prosperous age

Chapter 180 Chapter 179

Before the imperial examination, Wei Guangde and other Xinke Scholars visited the president of the examination, the chief examiner and his room teacher as usual.

As a cabinet minister, Lu Ben, Wei Guangde and other Jinshi came to the door, but only received them as a courtesy.

"Congratulations to my mentor for being promoted to Prince Shaobao and Grand Bachelor of the Hall of Martial Arts."

Just two days ago, Lu Ben, who was previously a scholar of Wenyuan Pavilion, was awarded by Emperor Jiajing. Not only was he awarded the title of Sangu, but he was also entrusted with the responsibility of inspecting the officials of the Jiuqing Hall and Ke Dao.

"Haha, Wei Chuanlu please come up, you're welcome"

This visit was just to pay homage to his disciples on the pretext of being promoted, but Lu Ben's attitude towards them, the new Jinshi, could only be described as very enthusiastic but lacking in sincerity, and he didn't mean much acceptance inside or outside the words.

Well, Wei Guangde is very clear that Lu Ben has nothing to say here, and it is impossible to attach himself to his sect. Perhaps it is because of himself, the Yan family made it clear that they want to bring him under their command, and Lu Ben himself can join the cabinet Thanks to Yan Song's blessing.

In Yintai's mansion, Wei Guangde's treatment was much better. Yintai and Wei Guangde talked a lot, and even mentioned Wei Guangde's room teacher, Kang Siqian.

"In the past few days, you'd better revise and polish the best articles you have written in the past, so as to prepare for the imperial examination later."

Yin Tai was very envious of his luck as a young fellow. He was originally a top three, but the article he wrote was favored by the emperor, and he was directly inserted into the top two. It seems that such a situation has never happened before. It is really unheard of Miracle.

After Wei Guangde nodded his promise, he said: "Tomorrow your room teacher, Kang Siqian, will go to Henan to transfer the school to the deputy envoy of the Chasi. To be honest, you can have today's glory, but it depends on this teacher's advice. Let me see what papers you know. However, if it were me, I would never order you."

"Yes, I've heard Tongnian say that tomorrow morning we will go to Tongnian to see the teacher off."

Hearing Yin Tai's words, Wei Guangde was a little ashamed, but he still spoke.

"Ziyi's going out from the Imperial Academy this time to serve as a tutor is a relatively difficult path. If you can make achievements in Henan and be transferred to the Imperial College in the future, it may be of great benefit to you."

Yin Tai looked at Wei Guangde and said, his eyes fixed on the change of expression on Wei Guangde's face.

But at the moment, Wei Guangde, as Yin Tai said, was more concerned about the imperial examination, so he didn't have any feelings for Fang Shi Kang Siqian's release.

On the second day, 21 Jinshi from Kang Siqian's house went to see each other off outside the city.

After returning from outside the city, Wei Guangde began to focus on selecting articles he had written in the past to prepare for the imperial examination.

In the past, Wei Guangde was still troubled by the six imperial examinations, and he never paid attention to the imperial examination after the imperial examination.

But today is different from the past, Wei Guangde carefully studied the method of the imperial examination, and felt very painful.

The court examination system in the Ming Dynasty was implemented very early, and it had existed since the time of Hongwu Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang, but the current court examination system was indeed established in the Hongzhi Dynasty.

The imperial examination is an examination for new scholars, mainly to select talents from among them to enter the Hanlin Academy as Shujishi.

The Jinshi who failed to attack Shu Jishi will be assigned to each yamen to watch politics according to their ranks, and will be awarded the positions of chief minister, Zhongshu, and county magistrate after the period of watching politics expires.

In principle, the second-class Jinshi had a better chance of staying in Beijing, while the third-class Jinshi would mostly be sent to the local government to act as their parents.

"Unless you are a Jinshi, you cannot enter the Imperial Academy, and if you are not an Imperial Academy, you cannot enter the cabinet."

In order to become a cabinet and become one of the helmsmen of the huge empire of Ming Dynasty, the Hanlin Academy must work hard.

It is a pity that the court examination rules set by the Hongzhi Dynasty stipulated that "new Jinshi records the theories, strategies, poems, fus, prefaces, records and other texts written on weekdays, with a limit of more than [-] articles, submitted to the Ministry of Rites, and sent to the Hanlin for examination and revision. There are five new works for young people. , It is also allowed to apply for the Hanlin Academy. Select the ones whose diction, literature and science are suitable, and take them according to the number. The Ministry of Rites uses the test papers with vague names, and the cabinet ministers will write questions for the exam in the East Pavilion. The test papers are commensurate with the essays submitted, and the preliminary selection will be accepted."

