In February, the inner city of Nanjing was extremely lively.
As for the reason, it was because this month was the sixth imperial examination since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, and it was held as scheduled.
Scholars who came from all over the world greatly promoted the private economy of Nanjing.
Among them, there are also some scholars from North Korea and Annan. Although they failed last year and did not get a place to participate in this year's examination, they also rushed to Nanjing just to see who will be in this year's imperial examination high school.
"Dang...dang...dang..."
On the ninth day of February in the thirtieth year of Hongwu, the sixth imperial examination of the Ming Dynasty, Ding Chou Ke, was held as scheduled. Hanlin scholar Liu Sanwu and Prince Ji Shanbai Xinwei served as examiners and began to organize the examination.
Both the government and the public paid special attention to this matter. After all, this was the sixth imperial examination of the Ming Dynasty, and the Jinshi recruited in this imperial examination would enter the officialdom in the future and become the mainstay of the temple more than ten years later.
Therefore, by grasping the best among these people, we can further expand our influence in the future.
Because of this, many outstanding people have received investments from wealthy households before the exams even begin.
However, before the joint examination could begin, Zhu Yuanzhang's "Register of Enriched People" interrupted this investment process. A large number of wealthy households were registered and moved to Nanjing. As a result, many scholars of this session had to leave before the joint examination began. Didn't get the treatment I expected.
But this is not necessary for them. After all, those who can reach the stage of the Capital Examination are basically people who have more than enough money at home, or who regard money as garbage.
For them, the current money is not enough to make them lose, but it will motivate them.
Only by going to the temple can they realize their ambitions, so the more than 200 people who participated in this examination were well prepared.
When the morning bell rang in Nanjing, they gathered themselves and walked into the examination room with confidence.
They were frisked, inspected, and finally sat in their exam seats, and were inspected again. Until the moment before the exam started, there were soldiers patrolling the examination room.
In such an environment, mentally fragile people often collapse, but those who can reach this point are all strong-willed people.
Not long after, the test papers were handed out and all the candidates read the papers. No one had any doubts about the questions. They just started to study the ink and write after a moment of silence.
The Ming Dynasty examinations were held in three sessions, on the 9th, 12th and 15th of February. Generally, more emphasis was placed on the first session.
The first examination question is one article each of the meaning of the classics and the meaning of the four books, which are limited to 500 words and 300 words respectively.
Faced with these two articles, every scholar answered them seriously. Let’s not mention the content, just the appearance of the articles is very beautiful.
Liu Sanwu walked in the examination room, stroking his beard and looking at the candidates. He saw that the fonts on their papers were regular, the same size, dignified, graceful, and pleasing to the eye, and he was very satisfied.
For three days in a row, Liu Sanwu never left the examination room. At the age of eighty-five, he ate and lived with the candidates. It was not until the end of the examination on February 11 that he returned to the Yamen with 723 examination papers and marked them one by one. .
While he was reviewing these examination papers, Prince Ji Shan and Bai Xintuan began to preside over Ding Chouke's second examination.
This second examination is mainly about the theory of ritual and music, and the content is limited to 600 words.
For three days in a row, Bai Xintiao, like Liu Sanwu, never left the examination room. It was not until the end of the examination at Youshi on the 14th that he returned to the Yamen with all the examination papers.
The next day, the third session of the joint examination begins, and the current affairs policy for this scientific examination.
Perhaps because Wu Liangha suffered heavy losses and the rebellions in the northwest and southwest continued, this year's current affairs policy topic is mainly about counterinsurgency. There is no restriction on the targets. Southwest, northwest, northeast, and Japanese pirates can be the targets of counterinsurgency. The article does not Shangwenzao, the content is stipulated to be more than one thousand words.
In the answer to this question, many people imitated Zhu Gaoxu's "Pinging Japanese pirates" to deal with the southwest, northeast, northwest and Japanese pirates to counter the rebellion.
This is not to say that Zhu Gaoxu's "Lun on the Ping of the Japanese" is so superb, but that Zhu Gaoxu's "Lun on the Ping of the Japanese" has been recognized by the imperial court, which also shows that the imperial court is more inclined to this idea of counterinsurgency.
With the help of this kind of thinking, many people have written policy articles that they think are outstanding.
After three days of this, when the third joint examination ended on February 17th, Liu Sanwu, as the examiner, notified all the candidates to take the supplementary subject of "Riding and Archery Calligraphy" the next day.
