Jingming

Chapter 300 The Emperor's Fancy Person
The first game on the ninth day of February, the second game on the [-]th day, and the third game on the [-]th day.

The reason why the imperial examination is difficult is not that there are too many rules and regulations as many people think, and it is necessary to shine under the shackles of stereotypes.

The content of the test and the required ability are not low.

In the first scene, there are three passages from the four books of "The Analects of Confucius", "The Doctrine of the Mean" or "The Great Learning" and "Mencius", a poem with five characters and eight rhymes, and four passages about the meaning of the scriptures.

In the second session, there will be another chapter on the meaning of the scriptures, and there will be an imperial edict, a verdict, a table, and an imperial edict. This is already the category of "official document" writing.

The third session consisted of five current affairs policy questions.

As usual, the first game is the most important.

But now, the candidates and the examiners all know in their hearts: in this round of the exam, the five current affairs policy questions in the third round may be more important.

Now the candidates are still answering the questions in the cubicles of the Tribute Court, and in the Tribute Court, everyone is looking at Yang Shen.

In the Ming Dynasty system, there were two chief examiners, commonly known as presidents.This word already exists.

But in previous years, the identity of the main examiner of this test is usually a bachelor.A person of Yang Shen's level can at most serve as a fellow examiner.

Now Yang Shen only takes the official position of the right servant of the household department as the examiner, and is the only examiner.

In addition, there are fifteen other classmates.

"Your Majesty is trustworthy, and you are cautious. There is only one examiner, and if something goes wrong, I can't escape the blame." Yang Shen divided the printed paper, "From today's first exam, the answer sheets are collected, and I will take the exam. Please check the papers one by one. The scores for each question will be filled in on this scoring page, and everyone’s surnames need to be signed.”

There will be no more discussions. When marking the papers, we will be in a small room with the examiner, which will become a ruthless scoring machine.

As for the chief examiner, Yang Shen, he didn't give power to the examiner, he just supervised the marking of the chief examiner's papers.

After the grades of the [-] peers were collected, they entered the next process: calculating the average score and ranking.

After the change so far, the examiners of the examination are not so popular: one person can't decide anything, on the contrary, it takes a lot of effort.

In the past, if someone judged an answer sheet as inferior, others generally didn't bother to read it any more.They are all old fritters, and there are very few real ones.But now the rules are fixed, everyone, every answer sheet must be read and graded.

Thousands of exam candidates...

Yang Shen continued to explain the details. For example, after the name was blurred, the copied answer sheet now has a serial number on the outside, which is the new number.When grading, everyone must first copy the candidate's number on the printed form, then give the score under each question, and finally collect it for a unified summary.

Before the examinees saw the string of numbers, the examiners who were now Jinshi backgrounds felt dizzy.

"With everyone's talents, it's easy to be familiar with ten numbers, right?" Yang Shen pointed to another room, "The little father-in-laws in Neishutang have to do all the exams and the grades of all the same examiners. Settlement."

"...President, don't worry, there will be no mistakes."

Yang Shen saluted: "Please, I will go to inspect the examination room again."

After he went out, among the examiners, there was someone who was familiar with Yang Shen before, so he could only pick up the brush and practice Arabic numerals, muttering: "After President Yang went to Guangdong, he is a different person. "

The person who answered the conversation was also an old Hanlin bachelor: "There is only one examiner, and the burden is on his shoulders. The examination book is prone to mistakes, the newly appointed Nanhai county noble, the prince's guests... This year's examination will be changed, there will always be If there is something to criticize, there is no guarantee that someone will make a fuss about it. Don’t forget, you can also go to the Ministry of Rites to ask for a volume, and know which question you and I gave him How many points did you score?"

When the words were spoken, everyone else showed embarrassment.

What an offense!

Among the same examiners, there is also Fei Maozhong, the number one scholar in the 16th year of Zhengde who has been transferred back to Beijing and served as a doctor in the Ministry of Officials.

Now listening to the discussions of his colleagues, he thought about his uncle's words: the emperor only used this method, and the signs of the seat master and the township party were suppressed a lot.The examiners are tired, and they can't be counted as being able to support anyone. In the future, the chief examiner and co-examiners will be replaced by low-quality officials, and they will just go through a screening process.

When it comes to the palace examination, it is naturally the emperor who leads.

Fei Maozhong was convinced: thinking about the "darkness" of the next half month of marking life, he really had a headache.

……

On February [-], when the examination was still underway, another issue of "Ming Pao" was published.

The headline on the front page of this issue is full of flavor: "Seven Essentials of Cultivation and Four Methods of Fertilization: Putting Emphasis on Agriculture into Practice".

