On May 18th, the palace examination that was supposed to be held in March of the 15th year of Zhengde was finally held.
Under the guidance of officials from the Ministry of Rites, the tribute students walked among the guards of the Forbidden Palace.
He didn't dare to look around, but out of the corner of his eye he still looked at the west corner gate where the former great uncle was demoted in anger.
There, there was also the Great Court Meeting in the heavy rain after the Nijing Gate fire, where hundreds of civil and military officials came together to posthumously honor Yu Qian, a grand event destined to be written down in history books.
The fresh graduates imagined what it was like at that time and how the seniors felt when they were there.
The longing belongs to certain people, and Huang Zuo only felt scared.
After entering Fengtianmen, you saw the Fengtian Hall with a full set of ceremonial guards. It is said that His Majesty ran in circles here.
The officials of the Ministry of Rites guided the tribute students to stand north on the east and west sides of Danqi in front of Fengtian Hall. Then the officials of Honglu Temple invited them to be promoted to the hall.
"Your Majesty, please give me a proposal."
Zhang Jin raised the topic with both hands and placed it on the topic table. Afterwards, the deacon of the palace examination carefully moved the policy case to the center of the corridor outside Fengtian Palace.
It's a sunny day today, so I can answer questions on the cloud platform.
The desks were neatly arranged, but all Gongsheng students had to bring their own pens, inks, paper and inkstones, and twelve pieces of paper each for the cursive scrolls and the main scrolls.
After years of studying hard, I have now reached the final level and all I need is a solution.
Guanglu Temple has also started organizing lunches for the examiners, deacons and candidates. Officials' standards are higher, while candidates' lunch is very simple: two steamed buns and a bowl of soup.
As for the food at Guanglu Temple, how can the candidates care about this?
The officials of the Ministry of Rites finally began to distribute the policy questions, and Zhang Cong finally silently recited the ancestral taboos of His Majesty and the seventeen readers of Jinke.
Don't look down upon this. Some examiners' favorability drops sharply when they see a certain word in a candidate's test paper that offends his ancestor's name.
When the policy question was sent to Zhang Cong, he opened it and was stunned.
The title of this plan was eloquent and contained more than 200 words, but he could only read it in two words: make the country rich.
His Majesty asked: How can one make a country rich?
Is he obsessed with money?
But...this question seems to be beneficial to me!
Zhu Houcong's heart is indeed money.
There are so many things to do, which one can do without money?
After changing into the emperor's regular clothes, Zhu Houcong only looked out at the door of the palace.
He knew that Zhang Cong was among this group of people. The main force in the ceremony that Lao Qin said now did not have the space to perform as before.
But when faced with this policy issue, this reformist group should appear to be better, right?
Anyway, Lao Qin didn't even remember who was the top pick this year or what his achievements were.
Zhu Houcong didn't go outside to watch the Gong students answer questions. During the college entrance examination, it was a bit annoying to have the invigilator walking around, not to mention he was still the emperor?
The imperial examination will last for a whole day, and Zhu Houcong will not have to wait here after he comes to hand out the questions.
To show how much you attach importance to the imperial examination, just go for a walk in the afternoon.
Let’s go for a morning run first.
Zhu Houcong slept a little late last night while processing the preliminary internal screening results of Jinyiwei handed over by Luo An.
The imperial examination was very formal, so he got up early.
Returning to Qianqing Palace, he first ordered: "Take a bath."
Yuan Zonggao set the palace examination on the day after he was released from prison by Zhu Houzhao, just to let him appear in front of the new Jinshi with a better image.
The smell of sweat should not linger after the afternoon.
Zhu Qingping immediately called Gao Zhong to ask the eunuchs of Hunchang Si to get ready, while Huang Jin was catching up on his sleep - he was the one keeping watch last night.
While taking a bath, Zhu Houcong asked: "What will the police say about the bullets handed over by the Metropolitan Procuratorate after they are sent to Renshou Palace?"
Zhu Qingping held the clothes and waited outside the screen: "The Empress Dowager Cishou naturally reprimanded Yuan Jinsheng for pretending to be a minister."
"Okay, just know it well." Zhu Houcong said calmly, "This Fang Feng is really brilliant in his writing. He even criticized the Queen Mother and my lax imperial duties, and Zhang Jin, Zhang Zuo and others were even more negligent. decline."
Zhu Qingping declined to comment.
"It's almost time for Queen Mother and the others to leave for Beijing, right?" Zhu Houcong stood up and walked out wearing only his underwear.
The weather is getting hotter, so you only need to put on another layer of clothing outside.
