The imperial examination began in the Sui and Tang Dynasties, and its original purpose was probably to break the power monopoly of aristocratic families, and also to open a channel for the bottom class of society to change their class.
However, until the middle and late Tang Dynasty, the power of the family still held a very important weight in the court. Later, after the Five Dynasties of Troubles, the family and nobles suffered great damage, and then they lost their control on power.
By the Song Dynasty, the imperial examination had become the main source of the bureaucracy. The system was constantly improving, becoming more rigorous and open, and there were basically no restrictions on family background. It was truly "a farmer's house in the morning, and an emperor in the evening."
In the Song Dynasty, where the country was governed by literature, both the government and the public paid great attention to the imperial examination, and officials at all levels often regarded it as a top priority.
The imperial examination, that is, the selection of scholars by subject, can be roughly divided into four categories: regular subjects, military examinations, system subjects, and Ci subjects in the Song Dynasty.
Among the regular subjects, Jinshi subjects are the main ones. Earlier there were Mingjing, Mingfa, Mingshu and other subjects, but they were all abolished during the reign of Emperor Shenzong of the Song Dynasty, leaving only Jinshi subjects.
In the early Song Dynasty, the time for the imperial examination was not fixed. Maybe there were not enough officials, so they opened a subject. Maybe the emperor was interested and opened a subject, once a year, once every two years, or even every three, four, or five years. It was very casual, and it was only after the Yingzong period that the rule of competing every three years was established, which has continued ever since.
The Jie Examination, also known as the Fa Jie Examination, is the first level of the three-level imperial examination. It is presided over by the state government, the Imperial College, and the Zhulu Transport Department. Any qualified scholar can sign up to take the exam. Those who pass the exam are called Juren. Or tribute ministers, they can go to the capital to participate in the provincial examination hosted by the Ministry of Rites.
However, the promotion at this time was only a one-time thing. If you failed to pass the Jinshi exam, you would have to take the exam again three years later, and there were no privileges. As for scholar, it was just a general term for scholars, not to mention a title.
In the past, because each place was located at different distances from the capital, in order to allow everyone to arrive in time before the provincial examination, the examination time was determined by each place, and the time was different for each state and county.
So some smart people discovered the opportunity, took advantage of the time difference, and took the test here and there, hoping that they would get something in the many tests. This phenomenon is very common and is a very serious drawback, but it has never been reasonably solved.
After the southern crossing, the territory was greatly reduced, and distance was no longer a big problem. In order to solve this shortcoming, Emperor Gaozong twice issued an edict strictly stipulating that all parts of the country would lock the courtyard on the fifth day of August and conduct the examination on August 15th.
Locking the courtyard means locking the examiners in the Gongyuan, cutting off all traffic, and keeping them in a closed state from the time they prepare the questions to the time they are graded and released.
In order to ensure fairness and impartiality as much as possible, and to ensure that "everything is based on Cheng Wen," the imperial court is also extremely strict in the selection of examiners. It has been improving the system, using various methods such as sending people from the center, invigilating exams in other places, and so on.
Specific to the Pingjiang Prefecture's examination, Wu Qian is certainly the most qualified to be the examiner in terms of knowledge, character, and status. Although he is a little older and does not meet the requirement of not exceeding sixty, But no one questioned it.
Once the hospital is locked, it will take more than half a month, so Zhao Mengqi plans to implement several things that have been planned for a long time before then.
On the third day of August, a large group of richly dressed gentry gathered outside the door of the old office of the Judiciary Office. They looked eagerly at the red satin-wrapped plaque on the lintel, all curious.
"Is this some newly established government office? Why did the pacifier invite us here?"
"It should be about Tamaki. After waiting for so many days, we have completed all the procedures. It's time for Tamaki to come out."
"Why don't you just give it to us? Why do you need such a big battle and you specifically ask us to come together?"
"Do you think it has something to do with the assassination of King Yan? Call us over and give it a beating."
"Isn't that matter settled? Except on the day of the incident, there was no official investigation later. Besides, what does that matter have to do with me?"
"Hey, stop guessing. We'll find out later, right? Someone came out. Hey, is that King Yan? Am I right?"
"King Yan? Even if he wasn't seriously injured by the arrow in his chest, he should have been recovering for a long time..."
"Our Highness is really courageous. He dared to show up in the city just after he was assassinated.
Appear in public. "
Zhao Mengqi and Wu Qian walked out hand in hand and stood under the lintel.
After some etiquette, Zhao Mengqi said angrily to the five or six hundred gentry, "I invite you all to come today. First, I will tie off Tian Juan's hand, and second, I will introduce you to some new ways to make money."
After saying that, Zhao Mengqi tugged on a hanging ribbon under the confused gazes of everyone. The red satin on the lintel fell down, revealing the five gilded characters on the plaque.
Baiye Exchange.
Everyone's eyes were even more confused. Of course, if these words were separated, everyone would recognize them, but what do they mean together?
It doesn't look like the name of a government office.
"As the name suggests, this place will be a place for trading in various industries from now on. As for the details, please come in and discuss it in detail."
With full of doubts, the gentry walked through the door one after another and came to the renovated lobby, "Trading Hall".
The hall is very spacious. On the north side is a nearly five-foot-long counter with a fence, which is divided into more than a dozen windows. It is somewhat similar to the shape of a pawn shop or a Jiaozi shop.
There is a sign hanging on the east wall, which contains the name of the farm, a brief introduction, the number of farm lots on sale, today's price, etc.
There is also a water sign on the west wall, but there is no information posted on it, just bare wooden boards.
After the gentry visited for a while, Zhao Mengqi said, "I think everyone has seen some clues and has some impression of the role of this exchange. Yes, all future field rolls will be sold through the exchange."
