It's mid-autumn, when the melons are ripe and their stems are falling off, and the fields are harvested, everything on the earth is rendered golden by the autumn mood. In the city of Tokyo, new autumn fruit products are on the market, and all businesses are booming.
Every autumn, Liu Chengyou is in a good mood. After all, it is the harvest season and the weather is refreshing. Liu Chengyou was in high spirits and looked through the list of autumn finals submitted by the Ministry of Punishment.
"This is the second batch since the beginning of autumn, with a total of ninety-seven people. All of them have been checked by the Ministry of Criminal Justice and verified in Dali. The evidence of guilt is conclusive and the sentences are the same!" Li Fang explained simply.
"There are quite a few people who violate the imperial ban and smuggle for profit!" When human lives are involved, Liu Chengyou takes a closer look. He raises his head and asks: "There are more than thirty people selling illegal salt alone?"
Feeling the emperor's doubts, Li Fang said: "This is the Huainan salt case. Yangzhou merchants and salt farm officials colluded internally and externally. The chief envoy and the prince found out that they were all captured. According to the law, they should be killed. The final case was submitted. Awaiting approval!”
Wang Pu did a lot of things in Yangzhou, up and down.
"Thinking back to the early days of our country, people who committed illegal salt and distillery koji crimes would be punished with death regardless of how much they paid. I am going too far with this method, so I issued an edict to try to determine the crime and sentence to make sure there is a difference!" Liu Chengyou said: " But I didn’t expect that as a result, the number of smugglers would not decrease, but would even intensify, colluding with both internal and external parties, stealing and selling national property for personal gain!”
"Your Majesty enacts laws with benevolence in mind. The traitors, merchants and people do not appreciate his kindness. They are greedy and violate the law. They only need to be dealt with according to the law. Your Majesty does not need to worry too much!" Li Fang probably thought that the emperor was unhappy, so Li Fang explained.
However, where could Liu Chengyou have the sadness and sadness? He wrote directly and said coldly: "Return to the Ministry of Punishment, and all criminals will be dealt with according to the law! The law has no mercy, let alone such treacherous people!"
"yes!"
"This is a report from the Ministry of Rites, a list of scholars who will come to Beijing for this year's imperial examination. Your Majesty, please take a look at it!" After a pause, Li Fang reported to Liu Chengyou with a smile on his lips.
With the reform and centralization of power, it was launched with great vigor. In order to make up for the shortcomings in the Han court and the prefectures and counties, Liu Chengyou returned to Beijing from the southern expedition and issued an edict to hold an examination in Tokyo to select talents.
Since the early years of Qianyou, only Qianyou has not done so for three years, and the rest have done it almost every year. However, with the development and restoration of local academic affairs, starting from next year, the third level of the Han Dynasty can be tested for scientific examinations, and can also be carried out for Zhengshi. For scholars all over the world, this can be regarded as a bonus in the last year before the return to the imperial system. The talents admitted in these years, regardless of their size, are basically directly awarded official positions.
For example, those who were Jinshi in the first year of Qianyou, such as Wang Pu and Wang Pu, were already high officials in the Taoist government. And what is most expected by scholars, if you can graduate from high school, enter the eyes of the emperor, and serve in the imperial court, you will have a bright future and a bright future. Just like Wang Pu, Wang Zhu, and Li Fang before them, they set an example and a goal for everyone.
Therefore, this autumn’s examination has the largest number of people and the largest scale since the founding of the People’s Republic of China. Liu Chengyou was awarded the title of Bachelor of Jixian Palace, Minister of Rites, and Ningzhi Gongju.
"There are quite a lot of people coming from all over the country, including Huainan and Fangzhou!" Liu Chengyou chuckled and said, "This autumn, the students are very active and enthusiastic about taking the exam!"
"In the six years since the founding of the Han Dynasty, the situation has become increasingly stable. The Holy Lord came to the court and wanted to recruit talents to rejuvenate the country. It is known to everyone that His Majesty reversed chaos and valued scholars. How can the talented people in the world not be happy? Yearning, surrender to the imperial court!" Li Fang replied.
"Since the founding of the People's Republic of China, there have been more than a thousand talents selected through the system!" Liu Chengyou asked, stroking his beard.
"Exactly!" Li Fang said.
"Go, let the generals select the officials and select the ones with the best resumes for me to see!" Liu Chengyou ordered: "There are so many people, I want to see how many of them have gained experience! "
"Yes!" Li Fang responded, and at the same time he secretly thought in his heart that the emperor really valued scholars, and he valued talents even more.
If Liu Chengyou knew Li Fang's thoughts, he would probably say it from the bottom of his heart. He did not value scholars, but only valued the forces that were beneficial to his dynasty's rule. Scholars were just one of them.
"The exam is about to start. I need to ask Your Majesty to formulate the questions as soon as possible!" Li Fang said again.
