The rice paper is snow-white, finely mounted on seven layers, and slowly unfolds. The fragrance of ink mixed with a touch of sandalwood is refreshing, and the exquisite and neat fonts like printing catch Zhu Pingan's eyes:
I obey the destiny of Heaven and succeed the emperor, unify the eight wastelands and control the ten thousand poles, shepherd billions of people, and protect the world. I will ensure that they have a living land and have the industry of raising them, and then I will fulfill the responsibilities of the herdsmen in the rear, and serve as a herdsman. No shame.
To ensure that the people are safe, they must have land for farming, land for sericulture, food, and clothing, so that they will not suffer from cold and exhaustion. In addition, if the land is safe and free from dangers, with no thieves, thieves, or bandits, and no harm from weapons or weapons, then we can avoid the pain of displacement.
If there are no people to farm, how can we eat? How can we clothe ourselves without sericulture? How can one live in a state of insecurity? These three are also those who are worried about what I think about. However, today, there are few people in the cultivated land but many people to eat; few people to feed sericulture but many people to wear them; few people to live in the country, but many people in chaos! Floods occurred one after another, severe droughts were not uncommon, banditry continued within the territory, barbarians in the north harassed the border areas, and Japanese pirate intrusions in the southeast area became more and more complex, starting from Shandong in the north, to Fujian in the south and back to Jiaozhi, with constant plundering and Japanese invasion. Increasingly prosperous.
I lament the hardships of the people's livelihood and lament the worries of the country. I am definitely not the master of the world. I am not able to tower over heaven and create opportunities, and I am not able to secure and govern the country below, and I cannot work hard and sleep well at night. To this day, the only thing that can be done is to adapt to changes, find good strategies, and govern the country in a stable manner. The people have fields and clothes, and the world is at peace. How can there be no principle of following the Tao and returning to transformation?
I am not an ignorant person, but I have all the tribute scholars who are knowledgeable about principles, knowledgeable about current affairs, and have read a lot of books. I hope that I will be able to support you. I will be your marquis for a long time now. You can state what you see and know directly, and report it in a scroll. I will read it personally, and do not be afraid or hide it.
The full text has a total of more than 400 words, and this is the entire content of the questions in this palace examination.
Zhu Ping'an rubbed his forehead slightly. Yesterday's banquet at the Zhuangyuan Tower and staying up all night had consumed too much energy. He was slightly energetic when he first entered Xiyuan, but his energy seemed to have been exhausted when he met Emperor Jiajing. At this moment, his forehead was bulging. Jumping, feeling tired and dizzy in my head.
Zhu Pingan rubbed his forehead, closed his eyes for a moment, and read the test questions again.
This test question was written by Emperor Jiajing. Translated it is like this:
I, Jiajing, have inherited the throne of the Ming Dynasty according to the destiny of heaven, and become the master of hundreds of millions of people in these eight wastelands. To protect the whole world, I must let the people of the whole world have land to cultivate. I have a job to support my family, so that I can fulfill my responsibility to comply with destiny and protect the people, and I can feel clear in my heart.
If you want to stabilize the people, you must give them land for farming and mulberry land for raising silkworms. They must have food to eat and clothing to live with, so that they will not suffer from hunger and cold. In addition, the whole world must be pacified, and the world must be at peace. No thieves can invade the people, and they must not be exposed to the danger of war. Only in this way can they live in peace without worrying about being displaced.
If people don't have land, how can they grow food? What shall we eat? Without mulberry fields to raise silkworms, what would we wear? Without stability in the world, how can we live a stable life? These three points are of great concern to me, Jiajing. But now, there are fewer and fewer fields, but more and more people are eating, fewer and fewer people are raising silkworms and weaving, and more and more people are wearing clothes. The country and the country are not stable. There are floods, there are droughts, and there are rebellions in the kingdom. Thieves are also emerging in endlessly. The barbarians in the north are also restless and often harass the Ming Dynasty. The Japanese pirates along the southeast coast are also restless. They never stop from Shandong to Jiaozhi. getting more serious.
My heart is bitter. I know that I, Jiajing, am not the master of the world. I cannot participate in the secrets of heaven and govern the country. I often stay awake in the middle of the night worrying about the country. I think now we have to work through contingency measures, and I have to find a good way to govern the country. If the people have food, clothing and shelter. The entire Ming Dynasty was peaceful, so how could there be any bandit rebellion?
I am not an ignorant person. You tributes are all well-versed in principles and current affairs. Aren't you just trying to help me, Jiajing, by reading so many books? I have been waiting for you for a long time. So, you all directly tell me what you know and think about, and write it down on the paper. I will read it myself. Don’t be afraid at all, let alone hide it.
The Lord of ZTE took the initiative to accept advice. It seemed that Emperor Jiajing was working hard to govern. This was Zhu Pingan's first reaction after reading the test questions.
There were more than 400 words in the palace test, and I finished reading it quickly. Soon there was a burst of noise in the hall, mostly excitement, excitement, and only a little consideration and surprise...
The purpose of this current affairs policy is to propose good policies for governing the country to Emperor Jiajing! You can put forward your own opinions and strategies to govern the country and the people, eliminate Japanese pirates and barbarians, control floods, droughts, and natural disasters, etc.
The scholar is angry and scolds Fang Qiu. Isn't this what all scholars are good at!
Isn't this what all scholars dream of, being able to study in literature and martial arts and become a member of an imperial family?
How not to be excited! During the Enke Palace Examination, the Holy Emperor took the initiative to accept advice and worked hard to govern. This is what a famous emperor would do through the ages. Long live my emperor! I have a lot of money and plans in my heart!
Most of the tributes in the hall were excited, almost furious with Emperor Jiajing, and they all tried hard to come up with a good plan for governing the country.
"Quiet, no noise!"
An official from the Ministry of Rites gave a timely reprimand. After being reprimanded, all the tributes sat upright and looked excited but did not dare to make any more noise. The hall became quiet again.
Soon, officials from the Ministry of Etiquette also handed out answer sheets. The answer sheets for the palace examination were also made of snow-white rice paper. The written test questions were much larger. This was octavo rice paper, a long and large sheet that could be folded into Eight pages. There are horizontal lines drawn with ink on each rice paper. No, they are vertical lines. There are 12 vertical lines in total.
This is the answer sheet for the Imperial Examination. All the candidates touched the answer sheet excitedly and nervously, unable to control themselves for a long time. This roll of paper carries their official career and must be presented to the emperor!
Suppressing their excitement, the tribute scholars began to pick up their pens, study ink, and write. Instead of answering questions, they first wrote their names, age, appearance, place of origin and other personal resume information on the answer sheet in accordance with the requirements of the palace examination.
After writing their resumes, the tributes put down their pens and concentrated on sketching out their strategies for governing the country.
After Zhu Pingan finished writing his resume, he couldn't help but rub his forehead again. He was so sleepy that his eyelids were fighting. If it were the palace examination venue, Zhu Pingan would have wanted to lie down for a while before answering, but this was the palace examination, so he lay down to rest. Being too disrespectful to the Holy One would be disrespectful if others pointed it out, so Zhu Pingan could only hold on to his spirit.
How to answer, what good strategies, what suggestions to make, from which aspect, how to come out on top, being the number one scholar is not something you can just do. Extremely exhausted and confused, Zhu Pingan shook his head vigorously, but his brain was still a mess and he didn't know where to start.
Ouyang Zishi was sitting in the first place on the west side of the hall, full of energy and confidence. Looking at Zhu Ping'an who was sitting far away and without energy, his lips couldn't help but reveal a smile of victory. (To be continued.)
