Compared with the torment of several days in the provincial examination and the general examination, the palace examination starts at Chenshi, and you can usually hand in your papers and leave after noon. Once the Youshi passes, you will be forced to collect the papers regardless of whether you have finished answering them or not.
Answering policy questions is like writing an argumentative essay. You must be able to elaborate on the arguments and analyze them in conjunction with relevant governance policies from ancient times to the present.
You also need to be able to point out the shortcomings in the current governance policies and the areas you think can be improved, that is, your own opinions and opinions. At the same time, the answer is required to be more than 1,000 words.
But even so, candidates should not let themselves go too far and criticize the government at will. Therefore, most of the answers over the years still remain at the level of praising virtues and making tactful suggestions.
Occasionally, some stupid young people want to rely on advice to gain a position, but they don't know that they will be defeated before the official test, and they will not even have a chance to be heard by the emperor.
But among the candidates of this class, there is an anomaly - Jia Jue, the second master of the Rongguo Mansion.
Jia Cong has already filled up a piece of paper, but Mr. Bao is still scratching his head and not knowing what to do. Because he was in a weird predicament, and he didn't know who else he could troll this time.
Whether it was the three boy examinations or the provincial examination, he could talk about people's livelihood, official administration, etc. in a meaningful way. However, after reading the questions of this palace examination, Mr. Bao was confused.
Scholars, farmers, industry and commerce are the four people of the country.
Major policies such as encouraging students to teach agriculture, military campaigns, trade circulation, tax reform and other major policies are all practical policies. What is the use of just spraying them? Don't complain, Mr. Bao feels that his thoughts are not clear.
Baoyu secretly thought: The rural examination has criticized the illegal wealthy businessmen and corrupt officials, and the conference examination has criticized the Xilin Party, which is ruining the country with its empty talk. How about doing something big this time and directly targeting the person on the dragon throne?
Just do it if you want to. Mr. Bao's sincerity doesn't understand what it means to be tactful and avoid taboos, so he started writing as soon as he picked up the pen.
"I'm right: I heard that the emperor's governance has a body and use, and merit and virtue are called that. Virtue is achieved through learning, and it is the body of governance; merit is achieved through political writing, and it is used for governance. The two can be mutually exclusive but not mutually exclusive. It means that there is no appearance. Emperors have never had virtues without merit, nor have they had merit without virtue..."
When Baoyu fell into his own world, his whole person felt more transparent. He kept writing the pen in his hand and finished writing a piece of paper in a short time.
He integrated the word merit into his policy questions, and threw aside the idea that emperors from ancient times to the present were acting on behalf of heaven, herdsmen, and heaven and humans. He believed that the way of heaven is the way of humanity, and the prosperity of humanity is the merit of the emperor. Otherwise, the emperor loses his virtue, and the world will be in chaos over time. The country collapsed.
He believed that whether it was soldiers who feared war, cities and territories were lost, or corrupt officials were rampant and people's livelihood was difficult, in the final analysis it was the emperor's responsibility.
A saintly king has virtuous ministers, while a foolish king has many treacherous ministers. If the king is wise and has a righteous people in his dynasty, all the problems he encounters will be easily solved...
The palace examination begins at Chen hour, and the aloof emperor usually stays for more than an hour before leaving. Of course, there are exceptions.
For example, today, Emperor Liu Heng has been staying in the Fengtian Palace. When he saw that someone had already written a lot, he got interested and walked down to Danbi, intending to take a look first to see if there were any talented people among the tributes this year.
He did not go to Jia Cong who was busy writing. Instead, he walked all the way to the eleventh desk.
Normally, the emperor stood motionless beside him, and ordinary candidates would be so frightened that their hands would be shaking. But as long as Baoyu is immersed in an incident, he will not notice the abnormality next to him at all.
The palms of several candidates nearby were sweating, but he was still vigorously "spraying" on the paper about the foolish emperors of the past and present, admonishing the emperor to be a good person... No, to be a wise monarch, to be close to virtuous ministers and far away from villains, I'm sorry The suffering of the people, lamenting how difficult the people's livelihood is.
At first, Liu Heng thought that Concubine Xian's younger brother had good literary talent. Ce Wen's writing quoted from classics and references.
But gradually, the smile on his face disappeared.
