All officials in the capital, except the Ministry of Household Affairs, can take this exam.
Some imperial censors complained that the prince's supervisor was obsessed with money, but the exam was still an exam.
"We don't want to work for this guy who suppresses civil servants."
"That's right, we can't imitate those old guys like Fang Congzhe."
The two officials complained for a while, then secretly picked up a copy of the test questions on the way back, hid it in their sleeves and secretly took it back to write.
As a result, they bumped into each other after taking it.
A spokesman hurriedly explained: "I said I hated him, but my hands couldn't control me, so why did I take it..."
Another said: "I will give it a try and see how he makes things difficult for the scholars in the world. If I answer one more question, one less scholar will be misled..."
The two of them spoke plausibly, as if they were forced to take the exam.
There are many people like this who are tough-talking but "don't listen to their hands" and "look how he makes things difficult".
Even Yang Lian asked someone to bring a copy back.
"The introduction is a little more than a hundred words, but it actually asks: How to make a country rich?"
Do you want to answer? How should you answer?
......
"How can the country become rich...Humph, it's simply an insult to politeness!"
Zuo Guangdou also answered the question this time. He pretended to surrender this time.
After Yang Lian worked with his family, he suddenly understood Yang Lian's plan. This was a temporary plan to treat Zhu You softly, actually find out the truth, and slap the prince in the face at the critical moment, causing him to make inappropriate policies that would damage his prestige, and then he had to
Listen to the advice of the civil servants. From now on, as your will slowly wears away, delegate power to the civil servants to lead the government.
He was very close to Yang Lian's political ideology and decided to cooperate in the implementation of this plan.
Wei Zhongxian and Wang Tiqian heard that he had relented and honestly told Wang An what rumors about the prince he had told him when he came to him in private. He did believe some of them and did some publicity for Wang An.
But I really didn’t know about the rebellion, nor did I participate in it. I just secretly supported Wang An and Wang Wenyan on the night of the rebellion.
This is indeed a crime. He is willing to atone for his sins and lead the Jiangnan scholars to support the prince in supervising the country.
This statement is indeed a 180-degree turn.
When Wei Zhongxian and Wang Tiqian reported to Zhu Youxiao, he just said quietly: "Okay, let's ask Mr. Zuo, a capable minister, to take part in the exam and provide advice to the country."
After Zuo Guangdou returned home and got the test papers, he scoffed at Zhu Youxiao's arrangement.
But since it is a false surrender, you must "surrender" first, so you need to show some skills in this exam.
......
In this way, more than 200 officials from the capital participated in the exam.
As introduced at the beginning, this is a completely open-book exam with more than eight days to answer questions. It is a very relaxed exam.
Regarding this capital official examination, Zhu Youxiao, Chief Assistant Fang Congzhe, Chief Military Minister Zhang Weixian, and Minister of Household Affairs Li Ruhua all attached great importance to it. Even Liu Ruoyu, the eunuch and eunuch responsible for the ceremony, was not relaxed.
Because this is the first time that the prince oversees the country to select reform talents through examinations, and he also needs to discover the reform strategies for the prosperity and development of the Ming Dynasty and the long-term stability.
It is a rare opportunity for young civil servants to be recognized, especially those middle-aged and elderly civil servants who feel that their talents are not recognized and have not had a chance to be promoted for more than ten or even decades. They are eager to try and must seize this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Dongchang, Jinyiwei, and the Ministry of War sent personnel to guard the cabinet examination paper reception desk day and night. Starting from the fifth day, officials came to hand in the examination papers. They strictly sealed the names of the examinees, stored them, stored them, and protected them. Each link was supervised by relevant personnel.
.
On the evening of the tenth day, more than 200 test papers were collected, and then the three parties, accompanied by supervisors, sent a sealed box to the marking office of Baijia University Hall in the palace.
However, they cannot leave, nor can they have contact with the outside world. Their food and accommodation will be kept in the Baijia University Hall in the palace until the ranking of the examinees is announced.
Ten days later.
The British Duke Zhang Weixian, the First Assistant Fang Congzhe, the Minister of Household Affairs Li Ruhua, and the eunuch Liu Ruoyu, the Superintendent of Ceremonies, cooperated with Zhu Youxiao to review the officials' answer papers at the Baijia University Hall in the palace.
The office of British Duke Zhang Weixian's Military Aircraft Department was located symmetrically to the west of the Wenhua Palace. He recognized Zhu Youxiao's good intentions when he set up the Archives Bureau in the Wenhua Palace and the Baijia University Hall in the palace. Fang Congzhe, the first assistant, and Li Ruhua, the minister of household affairs, were both veterans of the three dynasties of civil service. They had long regarded Zhu Youxiao as an assistant to the new emperor. They had a deep understanding of the significance of changing the corridor room of the Wenhua Palace into a university hall in the palace, and it was even more important to grade papers here.
Reasonable.
Liu Ruoyu was also a veteran literary eunuch. He knew more about palace etiquette and court etiquette than the other three. What surprised him was that the prince, who had never officially gone out to study, actually knew so much and was proficient in everything.
The main hall of Wenhua Hall is an I-shaped plane. The front hall is Wenhua Hall, facing south, with 5 rooms in width and 3 rooms in depth, with yellow glazed tiles resting on the top of the mountain.
There are 6 doors with three crosses and six bowls of water chestnuts in the open room. There are sill windows in the second room and the top room, with 4 windows with three crosses and six bowls of water chestnuts each. There is a window on the east and west gables.
From the platform in front of the hall, there is a corridor leading directly to the Wenhua Gate. The back hall is called the Main Jing Hall, and its regulations are slightly similar to that of the Wenhua Hall, but the depth is slightly shallower. The front and rear halls are connected by corridors. The east and west side halls are respectively hanging mountain-style structures.
Hall, Jiyi Hall.
The Baijia University Hall in the palace set up by Zhu Youxiao occupied Bunren Hall. The future Daming Academy Bunren Hall was simply not enough, so it had to be expanded from outside the wall. It was very wide, and Zhu Youxiao knew that the inner city was very valuable.
Land will never be wasted easily.
In the Ming and Qing dynasties, every spring and autumn, a sutra banquet was held in the Wenhua Hall. In the Qing dynasty, great scholars, ministers, censors of Zuodu, ministers and others served as lecturers at the sutra banquet. In the Ming and Qing dynasties, palace examinations were held
Grading is also conducted in Wenhua Hall.
This exam is not comparable to the imperial examination. The candidates for reference are all officials in Beijing, not to mention that they are all Jinshi. They are all eager to try, hoping to demonstrate their own skills in order to be reused.
All the test papers were sealed with names. Several people took turns to read the test papers, then selected dozens of outstanding ones, and initially selected the top fifteen. Then they separated and evaluated those who did not make the top fifteen.
Zhu Youxiao specifically read the test papers of Zhou Jiamo, Zuo Guangdou and Yang Lian, and understood the advantages and disadvantages of traditional civil servants. He saw their abilities and clearly saw their shortcomings.
The top three were collectively selected.
The British public Zhang Weixian liked the third-place answer sheet very much. When he opened it, he saw that it was Xu Guangqi.
The first assistant, Fang Congzhe, especially praised the second place answer sheet. When he opened it, he saw that it was Sun Chengzong.
Everyone is a little surprised. Who will be the person ranked first? The content is indeed well written, but other test papers have been opened, and the more famous officials have been revealed. Who will be the last sealed name?
Only Li Ruhua, the Secretary of the Ministry of Revenue, was enlightened and knew who this person was.
"Who is it?"
"Bi Ziyan."
After taking it apart, it turned out to be Bi Ziyan.