In April, before Beijing could react, the heat had swept across the entire north, and the yellow sand also played the leading role from time to time.
In this case, the Spring Festival will still be held without any delay.
Scholars from the eighteen provinces of the Ming Dynasty drank in the wind and rushed to the battlefield without hesitation.
However, the four-year examination in Shaowu was different from the past.
In order to prevent the occurrence of cliques and cliques between the imperial masters and imperial ministers, the emperor did not appoint important cabinet ministers or court ministers as examiners as usual.
The person who holds this honor is Taipusiqing, one of the Xiaojiuqings, who is responsible for preparing the emperor's retinue, carriages, horses, and sundries, from the third rank.
It's the kind of leisure job where you can live in retirement.
The emperor even planned to make it a practice to let these high-ranking and low-ranking ministers, such as the Minister of Honglu Temple, the Minister of Taichang Temple and other Xiaojiuqing, serve as examiners.
"Don't those scholars like to be apprentices?"
Faced with the confusion of the cabinet, the emperor said proudly: "I would like to see if they are happy with the powerless ministers."
What a loss...
The three cabinet members were silent.
The emperor's operation was really amazing.
To worship a master in name only is useless to Jinshi, and it does not help their progress in the officialdom.
As for the young Jiuqings, the apprenticeship, daily respect, filial piety, etc. of the Jinshis are all for them to enjoy without having to pay.
"Your Majesty, your Majesty!" Zhao Shu sighed in his heart. He lost a good opportunity to cultivate underachievers, so he could only cheer up:
"The former Ming Dynasty was destroyed by party strife. If this matter becomes a routine, it will definitely clear up the origins of the examination and truly become a talent promotion ceremony of the Ming Dynasty."
"The examiners in each room must not be negligent." Seeing that there was no benefit to be gained, Zhang Shenyan also added:
"We usually remove Zhan Shifu from the Hanlin Academy and appoint him as the room master. Now why not change the rules and select doctors from various ministries to take on such important posts?"
"How about adding the doctors from the Imperial College?" Yan Chongxin was even more insulted and said directly: "In terms of knowledge, only the Imperial College is the best in the world. The doctors, teaching assistants, academics, etc., I guess they will not be given to others."
The progress in the officialdom of the academic officers of the Imperial College is even more limited. Unless they are serving as officials such as Jijiu, Jiancheng, etc., they can only survive through qualifications.
"Hahaha!" The emperor suddenly became happy. This was a collective failure.
"Okay, let's do it this way. Only in this way can we be fair and just and put an end to the so-called clique for personal gains."
This operation shocked the whole court. No one could understand such behavior.
In fact, if you look into it deeply, this is normal.
In the emperor's daily chats with the cabinet, the topic of Qian Ming was always the most talked about, and several people summarized the reasons for his country's collapse.
The first thing to bear the brunt is corruption, which is rotten from the central to the local governments. Even benevolent and good governance will always turn into bad governance in the end.
Secondly, there is the unanimously recognized party formation for personal gain. Whether it is the Donglin Party, the Eunuch Party, or the Chu Party, Zhejiang Party, etc. during the Wanli and Tianqi years, they have all caused deep harm to this country.
Finally, the military affairs were corrupted, including the border troops, garrison posts, etc. The military force that the country relied on to maintain it completely became a burden.
Corruption and military violence can still be reformed, or are already changing, but it is difficult to form cliques for personal gain.
And today, it is finally on the agenda.
In fact, during the reform, the emperor also wanted to take action on the eight-part essay.
But when he thought about the public examination he took before traveling through time, he realized that it was worse than the eight-part essay!
After all, it is just a means of selecting officials.
In comparison, the Tang Dynasty's selection of officials by writing poems was even less reliable.
People have worked hard for decades, even if they are working as a topic artist in a so-called small town, the sweat they shed is immeasurable.
The form remains unchanged, but the content can be changed.
For example, emphasis is placed on policy theory and less on eight-legged writing.
"The disadvantages of the imperial examination are not in the general examination or the rural examination, but in the threshold of the county examination."
Regarding the imperial examination, Yan Chongxin saw it most clearly.
Among the three people in the cabinet, Zhao Shu was born as a scholar, and Zhang Shenyan was a Jinshi. He was the only scholar and the youngest, so he always lacked the confidence to speak.
But at this time, his eyes were bright and his words were loud and clear:
"Your Majesty, according to the rules of the imperial court, if ordinary people want to participate in the county examination, which is the first level for scholars, they must have a local student as a guarantor before they can enter the examination."
"In some places, the local people and the gentry formed a personal relationship and guaranteed each other, but refused to provide guarantee to poor families, so that the number of scholars was restricted."
Poor scholar, poor scholar, is what they are called, but in the feudal era, there was an exam every two or three years, and the number of places in one county was only a few dozen.
Its scarcity is evident.
Scholars also influenced the public, so the gentry colluded with the local gentry to act as guarantees for each other and artificially limited their reference, thus making the scholars their prize.
The key is that this bad habit is still in line with the rules.
"did you mean?"
"Abolish the guarantee system for rural students." Yan Chongxin said solemnly:
"Since at least the first year of Shaowu's reign, His Majesty has abolished humble status and made the guarantee system inappropriate. Why do you want to implement it again?"
"But those who committed adultery and committed crimes were not allowed to take part in the exam, so a guarantee is still required."
Zhang Shenyan suggested: "It would be better to have a scholar as a guarantee instead of a Linsheng."
"This is a change of soup but not medicine. If someone guarantees it, it will inevitably be taken advantage of."
Yan Chongxin deeply hated Taoism.
"If there is no one to guarantee it, I'm afraid it will be easy to break the rules."
"The testimony of Yuli and the county is enough to prove his identity. The scholar's guarantee is just superfluous."
The two had a rare quarrel and exchanged heated words.
"alright!"
The emperor stopped the two of them directly, thought about it again and again, and said:
"The guarantee of participating in the county examination will definitely give some people the opportunity to make money, especially rural students."
"In this case, let's change the guarantee from two junior students to one scholar. Whether it is an accretion or an appendage, it is enough to prove his identity."
Scholars are actually divided into three, six or nine grades. It does not mean that if you are admitted as a scholar, you will have enough food and clothing and enjoy life-long happiness.
The so-called Linsheng are students who are provided with meals by the government. They are also called Linshansheng.
Only those who have passed the county school years and ranked first in the two subjects can obtain the title of Linsheng and receive four taels of silver, which can be said to be a nourishing life.
Those that increase are called "increasing students", and are called "increasing students" in general. And additional additions are added to the end of all students, which is called "attached students".
A county may have only a few ordinary people, but there are hundreds of scholars, enough to eliminate the so-called family scholars.
"Your Majesty is Holy Ming."
Several people bowed their hands respectfully.
"Nowadays, the country is full of waste and needs to be revitalized. Officials in Suiyuan and Gansu are scarce, so the talent promotion ceremony is at the right time."
Zhu Yixi's mind was spinning, and suddenly he asked again: "By the way, what are the rules of the imperial court regarding the preferential payment and exemption of money and food for the gentry?"