I'm sure of the prosperous age of Kangxi and Qianlong!

Chapter 389 Imperial Examination Reform
Huagai Palace.

In accordance with the usual practice, the Cabinet and the Ministry of Rites submitted the transcript of the examination list and the memorial with information on the list of tributes to the emperor.

Zhu Yijiong picked it up and looked at it for a moment, and then said in surprise: "Did Liu Tongxun only get No. 11 on the first-class exam?"

When Wang Li, the chief examiner of this examination, heard this, he was surprised that the emperor would pay attention to a Shandong candidate.But he still replied: "Reporting to your majesty, I have reviewed this examination paper with all the examiners. The article is indeed thought-provoking, but it is just that my knowledge is insufficient and it is inevitably a bit empty. After discussion with the examiners, I still feel that his article should be ranked No. 11. It’s called proper.”

It’s very euphemistic to say it, but it actually means telling the emperor that so many of us have seen it.The intention of Liu Tongxun's article is good, but the content is empty and unrealistic. It is obviously too young.

In fact, even this eleventh name is the result of repeated discussions.Because Liu Tongxun was a Shandong candidate and the only northern scholar on the first list.

The Ming Dynasty restarted the Northern and Southern Examination Rankings, which did not mean that there would be two joint examination rankings, but that candidates would be admitted according to the proportion of the North and the South to ensure that there would always be northern scholars among the new scholars.

As for the examination list this time, except for Liu Tongxun, who was ranked eleventh, almost all the candidates from the north were at the bottom, and only two were in the second list, still at the bottom.

The northern and southern rankings are determined by the emperor. If there are no candidates from the north in the top rankings and all are in the bottom rankings, even if they are truly talented and learned, the emperor will lose face.

Didn't Grandpa Taizu find out that there was no fraud? It was indeed the candidates from the north who failed to pass because their essays were not as good as those from the south. In other words, they did not write enough papers.

But Lao Zhu still delayed those examiners, and then re-ranked the papers himself, forcibly promoting 51 northern Jinshi (Knock Que).

Liu Tongxun actually guessed this. He is the only one from Shandong in the entire top list. Can you not see it?
Zhu Yijiong smiled and said: "Haha, it seems that there are still many talented people in this world who are willing to show their ambitions in our Ming Dynasty. But Wang Qing has really worked hard this time."

Zhu Yijiong didn't hold on to it, and he didn't have a collecting habit of famous ministers.

Moreover, the examination list only determines the Jinshi. The real ranking and the number one scholar have to wait for the imperial examination (interview).

"Your Majesty, your Majesty!" Wang Li breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly raised his hands and said, "Since I am the examiner of this examination, I naturally have a heavy responsibility and I dare not say anything about my hard work."

The examination is not only hard for the candidates, the examiners also have to stay in the Gongyuan to supervise the examination. They are not allowed to go out during the whole process, in order to prevent the examiners from cheating.

Wang Li went to work as the examiner, including supervising the marking, and was traveling in the examination room for the past month.Since the first ten months of the cabinet, the second assistant has brought the other two cabinet ministers to discuss the matter. If they can't solve the problem, they will report to the emperor.

Lin Jingyu, the Minister of Rites, said at this time: "Your Majesty, now that the examination has been successfully concluded, we should prepare for the next palace examination as soon as possible."

Wang Li followed up and said: "What Lin Shangshu said is absolutely true. The imperial examination is coming soon, so we should really make preparations early."

"I second the proposal!" The remaining three cabinet ministers quickly agreed with their hands.

In fact, the pen, ink, paper, and inkstone supplies required for the palace examination have even been prepared by the invigilator and the etiquette department. Since the examination room is set at Fengtian Palace, they cannot be arranged immediately and can only come on the same day.

It's just that so far, the emperor has not informed the exam questions.

Strictly speaking, the emperor sets the questions for the imperial examination, but in most cases the emperor consults with the cabinet and the Ministry of Rites.

There are too many uncertainties when asking questions on the spot. If it does happen, there is usually only one situation: the emperor no longer trusts the ministers.For example, in the late Jiajing palace examination, the emperor set the questions himself without any prior explanation to the ministers.

The questions ranged from how to govern a country to asking candidates directly how to make sure officials are telling the truth.

