New Shun 1730

There have been some strange things in the ceremony of announcing the names of the top scorers in history.

For example, Xu Kaiye, the top scorer, was tricked by the second scorer. He paid money to bribe the eunuchs to close the door and not let him in. When the time for the ceremony came, Xu Kaiye, who was the top scorer, cried outside the city and could not enter the city. The second scorer entered and became the top scorer.

Liu Yu did not have to worry about this problem, at least no one in the court dared to do so at that time.

After passing the preliminary examination, the brocade clothes worn on the day of the announcement of the names of the top scorers have been distributed.

As a direct subordinate of the imperial power, the Wude Palace can wear swords and shoes to show the meaning of "martial virtue", which is also a kind of grace. On the day of the announcement of the names of the top scorers, they can go to the palace with swords and shoes.

Early in the morning, before dawn, the Yiguogong Mansion was already busy.

Yuyan and other maids got up earlier and brought the brocade clothes that were dust-free after careful inspection to ensure that there were no wrinkles on them.

He changed into brocade clothes, put on a warrior's leather hat, and inserted two decorative feathers on his head that were specially allowed on the day of the announcement. He also checked the short sword that Rong En Wuxian Jianxue brought to the palace that day.

After a little dressing, Yuyan looked at Liu Yu like threading a needle at night.

"Third Master will definitely be the champion today."

Several maids also said something festive, but Liu Yu said: "It's unknown. The country is full of talents and is in a prosperous period. How dare you be arrogant?"

From the title, it means "appointed", so this should be low-key. At least you still have to pretend.

After packing up, it was still dark, and lights were lit in other places in the Duke's Mansion.

Liu Yu hurried to see his mother for morning inspection. His mother had already gotten up and looked at Liu Yu in the brocade clothes for the announcement ceremony. She smiled with relief and told him not to delay here.

At the beginning of the Chenshi period, about seven o'clock in the morning, the ceremony was about to begin.

We had to line up outside the Meridian Gate at five o'clock, so we had to leave home earlier.

We arrived outside the Meridian Gate. It was still early, and the ministers had their own special rooms to rest.

Liu Yu and his group of people waiting for the ceremony had nowhere to go. In order to prevent the need to defecate or urinate during the ceremony, they could not eat or drink.

They were bored waiting, and since they were all classmates from the Wude Palace, they had to gather together to smoke, chat and gossip. When they were tired of standing, they squatted on the ground, which was a bit like the Sanhe gods waiting for daily work.

Dashun compared itself to Li Tang, and the official name of this Meridian Gate was actually Wufeng Tower.

However, just like the six governments were still privately called the six ministries, there were many people who were good at talking.

The Taihe Hall in later generations was renamed the Changyi Hall after the recovery of the capital, but when the government stabilized, it was changed back to the Fengtian Hall, which was a bit like changing the "Juyi Hall" to the "Zhongyi Hall".

The Grand Marshal of Fengtian Advocate of Righteousness is now ordered by heaven, not advocate for justice and protect the people.

When the Meridian Gate opened, the ministers entered in batches.

Until the end, Liu Yu and the group who took the exam a few days ago lined up to enter through the gate. When they arrived near the Jinshui Bridge, they had to line up again.

Maybe it was not so strict on weekdays, but today was a ceremony, and there were a lot of people who might enter the imperial city for the first time. The censors and ceremonial officials repeatedly reiterated that they should pay attention to their manners.

The musicians took their positions under the eaves of the Fengtian Hall. The yellow case was ready, and the emperor came with drums and music.

The ministers of all walks of life took their positions, and Liu Yu and others followed behind. According to the results of the preliminary examination, they were arranged behind the ministers in a left-right manner.

When the music stopped, the chief of Tianyou Hall, Zuo Pingzhangshi, came to the front of the imperial carriage with three test papers and read the first one.

After reading a few words, Liu Yu heard that it was the article he had written from memory, and the last bit of worry was gone.

