Zhang Cheng and Ma Lu were stunned. Then, both of their faces lit up with joy. They won?
After verifying their identities, the messenger quickly arrived at the top of the city wall. The soldier who reported the good news had already passed through Datong City on horseback. He still had to go to the capital to report the victory.
"Sir, Army Supervisor, Qi Shaobao won a great victory at Qinghu Gully!"
"Tell me the details!" Ma Lu couldn't help but ask.
The messenger quickly said, "The son of Wala Hwang Tae-gil, Talic, led 10,000 cavalrymen to intercept our Daming's envoy. Qi Shaobao led his men to set up an ambush at Qinghu Gully.
In this battle, Talic's 10,000 elite cavalrymen were wiped out and Hwang Tae-gil's son, Talic, was captured alive. "
After listening to the messenger, Zhang Cheng immediately laughed. "Good, good, well done!"
"As expected of Qi Shaobao!" Ma Lu couldn't help but praise.
Although there were reports of success at the borders in recent years, those reports were all fake. If one were to investigate seriously, it might not be a great victory.
This time, Qi Jiguang was different. This was a great victory without any fake reports!
"Let's go, Commander Ma. Let's have a drink to celebrate!" Zhang Cheng said with a laugh. This time, he was really excited.
Capital, Civil Servant School.
Standing at the entrance of the school, Sun Chengzong heaved a sigh of relief. Ever since he got first in the Civil Servant Examination, Sun Chengzong had been waiting for this day. At the same time, he was also very curious about this Civil Servant School.
Although he had heard of this Civil Servant School, he had never entered it.
"Brother Sun, you're early!" Li Yiqi carried a bag in his hand and smiled as he came to Sun Chengzong's side.
When he turned around and saw that it was Li Yiqi, Sun Chengzong also smiled. "I was waiting for you. Let's go in!"
After the two of them verified their identities at the entrance, they carried their bags and entered the Civil Servant School.
As soon as they walked in, the two of them saw a screen wall. On it was engraved the words, "Stand for the public, govern for the people." These words were especially imposing.
Below these words, there was a name: Zhu Yijun!
This was written by the emperor himself!
The two of them stood firm and respectfully saluted the screen wall. Then, they turned around and walked in.
After passing through the screen wall, a small square appeared in front of them. There were already quite a lot of people here.
Everyone stood together in groups of three to five. Their expressions were very relaxed as they chatted with each other and laughed from time to time.
The two of them looked around and found this place to be quite interesting.
"The Libationer is here!" With a shout, a group of people walked out.
Eight black-clothed men stood in two rows. Lv Shenxing walked out with a large book in his arms. Everyone hurriedly bowed to him.
Lv Shenxing's gaze swept across everyone's faces. With a serious expression, he said, "Roll call. Those who are not present will be dismissed!" As he spoke, Lv Shenxing opened a large book and read the names one by one to verify their identities.
The small square, which was originally very relaxed, suddenly became tense.
The first person to be called was Sun Chengzong. When he read his name, Sun Chengzong hurriedly answered, "Present!"
As he read the names one by one, no one was absent. Lv Shenxing nodded in satisfaction. He closed the book in his hand and said in a deep voice, "You have seen the eight words on the screen wall. It was written by the emperor himself."
"This is the emperor's ardent expectations for you and also his expectations for you."
"This official will say the unpleasant things first. Being admitted here doesn't mean that everything will be free of worries.
You will be here for three months to study as a civil servant. Those who are not qualified will be dismissed. The emperor has given me this authority. "
Everyone's heart skipped a beat. The joy of being admitted to the civil servant school was immediately reduced by half.
Lv Shenxing turned around and pointed at the couplet hanging on the door behind him. "Stand for the public, govern for the people. These eight words are the expectations of the emperor for you. The couplet behind me is the expectations of the civil servant school for you!" Lv Shenxing said as he turned around and pointed at the couplet hanging on the door behind him.
Everyone was stunned. They had already noticed the couplet covered with a red cloth.
Following Lv Shenxing's words, two men in black went up and pulled down the red cloth, revealing the couplet inside.
"Get rich and get promoted, please go another way.
"Be greedy for life and fear of death, don't enter this door."
Sixteen words. They were very simple, but they were so shocking.
"Remember the emperor's expectations and the requirements of the school."
Lv Shenxing said loudly, "Now hand in your personal luggage. All your belongings in the school will be provided by the school."
"Everyone will have three sets of clothes. One set of the uniform of a ninth-rank general."
Lu Shenxing's eyes swept across the crowd. "However, whether you can go out in this official uniform depends on you."
"There are two sets of civil servant uniforms. Now get your uniforms, then go to that room to find a bed and change."
On the table next to them, two men in black held a pile of clothes and began to distribute them to everyone.
Sun Chengzong took the clothes and took the lead to walk into the room.
After entering the room, Sun Chengzong found that it was a long corridor.
There was a door on the other side of the corridor, and there were numbers on the door.
