Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 292 The Emperor’s Disciple
February 17th is the Spring Equinox. According to the tradition of "sacrifice the sun at the vernal equinox, the earth at the summer solstice, the moon at the autumnal equinox, and the sky at the winter solstice", sacrifices are made to the sun altar on this day.

Zhu You sent Liu Tianxi, the uncle of Ning Jin, to pay homage to the Sun Altar on his behalf.

This choice was criticized by some civil servants in the court.

Because when Wei Zhongxian ennobled his nephew, he cited the example of eunuch Liu Yongcheng's meritorious service and nephew Liu Ju's title of Ning Jinbo. After the fall of Wei Zhongxian, Liu Tianxi, the uncle of Ning Jin, was naturally implicated.

And there is another thing here, that is, the first person who gave Wei Zhongxian credit and agreed to be knighted was Wang Yongguang, then Minister of War.

Now that Wang Yongguang was reinstated as the censor of Zuodu, some officials who disliked him naturally brought up the old matter again and wanted to pursue the matter.

However, for Zhu Youjian, Wang Yongguang agreed with this matter and only agreed with Emperor Tianqi's wishes. At that time, whether Wang Yongguang supported or opposed it, it was of little use. The decision on the matter of knighthood rests with Emperor Tianqi.

Therefore, Zhu Youjian didn't blame Wang Yongguang very much for this matter. In addition, Wang Yongguang had been previously convicted of the eighth-level treason and was not allowed to serve as Minister of the Ministry of War in Nanjing. Now it is even more impossible to change his crime, making Wang Yongguang unable to even serve as the censor of Zuodu.

After Wang Yongguang took the initiative to plead guilty, Zhu Youjian scolded him and let the matter go.

Liu Tianxi, Uncle Ning Jin, was not affected at all.

This time, Zhu Youjian still sent him to sacrifice, which was to show his attitude. Don't let some ministers be held accountable for trivial matters, and let everyone in the court who is related to the eunuch party be in danger.

This little disturbance was calmly suppressed by Zhu Youjian, who had already firmly established himself on the throne.

He also used this incident to express to Wang Tiqian and other eunuchs that he allowed the eunuchs to be knighted, and the sub-barony he had promised them before could be honored in the future. Let these eunuchs serve the royal family more loyally and attentively.

Apart from the sacrificial matters, the main thing today is to change the time of the court meeting.

According to the court meeting time set last year, after the autumnal equinox, the court will be held at eight o'clock in the morning, and from the spring equinox to the autumnal equinox, the court will be held at seven o'clock in the morning.

Therefore, from this day forward, officials will have to get up earlier and attend court meetings in time.

This made officials who were accustomed to going to court at eight o'clock feel quite uncomfortable. Especially the old ministers felt that it was too early to go to court at seven o'clock.

However, many civil servants took the initiative to request the morning court meeting last year, and even felt that the emperor's time for going to court was too late. At this time, they can only hold their noses and go to court at seven o'clock.

After Zhu Youjian summoned his cabinet ministers Jiuqing and officials from the Ministry of Rites to discuss the matter, he also discussed the time for the imperial examination:

"As usual, the palace examination is on March 15th."

"But this year, the Mingfa and Mingshu departments have been added, and the affairs of the late emperor's mausoleum have also taken up a lot of ceremonial officials."

"So I plan to postpone this palace examination for a while. Which day do you think is best?"

This matter had been discussed in the court before, and it was the officials of the Ministry of Rites who took the initiative to bring it up.

Now that he heard that the emperor agreed to postpone the imperial examination, Wen Tiren, the Minister of Rites, said:
"I think it can be postponed for half a month and set on the second day of April."

Other officials of the Ministry of Rites also agreed with this proposal.

Seeing that they all said this, Zhu Youjian set the time for the palace examination on the second day of April. Let them announce it after the arithmetic exam is over and announce it in the newspaper at the same time.

Then he took out a memorial written in September of the second year of Tianqi and said to the ministers:
"This is the official report from the past to Zhen Shu, who asked the Martial Arts Department to follow the example of the Liberal Arts Department and hold the palace examination."

"What do you all think? Tell us what you think."

This matter caused a controversy in the past. Now that the old matter has been brought up again, everyone is thinking about the emperor's thoughts.

