It was the eighth year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty, the year of Gengchen and the Dragon.
If you look at it from a global perspective, the number one world news this year should be the formation of a common monarchy between Spain and Portugal. That is, King Philip II of the Kingdom of Castile and the Kingdom of Aragon took advantage of Portugal's succession crisis after King Sebastian I died in the War of the Three Kings against Morocco, and annexed Portugal this year. Virtually unified the Iberian Peninsula.
The most obvious result of the merger of Spain and Portugal was the emergence of the world's number one colonial empire. At this moment, the Atlantic system from Europe to the Americas and the Indian and Pacific systems from Europe around Africa to Asia are politically integrated. In short, the sixteenth century witnessed the creation, construction and monopoly of the Atlantic Rim system by Iberia, especially Spain.
Of course, this has little to do with the high pragmatism at this time. If we have to break it down, it is probably because Portugal began to use the power of Spain to strengthen its colonial development in the Spice Islands, and Spain also turned to Portugal's influence in Asia. Colonial roots began to enter the Luzon Islands.
The Nanyang region, including Luzon, is the "Pan-Greater China Circle of Influence" that Gao Pragmatic has already decided on. Therefore, the main impact of the Spanish-Portuguese merger on him is that in the future, he may have a powerful maritime competitor in his "Association to Nanyang". .
However, Gao Jingshi is not in a hurry. Nanyang is the doorstep of the Ming Dynasty. As long as the Ming Dynasty comes to its senses, Gao Jingshi feels that after the New Deal reforms, he can still compete with the Spanish and Portuguese Empire in this region. The first is of course to bully others into staying far away from home, and the second is because eight years later the Spanish-Portuguese combined fleet - the Armada will be defeated miserably by England.
Although Spain was at its peak moment at this time, even the first defeat of the Armada did not dampen Spain's vitality. In the second to third years, Spain once again built a more powerful Armada. But at this point, the Spanish Empire fell into a long-term maritime tug-of-war with England. Later, due to a series of wars such as the Dutch Independence War and the Thirty Years' War, Spain's vitality was seriously damaged on both land and sea. By 1640, let alone The Netherlands was not saved, and even Portugal became independent.
Therefore, the highly pragmatic Nanyang strategy is still very stable and is being advanced step by step in an orderly manner according to the predetermined plan.
At the end of last year, he obtained official ports in Ningbo, Quanzhou, and Guangzhou through transactions with the Ministry of Industry. Now he is trying to find ways to further expand the ports and improve operations. At the same time, he has also begun to attract a large number of ocean-going shipbuilding craftsmen, sailors who have traveled to Southeast Asia, etc. He has talents related to Nanyang maritime trade, and is planning to establish the first Jinghua Shipyard in the south... In short, he relies on his youth and is not in a hurry.
The overall situation of the world has little impact on Gao pragmatism, but when it comes to domestic matters, Gao pragmatism is very concerned about it and takes it very seriously.
That is the Spring Festival of Gengchen this year.
The Ming Dynasty was a society that placed the greatest importance on academic titles since the introduction of tribute examinations, and placed great emphasis on family background and qualifications. The distinction between the A list and the B list is very clear. In the eyes of the world, there is a huge difference in the net worth of Jinshi and Juren.
Especially after the mid-Ming Dynasty, everything was focused on the imperial examination and everything was based on family background and qualifications. Although Jinshi is the same path, and Ju and Gong are the same, and they are both correct paths, in fact, when used, Gongsheng is not as good as Juren, and Juren is not as good as Jinshi. Therefore, there is a folk saying that "there are empty cylinders to promote people, and there are no empty cylinders to Jinshi." proverb.
High-ranking officials and important positions cannot be held by non-Jinshi scholars.
Since Li Xian's memorial in the second year of Tianshun, he compiled and selected Jinshi. From then on, no one except the Imperial Academy would be admitted to the cabinet. The ministers and ministers of the Ministry of Rites of the North and South, and the right minister of the Ministry of Personnel are not appointed unless they are members of the Imperial Academy. Shujishi must be selected by Jinshi, and when they first entered the imperial examination, they were already regarded as "preserver prime ministers" by the government and the public.
