In the sixth year of Hongzhi, on February 15th, Gongyuan.
All things revive, the grass grows and the orioles fly. It is a good time for the national talent promotion ceremony.
Li Dongyang, the chief examiner of the joint examination, personally sounded the final gong.
The tribute soldiers nearby shouted at the top of their lungs: "Student, come out of the dragon gate!"
The gate of Gongyuan opens. The students stepped out of the Gongyuan gate one after another.
Chang Feng followed the crowd out of Gongyuan. This is his second time taking part in the examination. Last time I was named Luosunshan. This time, he took three exams for nine consecutive days, and he felt he did well.
Suddenly, a person accidentally bumped into Chang Feng.
The man said quickly: "Brother Nian, I'm sorry."
Chang Feng looked up and saw that it was Wang Shouren, the son of the Wang Hua family.
Chang Feng smiled and said: "Master Wang, you still owe me six pot helmets!"
Wang Shouren was surprised: "Mr. Chang, is it you? Hey, you have memorized the six pot helmets for eight years! At the Qionglin banquet, I will offer you six glasses of wine, so I will return the six pot helmets to you!"
Wang Shouren seems to be full of confidence in being named on the Apricot List and consecutively listed on the Gold List.
Chang Feng said with a smile: "Then I'll lend you some good luck. We can both be named on the gold medal list, and we can be real brothers."
The Chunwei announcement will be three days later.
After the examination, Li Dongyang was busy marking papers with the examiners in the Ministry of Etiquette.
Three days later, Chang Feng and Wang Shouren met at the gate of Gongyuan, waiting for the release of the results.
The name of the provincial examination list is Guibang, the name of the general examination list is Xingbang, and the palace examination list is called Jinbang.
In fact, nominations on the Apricot List are far more important than titles on the Gold List.
Those who pass the examination will be "paid tribute" and become tributes to participate in the palace examination.
The palace examination does not eliminate people. All Gongshi can become Jinshi. It's just a matter of ranking.
In other words, as long as a scholar is named in the Xingban, he will definitely be promoted from Juren to Jinshi. The lowest level is seven grades.
Before releasing the apricot list, the Ministry of Rites performed a series of complex rituals.
The apricot list is finally announced. In the undergraduate examination, a total of 298 people were admitted.
Chang Feng looked from the top of the list to the bottom of the list three times. Where is his name?
Wang Shouren also unexpectedly lost his name to Sun Shan!
It was unexpected, but not unexpected. The examination is a competition between the top scholars in the entire Ming Dynasty.
For example, in later generations, more than 2,600 county college entrance examination top scorers in arts and science from 1,336 counties (county-level cities) across the country were gathered together and took one exam.
Who dares to say that he will definitely get into the top 300?
The loss of Sun Shan, the emperor's favorite and the Northern Zhili Academic Prince, just shows that the undergraduate examination is particularly fair under the auspices of Li Dongyang.
Li Dongyang walked over and saw Chang Feng and Wang Shouren.
Chang Feng was a popular person around the emperor, so Li Dongyang naturally knew him.
Li Dongyang and Wang Hua were colleagues in the Hanlin Academy, and they also knew his son Wang Shouren.
Li Dongyang comforted the two of them: "Failing in the National Examination is a common thing for scholars. You don't have to be sad."
Chang Feng said cheerfully: "I, a butcher from Jinyiwei, took part in the examination just to join in the fun. If I don't win, I won't win."
Although he said this, Chang Feng still felt a little sad in his heart.
Wang Shouren also had a calm look on his face: "Students are not very talented and have little knowledge. We need to make persistent efforts."
Li Dongyang joked with Wang Shouren: "If you can't win the tribute this time, you will definitely be the top scholar in the next subject. You can try to get the top prize for the next imperial examination."
"Let me tell you quietly. Your test paper is only one circle away from the title on the apricot list."
