I open a history tutorial class in Daming

Chapter 164 How many twists and turns do you scholars have in your stomachs? !

That afternoon.

Xu Yungong, who had not been seen for several days, suddenly came to visit Song Shen.

Hearing the news that he was coming, Song Shen couldn't help but raise his eyebrows and asked Lan Yun who came to report:

"Did Yun Gong come here empty-handed, or did he bring something?"

Lan Yun shook his head first, then realized that his master couldn't see, so he quickly added:
"Mr. Xu didn't bring anything with him. He came here on horseback and he was in a hurry to see you. It seems that he has something important to tell you."

Song Shen pondered for a long time.

Xu Yungong looked a bit like a fool in front of him, but he knew very well that the other party couldn't be a real naive person.

Not to mention that his father Xu Da was one of the few meritorious officials and nobles who had a good end in the Hongwu Dynasty. Just look at the subsequent development trajectory of the Xu family and you will know that during the Jianwen period, Xu Yungong, the eldest son of the Xu family, was loyal to Zhu Yunwen, while his other son and daughter became Zhu Di's queen and guides respectively.

It is hard to say how many loyal ministers are involved in this, but if we think about things in a worst-case scenario, we can also think that the Xu family did this to diversify risks. No matter who wins in the end, the Xu family will not be completely destroyed.

At that time, Xu Yungong, as the eldest son of the Xu family, had inherited Xu Da's title and became the head of the family. Naturally, he also had the power to allocate resources to his family members.

A naive person can't possibly do this.

Only a few days have passed, it is definitely impossible for the flintlock rifle to be completed. What's more, Xu Yungong came empty-handed, so it is even more impossible that there has been a breakthrough in the flintlock rifle... Then why did he rush here?

"Okay, please let him in."

Song Shen realized that he couldn't let people wait outside for too long, so he came to his senses and ordered:

"Prepare all the refreshments and have everyone outside the study disperse."

Since we have important matters to discuss, we'd better be extra careful.

This is the limit of what a blind man can do.

Lan Yun agreed, and soon took Xu Yungong into the study.

The door of the study creaked, apparently closing. Song Shen waited for Xu Yungong to speak, but after about half a minute, no sound was heard.

So, he wondered:

"Yun Gong?"

The young man's thief-like voice came from the side:
"Hush, Brother Ziwei, let me first find out if the surrounding area is safe."

Song Shen: ...

Damn it, you scared me!
Do martial artists walk without making any sound? When did he get to my back?
"…Have you finished your investigation?"

Song Shen pinched his throbbing temples on both sides of his forehead and asked speechlessly:

"What's going on? Are you still worried about my family? What's there to investigate? Before you came in, I told everyone to stay away. If you have something to say, just say it. Don't be sneaky."

Xu Yungong said "oh" reluctantly, and then sat down obediently in the guest seat.

He scratched his head, and soon regained his energy, and asked in a low voice excitedly:
"Brother Ziwei, you are so smart, do you want to guess why I came to you today?"

Song Shen has never wanted to see the light again as much as he does now.

In this way, he could beat up the idiot in front of him and throw him out of the window.

He took a sip of tea in silence:

"What else can you do here? It's something related to flintlock rifles."

"But it's impossible for the parts to be ready in two days. I heard that you didn't bring a package when you came, so it must be that they are not ready."

"If it was something about His Royal Highness Prince Yan, you would have started to complain a long time ago. There's no need to be so cautious."

"So...what's going on at the court? It has to be something to do with firearms."

Xu Yungong stared, stuck for a moment, not knowing what to say.

half an hour.

Even though he knew Song Shen couldn't see, he still bowed to him in admiration:

"As expected of you, Brother Ziwei. What's wrong with your brain?"

Song Shen interrupted his flattery:
"Why are you rushing over here in such a hurry? If you are really in a hurry, then just speak quickly."

Xu Yungong no longer made jokes or kept people in suspense.

He moved his buttocks and got close to Song Shen, lowering his voice again and again:

"We have a good chance now!"

"Today, imperial edicts were posted at various city gates. Inscribed on them was His Majesty's personal decree, stating that a special imperial examination would be held at the beginning of next year. However, this special imperial examination is very special. It is not for ordinary scholars, but for craftsmen."

"Those craftsmen still have half a year to work hard. The examination will start in the spring of next year. You don't need to be literate. As long as you have a skill, you can participate. For example, you can be knowledgeable about firearms, shipbuilding, porcelain, hydraulic dams, or carpenters and blacksmiths. Even doctors can sign up for this special examination!"

"Your Majesty, don't be too boastful. As long as they can show their ability and build something real, or can point out the shortcomings of current shipbuilding, bridge repair, hydraulic engineering and dam construction in front of Your Majesty and all the officials, and can come up with better solutions, they can become officials."

