At the Daming Royal Hotel in the capital, Zeng Ziying, Chen Peter, Li Xiangdong and others arrived here by rickshaw. As soon as they arrived, they could see many people dressed like scholars, gathered together in groups, chatting with each other.
Huan, when meeting other people, they also get up and get to know each other.
The entire Royal Hotel seemed to be occupied by these students who came to the capital to take exams. These students were everywhere they went.
As soon as Zeng Ziying, Chen Peter, Li Xiangdong and others entered the hotel, they immediately met candidates from other places. They bowed to each other and some even took the initiative to ask which province their brothers were from.
Get to know each other.
With the improvement of transportation in the Ming Dynasty, the construction of a large number of roads and railways, the convenience of shipping, and the increasing number of cars, motorcycles, horse-drawn carriages, etc., it has greatly facilitated the Ming Dynasty students to go to Beijing to take exams.
The result is that in recent years, more and more students are rushing to take the exam in Beijing, and the number is increasing year by year.
In the past, due to the long distances and inconvenient transportation, it was extremely difficult for many students from remote areas to come to the capital to take exams.
Places like Yunnan, Sichuan, Guizhou, Guangxi, Guangdong and other places have long distances, and it often takes several months to take the exam in Beijing, which is a severe test for the body and mind.
In addition, the imperial examination is also very cruel. Only about 7% of people can pass the examination, and the probability of passing the imperial examination for the first time is only about 0.4%. Most people fail the examination for the second or third time.
It takes the fourth time to get into high school, and some even take the exam more than a dozen times before they can get into high school.
This imperial examination, which is held every three years, is extremely painful for these candidates.
It takes a lot of money to travel long and arduous distances to reach the capital. However, the probability of getting to high school is very low, so it is usually just a formality and a part of the fun.
It was okay once or twice, and it was okay when I was young, but five or six times made it impossible to go to high school. Plus, when I get older, I basically give up the idea of going to Beijing to take the exam.
In the past, about 3,000-5,000 people came to take the imperial examination each time, and the number of people who could pass the Jinshi each time was about 300.
Sometimes there are relatively few people taking part in the examination, more than 3,000, and there are about 300 high school Jinshi, and the admission rate is about one-tenth.
Of course, this was in the early Ming Dynasty. At that time, there were fewer people taking the imperial examinations and the admission rate was relatively high. By the middle and late Ming Dynasty, more and more people were taking the imperial examinations, and the admission rate was getting lower and lower, with the lowest
At that time, it was even lower than 4%, and only 4 out of 100 people could get Jinshi in high school.
Under such cruel competition, it is naturally not easy for someone to be a high school scholar. He is also a dragon and a tiger among people, and he has soared into the sky.
You must know that those who participate in the general examination are all outstanding people selected from all provinces across the country. Everyone is an outstanding person, but during the general examination, they still have to face such cruel competition.
This is also the reason why many students no longer take the imperial examination after taking it several times, because even if you go through all the trouble to take the exam, there is a high probability that you will not pass.
It's better to go to the imperial court to fill the vacancy and see if you can become a minor official as a judge or simply go back to your hometown and become a rich man, why bother yourself.
Nowadays, people who come to Beijing to take the exam in Ming Dynasty are much more aware than before.
Not only did the improvement of transportation conditions make it easier, faster, and easier to go to Beijing to take the exam, but it was also because the Ming Dynasty now had a vast territory and many new provinces were added.
There are now dozens of large and small provinces in the Ming Dynasty. The expansion history of the past 20 years has also made the Ming Dynasty's territory larger and larger, with more and more provinces.
Each province has corresponding quotas and more and more candidates, which also brings more and more students to Beijing to take the exam.
In the previous imperial examinations, the number of people had exceeded 10,000. In the 27th year of Hongzhi, more than 15,000 people came to the capital to take the imperial examination. This time, it is estimated that the number of people coming to take the imperial examination may exceed 20,000.
people.
Although the number of people admitted to Jinshi by the imperial court has also increased a lot, because of changes in provinces, coupled with the reform of civil service, urban government reform, etc., more officials are needed.
The number of candidates admitted to Jinshi in each imperial examination has also been greatly increased, and now it exceeds 500.
However, compared with this small number of admitted students and the huge number of people who took the imperial examination, the proportion of admitted students was still very low, and the competition was even more intense and cruel than before.
The competition is fierce and cruel, but it still cannot stop everyone's enthusiasm for the imperial examination.
Nowadays, the living standards of ordinary people in Ming Dynasty have been greatly improved, not to mention these scholars, whose living conditions are very good, and naturally they hope to join the ranks of officials in high school.