What's the meaning? Are corrupt officials oppressing the people because I don’t understand them? The border wars continue because I am not brave enough? How difficult is the people's livelihood, why can't I reconcile yin and yang?
On the first answer sheet, Baoyu was complaining throughout the article, and on the second answer sheet, he was all about teaching the emperor how to behave. These two pictures almost made Liu Heng angry and slapped this cheap brother-in-law to death.
Fortunately, he was patient and saw Baoyu's third answer sheet.
Farming is the foundation, and the land is equalized to reassure the people. Reduce taxes and corvee for farmers and reduce the loss of people's manpower.
Well, this is somewhat interesting, although a bit immature...
Merchants are seeking profits, and they can be driven and lured. They can exchange the profits for the land in their hands, return it to the state, and put it in the hands of farmers, so as to balance the land and stabilize the people.
This is not bad, you can refine it and give it a try. The scale of sea trade continues to expand. Those businessmen have long been unable to sit still after seeing the huge profits from sea trade. They can try to exchange interests.
Baoyu's third answer sheet talked about the conflicts and problems between farmers and businessmen. Although many parts seemed childish and ridiculous to the emperor, there were also many insights.
In particular, the views on state ownership of land and the equalization of land and peace for the people made the emperor deep in thought. As long as the people have arable land to make a living, and as long as they have a mouthful of food to eat, there will be no chaos.
The views on business are a bit immature. As for those wealthy merchants in the imperial dynasty, they have to think carefully about how they can easily spit out the meat they eat.
Forget it, Concubine Xian's younger brother is doted on, and having such knowledge is already higher than most of the candidates. At least I have something meaningful to say, unlike the guy next to me who still sings praises on paper.
I am looking for ways to govern the country based on the problems encountered by the imperial court, and I am not asking you to shout long live!
Liu Heng saw that Baoyu didn't have many new views on military matters, so he nodded with a smile and turned his back to other places.
Hai Gangfeng, who was sweating for Baoyu, secretly breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the emperor nodding and smiling.
Fortunately, okay, it seems that Jia Jue also knows how to judge the situation, and he should be ruthless in criticizing people today.
After walking around in a circle, the emperor finally stopped at Jia Cong's desk. Unlike the other candidates' answer sheets, Jia Cong couldn't hold back as he wrote.
Imperial examination? what is that? Is it important?
It's not important, it's not important at all. He has regarded the palace examination answer sheet as advice to the central committee and the emperor.
Jia Cong divided the answer sheets for the palace examination into several aspects, ranging from agriculture, business, and military to all aspects of reform and new policies.
The six major aspects of agriculture, commerce, industry, military, justice, and education are all detailed. Under each major aspect, the current system and the areas that need to be optimized and reformed in the next five or ten years are listed.
This includes continuing to promote the joint production responsibility system for official land and imperial village households, combating land mergers, and at the same time cultivating high-yielding seedlings to expand agricultural output. Reduce agricultural taxes until they are abolished to reduce the burden on farmers.
There were also many suggestions on industry and commerce, which the emperor felt more and more familiar with. Isn't this what Xiao Jia Cong has said to himself sporadically in recent years?
What about expanding commercial circulation, strengthening the country through industry, going out to earn money from the barbarians, replacing agricultural taxes with commercial taxes, etc.
In addition, in the military, generals must come from the Royal Military Academy to enhance the officers' sense of honor as soldiers. These are things that Jia Cong has constantly mentioned in his ears in the past two years.
As for the last part of compulsory education, Girl Lin gave him a thick pile of memorials not long ago, and this boy actually "egged out" and wrote these in.
Hey, stopped writing? Not finished yet!
The emperor was still proud of himself. Just as he was about to urge him to update, he saw Jia Cong put down his pen, rubbed his wrist, and took out a piece of sesame cake from the examination basket on the side...
Gu Gu Gu~
Jia Cong, who had just woken up from his head full of strategies for governing the country, was about to eat a pancake when he suddenly heard a cooing sound from the side. When he turned around, he saw that the emperor was holding his answer sheet and staring at him dissatisfiedly.
He subconsciously handed over the pancake in his hand, opened his mouth, and then remembered that this was a palace examination, so he gestured silently: Do you want to eat it or not?
Gu Gu Gu~
I'm so hungry, forget it, let's go have a meal first!
