Ming politicians

On the 29th day of the first month of the fifth year of Chongzhen, Su Tiancheng arrived at the capital of the Ming Empire, Bei Jing.

He didn't expect that it would take such a long time to go. He set off on the [-]th day of the first lunar month. He thought he would arrive in ten days at most, but who knew it would not be the case at all.

When he arrived in Taiyuan Fucheng, Su Tianhao had already gone to the capital, and the Guozijian was about to start classes on the [-]th day of the first lunar month.

It took two days to meet Xuezheng lord and go to the ceremonial department of the chief envoy's yamen to go through the relevant procedures, and it was useless to worry.

After that, stay at home for a day.

On the 22nd of the first lunar month, we set off from Taiyuan Prefecture and rushed to Beijing.

This time in Beijing, Su Ertong, Su Jun, Wang Dazhi, and Luo Chang followed Su Tiancheng.

Bei Jing was the capital of the Ming Dynasty. Needless to say, it was prosperous. Su Tiancheng, who was used to seeing high-rise buildings, arrived in Bei Jing and saw the bustling crowds and the many buildings and shops. The prosperity after that has a completely different taste, and it is more humane. If he had to choose, he would rather have the bustling today than the high-rise buildings and cold interpersonal relationships hundreds of years later.

The consumption level of Bei Jing is completely different from that of Pingyang Fucheng.

Let’s just say that if you stay in an inn, you can live in a room for one penny in Pingyang Fucheng, but in Beijing, it’s hard to find ordinary rooms. Already a master.

Knowing the habits of his young master, Su Jun found an inn with good conditions, named Gaosheng Inn.

In Gaosheng Inn, an upper room is five renminbi a day, an ordinary room is three renminbi, and three rooms, the daily accommodation fee is more than one tael.

As for eating, it is even more exaggerated. If you want to pursue quality, you can spend more than ten taels of silver for a meal.

Su Tiancheng didn't want to be too extravagant, so he decided to eat at the Gaosheng Inn. The time for the test was not far away, and he still had a lot of things to do.

Su Tiancheng was a tester in Shanxi Township, but when he arrived in Beijing, he was nothing.

He didn't have many acquaintances, and when he came to Beijing, he had to visit Xu Eryi and Weng Tongzhang, both of whom were his mentors.The identities of the two are not very prominent, and there will be no great difficulty in visiting.

In addition, you have to go to the Ministry of Rites to go through the relevant procedures, which is equivalent to reporting for duty.

There are a total of 1015 candidates from all over the country who came to Beijing to participate in the examination, and the admission quota for the examination is 375, that is to say, two-thirds of the candidates will be eliminated.

As for those who can participate in the palace examination after the general examination, in principle, they are the Gongsheng students who have passed the palace examination. The purpose of the re-examination before the palace examination is to see if there are any fake ones, so as not to make a fool of themselves during the palace examination.

On the day Su Tiancheng arrived in the capital, he met Su Tianhao.

Su Tianhao brought some news. There are two examiners in the examination, namely Prince Shaobao, University of Martial Arts Hall, Cabinet Chief Assistant Zhou Yanru, Prince Taibao, Dongge University Bachelor, and Cabinet Second Assistant Wen Tiren.

There are 18 examiners, who are respectively the Bachelor of Attendance, the Bachelor of Attendance, the Attendance of Attendance, the Attendance of Attendance, and the Compilation of the Imperial Academy, including the Doctor of the Five Classics of the Imperial College.

This specification is unusual. The examiners are the first and second assistants of the cabinet.

Ordinarily, Juren would be very happy to know such news, but Su Tiancheng's understanding is completely different.

He is familiar with history. The fifth year of Chongzhen was also the time when the game between Zhou Yanru and Wen Tiren was the most powerful. Of course, this was not an open game, but Wen Tiren launched a series of campaigns in order to be the chief assistant of the cabinet. attack.

Faintly, he remembered that Wen Tiren impeached Zhou Yanru in the middle of the general examination and palace examination.

Of course, at this time, Zhou Yanru's position was still very stable. It was not until June of the sixth year of Chongzhen that Zhou Yanru sadly resigned because of the accumulation of many problems.

Historically, the official history had a bad evaluation of Zhou Yanru and Wen Tiren.

But Su Tiancheng, who traveled through time, would never believe in textbooks, he had to rely on his own knowledge to look at the two of them.

But one thing is true, that is, there are many conflicts between Zhou Yanru and Wen Tiren.

The conflict between the chief assistant and the second assistant of the cabinet should not be underestimated. This seriously affects the operation of the government. As a courtier, what he thinks of every day is to stand in line and choose the target of refuge.

There are many conflicts between officials in order to fight for power and profit. This is not a big deal, especially in the era of feudal dynasties, the emperor knew about these things and even encouraged such things to happen.

There are specific historical reasons for this.

In order to maintain his own rule, the emperor must find a way to control the ministers below. The best way to control is to stand in the position of a magistrate, control the battles of the ministers, and control their fate.

Su Tiancheng, who is familiar with politics, knows that the emperor is not omnipotent.