The "accompanying reporter" Zhao Tingsong vividly recorded the emperor's deeds of personally paying attention to the farming experience and manure experience of the farm as the son of heaven, condescending to ask the old farmers and dung merchants to understand the situation.

Then, there are professional suggestions from the priests, old farmers and fertilizer masters of the School of Agriculture of Huangming University. At the same time, at the end, this manuscript will be published and sent to all counties. After these valuable experiences, Jiajing five years will usher in a bumper year.

Examiners who have already entered the examination room and started the third examination of current affairs policy have not had time to read this article, otherwise, seeing that the emperor cares about practical affairs to such an extent, many candidates who only know how to study hard and do not understand practical affairs are afraid Will have trembling legs.

But more people paid attention to the news of the second edition: the joint announcement of the Military Affairs Conference, the Five Governments, and the Ministry of War, and the promulgation of the new "Martial Arts Law".

Martial arts have long existed.Since the establishment of the Tang Dynasty, Wuju has never withdrawn from the historical stage.The martial arts exams in the Tang Dynasty put more emphasis on "martial arts", while the martial arts exams in the Song Dynasty had an extra level of "Cheng Wen".

However, the martial arts of the Ming Dynasty were not finalized until the eighth year of Tianshun after the Tumu Fort change.At the beginning, it was not timed, and the test was often suspended.In the seventh year of Hongzhi, it was not until the six-year exam was set.In the 17th year of Hongzhi, it was changed to a three-year exam.

There was also a general examination for the martial arts in the Ming Dynasty, and the time was set in the next month after the general examination for the civil examination.However, there is still no imperial examination for martial arts in the Ming Dynasty.

The highest monthly salary of "Wu Jinshi" is only three shiliang, which is far less than that of Wen Jinshi.In the 17th year of Hongzhi, only 35 people were admitted.During the Zhengde period, there were more, five or sixty people each time.But the exam is more about strategy than martial arts, and the probability of Wu Jinshi appearing as a real general is very low.

Now, the Wenju people's test is still going on, and the news about the Wuju has been announced.

First of all, the military affairs conference and the five governments took the lead in the martial arts, and it was no longer just the Ministry of War to preside over the martial arts exam.

Secondly, this year's martial arts examination will be postponed to September, and the provinces will also hold martial arts provincial examinations from March to May to select a batch of martial arts candidates.

The time delay and Kai Enke are one aspect, and the most important aspect is another big news: the martial arts examination will be held.

There is finally a palace examination for martial arts, and the treatment of martial arts champions and martial arts scholars has also been greatly improved.

The first is the examination method: the martial arts examination emphasizes martial arts and despise literature, strategy, and then go to the Military Academy for further study.In the future, it will be established that the general examination will be held in September and the palace examination will be held in October every three years.

The second is the appointment: as a general of the Beijing camp, study and train in the Military Academy of Huangming University for three years.

The last is the treatment: not to mention the increase in salary, the banquet given by the Ministry of War in the past has been changed to the banquet given by the emperor in the Hall of Martial Arts.

Aiming at the big topic given by the emperor, the military affairs conference handed over the first answer sheet to reserve generals.

But more informed people also understand that this measure also has the purpose of dealing with the hidden dangers of the restructuring of local health centers.

In the Hall of Martial Ying, Gu Shilong is imparting experience: "You all know the situation of the local guards. This year's move, the first thing to do is to supervise the management of the guards of each capital by the five prefectures, and divide the generals. Use the martial arts as a yardstick to pave the way for reform. "

With this new rule, soldiers from ordinary military households are welcome.Only talking about martial arts, the chances of getting ahead will naturally increase greatly.

But the follow-up of this new rule has not been announced yet, and it is only known as a secret at the military affairs meeting.

That is: the middle and upper-level officers of all armies must at least have the status of Wu Juren in the future.If a hereditary military general does not have the status of a military officer, his official position will be reduced to hereditary.

Those who were born as mid-level officers, I'm afraid most of them are not happy with this new rule.If you want to change the local guards to recruit soldiers, it will touch their interests.In the future, no matter how hereditary the official position is, it will also be linked to the martial arts status. This will force them to live up to their names, but how many of them really live up to their names?

In addition, what about the honored ministers who now occupy a large number of senior military officer positions in the general system?
Yang Yiqing opened his mouth: "I have been in the border town for the past few years, and I have seen it more and more clearly. Regardless of your majesty's ambition to manage Nanyang, in ten or twenty years, the northern captives will definitely invade the south. Now the border town There are too many generals, let alone the local generals. Now that the Minister of State has been established, civil affairs are no longer a major problem. In the next three years, military affairs are more important! Now there are 20 companies, and the ministers will be able to use the military and business in the future. Yasukuni Lord, Cui Zuojun, Uncle Xiangcheng, in this matter, Xun Chen needs to set an example!"