In the impression of later generations, ancient scholars and officials were quite weak and powerless.
This cannot be said to be wrong, nor can it be said to be correct, but at least in the Ming Dynasty, scholars and officials had a different style of painting.
Because a special feature of the Ming Dynasty's imperial examination system is that even liberal arts Confucian students were required to have military capabilities.
As early as Zhu Yuanzhang started the imperial examination and formulated the "Huang Ming Establishment of Establishment of Schools, Subjects and Teaching Format", it was stipulated that students participating in the imperial examination must practice bow and crossbow, teach how to use weapons and sticks, and lift heavy stones at the end of every day.
In order to encourage students to practice riding and archery, Zhu Yuanzhang even established a reward system.
Scholars who are good at archery will be rewarded with drinks, and being good at archery is also regarded as a "bonus" item when it comes to exams.
Shooting three arrows from a horseback bow and hitting the target was a must during the Hongwu period for students to gain extra points in horseback archery.
This also led to the fact that civil servants in the Ming Dynasty were generally not weak in civility. Some civil servants were even less afraid of war than military attachés. Scholars and officials often became local temporary military commanders when encountering war, especially in counties where there were not many regular soldiers.
Under the supervision of Liu Sanwu, the candidates who participated in the examination went to the large teaching field in the outer city the next day to take the scientific examination of riding and archery. Many of them won the titles of Liu Sanwu, Bai Xintai, etc. examiner's favor.
"good!"
In the large teaching field, seeing a fair-skinned southern scholar skillfully get on his horse, move his bow left and right, and shoot three arrows in a row, even an old and serious man like Liu Sanwu couldn't help but cheer.
In comparison, many northern scholars were unfamiliar with equestrian skills, and few could consistently hit the target.
When Bai Xintuan, who was sitting next to Liu Sanwu, saw this situation, he couldn't help stroking his beard and said: "People say that northerners are good at bow and horse. Now it seems that the candidates from the south are good at both civil and military skills, while the candidates from the north are not as good at literature and martial arts."
"Haha..." Liu Sanwu didn't say anything, just chuckled.
Although after the two of them teased, the northern candidates from military families and craftsmen families began to go into battle, and continued to achieve results in bow and horse, suppressing the southern candidates, but the two were very stingy in praising them, and regarded the northern candidates as being good at bow and horse.
After three busy days, when the auxiliary subjects such as riding, archery, calligraphy and other disciplines were completed at 1 o'clock on the 20th, all the examination scholars were arranged to move into the guild hall, and Liu Sanwu and others also began to lead all the officials involved in the Ding Chou subjects to review the examination papers.
Since Liu Sanwu was the chief examiner, he naturally graded papers based on his own views and perceptions.
By February 27th, Liu Sanwu, with the help of Bai Xintao and other officials, had reviewed all the examination papers, and selected 51 scholars including Song Cong as tributes from 723 scholars from the north and south. scholar.
"Crackling!!"
"The results are released! The results are released!"
"Look in front of you, see if there is my young master!"
"Don't squeeze! I'll go out after watching it!"
"My young master has been hit! My young master has been hit!"
"I failed the exam, how could it be possible..."
On February 28, amid the sound of gongs and drums, the results of the general examination were finally released.
On this day, the winners were extremely excited and threw away their money, while the losers just sighed, collapsed to the ground, or stood sobbing.
It's just that at this moment, no one will pay attention to the people who failed, and everyone's eyes are on the people who made the list.
Amidst the cheers, those who were admitted were informed that the fifty-one successful candidates would all go to court to take part in the palace examination on the first day of March.
This time the imperial examination gave people the feeling that time passed very quickly. That was because the Ming Dynasty now had too many things to be busy with.
Shandong, Shanxi, Henan, and Beiping were adjusting grains, and a chieftain rebellion broke out again in the three provinces of Yunnan, Guizhou, and Guangxi in the southwest. Hanzhong Gao Fuxing led the rebels to ambush the Ming army back and forth between the Qinling Mountains and Daba Mountains, and was chased and intercepted by troops led by Geng Bingwen and Guo Ying.
The chieftain of Shuixi rebelled and killed Zhang Hai from Pu'an Guards, Wei An, Wang Jun from Guizhou Guards, and dozens of sergeants, and raised more than 10,000 troops to rebel.
