My uncle's name is Zhu Di

Chapter 166
Officials from the Ministry of Rituals led the way. Candidates for the General Examination and Enke Candidates were divided into two groups. They entered the Jinshui Bridge from the Meridian Gate and walked to the Fengtian Hall to participate in today's palace examination.

In the open space in front of the main hall, the seats had already been set up, and every two battles, there was a big Han general, armed with a sword and hanging his sword, standing guard proudly.

Everyone who took the exam had a low eyebrow and a pleasing eye, and did not dare to make mistakes in the slightest.

Some people have a ten-year cold window, just watch it this time.Some people have suffered for most of their lives, and they just rely on today to turn around.

The high-spirited fighting spirit goes straight to the sky and breaks through the sky.

Song Li, Minister of the Ministry of Rites, stood up and loudly announced the start of the exam... Afterwards, someone sent the test paper with the test questions in front of everyone.

The moment they got the test questions, some people were happy, some were dignified, and some felt cold... These people perfectly interpreted what it means to be mixed tastes, joys and sorrows, and they are all different.

Xu Jingchang was also one of today's examiners. He sat on his seat, looking down at the audience, with a faint smile on his lips.

It's not unreasonable for him to bet his treasure on the palace examination.

Theoretically, as the highest level of examination, the Palace Examination is not complicated. There is only one question, and it only takes one day.

And this question is not an eight-legged essay, but a policy theory.That is to say, the emperor asked excellent students for advice, and then the big guys made suggestions based on their own knowledge.

After the emperor checked the examination papers, he ranked them according to his preferences and announced them to the world, which meant that the palace examination was completed.

See, the so-called stereotyped selection of scholars can only be reflected before the general examination... The palace examination is very practical. For example, there have been floods and droughts in recent years. The question of the palace examination may be preparations for shortages. Money, if there is a serious case of ink corruption, ask how to rectify the administration of officials.

Regarding these practical questions, there are many knowledgeable people, but I'm sorry, you are not qualified to take part in the palace examination.

The previous rounds of exams have been screened... This is equivalent to giving you three sets of plans, two of which are basically the same, and one is completely unacceptable... How can you choose?
No matter how you choose, you are all disciples of Confucius and Mencius, and you are all disciples of Zhu Zi.

No matter what the topic of policy and discussion, abducting and abducting, it is also the Confucian set of benevolent government and kingly way, recuperating, caring for the people, and governing the country with virtue...

You want to hear other voices, but I'm sorry, I can't.

Because the essence of the imperial examination is to speak on behalf of the sage...you don't need to have any ideas, just explain the way of the sage...but the sage has said so much, how should you understand it?

At this time, the old master Zhu Xi will be invited. He explained the words of the sage, and you can just play according to Zhu Xi's annotations.

After all, the more the imperial examination is developed, the more it becomes a dojo in a snail shell.

The situation in the early Ming Dynasty may be better, but in the later period, the imperial examinations were completely out of touch with practice.

The imperial examination competition is not about real ability, but a kind of pure exam-taking skills... Of course, some powerful people are not ruled out, who not only pass the imperial examination, but also have real skills.

But such people are rare after all, and most of them are still scholars who are divorced from practice, unable to take on the important task of governing the country at all.

The biggest difference in this palace examination is that there are many people with practical experience who have passed Enke and entered the palace examination, and can compete with those imperial examination masters who have fought their way through.

In the end who is more clever, it depends on this competition.

Zhu Di's topic was also very simple. There were a lot of backgrounds mentioned earlier, and it boiled down to only four words: the way of managing money.

Zhu Di, who has inherited the Great Reunification for more than a year, is still troubled by finances.

The trauma of the Jingnan Battle did not heal so quickly.

The emperor needs to ask Ji Qunxian, how to make the country rich?

Zhu Di swept his eyes over all the examiners, and said calmly: "Today, under the watchful eyes of me and all of you, the palace examination must be fair and impartial?"

All the ministers nodded, no one would dare to talk nonsense.

Zhu Di said again: "Acquiring talents today must be real talents and practical learning, and can make useful suggestions to the country, not just empty talk!"

The ministers hesitated a little, then nodded again.

There is no way to refute this, but people like Jian Yi have already felt strong unease.

The palace examination progressed very quickly, and by the afternoon, the candidates had already stopped writing.

Zhu Di issued an order to collect the test papers, and then sent the students out, and the monarchs and ministers immediately checked the papers.

"It's not too late, everyone, hurry up and watch."

In front of Xu Jingchang, there was also a pile...he picked up the top one, and only glanced at the rolled noodles, feeling pleasing to the eye.

The handwriting on it is even more neat than the printed one, and every word is impeccable.Looking at this kind of paper is not a judgment, but a kind of enjoyment.

It's like looking at a work of art.

"Okay, that's great!"

He admired it from the bottom of his heart, just based on this handwriting, it is also worth a three tripod armor.

Then Xu Jingchang read what he wrote, and Xu Jingchang frowned immediately. This person believes that the core of financial management is to enrich the national treasury, and to enrich the national treasury, there are only those who live and few who eat... In short, it is to Increase income and reduce expenditure.

Looking further down, his suggestions include cutting expenses, laying off redundant staff, avoiding large-scale construction projects, not repairing side work, resting with the people, lightening corvees and paying taxes... The standard cannot be more standard.