The Ming Dynasty test papers are not read by one person alone. For the sake of fairness, the examiners will collectively circulate the three papers written by each candidate.
If you think it is desirable, draw a circle next to the paper. Finally, the list of Bagongs is determined based on the number of circles.
Chang Feng asked from the side: "Master Li, can you tell me how many laps I am missing?"
Li Dongyang smiled awkwardly: "It's a lot of mistakes."
Changfeng was at the bottom of the list in the provincial examination.
His intelligence is not necessarily much worse than the named Gongsheng. But Gongsheng students study full-time to prepare for exams.
Chang Feng could only spare time in the evening to prepare for the exam. "It's many, many laps behind" is not surprising.
Chang Feng held up his hands and said, "Master Li, little brother Wang. I will go back to Jinyiwei as an errand. Goodbye."
Wang Shouren returned to his house.
Dad Wang Hua hurriedly came up to him: "Did you win?"
Wang Shouren smiled and replied: "No."
Wang Hua was afraid that his son would not be able to think clearly, so he enlightened him: "If you don't succeed this time, you will succeed next time if you try hard."
Unexpectedly, Wang Shouren actually laughed and said: "Scholars in the world are ashamed of not getting the first place. I am ashamed of not getting the first place but being upset about it."
"Don't worry, father, I am very tolerant. How can everything go smoothly in this life? Nine times out of ten, life will be unsatisfactory."
Wang Hua patted Wang Shouren on the shoulder: "You are better than your father! Before the results were released in the 17th year of the Chenghua Conference. I was thinking wildly and made up my mind to jump into the Yongding River and commit suicide to feed the bastard if I didn't get a name on the list."
"Fortunately, Bagong got thirty-three prizes and won the top prize in the palace examination again."
On the first day of March, the palace examination was held as scheduled. The gold list was announced, Mao Cheng ranked first, Xu Mu ranked second, and Luo Qinshun ranked third.
Emperor Hongzhi attached great importance to the talent promotion ceremony. The top three from the first class were specially summoned. Then he randomly selected ten people from the second class, and ten people from the third class were randomly selected to face you.
A group of new scholars responded fluently to the emperor's questions, showing off their talents and learning.
Emperor Hongzhi was extremely satisfied.
This morning. Emperor Hongzhi praised Li Dongyang: "Li Dongyang, the examiner of the general examination, has done his duty and has selected nearly 300 qualified tributes for me."
"I have personally inspected their talents and learning, and all of them are talents that the imperial court is in urgent need of."
Emperor Hongzhi paused and asked Chang Feng: "Chang Feng, doesn't it feel like losing your reputation in Sun Mountain?"
Chang Feng cupped his hands and said: "Your Majesty, I have few talents and limited knowledge. It is expected that I will not be ranked on the apricot list. I am calm in my dealings."
Emperor Hongzhi smiled and said: "The word calm is extremely rare. Dear gentlemen, Chang Feng is my favorite. But Li Dongyang has no partiality at all."
"Also missing was Wang Shouren, the son of Li Dongyang's friend Wang Hua."
"It shows that Li Dongyang treats everyone equally when presiding over the examination, without any selfish motives."
"For being so selfless, I will certainly reward him with a higher reward. I have drafted an edict to promote Li Dongyang to the rank of Right Minister of the Ministry of Rites, and he will also serve as the Assistant Lecturer."
Li Dongyang was directly promoted from the fifth-grade Hanlin academic officer to the third-grade minister of the Ministry of Education, and became a "Ministry".
It’s just one step away from joining the cabinet!
At this moment, a Yellow River Flood soldier flew into Fengtian Hall: "He Flood! He Flood!"
There were only two types of soldiers in the Ming Dynasty who could enter the palace without purpose.
One is the red feather messenger who conveys military information. The second is the river flood soldiers who convey the flood situation.
In ancient times, flood situation was more urgent than military situation.