"At the same time, this Tianjuan is anonymous and can be resold freely. However, there are too many disadvantages and risks in private transactions. If it is conducted through an exchange, it can not only ensure a fair price, but also eliminate the worries of both buyers and sellers. Tianjuan's The income will also be paid through the exchange, eliminating the trouble of collecting rent in the past.”
"In addition, the exchange is also responsible for supervising the actual operating conditions of the farm and publicizing the true situation to ensure everyone's due benefits and to facilitate everyone's reference when buying and selling."
"If you have the previous transaction voucher with you, you can go to the window to redeem it now. However, I would like to ask ten people to demonstrate it first, because there are things to announce to everyone next."
Everyone is the owner of a big family and a big business, so we can't appear too impatient.
After the polite gentlemen showed some humility, ten people soon came out to exchange money at the counter window.
After a while of manipulation, Zhou Jiufu from Lin'an was the first to receive a thick stack of field scrolls.
"My dear, this scroll is printed so beautifully, it's even prettier than a painting. We were worried about forgery before, but now we see that our worries are completely unfounded. This thing is a hundred times more sophisticated than banknotes. How can it be made so easily? ?」
The paper used is the mulberry paper of Zaojiaozi. However, the printing of Jiaozi uses two-color overprinting, but this Tianjuan uses four-color overprinting. Fine lines of various colors are intertwined with each other to form complex and dazzling patterns. Every detail shows extraordinary craftsmanship.
"Actually, even if others have the same printing technology, it would be difficult to fake it, because each field roll has a unique set of codes, which is the row directly below. This is not a pattern, but Tianzhu numbers. We use this set of Coding has a series of corresponding anti-counterfeiting measures, so you don’t have to worry about counterfeiting.”
Zhao Mengqi took a field roll from Zhou Jiufu, showed it to everyone and explained, "Now the main ones printed are one hundred acres. In the future, there will be field rolls with denominations of one mu, five mu, ten mu, etc., so It is convenient for everyone to resell and trade.”
After letting everyone understand the transaction process and seeing the physical Tianjuan, Zhao Mengqi continued, "Well, there is no need to say much about the Tianjuan. From now on, everyone can exchange it by themselves. I will talk about other things later."
"Everyone knows that Gu encountered an assassination a few days ago. If he hadn't saved his life from the people around him, he wouldn't be able to stand here. As for who the murderer is behind the scenes, Gu, like most people, doesn't know. , but everyone has some idea of the motive for the assassination."
"There is a saying that blocking someone's path to wealth is like killing one's parents. Therefore, in the eyes of many people, being alone is their sworn enemy."
As he spoke, Zhao Mengqi glanced at the gentry present, his eyes as sharp as swords. Most of them trembled in their hearts, unable to resist the pressure, and avoided looking at each other, daring not to face each other.
"Your Highness is the foundation of the Song Dynasty. If you make a slight mistake, the sky will fall and the earth will collapse. The person who committed the crime is really heartless and crazy, and he is not worthy of being a human being at all!"
"Yes, yes, these people without kings and fathers should fall into the Abi Hell and suffer forever without reincarnation."
"I wish I could find him and eat his flesh and sleep on his skin!"
"Your Highness, I swear that I will never associate with such a despicable villain!"
The gentry were noisy, constantly swearing and swearing to get away with it, and denounced the perpetrators, as if they were all upright and good people.
Zhao Mengqi chuckled in his heart, and then waved his hands to calm down everyone before speaking, "It is said that in the Song Dynasty, scholar-officials shared the world with the emperor. In the past three hundred years, the emperor's favor to the scholar-officials was unprecedented, and it is obvious to all. It stands to reason. , Gu and all the sages should be a family that is both prosperous and devastated, working together to maintain the orderly operation of the world. However, in the eyes of some people, there is no world at all, only themselves."
"Forget it, no one understands the principle that if there is no skin left, the hair will be attached. No matter how much you repeat it, it will be useless, because you will never wake up a person who is pretending to sleep."
"You can pretend to be asleep and only care about your own little family, but I can't ignore the world. For this reason, I have to work hard to make Da Song change."
"To put it harshly, we people are all supported by the common people in the world. All the glory and wealth are the result of the blood and sweat of the common people. Some people take this for granted. Let's not care about this. Even if you really treat the common people like cattle and horses, you still can't do it. Let the cattle and horses have enough to eat. If the people work hard but cannot feed themselves, how can they have the mental motivation to continue?"
"You should have noticed that a few decades ago, a field that could be rented for one and a half dan, or even two dan, may not be able to receive even one dan in rent now. Can't you think of the reason?"
The gentry looked at each other. They really didn't expect that King Yan could speak so straightforwardly. They were not used to it, as they always wore the cloak of benevolence, justice and morality.
"You are stupid, so I won't blame you. To be honest, I didn't want to destroy you, so the methods I used were very gentle. You want a rich and glorious life, and I don't want to deprive you of it, but please don't do it again. They are just using clumsy means to exploit the poor people who have little money and water."
"Want to make money? Gu can lead you, follow Gu, and have meat to eat. If you can't keep up, then I'm sorry, Gu has a way to make you go from pretending to sleep to actually sleeping, forever!"
"Next, I will introduce to you some ways that are ten times or a hundred times better than collecting rent..."
Zhao Mengqi looked like a wolf grandma coaxing a little white rabbit.
He knows that reasoning is useless. Human nature is greedy, and only benefits can truly move people's hearts.
There will never be a harmonious world. There will always be classes in human society. What we can do is try to raise the bottom line as high as possible so that the people at the bottom can live a little more like individuals.