The emperor glared at Jia Cong, put the answer sheet on the table aside, and turned around to go to the side hall.
In fact, since noon, the monarchs and ministers in the palace and all the candidates have been feeling hungry.
Some who answered quickly, after checking that there were no errors or omissions, respectfully collected the answer sheet and handed it in, and then left Fengtian Hall quietly.
This is a palace examination. Although they are allowed to bring food to satisfy their hunger, there are very few people who really dare to eat in Fengtian Palace.
Jia Cong gnawed on the sesame cake, and the crackling sound sounded like the voice of the devil to other candidates' ears.
Not the son of man, not the son of man!
I'm hungry too, but I don't have the guts to actually bring food in!
Forget it, finish your answers and leave the palace quickly. If you stay any longer, I'm afraid I won't be able to help but beat the person eating the pancake to death!
Baoyu wrote directly from his heart and filled several large sheets of paper. He just stopped writing when he heard a clicking sound. He raised his eyes and saw that it was indeed Brother Cong. He glanced at his examination basket and had no intention of eating the dry pancake in the palace.
He dried the ink, handed the answer sheet to the invigilator and left. The family members are outside the palace, and they must be waiting for them with warm delicacies. Brother Cong will probably finish writing and leave the palace after a while.
Baoyu thought so, but he didn't expect that Jia Cong would be the last candidate to leave the palace. He waited until sunset before he saw Brother Cong slowly walking out with the examination basket.
"Brother Cong, why did you just finish writing?"
Jia Cong threw the examination basket onto the carriage and picked up the kettle.
After he was full and quenched his thirst, he replied: "It's all my damn hands. I couldn't stop for a moment and wrote a plan. I even changed three candles before I finished writing. The senior men who invigilated the exam almost drove me away. come out……"
…
The palace examination will not exclude candidates. Except for the three tribute scholars who did not participate in the palace examination for some reason, the 347 tribute scholars will at best have the status of being a fellow Jinshi.
After the two brothers returned home, when their elders asked about their palace examination, Jia Cong said angrily: "The invigilator did not follow the rules and even thought that my writing was too long. The unitary hour has not passed yet, so he insisted on me." carry out an assignment."
Lin Ruhai couldn't help laughing and scolding: "Although the palace examination only stipulates a minimum number of words, your ten thousand words policy is too shocking. If you continue to write, the boss who invigilated the examination will starve to death in the Fengtian Palace."
He shook his head and asked Baoyu how he answered.
Baoyu thought of the words he had said in the palace examination answer sheet and secretly glanced at his father. He didn't dare to tell the truth. He said something as loud as a mosquito, and then bowed his head and remained silent.
Everyone just thought that the questions in the imperial examination were too difficult and Baoyu didn't answer well, so they all offered words of comfort, even the always stern Master Zheng didn't scold him.
After all, after entering the Fengtian Hall, at least he was born with the same Jinshi background, and he was already considered to have a glorious ancestor.
The two finally overcame the difficulties of the imperial examination and had a good rest at home for two days.
On March 17, officials from the Ministry of Etiquette sent Jinshi uniforms to each Jinshi in advance, which will be used for tomorrow's ceremony.
These clothes are customized in advance and need to be returned to the Ritual Department. Therefore, if there are clothes that do not fit, the scholar needs to change them with others or the Ritual Department, and he cannot cut them himself.
On March 18th, all civil and military officials of the DPRK and China, unless there are special circumstances, must attend this triennial passing ceremony.
At this time, after all the civil and military officials were ready to enter the palace, the Jinshi who were waiting outside the Daxia Gate began to enter the palace. Their order was the same as during the palace examination, and the location of the Chuanlu Ceremony was still Fengtian Hall.
In front of the Fengtian Palace Square, hundreds of civil and military officials stood on both sides of Danqi according to their civil and military positions, and Jinshi also stood in two rows behind them.
Everyone stood still, ritual music sounded, and Wen Tongxuan, a cabinet minister and a bachelor of Wuyingdian University, held the yellow list and placed it on the yellow list case. After the emperor arrived, he ascended the throne, everyone bowed five times and kowtowed three times, and then a group of officials entered the palace to start the next step of the ceremony.
