Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 1000 [Imperial College Surprise Test]

Luoyang, Imperial Examination Hall.

One after another, the students were suddenly told not to attend classes today and to take their writing brushes, inkstones and follow their teacher.

As we walked, we arrived at the Ministry of Rites Imperial College, which was the place for the imperial examinations.

"Is this an exam?" Hong Mai looked at the team ahead.

Lu You did not respond. He realized something was wrong last night.

His father, Lu Zai, was urgently recalled to the capital to replace Hu Anguo as the Minister of Rites. He arrived in Beijing at noon yesterday and went to the palace to meet the emperor in the afternoon. He has not returned home until now.

His mother sent a servant to inquire, and the guards at Donghua Gate told him to wait patiently.

After further inquiring, I learned that many officials from the Ministry of Rites had gone to the Imperial Examination Hall, and all of them had stayed and eaten in the hall last night without leaving.

Wang Lianqing whispered, "Did you notice? The three scholars are not here today. They are usually in school every day."

Hong Mai guessed: "Will he not be caught?"

"Don't talk nonsense!" Lu You scolded, "The three scholars entered the Imperial Examination Hall yesterday."

Wang Lianqing asked: "How do you know?"

Lu You said, "My father went to the capital yesterday and became the Minister of Rites. He also stayed in the Imperial Examination Hall all night and did not come back."

"Your father did it..."

Hong Mai was halfway through his words when he quickly held back from shouting out loud. He turned around and looked at Wang Lianqing next to him in bewilderment.

"Line up, everyone line up, wait for your number to enter the exam!" An officer came over to maintain order.

The three knowledgeable scholars they mentioned were all in the Imperial Examination Hall at this moment.

The emperor ordered a surprise test to test the academic level of all the students.

It was a scary scene. They were first summoned to the palace, and then went straight to the Imperial Examination Hall to set questions. They were busy most of the night and didn't sleep.

The official positions of the Imperial College in the Ming Dynasty were basically inherited from the Song Dynasty, but there were slight changes.

For example, the post of the principal of the Imperial College was changed to the post of the Director of the Imperial College, or simply the Director of the Imperial College.

There were two other vice-presidents, whose names were changed to Tongzhixue.

The official positions of Zhi, Pan, Tong, Tiju, Tidian, Guangou, etc. in the Song Dynasty were all dispatched positions and were initially temporary or part-time in nature.

Take the Privy Council as an example. The real chief official is the Privy Councilor, but there is often a Privy Councilor. The same is true for county magistrates. Occasionally, there will be county magistrates.

The Ming Dynasty continued to simplify the official system, merging all the salaried officials, official positions, and honorary positions into official titles for seniority and salary calculation. All specific assignments were unified into official positions to confirm the relevant powers, responsibilities, and functions of officials.

The current Imperial College has one Zhixue (Principal) and two Tongzhixue (Vice-Principals).

There are also the Imperial College Director, the Official School Director (a position held by students, without official rank), the Imperial College Recorder, the Official School Recorder (a position held by students, without official rank), the Imperial College Doctor (professor), the Imperial College Assistant (lecturer), the Imperial College Direct Lecturer (low-level lecturer)...

"The emperor has arrived!"

"The emperor has arrived!"

A few voices came from far away, and all the officials, teachers and students in the Imperial Examination Hall were in chaos, and they all turned around and came to the gate of the Imperial Examination Hall to pay their respects.

But a rider came running over and shouted, "Do what you need to do, and go back!"

Everyone quickly stopped and restored the previous order.

Zhu Ming's car stopped at the entrance of the alley. He lifted the curtain and observed silently.

Suddenly, a few guys who looked like students walked cautiously along the wall, trying to pass the emperor's carriage to get to the gate of the Imperial Examination Hall.

Immediately, a guard went to stop them. After some questioning, he came back and reported, "Your Majesty, those are all students from the Imperial College."

Zhu Ming's expression was extremely grim: "Hold them and let their teacher come to take them away."

The Imperial College allowed students to attend school as a day student, especially those whose elders lived in the capital, so they could go back and live with their families every day.

However, there is a strict attendance system, students are not allowed to be late or leave early, and leave must be approved by the university. Even if you are sick, you have to complete the leave application procedures afterwards, and the doctor's signature is required.

The decline of Imperial College in every dynasty began with absence of classes.

