Travel through the Qing Dynasty and become emperor

Chapter 878
Wang Guowei nodded and said: "Last time I heard that the emperor has cut the internal expenses by half, and all the saved money has been used for military expenses. All the corrupt officials in the imperial court who cried poorly were chopped off."

Cai Yuanpei sighed and said, "In addition to money, there is also the hearts of the people. I remember the emperor once said, 'Everything in a country can be bought with money, but loyal and brave soldiers can't be bought with money'. Now there are still Many corrupt officials are seeking the people's fat and anointment. The empire has been rejuvenated and the economy has developed, but corrupt officials still exist. Most of the land in the country has been annexed. If the people have no land and no food to eat, what is the support of the people It can be said. If we are the first in the current department and can be promoted by the emperor, it will not be difficult for us to be an official of one side in the future, and we should take it as our duty to open up the wisdom of the people, win the hearts of the people, and ask for orders for the people."

Hu Shi said: "The Lord is worried about the humiliation of his ministers. The emperor can reform the imperial examinations, so that we poor scholars can really have a bright future. If we can't share the worries for the emperor, what is the use of keeping us?"

The three nodded heavily.

Hall of Mental Cultivation in the Forbidden City.

"Why is there an extra soup for today's dinner?" Guan Xuqing looked at Xiao Dezhang beside him.

Xiao De Zhang immediately knelt down when he saw it.In fact, there are only four dishes and one soup on the table. This is the rule set by Guan Xuqing at the beginning. He only needs two meat, two vegetables and four dishes for each meal, plus two bowls of white rice. chop off.

Xiao Dezhang knelt down and kowtowed and said: "My Majesty, those taro are left over from the 'Precious Cage and Jade Plate' made for Concubine Li. The slave made the decision privately, and asked the imperial chef to cook the soup for you. It will never cost the palace any money. .”

Guan Xuqing smiled, helped Xiao De Zhang up and said, "Why are you kneeling, I just asked casually, and didn't say that I would punish you."

"The servant understands, it's just that the empress has issued a decree saying that each meal will follow the emperor's style, and only three dishes will be used, and everyone in Kunning Palace will reduce their meals."

Guan Xuqing was taken aback for a moment, nodded, picked up the chopsticks and started eating.The vegetarian dishes are sweet and sour cabbage and West Lake lotus seeds, the meat dishes are deer tendon and fish lip, and there is a big bowl of old chicken soup. There are oily flakes left in the pot when frying chicken diced on the soup surface, but there is not much greasy taste.They were all simple home-cooked dishes, but Guan Xuqing thought they were more delicious than the full table full of Man-Han banquets.

On August 23, more than a hundred selected candidates will gather outside the Meridian Gate. They will be led by officials from the Ministry of Rites and go to the Palace of Preserving Harmony to participate in the palace examination.At this time, even the most daring scholars kept their mouths shut, and stood in the line consciously, while the officials checked their identities and arranged the order. "Pa, pa, pa" the three-way whip sounded, and the Meridian Gate opened.

A group of scholars lined up in two files, and they crossed the Jinshui Bridge to the magnificent Palace of Preserving Harmony.After the etiquette of roll call, unraveling papers, praise, and salute, each candidate came to his seat.

At this time, there was a sound of "the emperor is here", and all the students knelt down one after another.Guan Xuqing looked at it with a smile on his face, and then said: "Get up."

"Thank you, Your Majesty." All the scholars lowered their heads and took their seats, holding their breath and concentrating, preparing for the last hurdle of the dragon gate.

The official in charge of the examination stepped forward and began to issue policy questions.In the early Qing Dynasty, the topic of policy used a current affairs policy, which was two to three hundred characters long, and asked about one or two things; after Kangxi, the topic was five to six hundred characters, or even about a thousand characters.But Guan Xuqing increased the amount of questions again, turning it into a set of more than a dozen big questions and dozens of questions and answers.

For a moment, the huge Hall of Preserving Harmony was so quiet that even a needle could be heard falling on the ground.Many people were thinking hard, some were biting their pens, and some were meditating on their desks.Of course, there are also those who write quickly. All the exams enter the palace early in the morning, but after some trivial etiquette, the actual exam time is already past ten o'clock, and when Guan Xuqing simply had lunch, it was around one o'clock in the afternoon. When the clock ticked, someone had already handed in the paper.

Guan Xuqing saw that Hu Shi, Wang Guowei, and Cai Yuanpei were the first to hand in the paper, so he couldn't help smiling.However, the submission of papers by the three of them also put great pressure on other students. This is a palace examination, and the emperor personally watched it. The impression in the eyes of the emperor is bad, so what is the future.So after the three of them handed in the papers, the testers also speeded up one after another, handing in the papers one after another, and the officials who received the papers, palmed the papers, and sealed them were collected.

It was past seven o'clock in the evening, and the hall was already too dark to see clearly.The palace examiners lit up the lamps one after another.The few remaining test subjects in the hall kept rubbing their eyes, and their faces were almost stuck to the paper.

