Liu Yu attached great importance to the imperial examination and began preparations for it last year.
At first, Yin Youqi, the minister of the ancestral hall, was nominally in charge. Yin Youqi knew that Liu Yu was just making himself a puppet, leaving matters to his subordinates, and had no involvement in the preparations for the imperial examination. Liu Muzhi therefore appointed Yuan Zhan as the presiding officer and the new appointee. Yan Song, the minister of the temple, is specifically responsible.
In April, Liu Yu returned to Beijing and learned that Yin Youqi had been appointed by King Langya as the deputy envoy to see the bride away, and that Kong Jing was assigned to handle the imperial examination. This made Yuan Zhan feel very frustrated and simply turned his back on him. This made the successor Kong Jing was a little in a hurry, but thanks to the help of Yan Song and others, he managed to take over the imperial examination.
The temple department has been accepting test registrations since February, and Liu Muzhi asked Yuan Zhan, Ying Hong, Dai Dun and others to prepare test questions. Yuan Zhan and others come from aristocratic families, so it is inevitable that relatives and friends will come to ask questions, and their words will reveal something intentionally or unintentionally.
Many students from Guozixue and Taixue signed up to take the exam. As the two majors, Ying Hong and Dai Dun could not help but give advice to their favorite students. Some people, while traveling with each other or drunk with wine, reveal information without careful control, and those who hear it feel like they have discovered a treasure and ponder it over and over again.
As time went by, some smart people collected the test questions into books and sold them. Ten questions were included for a hundred dollars. The price was not high and there were many buyers. Some people bought the whole set together, or exchanged them with each other.
Luo Guang collected more than 30 test questions, and nearly half of them had the same questions. Ding Quan discussed with Luo Guang, copied the questions on large paper, and secretly sent people to Baixia, Shitou, Tangyi and other places to post them.
There were too many people taking the exams, and Guozixue and Taixue could only accommodate limited candidates. Even if Liu Yu ordered Honglu Temple to free up some guest houses to accommodate the candidates, it was still not enough.
Most candidates have to find their own accommodation. It is not easy to live in Beijing, and guesthouses in Beijing are expensive. Therefore, the temple in Jiankang City and the surrounding small towns have become the first choice for poor candidates.
Most of the test takers who live in the surrounding small towns are too short of money to buy the test questions even if they cost a hundred dollars each. When they learned that someone had posted the test questions, they were immediately crowded with viewers and rushed to copy them.
By the time the Military Intelligence Department sent someone to check, the posted test questions had already been copied, and there was no way of knowing how many people had copied the questions. The person who posted the questions had long since disappeared and was nowhere to be found.
When Wang Shaozhi saw the confiscated test questions, he knew that his colleagues in Yongzhou had deliberately sabotaged them, so he hurriedly brought the test questions to see Liu Yu. .Ь.
Liu Yu hurriedly called Kong Jing and showed Kong Jing the test questions. Kong Jing was shocked after reading them. Seventy percent of the test questions actually appeared in them.
More than 15,000 people took the exam at the same time, and the test questions were printed two months ago. The technical content of engraving books was not high, but soon someone found the trick, and engraving printing became popular all over the country.
The promotion of woodblock printing caused book prices to drop, and more and more people could afford books and have the opportunity to read and write. Kong Yi, Guo Gao and others lamented more than once that the cloud festival paper and engraving techniques brought to the world by Yong Gong were good news to scholars all over the world.
When he learned that the test questions were leaked, Liu Yu was furious. He had spent so much effort and material resources to promote the imperial examination, but the test questions were leaked before they were even opened. If it was spread, the world would laugh at him. Yang Anxuan's hateful smiling face seemed to appear in front of his eyes.
"Find out who leaked the test questions and punish them severely." Liu Yu suppressed his anger and shouted: "Ji Gong, is there any way to save it?"
There will be an exam the day after tomorrow, and it will take more than a month to engrave and print the test papers. How can I change them? If the exam date is changed, the imperial court will lose face, and those candidates who come to take the exam may not be able to stay in the capital for an extra month or two.
Kong Jing tugged at his beard and frowned, and after a while he said: "It is difficult to change the Ming Jing test questions, but policy essays and essays can be changed. When the time comes, the main candidates will be policy essays and essays."
Liu Yu's eyes were filled with murderous intent. The test questions revealed that most of them were Yuan Zhan, Ying Hong, and Dai Dun. Yuan Zhan could forget it. Ying Hong, Zai Dun, etc. would definitely be demoted out of the capital after the imperial examination.