If you want to get ahead, you must pass the imperial examination and become an official. Only by passing the imperial examination can you truly have a bright future.
The Daming Royal Hotel in front of me was almost filled with students who came to the capital to take the exam.
For these candidates, the hotel is also very welcoming.
On the one hand, merchants in the capital have always liked these students, and they have a fine tradition. Some inns and hotels have even hung up plaques with the title of No. 1 Scholar, because there were students who lived here in the past and won the first prize in high school.
In addition, these students are all Juren, who are not short of money and have high quality. They stay here for several months and are long-term stable customers. They live in their own hotels. Their business is stable and they can improve the level of their hotels.
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Don't look at it. If all of them are still in high school, they will become generals and prime ministers in the future. They will become officials of the imperial court. Maybe some generals and prime ministers will be appointed.
There are many scholars here in the luxuriously decorated grand hotel, gathering in small groups.
Chen Peter, Zeng Ziying, Li Xiangdong, Yun Tiankong and others were also very curious. It was their first time to take the imperial examination and they were full of curiosity about everything in front of them.
He looked carefully at the many students sitting in groups in the hall in front of him.
These students come from all over the world, and their accents are very different, and their looks are also very different.
Although most people still have dark eyes and black hair, you can still see many students from minority tribes.
There are students from Nanyang who have relatively dark skin, protruding cheekbones, short stature, and long eyebrows. Several provinces in Nanyang have been included in the territory of the Ming Dynasty for more than ten years, and they have always adhered to the policy of Ming and Sinicization. Education is the focus.
Every time there was an imperial examination, a large number of students from Nanyang's local tribes came to take the examination, and every time there was bound to be someone who could pass the high school, and the writing style became more and more prosperous. There were even many students from the vassal states of the Ming Dynasty who came to the Ming Dynasty to take the imperial examination.
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Siam, Chenla, Sulu, etc. are now also greatly influenced by the Ming Dynasty. They implement the imperial examination system to select officials, and many students come to the Ming Dynasty to take the imperial examination, because the emperor of the Ming Dynasty also granted permission to these vassal states.
Students from the vassal state came to the Ming Dynasty to take the imperial examination.
If you pass the exam, you can even serve as an official in the Ming Dynasty, or you can return to your own vassal state and serve as an official in the vassal state. This system also makes the vassal state and vassal state have a strong centripetal force towards the Ming Dynasty.
Like Japan and Korea, many students were sent to take the imperial examination every time. However, it was often difficult for students from these vassal countries to enter high school.
There are also many students like Chen Peter, Li Xiangdong, and Yun Tiankong, who have tall noses and deep eyes, with yellow and brown hair. It is obvious at a glance that these are not Han people, but students from minority tribes in various parts of the Ming Dynasty.
The Ming Empire has been promoting Ming and Sinicization policies and systems in various places. It has rigid requirements and regulations for each tribe, such as how many scholars must be produced, who must participate in the imperial examinations, etc.
These often come from places like the Western Region, Nanyun, Northwest, and Black Earth Provinces. There are more minority tribes in these places, and there have always been many students from minority tribes.
Although the students from these minority tribes look very different from the people of the Ming Dynasty, their behavior, clothing, etc. are no different from other students. When they get together with each other, they are the same as the scholars of the Ming Dynasty.
call each other brothers.
The Sinicization and Ming policies implemented by the Ming Dynasty also played a huge role. The language, customs and habits of the Ming Dynasty began to be continuously promoted among the minority tribes.
In addition, the powerful Ming Empire itself has extremely high centripetal force, which also makes these minority tribes willing to learn and integrate into the huge Ming family, because only by integrating into it can their lives become better.
In addition, you can also see many mixed-race students. These mixed-race students are often relatively young, generally under 20 years old. They can all be clearly seen, with black eyes, blond hair, high noses and deep eyes, etc.
These people are similar to other students. Apart from the difference in appearance, there seems to be no other difference. When everyone stands together, they all chat happily. They share the same language and culture. They are all Confucian.
Mencius, disciple of the saint.
Moreover, they are all of the same year and same period. When we are together, we also pay attention to fate. We don't seem to care about blood. It does not say that you are of mixed blood and that it makes a difference if you are not a pure Ming Dynasty person.
This has always been a tradition of the Ming Dynasty. It pays attention to the sense of cultural identity. There is not much grudge against blood. Everyone is a Ming Dynasty person, a scholar, a scholar, and a common culture.
This made Peter Chen, who was a little worried at first, feel relieved.