Recreating the prosperous Tang begins with summoning players

Chapter 447 The Opening of the Imperial Examination

Wang Chengwei and other scholars from Longyou first went to Shangshu Province to submit their travel papers.

Datang's scrolls are divided into two categories, one is the anthology submitted to the imperial court. In the early Tang Dynasty, the emperor and the prime minister would check these scrolls and select capable talents from them.

However, with the increase in the number of imperial examinations, the emperor and court officials no longer had the time and energy to check these rolls, and the rolls handed over to Shangshu Province became a process.

What can really be useful is another kind of scroll, that is, the scroll that is written by oneself and submitted to the important officials of the court.

Players who came to take part in the imperial examination naturally knew the importance of the scroll. They put the best poem they "copied" at the front of the scroll and voted for the famous ministers in the court.

Next, go to the Ministry of Rites to check your identity, and then confirm the subjects you choose to take the imperial examination.

This is equivalent to the college entrance examination for later generations. If you choose to take the liberal arts or science exam, the exam questions for different subjects are also different.

After Wang Chengwei and other [-] players submitted their test papers, they gathered in the Longyou Guild Hall to discuss the subjects to apply for.

Wang Chengwei did the most homework. He introduced:

"My Great Tang Imperial Examination has a total of six subjects. Everyone should pay attention when registering, and don't make mistakes."

"The first is the Xiucai department. This scholar is not a scholar of later generations. In the early Tang Dynasty, the Xiucai department examination was the most difficult. Very few candidates could pass the exam each time. Now it has been cancelled. In the early Tang Dynasty, many famous officials passed the Xiucai department. of."

"Nowadays the most popular examination subject is Jinshi. Jinshi can only admit 30 people each year, but some people have counted that one-third of the prime ministers in the Tang Dynasty were from Jinshi. Jinshi is the reserve army of senior bureaucrats. It is the last person to enter the officialdom. good way."

"In addition to Jinshi, Mingjing is also one of the ways to enter the officialdom. After passing the exam, you can also be awarded an official position, and the number of people who pass is more. When there are few subjects, there are dozens of people, and when there are many, there are hundreds of people. pass."

"But everyone also knows that Ming Jing Ke Jidi's official career starts lower than that of Jinshi Ke, and people will be discriminated against in official circles. Under the same conditions, promotion is much slower than Jinshi."

"However, Ming Jing Ke doesn't need to test poetry, and the difficulty of policy theory is relatively low. If you don't have confidence in yourself, you can apply for Ming Jing Ke."

There is a saying in the Tang Dynasty called "fifty young Jinshi, thirty old Mingjing", which means that a 50-year-old Jinshi is still young and promising, but a 30-year-old Mingjing is already old.

It can be seen that the difficulty of getting a Jinshi is far higher than that of Mingjing.

Yuan Zhen, a great poet in the mid-Tang Dynasty, and Li He, a ghost poet, took the imperial examination in the same year, and the two were good friends before the exam.

Later, when Yuan Zhen passed the examination of Ming Jing and Li He passed the examination of Jinshi, Yuan Zhen went to congratulate Li He, but Li He refused to open the door to meet the guests.

Li He also said to the people around him that he is a Jinshi and a scholar, so how can he lower his value to meet Yuan Zhen, a man who knows the scriptures and a degree?

Later, when Yuan Zhen found out about it, he immediately broke up with Li He, and the two poets even wrote poems to ridicule each other.

It can be seen from this that Ming Jing Ke's background is indeed unpopular in officialdom, and the promotion channels are also limited compared with Jin Shi Ke.

Wang Chengwei continued to introduce:

"The examination content of the Jinshi Section is three subjects, namely poetry and prose, pasting scriptures and practical strategies. Everyone knows this."

"There are also three subjects in the examination of Ming Jing, which are posting scriptures, reciting the back, and practical strategies. There is no content of poetry, and the topics of practical strategies are simpler than those of the Jinshi department. You can choose it yourself."

Now the players who were going to take the imperial examination got tangled up.

Although you can cheat, Jinshi subjects are divided into subjects.

The first subject of Jinshi is poetry, and this poetry is not just written casually, it needs to rhyme and counterpoint.

You must know that although players can copy ancient poems, the ancient poems written in daily life and the ancient poems used in exams are completely different.

The poems of Jinshi need five characters and sixteen rhymes, that is, twelve couplets of five character poems.

If you do not meet the requirements, no matter how well you write, you will not be admitted.

For example, in the ninth year of Emperor Kaiyuan, during the imperial examination in Luoyang, Zu Yong, an examinee in Luoyang, wrote a poem on the examination paper:
In the middle of the south, the yin ridge shows the snow and the clouds.

Lin indicated that the darkness in the city is increasing.

These four poems were selected into the "Quan Tang Poetry" of later generations, and it can be said to be a very exquisite poem.

But because he didn't meet the examination requirements, Zu Yong failed to win the Jinshi in the end.

After that, Zu Yong wasted for many years, but fortunately he was indeed talented, and he did not pass the Jinshi examination until the 12th year of Kaiyuan.

You must know that the Tang Dynasty is too far away from modern times. The materials of the Jinshi Examination in the Tang Dynasty, the examination questions of the past dynasties and the excellent works of candidates have all been lost in the long river of history.

