Although Sheng Jun is seventy years old, he is still tall and tall, his back is still straight, and his eyes are not cloudy. After he passed the throne to Sheng Hong, he took people to visit the mountains and rivers. As soon as he left the capital, there were a few moon.
He returned to the capital at the end of last month and rested for a few days. Today for the palace examination, he came to the Tai Chi Palace.
Because today's topic is special, he, like Sheng Hong, is the examiner.
Sheng Jun sat on the other side of the imperial desk. After reading a few folds, he raised his hand and rubbed his brow, looking a little tired.
This time I left Beijing and stayed out for half a year before coming back. My old body couldn't stand the travel, and I couldn't relax after several days of rest.
Seeing this, Sheng Hong put down the tortoise-shell purple hair pen in his hand and told Qian San: "Go to the cheese house and check to see if the new flavor is ready."
Qian San responded and quickly ordered people to go to the cheese farm.
Sheng Jun liked cheese, so he set up a cheese shop specializing in making cheese cakes.
In the past, the cheese house only made traditional pastries with milk, but now they have been renovated. Even Sheng Hong, who doesn't like sweets, likes the soft and sweet texture.
"Father, the chef at the cheese farm is going to add bean paste, date paste and other fillings to the fresh milk bread. I think it will taste good. You can try it later."
"Yes." Sheng Jun nodded, a trace of expectation flashing in his eyes.
He picked up the tea bowl next to him and took a sip. When the aroma of tea spread in his mouth, he looked at Sheng Hong: "In this palace examination, can that boy Li Qiao's paper convince the public? If not, then what? We can’t give him the top prize.”
"This is natural. Everyone in the world is watching. You can't be partial. But he mentioned military training during the county examination before, so he probably understands this." Sheng Hong said.
Li Qiao had already obtained Xiao San Yuan, Xie Yuan and Hui Yuan. He also wanted to achieve the beauty of adulthood and gave Li Qiao a top prize and asked some questions that Li Qiao was good at.
But he was really annoyed by the clumsy detective, and Li Qiao had also written about this, so he took this matter as a question in the imperial examination.
There is strength in numbers, so we can pool our wisdom and efforts.
These people are already Jinshi, and they will be officials in the future. He wants to pay these people salaries. They are responsible for eating the emperor's salary and being loyal to the emperor. Since they have taken their salaries, they have to solve the problems of governing the country. You have to share the problems with him.
Of course, if Li Qiao slips up at the critical moment and falls short, that's okay. The palace examination is just the starting point, and there will be a long time to come.
"As long as he understands." Sheng Jun nodded and asked, "What were the questions answered during the examination?"
He had just returned to Beijing and had not yet had time to pay attention to this matter.
"Except for Li Qiao, the rest are nothing new, and many of them make me want to kill them with a knife."
Thinking of the test papers for this exam, anger flashed across Sheng Hong's face.
Although he only read the test papers selected by Yan Anbang and others, he also asked Yan Anbang specifically to know what answers the people who failed the exam wrote.
Therefore, he knew what the more than 10,000 candidates had written.
One in 10 wrote about increasing taxes.
He cleverly created a name to collect more taxes from the people and businessmen.
The issue of increasing taxes is written so lightly. If such a person becomes an official, 90% of the time he will prey on the common people.
Can taxes be added at will?
If a drop of spit from those in power falls on the heads of the people, it will be like the Yellow River bursting its banks, drowning people in an instant!
Therefore, when he found out that more than a thousand people had written about this method, he suddenly became angry.
In addition to these more than 1,000 people, there are more than 8,000 people who write about taxation. However, these people do not use different methods to squeeze the people. These people write about reforming tax laws and opening up new tax sources.
But because many of them knew little about Dasheng's tax laws, the articles they wrote could only make him laugh and make him angry. Among these 8,000 articles, not many were truly useful.
For example, Gu Lianghan wrote an inventory of all the fields in Dasheng, focusing on verifying the fields under the names of scholars such as Juzi Xungui and others.
Xiucai, Juzi, and Xungui all have the right to be exempted from paying taxes, so some people put their fields in the names of Xiucai, Juzi, and Xungui, so that they do not have to pay taxes.
Of course, because the nobles have great power and can do more tricks than the scholars, they avoid more taxes.
However, the status of a scholar's son-in-law is not ordinary, and Sheng Hong cannot be moved easily. Therefore, although Gu Lianghan's method is good, it is difficult to operate in practice.
Others say that shipping can be used to collect taxes.
But this is not easy to do. Maritime transportation is risky, otherwise he would not build the canal.
In short, although these eight thousand people did not exploit the people, the methods they gave were either unusable or difficult to implement in practice.
The remaining more than a thousand people were of all kinds and had everything.
For example, Xin Zhi wrote about lowering official salaries.
The idea is great.