Zhu Yijiong thought for a while and said: "Now that the palace examination is coming, the cabinet and the Ministry of Rites will prepare for the palace examination as soon as possible. Be sure not to miss the Fengtian palace examination in seven days. As for the questions of the palace examination, we will focus on governing the country and ask these candidates, If they were officials, how should they govern? Let them write based on their hometowns and places of origin, so that candidates can speak freely without fear of making mistakes."

The four cabinet ministers were all a little surprised that governance was the question in the imperial examination.They thought that the emperor would definitely have something to do with the West, but they didn't expect this to be the result.

"I obey the order!" Surprised, the cabinet and the Ministry of Rites still accepted the order.

Compared with the Luzon and Western subjects asked by the emperor in the examination, this kind of governance is more pragmatic from the perspective of cabinet ministers.This is not surprising, and the current situation today has been determined. Passing the joint examination allows candidates to pay attention to overseas countries and correct their attitude.

The ultimate goal of the examination is definitely to select candidates, there is no doubt about it!

"Ah."

Zhu Yijiong looked at the examination list again. Except for Liu Tongxun, he didn't recognize anyone in it. He had never even heard of the top candidate in the first list.

This is also the butterfly effect he brought about. He added calendar calculation and Western studies to the examination questions. These new knowledge have made the traditional eight-legged essay no longer the decisive factor.

Zhu Yijiong thought for a while and then issued an imperial edict:

In the future, those who are under the age of 30 and fail to pass the exam can take the exam again.If you are over 30 years old, you will only be admitted to the exam once. Those over the age of 40 are not allowed to take the examination again.

This is to set an age limit for future exams!

Because Zhu Yijiong had just discovered when he was looking at the college entrance examination list and the list of candidates' places of origin that one-third of the candidates admitted this time were older.They are generally between 30 and 40 years old, but none are over 40 years old.

This definitely won't work. It's not that these people are too old, but that this phenomenon is very bad.

Zhu Yijiong had learned the text that Fan Jin passed the exam when he was a child, and the teacher at that time also required them to recite the entire text.Although it has almost been returned to the teacher now... Speaking of which, the teacher didn't even say thank you.

If scholars are allowed to take exams throughout their lives, this will lead to a backlog and waste of talents. Scholars will only study how to take exams if they are not engaged in production every day.

In the 60th year of Qianlong's reign in the Qing Dynasty, the provinces even chose to report to the central government because there were too many old candidates.

It's just that Qianlong didn't care about it and instead encouraged it. This directly led to the number of 70-year-olds who came to Beijing to take the entrance exam to 122, and the number of people who were over 80 and had completed three exams to 92.

This is not the future. Without the huge talent pool accumulated through industrialization, every talent cannot be wasted like this.

The cabinet was caught off guard by the emperor's sudden edict. Wang Li quickly advised: "Your Majesty, all candidates over 30 years old are only allowed to take the exam once. This is a bit too harsh. Many of the candidates this time are over 30 years old. There are countless 40-year-olds who have failed..."

Zhu Yijiong said: "Then 35 years old. I have seen it. The oldest person on the exam list is only 34 years old. I promise that you can retake the exam under the age of 35. This is the most benevolent thing. As for those 40-year-old candidates who failed the exam, then Wouldn't it be great to take this opportunity to ask them to stop aiming too high and become local officials as soon as possible to benefit the people?"

"His Majesty……"

Wang Li wanted to persuade him again, but Zhu Chengxun seized the opportunity and shouted: "Your Majesty, you are wise! In this way, you can prevent candidates from taking exams for no reason and wasting financial and material resources, and you can also take advantage of the opportunity to enrich local officials. And this The bad habits passed down from past dynasties should be abolished as soon as possible."

The age limit for candidates is not Zhu Yijiong's original idea. It was tried out as early as the Ming Dynasty, but it didn't last long.

Zhu Chengxun would support it because his butt determines his head. Although he was a civil servant, his current official position was not obtained through examination.

Similarly, many young officials in the Ming and New Dynasties did not pass the exam.Many of them don't even have any honors, and they have been promoted from the grassroots level through continuous meritorious service.

Pei Haicheng, who was involved in the previous Jiangxi case, was a dignified governor of a province and a high-ranking official in the border areas. In fact, he didn't even have the reputation of being a scholar.

For these people, they all risked their heads to join the dragon, and then they worked hard and worked their way up from the grassroots level.Why can those candidates just sit back and enjoy their success? If they take the exam, they will be outstanding and directly awarded officials.

　I'm so sleepy, my mind is groggy, I fell asleep

　　
　
(End of this chapter)