of Studies.

It won't be so noticeable anymore.

But the things I need to do won't decrease.

They could avoid so many attacks and focus more on managing the Imperial Academy.

In this situation, why not do it?
At his age and in his position, given his mindset, he no longer cares much about official rank.

More important than official position is what you can do.

As long as they can truly get things done, and cultivate real talent for the country, genuinely promote the unification of the North and South, and make the ravaged and devastated North a better place.

The barrier between him and the south gradually disappeared, and that was his greatest wish.

After listening to the back-and-forth between Zhu Yuanzhang and Song Ne, many people in the Hall of Literary Glory, whose moods had just begun to improve, were relieved.

He was hit hard on the head in an instant.

My feelings at that moment were simply indescribable.

No... what is Zhu Yuanzhang doing?
How can you treat people like this?
After going through all this trouble, they still let Song Ne stay at the Imperial Academy as the Director of Studies—that's outrageous!

This is too much!

How could Zhu Yuanzhang do something like that?
Is this a demotion for Song Ne?
The emperor, by making a great show of himself at the Imperial Academy, appointed Song Ne as the Director of Studies, responsible for the specific affairs of the Imperial Academy.

This is clearly a declaration to the world that he is Song Ne's solid backer.

Many of the ideas Song Ne had regarding the Imperial Academy were his own.

Anyone who tries to harm Song Ne is targeting him.

He's clearly there to support Song Na!
Song Ne, that northern bumpkin, will go even further in his actions!
Damn it!
How abominable!

In this short period of time, they were secretly tricked by Zhu Yuanzhang several times!

Then I recall that Zhu Gang, the Prince of Jin, is now serving as the Vice Director of the Imperial Academy.

These people are even more confused.

The emperor himself served as the chief libationer, and his own son, Prince Zhu Gang of Jin, served as the vice-director of the Imperial Academy.

In addition, this time they also dealt with Jin Wenzheng and Wei Chao.

Under such brutal methods, the Imperial Academy inevitably became a place where Zhu Yuanzhang ruled with absolute power!
It would be too difficult to do anything more for the Imperial Academy!
I've never seen anyone more shameless than Zhu Yuanzhang!
This is utter nonsense!

Many of them were extremely unwilling.

I wanted to voice my opposition.

Liu Sanwu's words of objection lingered on his lips several times, but in the end he didn't dare to say them.

After all, this time, the emperor didn't suddenly decide to personally assume the position of Chancellor of the Imperial Academy.

Rather, it was because a major problem arose at the Imperial Academy, and he was caught and a large number of people were killed before making this arrangement.

There are legitimate reasons for it.

He was very worried that he would stand up and oppose it at this time.

Not only would it be ineffective, but it would also give Zhu Yuanzhang an opportunity to kill him as well.

They claimed he was an accomplice of Jin Wenzheng and his group.

Such a thing would be unlikely for any other emperor.

But for Zhu Yuanzhang, the tyrant, it was completely different.

For him, things that many wise and virtuous rulers would not do were as simple as eating and drinking.

His specialty is to stir up trouble, implicate innocent people, and drag them into trouble.

Zhu Yuanzhang would definitely do that.

Speaking out in opposition at this point would not only fail to achieve the desired effect, but would also offend Zhu Yuanzhang and discourage him from pursuing the idea.

On the contrary, they might end up getting themselves killed and losing their lives, thus weakening the steadfastness of Confucianism.

Therefore, it's best to preserve your life for the future!

In this matter, I chose to follow my heart.

After saying this, Zhu Yuanzhang secretly perked up.

We're waiting for someone to step forward and strongly oppose this.

After all, his move was a real blow to the hearts of many intellectuals, driving a nail deep into their souls and making them feel uncomfortable all over.

That was truly a thorn in my side, a thorn in my flesh.

Given the nature of these people, someone might just step forward and oppose this matter.

In this way, he could seize the opportunity to vent his anger legitimately and wipe out another batch of insects. But to his surprise, after waiting for a while, not a single person voiced any objection.

This reaction left Zhu Yuanzhang somewhat disappointed.

Why have these people become so obedient?

