In a blink of an eye, it has been a month since the Queen's death, and Zhulan has not seen her little girl for almost a month. Today is a rare day for her little girl to return to her parents' home, and it happens to be a holiday for the Ministry of Revenue.
Zhulan signaled the maid to serve her daughter's favorite fruit, and then asked, "Have you finished teaching?"
Xue Han nodded, "Well, I don't need your guidance in the future."
Zhulan smiled, "Princess Zhenyue and Jingxuan are good students."
Xue Han and the other maids went down and said, "The concubines in the palace thought that the palace power would remain the same, but they didn't expect that the emperor would let the two princesses manage it."
"The queen's cultivation has always been managed by the concubines in the harem. Handing over power now is like cutting off one's own flesh."
Xue Han, "It's fine if the Queen is in charge, but if the Queen is not here, the Emperor will be even more worried if he continues to take care of her."
Zhu Lan agreed, "After the Queen left, many people started to make small moves in private."
Xue Han frowned, "Did anyone come to the Marquis' Mansion?"
"No, but someone has tried your father."
Xue Han snorted, "The Emperor will not appoint another empress."
Zhulan has heard of many small moves recently. "I heard that some people think that the rank of the concubines in the harem should be raised."
Xue Han said sarcastically, "This is a test for the Emperor. Mother, how can they be so bold?"
“The allure of power.”
Xue Han pressed her brows and said, "We in the Qin Palace are already low-key enough. The constant stream of invitations every day is really annoying."
Zhu Lan smiled and said, "After all, Rong Chuan is the emperor's biological brother, and the one he trusts the most."
In the front yard, Shuren and Rongchuan were chatting. Rongchuan asked, "Dad, I heard that the Ministry of Medicine is going to set up a pharmaceutical factory?"
"You are still well-informed."
Rong Chuan poured tea for his father and said, "The emperor mentioned this to me when we were chatting yesterday, and he also said it was not a small fight."
Zhou Shuren took the tea and took a sip. "Well, finished medicines have always been in short supply. In the past, there was a shortage of manpower. This year, many students graduated from the college, and there are several capable ones. The medical department is thinking about setting up pharmaceutical factories in several states with large quantities of medicinal materials."
Rong Chuan sighed, "That's quite a big move."
Zhou Shuren was in a good mood. The Ministry of Industry's sale of technology accelerated economic development, and the pace was steady. Everything was moving in a positive direction. "Once the news spreads, there will be another round of competition."
Rong Chuan drank herbal tea and said, "Normal."
Zhou Shuren continued, "Once the high-yield grains and fertilizers are promoted, coupled with the improved agricultural tools from the Ministry of Industry, a lot of labor will be saved in the future."
Even though the Ministry of Industry has become a big money-spending ministry, it does have the confidence to ask for money. It has made many improvements to agricultural tools, which are labor-saving and convenient. In the minds of the people, the Ministry of Industry is no longer ranked last among the six ministries.
Rongchuan was happy for the country's prosperity and strength, "Thanks to my father for managing the money these years."
The country's development cannot be separated from the Ministry of Revenue. Without his father's support, the Ministry of Works would have no money to carry out research. He knew too well how much money the Ministry of Works spent on research every year.
Zhou Shuren sighed, "Yes, that's why the emperor won't give me a seat."
Rongchuan smiled, "Because the emperor knows that you are in the Ministry of Revenue, he doesn't have to worry too much."
Zhou Shuren snorted. The emperor didn’t need to worry about anything anymore. It was all him who was worried.
Rongchuan added: "Dad, I have prepared a few sets of exam questions for Changzhong."
"What a coincidence. I also prepared a few sets."
Rong Chuan was happy, "Then let's send them back together?"
Zhou Shuren stroked his beard and said, "You will like the mock test I made."
It is not possible for a top scholar to pass the exam just by knowing who the examiner is, and then he sets questions based on the preferences of several examiners. The key is to do more papers and practice more questions.
This is the resource. It is easier for children of officials to pass the imperial examination than those from poor families. It is difficult for poor families to know the examiner's preferences, while children of aristocratic families have already made preparations early.