Those who stood in line with him could imagine how disappointed they must have felt at that moment.

But after reading only a few thousand words, it stopped abruptly and switched to the next strategy, "army with rules".

Liu Yu had originally wanted to make some big news. He had already asked about the various aspects of the ceremony and knew that Zuo Pingzhang would read the article in front of everyone.

So he wrote some topics about "world view" and wanted to lead to a heated discussion. Who would have thought that only the first small paragraph would be read and the rest would be ignored?

This made him very unhappy.

After the paper was read, the name was opened and the Zuo Pingzhang delivered the paper to the emperor.

The people selected by Wude Palace were the palace officials, who were the emperor's direct line, so the emperor also called out the names to show that they were the emperor's personal guards.

"Liu Yu, the son of Liu Sheng, Duke of Yiguo, is the leader!"

Putting his father's name in front should be because he was worried about the possibility of having the same name. If two people stood out at the same time, it would be a bit embarrassing.

The guards in front of the hall shouted in unison, and after calling Liu Yu's name three times, Liu Yu stepped out from behind and knelt on one knee at the bottom of the steps.

On the day of the announcement, he went to the hall with a sword and shoes, and did not perform the five bows and three kowtows, but performed the military salute, in order to live up to the martial virtues.

Then the second and third were called out.

There was no need to read the papers after that. After the names were called out, they came out in turn to meet the emperor.

After the ceremony, the emperor selected ten people and went to Tianyou Hall for questioning. In the end, two more people were selected from the top three and the remaining seven people, making a total of five, and they were granted the position of Dragon Guard.

Once granted the Dragon Guard, they can follow the emperor to participate in the court meeting, have the right to listen, but are not qualified to make memorials.

They are also qualified to listen to some government affairs in Tianyou Hall, but whether they are qualified to listen depends on the emperor's trust in the key military affairs, and they also have no right to discuss matters.

After the ceremony, the ministers dispersed, and Liu Yu and the other ten people who were selected lined up in order, surrendered their weapons in front of the Tianyou Hall, and waited in line at the door to be questioned.

He was the leader and the first to be called in.

Stepping in, the door closed, just like the interview in the previous life, the emperor sat in the middle, and the five ministers sat on the left and right.

The sword was surrendered, and at this time, you had to kneel five times and kowtow three times to the emperor, kneeling on the ground and waiting for questioning.

The ministers were questioned first, and then the emperor asked a question.

In general, there is a process, and the top three are bound to be appointed. Only the last few need to ask some questions, and the emperor selects the candidates.

However, Liu Yu's policy paper raised too many questions, so this time the questioning was extremely unusual, not just a simple process.

Duke Ying looked at Liu Yu kneeling on the ground, expressionless, and asked first: "Liu Yu, your comparison of Nanyang to the Western Regions seems to make sense, but there are a few questions to ask about how to implement it."

Liu Yu bowed to Duke Ying again and said: "Please ask Zuo Pingzhangshi."

"According to what you said, it is necessary to raise a navy. What is the difference between the navy and the navy?"

"Reply to Pingzhangshi, the navy is like the garrison troops, and the navy is the imperial guards of the capital. The navy can only patrol and suppress bandits; the navy We can compete on the waves. The navy of this dynasty is weak and may not be a match for the enemy at sea. Therefore, we need to build a navy, and Your Majesty and Tianyou Palace will directly manage it. It is not limited to guarding one place, but mobilized everywhere, suppressing the enemy and fighting the enemy. "

The Duke of England nodded and asked again: "The navy is not in a day. According to what you said, the navy cannot defeat the Westerners, so how can it be prosperous?"

"Reply to the Prime Minister: Learn from the barbarians."

The four words "learn from the barbarians" did not cause any disturbance.

Combining Chinese and Western to seek superiority and learning from the barbarians to control the barbarians are just expressions of the same meaning under different power comparisons.