"...As it should be."

Yang Yiqing saluted in the direction of the Hall of Mental Cultivation a little to the northeast: "Your Majesty has granted you grace. The military generals above the fifth rank in the country will compete first in June! Each province will announce the winners. Jue, do not take the same exams with other martial arts students. Next year, the Yasukuni Martial Arts System will be opened, and those who take it will be granted the title of uncle! Under such a blessing, if there are still people who do not know how to make progress and stubbornly resist the new system, then it should be done!"

This is not published in the news, only for the honored ministers and serving generals.

However, the news about the Yasukuni Martial Arts Division and the Dingguo Anmin Division will be announced after Wen Zhuangyuan is also selected.

The system is a different and more difficult exam than the general exam.Jinshi depreciates, but this irregular system will reappear.

But this time, at least two earls and a group of counties and counties were thrown out, and the future advancement ranks are also very clear. It is also time to reconsider the importance of entering with martial arts.

First buy a batch of them with generous kindness, and then use new rules to require the subsequent serving generals and ministers to have skills from generation to generation.

Zhang Jing, who was able to attend the military affairs meeting as a non-voting officer, looked at them solemnly: There will be a day when we will see each other again!Under the pressure of being hereditary if you can't just lie down, what will happen if there is another guard rebellion or even the ministers?
……

"Don't even think about it! That's Feng Wang! Feng Wang!"

After the military affairs meeting, it was the ministers of the five mansions who discussed how to control the overall situation.

Li Quanli's eyes are frighteningly bright, his title is only an uncle, but after all he is in charge of a mansion and the Shenji Camp.

"General Counselor Yang is right!" He spoke convincingly, "This rule is not aimed at hereditary honored ministers! If the family of honored ministers does not want to join the army, they will go to [-] companies to serve loyally. If you want to join the army, you must not be proficient in martial arts and do not understand martial arts , How to obey the masses? How to make meritorious deeds? Today, the governors of the five prefectures and the honorable ministers who attend military affairs have almost mastered the best soldiers in the world. If anyone has two hearts, everyone has forgotten that His Majesty once deliberately suppressed the training? In my opinion, how to stabilize Surviving the situation in the world is also a test for us by Your Majesty!"

Among his own people, after all, Li Quanli still made known the temptation of "being king".

The cakes for middle and lower generals are earls, county lords, and country lords.The cake for the most loyal to the emperor and those who still have military merits is the prince!

For this cake, people like Li Quanli need elite soldiers who can fight like arms.

For this reason, the local guards that have been so rotten that it is difficult to come in handy.Not in their interest.

Cui Yuan looked at them: "Wang Bo'an of the Ministry of War had no objection when discussing this matter, but the rest of the counselors were quite concerned! The strategy of martial arts is to pass the test of knowledge of literature and etiquette. Although your majesty brought Ding Guoan The civil system department, but everyone will know that His Majesty is going to use military force! When the news is announced, the world will worry about the future military generals who will support themselves, and I don't know how many people!"

"So what? There is already a prime minister among the civil servants!" Li Quanli, who has enjoyed the bonus of the new monarch since Admiral Caojiang's "suppressing bandits" was able to stand in line, said loudly, "The military affairs conference also uses the prestige-focused civil servants as the general staff! The military affairs conference In charge of the military order, the five mansions are in charge of the soldiers, and the Ministry of War is in charge of the food and pay, who can support the soldiers with self-respect?"

Cui Yuan shook his head: "I just want to say, how to set a good example for Xunchen, you have to be careful this time. You can't only have future military achievements in your eyes, but also the danger of being expelled! If there is another disturbance in this restructuring, Wenchen will not Promise! Mr. Fei still has the weight of the new law on his shoulders."

"Let's start with this year's Grand Competition! Your majesty is full of heroism, and those who don't want to change will be at ease teaching their children and grandchildren how to do business and govern, and don't reach out to the army!"

Before the eyes of the military officials of the five prefectures, it was the temptation that each prefecture would actually have tens of thousands of elite soldiers in charge after the recruitment.

These are the greatest foundations for their future military exploits in the north and south that Yang Yiqing said.

Li Quanli did not expect to be crowned king, but after making great achievements, changing from an earl to a marquis or even a duke, that was the bright future ahead of him.

