Daming: I am the Crown Prince

Chapter 113 The Show Begins

Throughout the 26th year of Hongwu, everyone seemed to be concerned about and speculating about the health of the Hongwu Emperor.

In the 27th year of Hongwu, the first major event after the beginning of the year was the Spring Examination. Scholars from all over the country gathered in the capital to prepare for the examination.

According to the rules of the Ming Dynasty, the imperial examination was held every three years. It was scheduled to be held on the 9th, 12th and 15th day of the second month of the year of Chen, Xu, Chou and Wei, and was divided into three sessions. The first session tested three questions on the meaning of the Four Books and four questions on the meaning of the classics; the second session tested one essay, five judgments, and one optional answer to an imperial edict, imperial decree or memorial; the third session tested five questions on classics, history and policy.

The Crown Prince Zhu Yunhuan went to the Confucius Temple in advance. The temple consists of three major building complexes: the Confucius Temple, the Imperial Academy, and the Imperial Examination Hall.

Needless to say, the Imperial Examination Hall was the examination hall, and now there were more than 10,000 rooms. Add to that hundreds of official rooms, dining rooms, warehouses, and miscellaneous service rooms, and naturally there was a lot of land and buildings.

The dispute about the chief examiner was settled. The Crown Prince originally recommended the son-in-law Mei Yin because Mei Yin was talented and had once been the provincial education commissioner of Shandong.

However, the civil servants disagreed, believing that the imperial examinations had always been the responsibility of the Ministry of Rites, and that the Ministry should send people with both moral integrity and talent to serve as examiners.

The Crown Prince had previously sent some nobles away from the capital, and they all seemed to be disobedient. And now, the civil officials were also disobedient.

The Crown Prince did not recognize the civil servants recommended by the Crown Prince, and the Crown Prince did not approve the people recommended by the civil servants.

After a stalemate, Zhao Mian, the Minister of Revenue, became the chief examiner.

After carefully inspecting the rooms, Zhu Yunhuan was very satisfied. "The Talent Selection Ceremony is a big event. Officials must not be careless. Any fraud or abuse of power will not be tolerated!"

The accompanying officials naturally obeyed the order immediately. No one dared to be careless about such a matter as the imperial examination. Of course, for some people, this was also an opportunity.

After returning to the palace, Zhu Yunhuan summoned Jiang Lin and Zhu Zhong, "Last year, there was an incident of Zhao Mian accepting stolen goods. On the eve of the imperial examination, I want to hear some people in the literati discuss this matter."

Jiang Li and Zhu Zhong immediately took the order. Spreading gossip was something they were very good at doing as Jinyiwei.

Zhu Yunhuan continued with a cold face, "Remember this, the northern scholars go to Beijing for the imperial examinations, naturally with the intention of serving the court. However, the southern style of writing is better, so we should think of a way to have northern and southern scholars compete with each other a few times, or let some southern scholars submit their greeting cards."

Jiang Li reminded him, "Your Highness, nowadays scholars dare not go to the palaces of the powerful and high officials to submit greeting cards."

It was also very common to send visiting cards, as those scholars who were about to take the exam wanted to find a backer or to make a name for themselves. So there would be people blocking sedan chairs, and there would also be people sending visiting cards to the gates of wealthy families.

Seeing Zhu Yunhuan glaring at him, Jiang Lin immediately didn't dare to say anything more.

He seemed to be rather frustrated in the past year, and the Crown Prince set up the Northern Pacification Division to weaken and check the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

But even though the Crown Prince seemed to have suffered repeated setbacks in the past year, a spy chief like Jiang Lin knew a lot. He didn't know what the Emperor and the Crown Prince were planning, but he understood that some things were not as simple as they seemed.

Zhu Yunhuan summoned Zhao Mian again and said, "I want to see the first and second place winners of this imperial examination come from the Central Plains."

Zhao Mian was stunned for a moment, then quickly said, "Your Highness, I believe that when the imperial court selects candidates for the imperial examination, it should be based on their talent and learning, not their birthplace."

Zhu Yunhuan was very unhappy and said, "The Central Plains has always had a strong literary style, so why can't I be the first place?"

Zhao Mian argued, "Your Highness, the Central Plains has a flourishing literary style, but it has been trampled upon many times in the past few years, and the literary style is not as good as before. Now the Jiangnan area has a more flourishing literary style, and many talented scholars have emerged!"

Zhu Yunhuan was very unhappy and said, "This exam can only have 100 candidates, no more."

This is also one of the characteristics of the imperial examination in the Ming Dynasty. There is no fixed number of candidates. If the court is short of people, there may be 300 to 400 candidates in one exam. If there is no shortage of people, there may be 30 to 40 candidates in one exam.

For example, in the 24th year of Hongwu in the last exam, there were only 31 people whose names were on the list.

This time Zhao Mian had no objection. One hundred people was a reasonable number.

For countless scholars, passing the imperial examination is the most glorious moment. Even those who can participate in the imperial examination are all scholars from various provinces, and they have the status of juren and can enter the officialdom.

However, Juren cannot have the glory of Jinshi, and which serious civil servant does not want to enter the official career as a Jinshi?

Watching Zhao Mian leave, Zhu Yunhuan shook his head, "You will suffer for your own mistakes."

When he returned to the East Palace, Zhu Yourong came to him worriedly, "Little brother, how come I heard that you were bullied by the court officials again?"

Zhu Youling also looked at Zhu Yunhuan with worry. Last year, he thought his younger brother was a rare talent and his performance was surprising. But this year, his younger brother seemed to be unhappy everywhere. He was either bullied by civil officials or lost his ambition due to his own pleasure.