Why don't you come out and oppose it?
He was quite mild-mannered, and truly did not share any of the burdens of his sovereign or father.

Does no one have any objections to this?

Zhu Yuanzhang sat on the dragon throne, looked at his ministers, and asked them a question.

He had a kind smile on his face.

The ministers all lowered their heads, none of them daring to speak.

Many people secretly cursed the emperor for being shameless, a typical case of getting the benefits and then acting innocent.

After getting things done, you should also jump up and down in their faces.

There are always shameless emperors who want to harm them!

"Alright, then it's settled."

If you don't say anything now, don't keep whining later, or you'll regret it.

Zhu Yuanzhang waited a while, and seeing that no one objected, he decided not to finalize the matter immediately.

Seeing the emperor's expression, Liu Sanwu and the others, who had been about to speak but ultimately held back, secretly rejoiced.

Thankfully, he didn't speak, otherwise, the tyrant would definitely have taken the opportunity to kill him.

That was such an unjust death!
Many Confucian scholars felt a heavy weight in their hearts, as if the world was dark and the future was bleak.

It was truly their misfortune to encounter a tyrant like Zhu Yuanzhang.

It is evident from the emperor's various actions that the Imperial Academy was increasingly developing in accordance with the wishes of the tyrant Zhu Yuanzhang.

Zhu Yuanzhang was bound to place increasing importance on the Imperial Academy.

The prospect of them restoring the imperial examination system is extremely slim and seems to be a long way off.

"The Imperial Academy was very important, but the imperial examination was equally important."

After much thought, we concluded that the imperial examination system still had many merits.

In the future, we will continue to hold imperial examinations to select officials.

Zhu Yuanzhang said these words while looking at his ministers.

Upon hearing Zhu Yuanzhang's words, many people present were taken aback.

For a moment, everyone wondered if they had misheard.

These... words really came from Zhu Yuanzhang's mouth?!

What medicine did Zhu Yuanzhang take wrong?

How could someone say something like that at a time like this!

Is he going to hold the imperial examination?

Just now, many of them were feeling very heavy-hearted, feeling that reopening the imperial examinations was as difficult as climbing to heaven.

This was especially true during Zhu Yuanzhang's Hongwu reign.

But who would have thought that the emperor would suddenly say such things to them?

"Your Majesty, Holy Might!"

"Your Majesty's words are truly insightful!"

"The imperial examination system, from its inception to its development to the present day, still has many merits."

This is the best way to select talent for the country.

The once silent and lifeless Huagai Hall suddenly became lively with Zhu Yuanzhang's words.

Many people, including Song Lian, were overjoyed.

He immediately spoke out in support of the emperor's words.

In his words, he praised Zhu Yuanzhang to the skies.

At the same time, the imperial examination system was also praised to the skies.

This is what they've always dreamed of and wanted to achieve.

To my surprise, things took a turn for the better after all!

How could one not be happy or excited?
Zhu Yuanzhang accepted all the joy and praise from the crowd.

In response to some suggestions, the most humane approach would be to hold the imperial examinations this year:
"Scientific expeditions are a major undertaking and require careful planning."

We're telling you this today so you all have a clear understanding of the situation.

The imperial examination system will inevitably be reopened.

But not now; we need to think it over and make sure it's done well.

To truly realize the function of the imperial examination system, and to effectively select capable individuals through it.

Many people were dissatisfied that the emperor could not immediately hold the imperial examinations.

However, compared to the previous situation where the emperor never gave a definite answer, making them feel that the resumption of the imperial examinations was a long way off, this was already great news.

Therefore, no one said much about this matter.

Zhu Yuanzhang watched as the crowd became jubilant after he uttered those words, and couldn't help but smile to himself.

These people are so happy now, but they will announce the details of the imperial examination later.

They were made to discover that the imperial examinations were no longer just about policy essays and classical texts, but also included arithmetic, physics, agronomy, and many other subjects.

They couldn't laugh anymore.

Let them be happy for a while!

They will have their share of hardship in the future.

Zhu Yuanzhang was taking advantage of the situation and was putting another carrot in front of these people.