Even Ji Weimin, a guerrilla general under his Shenji Battalion, was made an earl for his contribution to suppressing the rebellion in Huguang, and now he has the same title as him.

Among the governors of the five prefectures, Li Quanli has the lowest title.

Who stands in his way?
While there were discussions in the capital over the news about the martial arts examination and palace examination, the Ministry of Rites examination was finally completed on February [-]th.

Examiners who walked out of the examination room will have to wait for ten days.

Before the release of the list, day and night are the time to worry about gains and losses.

In the Tribute Court, the [-]th co-exam had already been suffering for six days in the huge workload of grading papers.Now, each group of [-] test papers, together with the scoring form for this group, is sent to each room, and will be collected after they finish grading.The exam papers are sent to the next person along with the new forms, and the marked forms are sent to the hall where the statistics division is located.

There, the crackling of the abacus beads never stopped.

Add first, then divide, Yang Shen has been staring here, his eyes are bloodshot.

After ten days, it will be determined who will become a tribute and who will be in the sub-ranking list. Every candidate will probably go to the Ministry of Rites to obtain the final score notification sheet to be transcribed. There are many things to do.

And Gong Yongqing finally met Lin Xiyuan—after the examination was finally over.

"Why does Maozhen want to avoid suspicion?"

Lin Xiyuan took off his hat: "Don't you see, how much hair I lost!"

"Ming Pao" is newly published, and there are thousands of threads. This is indeed a good reason.

But apart from being busy, Lin Xiyuan was also trying to avoid suspicion. Although the examination system was changed, it didn't make much sense whether he avoided it or not.

After some fun, he asked: "With the talents of Mingzhi and Daosi, why worry? You must be among the top five in the Jinke list!"

Gong Yongqing sighed: "Then who can say for sure. Besides, although the syllabus of the general examination has not been changed, there was no mention of how the imperial examination will be conducted before."

As he spoke, he looked at Lin Xiyuan expectantly.

The meaning in the words is that he is already studying the imperial examination.

No wonder Gong Yongqing is self-confident. Historically, he was the number one scholar in this subject.

But as luck would have it, now that the emperor has changed, the times have also changed.

Lin Xiyuan said solemnly: "I have already worked for Ming Pao, and I will not interfere with other matters. Today, I invite you to visit the mansion, firstly, to make a good fortune for you, and secondly, to talk about my views on your future official career. Are you here?" Yijia, it’s really not important.”

Gong Yongqing was not disappointed either, instead he said seriously: "Thank you Maozhen for your guidance, and Yongqing will listen carefully!"

This kind of situation is not uncommon in Lin Xiyuan's family.

Now that the general examination is over, all the candidates for this subject have been invited by many people—the sensitive period has passed, and the next thing is to wait for the results to be announced.

Zhang Zilin, who Tang Shunzhi said "why come to appreciate me so much", invited him to the mansion, and when Tang Shunzhi came to the flower hall, he saw the other two important ministers.

"Students pay their respects to General Counselor Yang and Wang Sima."

Yang Yiqing and Wang Shouren examined Tang Shunzhi together, while Zhang Zilin pointed at him, "This man is quite extraordinary, with a wide range of knowledge. Knowledge, economics, practice, martial arts, and arithmetic are all worthy of cultivation."

"...Zhang Guo's pragmatism is absurd, and the students are terrified."

Yang Yiqing's eyes were shining brightly: "The old man will test you one or two first."

Tang Shunzhi didn't know what the purpose of these three people coming to see him together was, but the status was very different, so he could only "continue to take the exam" obediently.

As a well-known person among the supervisors who "has a wide range of interests" and "loves to learn miscellaneous things", Tang Shunzhi has shown amazing intelligence and talent-he learns all kinds of things really quickly.

Even in terms of martial arts, he has already fought twice with Zhang Zilin's guard.

Yang Yiqing was a little confused: "Who did you learn martial arts from when you studied at the Imperial College?"

"...The students got to know a man named Lu Bing from the Military Academy of Huangming University. He introduced him, and he learned Yue Yangsong from the Martial Arts Academy as his teacher, and practiced marksmanship..."

"Lu Bing?" Yang Yiqing lost his voice, and then looked at Zhang Zilin with a complicated expression.

Tang Shunzhi's heart skipped a beat. Although he didn't look at them, he understood something: General Counselor Yang knew Lu Bing?That guy, isn't it simple?
At this moment, Zhang Zilin's eyes towards Yang Yiqing released some information: Do you understand?It is absolutely right to cultivate this kid.Without His Majesty's instruction, Lu Song would casually ask Lu Bing to introduce him to Zhongyue, a martial arts academy, as his teacher?When this guy was in the Guozijian article, the emperor looked at him differently, not because I praised him.

