unclear

Chapter 114 Jiuqing forced the palace
In the spring of the third year of Jingyang, on March 530th, the first imperial examination of Jingyang Dynasty began.A total of [-] candidates from all over the country passed the examination, received the title of tribute, and were eligible to participate in the palace examination.

This number is not the largest in the past 50 years, but it can also be ranked among the top three.It's not because the exam questions are easy, nor because the candidates are of high quality, but because no examination was held from the 31st year of Wanli to the end of the third year of Jingyang, private students have been holding back for five years, and the base number is relatively large.

However, the results of the palace examination did not rise with the sudden increase in the number of tribute scholars. In the third year of Jingyang, there were only 201 Jinshi on the Dingwei Palace Examination List, accounting for a few percent of the number of candidates who participated in the examination, which was significantly less than [-]. The proportion in previous dynasties is about [-]%.

Why is it so low?The Minister of Rites bluntly pointed out that it was not that the majority of people in this palace examination were cheating, but that the questions asked by His Majesty were too biased.Many candidates who have real materials have not paid attention to this kind of information at all, and naturally they cannot answer the questions well.

"The Great Wall is our barrier to the north. Its importance is self-evident. As a Jinshi, I have no idea why the Great Wall was built at its current location. I'm afraid it will take some time to become an official in the court. Let's go back and hone more."

In front of the cabinet and Jiuqing, who were accused by their subordinates of creating random exam questions and wasting students, Hong Tao naturally refused to tolerate it.This palace examination is not only a foundation for future talent reserves, but also a long-term plan to win over people's hearts and expand imperial power.Therefore, it must be stated one by one, and the facts cannot be vaguely stated.

"Your Majesty, what Li Shangshu said is true. The Great Wall was not built in one dynasty. It was completed by the Northern Wei, Northern Qi, Sui and other dynasties until the late Emperor. It spanned nearly a thousand years. It is difficult to figure out the intentions of each dynasty. Can you point out the defense against the invasion from the north and the south? That’s enough.”

Li Tingji, the Minister of Rites, was a disciple of Shen Yiguan and a die-hard member of the Zhejiang Party. He often opposed the emperor after his teacher was forced to resign.But he is not a reckless person. He has carefully considered the timing and topics he chooses. You can only say that he has different opinions, and it is difficult to say that he is deliberately causing trouble.

In addition to Li Tingji, Xiao Daheng, Shangshu of the Ministry of Punishment, was also a backbone of the Zhejiang Party and immediately offered help when the attack began.Although what he said was fair, it sounded like a teacher teaching students.It seemed like he was mocking the emperor for not studying well since he was a child. He didn't even know the origin of the Great Wall, but he had the nerve to use this as a test topic to teach others!

"I think your Majesty's question is a little biased, but he is really passionate about talents. If the standards can be relaxed a little, it will be a good story." More than two ministers objected to the question of the imperial examination. Wen Chun, the censor of Zuodu, also stood up and expressed a similar idea. .

It's just that he spoke more skillfully, giving him a slap in the face, which not only criticized the emperor's approach but also saved the leader's face, and also gave a relatively easy-to-implement solution, which also had vague benefits.

"How do you love me?"

If Li Tingji and Xiao Daheng had just stood up and expressed their opposition clearly, Hong Tao wouldn't think much about it.The Zhejiang Party has been resigning since its inception. It seems that it has lost its backbone and has been quiet for a while.Now that he has licked his wounds and tidied up his internal affairs, he will definitely fight back.

But Wen Chun is very close to the Donglin Party members. According to the principle of party unity and opposition to differences, he will definitely not agree with the political opinions of Zhejiang Party officials. Even if they are right, he has to find faults, otherwise it is still called party struggle.

Now a big head of the Donglin Party has suddenly changed his mind and is helping Zhejiang Party officials to attack the emperor. Could it be that he accidentally saw a quotation from a sage last night and suddenly realized his conscience and awakened?

Hong Tao really doesn't think this is possible. Factions are like a gray society. It's easy to get in and hard to get out. No one from any faction is allowed to change families or quit easily.Once someone does this, it will 100% be regarded as betrayal, and a group of people will definitely attack.

The answer is obvious. Neither the Zhejiang Party nor the Donglin Party met expectations in this palace examination.Most of the Jinshi they selected were not in their plans.This loss is not insignificant and will seriously affect the future development and growth of each faction. It must be intolerable.That's why they banded together to publicly question the emperor and try to exert pressure to recover losses.

But there are many parties in the DPRK and China, and there are no less than seven or eight famous and powerful ones. What are the opinions of other factions?Have they been affected? Do they want to start over?Have to look again.

"I second the proposal..." There was a chorus of agreement, and Hong Tao counted carefully. In addition to Li Tingji, the Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, Xiao Daheng, the Minister of the Ministry of Justice, and Wen Chun, the Yushi of Zuodu, there were also Li Dai, the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, and Minister of the Ministry of War who had the same opinion. Sun Wei, one of these two is from the Chu Party and the other is from the Qin Party.

Four of the six cabinet bachelors also nodded. Shen Li, Wu Daonan, and Fang Congzhe all had obvious party affiliations. Zhu Geng was a good old man, leaning towards whichever side there were more people.

Seeing a group of ministers who spoke only about doctrines but only cared about business in their hearts performing in front of them, Hong Tao really wanted to shout: Take down these national thieves, remove them from office, confiscate their homes, and send them to border towns to be exiled to the army!

It's a pity that now is not the time. Being an emperor does not rely on the strength of a tiger's body, nor does it rely on a loud voice and a majestic expression. It is useless if you don't have enough strength to shout.If you push the representative of the official group into a hurry, you will be the unlucky one [-]% of the time.

Don't you dare to kill the emperor?Don’t be naive. The Ming Dynasty was the dynasty with the most accidents for emperors in history. All kinds of bizarre ways of death emerged in an endless stream. You can’t die unless you think of it. Who dares to say that there are no handwritings by courtiers, nobles, harems, eunuchs, and relatives?
"They are all ministers who have read poetry and books... I just don't know who among you can answer my test questions?" But not being able to fall out doesn't mean that you can't argue with reason. No matter how timid the emperor is, after three years of management, he still wants to grab the money. A little bit of reasoning power.

In addition, there are a few bachelors and officials of the Six Ministries and Nine Ministers who have not echoed. No matter whether their ideas are consistent with mine, as long as they are not alone, they have to struggle with all their strength.

"...defend the northern barbarians from invading the south!" A bunch of old official cunning people looked at each other, and they all felt that the emperor really had nothing to say and didn't bother to answer such childish questions. In the end, Wen Chun stepped forward to resolve the embarrassment.

"Exactly!" Then they bowed together and stared at the emperor like a fool.

"Wang Chengen, how do I evaluate you this afternoon?" Hong Tao did not continue to ask questions, but turned to the little eunuch and gave him a bared smile.

"Long live the Lord said that I only know one thing but not the other, so I don't ask for a detailed explanation!" Wang Chengen was not ambiguous at all, and answered the question crisply in front of all the important officials of the court.

Then everyone present gathered their eyes, and some of them had sullen expressions.To openly compare a young eunuch to an important minister of the imperial court is more of an insult than an insult. If it weren't for the emperor in front of him, he would have cursed him loudly.

(End of this chapter)