Chapter 2229: The Emperor's Conditions

Chapter 2229: The Emperor's Conditions

Now that they knew the Emperor had known Meng Yunzheng for quite some time, that meant...

That's right, Meng Yunzheng and Xiang Weinan were good friends.

Since the end of the year before last, when the Third Prince and Second Prince conspired in rebellion and Xiang Weinan played a pivotal role, everyone knew that Xiang Weinan, despite being the son-in-law of the Xiao family, was not aligned with the Third Prince's faction.

Xiang Weinan was a trusted confidant of the Emperor, and it seemed that Meng Yunzheng might be too.

At this moment, people started looking at Meng Yunzheng with different eyes.

This guy had been hiding so well.

Furthermore, how many confidants did the Emperor have left?

Since the end of the previous year, many people had learned that Minister Jing, the Minister of Justice, who usually kept a low profile, was also one of the Emperor's men. There were also figures like Xiang Weinan and Qi Lie, not to mention several others they couldn't even imagine.

Now, a new top scholar who achieved a perfect score on the imperial examination had emerged? The Emperor certainly had a keen eye; he found people with real talent.

People had mixed feelings, but the Emperor acted as if he hadn't noticed their reactions.

He looked at Meng Yunzheng and said, "I can agree to your request to return home and teach, but I have a condition."

"Please, Your Majesty, go ahead."

"Since you claim that your intention is to cultivate outstanding talents, then after you establish your academy, you must genuinely contribute talents to the court. Three years from now, your academy must have at least five students who pass the palace examination. Moreover, you must ensure that at least five individuals pass the imperial examination in the future. Otherwise, you will have to admit that opening an academy is not suitable for you, and you must return to your position as a Compiler of the Hanlin Academy. What do you think?"

"Five?"

Everyone was stunned, especially considering the number of candidates who participated in the provincial examinations across the entire Da Su Dynasty. There could be over a thousand or even tens of thousands of candidates during the palace examination, with only two to three hundred being selected.

Most of these successful candidates came from Jiangnan and the capital, which naturally had the most candidates due to their favorable conditions.

The remaining successful candidates were distributed among various Prefectures, and some provinces might not even have a single successful candidate.

Now, the Emperor was demanding that an academy that hadn't even started yet produce at least five successful candidates in three years? This seemed like an impossible task, so was this the Emperor's way of making things difficult for people? People couldn't help but wonder if there was some connection between Meng Yunzheng and the Emperor.

It seemed like the Emperor knew what they were thinking, as he added, "Of course, I won't make it too difficult for you. Your academy has no students yet, and even if you start teaching now, it's uncertain whether your students can participate in the county examination within three years. Therefore, during these three years, any examinee who has studied at your academy for more than half a year will be counted among those five slots."

People silently lowered their heads. This was still a challenging task.

Who among the candidates would choose to study at an unknown academy that had been open for less than three years? Even if the head of the academy was a top scholar who achieved a perfect score, it would still be difficult to attract students.

However, Meng Yun Zheng agreed, "Understood."

The Emperor raised an eyebrow, "You're quite confident."

Meng Yun Zheng smiled, "To be honest with Your Majesty, I have already invited Master Huai'an from Lingzhou to teach at the academy. When the time comes, Master Huai'an will bring some of his students to join."

"Wow!"

"You mean Master Huai'an?"

"He's actually willing to go to your academy to teach?"

People couldn't help but exclaim; Master Huai'an was incredibly famous.

He was a great scholar of his generation and had achieved the top scholar title at the age of twelve in the imperial examination. Later, he became a Compiler of the Hanlin Academy, and through the years, he climbed the ranks until he became the Grand Tutor to the Crown Prince.