As the crown prince and the eldest son, Yaoji watched filially all morning. The concubines had basically mastered the essentials of playing mahjong, and they were considered to be well-organized. Although they could not guess the tricks of the other three families yet, their playing skills were already on par with those of the other three families. The village girls are not much different.
A certain prince has reason to believe that with the gradual promotion of mahjong in the houdi, it will play a role in stabilizing the houdi to a great extent, and can bring the relationship between beauties closer, eliminate barriers, ease conflicts, and dilute...
Okay, I exaggerated a bit too much, for example, the beautiful biological mother and Tian Guifei, they should be incompatible!
Playing until lunch time, the four beauties played ten games.
The beautiful mother-in-law only won one hand, and Tian Guifei Shaoqiang only won two hands.
Zhang Yan went smoothly and actually won four hands, while the other three belonged to Concubine Yuan Guifei.
The emperor's sister-in-law was very lucky. She had two treasures. After excluding the compensation part, she made a net profit of twelve taels. She was so happy that she couldn't close her mouth.
In this regard, the beautiful biological mother is not too cold, because her archrival is not very good either. She was not lucky in the morning and urgently needs a transfer in the afternoon.
The same is true for Concubine Tian. The Yangzhou beauty expressed complete dissatisfaction with such a result, which did not reflect her superb card skills at all.
In addition to telling the chamberlains and maids around them to take care of the children during the break, the four girls all focused on playing cards, as if they were not leaving after school...
Beauty is innate and cannot be forced by the Holy Family, but when it comes to playing cards, the beauties are of course dissatisfied with each other. As long as you can play "horse hanging leaves", it is easy to understand mahjong.
Therefore, it is necessary to show off the male and female, especially in the rear mansion. When the emperor wakes up, he may also fall in love with playing mahjong, which is a necessary skill to attract favors.
The mahjong game turned into a palace fight, and Yaoji felt that it was better to stay away. With the emperor's sister-in-law here, the beautiful mother would not do anything to Concubine Tian even if she lost money because of Zhang Yan's face.
The worst case scenario is that we will fight again tomorrow. If my mother loses money for three days in a row, then it is not a matter of luck. I have to train my mother in a small way, lest the master of the queen's house is really a half-baked product when playing mahjong... …
Yao Ji did not have lunch with these beauties who were becoming addicted, because Sun Chuanting, Hong Chengchou, Li Shiwen, Zhang Guowei, Wu Di, Xue Guoguan, Zuo Maodi, Du Yinxi and others came to see them, not to mention Huang Degong, the royal foodie. .
Since lunch was the fragrant fish-flavored shredded pork rice bowl, which made the princes and princesses enjoy the meal, a certain prince seriously suspected that they had formed a group to come to the palace for dinner, otherwise they would not have been there before the meal. Waiting outside the palace.
Even if there is no court meeting for the time being, the generals commanding the troops will attack every morning to report to the prince the status of the battle yesterday evening and this morning.
After the relevant personnel counted the number of thieves killed, Li Shiwen, the Minister of Household Affairs, was responsible for reviewing the amount of the reward and reporting it to the prince.
Zhang Guowei wanted to discuss the construction of the city with the prince. Building a new capital city is not as simple as casual talk. There are too many related aspects, and the Ministry of Industry is almost a mess.
Since there are thousands of officials involved in major corruption cases, Du Yinxi, the Minister of Civil Affairs, has to discuss with Zhen Shu, the Minister of Criminal Affairs who is responsible for detaining suspects, and also communicate with Zhong Qi, the censor of Zuodu of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, to verify whether there are any The person who was falsely accused.
The other side had to go to the palace and apply to the prince to recruit officials as soon as possible, otherwise it would be a problem for the court to resume operations. It was a good thing that the prince cracked down on corruption, but if the various offices could not fill the vacancies in time, even the government orders would not be able to be conveyed smoothly.
What's more important is that the new governor of Shaanxi, Zuo Maodi, is eagerly waiting for the prince to allocate some officials to him so that he can take the post in Shaanxi. If there are not enough manpower, the so-called governance of Shaanxi is just an empty talk that makes people laugh.
"I will first solve the problem of Zuo Aiqing. The officials who go to Shaanxi to fill vacancies will all be selected from the palace examination. The young people are energetic and physically strong, and are suitable for serving in remote areas. This is training and practice, which will be beneficial to their future career. Career. This palace examination is presided over by Ni Yuanlu, the right minister of the Ministry of Rites, and Wu Zong, the second assistant, is the chief examiner. The examination questions are personally drawn up by the palace, including the eight-legged essay, and are not limited to the eight-legged essay. The top 100 people with the highest scores in the palace examination will be allocated to the left Aiqing, if you start to degenerate after taking office and enrich your own pockets, Aiqing Zuo can use Shang Fang's sword to kill you first and then report. I will give you arbitrary power without reporting it in advance. If there is still a big gap, you will be transferred from various ministries. Palace examination It will be held from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon the day after tomorrow, for one and a half hours, and the venue will be from the Meridian Gate to Chengtian Gate!"