Zhu Yunhuan smiled and said, "It's okay. How can you say you were bullied? It's nothing more than a disagreement in political views. We had a few arguments in the court. It's a small matter. We will know the result after some time."

Zhu Yourong still said worriedly, "My aunt also said that my uncle should have been the chief examiner."

"It's a good thing that my uncle didn't become the chief examiner. You don't understand what happens in the court." Zhu Yunhuan said with a smile, "I originally thought that my uncle was famous for his literary talent, so it would be appropriate for him to be the chief examiner. But if he really became the chief examiner, he would have to be a civil servant in the future, which is not very appropriate after thinking about it."

Although Mei Yin was Zhu's favorite son-in-law, he did not hold any official position. Not to mention the six ministries, he did not even hold any official position in the nine temples, and he did not even have a title in the Five Military Commandery.

Princess Anqing knew more, and then said, "I've told you a long time ago that you don't need to ask about his affairs, he knows everything."

When Zhu Yunhuan nodded, Princess Anqing said, "I have been a widow for a year, and I have to get married this year."

Zhu Yunxun was stunned for a moment, and asked quickly, "Auntie, do you have anyone you like?"

Zhu Yourong and Zhu Youling immediately covered their mouths and laughed secretly. It seemed that something really happened.

"Wang Ji, grandson of Marquis Taiyuan." Princess Anqing said directly, "Hurry up and arrange a marriage for me, so that he won't remarry."

Zhu Yunhuan was stunned. "Which Taiyuan Marquis?"

Princess Anqing, who had turned her back on her husband before she even got married, was anxious. "Marquis Taiyuan, when my father fought in the Battle of Poyang Lake, Marquis Taiyuan and 35 others pretended to surrender to serve as an internal supporter. He knew he would die but acted bravely. He set fire to Chen Youliang's camp and died because of it."

Zhu Yunhuan finally reacted, but then he said, "She is worthy of my aunt, so I will prepare the dowry."

After saying this, Zhu Yunhuan immediately turned around and ran towards the Qianqing Palace.

Old Zhu was a little annoyed by Zhu Yunhuan's request for an audience, "Let him get in!"

Then Concubine Ning quickly cleaned up the wine and food. It was unknown whether the Crown Prince would take care of other people's affairs. However, the Crown Prince not only took care of many of the emperor's affairs, but also took very strict care of them.

Zhu Yunhuan noticed something was wrong as soon as he entered the bedroom, "Hello, Concubine Ning."

Concubine Ning was a little embarrassed, and then asked, "How are you these days, Your Highness?"

Zhu Yunhuan smiled and said, "I'm sure I'm fine. I'm just going to go back and take a rest. I've been so busy all day, I can sleep as soon as I get home. If I were not old enough, I would definitely have a few drinks."

Old Zhu slammed the table and shouted, "This is outrageous! How dare this grandson of mine to meddle in our affairs!"

Even Concubine Ning could tell that the Emperor felt a little guilty.

"I'm in a good mood today, so I won't talk about this." Zhu Yunhuan said with a smile, "My aunt has fallen in love with the grandson of the Marquis of Taiyuan County, and it seems that she wants to marry him as soon as possible."

When Old Zhu heard this, he immediately became excited and said, "Okay, let's drink three pots!"

Realizing something was wrong, Lao Zhu immediately changed his words, "Drink three more cups, is that okay?"

"There are naturally court rules for a princess's marriage, but it seems that my sister-in-law doesn't want a grand ceremony." Zhu Yunhuan said, "When the time comes, our family will go over, and the Wang family will be very polite, that's all."

Princess Anqing was remarrying, and Wang Ji was also a second wife, so according to some traditional views today, it is not good to hold a grand wedding for the second time. If it is really grand, it will be laughed at by many people.

Looking at Concubine Ning, Zhu Yunhuan said, "Your Majesty, my aunt's marriage still needs your help. I am a junior and don't understand, and some people probably don't understand these things either."

Old Zhu snorted coldly, grabbed two soybeans and threw them into his mouth, then drank a sip of wine comfortably.

Concubine Ning smiled and said, "Don't worry, Your Highness. This matter will definitely not go wrong."

"Brother Guo Zhen will have to do work for me, work that offends people." Zhu Yunxun said with a smile, "This time, he will be the one to do this humiliating task."

Concubine Ning naturally cared about her nephew and quickly said, "Your Highness, this is his duty."

Old Zhu glanced at Zhu Yunhuan and said, "You are really vindictive. You don't let your eldest uncle be the chief examiner, so you let your twelfth uncle humiliate the scholars?"

Zhu Yunhuan said unhappily, "How can it be considered a humiliation? These scholars are trying their best to get their names on the imperial examinations. It's okay for them to hide scriptures in their clothes, but there might be something in the food box."

Old Zhu smiled and said, "They are really brave. They made our people strip naked for inspection, and while they were scolding us for being disrespectful, they were also thinking of adding a special examination in addition to the three-year imperial examination."

Zhu Yunhuan smiled and poured a glass of wine, taking a sip, "Grandfather, this wine is too strong, let's change it to something lighter next time."

The palace is now peaceful and harmonious, but the imperial examination, which countless people are paying attention to, seems to be a little uneasy.

Suddenly, a rumor came from somewhere that the Crown Prince intended to select the top three candidates from the north, which naturally caused dissatisfaction among the southern scholars.

There is also a rumor that the chief examiner Zhao Mian had solicited bribes before, but it has not been verified.

There was also news that Liu Sanwu set the test questions, and this subject focused more on poetry and prose than on policy essays.

True and false news kept coming out, but no one could find the source, and no one knew the truth. But for many scholars, getting their names on the list was what they were looking forward to the most, and they had to give it a try!
(End of this chapter)