Gu Cheng, the commander-in-chief of the right army, Qian Shi, was appointed as the general to conquer the south. He led 5,000 troops to fight against He Fu, the commander-in-chief of the left army, Qian Shi.
Wealthy households from the Eighteen Prefectures of Zhili were the first to be moved to Nanjing. They sold thousands of acres of farmland and several properties in their hometown, but could only buy two to three hundred acres of land around Nanjing.
Although in terms of value, their assets have not shrunk because the fields in Nanjing City are more expensive.
However, in terms of output and consumption, settling down in Nanjing almost emptied their wealth. Most of them were forced to live a frugal life in the high-priced Nanjing.
Such a gap in life also made their resentment towards Zhu Yuanzhang become more and more serious.
Faced with this complicated situation and being ill, Zhu Yuanzhang had to focus on the more important matters of countering rebellion in the border areas and relocating wealthy households, so he neglected the examination.
It wasn't until the first day of March that he found time to participate in the imperial examination with his ailing body.
"Congratulations!"
"Long live Long live Long live……"
On the first day of March in the 30th year of Hongwu, as the ministers of Honglu Temple sang a salute, the ministers pushed up the golden mountain and fell the jade pillar and knelt down, bowing five times and kowtowing three times.
With his still sallow face, Zhu Yuanzhang walked into Fengtian Hall and sat on the dragon chair that he had not sat back for a long time.
Since the palace examination was going to be held in the morning today, it was rare for Fengtian Palace to open its doors, and hundreds of officials of the fifth rank and above entered the palace one after another.
In the Fengtian Temple Square, fifty-one tributes waited for the emperor's call.
"Pingshen..."
Zhu Yuanzhang's voice is much better than last month, but his body is also much thinner than last month.
Looking at his appearance, many ministers' eyes flickered, and some looked worried.
People such as Yu Xin, Li Jinglong and others were even more worried about his health.
Standing in front of Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhu Yunwen could see every move of all the ministers on the golden stage.
There was no expression on his face until he heard the sound of "Examination starts" coming from behind him, then he said: "Examination starts!"
As Zhu Yunwen spoke, the ministers of the fifth rank and above in the palace retreated to both sides of Fengtian Palace, while the Jinwu Guards on duty moved in low tables and tables.
Fifty-one tributes were summoned and stepped onto the white marble steps to Fengtian Hall.
"Your Majesty, may you be blessed, long live long live, long live long live..."
After entering the hall, they sang loudly under the leadership of Liu Sanwu and Bai Xintao.
Although not as neat as other ministers, Zhu Yuanzhang didn't care and just nodded to Zhu Yunwen.
Zhu Yunwen nodded upon seeing this, turned around and sang: "Take a seat!"
Fifty-one tribute students took their seats with their heads lowered. Although it was uncomfortable for the shorter ones to sit, it was still better than standing for the examination.
After they sat down, under the watchful eyes of the ministers, Liu Sanwu and Bai Xintuan began to curl their hair.
The candidates washed their pens and studied ink, waiting for the person on the golden platform to give the question.
Seeing their preparations, Zhu Yuanzhang slowly said: "I heard that the ancient people who established principles were eager to help you and were determined to do the right thing. They received gifts from you and the people supported them. Therefore, with this intention, I firmly... "
Zhu Yuanzhang's policy-making issues have changed compared with history.
Perhaps the appearance of Zhu Gaoxu solved the problem of money shortage and treasure notes for Zhu Yuanzhang, so he was very satisfied with the people's livelihood in the government.
Therefore, he made a slight modification to the policy topic this time. It was not as simple as in history. He mainly asked the tributes about the relationship between the monarch and his ministers in the Ming Dynasty, and how to promote the relationship between the monarch and his ministers. At the same time, how to promote current affairs without causing the monarch and his ministers to be in trouble. Imbalanced relationships make officials afraid to do things.
After listening to this, the tributes also responded to it.
Since it is a palace examination, the test paper is a very important bonus point, so everyone must control their pen and ink to avoid soiling the test paper.
Some officials looked at the desk a few steps away. Although they couldn't see the content clearly, they could make out the handwriting on the test paper.
The writing on the test paper was well-proportioned, gentle and elegant, which was pleasing to the eye. Many ministers felt very comfortable and praised it in low voices.
On the golden platform, Zhu Yunwen also became interested. He walked down the golden platform and shuttled between the tribute tables and cases, looking at the papers that looked like stickers with satisfaction.