In Zhoujia Village, Changzhong is not preparing to practice questions today. He wants to slow down his brain as he has been doing too many questions recently.
When Ming Qing arrived, Chang Zhong was lying in a rocking chair basking in the sun.
Ming Qing held the note in his hand, "Uncle, this is a note from the prefect."
Changzhong was surprised, "What post?"
"Invite me to the state capital."
Changzhong thought for a moment and said, "Then go ahead."
We have to give face to the prefect, and Prefect Cheng is a pretty good guy.
Ming Qing said again: "Shuzhen, why don't you go to the academy in the state capital to have a look?"
Changzhong waved his hand, "No."
Not to mention the academy, he didn't even want to go to the official school. He had no shortage of famous teachers. Every one of them in his family was a famous teacher. He just needed to practice questions.
Ming Qing smiled and said, "They invited me to exchange ideas, but they actually wanted to get information from me."
"Humph, trying to take advantage."
He is not a stingy person. He will be happy to answer your questions if you ask him sincerely, but it will be a waste of time if you try to plot against him.
Ming Qing asked, "Uncle, are you not going to do the questions today?"
"Rest."
He felt tired doing this kind of exercises. Brother Wu Ming had given him quite a few exercises. When he thought of Brother Wu Ming's sharp comments, his heart trembled!
Ming Qing added: "Recently, some outsiders wanted to ask for advice from my uncle, but I turned them down."
Changzhong nodded, "Thank you for your hard work."
He knew how attractive his background was, and since he won the third place in the imperial examination, many people wanted to meet him.
In the afternoon in the capital, Minghui just returned home and wanted to sneak back to his own courtyard, but as soon as he got off the carriage, he was stopped by the waiting servant, "Sir, the Marquis is waiting for you in the main courtyard."
Minghui, “!!”
After meeting his uncle and aunt in the main courtyard, Minghui breathed a sigh of relief that he didn't have to face his grandfather alone.
Zhulan said in a teasing tone, "Master Minghui is back."
Minghui felt uneasy, "Grandpa, grandma, uncle and aunt."
Zhou Shuren raised his eyebrows, "You have time to summarize the knowledge points, but you don't want to take the autumn exam yourself?"
Rong Chuan continued, "Our Master Minghui wants to train a juren himself, which is more difficult than passing the juren exam himself. It's really amazing."
Minghui's ears turned red. "I'm just a scholar. I can only summarize knowledge points. I'm not that capable."
Zhou Shuren pointed to the book on the table and said, "I think you are quite capable."
Minghui then noticed that this was his draft booklet, "Grandpa, where did you see it?"
"The study in the front yard."
He had been busy and hadn't been to the study in the front yard for a long time. Today, he went to the study in the front yard to chat with Rongchuan, and there was really a surprise.
Minghui said dryly: "I think Shao Xun is far behind, so I made this summary."
As soon as he returned to Beijing, he went to see Shao Xun, and then fell silent. After inquiring about the preferences of the examiners of the Beijing Autumn Examination, he found exam questions from previous years and gave them to Shao Xun to do, and then fell even more silent.
Among the best students in the family, the eldest brother is in the grassland, the third uncle has not been home for many years, the fourth uncle went to Sichuan, the youngest uncle is in his hometown, and the two uncles, the eldest uncle is more obsessed with painting, and he didn't dare to ask the youngest uncle for advice, so in the end he had no choice but to study on his own.
Rongchuan picked up the booklet and said, "You summarized it very well."
Minghui was still proud of the compliment and said modestly, "I'm still far from it."
Zhou Shuren: "Well, I also have self-awareness."
Minghui, "..."
Zhulan laughed, "Your grandfather was teasing you. Your summary is indeed good. Well, you inherited this from me."
Minghui thought about it and it seemed to be true, "After all, the grandson looks most like his grandmother."
Zhou Shuren, "Yeah, the talent for writing storybooks is similar."
Bamboo orchid, "... "
Minghui, "..."