"Moreover, the imperial edict also states that one's position in the future will be determined by one's ability. If there is a better way, one can be promoted to a higher position, regardless of household registration."

"Tell me, is this a good opportunity for us?"

Song Shen fell into deep thought.

Before coming to the Ming Dynasty, he had a big misunderstanding about the household registration system of the Ming Dynasty. He always thought that artisan households and military households were considered lowly households and could not take the imperial examinations. But after he came and learned about it in detail, and was able to query the system, he realized that this misunderstanding was really huge.

In the Ming Dynasty, household registration was determined based on labor service. That is to say, when determining household registration in the early Ming Dynasty, local officials mainly determined the household registration type based on the type of labor service that the people and households undertook to pay to the government.

Those who undertook regular corvee labor were registered as civilian households; those who undertook military service were registered as military households; those who undertook handicraft labor were registered as artisan households; and those who undertook salt production were registered as stove households or salt households.

The three major types of household registration in the Ming Dynasty were civilian households, military households, and artisan households, which were the dominant ones.

Each of these three major household registrations also includes some special small households, such as Confucian scholars, doctors, and fortune tellers among the civilians; lieutenants, strongmen, and archers in the military; and cooks, tailors, and horsemen and sailors among the craftsmen.

Therefore, after Song Shen read the records of the provincial examinations, metropolitan examinations, and successful candidates in the imperial examinations of the Ming Dynasty, his eyes were opened and he discovered a new world.

Those xx records would record the household registration and location of those who passed the imperial examination. Not to mention the location, the household registration was completely varied.

The most important thing is that all these household registration categories, big and small, are good registrations. As long as you have not broken the law, you can freely participate in the imperial examinations.

For these reasons, Zhu Yuanzhang's sudden opening of the imperial examination did not seem so strange. But the problem was that there were not many imperial examinations during the Hongwu reign.

Zhu Yuanzhang held the imperial examination for three consecutive years starting from the third year of Hongwu. However, since most of the candidates were young people and their performance was mediocre, Zhu Yuanzhang was not satisfied. In the sixth year of Hongwu, the imperial examination was suspended and it was not reopened until the fifteenth year of Hongwu. During the period when the imperial examination was not held, the court used the recommendation system to select officials. Unfortunately, this system was even less effective, with too many candidates and too many people. Later, Zhu Yuanzhang simply held the imperial examination every three years, which set the tone for the eight-part essay in the Ming and Qing dynasties.

It just so happened that Song Shen's current status allowed him to serve in the inner court without taking the imperial examination, which meant that he was recommended by his family. After all, he was the eldest grandson of Song Lian and had a long family background.

So why did Zhu Yuanzhang, who had not yet decided on a talent selection system, suddenly open an imperial examination and only allow craftsmen to participate?
Even though the imperial examinations of the Ming Dynasty were open to all good people, Xu Yungong had just made it clear that this time the imperial examinations did not look at cultural level, but only at technical level. In history, many of the successful candidates from various backgrounds did come from artisan households, but they also studied and passed the eight-legged essay exams before they could become officials, which actually had nothing to do with the skills of their original household registration.

Is Zhu Yuanzhang having a mental breakdown?

"What kind of good opportunity is this..."

Song Shen rubbed his temple again and felt that his butterfly wings were a little big.

He was a little confused by this gradually collapsing world.

Xu Yungong didn't seem to notice anything was wrong with him, and regardless of his sneaky attitude just now, he raised his voice and spoke faster:
"This is not a good opportunity!"

"Brother Ziwei, I asked the craftsmen I know to look at the blueprint you gave me. Although they couldn't tell what it was, they all said it was very delicate and could be made. However, if the skills are not good enough, it would be very difficult to make it, and it would be even more difficult to manufacture in large quantities."

"But your majesty has opened this special examination. When we make the flintlock rifles, with so many craftsmen, we will definitely be able to make a large number of them. When the time comes, won't this thing be much better than the musket when used on the battlefield? No need for a fire bolt, just a light flick of the finger can fire it. Didn't you say that last time?"

"If you ask me, it would be best if you hand this thing over to His Majesty once you have made it. When the imperial examination is over, His Majesty will surely assign more craftsmen to help..."

Before he could finish his words, he was interrupted by Song Shen, who was wearing a mask of pain.

Song Shen shook his head helplessly and sighed:
"You only think about yourself. Haven't you ever thought about why His Majesty wants to hold this imperial examination?"

Xu Yungong was stunned and didn't understand what he was talking about.

Song Shen calmed himself down, and his mind involuntarily thought of the biggest dilemma he was facing now.

The Hu Weiyong case in the 13th year of Hongwu.

As long as this person is alive, the sword of Damocles will always hang over his head. Sooner or later, he will be a powder keg that will explode and he will be covered in blood at any time.