Pushing the door open, Sun Chengzong found that it was actually a dormitory, but the bed in the dormitory was divided into two layers. The upper layer was a bed, and the lower layer was a table with the four treasures of the study on it. The luggage had already been laid out.
There were names on the bedside table, so it was obvious that it was one's bed.
There were nine rooms in this row of rooms, and Sun Chengzong quickly found his bed in the first room.
He quickly opened the clothes and put them on. Sun Chengzong found that the style of the clothes was new, and they looked similar to the Flying Fish Robe.
However, it was not the Flying Fish Robe. Instead, it was embroidered with carps, a black gauze hat, and thin-soled boots.
After changing the clothes and putting on the black gauze hat, Sun Chengzong turned around and walked out.
When everyone came out, Lv Shenxing continued, "Look at the civil servant uniforms you are wearing. There are carps embroidered on them. This was ordered by His Majesty, and it is taken from the 'carps leaping over the dragon gate'. However, whether you are carps and can leap over the dragon gate depends on you."
"These are your waist tags. Take them with you!" Lv Shenxing nodded to the men in black beside him.
After everyone received their waist tags, Lv Shenxing said, "The work and rest times are posted on the wall of your dormitory. Go back and take a look. You are dismissed now."
After returning to his room, Sun Chengzong glanced at Li Yiqi and said with a smile, "This school is interesting. It has far exceeded my expectations.
It seems that the next three months will not be too boring. "
Li Yiqi walked in front of the wall with the work and rest times. He took a look and said, "Brother, even if you want to be bored, I'm afraid you won't have the time!"
"Wake up at a quarter to five in the morning (5: 45 am) and exercise."
Li Yiqi smiled and said, "Wash up at a quarter to six in the morning (6: 30 am) and eat. Class starts at a quarter to seven in the morning (7: 30 am). The first class is arithmetic, which lasts for two hours.
After the first class, there will be a three-quarter hour break. "
"The second class starts at a quarter to nine in the morning. The subject is the self-cultivation of civil servants. It also lasts for two hours, and there will be a break at noon (11 am).
After class, go to the canteen for lunch. In the afternoon, there will be a class at a quarter to thirteen in the morning. The subject is agriculture. "
"There will be a three-quarter hour break. The last class will be at a quarter to three in the afternoon. The subject is the Law of Daming. It lasts for two hours, and the class will be dismissed at a quarter to five in the afternoon.
After dinner, there will be a self-study session at a quarter to nine in the evening. "
After listening to Li Yiqi, Sun Chengzong said with a smile, "It's fully arranged!"
"But I'm very curious about these classes!" Sun Chengzong said with a smile.
As soon as the two of them finished speaking, another two people walked in from outside. They were their dormitory mates.
The four of them introduced themselves and found out that they were the top four in the civil servant exam.
The next morning, Sun Chengzong heard the gong outside and immediately sat up in bed.
He looked at the other three people who were still sleepy and was slightly stunned. He quickly put on his clothes.
The four of them went out of the room and directly went to the small square outside. A strong man in black was already waiting for them outside.
Chancellor Lv Shenxing was also there. Seeing that no one was late, Lv Shenxing smiled and nodded.
"In ancient times, there was a dance at the sound of the rooster. You should follow the example of the wise men of the past."
Lv Shenxing said with a smile, "No matter what you do, you need a strong body. It's the same for civil servants. From today onwards, all of you should start practicing!"
Under the command of the strong man in black, everyone began to run laps. However, some people had already begun to mutter, but no one stood up.
Seeing that no one stood up to criticize loudly and no one objected to running, Lv Shenxing nodded with satisfaction.
In fact, he came over this morning to see if anyone was causing trouble.
If someone was causing trouble, Lv Shenxing was prepared to expel a few people.
Seeing this scene, Lv Shenxing nodded with satisfaction.
Those who could pass the exam were naturally not fools. Those nerds who only knew how to write poetry wouldn't be able to pass the exam.
After three laps, many people were already panting. Some people were so tired that they sat on the ground.
Lv Shenxing didn't expect them to run far. After three laps, they stopped.
The strong man in black began to teach them how to relax and soothe themselves.
When this was done, Lv Shenxing began to speak again.
"Not bad. Take a break and go wash up. Over there is the water room and bathroom. Those who want to take a bath go over there."
The crowd dispersed. Li Yiqi looked at Sun Chengzong, who was still calm and composed. He smiled bitterly and said, "It's good to be young. I really can't run when I'm old. I've only run a few steps and I'm already out of breath."
Glancing at Li Yiqi, Sun Chengzong said with a smile, "Brother, you lack practice. You can practice here."
After the two of them went to wash up, they came to the dining hall on the other side. The entire dining hall was like a hall with long tables, chairs, and long stools.
On a row of tables were this morning's breakfast. It was very simple.
Porridge, steamed buns, steamed buns, a few pickled vegetables, and eggs.