Simulates history, but Chongzhen is the Divine Emperor at the beginning

Chapter 14 The Invisible Road Ahead
[You listened to all the rumors from the outside world, and even though you had already negotiated terms with those bandits, you couldn't help but feel uneasy...]

[No matter what, you were the one who started this perverse trend of fabricating unofficial history. If you are to be held accountable, you truly bear the blame.]

[And they're quite different from you. Although you fabricated some false charges against Li Zicheng in your article of gratitude, they weren't too serious. After all, your main purpose wasn't to discredit Li Zicheng, but to use it to demonstrate your loyalty to His Majesty the Divine Emperor.]

However, these down-and-out scholars who followed the trend didn't understand this core point. They thought you gained both fame and fortune simply by smearing Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong, but they missed the point of promoting the Divine Emperor, so they could only curse more and more...

How dirty is it?

[It's so filthy that even you think writing is a heinous crime. If you were in the thief's shoes, you would have rushed over in anger and hacked the culprit to death with a knife...]

So you can only feel extremely guilty, turn a deaf ear to the world outside, and focus on reading the sages' books, hoping that the intruders will be magnanimous...at least have some sense of contract and not break the agreement and kill people.

What might surprise you is that they actually don't intend to kill you out of spite. They'll even occasionally bump into you on the street and encourage you to study hard and pass the imperial examinations, with genuinely kind smiles on their faces.

[But you, who are naturally sensitive, shuddered at the other person's fake smile...]

Apparently, the thieves are really concerned about this "black Li trend" you've created. They're eager to hack you to death on the spot!

[But since you were already a dying man, they were forced to endure it... Rather than meaninglessly killing you, it would be better to wait until you failed in your assassination attempt on the governor, watch you die at Caishikou with their own eyes, and then go up and dip their steamed buns in it to vent their anger...]

[But you're still not sure: Is this necessary?]

If I really hated you, wouldn't I have just killed you with a knife? Why would I force you to assassinate the governor, and then use the governor's invisible hand to kill you... what's the point? There's no need to kill someone with a borrowed knife.

"Besides, aren't they afraid that you'll reveal your assassination plan to the Governor? If you do, you'll be dead, but won't these intruders be able to escape?"

What’s the point?

[No matter how much you think about it, you still can't figure it out...]

So you buried this doubt deep in your heart, and for the time being, you studied hard, actively preparing for next year's provincial examination... Even though you felt you probably wouldn't pass, you still had to give it a try, just like the final year of high school in your previous life.

[Seniors from Hengshui! Seniors from Maotanchang! Please lend me all your strength!]

[The Soul of Hengshui! The Soul of Maotanchang! The twin martial spirits possess the body, unlocking the true form of the martial spirit!]

[Give me a million turns in the exam room! ]

【…】

Seeing that his "other self" had given up thinking and started studying hard, Zhou Liang fell into deep thought:
"The thief's purpose..."

Newbies may find it hard to understand the purpose of Li Laiheng and others, but for a veteran like Zhou Liang, it is not difficult to see.

So Zhou Liang shook his head after thinking about it:
"This kid fell into the trap!"

"The so-called passing the imperial examination and assassinating the governor was just a cover. Li Laiheng's real purpose was to avenge Li Zicheng!"

The reason is simple. Although "Zhou Liang" claimed that his articles and scholar titles were the work of his master and the county magistrate, and that they wanted to use him as a signboard to gain fame and fortune, he behaved throughout like a "copy of Jiang Sheng" marketed by unscrupulous corrupt officials.

But Li Laiheng is an old man after all, and it is not easy for him to believe what others say!
Besides, did he really care who was the instigator of the public opinion? He didn't want to care about that. For him, he just wanted to see the Ming Dynasty officialdom flow into a river of blood!
Because the consistent enemy of Li Zicheng and the Dashun regime has always been the Ming Dynasty. Li Zicheng started his rebellion because of his rebellion against the Ming Dynasty and perished because of the suppression by the Ming Dynasty. If the remnants of the Chuang army had any unforgivable enemy, it would obviously be the Ming Dynasty. Therefore, the more Ming Dynasty officials died, the happier they were.

If "Zhou Liang" really passed the imperial examination and assassinated the Shaanxi provincial governor, regardless of whether the assassination was successful or not, the governor's anger would burn from this fuse!
If the fire spread, the officials in Mizhi County and even the entire northern Shaanxi would be in big trouble. They would be labeled as "accomplices of the traitors" and at the very least, demoted and exiled, or even reported to the capital and executed...

In this way, many corrupt officials can be easily eliminated.

On the contrary, if "Zhou Liang" fails to pass the imperial examination, or if he passes the examination but does not assassinate the governor, then they will kill "Zhou Liang" and the people involved in spreading the rumors as agreed to vent their anger!