Zhu Yuanzhang's murderous intent and hostility towards Hu Weiyong may not have been revealed yet, but it must have existed a long time ago.

It is said that Zhu Baba killed innocent people indiscriminately, and Song Shen himself also thought so before.

But after so much time in class, he also realized that Zhu Yuanzhang was not the type to kill people when he was angry, at least not before the death of Empress Ma and Zhu Biao. The Zhu Yuanzhang in the class now was sliced ​​from the real world. In a sense, that was Zhu Yuanzhang himself.

Although he had a bad temper and was a bad person, such as beating Zhu Qizhen on the spot and poking each other's lungs with Li Shimin every day, he was not a tyrant overall. No matter how unhappy he was, he would give people a chance.

If this person was really the kind of person who would cause the emperor to be angry and cause his corpse to float thousands of miles away without knowing right or wrong, then when Yongzheng appeared today, Song Shen would probably not even have a chance to explain, and Zhu Yuanzhang would have started to call on the people of the Zhu family to beat him up.

"Has Prime Minister Hu made any moves recently?"

Song Shen raised his face. He couldn't see, but he could "look" in the direction where Xu Yungong was speaking.

The latter was stunned for a moment before saying:
"What kind of action are you talking about, Brother Ziwei?"

Song Shen was silent for a moment:

"Anything. Any action that could anger His Majesty."

Hearing this, Xu Yungong suddenly remembered the visiting card that was delivered to the Xu family's mansion a few days ago.

His hair stood on end and he immediately told the whole story, leaving out only the part about His Majesty asking him to go to the palace.

"My sister is the Princess of Yan. We went to the palace after you finished speaking. At noon that day, the imperial physician diagnosed that she was pregnant. In the evening, a visiting card from the Prime Minister's Mansion was delivered to my house, congratulating her on her pregnancy."

"My sister felt something was wrong, so she told His Royal Highness the Prince of Yan to go straight to the palace and report the matter to His Majesty without wasting any time."

"I heard that His Majesty was smiling but not really smiling... Anyway, he must have been unhappy."

"Does this have anything to do with what happened today?"

Song Shen's back had been stretched straight for a quarter of an hour, and now it seemed as if all the strength had been lost, and he leaned back heavily on the chair.

He smiled bitterly for a while, then said:
"I advise you not to get involved in this Enke in advance. Of course, I won't do that either."

"It seems that His Majesty is already very displeased with Prime Minister Hu, and will explode when the time comes..."

"Perhaps he is not just dissatisfied with the Prime Minister. His Majesty must be dissatisfied with all the civil servants in the court."

"When Duke Wei returns to the capital, you'd better discuss this matter with him. At the very least, you should let him know that you cannot do anything on behalf of the Xu family with your current status. For the sake of your own life and future, you should be cautious.

"Don't let the blood splash on yourself."

Xu Yungong was dumbfounded when he heard this.

The reason why he came to see Song Shen today was definitely not because of the instruction of His Majesty. He just heard the news of the imperial edict, so he hurried to Song Shen, hoping to take this opportunity to help his brother have a bright future in the court.

Even though Song Shen had made it clear that the credit for the flintlock rifle would all go to Xu Yungong himself in the future, little Xu was not the kind of person who was greedy for credit and had a clear mind. He knew that His Majesty and the Crown Prince both valued Song Shen very much, and there must be other reasons that he didn't know about, which might be ten or a hundred times more important than the flintlock rifle.

He neither wanted to take advantage of others nor let go of the golden thigh he was holding. Why should he lose the big for the small?

But Xu Yungong did not expect Song Shen to say this.

After opening and closing his mouth for a long time, Xu Yungong's voice was a little dry:

"Brother Ziwei... are you saying that this time, the imperial examination is aimed at Prime Minister Hu and many other civil servants?"

Song Shen was silent for a long time, without sighing, but just nodded slightly.

"It is no small matter to have all the craftsmen in the Ming Dynasty take the imperial examination and become officials."

"Many of the craftsmen are illiterate. Even if they have skills, it is not easy for them to become officials, so there must be other arrangements in the future. But that's a story for later."

"The problem now is that there are only so many officials in the capital and the localities. Craftsmen are the most lucrative officials in the officialdom. If craftsmen decide how to purchase materials and how to spend money to repair rivers, houses, roads, bridges, and firearms, it is one thing to squeeze out a large number of existing civil servants due to the shortage of money. It is another thing that the money spent before is different from the amount spent later."

"Guess how many people will lose their jobs and titles, and how many people will be implicated?"

Having said this, Song Shen paused before continuing:
"The prime minister and all the civil servants in the court will not agree. Just wait, someone will come to advise us soon, and they may even threaten us with death to persuade us to do so."

Xu Yungong was completely sweating.

Oh my god...

How many crooked minds do you scholars have?
(End of this chapter)