The most anxious among these people is Zuo Maodi, because Shaanxi is thousands of miles away. Even if he knows that there are oil fields, coal mines, and gold mines there, he cannot develop them without enough manpower. It is difficult for him to develop them by himself. The prince explained.
Ni Yuanlu was not in the East Palace, so Wu Di, the second assistant as the examiner, said casually: "Your Highness, I think that if the first hundred candidates are to fill the vacancy of Shaanxi, announcing it before the exam will make the candidates deliberately slack off, and announcing it after the exam will appear A case of refusal to take office.”
Wu Di understood the prince's care for Shaanxi very well. Zuo Maodi was also hungry for talents, but with this arrangement, few people would be willing to go.
It is a well-known fact that Shaanxi is a poor place and cannot squeeze out much money. More than 50% of the local official positions are vacant, and new officials do not want to go to that ghost place at all.
Anyone who can take office is either really out of luck and can't find a place to give gifts, or he comes from a really poor background and has no money to give gifts. There are not many officials who are interested in helping poor people.
Such an arrangement is reasonable and mysterious. Yaoji said with a half-smile: "Wu Aiqing doesn't need to worry too much. He can link the area of employment and related benefits and announce them together. The salaries and benefits of Shaanxi officials are equal to those of Jifu. Since it is a border area, , if you add subsidies, the monthly salary will be slightly higher, and all will be paid in cash. I think some people will be tempted. For those candidates who refuse to take office, they will be punished according to the crime of deceiving the emperor, and they will be demoted to common people and will never be allowed to take the exam again. , if there is a person in his family who evades taxes, he will be compensated for fifty years!"
A certain prince takes special care of the officials in Shaanxi, and there is a hardship allowance in the salary. Anyone who is still unwilling to take up his post is a boss who is not short of money. If the family has money, he will inevitably evade taxes. As long as he seizes this excuse, he will It's not far from a house raid.
Using the property of candidates who refuse to take up their posts to pay salaries to those who are willing to take up their posts, the court can boost the work enthusiasm of Shaanxi officials and maintain order in the northwest without having to pay a single tael of silver. This method is so perfect. …
"Your Highness is wise, forgive me for being pedantic!"
With the prince's arrangement like this, Wu Di had nothing to say. It turned out that the prince was already thinking about the family property of those disobedient people, so they could only blame them for being blind and insisting on confronting the prince, which would only end with the destruction of their families.
But this is good, as it can just take advantage of the situation to deal with those domineering gentry children. The court is not run by their family. No matter how bad-tempered they are at home, they can only be very submissive when serving in the court, otherwise someone will teach you a lesson until you cry for mercy.
It’s just that Wu Yan is very curious about what exam questions the prince will ask. In previous years, the emperor participated in setting the questions. This year, the emperor travels to immortality and the prince supervises the country. The ten-year-old prince will set all the exam questions. This is... for the candidates...
"I wonder if this is what Wu Aiqing is thinking about?"
Yaoji asked Yang Jinchao to bring some pieces of paper to Wu Zong. The questions on them were the examination questions for the imperial examination.
"Your Highness is so insightful, I admire you so much!"
Wu Di took it and browsed it briefly, then immediately handed it over and saluted. The questions above were the questions in his heart.
The other courtiers were also very clever. Of course they could guess what was written on the paper, but they just didn't know what it was.
"Aiqing is the chief marking officer. You can review the test questions in advance, but only you can enjoy this treatment. Other Aiqings do not need to read it, so as to avoid having guests come to visit. On the other hand, if the test questions are leaked, then I can contact Wu Aiqing. ”
Anyway, the exam will start the day after tomorrow, and the worst case scenario is that Cifu will just close the door and thank guests. If he can’t hide, he can wait for Huang Degong to live with him in Ruimen, but the conditions are a bit worse. I don’t know if he can bear the snoring of a certain soldier... …
"I have decided to keep it a secret, and I dare not reveal anything even to my death!"
Of course, Wu Yan would not dare to reveal the contents of the test questions, unless he was really tired of living and hurriedly put the test questions into his sleeves to hide them, for fear of being seen by his colleagues.
"It's okay. My dear, you can go to the corner and read it alone. If you find anything inappropriate, you can write it down first. After I finish handling the political affairs, you and I will slowly discuss the revisions."
Yao Ji is not a one-word judge, especially when it comes to palace examination questions. Wu Zong must have more relevant experience than a certain prince, and multiple experts can be more calm.
The chamberlain arranged a set of tables and chairs in the corner for Mr. Cifu, and also prepared the Four Treasures of the Study to prevent Wu Zong from making any corrections on the examination questions prepared by the prince himself, which would be disrespectful.