At the end of the Ming Dynasty, the gap was not so big, and there was still the confidence and thought of "seeking superiority". It felt that if you work hard, you can not only learn, but also surpass.

When it comes to learning from the barbarians to control the barbarians, seeking superiority is too far away, and being able to control the barbarians is a blessing.

Liu Yu already had an idea in mind. Since the Duke of England asked, he knew the Duke of England's tough attitude on the North Korea issue, so he thought his idea should be recognized by him.

"Westerners are good at one thing, and their navy is the strongest. Our dynasty is unmatched, so we can learn from them."

"I have captured some good sailors in the northern border, and they have all participated in the construction of the Russian navy."

"Among them, Bering and others are good at navigation; Cherikov, Sven and others have served as captains of warships. They are all proficient in military affairs. They can be hired as instructors to teach students."

"There are students from the Wude Palace in our army. Fortunately, thanks to Taizong's foresight, students from the Wude Palace all learn geometry and surveying."

"If we build a navy, we can open a new subject in the Wude Palace, focusing not on riding and shooting but on navigation; not on bird guns but on artillery. Practice with Western naval law, and within five years, we should have the first batch of officers."

"We have also captured some Russian carpenters in Heilongjiang, who can also build ships. In five years, we can have a team of sailors who can sail far with Western techniques. Although they cannot sail around the world, they will have no problem sailing directly to Japan."

When the Duke of England heard the deadline of "five years", he felt a little relieved.

What he feared most was that Liu Yu would make a radical change to cater to the emperor's eagerness for success and rush for everything, which would cause a big disaster.

He was old, and he could see that the emperor wanted to use Liu Yu.

He was afraid that after his death, no one in the court would be able to take his place, and the emperor would foster too many overly aggressive young people to fight against the conservatives, causing a disaster.

Hearing Liu Yu's words, he gave a five-year deadline to train the first batch of officers, and the purpose was only to be able to sail directly to Japan. This sounded more conservative than he thought, and he finally breathed a sigh of relief.

He asked again: "What do you mean by 'supporting the navy with the navy'?"

Liu Yu turned to the emperor and said: "I would like to take the affairs of Korea and Japan as examples. I don't really want to do this, but just give an example nearby. If it violates the benevolent vassal affairs, please don't blame me, Your Majesty."

Everyone saw Liu Yu's policy and knew that his remarks were too violent and completely overbearing.

At this time, he said that he was just using the two nearby countries as an example, not really talking about those two countries.

But that being said, everyone thought that this statement still fell on these two countries?

The emperor nodded, and wanted to hear Liu Yu's opinion on how to "support the navy with the navy", so he said: "You can say it. This Korea is not that Korea, and this Japan is not that Japan."

"You should not spread it, so as not to surprise the vassal states."

Liu Yu then said: "For example, Japan has a lot of silver and copper. However, its country is closed and has a small trade volume. If it opens, our raw silk, cotton cloth and other goods will surely flock in."

"Not only can we get silver every year, but we can also get copper to mint coins to alleviate the shortage of money."

"But the Japanese are closed and unwilling to trade, and they have never come to the court."

"If our dynasty has a navy, we can cross the sea and surround them, force them to open trade, and make them pay tribute. In this way, the profits of silver and copper in a year will be more than one million."

"If Western countries also ask to trade with Japan, then Japan has already paid tribute and is a vassal of our dynasty. Our navy will help Japan resist the Westerners."

"If we can resist, then won't Japan's silver and copper belong to our dynasty? In the past, Zheng monopolized the trade with Japan and earned one million a year, so he could support a navy. If Japan can trade, isn't that enough to support a navy?"

"This is called supporting the navy with the navy."

"Only trade with our dynasty is allowed, not with Westerners; Japan is not allowed to build warships, and Japan's coastal defense is taken over by our dynasty; since our dynasty is the suzerain, if Westerners attack Japan, our dynasty is responsible for repelling them, and if there is civil unrest in Japan, our dynasty will help to quell it. This is called... a new type of vassal relationship."