Rule the Ming Dynasty Alone

The Ming Dynasty adopted the guard system, and the officers and soldiers of the guard were hereditary, so the military examination system has never been customized.

It was not until the 14th year of Chenghua that Wang Zhi realized that the middle and high-level officers of the Ming Dynasty had become corrupt. Therefore, this eunuch, who was expressed his dissatisfaction by "Jing Liang's death" by later historians, asked Emperor Chenghua to set up military affairs in accordance with the text. Kexiang, Huixi.

Although martial arts in the Ming Dynasty officially became routine, there were certain limitations.

The group faced by the martial arts examination is only military households from all over the country. Because of the threshold for the civil examination of the military examination and the high-ranking officers of the guard station who can easily attack them, many outstanding soldiers in the guard station are not qualified to take the martial arts examination at all.

Zhu Youtang can naturally see the shortcomings of this kind of martial arts, but the effectiveness of martial arts is obvious.

Although there were some shortcomings in the martial arts examinations of the Ming Dynasty, many famous generals emerged from the Ming Dynasty martial arts examinations, such as Yu Dayou and Qi Jiguang, both of whom were born in martial arts examinations.

Just like this, even if the Ming Dynasty's martial arts is insufficient, it can still select many practical military talents, so it only needs to be fine-tuned.

Different from the almost fixed examination time of the civil service examination, the time of the martial arts examination is more flexible and the time span will be greatly shortened.

This time, the martial arts examination examination was held in February of the first year of Hongzhi in 13 provinces in the two capitals, and this month the martial arts examination examination was held in the capital, which spanned less than half a year.

Zhu Youtang also made some reforms in terms of the specific content of the exam.

Different from the traditional "strategy first, martial arts second", this time the Enke Trial focused more on martial arts, thereby reducing the space for rent-seeking of power.

In fact, the Ming army during this period did not lack generals who were good at the art of war. After all, many hereditary senior officers had been familiar with military books since childhood, and the army lacked the courage to risk their lives against the enemy.

As for the four book questions in the original examination of the martial arts examination, studying the Confucian set of benevolence, righteousness and morality, Zhu Youtang ruthlessly canceled it and replaced it with writing martial arts scriptures silently.

That's why the Enke Military Examination actually pays more attention to the candidates' "practical ability" rather than the "theoretical ability" they like.

On the other hand, there is also a hidden selection in the martial arts examination.

In the past, soldiers who did not understand Confucianism and military theory had almost no chance of getting ahead, but this military examination will give these groups a chance.

At the beginning of the year, Zhu Youtang ordered all counties to recommend those who could carry an eighty-pound sword regardless of their origin. Therefore, many illiterate people from various places came to the capital to participate in the martial arts examination.

In fact, it was not that there were no brave men in various health offices in the Ming Dynasty, but they were usually from poor backgrounds, not to mention it was difficult to get the chance to take the martial arts examination, and they had no money to study and read.

This time, only strength is used as the threshold. Not only the powerful people at the bottom have the opportunity to go to Beijing, but also many soldiers who have failed in the guard have a way to participate in the martial arts examination.

It's just different from the traditional martial arts title. These specially recruited strong men only participated in sword-handling and martial arts competitions, and what they received was the Enke martial arts title specially awarded by the imperial court.

Wusheng, this will be a brand new title originating from the Hongzhi Dynasty, and this group of people will be active in the Ming Dynasty's army as a special group.

It’s the first day of August, a nice sunny day.

Outside Xi'an Gate, one hundred Nkewu Jinshi and one hundred Nkewu students have been waiting here for a long time. Everyone is wearing a brand new military uniform, and their faces look both excited and nervous.

Wu Jinshi's performance was better, but the one hundred Enke Wusheng felt that their destiny was quietly changing, and their faces couldn't help but be happy.

They all come from the lowest level of society, including ordinary farmers, craftsmen's apprentices, boatmen, small traders and doctors. But under this once-in-a-century opportunity, they are about to become middle- and low-level generals of the Ming Dynasty's army. .

Since there is no age limit for this selection, the highest age of this group is now fifty, and the youngest is a thirteen-year-old boy.

"Enter!"

After receiving feedback from the eunuchs inside, the officials of the Ministry of Rites made an announcement.

One hundred Nkewu Jinshi and one hundred Nkewu students couldn't help but swallow, but they knew that even this royal garden had many rules, so they followed the officials of the Ministry of Rites into the Xi'an Gate nervously.

