As the Northern Expedition Army began to attack the city, Ye Hexiong immediately ordered arrows to be fired and made various arrangements to command the troops to defend the city.

The soldiers guarding the city were mainly surrendered by the Ganchao led by Qiao Zhiming. As for the people of the Yuan Dynasty, they did not participate in the battle as soon as possible. They just formed many teams to patrol back and forth, and acted as supervisors.

Since we learned in advance that Ganchao was about to enter the Northern Expedition, there was a lot of supplies and equipment in Kaifeng City, and even if the morale of the army was sluggish and it would be difficult to defend.

The Northern Expedition Army was quite fierce at the beginning, but over time, Zhou Quan or Gao Xianliang began to preserve their strength and attack, but they did not work so hard.

Especially the Five Army Camps commanded by Zhou Quan, they blatantly attacked passively. As long as the army suffered a slight casualty, they would order them to retreat and then resume their attacks after rest.

As a result, the war naturally did not progress. After fighting for a whole day, it did not climb to Kaifeng City Tower.

This situation made Ye Hexiong notice something and felt much more relaxed.

After the sun set, the Northern Expedition Army withdrew its troops and returned to the camp, ending the day's war.

"General Zhou, what do you have to say about today's war?"

The battle situation did not progress, so Li Zongting naturally had to ask for punishment, but his tone was not very strict.

"What did Li Shuai ask me to say?"

Zhou Quan responded with a very tough attitude.

"After fighting for a whole day, the Five Military Camp made no progress and failed to climb the city wall. How do you explain it!"

"What to explain."

Then the topic changed: "The attack was not only unfavorable, but also more than five military camps, three thousand battalions or Shenji camps, which one has made progress."

He paused and said with a slight sarcastic sarcasm: "Even the genital camp commanded by Li Shuai himself, no progress has been made!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Li Zongting narrowed his eyes and said coldly: "You are the one who is playing the main attack today!"

"snort!"

A cold snorted, and Zhou Quan said sarcastically: "Then Li Shuai will play the main attack tomorrow, and it depends on whether you can make progress."

Zhou Quan was fearless. After all, he was the general, and Li Zongting had no right to deal with him, so he had to submit a report to the court.

So it's not a big deal to confront the coach. As long as he doesn't publicly disobey his orders, even He Yuansheng will be difficult to deal with.

Li Zongting also knew that it was difficult to deal with Zhou Quan, but he had many ways to deal with this matter after being in charge of the army for many years.

"Come!"

"marshal!"

"Put Chen Jie'an out and kill him!"

Chen Jie'an is a Qianzheng under Zhou Quan's command and the first to attack the city today.

"Marson, I'm wronged!"

A fearful voice immediately rang out in the central army's tent.

"Li Zongting, do you dare?"

Zhou Quan also spoke, his tone was very cold, and his eyes were full of anger when he looked at Li Zongting.

"I fear the enemy and avoid the war, and I will die more than anything else!"

"you?"

Zhou Quan wanted to say something, but Li Zongting's personal soldiers did not give him time to speak. With Chen Jie'an's constant begging for mercy, he took him out of the central army's tent.

"ah!"

A moment later, a scream came from outside, and the atmosphere inside the central army's tent suddenly became cold, and the faces of the generals changed.

Especially the generals of the Five Military Camp and the Three Thousand Battalions also felt a little worried when they looked at Li Zongting's eyes.

Because everyone understands that Li Zongting is killing a chicken to warn the monkey and is used to warn the generals.

"If there are still people who dare to fear the enemy and avoid the war tomorrow, this will be the same."

After saying that, he ordered the dismissal of the account despite Zhou Quan's ugly face.

The next day, the Northern Expedition Army continued to attack the city, but this time, no one dared to slander, even the generals under Zhou Quan were the same.

However, the offensive became fierce and the progress was not great. After all, the Yuan Dynasty had already prepared and there were many soldiers guarding the city. It was difficult to break through the city in a short period of time.

Fortunately, Li Zongting was not in a hurry and launched a slow attack, and the situation continued to stalemate.