On June 20, the much-anticipated imperial examination was held in Hualin Garden. Under the guidance of the attendants, the candidates entered the examination room in an orderly manner. It took two hours to enter the examination room.
Countless people showed ecstatic expressions on their faces as the Ming Jing Examination papers were handed out. Most of the test questions they had bought, copied, and heard were on them. After one trial, nearly ten thousand people were confident that they would win this time.
Some people have seen it and think it is impossible to leak the test questions
Secret, these test questions were used by someone to defraud money. Now I regret it and I am full of resentment. Next, there were two exams: Policy Theory and Essays. Those who had the exam questions were asked to come to their door and paid a lot of money to get them.
After passing the Ming Jing Examination, those who had the test questions in their hands were naturally unwilling to give up this opportunity to enter the official career to others. Overnight, the situation was turbulent, some were excited, some were dejected, and some were complaining.
On the second day of the policy essay test, many people memorized several possible policy essay questions by heart and were ready to write brilliantly in the examination room. When the test questions were handed out, exclamations arose one after another. Some people even exclaimed, "Who changed the test questions?"
As deputy examiners, Ying Hong and Dai Dun already knew that Song Gong was angry about the leak of the exam questions. They both knew that they were to blame. They didn't know how Song Gong would deal with them afterwards.
Hualin Garden was strictly guarded by soldiers last night, and no one in the examination room was allowed to enter or leave. It was not until Daxia Gate began to let the candidates in at about 9 o'clock that the examiner Kong Jing invited them to Yanxian Hall and announced the two exams drawn up by Song Gong himself. Policy topic.
In addition to the two deputy examiners, there were nearly a hundred marking examiners in the hall, most of whom had changed their colors. These people had children, nephews, relatives and friends among the examinees. They had already told them the examination questions. Changing the examination questions before the examination showed that Song Gong was treating them. Got suspicious.
Unlike the Ming Dynasty Classics Examination, which was filled with joy, most people in the Policy Theory Examination had pale faces, but they still hoped that they would succeed in the Essay Examination.
The original test questions for the Essay Examination were one poem and one poem, but the test questions were changed to "On the Eastern Han Dynasty", which frustrated countless people. If they had known that the questions for both the Policy Essay and Essay Examinations had been changed, it would be better to concentrate on their studies, and maybe they would get better results. score.
After three trials, the winning list will be announced 20 days later. Many people were discouraged and thought they had no hope of winning, so they packed their bags and prepared to return home.
Some people were aggrieved and thought they were being tricked. At this time, rumors spread that the reason why the policy essays and essay examinations were changed was because court officials and aristocratic families joined forces to deliberately exclude candidates from poorer families and allow those from wealthy families to win.
When people are angry, it is easy to listen to rumors and lose their minds. Those candidates from poor families gather together in conjunction with each other. They know the story of the Yongzhou imperial examination candidates ***. If the list is announced and most of the children from well-known families are on the list, they will also go to Song Gong. House***. XiuShu.com
Wang Shaozhi was very busy during this period and arrested many people who spread rumors and caused trouble. After interrogation, he found out that they were not Yongzhou spies, so he had to let them go with a few threats. As a result, the situation became increasingly difficult to control. The anger of the poor candidates gradually accumulated, and many incidents had already occurred. An incident involving a fight between a boy from a poor family and a boy from a wealthy family.
After receiving the report, Liu Yu personally drove to Liu Mu's house to visit the patient and ask for advice. Liu Muzhi was leaning on the hospital bed, his face flushed, his body thin, and he kept coughing.
After listening to Liu Yu's talk about the possible uproar caused by the imperial examination, Liu Muzhi gasped and said: "There are too many people taking the exam this time. Due to illness, Yu failed to pay attention to this matter all the time. He made an omission and made the lord worried. It is Yu's fault."
Liu Yu sighed: "Taohe is sick, and it is difficult to manage affairs. Foolishness is like missing an arm. The reason why Foolishness asked Ji Gong to take over the imperial examination was not only that Ji Gong was a descendant of a saint, but also because Shishen (named Yuan Zhan) took care of his family. It is difficult to say that things are done fairly. Unexpectedly, Shi Shen became dissatisfied and secretly restricted Ji Gong, causing the imperial examination questions to be leaked and causing trouble."
Liu Muzhi smoothed his withered beard, closed his eyes slightly and thought for a moment, then said: "My lord, the original intention was to choose the poor tester, but it made the poor tester unhappy. The person who tied the bell is still needed to untie the bell, so we should choose the poor tester." Let’s start solving it on our own.”