Qian Qianyi, Shaoqing of Taichang Temple and attending the meeting of the Ministry of Rites, said:

"I believe that the Imperial Examination in the Martial Arts Department should be held, and the Jinshi in the Mingfa and Mingshu departments should also be allowed to participate in the imperial examination."

"All civil and military scholars should be disciples of the emperor!" This statement made the officials look sideways, and even Wen Tiren glanced at him. He felt that Qian Qianyi was so good at catering to the emperor now that he would be his biggest enemy in the future.

However, his statement is indeed difficult to refute. Because the establishment of the palace examination means that the emperor directly recruits disciples to prevent ministers from taking the opportunity to expand their power.

Even if in reality there are many Jinshi who regard the same examiner as their master, no one denies this statement.

Therefore, when Qian Qianyi said this, many ministers were speechless. I am worried that if I object, I may be accused of having different intentions.

Yuan Keli, Minister of War, wanted to preside over the Ming Dynasty law examination and did not attend the meeting. Min Mengde, the left minister, had just taken office and tactfully advised the emperor:
"I believe that your Majesty may wish to introduce some of the people who are at the forefront of the martial arts department."

"But holding the palace examination is really unnecessary."

"Are they allowed to practice martial arts in the Huangji Palace, or to test military strategies against Jinshi?"

He didn't object to the emperor accepting disciples, but he didn't want to hold the martial arts examination.

Zhu Youjian frowned slightly after hearing this opinion, and then nodded in approval.

Indeed, it is nonsense to ask Wu Jinshi to compete in martial arts in the palace examination, or to test how well they write articles. Even if you want to accept disciples, you can't hold a child's play palace examination.

So after Zhu Youjian thought about it, he still thought of martial arts and said:
"Then just do what Min Qing said and just meet them!"

"Before the martial arts results are announced, I will summon them at the Huangji Palace and read out the rankings."

"The same is true for those who are Jinshi in Mingfa and Mingshuang."

"Then Wu Jinshi will study at the Martial Arts Command Academy, and Mingfa and Mingshu will study at the Taixue Administration College for training before being selected as officials."

"I will go there in person to teach them."

After this procedure, Wu Jinshi and Mingfa Ke Mingshuang Ke Jinshi can also be regarded as disciples of the emperor. Even compared to the palace examination, this exam is more worthy of its name.

It's just that in this case, the Jinshi Department should have an opinion. After Wen Tiren raised this issue, Zhu Youjian promised that all literary scholars could study in Taixue Administration College. Let these people study for a period of time to understand the powers of various official positions, and then hold an official selection ceremony.

After such discussions, although the martial arts examination failed, the identity of the emperor's disciples could be established.

In this way, Zhu Youjian improved the status of Wu Jinshi and Mingfa Ke Mingshu Ke.

After the meeting, he thought about the administrative college that he had ordered to be established in Taixue before, and summoned Taixue's wine sacrifice horse, Ma Zhiqi, to inquire about this matter.

When he learned that the School of Administration had been opened and was training students who had previously passed the mock exam to become officials, Zhu Youjian praised him with satisfaction and asked him to organize the teaching materials and teach Jinshi students in the future.

At the same time, let Taixue prepare himself. He will give lectures in the future, and let Ma Zhiqi prepare the lecture hall so that nothing goes wrong.

Ma Zhiqi was not very willing to see the emperor come to Taixue, because the emperor's visit would mean a lot of trouble.

But the emperor wanted to give lectures and recruit disciples of the emperor. This was something recognized by the ministers in the court, and it was also the glory of Taixue. As an imperial scholar, he could not object to this. I could only complain in my heart, accept this task, and think about which place to choose as the lecture hall.

According to the etiquette system, the emperor's university should be in the countryside, called Piyong. Piyong also has another meaning, which refers to the water around the temple. The water around it is Yong, and the round shape is like Pi, which symbolizes the perfection of the king's teachings.

When the Duke of Zhou took charge of the world on behalf of King Cheng, he would "make rituals, make music, and award measures" in the Mingtang.

When Ma Zhiqi thought of this, he suddenly felt that he understood the emperor's thoughts. The emperor asked Liu Zongzhou to remake rituals and music before, but couldn't he build a Mingtang?
Now that there is no Mingtang Piyong in the Ming Dynasty, he has to take the initiative to apply for construction.

So he quickly wrote a memorial and applied to choose a place to build Mingtang Piyong.

(End of this chapter)