It can be said that in the matter of writing poetry and prose in the exam, the players are on the same starting line as the aborigines, and they are not even as good as those aborigines who have studied ancient poetry for more than ten or twenty years.

Many player candidates retreated, and Jinshi Division admitted 30 people at a time, and the chances of admission were too low.

Obviously, the Mingjing Department, which only needs to test posting scriptures and practical strategies, is a better choice for players.

Some players have made their choices silently, and Wang Chengwei continued:

"In addition to Jinshi and Mingjing, this time the imperial court also opened Mingfa, Mingzi and Mingshu. However, these exams are not the official way of the imperial examination, and there are limited officials who can be appointed in the future. I suggest that everyone should not consider it. .”

Everyone nodded, Jinshi was the most valuable in the Tang Dynasty, followed by Ming Jing, and those who entered the officialdom through other channels were regarded as crooked.

As an official in the Tang Dynasty, only Jinshi and Mingjing can go the farthest. The seventeen players who came to Chang'an from Longyou to take the exam finally came to the time of choice.

After reporting to the Ministry of Rites, the seven players, including Wang Chengwei, finally chose to take the Jinshi examination.

The remaining ten players choose to take the exam of Ming Jing.

After all the players have been selected, the imperial court began to block the Gong Yuan. The much-anticipated, first imperial examination after the new emperor's ascension to the throne is finally about to begin!

For the people from Chang'an, this time the imperial examination was equally lively.

The world has not yet settled down, but the resumption of the imperial examination by the imperial court has indeed shown the people of Chang'an a sign of peace in the world.

The streets and alleys of Chang'an are discussing the results of this imperial examination.

According to the past, scholars from Chang'an and Luoyang can account for [-]% of the admitted scholars.

This is not only because of the prosperity of Chang'an and Luoyang, the ability of scholars in the two capitals is higher than that of scholars in other state capitals.

There is another important reason. There are many rich and powerful children who take the imperial examination in the capital, and it is easier for these powerful and powerful children to pass the exam than the humble scholars.

The people in Chang'an are still proud. They are all discussing how many Jinshi in Chang'an can be this time.

Some teahouses even opened a gamble, discussing how many of the candidates from the capital could pass the imperial examination this time.

In the Tribute Court, officials from the Ministry of Rites are cleaning up the examination room and making final preparations.

Many of these servants were recruited after the restoration of Chang'an. Many of the old officials who were familiar with the imperial examination process were lost when Chang'an fell, so the imperial examination this time was much more sloppy than before.

The Tribute Courtyard was simply renovated, and the examiners who lived in the second year of Zhide lived in the wing of the Tribute Courtyard.

In the case of Tongzhong Shumen, Pei Mian, Minister of the Ministry of Officials, personally served as the Zhigong Examination, which is rare in the history of Tang Dynasty imperial examinations.

This also shows that the imperial court attaches great importance to this imperial examination. Let a current prime minister serve as the Zhigong Examination, and at the same time promote the status of the candidates for this examination.

In the past, the Zhigong Examination was held by the Minister of the Ministry of Rites, which means that after the candidates won the exam, they would have a prime minister's tutor.

Candles were lit in the tribute courtyard, and Pei Mian explained the last precautions to the other examiners.

Pei Mian was the prime minister and the chief examiner, so of course he would not personally check the papers.

The reviewers are young officials drawn from the Ministry of Rites, the Imperial Academy, and Yushitai. These reviewers have only one characteristic, that is, they are all officials of Jinshi and imperial background.

Each examination paper has to go through the hands of five examiners. The first examination of Jinshi is poetry and prose. However, the examiners do not examine the literariness of poems and prose, but only judge whether the poems and prose written by candidates meet the requirements of the examination. , which meet the requirements of level and rhyme.

Only when all five examiners have drawn circles on the examination paper can the examination paper enter the next round and be sent to the same examiner for reading.

The same examiner is the head of the Ministry of Rites, and middle-level officials such as the professors of the Imperial College, are also Jinshi and officials of first-class background.

The same examiners will examine the pros and cons of the poems and prose, and five fellow examiners will mark the papers at the same time. For each test paper approved by the same examiners, a circle will be drawn with a Chinese ink pen on the paper.

Under normal circumstances, only three circles of examination papers can enter the third round, that is, they will be sent to the chief examiner Pei Mian for reading.

In the end, the only one who can decide whether to win the first place or not is the chief examiner Pei Mian.

In addition, as long as it is the second round of examination papers, even if they are not sent to the examiner, the examiner has the right to take them out of the discarded papers.

This is also the reason why candidates have to pass papers before taking the imperial examination. If they can leave an impression in the mind of the chief examiner, even if they have not passed the second round, they can be fished out by the chief examiner and have one more chance of winning the exam.

Pei Mian explained the key points of the poetry and prose exam, and after handing out the pasted exam questions, he coughed and said:
"This imperial examination is the first imperial examination since His Majesty ascended the throne, and the topic of practical policy was chosen by His Majesty himself."

All the examiners and graders present knelt down, only to hear Pei Mian say:
"Your Majesty said that this time the imperial examination, the standards for poetry and prose can be lowered. The most important thing is the practical part. The imperial court will select a group of talents who can understand practical affairs."

Pei Mian cleared his throat and said, "The title of this practical policy is - 'Revisiting the quality of writing'."

(End of this chapter)