Emperor Hongzhi's expression suddenly changed: "Quick report!"
The Yellow River Flood Soldiers cupped their hands and said, "Your Majesty, the Zhangqiu Dike in the eastern section of the Yellow River has burst! Countless fields in the three prefectures and twenty-one counties have been flooded."
Emperor Hongzhi took a breath of cold air: "Ah! How could it be possible! I have been worrying about the Henan section of the Yellow River all winter. However, the breach actually appeared in the Shandong section!"
"I want to select a good minister to serve as the imperial envoy to go to Shandong to regulate the river. Do you have any candidates?"
Li Dongyang, who stole the show this morning, was the first to come out and say: "I recommend someone."
Emperor Hongzhi asked: "Oh? Who?"
Li Dongyang replied: "Liu Daxia, the chief envoy of Zhejiang Province, is reporting on his duties in Beijing. This person is worthy of the great responsibility of governing the river."
Emperor Hongzhi smiled slightly: "Liu Daxia is your fellow disciple, right?"
In the fifth year of Tianshun, Li Dongyang and Liu Daxia studied under their teacher Li Chun. Those are not brothers and sisters who forcefully cultivate a relationship, but real mentors who share the same training.
At first, Li Chun's family was known as having the "Three Heroes of Li Clan". In addition to Li Dongyang and Liu Daxia, there is also Yang Yiqing who is now in charge of punishment in Shanxi.
Li Dongyang replied loudly: "Your Majesty, do not avoid relatives in internal promotions and do not avoid enemies in external promotions. The reason why I recommend Liu Daxia is
Public spirit. "
Emperor Hongzhi nodded slightly: "Yes. That's good. I know Liu Daxia's abilities. When the old minister Huai En was critically ill, he recommended three people to me when he was dying. Wang Shu, Ma Wensheng, and Liu Daxia."
"Draw up the decree and order Liu Daxia to take the title of right deputy capital censor and go to Shandong to regulate the river."
Ma Wensheng, the Minister of Civil Affairs, said: "Your Majesty, we should choose another smart and capable person to be Liu Daxia's deputy."
Chang Feng in the military attaché class was moved.
During his years in Jinyiwei, he experienced too many official battles and palace intrigues.
He was tired of doing those shady and clumsy errands all day long.
He is very eager to do something for the people.
When Chang Feng left his post, Mao Sui recommended himself: "Your Majesty, I would like to serve as deputy imperial envoy."
Ma Wensheng said: "No! Chang Zhenfu, you don't know about water conservancy, how can you serve as deputy imperial envoy to control rivers?"
Emperor Hongzhi agreed: "Yes, Chang Feng. Your original intention of serving the country is good. But you don't understand water conservancy."
Chang Feng talked eloquently: "Your Majesty, river management requires a huge amount of national funds. Water conservancy matters have always been a matter of conscience because the dams have been washed away and built again, and built and washed away again. As a result, there are many places where river officials can take action. .”
"In the fifth year of Hongzhi alone, the Fusi of Beizhen arrested and convicted thirteen river officials above the fifth rank."
"Although I don't understand water conservancy, I know how to detect and cure corruption. To manage the Yellow River, we need to rely on the imperial envoy Liu Daxia."
"What I can do is to ensure that every ounce of river silver the imperial court spends is used on the dam!"
Ma Wensheng stroked his beard: "What Chang Zhenfu said makes sense. The Beisi shopkeeper participates in river management as a deputy imperial envoy, which can deter corrupt officials who covet river management."
Li Dongyang echoed: "If Chang Zhenfu envoys participate in river management, corrupt officials may not have the courage to control the river bank even if they have the heart to do so."
Emperor Hongzhi made the decision: "Okay, I will appoint Chang Feng as the deputy imperial envoy to coordinate with Liu Daxia on the mission!"
"Chang Feng, remember what you just said. You must ensure that every ounce of river silver is used for practical purposes!"
