The disgraced official I took care of was actually Zhu Houcong's childhood friend.

Chapter 695

"You two have rendered meritorious service in pacifying Southeast Asia; you are hereby awarded a thousand taels of gold and ten thousand taels of silver..."

Emperor Jiajing then announced a series of rewards.

"Your military achievements will be remembered for now, and you will be rewarded together after you enter officialdom. If you wish to enter the court directly, I can grant you special permission to enter the Hanlin Academy without taking the imperial examination."

Jiajing looked at the two of them and said.

Even though Jiajing was the emperor, he still had to consult the two men on such matters. When entering the court as an official, one's background was very important. Some officials in the court were recommended by scholars, such as Wen Zhengming.

Generally, such officials are considered inferior in the court. When others talk about them, they will say that you are just a scholar who was born into a lower social class, so naturally you are inferior to others.

Of course, Wen Zhengming was an exception. Wen Zhengming already held a pivotal position in the literary world of the Ming Dynasty. Even before he entered the court as an official, these officials would greet him with smiles. Not to mention Wen Zhengming now, whose status and position were extraordinary.

Naturally, no one dared to speak to Wen Zhengming like that.

However, if Hu Zongxian and his companion had entered officialdom as scholars, people would have referred to them as having come from military or scholar backgrounds, which would have put them at a disadvantage.

Jiajing was naturally aware of this, so he sought the opinions of both of them.

Hu Zongxian and Zhao Zhenji exchanged a glance upon hearing this.

"Thank you for your grace, Your Majesty, but we still wish to formally enter officialdom through the imperial examination."

Hu Zongxian and the other man said respectfully.

Both Hu Zongxian and Zhao Zhenji are still very young and have plenty of time. They have accumulated countless military merits and are poised for great success. Once they officially enter officialdom, they will surely rise rapidly in rank.

Hearing this, Zhou Chu couldn't help but feel a little emotional. The historical Hu Zongxian, after nearly twenty years of ups and downs in officialdom in his forties, felt that he had wasted his time and that time was running out. He eventually joined the Yan faction and chose to go along with their corrupt practices, which is why he was entrusted with important responsibilities by Jiajing.

Although Hu Zongxian later led Qi Jiguang, Yu Dayou, and others to suppress the Japanese pirates and made great contributions, his reputation was also mixed.

Unbeknownst to him, Zhou Chu had changed Hu Zongxian's fate.

"That's good, you're all still young, you have plenty of time."

Jiajing looked at Hu Zongxian and the other man, and nodded.

Hu Zongxian is only seventeen years old now, while Zhao Zhenji is four years older than him. Both of them are now scholars and are very talented. In terms of military strategy, Hu Zongxian is slightly better than Zhao Zhenji.

However, when it comes to the imperial examinations, Zhao Zhenji was far superior to Hu Zongxian.

Zhao Zhenji was precocious from a young age. If he hadn't spent most of these years following Zhou Chu in his campaigns, he would probably be a successful candidate in the imperial examinations by now.

For Zhao Zhenji, the imperial examination was a piece of cake.

After saying this, Jiajing led his officials to welcome Wen Zhengming and others to the capital.

There were many officials present this time, including those from the Hanlin Academy. Zhou Chu even spotted a familiar figure: Xu Jie.

Xu Jie passed the high school entrance exam five years ago. The following year, Xu Jie's father passed away, and Xu Jie returned to his hometown to observe the mourning period. He only returned to Beijing last year and re-entered the Hanlin Academy.

Xu Jie no longer harbored the arrogance he once had. Back in Jiangnan, he had been somewhat arrogant in his presence when facing Zhou Chu, as he was confident in his own talent and believed that Zhou Chu, the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, had only reached such a high position because of his connection with the emperor.

But after actually entering officialdom, Xu Jie discovered that it was not like that at all. Over the years, Zhou Chu had done so many things, even just one of them, that would be enough for an ordinary official to strive for his entire life. But this Duke of Dingguo had done countless things.

Not to mention Zhou Chu, just look at those who used to serve under Zhou Chu, such as the General Who Guards the North, the General Who Pacifies the Distant Regions, and Hu Ruzhen and Zhao Mengjing right now.

Even just these people made Xu Jie feel a deep sense of defeat.