From Chen hour to Wei hour, more than three hours later, fifty-one tributes began to hand in their papers one after another, and under the guidance of Liu Sanwu, they temporarily left the examination room.
After everyone finished the examination and left, Zhu Yuanzhang also let the ministers read the examination papers. It was not until dusk that he returned to his Qianqing Palace with the examination papers.
"Grandpa, you don't have to review it yourself, just leave it to your grandson..."
In the Qianqing Palace, Zhu Yunwen couldn't bear to see Zhu Yuanzhang, who was ill but still reviewing the palace examination papers.
Just facing his words, Zhu Yuanzhang focused on the examination paper and said while marking it: "If you are lazy in selecting materials for your own family, who can you expect?"
After he said this, Zhu Yunwen no longer refuted, but just poured tea and water for him, and then reviewed with him.
During this period, Zhu Yuanzhang talked a lot with Zhu Yunwen and taught him how to select materials.
"The paper does not have to be clean, the content does not have to be rhetorical, and the selection of materials is not a talent show. What is important is pragmatism, not appearance."
"yes……"
Under the guidance of Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhu Yunwen stayed in the Qianqing Palace from the first to the third day of the junior high school, and even memorials were processed in the Qianqing Palace.
In three days, Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Yunwen completed the review of fifty-one palace examination answer sheets, and selected Chen, Yin Changlong, and Liu E as first-class Jinshi.
After the ruling, he asked Zhu Yunwen to convey his order and hand over the list of top three he named to Liu Sanwu.
Liu Sanwu handed the list to the Ministry of Personnel, and the official of the Ministry of Personnel simply looked at the list, filled in his place of birth, and handed the list to Du Ze, the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel.
Looking at this list, Du Ze, the Minister of Civil Affairs, who was over sixty years old, could tell something fishy at just one glance.
He looked at the directory in his hand and asked the person in charge: "Do you think there is no problem with this directory?"
"Huh?" Seeing Du Ze say this, the chief came forward to read it. Just by looking at it, his expression became stiff.
I saw that among the fifty-one names on the list, all of them were originally from the South.
"This, this, this..."
Seeing the birthplaces of these fifty-one people, the chief was so frightened that he could not speak. Du Ze also broke out in cold sweat on his forehead and asked in a low voice:
"When Your Majesty reviews, does he know the place of origin of the Jinshi?"
"I didn't know..." The host reacted. This was someone who did this deliberately: "You mean..."
"Alas!" Du Ze did not respond to the chief's words, but slowly took off his black gauze hat and wiped the sweat from his forehead with the coarse cloth on the table.
"If you think about it carefully, I am about sixty-four years old. It's time to retire and return to my hometown..."
"This... Mr. Qi Shan, do you want to report it to Your Majesty?" When he heard that Du Ze was actually forced to retire and return to his hometown due to this incident, the supervisor suddenly became anxious.
Du Ze is sixty to seven, but he is only thirty to two, how can he retreat?
"I will take full charge of this matter. Just put it down and leave."
Du Ze took on everything and waved his hand to signal the principal to leave.
"gentlemen……"
Seeing Du Ze's behavior, the leader knelt on the ground and kowtowed quickly.
Seeing him kowtow, Du Ze also sighed and said, "Tomorrow, I will transfer you to a local post. From now on, matters in Beijing will have nothing to do with you..."
"This matter is too big, even I can't bear it. I hope you don't resent me."
"How could a student..." The principal's nose felt sore at what Du Ze said. He wanted to say something, but Du Ze shook his head to stop him.
"Get out..." Du Ze spoke again, and upon hearing this, the boss also sniffed his sore nose, stood up, and left.
Watching him leave, Du Ze glanced at the roster and couldn't help but laugh at himself: "I, the minister, am too short-lived."
After that, Du Ze wrote a memorial to retire and return home.
His memorial was not to excuse and escape, but to remind the emperor sitting on the golden platform.
Unfortunately, after his memorial was sent to the Qianqing Palace, Zhu Yuanzhang suffered from a headache due to days of hard work. He lay on the bed and used decoction to drive away the headache.
When he saw the memorial, he didn't think about anything else. He just said to Zhu Yunwen: "It's a pity that Du Ze has wasted half his life and didn't want to stay in the post of minister for less than two years."
"Do you want to keep him?"