Walking into this royal garden from the outside and looking at the surrounding scenery, you suddenly have the illusion of entering another time and space. Especially along the palace road to the edge of Taiye Pond, bathing in the oncoming lake breeze, the scenery of the lake and mountains in front of you becomes unreal.

"Wu Jinshi will fish in the north according to the order drawn earlier, and Wu Sheng will fish in the south! This competition will not affect the merits of you Wu Jinshi and Wu Sheng, but it will largely determine the level of your conferment, and will also decide The Wu champion and Wu Kui of this year's Enke martial arts competition!" Li Yu, the Minister of Civil Affairs, presided over the competition and said with an expressionless face.

After all, the status of the martial arts examination is still much lower. In addition to the absence of county examinations, government examinations, and college examinations, there is also no palace examination. The number one scholar in the martial arts examination is actually the first place in the martial arts examination.

However, this situation changed in this dynasty. Although there was no real trial, a fishing competition was held next to Taiye Pond in Xiyuan.

This kind of competition method will inevitably make some Wu Jinshi who don't know how to fish feel unfair, but it is also unfair to select the Wu champion through the literary test, so it is not completely unacceptable.

What's more, this competition is about who can catch more and heavier fish, so there is a lot of luck involved, which is much fairer than just relying on an article or family background to determine the number one winner.

Just like this, everyone looked at the fishing positions that had been arranged and couldn't help but gear up to find their own fishing positions, but they wanted to win the title of martial arts champion through this relatively fair method.

Li Yu is now a popular figure around the emperor, and he is getting more and more important now.

Unlike Wenju, which likes to form a teacher-student relationship, Wuju is much more pure. Now Li Yu is regarded as the examiner of this martial arts examination, and as the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, he knows the importance of talents, so he also strolls around various fishing spots to observe the candidates.

Influenced by Zhu Youtang, he also began to change his previous thinking on talent selection.

Nowadays, we have abandoned those local officials who wrote brilliantly but failed to govern the local area. Instead, we are more willing to promote those officials who really do practical things for the people, and everything is measured by political performance.

For example, recently for local officials in Huguang, officials who can cooperate with Liu Zhong in clearing the land will be rated as excellent. However, if there is no progress in clearing the land in the county, they will not consider promotion, and even use a magnifying glass to carefully examine the official.

Although he was 100% loyal to Zhu Youtang, he still felt a little hasty about Zhu Youtang's decision to decide the top spot in martial arts through fishing.

Soon, several Wu Jinshi were removed.

"Why is there no bait in your hook?"

"My humble duty is that Jiang Taigong is fishing. I am willing to treat Your Majesty here!"

"Kick him out!"

…

"How can you fish so far from the river?"

"Humble job has been afraid of water since I was a child!"

"Kick him out!"

…

"Why did you release the fish you caught?"

"God has the virtue of loving life, but I don't want to kill even though I am humble!"

"Kick him out!"

…

Fishing may seem like a simple sport, but it is a test of human nature. Those who are particularly impatient or indecisive will be brushed off, and all kinds of weirdos will be exposed.

Li Yu couldn't help but take a breath when he saw the burly candidate who was finally kicked out.

Because this candidate who believed that "God has good virtues for life" had the first score in the martial arts examination, if according to past practice, this person would be selected as the number one scholar in martial arts.

Li Yu swallowed hard and looked at the Forbidden City with fear.

If His Majesty had not requested that today's fishing competition be added, the Ming Dynasty would have had a martial champion who did not dare to kill. How could he be immortal?

Taiye Pond is undoubtedly a paradise for fishermen.

One hundred Wu Jinshi knew the content of the last test in advance. Although many of them were beginners, they had now become competent at fishing.

In fact, the entry barrier for fishing in this era is very low. It is nothing more than hooking a fish and throwing it into the lake. Whether the fish bites the hook or not depends entirely on God's will.

Of course, catching fish requires certain skills, especially when fishing lines nowadays have quite a few drawbacks.

Several Wu Jinshis were forced to terminate the exam because they pulled too hard and the fish was not caught, but the fishing line was directly broken.

"Sir, the number one scholar in this martial arts competition has probably been born!" When Li Yu arrived at the southernmost point, an official reported happily.

A young man in his early twenties was fishing, and a carp as big as two fingers was lifted up. The carp was soon thrown into the wooden basin next to him by the young man.

