Raising chickens and pigs and digging for wild vegetables, the county magistrate's promotion wa

Chapter 713 A Backstab from a Fellow Zhejiang Native

Chen Mo immediately launched into a tirade, "Those so-called Jinshi gentlemen in Jiangnan, not one of them is any good. If it weren't for the fact that they're in Ningyang County and nobody takes them seriously, these so-called Jinshi gentlemen would probably have already paid others to farm for them."

Yang Shaofeng smiled and nodded.

Chen Mo was born in eastern Zhejiang. His family wasn't a prominent clan, but they were small landlords. He knew all too well the bad habits of the scholars from Jiangnan.

Chen Mo continued to complain: "Another thing is that these people know that even if they suffer in Ningyang County, it won't be for long. At most, they can go back to being officials in about a year."

"Otherwise, these scholars who have passed the imperial examinations might cause some trouble."

After a slight pause, Chen Mo said with a dark expression, "Moreover, Your Excellency may not know, but some of the scholars who have passed the imperial examinations, even when they are exhausted, still find time to compose poems and paint. Especially in front of the girls in the village, they all act like peacocks about to spread their tails."

"Fortunately, the girls in our county are quite capable and don't pay any attention to them."

"Otherwise, I would like to send them back to the Ministry of Personnel directly."

Chen Mo grew angrier as he spoke, and couldn't help but spit out a curse, saying, "What the hell is all this stuff!"

Although he had long known that these scholars from Jiangnan were unreliable, Chen Mo never expected that they would be so shameless as to come up with a way to seduce girls from Ningyang County.

Yang Shaofeng smiled.

This is normal.

The girls in Ningyang County were all educated, and many of them were recruited by Empress Ma to serve as female officials.

Empress Ma planned to recruit a group of sixteen-year-old girls from Ningyang County every year to serve as female officials in the palace, and then send them back to their hometowns to get married when they turned nineteen.

Although the plan has only just begun, and only the first batch of thirty girls has been recruited this year, the rumors about the girls from Ningyang County being favored by the Empress have already spread like wildfire.

For these not-so-stupid scholars, if they could befriend someone in Ningyang County, it's hard to say whether it would reduce the intensity of their labor when farming, but it would definitely provide them with an enormous network of connections.

what is this?

This is simply the safest shortcut to success.

However, these scholars could never have imagined that the girls of Ningyang County had already been corrupted.

No one wants to be Zhuo Wenjun.

No one wanted to be Wang Baochuan.

Becoming a concubine was even more impossible.

For the girls of Ningyang County, even marrying a farmer from the same county whom they knew well was far better than marrying a scholar who appeared out of nowhere.

As for marrying into a higher social class... even the highest branch can't be better than a marriage arranged by your master's wife?

Yang Shaofeng shook his head with a smile before speaking, "Have someone go and give them a warning, make them put away their little schemes."

Chen Mo's eyes darted around, and he immediately cupped his hands in acknowledgment, "Yes, Your Excellency understands."

……

Chen Xingzu never expected that he would be betrayed by a fellow townsman from eastern Zhejiang in Ningyang County.

To be precise, Chen Xingzu was not betrayed by Chen Mo, but was simply implicated.

"I heard that you still have the mind to compose poems while farming, which means you're not tired enough."

A fully armored soldier stood before the group of scholars, and said with a forced smile, "Our Deputy Chen Chang from Ningyang County has specially sought out the commander of the Imperial Son-in-Law's personal guards, and begged the Imperial Son-in-Law's personal guards to send someone to give you a workout."

"Therefore, starting today, you will all need to set aside an extra hour each day for training."

"This hour should be divided into two hours for training."

"First, we train for one hour in the morning."

"Secondly, we train for one hour in the evening."

"The training content is very simple. You won't be lifting stone weights, nor will you learn how to kill or set fires. It's just simple drills: formations, running, marching, and turning."

"Oh, let me introduce myself first."

The soldier said with a smile, "My name used to be Yan Ergou, now it's Yan Weiming. I'm a junior officer in the Imperial Son-in-Law's personal guards, nicknamed the Living Yama."

"Hu Yuan joined the army in the twenty-fifth year of the Zhizheng era. He killed thirty-seven enemies on the battlefield and was promoted to junior officer for his meritorious service."

"In the third year of Hongwu's reign, he was transferred to the Imperial Son-in-Law's personal guard."

"You can call me Yan Xiaoqi, or you can call me Yama."

"My task is to train you good-for-nothings into qualified recruits before you enter the workshop to work."

WTF?

Chen Xingzu was furious. He stepped forward, pointed at Yan Weiming, and shouted, "You scoundrel! We are imperial scholars, disciples of the emperor. How dare you, a mere lowly bannerman, call us trash?"

Yan Weiming's face turned cold, and he suddenly kicked Chen Xingzu to the ground. "From the moment I stand in front of you, you are no longer some imperial examination graduates, but ordinary soldiers from Liu Miaoqi in Ningyang County."

Several scholars who had passed the imperial examinations rushed to help Chen Xingzu, while the other scholars also surrounded Yan Weiming and the two soldiers he had brought, as if they were about to be killed on the spot if they didn't say a word.

Yan Weiming smiled, drew his sword from his waist, and coldly stared at the group of Jinshi (successful candidates in the highest imperial examinations), saying, "I'll repeat myself: you are no longer Jinshi, but soldiers. Your official ranks and titles have been temporarily transferred to the Grand Commander's Office. If you dare to make any more noise, I will deal with you according to military law!"

A scholar standing next to Chen Xingzu was shocked and exclaimed, "Impossible! How could an official transfer be so trivial!"

Yan Weiming sneered and said, "As early as when you arrived in Ningyang County, the Prince Consort had already written a memorial. Do you think that's possible or not?"

"I'll say it again: if you can stand it, stay; if you can't, you can go back to the Ministry of Personnel."

"You don't want to be trained, and coincidentally, I don't really want to train you either."

As Yan Weiming finished speaking, the assembled scholars fell silent.

For most people, such a transfer of official rank and title would be highly unlikely, especially a transfer from the Ministry of Personnel to the Grand General's Office.

But in Yang Dianfeng's case, this kind of thing doesn't seem abnormal at all.

Just as the group of scholars were lost in thought, Yan Weiming's expression softened again. He put his waist knife back in its sheath and said, "The training you received was originally arranged by His Highness the Crown Prince and the Prince Consort a long time ago. This is just a matter of bringing it forward a little while."

All the successful candidates remained silent.

A soldier following Yan Weiming suddenly laughed and said, "Sir, our Prince Consort is a scholar, and so are they. Last time we went to Laizhou Prefecture to investigate a case, the Prince Consort took down Xiang Fei, the commander of Lingshan Guard, in two moves. Look at them, tsk tsk, the difference between scholars is greater than the difference between a person and a dog, far greater!"

Another soldier stepped forward to smooth things over, smiling as he said to the group of scholars, "His Highness the Crown Prince wrote to the Prince Consort, saying that you are all this year's special imperial examination graduates, and that you are all talents destined to become generals and prime ministers. You need to hone your skills properly."

"However, His Highness also mentioned in his letter that there will definitely be some people who cannot endure hardship, and he specifically instructed that you should not be made too difficult. If any of you really cannot bear it, you can apply to return to the capital now. At that time, the Ministry of Personnel will transfer your official titles and ranks back from the Grand General's Office and make other arrangements for you."