Crown Prince Zhu Biao, who had remained silent, watched as his father, the Emperor, easily manipulated these people with his methods.

I silently memorized it.

If you hit a donkey with a stick and then give it a sweet treat, hang another carrot in front of it when the carrot in front of the donkey is gone.

Let the donkey continue walking forward.

Kill some, stabilize others, and win over and divide others – this tactic works very well.

The Emperor already had these ingenious uses in mind, and they were used with exceptional ease.

With a flick of the wrist, one can easily manipulate a person.

I've got it! I've got it!
……

A day later, at the Imperial Academy, Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang, accompanied by his crown prince, arrived in a grand procession.

He is about to take office as the new chief priest.

The Imperial Academy was located between the Temple of Confucius and the Academy itself.

Originally, the first thing you would see upon entering this place is the Confucius Temple.

It also demonstrates the respected status of Confucius as the teacher of all ages and the most revered sage.

Through generations of elevation, Confucius's status has become increasingly elevated.

This can be seen from the fact that the Temple of Confucius is located in front of the Imperial Academy.

However, the scene at the Imperial Academy at this time was quite different from before.

Because two rows of wooden frames were erected in front of the Confucius Temple.

Hanging from the wooden frame were human skins stuffed with straw.

It swayed slightly in the wind.

The scene was absolutely terrifying; anyone with a weak heart would be terrified.

Those who know the area will think they've arrived at the Imperial Academy, while those who don't will think the Confucius Temple in front of them is actually the Hall of Yama, the King of Hell.

Especially those people who are listed here, they all previously served as teaching assistants, instructors, and doctors at the Imperial Academy.

He is someone that many students of the Imperial Academy are very familiar with.

That would be even more exciting.

However, while feeling eery and fear, the crimes of those hung here had already been announced by the emperor.

Many people only then realized that their respected teachers and elders were such utter rubbish!
Knowing what kind of beasts they were, people applauded the way Jin Wenzheng and his ilk were treated.

I think that such methods should be used to deal with such scoundrels!

They should be stripped of their human skin and their beastly nature exposed!
His Majesty's actions were incredibly satisfying.

If it weren't for His Majesty's keen insight, seeing through the true colors of these people and bringing such villains to justice...

The Imperial Academy is still in disarray, and who knows how badly it will be ruined.

They have no idea what kind of harm these beasts in human form will do to them.

It could even cost you your life.

Song Ne, the Director of Studies at the Imperial Academy, and Zhu Gang, the Vice Director of Studies, along with Yang Shiqi, Yang Rong, Huang Guan, Tie Xuan, Hu Yan, and many other people, as well as numerous students, came out to greet them.

Looking at His Majesty in his dragon robe, His Highness the Crown Prince in his imperial dragon robe, and the imperial retinue.

Many students couldn't contain their excitement.

This incident is not necessarily a bad thing.

If something like this hadn't happened, how could His Majesty have come here to serve as the chief priest?
In the past, those who passed the imperial examination were called "disciples of the emperor" because they had to pass the palace examination.

For this reason, people who graduated from the Imperial Academy were often looked down upon by many scholars.

I felt it wasn't from a respectable background.

But now, His Majesty has personally taken on the role of Chancellor of the Imperial Academy.

Then these people are the true disciples of the emperor!
Let's see who dares to say another word against it!

More importantly, His Majesty will personally assume the position of Chancellor of the Imperial Academy, and Prince Jin will also serve as the Vice Chancellor of the Imperial Academy.

If they perform well, they will have an easier time getting ahead than before.

He greeted the many teachers and students of the Imperial Academy with a smile and told them not to stand on ceremony.

Zhu Yuanzhang soon arrived at the Imperial Academy.

He looked at the teachers and students and began to speak.

It is said that there are three things a new official needs to do when taking office.

When the emperor takes on the role of Chancellor of the Imperial Academy, some fires will inevitably be lit!
His appointment as the Chancellor of the Imperial Academy was not simply to support Song Ne, as many people might have thought.

There are also some things to do.

Let's see how fiercely he burns these three fires.

Can we burn something different?
(End of this chapter)