At this moment, the wooden basin was almost full, and the other Wu Jinshi had already pulled down a lot.

After hanging up the bait, this young man with a bit of Confucianism skillfully swung the rod into the water. All his movements were done in one go, and he had an indescribable maturity about him.

Li Yu didn't expect that among the hundred Wu Jinshi, there were actually fishing masters. Judging from the harvest, they were probably not much weaker than His Majesty. He couldn't help stroking his beard with satisfaction.

"This is the last pot of bait!"

"Come on, you just said there is no limit to the supply!"

"Originally, that's true, but now almost all the bait I prepared has been sent to you here. Now I can't give it to you even if I want to!"

…

A eunuch who was responsible for the supply of fishing bait delivered a basin of fishing bait and made a direct showdown with this young man who was asking for too much.

The young man raised his eyebrows slightly. After learning that almost all the bait had been sent to him, only a small part was left, and then he made an unexpected move.

Wow…

As most of the bait was thrown out of the lake, countless small splashes of water immediately appeared on the water, as if it were raining.

Dayechi has 700 acres of water, and due to the rapid fishing, the resources here are not lacking. After seeing a large amount of bait thrown here, a school of fish suddenly rushed here.

oops……

Li Yu never expected that this young man would waste fishing bait so much. He accidentally pulled off a few beards in his excitement, and he grimaced in pain.

As more fish from the lake came to smell the food, the fish situation in this area was overflowing, and the young man caught fish one after another, and the distance between him and other Wu Jinshi became wider and wider.

If there were no accidents, this young man would be the number one winner in this new martial arts examination. However, this method of fishing was unheard of and seemed to be a trick.

"How is this going?"

"He just asked about the unlimited supply of bait. He has done this three times now. This method works really well!"

…

Li Yu asked his subordinate about the situation, but when he learned that this young man wasted so much bait, he couldn't help but feel a pang of pain in his body. At the same time, he felt vaguely that this practice was illegal.

It's just that this young man was doing things within the rules after all, and it was really inappropriate to kick him out of Xiyuan on the spot.

Now I can only report the matter to His Majesty. If His Majesty has no objection, then this tall and thin young man will probably be the number one winner in Nkowu.

A Wu champion in his twenties is really rare in this dynasty.

Li Yu felt sorry for the beard that had just been accidentally torn off, so he continued to observe Wu Jinshi's performance from south to north.

It's just that the seed players he thought were the top picks in martial arts earlier have performed unsatisfactorily. Now they can't catch fish here and make frequent mistakes, so he feels disappointed with these Wensheng who have solid theoretical knowledge.

In fact, not only the seed players who were ranked number one in Wu, but also Wu Jinshi's overall performance was not ideal. Along the way, several Wu Jinshis had to withdraw from the competition due to loss of consciousness.

Li Yu originally had objections to Zhu Youtang's arrangement of martial arts students, but after looking at the performance of these martial arts scholars, he found that the army really needed some strong-willed generals.

How could those who were so angry that they threw their fishing rods because of the slightest inconvenience just now lead the army to overcome numerous difficulties and achieve victory?

The weather is a bit sunny today, so it's easy for people to become impatient.

The martial arts students are all from the lower class, and they have all been tempered by hardships. Like the oldest old man, he fished quietly like a stone, but the harvest was not small.

The performance of the martial arts students here was obviously much better. Although no one threw the bait into the lake as if it were money, almost every martial artist was able to catch fish, and the wooden basins were more or less harvested.

Judging from the total harvest alone, Wu Sheng is actually stronger than Wu Jinshi.

"Haha... This grass carp weighs more than ten pounds. Who can compare with me? Wu Kui is none other than me!"

When Li Yu walked out of the northernmost fishing position, a middle-aged man with an unusually strong build showed off arrogantly while holding up a big grass carp.

The corners of the mouth of the official who had been staring at him twitched slightly. When he saw Li Yu coming here, he immediately reported what happened to Li Yu.

Li Yu looked up and down at this middle-aged man who was wet all over, and the corners of his mouth twitched a few times.

Obviously, today's fishing rods cannot support a giant thing weighing more than ten kilograms. What's more, all the candidates present use the same bamboo poles, so what reason is there to catch such a giant thing?

It's just that the last examination of the martial arts examination seemed to be possessed by evil spirits. Both Wu Jinshi and Wusheng were unconventional, and they both managed to make considerable gains.

Sorry, I'm not in a good state lately!