But he can't lower it at will, because he is following the path of high salary to maintain integrity. The principle he and Sheng Jun pursue is that the court provides officials with a salary that can make them live a comfortable life. In this case, if the officials are still corrupt, then they The father and son will never show mercy when it comes to killing people.
Others wrote about looking for more gold and silver mines and digging more.
Haha, what a joke, do you think he doesn't know this way?
But the key is that there are no gold or silver mines to be found!
In addition, some people wrote about overseas trade, trade with other small countries, etc.
It was a good idea, too, and he was ready to implement it.
But the process is long and you won’t see any benefits for a year and a half.
Some even wrote about launching wars and robbing other countries.
He didn't know how that person could write such cold and heartless words. War can make you rich, but war can kill people!
…
"Look, this is our candidate. It was selected through the Tongsheng Examination and the Provincial Examination. I did not take the usual path and deliberately asked weird questions. I used strange questions to force them out."
"At this level, I don't think our salary is worth it."
Sheng Hong couldn't help but slap the table at the end.
He used the imperial examination to select officials because he wanted these people to help him maintain prosperity.
But what are these answers?
Moreover, this is already the level of Juzi.
Juzi can talk and laugh with the local magistrate. At this level, how can he tolerate the existence of the squire class.
Definitely not tolerated!
"Forget it, compared to the past, this batch of moves has improved."
Sheng Jun raised his hand and pressed it down, making him less angry.
Mentioning that year, the anger on Sheng Hong's face suddenly disappeared.
But no, this has improved compared to before.
"That's why I selected Li Qiao as Huiyuan. Among the more than 10,000 answer sheets, his answer sheet is so outstanding. Not only does it not harm the people, it is also easy to use and earns money quickly."
Sheng Hong sighed.
"Well, well deserved."
Sheng Jun nodded, agreeing with this.
"There are also several of his fellow villagers who have good methods. It's refreshing among all the papers surrounding taxes."
Sheng Hong couldn't help laughing as he said this: "Maybe they were influenced by Li Qiao, and the methods they gave are all about attacking the rich and noble people."
This coincides with his thinking.
The national treasury is empty and the people are not rich, so where has the money in the world gone?
All the money in the world is in the hands of the rich and noble!
If you want to replenish the national treasury, of course you have to find ways to get these people to spend money.
The things Li Qiao makes are very good, such as vermicelli, autumn pear paste, milk snacks, and duck products. Ordinary people can't afford them, and all they earn are the money of the rich and noble.
Earn money from the rich and nobles into the national treasury, and then spend it on the common people and Dasheng. Only in this way can Dasheng's empire last long!
"Such a talent is indeed rare." Sheng Jun also had a smile on his face.
There is no need for the father and son to attack Xungui. They are doing new things that have never been seen before, but they are like gold-sucking beasts, and they hug money very hard.
"Da Sheng needs such talents, and I hope he can surpass everyone in the palace test today." Sheng Hong said again.
Sheng Jun smiled when he heard this: "Young people like this should indeed be promoted so as to attract more outstanding talents to join the imperial court."
Li Qiao, who had high hopes from two generations of emperors in Dasheng, quickly finished writing the article. However, he could not hand in the paper in advance for the imperial examination, so he could only wait until the time for handing in the paper came before getting up.
After handing in their test papers, one hundred and eighty Jinshi lined up and left the palace in silence.
There should be no idlers waiting at the entrance of the palace. One hundred and eighty imperial examination companions were waiting at the corner of the street where the palace was located.
When they came to the corner, these new scholars finally breathed a sigh of relief and had expressions on their faces.
Most people have frowning faces. Today's palace exam question was wrong!
Xin Zhi was very close to Li Qiao. He took two steps to Li Qiao and wanted to ask Li Qiao how he answered the question.
Xu Ying, Zhuang Wen, and Meng Yue were a little far away from Li Qiao. They struggled to squeeze through the crowd and wanted to ask Li Qiao how he answered the question.
In addition, the Jinshi around Li Qiao also pricked up their ears, wanting to hear his answer.
"My answer is average, so I won't show off my shame. The test has already been completed anyway, so there is no point in thinking about it. Let's wait until the results are released. The results will be released in three days."
…
Li Qiao wouldn't say how he answered the question, so how could he casually talk about military training methods?
Of course not!
As for whether the Holy One will post his test paper, that is up to the Holy One to decide. Anyway, he can't talk about it now.
Well, that's right. After getting today's question, he felt that the top pick this time had already jumped into his pocket.
But the list has not been released at this time, so we must keep a low profile.
After dealing with everyone, he went back with Tao Zhu under the setting sun.
He has completed the long, five-year imperial examination journey. After today, he can completely relax.
The imperial examination is different from the college entrance examination in his previous life. If you are not satisfied with the results after the college entrance examination, you can retake it.
But the imperial examination is not allowed.