In the Fengtian Hall, Shen Ke, the Minister of Honglu Temple, began to read out the imperial edict: "On March 15, the eighth year of Yuanyou, we planned to test the tributes from all over the world. The first A was awarded the title of Jinshi, the second was awarded the Jinshi origin, and the third was awarded the title of Jinshi. Born with Jinshi."
The officials of Honglu Temple outside the hall began to repeat Shen Ke's words, and nine Han generals on Danqi followed suit.
"On March 15th, the eighth year of Yuanyou, we held a test for the tributes from all over the world. The first one was awarded a Jinshi title, the second one was awarded a Jinshi background, and the third one was awarded a Jinshi background."
The three hundred and forty-seven tributes were almost all worried. Only Jia Cong was an outlier, looking at the expressions of his contemporaries with great interest.
Hey, Mu Congying, a guy with thick eyebrows and big eyes, actually has trembling hands.
Ha, He Chong's calves were trembling. He must remember his performance in the Chuanlu Ceremony for this kid someday.
Huh? What is Baoyu thinking about? Looking very nervous.
The people in front and behind Baoyu all showed incredible expressions at this moment. They forgot about their worries and looked at Baoyu with dumbfounded eyes.
Baoyu clenched his fists tightly, his face was pale, and his eyes were lifeless as he muttered: "Don't ever exile me to Lingnan. I won't go to Lingnan, Lingnan, Lingnan, Nan..."
The twelfth ranked person in the examination was named Li Yutang. He had frequent contacts with Baoyu in poetry gatherings before and after the examination. He asked in a shocked voice: "Brother Bao, there has never been a precedent of deposing a candidate in the imperial examination, let alone being exiled to Lingnan. Why do you have such worries?"
Seeing that Baoyu was still in a dazed state, the kind-hearted Li Yutang quietly pulled Baoyu's sleeve: "Brother Bao, brother Bao, don't be too nervous, you won't be exiled to Lingnan, and the candidates will not be deposed in the palace examination!"
Only then did Baoyu come back to his senses. With a bitter look on his face, he lamented: "But...but I scolded His Majesty when I was taking the test in the palace..."
hiss!
Everyone nearby took a deep breath and silently took a step away. It was not uncommon to criticize the emperor in Daxia, but that was in the court.
This is the first time I have seen someone who dared to criticize the emperor during the palace examination. He is simply the first person in history!
Shocked, shocked, the Chuanlu Ceremony is still proceeding steadily.
Just listen to Shen Ke's roll call: "In the eighth year of Yuanyou's reign, the first place in the Renchen Academy Examination is Jia Cong!"
The three cauldrons in the palace examination were called three times, and all the birds on the glazed tiles sang along. The Han general shouted again in unison: "The first place in the first cauldron in the Renchen palace examination in the eighth year of Yuanyou, Jia Cong!"
"In the eighth year of Yuanyou's reign, Jia Cong won first place in the Renchen Academy Examination!"
"In the eighth year of Yuanyou's reign, Jia Cong won first place in the Renchen Academy Examination!"
"Your Majesty has a decree to announce the first place. Jia Cong comes to see you!"
The corners of Jia Cong's mouth rose, and the other tributes were not surprised at all.
It’s already five yuan, so there’s no suspense at six yuan.
Jia Cong turned around and held hands with the tributes, then climbed up the stairs under the guidance of the conductor and entered the familiar Fengtian Hall.
The roll call continued, and Shen Ke continued to read: "The second place in the first class of the Renchen Academy in the eighth year of Yuanyou, congratulations!"
Sure enough, He Chong was truly the first of the Seven Elites of the Imperial Academy, and he was a famous young talent in Fujian. After taking second place in the provincial examination and the joint examination, Jia Cong once again won the first place and second place in the palace examination.
The second child in ten thousand years, but he was satisfied. When meeting a monster like Jia Cong, second is first!
As He Chong entered the hall, the roll call continued.
Shen Ke's roll call in the palace could not reach the Fengtian Palace Square. As the singing officer repeated the song, the Han general's cheers finally reached everyone's ears.
"In the eighth year of Yuanyou's reign, Jia Jue came third in the Renchen Academy Examination!"
Monthly ticket recommendation ticket
I sat up in shock while dying of illness...
I was so sick that I felt a little energetic in the middle of the night, so I got up to code and update.
I’ll stop here tonight and continue tomorrow.
(End of chapter)