"Well, I understand, go and do your work!"
...
On August 10th, the fifth year of Qianyou's reign, as time passed, the silence of Gongyuan was broken. The scholars, all alone, walked out of the majestic Gongyuan one after another. Nearly two thousand people took the exam in Beijing at the same time, which was the first time for the Han Dynasty.
There was constant discussion, and they formed groups of three or five, each looking for someone to be friends with and traveling together. No matter what time or generation, people who have just finished the exam will talk about nothing more than the test questions.
As in previous years, most scholars are applying for Jinshi, and the proportion is increasing year by year. Several young scholars walked hand in hand and talked freely along the way.
Most of them looked sad. Obviously, this year's test questions were very troubling. The system should be kept simple. According to Liu Chengyou's intention, in addition to the rhyme and writing that tests the basic quality, it is the practical and policy issues that Liu Chengyou attaches most importance to.
"The candidates who have memorized "Mencius" are in luck this time. Most of the questions on the Four Books are based on this!" One person said with emotion: "If I had known this, I would have memorized it again."
"It won't be difficult for me to read through the Four Books and Five Classics more and fill in the blanks!" Another person shook his head and said, "It's the practical work that is more troublesome. The topic I won was to list a case and write the following The adjudication process is based on laws and regulations. This is obviously a question of the Ming Law Department!"
"That's pretty good of you. The question I answered actually asked about the cultivation of corn. Wouldn't it be better to let farmers answer it?" One person's tone was full of lamentation.
"What I won is a tax issue, which needs to be calculated mathematically..."
"I thought that the most difficult question was the policy question, but I didn't expect that this practice is so cunning and intolerant!" A scholar looked like he didn't answer well, and was full of lamentation.
"I came to Beijing from afar, just to serve the imperial court and serve the country. I never thought that what I learned would be useless for examination questions. Could it be that the imperial court was deliberately making things difficult?" This man was already dissatisfied, so he took advantage of this knowledge and was not far behind. .
"Brother Li, please don't lie. It is said that the Emperor himself proposed the question this time. The actual practice is different from the usual practice. I'm afraid it was just the Emperor's brilliant idea!" A man with a sharp mind hurriedly advised.
As he said that, he glanced at the young man next to him, who was elegant and smiling, and asked: "Mr. Lu, I see that you are calm and calm. I guess you have a plan in mind?"
The scholar named Lu is very young. Even if he is described as a teenager, there is no problem. Others couldn't help but cast their eyes on him, and saw the corners of his mouth raised slightly, showing a sense of arrogance, saying: "Judging from the questions raised by the emperor, they are all related to the national economy and people's livelihood, political affairs, and what they want. As the name suggests, you need practical talents. What the emperor wants is not just scholars. If you feel unfair, have not shown your ability, or feel that your literary talent is outstanding, you should not apply for the Jinshi Department..."
After his words fell, some people were suddenly enlightened, while others felt dissatisfied and felt that he was arrogant. On the other hand, the scholar who initiated the question looked calmer and calmed down the atmosphere and asked: "I don't know what question Lu Langjun chose. Is it the strategy of pacifying Shu or the North-South strategy?"
Lu Langjun smiled and did not answer. He walked with his hands behind his back, his face full of confidence and intimidation.
In the Han Palace, preparations for the Mid-Autumn Festival were already underway. Liu Chengyou walked to Jixian Hall, where examination papers were reviewed. The reviewing examiners, except for the chief examiner He Ning and the two Hanlin officials, are all officials transferred from the department responsible for the topic. Each examines the topic and scores according to the ten-point system.
Two thousand test questions were solved day and night, and they were solved in less than two days. When Liu Chengyou arrived, the ten reviewing officials all had tired faces, unkempt hair, and were in a very embarrassed state. After all, they were restrained in the palace from eating, drinking, and defecating.
Liu Chengyou casually picked up a practical paper and looked at it. He had a lot of answers about criminal cases. The calligraphy was beautiful, the scriptures were quoted, and the content was detailed. He could sum it up in one word: sentencing according to the law. However, it is not implemented in practice. There is no mention of how to follow the law, which law to follow, the process of judging the case, matters needing attention, etc.
"Is it too difficult for these scholars to answer such questions?" Liu Chengyou asked He Ning.
He Ning obviously understood the holy meaning well and replied: "If you only know how to read, you will not be able to see things. A literary official must also be familiar with the laws and regulations!"
Of course, the practical questions in this talent selection are just for trial purposes and are bonus points. The real basis for ranking and recruitment is still the writing and policy questions. This time, the practical requirements for scholars are not high, after all, they can be obtained through study and experience. But after that, it was different. He also wanted to use this election to create a trend, name a direction for the world's scholars, and rejuvenate the country through practicality.
"Have you ever judged the number one?" Liu Chengyou asked He Ning.