What? What if "Zhou Liang" reported them to the governor?
That would be even more wonderful!
Anyway, they are a bunch of old men who are not afraid of death. Moreover, if they are implicated in the report, the ones who will be dealt with will not be the governor, but the emperor's personal army, the Jinyiwei!
By then, anyone who had a vested interest in "Zhou Liang," whether official or civilian, would be charged with "secretly collaborating with the rebels." Given the Jinyiwei's usual style, I'm afraid the entire Shaanxi Provincial Administration would have to be reshuffled, with earthworms having to be split vertically and eggs shaken to separate the yolks...

"Pure suicide truck!"

Zhou Liang couldn't help but sigh in admiration:
"No matter what happens to my other self, these old men will never lose out. The bottom line is they'll kill his entire family to vent their anger, and the upper limit is to kill most of the officials in the province..."

Now, it depends on which way the "other self" will choose to die...

……

【Time flies like water. 】

As you devoted your whole heart to studying the sages' books, oblivious to the world outside, time quickly passed until the last day of the 1675th year of the Chongzhen reign... [The th year of the Chongzhen reign, AD, was the Yimao year in the lunar calendar.]

During the Ming Dynasty, provincial examinations were usually held in the four lunar years of Zi, Wu, Mao, and You. Therefore, this year, Yi Mao, coincides with the year when provincial examinations were held in various provinces.

So, as soon as the Lunar New Year is over, you inevitably start to feel nervous, and this nervousness lasts until August...

August is the time for the provincial examination, and since August is autumn, it is also called the "Autumn Examination". Only scholars can take this exam, and if you pass, you will become a "juren"!

Once one becomes a Juren, one completely bids farewell to the ordinary class and enters the ruling class of the Ming Dynasty... Just like Fan Jin in "Fan Jin Zhongju" (Fan Jin Zhongju), compared to being scolded by his father-in-law, the butcher Hu, when he was a scholar, after he passed the exam, he immediately became a superior person!

A man named "Da Feng" later wrote a song: "People surrounded me and asked about my well-being. Landlords and gentry from all over the country came to inquire about my difficulties. Hu the butcher trembled, and his right hand felt extreme pain. It turned out that I had become the god of literature and music, and I am no longer the same as before!..."

[Exaggerated? Not at all! Because Juren were neither commoners nor clerks, but officials!]

[And this was before the Divine Emperor's arrival. After the Divine Emperor's arrival, things will be even more incredible, because the Juren will be officially granted "tyrannical divine power" by the Ming court, and from then on they will enter the realm of transcendence!]

[That's why the provincial examination has always been a focal point of competition. The province's most talented students will come to compete with you, vying for the rare and extraordinary spots...]

【And are you ready to compete with them? 】

[Although you want to proudly answer "I'm ready!", the reality is that you have no confidence at all due to your guilty conscience...]

In the final moments before the exam, your teacher found you. Seeing your dejected expression, he hesitated to speak, ultimately letting out a helpless sigh.

"Why are you so stubborn?"

Although he originally just wanted to use you as a tool to defraud money, as your combat value rapidly increased, and after two years of being together, his feelings for you gradually developed into a true mentor-disciple relationship.

[No one dislikes a talented and hardworking student, and he has seen all your hard work and diligence over the past two years, so his attitude towards you has been getting better and better.]

[You, as a student, please him in every way. Your only shortcoming is your eagerness for quick success!]

You are too eager to make progress...

[You're still very young, and you have plenty of time to learn. You could have spent your childhood and youth comfortably, having the money and fame you want...but you're so impatient!]

[I just passed the Xiucai exam last year, and now I want to pass the Juren exam this year. Just thinking about it, I know it's impossible.]

[This is indeed the case. The results of your hard work over a year are indeed remarkable, but if you think you can pass the imperial examination with this, that's really dreaming!]

[After all, you're not a true genius. The reason your progress on the Scholar exam was so terrifying is entirely because you have a university degree from your previous life. It's like playing the pig to eat the tiger.]

[Now, if you want to take the imperial examination, your previous life's education is of little use. You didn't learn the eight-legged essay, so if you want to take the imperial examination, you can only study from the beginning. And if you do that, you certainly won't be able to learn much in just over a year. At the very least, there's no hope of passing the examination...]

"You have such an impatient temper..."

Your master sighed helplessly, "Forget it. Just treat it as a chance to see the world... If you lose this time, you can try again next time!"

He stroked your head and comforted you, "You're still young, there's no need to rush... Don't put any pressure on yourself. Master believes you'll pass the imperial examination in the future!"

【after?】

[There is an indelible sorrow in your eyes: Is there any future for me? ]

【well……】

【…】

Half a month later, under the guidance of your master, you arrived at the Shaanxi Provincial Administration Commission. This was the former capital of the Han and Tang dynasties, and was also the capital of the Dashun regime decades ago.

【This is Xi'an Prefecture! 】

[Here, you are about to start an exam with no way out.]

【What awaits you is only pitch-black death...】

……

(End of this chapter)