Troubled times: Start practicing spiritual practice by taking care of your sister-in-law.

Chapter 534: Restoration of the Imperial Examination
The time came to the second month of the second year of Yong'an.

The grass is growing and the birds are singing. The snow covering the ground has melted a lot, and a patch of tender green can be seen faintly on the endless flat fields.

February 5th.

A piece of news spread throughout the world, and the emperor issued an edict to restore the imperial examination system and hold the provincial examination in August in Luonan.

And there are no requirements for this provincial examination.

In the past, if one wanted to take part in the provincial examination, one had to be a scholar. Those who passed the examination were called juren, and the first place was called jieyuan.

However, there was no such stipulation in the imperial decree issued this time, which means that students who have not participated in the academy examination, and even ordinary people, can also sign up to participate.

When the news spread, the whole world was shocked and countless scholars were excited and thrilled.

You have to know that the imperial court temporarily cancelled the imperial examination because of the rebellion, but it was unexpected that it would be more than five years after the cancellation.

Five years.

Do you know how scholars around the world have been spending the past five years?
For scholars all over the world, the imperial examination is their way out. For ordinary people, it is even more so. If they pass the imperial examination, their fate can be changed in an instant, and they can return home in glory.

The abolition of the imperial examination system cut off their future prospects.

Especially for poor families, in order to support a scholar, especially in this chaotic era, they almost exhausted their family savings. Seeing the cancellation of the imperial examination, all their investment would be wasted.

For them, the past five years have been a blur.

But then they discovered a problem.

The provincial examination was held in Luonan.

You have to know that the provincial examination is different from the metropolitan examination and the palace examination, which have to be held in the capital.

The provincial examinations were held in the capitals of each state.

After passing the test, you can go to the capital to take part in the imperial examination.

However, the imperial decree issued this time specifically stated that the location of the provincial examination would be in Luonan.

Doesn't that mean it won't be held in the state capitals of each state?
Yanzhou.

The territory of Anping King Chu Ji was between Huaizhou and Chongzhou.

In fact, Chu Ji's strength is not weak among all the vassal kings of the Chu clan, and he can even be ranked in the top three. He has more than 20,000 soldiers under his command.

But who can blame him for always ranking first or second in strength before and after his fiefdom?

Compared with Prince Huai and Prince Chong, Chu Ji is not as good as others.

This resulted in Chu Ji playing an inconspicuous role from the beginning of the chaos, to the subsequent Tianshi Army's surge of millions of soldiers, the Huai King's call for an army to defend the king in an attack on Xu Guozhong, and then to the strong rise of Chen Mo. He had no highlights and was not well-known in front of the people of the world.

However, this also meant that Yanzhou had basically never been in chaos and had always maintained a good order. Although the people's living conditions were not good due to the influence of the chaotic times, at least they could survive with a stutter.

This is a dream place for other people living in war.

The Prince of Anping's Palace at this moment.

In the study.

Zhang Le, the prefect of Yanzhou, was discussing the imperial examination with Chu Ji.

In the past, whenever the provincial examination was held, the court would order the governors of each state to prepare for the provincial examination, and then the governors would instruct their officials to convey the news of the month and location of the provincial examination to each county and village, to ensure that everyone knew about it and that scholars would not miss the provincial examination. However, now, although the court has widely announced the restoration of the imperial examination and announced the date of the provincial examination, it has not allowed the states to hold it.

In other words, the imperial court wanted to bypass the local government and hold it on its own.

"Your Highness, do you think Lu Sheng has any opinion about us? Otherwise, why didn't he inform us in advance about such a big thing as the restoration of the imperial examination?" Zhang Le said.

"Lu Sheng is worried that others will pick the fruits." Chu Ji said.

Zhang Le: “???”

Although Chu Ji was not well-known, as a vassal king who was ranked among the top five in terms of strength, he was still very smart and immediately answered Zhang Le's question.

It is also very simple. At present, the actual territories that the imperial court can control do not exceed three states. The other states of the Song Dynasty are controlled by other princes, local forces, etc., who do not obey the orders of the imperial court at all, and are divided by warlords.

If the imperial court allowed all states in the country to have the right to hold provincial examinations, the talents selected in the provincial examinations would be firmly controlled by those in power in each state and would not be sent to the imperial court at all.

In this case, the imperial court's order to restore the imperial examination system was like making wedding clothes for others.

Under this premise, if the states held provincial examinations privately, it would be against the rules and an act of usurpation. Although the imperial court could not interfere, the rulers of the states would be considered to have lost their righteousness and would be accused of insubordination or even treason.

"Your Highness, should we stop the scholars in our state from going to Luonan, so as to prevent all the talents in our state from being won over by Lu Sheng?" Zhang Le said.

As soon as he finished speaking, Chu Ji glared at Zhang Le and said, "Do you want all the scholars in Yanzhou to hate me?"

Preventing scholars from going to Luonan means not allowing them to take the imperial examinations, which means cutting off their future.

Then they will have to fight Chu Ji to the death.

"Then we will hold the imperial examination ourselves. The imperial court can't control us anyway." Zhang Le said.

Chu Ji was indeed not afraid. After all, the imperial court would not launch a large-scale attack on him just for such a small matter. At most, they would put a few big hats on him, which would not hurt Chu Ji at all.

But here's the key.
"What will you do with those candidates who pass the exam?" Chu Ji asked.

Chu Ji only had this one state and thirty-five counties.

There were no vacancies in the official posts of any county, and it was impossible to fill the posts.

Moreover, in today's chaotic times, the reason why Chu Ji can ensure that Yanzhou will not be in chaos is because he has won over the gentry from all over the place, and these gentry help him stabilize the peace in various counties.

If he forcibly placed officials in various counties, it would infringe on the interests of these gentry, and he would not be able to guarantee whether Yanzhou would be in chaos or not.

Zhang Le's face froze. He also thought of this and said, "So are we just going to watch the talent drain away?"

Chu Ji sneered and said, "Yanzhou and Luonan are nearly a thousand miles apart. If you walk, it will take at least one or two months. The world is not peaceful now. If it were you, would you be willing to travel a long distance to Luonan to take the exam?"

Zhang Le thought about it, shook his head, but still said, "What if there is someone stubborn?"

"Well, you ask each county to issue a notice saying that there are bandits roaming around in several important transportation routes outside Yanzhou, and even the merchant caravans escorted by soldiers and horses in the state have been robbed. You understand what I mean, right?" Chu Ji said.

"Your Highness is wise." Zhang Le certainly understood that this was intended to scare away the students in the state who were going to Beijing to take the imperial examinations.

Under these heavy obstacles, most people have been scared away, but there are probably only a few, about a dozen, who still persist.

There are only so many people here, so let them go.

But if there are too many people, it will definitely not work.

(End of this chapter)