That's right, the emperor has supreme power, and what he says is the law. Deposing officials and taking people's lives are very simple things.But where does this power come from, it cannot fall from the sky.

The emperor needs ministers, loyal ministers to protect his own country. Only a group of shrewd and capable ministers who are obedient to orders can maintain the authority of the emperor, help the emperor, and protect the country.

Unfortunately, there are not many such emperors and ministers.

To put it bluntly, Su Tiancheng has just arrived in the capital, even though he has not yet participated in the examination, he is facing a crucial choice.

Step into the officialdom.There is no relationship, no reliance, thinking that with one's own strength, you can change everything, and you can do whatever you want.

Participating in the palace examination, becoming a Jinshi, and being conferred by the Ministry of Officials, you need to face many relationships. You can also choose not to join any faction and keep yourself clean. The final result may be depressed and do nothing for the rest of your life.

Su Tiancheng has his own way, of course, he is still a little uneasy in his heart.

The next day, Su Tiancheng made preparations and went to the Ministry of Rites to check his identity.

The examination was presided over by the Ministry of Rites and held uniformly in the Gongyuan in the southeast of the inner city of Beijing.

All candidates who participated in the examination had to report directly to the Ministry of Rites with corresponding certificates.

There is a material in the Ministry of Rites, which is the relevant identity certificate of each candidate.

Only when the materials submitted by the Juren are matched with the materials kept by the Ministry of Rites can the identity of the Juren be clarified.

The six ministries are all working in the Forbidden City, which is not something ordinary people can get in.

Enter the Forbidden City from the Meridian Gate, and enter from the Huiji Gate on the right. The Wenhua Palace is here, and the cabinet and the six ministries all work here.

Of course, if you go to the Ministry of Rites to check your identity, you must not enter directly through the Meridian Gate, but only through the Donghua Gate on the right.This means that Juren is not qualified to enter the Forbidden City through the Meridian Gate.

After passing the Jinshui Bridge, the Meridian Gate has three gates on the left, middle and right. Only the emperor can walk through the middle gate.During normal times, civil and military officials of the third grade or above enter the Forbidden City to work from here.Officials below the third grade enter the Forbidden City to work through the Donghua Gate and Xihua Gate.

The office buildings in the Forbidden City are all civil structures, with large doors and windows, and there are high thresholds when passing through each door. You need to pay attention, otherwise you will be tripped, which is very inconvenient.

The officials of the Ministry of Rites took Su Tiancheng directly to the Department of Rites and Clearing Officials of the Ministry of Rites to go through the relevant procedures.

Su Tiancheng looked carefully, the small wooden lattice windows were still pasted with strips of thin paper.

The weather in January is still very cold.

Su Tiancheng followed the official carefully.

To say that he arrived in the capital a little late, most of the candidates have already registered, this registration is a big deal, and the candidates who come to the Ministry of Rites to register at the end of the first month are also very rare.

The officials stopped in front of a house. Inside were two officials wearing black gauze caps, round-collared shirts, and belts around their waists. Their clothes were blue in color. Look carefully. His Buzi is 鸂鶒, which shows that both of them are officials of the seventh rank.

The official reported that someone had come to check his identity.

Neither of them stood up, but their expressions were a little strange. They looked at Su Tiancheng, and one of them spoke.

"It's really strange, why did you come to handle it at this time, come in."

Su Tiancheng hurriedly bowed and clasped his fists to salute the two of them, probably because he was too young, with a trace of childishness on his face, the two officials didn't even return the salute.

"My lord, Su Tiancheng, a native of Pingyang Prefecture, Shanxi, is here today to go through the formalities."

An official took the documents and looked at them carefully, while another official found a document from the desk.

"Well, you are Xie Yuan from the Shanxi Township Examination, and you are 19 years old this year. It is not easy."

The two officials quickly read the materials, and a smile appeared on their faces.

They stood up, walked to Su Tiancheng's side, and clasped their fists in return.

Su Tiancheng's attitude is very low-key, and he has been like this since he entered Donghua Gate.You know, this is the Forbidden City, the highest authority of the Ming Dynasty.

The attitude of the two officials changed, and getting up is also very simple. Jie Yuan, who is really capable in the township examination, will have no problem in the examination. Maybe in the palace examination, if he enters the head armor, he will be a hot person.

The registration procedure is actually very simple. After the officials reviewed the materials and found that there was no problem, they put away all the materials, and then issued a certificate to the candidates, stating clearly the relevant time and when to come to the Ministry of Rites to pick it up Number plate, when to go to the Gongyuan to take the exam, when the number plate is issued, the certificate of the Ministry of Rites will not recognize the person.

The rules of the examination are very strict, closed-book examination, the name is blurred, and the examiner cannot see it, which is similar to the situation in the rural examination.But if you think that taking the test is completely innocent, then you are very wrong. There is also something strange in it.

After reading the materials, one of the officials directly issued a certificate, and when he handed it to Su Tiancheng, he spoke.

"Most of the candidates have already signed up, and the officer will handle it for you."