After a hundred years of development, most of the students at the Imperial College have graduated but have never attended classes. Some even live directly in their hometowns, which are a thousand or two thousand miles away from the Imperial College!

The students were brought before the emperor, looking frightened and uneasy.

Zhu Ming asked with a smile: "What time is it? Why are you just coming to take the exam?"

A student from the Imperial College replied, "We had a stomachache last night and were late this morning. We didn't know we would have an exam, so we went to school first and then rushed to the Imperial Examination Hall..."

Zhu Ming interrupted, "Do you know what the crime of deceiving the emperor is?"

"Your Majesty, spare your life!"

The student knelt down and immediately changed his words: "We went to the brothel to play last night and slept too late to get up early."

Zhu Ming asked, "Who is your father? He should be a senior official in the court, right?"

The student lowered his head and remained silent, not daring to answer at all.

Zhu Ming thought about it seriously and said, "Forget it. You are still young. It is not too late to change now. I will not ask your names or find your teachers. Just go to the Imperial Academy and take the exam."

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Several students all knelt down, kowtowed frantically to the emperor, and then ran away.

Lu You and his friends have already received their numbers and entered the venue.

The Imperial College of the Ming Dynasty offered many subjects, but only Mathematics was a compulsory course. Students could also take one of the Six Classics and a natural science course as electives.

As for the Four Books, they are not taught in schools but are required for exams.

Why not teach?

How did you get admitted to the Imperial College when you didn't even master the Four Books? Even if you were a recommended student who was the descendant of a meritorious official or a martyr, you would have to go to Biyong (the Imperial College preparatory class) to learn the Four Books first.

The Six Classics of the Ming Dynasty are the new Six Classics, which removed the "Book of Music" and added the "Xunzi".

Of course, if students feel they have extra energy, they can continue to take more elective courses. If they take additional elective courses and pass more exams, they will have a higher chance of being awarded the title of Jinshi in the graduation exam.

Since the time of Emperor Huizong of Song, the graduation examinations of the Imperial College were all presided over by the emperor himself. Zhu Ming also inherited this fine tradition. Every year, there are a limited number of graduates from the Imperial College who are directly awarded the title of Jinshi. Those who can obtain this honor are all the best examinees without exception!

Last year, there was a student from the Imperial College who scored full marks in mathematics, physics, three excellent and one good in the Four Books, one excellent, one good and four acceptable in the Six Classics, and acceptable in astronomy, geography and law. However, he was not granted the title of Jinshi, so he could only choose to try again next year.

By the way, Zhu Ming merged the Imperial College graduation examination with the system examination and changed it to a specialized examination that included various miscellaneous subjects. This attempt failed and lasted only one term before it was announced to be separated.

There are three types of imperial examinations in the Ming Dynasty:
First, there is the examination in the upper part of the Imperial College.

Only students from the Imperial College could participate in the examination, which was held every year, with ten vacancies for Jinshi in each session.

A Tai student can take the exam up to three times, and then he or she is forced to graduate or complete the course.

If students of the Imperial College cannot pass the exam here, they can also take other exams. In particular, graduates of the Imperial College will immediately obtain the status of Juren and can directly take the joint examination - but graduates cannot.

Second, regular subject examinations.

That is the traditional imperial examination, and all scholars can sign up.

Third, the subject examination.

That is to say, it is a specialized field, which includes all kinds of subjects, divided into two categories: various schools of thought and practical studies.

It was staggered with the traditional imperial examinations and was also held every three years, but each session had only 50 special jinshi places, which could be directly appointed as middle- and high-level art officials. There were also 100 special juren places, which could be directly appointed as low-level art officials.

Lu You chose to take "The Spring and Autumn Annals", which was his family inheritance.

He also took the elective course "Er Ya" among the Thirteen Classics, which was also his family inheritance.

I also took elective courses such as Physics, Astronomy, Geography, Xunzi and The Book of Songs.

Lu You heard from his seniors in Shangshe that if he only selected these, he would not be able to obtain the title of Jinshi unless all of them could obtain excellent grades. Of course, there would be no problem if he graduated successfully, as long as he graduated, he would have the status of Juren.

He didn't know what a roll was, but he found it terrifying.

Last year, the top scholar of the Imperial College was a guy named Zhang Congdao. He entered the Imperial College at the age of ten as a Shandong child prodigy, and studied there for a full ten years. He always took the entrance examination when the time limit was up, and even took the graduation examination when the time limit was up.