Just like that Quanzhou Yu Dayou, I don't even know why Jane has some names in Emperor's Heart!
After a while of silence, Wang Shouren opened his mouth: "Yingde, with your talent, may you spend more time in our two's house to compete and study carefully for the next year's exam?"

Tang Shunzhi's heart was shocked.

Needless to say, he already knew what it would be.

I've finished my exams this year, so what else?
Daming wants to start a department!

Although he didn't understand why the three important ministers looked at him differently, and Tang Shunzhi was not someone who wanted to be supported by others, the Zhike was precisely the stage that he felt could prove himself the most!

In the Song Dynasty, it was as strong as Su Dongpo, and it only entered the third class in the academic department.

It is easy to take the number one scholar exam, but it is difficult to take the examination system!

"...students can't wait for it."

Tang Shunzhi was grateful that they didn't want to "operate" something specifically for the palace examination and deliberately support him--Tang Shunzhi didn't need it.

But now, he still asked a question: "Since Mr. Yang participated in Wang Sima's willingness to teach students, shouldn't the students learn more about economics and martial arts?"

Yang Yiqing's eyes became more appreciative: "Have you read the new issue of "Ming Pao?"

Tang Shunzhi nodded, and then his expression was a bit strange: "Could it be that you want the boy to win the Wu Jinshi? If this is the case, the boy will have to catch up with the Wuju Township Examination Enke..."

"No need." Yang Yiqing shook his head, "Since you know it well, prepare well for the coming year. If you don't think it's not beautiful, we can rest assured."

"...The students just have a lot of interests, and they really never thought about using martial arts to make meritorious deeds."

The communication between smart people is so efficient. Tang Shunzhi already understands that the reason for these three people to meet him is for the collective of civil servants to be able to keep the generals running away when the emperor has shown his intention of emphasizing martial arts in the future. The man with the reins.

Such a character must have sufficient strength and prestige in military affairs.

Yang Yiqing, Wang Shouren... these older "Confucian generals" will eventually grow old.In the next generation, is it possible that the position of General Staff of Military Affairs will gradually only be held by generals?
Zhang Zilin warned him awe-inspiringly: "Today, we are waiting for you to solve your worries and not to avoid suspicion, so I invite you here. Yingde, the future will be turbulent, and achievements in the world can be found everywhere. Your Majesty has great talents and strategies. With Mr. Ying Ning as the general staff, you should think carefully The point. Yu Zhongwugong, it was His Majesty who insisted first before entering the Taimiao."

Tang Shunzhi received an amazing new piece of information. It turned out that Yu Qian deserved to enjoy the Taimiao, and it was the emperor's own intention at first, not Yan Song's credit.

As he is familiar with the history books, he naturally understands why the past dynasties used literature to control military affairs.Your Majesty not only has the ambition to expand the territory, but also needs to worry about the generals becoming bigger in the process.Now that there is a prime minister among the civil servants, we can't passively wait for the emperor to use military power to restrain the civil servants too much.

All parties need a person as a mediator.This person, preferably from a civil servant background, can convince the generals and speak for them. At the same time, he perfectly fulfills the mission of helping the civil servants restrain the generals, and helping the emperor restrain the prime minister who may become powerful in the future.

Tang Shunzhi didn't understand: why him?
Now in the court, is there no one who is more recognized by them.

"...Students are bold, and I am afraid that it will be difficult to take on the big responsibility."

Hearing Tang Shunzhi's words, Zhang Zilin just smiled meaningfully: "You don't have to underestimate Yingde. Do you know that His Majesty called the roll call today and asked the Ministry of Rites to read your answer sheet first and send it to the palace as soon as possible? At that time, the policy discussed Huguang's rebellion. , His Majesty would like to see your opinion."

"...students... are really terrified." Tang Shunzhi, who was still "new and tender", was a little frightened.

He understands the meaning, because he is someone the emperor pays attention to, so he has met the conditions of being appreciated and trusted by the emperor, and can become a strong candidate for this person in the future.

But he felt that he was not worthy. After all, he was so young and had no achievements.

Wang Shouren also sighed: "Although it shouldn't be said that... But the people His Majesty looks at with a different eye are indeed extraordinary. Yingde, think about Zhang Dutai and Yan Dutai."

Zhang Fujing and Yan Song soared to the sky as soon as they met the new king, and then showed their extraordinary talents.

Tang Shunzhi was stunned for a moment: Am I so awesome?
(End of this chapter)