Saving the Ming Dynasty: I can exchange bodies with Chongzhen

Although the two exchanged bodies, the national policy of the Ming Dynasty was still in the hands of Zhu Changgan. At Chongzhen's request, Zhu Changgan finally conducted a make-up provincial examination for him and scholars from several provinces in Jiangnan.

This examination hall, which was originally supposed to reopen on the sixth day of August due to the war, was headed by the chief examiner and deputy examiner sent by the court, and all the officials were from the capital.

When entering the palace, a banquet is held first, and all the officials from the inner and outer curtains must attend.

After the banquet, the inner curtain official enters the assigned place in the examination room, and the invigilator seals the door. After that, the inner curtain official will no longer go out, and the inner and outer curtain officials will not interact with each other. If there is anything, they can only talk at the inner curtain door.

There are three provincial examinations, each lasting three days, and candidates have to enter the examination hall one day in advance for all three examinations.

Candidates must undergo a strict body search when entering the examination room, and then enter their own examination rooms in order. After that, the door will be locked and no one will be allowed to enter or leave.

The examination room, also known as the "haofang", is a small independent room in the Imperial Examination Hall. It is where candidates answer papers, eat and stay during the examination. That is to say, within the three days of each examination, candidates have to eat, drink, defecate, urinate and sleep in the haofang until the end of the examination.

But this time, the conditions in the room were much better. There was a stove and charcoal fire, which could be used for heating and cooking.

The supervision of provincial examinations is usually quite lax. The invigilators are only responsible for checking whether the candidates are cheating. Apart from that, no matter what the candidates do in their rooms, the invigilators will not ask.

Under the emperor's deliberate instructions, Zhu Changgan was able to switch positions with Chongzhen.

The provincial examination mainly focuses on the Four Books, Five Classics, and policy questions. It also examines candidates' writing and ideological issues, mainly including their familiarity and understanding of the Four Books and Five Classics, and whether they can skillfully use edicts, judgments, memorials, and imperial edicts. At the same time, four or five current political affairs will be selected, and candidates will be required to express their opinions or views based on the theory of Confucian classics. It should be noted that since the middle of the Ming Dynasty, policy questions have required candidates to write strictly in the form of eight-part essays.

As a provincial examination held every three years, the admission rate for Juren is only 3% to 4%.

The provincial examination was also called the Great Examination or the Autumn Examination. The chief examiner appointed by the emperor went to the capitals of the provinces and autonomous regions to preside over it. All the students, tribute students, and supervisors who passed the examination could take the examination. Although in principle only the top three students in the first, second, and third classes were allowed to take the examination, in fact, those who passed the examinations of Lu Ke and Lu Yi (equivalent to the supplementary examinations presided over by the academic officials) could also take the examination. However, those with a clean family background or whose parents had been dead for less than three years were not allowed to take the examination.

There are two types of provincial examinations. The "regular examinations" are held every three years, usually in August. Since the examination time is fixed, no advance notice is given. The other is the "enke", which is an examination temporarily added by the court when major events occur. This type of examination will be notified in advance by the court.

The provincial examinations were presided over by Hanlin scholars and cabinet scholars appointed by the imperial court, and the provincial governments' offices of various places would select officials to be in charge of specific matters. Those who worked inside the examination room were called inner curtain officials, who were mainly responsible for supervising the examinations and marking the papers, such as the chief examiner, the room official, the inner supervisor, the inner examiner, and the inner collector; those who worked outside the examination room were called outer curtain officials, who were mainly responsible for managing the affairs of the examination room, such as supervising the examination, the outer supervisor, the outer examiner, the outer collector, receiving the papers, sealing them, transcribing them, and reading them over, etc.

Because it was an exam for Huguang, Jiangsu and Zhejiang and other places, the results were announced very quickly, in less than ten days.

A total of more than 10,000 people participated, and Chongzhen ranked 80th.

During the Ming Dynasty, the number of people admitted to the provincial examinations was usually allocated by the imperial court according to the population and cultural and educational conditions of each province, usually ranging from dozens to more than a hundred. The total number of people admitted nationwide in each provincial examination was about one thousand to two hundred or three hundred.

According to statistics, during the Chenghua and Jiajing periods of the Ming Dynasty, the national provincial examination admission rate remained at around 4%, while the admission rate after Longqing was around 3.1%. In terms of admission rate, Juren can be said to be the most difficult level in the imperial examination, hence the saying "Juren is gold, Jinshi is silver".

Of course, although it is so difficult to pass the exam, the treatment after passing the exam is also a qualitative leap. In addition to the treatment of scholars, the most economically beneficial treatment for Juren is tax exemption, that is, the land under the name of Juren can be exempted from imperial grain and national taxes. In this way, people or gentry will take the initiative to invest their land in the name of Juren, thereby obtaining tax exemption, and Juren can become a landlord overnight.

The most direct political benefit is the right to enter officialdom. After passing the imperial examination, one has the right to become an official. Although he is only a candidate official, if he is lucky, he can be sent to become a seventh-rank county magistrate. Even if he is unlucky and can only become a county magistrate, chief clerk or other assistant officials, his status and identity are already very different. After all, he has become part of the ruling class.

But Chongzhen was not satisfied with this. He said frankly that he did not perform well and wanted to take part in the next examination.