After sitting down, as soon as he saw the first question, Tsusuke-sama realized that his brain seemed to be a little exhausted, and he hurriedly stretched out his fingers to calculate.
The full score of the imperial examination questions was one hundred points, and the first question was a ten-point question, but Wu Di was also caught off guard.
The question is - Excluding Menggu, the territory of the Ming Dynasty includes the two capitals and the three frontier divisions. How many divisions are under its jurisdiction?
In fact, it is asking how many provinces there are in the empire. The two capitals refer to Northern Zhili and Southern Zhili. The three frontier divisions are Usi Zangdu Division in Tibetan areas, Duo Gan Du Division in Qinghai and Nurgan Du Division in the northeast.
Nurgan Dusi can also be answered as Liaodong Dusi. Although the places represented by these two names have been occupied by Huangtaiji, they are still nominally owned by the empire.
This question is actually very simple, because the candidates have been directly told that there are three divisions in the border area. All they need to do is write down the specific names and add the many chief secretaries in the two capitals and the mainland.
If you still find something wrong after checking the numbers, don’t blame your parents for their bad genetics. For example, Mr. Jisuke is cracking his fingers right now...
There is a reminder under the question. One point will be deducted for wrong answers to the name of a company. Ten wrong answers will result in no points for this question.
If a certain prince still doesn’t believe that there is a duck egg eater in the first question, he should be kicked out of the examination room by the Han general!
The second question - How many times did Emperor Chengzu go to the north to pay tribute? In which years were they?
You may be excused for not being able to answer the previous question. Some people may be born blind.
But if you continue to eat eggs for this question, you will really be forgetting your ancestors. If you answer it wrong, you will be punished.
After seeing this, Wu Di hurriedly recalled history in his mind, and recalled the process of Emperor Yongle's expedition. Fortunately, he remembered it, and it was considered a false alarm.
If a candidate answers wrongly, it is just because he has not studied hard, but as a deputy minister of the cabinet, if he answers wrongly, it will be a loss of face.
Question 3 - There are chickens and rabbits in the cage. There are thirty-two foot offerings and ten head offerings. How many rabbits and chickens are there in the cage?
Seeing such a question, Wu Di was stunned for a while before he came to his senses, as if the prince was deliberately trying to embarrass the candidates.
How can this be calculated? Even if it is really calculated, it will take a lot of time, and it will be very urgent to answer other questions.
Wu Di simply stopped answering, and instead looked directly down the line of the question. When he saw the penultimate question, he became sluggish again.
The question is - what? What next? What? What? What fat? What is thin? What's thin? What's thick?
After seeing this, Cisuke wanted to stand up and walk around the yard.
What kind of problem is this?
How can such a broken question be worth twenty points?
Is the prince deliberately teasing many candidates?
This kind of question without a predetermined answer is the most annoying. If there is no corresponding standard as a reference, it is easy for candidates to write, but how should they and the marking officials score?
The prince asked this kind of question, is he considering the prison students? They are clearly evaluating officials!
As the chief marking officer, he was put on the fire by His Highness the Crown Prince.
All the officials who participated in the marking will have to hate themselves afterwards.
In desperation, Wu Yan sighed, and could only calm down his mood with a wry smile.
The last question is simple - how to interpret the sentence "Heaven moves vigorously, and a gentleman strives to constantly strive for self-improvement."
Even if the examinee can get full marks on the last question, he should have been confused by the prince's problem before that.
The prince also specifically stated that sixty points is the passing line, seventy to eighty points are good, more than eighty points are excellent, less than sixty points are poor students, those who are less than 40 points are not allowed to be appointed, and those who are less than 20 points are not allowed to be appointed. Those who are not allowed to refer to it again.
As the second assistant of the Ming Empire, Wu Di worked hard for a long time and finally finished writing the answers. After checking them again, he thought they were quite appropriate, except for some individual questions.
However, even with an optimistic estimate, the score was only around 60 or 70, which was still far from the 80-point excellence line, but he was already trying his best.
Thinking of this, Wu Di felt that he should really talk to the prince and let all the officials of the third rank and above in the imperial court take the exam together, otherwise he would not be able to swallow this sigh of relief.
This is tantamount to being tricked by the prince. On the surface, he got the exam questions alone and became the envy of everyone, but in fact, he suffered a dumb loss and couldn't find any place to reason.
After answering the test paper, Wu Gang sat blankly for a long time, thinking a lot. He felt that his life was full of unpredictable accidents, including being deceived in the palace...
The palace examination held the day after tomorrow will definitely be "extremely exciting", because I have answered like this, let alone those candidates who are not very knowledgeable.
Thinking on the bright side, this kind of examination can eliminate the false and preserve the true, and screen out some young students with real talents and practical knowledge, and it doesn't hurt to give them some difficult questions.