It is precisely because once a person is promoted to high school and becomes a scholar, he can be released as an official. In the court, he has to be a minister, a censor, or a chief official. When he is transferred to the outside, he may be promoted to an official in the government, be the second-in-command at the "municipal level", or be the governor of the state. , county magistrate, and become a county-level top leader. They are powerful and have unlimited future. Even the ministers, ministers, cabinet ministers, etc. are all from them. Therefore, the value of Jinshi is a hundred times higher than that of ordinary people.
When ordinary people call Jinshi, they must add the word "Master" after it. There is no one who calls Jinshi alone, which is one of the clear proofs.
If a scholar becomes a Jinshi in the first place, even if he does not become an official, or returns home after becoming an official, or even takes the initiative to resign, he will automatically become a local celebrity when he returns to his hometown. No matter where the Jinshi is an official, if there is a wedding or funeral in his hometown, the magistrate will send someone to deliver gifts. If the Jinshi's home is in a county, the magistrate will often be present in person; if it is in a rural area, the magistrate will also send gifts. The Prime Minister, the Chief Registrar, and the Instructor act on his behalf. Any local gentry who was born in the Liangbang Jinshi family and wanted to meet the governor or patrol commissioner could use their name card to resist the ceremony, but this could not be done for candidates.
If these are just social status, then the gap in earning ability is even greater.
If you win the imperial examination, you can get rid of poverty, and if you win the Jinshi, you can become rich. According to Gao Pingshi's understanding over the years, a private school teacher must practice fifty taels per year in order to support his family's life in Beijing for a year. But for a new Jinshi who stays in Beijing as an official, the annual expenditure is at least one hundred taels of silver, usually about three hundred li, and even more than six hundred or seven hundred taels is not uncommon. But many of them come from poor families with meager financial resources. Where do they get so much money?
In fact, these new scholars have been provided with carriages, horses, followers, clothes, utensils, food and drinks since high school. Even if you are not an official, there are still people who come to you to curry favor with you by giving them money or a house. Because as long as you lean on a Jinshi master, you are leaning on a big tree that is good for shade.
For example, if a businessman commits a crime and goes to the yamen to plead for mercy, he may not be able to do it even if he spends a thousand taels. But if there is a Jinshi master to help him, he can solve the problem with a note two fingers wide.
The test that determines whether a person can leap over the dragon's gate is the ability test.
In the Ming Dynasty, those who were selected to take the examination of the Ministry of Etiquette in Beijing were called Huizhen, which meant centralized examination. The examination is scheduled to be held every three years and will be held in the year of the provincial examination. Since the rural examinations are all held in the Zi, Wu, Mao and You years, the general examinations are all held in the Chen, Xu, Chou and Mo years. The provincial examination is usually held in August, while the general examination is held in February.
Similar to the method of the provincial examination, the first test is taken on the ninth day of the month, the second test is taken three days later, and the third test is taken three days later.
Since the examination was hosted by the Ministry of Rites, the location of the examination was of course the Gongyuan of the capital—Nanjing in the early Ming Dynasty, and Beijing in the 13th year of Yongle.
The examinations in the Ming Dynasty were different from those in the Song Dynasty. Anyone who passed the provincial examinations could take part in the examinations indefinitely. This would save scholars a lot of trouble and waste less effort and money. But at the same time, It has also caused some problems, the most important of which is the extremely large number of people taking the exam.
In fact, as early as the first year of Zhengtong and the first year of Hongzhi, the imperial court twice stipulated that those who failed to pass the examination three times would not be allowed to take the examination again. However, because this move ruined the future of most candidates and made it difficult to carry out, they did not insist on it. After a while, the imperial court could not bear the pressure and canceled it.
Therefore, just after the Spring Festival, a large number of candidates came to the capital to take the exam. Although it was impossible for Gao Pragmatic to send people to count them, it was estimated that there were at least tens of thousands.
But now, these tens of thousands of candidates are waiting for one thing, waiting for the emperor to announce the chief examiner and deputy examiner for this examination.
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