On the other hand, in Nanjing City, after more than a month of observation, Zhao Faxian finally chose several suitable targets.

Especially a rich young man named Wu Bingzhang was regarded as the God of Wealth and soon informed the servant who sold the exam questions to meet with this person.

"I have met Lord Shangshu!"

One night, Wu Bingzhang came to the Minister of Rites' Mansion to meet Zhao Faxian.

"No need to be polite!"

Zhao Faxian responded lightly, and then looked at the person with a scrutiny look.

"How are you preparing for this imperial examination?"

As soon as this said, Wu Bingzhang felt a little moved and immediately said, "The students are well prepared, but whether they can go to high school depends on luck!"

"Luck, this is not necessarily true!"

Zhao Faxian said meaningfully, paused, and continued to speak: "The ancients said that wealth can be known to the gods, Mr. Wu must have heard of it!"

Wu Bingzhang suddenly became excited. No matter how stupid he was, he could understand what Zhao Faxian meant.

"Students have naturally heard of it!"

"Then you know what to do!"

Wu Bingzhang was a little surprised by such blatant bribes, and he immediately spoke: "Students naturally understand."

In fact, when he entered the Minister of Rites' Mansion, Wu Huanzhang had a premonition. After all, the servant who contacted him was the one who sold the exam questions.

But he has average knowledge. If he takes the exam in a regular manner, he really doesn’t have much hope. If he can spend some money and buy a Jinshi fame, he will naturally be very willing.

Next, the two of them whispered a few times, and Wu Huanzhang took out a stack of silver notes, put them on the table, and then said goodbye and left.

The next day, Wu Huanzhang, who had a clear mind, began to call on friends and have fun in Nanjing.

After all, Zhao Faxian promised him to ensure his fame and honor in Jinshi, but he only had to be determined in the Golden Palace.

Zhao Faxian met dozens of students in the next period of time and offered many Jinshi places.

In this way, the rich and powerful students will naturally feel relieved and have fun in Nanjing with peace of mind.

A month passed in a flash, and soon the third day of June was the day when the imperial examination began.

On this day, tens of thousands of students entered the Nanjing Gongyuan and participated in the examination.

Three consecutive exams, each exam lasting for three days, is naturally exhausting, but for the sake of the future, no one complained and gritted his teeth and persevered.

After the last exam was over, the students relaxed. The classmates and old friends began to contact each other frequently, guessing who would be on the list this time while waiting for the news.

The imperial examination is a national event, so the speed of the papers is naturally very fast. The results will be released in early July.

Two hundred people will be admitted to undergraduate exams, which will definitely be a one-plank bridge that will be crossed by thousands of troops.

But after the list came out, the candidates were extremely surprised, and many outstanding students failed the candidates.

"Brother Hengshun didn't make the list, this is impossible!"

A voice sounded, as if it was very surprised.

These words were also echoed by many candidates, all of whom looked at a handsome man in a 27 or 28 year old, in plain clothes.

The handsome man's expression was also very surprised, as if he was stupid, and he couldn't believe the result.

"Why is Wu Huanzhang on the list? He is still ranked first?"

At this time, someone screamed again, looking like he couldn't believe it.

"I definitely don't believe this guy can get the first place in the exam!"

Someone immediately echoed, his tone full of anger.

"Li Xiao is also on the list. With his talent, it is impossible to pass the exam."

"Wei Xianbin, he can be on the list..."

"Corruption, fraud, this imperial examination is definitely a problem..."

“…”

For a moment, there were constant noises. After all, every student had many classmates and knew each other very well.

Wu Huanzhang, who is rich in family wealth, is very famous. Many of his classmates understand his level and do not believe that he can get first place in the exam.

For a moment, the crowd was in a turmoil, and the students were about to attack the tribute court on the spot.

Zhao Faxian didn't care about such a big mess, because every time the scientific examination was completed, there would be no candidate who failed the exam to cause trouble.

So he followed the convention and sent out yamen runners to suppress these candidates, and at the same time sent orders that anyone who dared to cause trouble would be eliminated.

In general, Zhao Faxian's approach is naturally not a problem.
To be continued...