The student Chen Yinke’s face was full of anxiety at this moment. As soon as he got the test paper today, he felt that the writing was like a tide. Skills are good, but no matter when the test papers emphasize neat writing, and must use the orthodox style, that is, the so-called "Yuan style" and "Guange style", the characters must be square, bright, black, and big.From a certain point of view, calligraphy is often more important than articles.Since the reform of the imperial examination, Guan Xuqing issued a decree to allow the examinees to use pens to write, but people are not familiar with this newly imported product, and it is not as fast as a writing brush to use, so none of the examinees who took the exam used a pen.

Chen Yinke is not very good at official script, so he writes very slowly. He didn't realize it until half of the testers around him had gone, but he couldn't get up too fast. Seeing that the sky was getting dark and there were still several questions left, Chen Yinke couldn't help feeling anxious .

At this moment, a voice suddenly came from outside: "Hurry up, hurry up the military newspaper at eight hundred miles." I saw Xiao Dezhang running in with a box with three feathers stuck in it.

Although the military communications have already switched to telegrams or telephones, and the telegraph line from the capital to the Middle East was laid out in July this year, the old name is still used for the urgency of handling military reports, divided into three hundred liga Urgent, [-]-mile urgent and [-]-mile urgent are the third class, and [-]-mile urgent is already the most urgent military situation.

Guan Xuqing couldn't help being slightly taken aback, something happened in the Middle East again?Just as he was about to reach out to take the military newspaper, he saw the test subjects below all looking up at him, and couldn't help but put their raised hands back on the armrest of the dragon chair.

"What are you shouting about? Didn't you see that the grand ceremony was going on? Put the military newspaper aside for now." After speaking, Guan Xuqing picked up the tea bowl again, and began to taste tea in a leisurely manner.

The test subjects below all breathed a sigh of relief. If the emperor left, the palace test would be over, and Jinke would be finished if he hadn't finished writing the test paper.Chen Yinke let go of the heart hanging in his throat, and couldn't help but bury his head in writing, but as the saying goes, haste makes waste, because the light is too dim, Chen Yinke can only write as close to the table as possible.As a result, before he knew it, the front of his shirt stuck to the wet test paper, making a big ink stain.By the time Chen Yinke found out, most of this test paper had been completed.His face turned pale and his lips tightened. He quickly put the test paper aside and copied it again, but this made him even slower.At this time, the sky was completely dark, and the spacious Palace of Preserving Harmony seemed even more empty because Shi Zi walked about the same.Although the hall was not very hot, Chen Yinke was still sweating profusely, and he tried his best to write stroke by stroke.In fact, he gave up a long time ago in his heart, just waiting for the invigilator to pronounce his death sentence.Just as he was rubbing his eyes with one hand and writing rapidly with the other, suddenly there was a light around him.A figure came up to him with an electric lantern.Chen Yinke will never forget this moment in his life. He looked up and saw the emperor standing beside him with an electric lantern in his hand and smiling, "Don't worry, work slowly and carefully."

Chen Yinke burst into tears immediately, not knowing what to say.

Let's go back and say that the Enke exam in Beijing is coming to an end.The chief examiner Zaifeng and the deputy chief examiner Li Hongzao both breathed a sigh of relief.Historically, scientific expeditions have been chosen in spring and autumn, which is nominally "Confucius wrote the spring and autumn", but in fact, because the temperature in these two seasons is neither hot nor cold, the people from the north and the south can adapt to it.But the season at the turn of spring and summer is the most likely to spread the epidemic. When three or four thousand candidates gather together, often a single illness will cause a large number of people, which will directly affect the level of admission.

Since the two of them were ordered by the Holy Order to prepare for Enke's acquisition of scholars in early April, this has been the most worrying thing.The two men, one Han and one Man, were both upright officials, but they had different styles in terms of epidemic prevention. Zaifeng sent people to buy large and small bags of licorice, root, honeysuckle, and mung beans, and made pots and soups in the east of the Gongyuan. The entry fee is supplied every day.Li Hongzao believed in the gods, offered sacrifices to the God of Plague, burned paper money, and specially invited the Taoist priests of Baiyun Temple to slay evil spirits with their swords. Vinegar charcoal was lit in the [-] shed in the [-]th district, making the courtyard full of cigarettes and the aroma of vinegar.In short, whatever method has been used.Fortunately, no one was infected with the disease.

Seeing that the room will be released tomorrow, the two of them let go of their high hearts.At four o'clock in the afternoon, the two of them went to inspect the test area together, and then went to the test room in the eighteenth room, and returned to the Zhigong Hall. , what are you thinking now?"

"Oh, I was thinking about the papers recommended by each room. I have read the first [-] papers. What I am worried about is that I haven't counted the test papers. What should I do if the papers are left behind? I have to review them again. Students It’s not easy, the ten-year cold window is just for today.”

Li Hongzao smiled disapprovingly: "My lord has tried several times, but I have never been able to handle this mission reliably. I am afraid no one will be able to do it if we are a little unyielding. We have done our best and have not accepted bribes. This is called a worthy emperor." Well, I have no shame in being a scholar." He got up and picked up a stack of ink scrolls on the table to browse, and said with a smile: "This kind of thing is really neither tasty nor attractive, but if you pass this test, you will not be an official. It's incredible!"

(End of this chapter)