Liu Yu tucked Liu Muzhi's light fur that was leaking from the wind and sat down to listen quietly.
Liu Muzhi first asked: "There are more than 15,000 people taking part in the imperial examination this time. How many people do you intend to take from them?"
Liu Yu responded: "Yu originally intended to take about a thousand people, but now it seems that it will increase to about 1,500."
Liu Muzhi, who is also the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, knew that adding more than a thousand officials at once would be a big burden for the court. At present, the national treasury is empty. How to accommodate so many officials, and even official salaries are difficult to raise.
In April, after Liu Yu returned to Jiankang, he dismissed or executed many officials from the royal family or noble families for reasons such as "delay of military flights, fornication and rebellion, arrogance, greed, and indifference to political affairs." This frightened many of his disciples to take the initiative. Being an official made a lot of room for the imperial examination.
Even so, there are still too many monks and too little food, so we can only take one step at a time.
Stepped.
"The candidates from poor families want to cause trouble because they are worried about unfair admissions. In the final analysis, they are worried that their career path to officialdom will be squeezed by the rich and powerful," Liu Muzhi analyzed.
Liu Yu said bitterly: "I'm just asking Ji Gong. Judging from the results of the imperial examinations, in general, the knowledge of the students from a wealthy family is better than that of these poor candidates. Even if they are admitted according to the actual situation, I am afraid that the majority of the students will be from the wealthy families."
Liu Muzhi said: "Yang Anxuan divided the Jinshi subject and the Juren subject during the imperial examination in Xiangyang. He placed the Jinshi subject above the Juren subject. In fact, he took into account the struggle between scholars and common people. The number of people admitted to the Jinshi subject was far less than that of the Juren subject. I have nothing to say. My lord abolished the distinction between Jinshi and Juren, and mixed the scholars and common people together, thus avoiding conflicts."
Liu Yudao: "You are considering controlling the number of candidates from the noble family and allowing those who failed to elect representatives to review the test papers to try to calm down the storm."
Liu Muzhi said: "This is not enough. My lord also needs to comfort those who have failed. You might as well wait until next year to start the subject. My lord wants to develop education. He might as well follow the example of Yang An and establish schools in Xuanming counties and let these people go to teach Meng Tong and practice Compile classics and claim to select Confucian officials among these people. With hope, there will be fewer troublemakers."
"Also, most of the admission quotas may be allocated according to states and counties. Wei, Qin and other countries may also wish to provide some quotas. In this way, the rain and dew will be evenly distributed, and the conflicts will turn into internal competition among the candidates within the states and counties, and the pressure on the court can be reduced. ." Liu Muzhi's eyes flashed sharply.
Liu Yu nodded and said with a smile, "Taohe had a good discussion. When Yu returned home, he talked to Ji Gong and ordered people to make the admission regulations widely known."
Liu Muzhi gasped a few times, and then said: "Since the test questions have been leaked, cheating is inevitable. My lord may as well take the opportunity to punish some officials, arrest a few test takers who refuse to give up, and claim to pursue those who got the test questions and cheated." There are not many people who believe in Xiao Zhi’s rationality and power, but still dare to cause trouble.”
Liu Yuxi said: "Taohe's strategy can relieve my worries. You can rest in peace, I know what to do."
The list has not yet been announced, and the admission method has been made public first. It is known that the imperial examination will recruit 1,200 people, and most of the places will be allocated according to the region and the number of people taking the examination in the state and county. As Liu Muzhi expected, the examinees started fighting among themselves, and the first ones to bear the brunt were the examinees from Yonggong. According to this regulation, the quota allocated to them was far less than that of the scholars from Xu, Yang, Jiang, and Yu.
On July 14, the list was posted on the wall of Xuanyangmen. Gu Lian, a candidate from Yangzhou, Yin Lang, a candidate from Yuzhou, and Liu Lang, a candidate from Wei, were among the top three. These three people are all famous people in the capital, and their talents and knowledge are known to everyone. The people hired on the list are all talented people, and everyone thinks it is fair after seeing them.
Immediately afterwards, Tingwei punished a group of officials for leaking examination questions and engaging in malpractice for personal gain. The Military Intelligence Department arrested more than a dozen scholars who were preparing to cause trouble in the name of Yongzhou secret spies. Yinghong, the Imperial Academy's Jiujiu Yinghong, was transferred to Luling Prefecture. Taixue offered wine to Dai Dun to retire and become an official.
Danyang Mansion began to rectify the order in the capital. Unsuccessful candidates left the capital one after another, and the turmoil seemed to have disappeared without a trace.