……

"Hurry, the emperor is waiting in front, you have to watch carefully and don't let a single bird get away." Wang Chengen watched the emperor walk into the examination room at the intersection and instructed several personal eunuchs.

Hiss... Why did the Emperor suddenly become obsessed with the imperial examination?
It is held from the 9th to the 15th day of the second lunar month. Because it is held in spring, it is also called the Spring Examination.

Because it was mostly presided over by the Ministry of Rites, it was also called Liwei.

During the Ming Dynasty, the location of the joint examination was the Gongyuan built in the southeast of the capital, which was specially used for holding the joint examination. There were usually two examiners for the joint examination, usually officials who were Grand Secretaries who had passed the Jinshi examination, officials below the rank of Minister of the Six Ministries, and officials above the rank of Deputy Chief Censor.

There were 16 other examiners, most of whom were Hanlin scholars.

Chongzhen went through the process of sealing, transcribing, proofreading, reviewing, and filling in the list...

When the apricot blossoms bloom, the examination results are announced, so it is also called "Apricot Bang".

After the joint examination, those who passed were called Gongsheng, and the first one was called Huiyuan.

In addition, the Ming Dynasty would also list a secondary list in addition to the main list. The main list would enter the interview, while the secondary list would not be dismissed. (Although those on the secondary list did not have the opportunity to participate in the palace examination and become a Jinshi, they could still be appointed as school instructors or other low-level official positions, or directly enter the Imperial Academy as a student, thereby receiving a certain salary.)
Although there was a palace examination after the joint examination, during the Ming Dynasty, unless there were special circumstances, the palace examination was only for ranking, and no one would be disqualified.

In other words, as long as you pass the examination to become a Gongsheng, you have basically become a Jinshi.

There were 300 candidates admitted to the imperial examination, and Chongzhen was once again included in the main list with a score of 35th.

In order to prevent cheating, a re-examination is held before the formal palace examination in the Hall of Preserving Harmony in the Forbidden City. It is considered a confirmation of the qualification of the tribute students, that is, the qualification to participate in the palace examination. Candidates who pass the re-examination can participate in the subsequent formal palace examination, which is usually held on April 21 of the same year as the joint examination, and the venue is also in the Hall of Preserving Harmony.

The palace examination only tests one policy question.

Normally, the test questions would be prepared in advance by the cabinet ministers, and the emperor would determine the questions on the spot during the palace examination.

But Zhu Changgan personally asked the question: "On the development of the Ming Dynasty!"

Candidates arrived at the palace at dawn, and after going through the roll call, distributing the papers, praising, and bowing, the test questions were issued. Not only did they have to strictly follow the eight-part essay, but they also had to use the official style of calligraphy, with the characters being square, round, black, and large.

The palace examination lasted only one day. The papers were handed in at dusk and sealed after the procedures of collecting, handling and sealing. On the day of marking, the papers were handed to eight marking officials, each with a table. They took turns to read the papers, and then the ten best papers were selected and presented to the emperor, who personally determined the final ranking.

After the palace examination, the admitted candidates were divided into three grades. The first grade consisted of three people, namely the top scorer, the second scorer and the third scorer, known as the "Jinshi Jidi" or the "Sandingjia"; the second grade had a number of people, accounting for about one-third of the admitted candidates, known as the "Jinshi Chuanyuan", and the top scorer of the second grade was called "Chuanlu"; the rest were in the third grade, known as the "Tong Jinshi Chuanyuan".

After the candidates' rankings are determined, the list filling officer will fill in and announce the list. This list is called the A list. The so-called "two lists of Jinshi" is a general term for the B list of the provincial examination and the A list of the palace examination.

After the results are announced, the emperor will grant a "banquet of grace and honor" to all examiners and successful candidates who will go to the Ministry of Rites to attend. After the banquet, the official appointments will begin one after another. Among them, the top three will be appointed immediately. The top scorer will be appointed as a compiler in the Hanlin Academy, and the second and third place winners will be appointed as editors in the Hanlin Academy.

As for the second and third-class Jinshi, the system was slightly different in the Ming and Qing dynasties. In the Ming dynasty, those who were good at literature and calligraphy were selected to enter the Hanlin Academy or the six ministries to observe politics (equivalent to internship). The Hanlin Academy was called Shujishi, and the six ministries were called Guanzheng Jinshi. After the Yongzheng period of the Qing dynasty, the emperor had to hold an imperial examination in the Baohe Hall to select Shujishi. This process is also called "appointing Hanlin". As for those who failed to stay in the capital, they were sent to various ministries to serve as principals, or to various places to serve.

After Emperor Yingzong of the Ming Dynasty, Hanlin had become the talent reserve base of the imperial court. There was a saying that "only Jinshi can enter Hanlin, and only Hanlin can enter the cabinet." Therefore, Shujishi were also called "reserve prime ministers" (naturally including the three people in the first class), and they had certain priority promotion qualifications in officialdom.

Of course this was in the past, but now, as the last "ancient method" imperial examination, Zhu Changgan has already thought about the next path of reform.

In the end, Chongzhen's ranking.

It was ranked 16th in the second list, i.e. List B.

……

Thank you for your support. The results are not good. There are no recommendations along the way, but I have written a million words. It is an explanation to my readers and friends. It is also an explanation to the author. (End of this chapter)