Zhu Yunqi, who was sitting on the bed and feeding Zhu Yuanzhang the decoction, also felt a little regretful, but Zhu Yuanzhang shook his head: "He is a loyal and upright person. Now that he has spoken, he is naturally ready to help him..."
Perhaps he felt the powerlessness caused by his body. Zhu Yuanzhang was particularly aware of the feeling of powerlessness after old age, so he didn't think much about it.
Just because he didn't think too much, the list was finally distributed in the form of an imperial list.
"Dang...dang...dang..."
On the fifth day of March, after the morning bell rang, people throughout Nanjing started a new day.
Among them, the failed students from all over the world rushed towards Chang'anmen, eager to be the first to witness the imperial examination.
However, when they arrived at Chang'anmen, the imperial list had not yet been posted, and everyone was waiting hard in the cold wind of the morning.
As time passed by, more and more people were around, and the imperial list also appeared under the spotlight.
"Give it! Give it!"
"Posted! Do you think the top three this time are from the South or the North?"
"They must be scholars from the south, but I don't know whether they are from Zhili or Jiangxi or Zhejiang."
"Then maybe, what if it's from the north this year?"
"Yes, Jiangnan has been ranked top three in Enke for five consecutive times. It's time for us northern scholars to take the top spot."
"Hahaha... The position of No. 1 is not something you can just say, it's about real talent and learning!"
"It's been posted, you see..."
Under the watchful eyes of countless scholars, the imperial list was slowly posted, and the birthplaces and names of those on the list were also announced to the world.
When the words "Thirty Years of Hongwu Ding Chou Academy Examination List" appeared, everyone held their breath and looked down quietly...
[Fujian Min County, Chen, first place, first place, awarded Jinshi and the rank]
[Jiangxi Ji'an, Yin Changlong, first and second place, awarded Jinshi and the third place]
[Zhejiang Shanyin, Liu Shi'e, first and third place, awarded Jinshi and the third place]
Everyone present had no objection to the first-class list. Although the northern scholars were a little regretful, no one thought much about the fact that the Jiangnan scholars had dominated the top three in the imperial examination for five consecutive times, so they continued to read on.
[In the 30th year of Hongwu, the Ding Chou Academy Examination List, the second place was awarded to the 13th Jinshi.]
[Zhili Wujin and Ruishan, second and first place, given Jinshi background]
[Zhejiang Qiantang, Wang Hong...]
[Nanchang, Jiangxi, Wu Xiu...]
[Zhili Suzhou, Shengjing...]
[Wenzhou, Huanghuai, Zhejiang...]
[Jiangxi Ji’an, Song Cong...]
【Jiangxi Ji'an...】
When the birthplaces and names of the top 13 Jinshi scholars appeared, some people gradually began to notice something was wrong.
"That's not right! Why are the second class A's from the south!"
“Not only those in the second-tier A, but also the third-tier A’s are all from the south!”
"Yes! They are all southerners! There are no northerners like us!"
As many northern scholars in the crowd spoke out, all the northern scholars began to get angry loudly.
Faced with their dissatisfaction, many southern scholars did not dare to respond as before. In the current situation, even the most stupid person could find something wrong.
You must know that it is the 30th year of Hongwu, and the imperial examinations of the Ming Dynasty have been held five times, including this year, which is the sixth time.
Prior to this, although the number of northern scholars on the list was indeed significantly smaller than that of the south, at least they were all on the list and could occupy about 30% of the places.
But this year, the people on the list are all from the south, and most of them are from the south of the Yangtze River. There is no one from the north.
In such a situation, how could the southern scholars dare to speak, while the northern scholars began to question the authenticity of the imperial examination after the news on the list fermented for a while.
"fraud!"
"Yes! This is definitely fraud!"
"Anyone who is brave enough will come with me to the Ministry of Civil Affairs, and we will complain!"
"Yes! Go to the official department to complain!"
"Walk……"
Hundreds of northern scholars were dazzled by the imperial list, and rushed to the official headquarters in groups, shouting loudly along the way, telling them about the unfairness of the imperial examination.
Their behavior soon attracted the officers and soldiers of the Wucheng Bingma Division. However, facing this group of soldiers who were either students or officials, the Wucheng Bingma Division did not dare to take action and could only be pushed back by them.
Gradually, news of Ding Chou's imperial examination fraud began to spread in Nanjing, and Du Ze, who was sitting in the official office, also took off his black gauze hat and quietly waited for his end.
While he was waiting, the door was pushed open...
(End of chapter)