That's the time, for the imperial examination, Jinshi not only need to enter the examination room again to take the examination, but also submit their previous articles, such as theory, policy, poem, fu, preface, and note, and the total number should not be less than fifteen. articles.

Then, Wei Guangde got into trouble.

He doesn't even know what questions will be tested in the imperial examination, because the main purpose of the imperial examination is to select people who are good at literature and calligraphy. In the past, Wei Guangde was an exam-oriented education method. attainments.

And this amount is really a lot, a full [-] old works have to be handed over.

If the poems and songs are not good enough, Wei Guangde can only write policy theory temporarily. Anyway, it is the opinions of later generations that are used to make use of it.

As for the problem, we will find the policy theory of the rural examination.

The one in Jiangxi was definitely not usable, and it had already been written, so he went to Zeng Xingwu and other Jinshi from other provinces, and asked them about the test questions of the provincial examinations. Fifteen policy papers were published.

Well, the level of Wei Guangde's policy theory writing really surprised a lot of scholars. They don't know how his head is so long. Every article in the policy theory covers a little something new. That new thing seems to make sense.

In this way, Wei Guangde's quick-wittedness and unique views on things were spread by Jinshi.

It's useless to conceal things that have to be handed over to the Imperial Academy. Wei Guangde is rare and generous this time to let others see.

Of course, Wei Guangde also held his own ideas. He thinks that people in this era are smart, that is, the limitations of the era prevent them from seeing many things, and their thoughts are not as divergent as those of later generations.

He also hopes that through his essays, more Jinshi can stand at a higher level when considering issues, and look at affairs while standing on the shoulders of giants.

This can be regarded as him giving full play to his strengths. I remember that when sending off Fang Shi Kang Siqian, his mentor said that he liked the strategies he wrote. Wei Guangde may be a practical talent.

On April [-]st, Wei Guangde, Lao Kan and others got up early to wash up, and then drove to Chengtian Gate in a carriage. This time they did not gather at Daming Gate, but directly outside Chengtian Gate.

Under the leadership of officials from the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Officials, the Jinshi entered the Forbidden City for the third time, and the purpose was naturally the imperial examination.

According to the system established in the 11th year of Jiajing, the imperial examination was conducted by the cabinet in conjunction with the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Officials to conduct re-examinations, supervise the examinations of the censors, and inspect the Jinyiwei.

The exam questions are nominally determined by the emperor, but the cabinet is allowed to draft the questions and the emperor chooses them.

The location of the imperial examination was in the East Pavilion. They entered Chengtian Gate and passed through Meridian Gate, then turned right and passed through Zuoshun Gate, instead of continuing to pass through Fengtian Gate as before, because Emperor Jiajing was not in the Forbidden City at the moment, he was still in the Forbidden City. Stay in Xiyuan to do a sacrifice to practice your own fairy art.

Of course, for Wei Guangde, today's exam is different from the past in that it is much less stressful, similar to the palace exam, and there is no question of who to eliminate.

Another difference is that this time, Wei Guangde was the first on the left side of the first row of Jinshi, and the position of the examination room was also ranked first, which is based on the results of the palace examination.

Well, this is the first time for Wei Guangde, the first time in his life to take the exam as a top student, a very novel experience.

Even in Wei Guangde's previous life, he was just a scumbag in the middle and lower classes. How often has he been treated like this.

Sitting in his seat, Wei Guangde looked at the topic that was said to be proposed by the Imperial Academy after consulting the two cabinet ministers, Yan Song and Xu Jie.

In fact, for the Hanlin Academy, what they do in one exam is not of much reference significance to them. They refer more to the fifteen articles when they select the best scholars. A good work may be the result of a burst of inspiration. They What is more important is the level of Jinshi's normal time.

The policy theory is obviously made by the cabinet. Given that the current natural disasters in various provinces continue to cause the people at the bottom to suffer unspeakably. In fact, there have been endless small-scale riots due to this during this period.

For this, Wei Guangde has some experience. He saw and heard a lot when he traveled around Jiangxi's prefectures and counties.

Jiangxi is considered a wealthy place in the territory of the Ming Empire. The low-level people are suffering from the drought. Even if the imperial court exempts the national tax, the local showdown has not decreased. As a result, a large number of people can only go to the landlords and gentry The family borrows money, one is to relieve temporary economic pressure, and the other is to purchase production materials for subsequent farming.

The price is naturally their only land and real estate as collateral. Once they cannot repay the loan, they will be reduced to landless people and fall into the abyss completely.

Wei Guangde's response to this did not go beyond the wisdom of the ancients. He chose Wang Anshi's young crop method to deal with it. The government gave farmers loans and grain loans, and charged two or three cents of interest every six months, thus limiting the exploitation of farmers by usury .