The main point is that he refused to leave, ate and drank for free and studied at the Imperial College.

The graduation results are terrible.

Mathematics, physics, astronomy, geography, law, and the Four Books all received excellent grades, two of the Six Classics received excellent grades and four received good grades, and even dictionaries such as Er Ya received good grades.

Even when he was still studying at Neishe, he had already invented mathematical formulas on his own.

Whenever he thought of Zhang Congdao, Lu You felt despair.

How can I compare myself with this kind of child prodigy?

However, Zhang Congdao's whereabouts were even more bizarre. He was not given any real position, but only an initial official title, and then disappeared without a trace.

I heard that he was taken to Wangchuan Valley by the retired emperor.

But Lu You thought it must be a rumor. The emperor had already abdicated, so why would he take in such a talented person?
After waiting for a long time, the questions were sent out.

Lu You found that the questions were not difficult and there were only a few of them. They were no different from the usual monthly and ten-day exams, and he didn't even have to answer questions for the extra elective subjects.

Lu You answered the questions on an empty stomach until the afternoon. After he finished answering the required questions, he went to do the multiple-choice questions out of boredom.

It was not until dusk, when we were so hungry that the invigilator announced that we could hand in our papers.

The invigilator also said: "There are cars outside the alley. Take them back to school in batches. The canteen has prepared meals."

Lu You followed the crowd out of the Imperial Examination Hall and discovered that the emperor's carriage was still at the entrance of the alley, blocking half of the road.

Zhu Ming has been in the backyard of the Imperial Examination Hall.

The examiners marked the answers quickly and carelessly, and simply glanced over the papers without any problems.

On the contrary, he would stop and look at those unqualified papers for a few more times, and then immediately hand them over to the guards to be sent to the emperor.

Zhu Ming was checking more than a dozen test papers at this moment, and his face looked extremely ugly.

I had only started marking the papers for half an hour and already so many junk papers were received.

Although there were self-funded students in the Imperial College, there were certain requirements for paying to study, and not just anyone could come.

Zhu Ming said to the officials from the Ministry of Rites and Imperial College around him, "How did these students get into the Imperial College's outer dormitory? If they were not recommended students, the professors in charge of the official schools they originally attended should all be arrested and investigated!"

No one responded, as this was the responsibility of the Ministry of Justice.

There are very few places for admission to the Imperial College, and all of them are for descendants of those who have made great contributions or sacrificed for the country, or descendants of officials in cold and bitter places.

For example, Yue Fei and Han Shizhong were officials in the grasslands where the educational conditions were poor, so their sons were sent directly to the capital, from official schools at all levels to the Imperial College.

Zhu Ming asked: "Is Biyong just for show? Why don't students who are not good at learning go to Biyong to make up for their studies?"

Ding Wo, the scholar, replied: "The quota for Biyong is full. Most of these students are promoted from local government schools. It is not good to ask them all to drop out."

Zhu Ming said: "Enforce the discipline of the Imperial College. You should set a standard, and those whose academic performance is too poor should be expelled directly!"

Ding Wo reminded: "Your Majesty, in some remote counties, the students are not good overall. We can't just kill them all with one stick."

"That's right," Zhu Ming was willing to accept the advice, "Then give the unqualified students a year to let them work hard to catch up, at least not to fail all subjects. Except for those from remote counties, all the unqualified students this time will be expelled."

"As you wish." Ding Wo bowed.

Zhu Ming then said to Lu Zai: "Re-establish the rules for admission to official schools and plug the loopholes for favoritism and fraud."

"Yes."

Lu Zai secretly breathed a sigh of relief, it seemed that the emperor had no intention of getting to the bottom of the matter.

He had just become the Minister of Rites, and he didn't want the education system to be in a mess.

Qin Hui suddenly betrayed Su Zhu, just to disperse the manpower of the three judicial departments, so that the already stretched officials investigating the case could investigate corrupt officials in a wider range, thereby delaying time and allowing himself to live a few more days.

Zhu Ming's idea was simpler. Those school officials were indeed messing around, but in the final analysis, there were loopholes in the rules.

Just plug the loopholes, let the school officials from all over the country go for now, and only investigate those who failed this surprise test.

The administrative cost of large-scale investigations is extremely high. If we use that time, we might as well investigate a few more corrupt officials.

(End of this chapter)