"I think so. His Majesty will be able to reunite with his family soon."
Zhu Houcong smiled and looked down at her as she helped him get dressed. Zhu Qingping also wore thinner clothes after the hot weather.
The eldest sister was busy around him, and the faint fragrance floated on the skirt of her clothes. Zhu Houcong couldn't help but take a few more glances.
The weather is indeed much hotter.
After Zhu Qingping stepped away with a reddish tone, Zhu Houcong's eyes moved away as if nothing had happened. As he walked out, he shouted heroically: "Zhang Zuo, go and deliver the message: today's topic is planned, and all the ministers will be asked in Beijing before the end of the month." Send me a policy article!"
…
When the imperial edict came out, all the officials in the capital were put under anesthesia.
The palace examination is the palace examination. What does it mean to ask all court officials to answer a policy essay on the questions of tribute students?
But you can't say this is outrageous. After all, most of them are Jinshi and passed the imperial examination. After many years of experience as an official, is it impossible to answer a royal examination policy essay?
No, some people really can’t answer it and are almost scratching their heads.
The court counselors also included honorable ministers and generals.
"Where is the Master? Old Fu, isn't your son in the Imperial College? Xiaomei, go find Madam Ninth's brother!"
Wu Dinghou's mansion felt like facing a formidable enemy. Although Guo Xun was commanding all the troops like a general, he did not feel calm at all, but only anxious.
This question is too difficult, he can’t do it!
Unlike people like Guo Xun, a large number of middle- and lower-level court officials were very excited.
Where is the test? This is a question!
How to make a country rich? Your Majesty not only wants to see what the Gongsheng students have to say, but also wants the civil and military officials of the entire dynasty to offer their suggestions!
Listening at the same time will lead to enlightenment. There is nothing better than listening at the same time, right?
Whoever has a good idea will be the next Xia Yan and the next Yan Song!
In Wenyuan Pavilion, the four ministers were silenced.
It is indeed not a policy question related to etiquette.
But how to make a country rich... Everyone knows that this question can be small or big, it all depends on Gong Sheng's vision.
Because in fact, all state affairs are related to money.
His Majesty's words that day, "Rites rely on money," are still in my ears. Will any candidates try to cater to the Holy Will from this perspective?
That's not a big deal right now.
"Your Majesty wants to double his annual income within ten years, and he always has this worry in his heart." Liang Chuxian said, "The rest of the decrees in the imperial edict and the re-establishment of the three major camps are all related to money and food. Now there is no result in discussing those matters. The truth is that we don’t have a clue about the strategy to enrich the country. Now that your Majesty has asked the ministers to offer suggestions, he must have had this idea for a long time. After the palace examination is over and Fei Zichong and others enter the capital, it is time for all discussions."
Yang Tinghe continued to remain silent, and Mao Ji expressed his opinion: "When the palace examiner asks about the strategy of enriching the country, some of the Gongsheng students and court officials must talk about the Xining Reform in the past. Now..."
What he said was the reason why the four of them were so silent before: Could it be that the emperor was making such a big fanfare to release a signal for reform?
Reform and reform are different.
One is to wash away the obvious dirt on clothes that have been worn for many years and give them a new look.
The other one needs to change clothes!
Listening to Mao Ji who seemed to be talking eloquently, Yang Tinghe coughed and said: "Your Majesty asks about state affairs, and you will understand if you listen at the same time. What Shu Hou said is true. Many new policies are intended to correct shortcomings and create new ones. They have not yet been adopted because of the lack of money and food. At the age of ten, Times, to what extent do we need to increase revenue and reduce expenditure? I'm afraid it's extremely difficult. Talking about reform or not is just a talk after all..."
No one knows what step the emperor wants to take.
Isn't he prudent? Why send such a signal now?
Is this what "this is a serious matter" and "don't push the envelope"?
It's okay to talk about this matter. The young emperor should just throw stones and ask for directions to see how difficult it is to move some big issues, right?
Yu Qian's posthumous title has not yet been decided, and there is still a lot of discussion in Beijing.
Now, what does it mean to discuss whether the new king will implement new laws?
On the surface, everything remains the same as before in the imperial court, but the backlog of undercurrents is becoming more and more turbulent.
Which reform is not a real reshuffle?
Yang Tinghe, who thought the emperor had entered a mode of not causing trouble, finally realized today that he still had no intention of stopping making trouble.
But in a different way.
A way that makes many middle- and lower-level officials excited, and a signal that will make many people's hearts beat.
If the government wants to reform and become stronger, who will follow it and who will stop it?