Well, the countermeasure is a good countermeasure, but for the poor Ming court, it is actually impossible to implement.

Of course, such discussions are only a small part of it, and most of it is to rectify the administration of officials. Local unrest is mostly related to corrupt officials and local tyrants, and rectifying the administration of officials can at least treat the symptoms.

If you want to cure the root cause, well, there seems to be no good way for future generations, except to levy business taxes, transfer the bulk of taxes from fields to mines, and collect taxes from the rich.

But can Wei Guangde mention it?
No.

At least not now.

There is nothing outstanding about it. In fact, Wei Guangde had some other ideas, but he still didn't dare to write them out. It's not that it hurts the peace, but the main reason is that the operability is relatively poor. It's better to rectify the bureaucracy.

Wei Guangde can only write in this way, the cabinet members can't find a good way, do you still expect a bunch of stunned youths to come up with some constructive suggestions?
As for the poems with unlimited themes, Wei Guangde thought for a long time but couldn't come up with an idea. He was used to being asked questions and dealt with them on his own.

After sitting for a while, Wei Guangde remembered the matter of sending him off to Kang Siqian a few days ago.

Kang Siqian was also very happy to see them coming to see them off, and he gave instructions to every Jinshi he selected.

When it came to Wei Guangde, Kang Siqian said it very directly. In fact, it was similar to what the teacher of the township examination room said at the time. He needed to study more. He was criticized not because of his literary talent, but because of his good policy theory, which won his heart. I hope he can serve the country. Contribute to the people and become a capable official of the imperial court.

There seem to be only two standards for officials in this era, either they are talented or they are capable of doing things.

Thinking of farewell, Wei Guangde thought of "Farewell" by the later Mr. Li Shutong. Because the song was sung, it became the only two poems that Wei Guangde could write in complete later generations.

It's just that the word seems a bit inappropriate.

But at this time, Wei Guangde didn't care too much, even though he knew that there were some discussions about the lyrics of this poem in later generations, he was still very clear about this.

In fact, in this life, Wei Guangde has carefully studied the two poems he only memorized, and there are indeed many differences between "Farewell" and the previous poems.

However, Wei Guangde also found two similar poems, namely "Xiqian Ying" and "Ruan Langgui".

The most appropriate one is actually the sentence pattern of the poem "Ruan Lang Gui", but the rhyme is slightly changed, and it can be read smoothly.

Most of the lyrics in "Xiqianyingying" are close to each other, with only a few differences, which can also be explained by variations.

Wei Guangde thought about some other things, but he was not satisfied. It seems that he can only copy and calculate. Let's go over the problems in front of him first. As for the possible disputes that may arise later, just pretend to be an ostrich. What do they say? How to put it, the big deal is that one's talent is not enough, and it should not be difficult for the second-class to stay in Beijing and become an official.

Trouble, the next step is to prepare to buy a house in the capital.

As a Beijing official, naturally he can't continue to live in the Jiujiang Guild Hall, it's better to move out.

As for the collective dormitories provided by the imperial court, Wei Guangde didn't plan to live in them. The conditions were poor and the rent was not cheap, which meant that the location was good and it was convenient for commuting to and from get off work.

Well, Wei Guangde's thoughts diverged at the moment, and he completely forgot that he was still in the exam.

When I came back to my senses, I didn't know how long it had passed, but the submission of papers had already started in the same year.

Wei Guangde didn't want to waste any more time, so he directly wrote "Farewell".

"Outside the long pavilion, by the side of the ancient road, there are green grass and green sky. The evening wind blows the sound of willows and flutes, and the setting sun is outside the mountains.

At the end of the sky, at the corner of the earth, half of friends are scattered.A pot of turbid wine is enough to make me happy, don't dream of cold tonight. "

I muttered silently in my heart, I am sorry for the author of this poem, my buddy borrowed it first, you have a brilliant literary talent, and you will definitely be able to write another well-known masterpiece.

After finishing the question, Wei Guangde checked it again. This is also the habit of the exam. It will not be changed for a while, and there is no need to change it. The exam should still have the attitude of an exam.

When he was done, Wei Guangde stood up and handed in the paper.

In fact, Wei Guangde sometimes thinks highly of himself. As for his literary talent, most people in the officialdom already know it very well.

No one paid attention to Wei Guangde's stereotyped writing, because it was impossible to write well.

However, because of the rural examination back then, the evaluation of Wei Guangde's good strategy was still circulated in a small circle in the officialdom, so today's imperial examination, even the three elders of the cabinet are very concerned. They hope that Wei Guangde can come up with something they didn't expect Solution.

However, Wei Guangde's test paper was destined to disappoint them.

(End of this chapter)