Xu Jingchang looked at it all the way... only one thought remained, what a beautiful handwriting, it's really useless.

He was looking at his name, this person was named Zeng Dian, and looking at his hometown, as expected, he was from Jiangxi again.

Xu Jingchang hesitated again and again, wanting to dismiss him, but the other party's noodles were so good that even if it was a cliché, he was reluctant to throw it away.

Hey!
Did you hear that, during the exam, the handwriting should be better, it really works.

Xu Jingchang still showed mercy.

Then he continued to look down... The examination papers are graded in a mobile manner. Each person is allocated a certain time, and according to their own preferences, they put the articles they like on it, and then pass it on to the next person. Put it at the front and send it to Zhu Di for the final decision.

If there is a dispute, if you can't make up your mind, hand it over to Zhu Di.

In this way, the big guys kept watching the time when the lanterns were held, and finally a very controversial article appeared, and Song Li, the Minister of Rites, directly threw it aside.

"This humanities is wrong. If the candidates are not rejected in the palace examination, this person will definitely not be selected."

At this moment, Xie Jin, who was not far from Song Li, glanced at the article, couldn't help reaching out to take it, and put it in front of him to read.

There is no doubt that his handwriting is far less pleasing to the eye than Zeng Dian's, and his diction is also very clumsy, which belongs to the kind that makes people frown.

Not a good first impression.

But looking at his content carefully, Xie Jin's eyes lit up. This method is not bad!

This examinee advocated combining the imperial government's allowance with the effectiveness of the officials' work... At present, almost all Beijing officials have allowances. As a result, regardless of whether they are good or bad, they can receive so much extra every month.

Do more or less, it's all the same.

How does this work?
The imperial court cannot spend money without restraint, it must be used wisely.

The allowance is linked to work... Xie Jin's eyes lit up.

"Song Shangshu, I think the suggestions in this article are quite desirable, what do you think?"

Song Li snorted and said: "Xie Tongzheng, Your Majesty is asking about the way of financial management. What this person is talking about is the administration of officials. He is completely different from the other. He is far from the topic. He is so wrong. How can there be any merits?"

Xie Jin smiled, "Song Shangshu, Your Majesty asked about financial management. What this person is talking about is also a way to spend money. If you have to digress, it's not always true."

The two of them started arguing, and everyone came over, including Xu Jingchang. He glanced at this person's article and immediately understood.

No matter how hard he could conceal the strong taste of old officials' pragmatism.

He proposed to link the allowance with the performance of the officials, and get more for doing a good job, less for poor work, or even no payment... And later he also proposed that the amount of work should be set for the officials to facilitate assessment.

Pass the test!
Seeing this, Xu Jingchang suddenly smiled and said, "Bachelor Xie, I remember that the General Secretary had a note to announce the work of each department. Are those notes still there?"

This sentence made old Xie Jin blush, "Mr. Ding, the government affairs are busy recently, and there is no time to make overall arrangements, so I stopped."

With a smile on Xu Jingchang's face, everything was said in silence.

The same is the general administration envoy, but the world is far apart...Xu Jingchang is in power, he can hold the six ministries hostage, and has the power to preside over the ten-day meeting, so he can set standards for the six ministries.

But when it came to Xie Jin, he couldn't do it.

No one listened to him at all, so the so-called supervision of performance existed in name only.

"I think you two should stop arguing and let His Majesty speak."

The ball kicked in front of Zhu Di.

Facing this article, Zhu Di saw nothing at first, but after reading it again, he was immediately overjoyed.

"Okay, it's really good. It's neat and to the point. This person proposed to set up a rule for inspecting hundreds of officials, and grant subsidies based on the merits of the inspection. Those who are capable will get more, and those who are mediocre will get less... It is very in line with my wishes, very much in line with my wishes! "

Zhu Di laughed and praised: "From my point of view, this person should be the number one scholar in the current department... This is the kind of talent I am looking for."

What the emperor said made Song Li's complexion extremely ugly.

He reluctantly said: "Your Majesty, this person's diction is clumsy, and his words seem to be digressing. I'm afraid it's inappropriate?"

Zhu Di smiled, "Song Shangshu, it all depends on my purpose of holding the imperial examination. I want to select talents for the country. If I just stick to the exam, I will lose my original intention."

After a pause, Zhu Di suddenly said: "Song Shangshu, you said that in the previous palace examinations, no suitable talents could be selected. Is it true that this kind of talents were all dismissed under the pretext of digressing?"

Song Li was shocked, and hurriedly fell to his knees, "Your Majesty Qizuo, I absolutely dare not have the idea of ​​suppressing talents, and I hope Your Majesty will see clearly!"

Zhu Di smiled, "Don't worry, I may have thought wrong about this matter. It's my turn to try this kind of suggestion! I'm afraid I can't even pass the boy's test."

Song Li's expression became even uglier. He knelt on the ground and dared not get up.

Zhu Di looked at the others again, and said with a smile, "What do you say?"

After pondering for a while, Jian Yi said: "The imperial examination is for the disciples of the Son of Heaven, so His Majesty is the one who decides everything."

Zhu Di smiled and said, "Let me be the master? Very good, since that's the case, then Enke should be done frequently, not just this time, it's good to have such talents in a steady stream."

That's right, this person is from Enke...

(End of this chapter)