On April 20, nearly 3,000 candidates from 23 provinces and two capitals came to the capital to participate in the lively examination.
Before dawn, the city of Beijing is busy.
In the streets and alleys, soldiers from the Beijing camp were standing guard everywhere, and the Five Cities Soldiers and Horses Division were constantly patrolling to relieve traffic pressure.
When we arrived in front of the Gongyuan, lanterns from each province were hung high, and people lined up one after another. Silence prevailed, and the voices of discussions were also very low.
At this time, the Gongyuan was already as bright as day.
The emperor, on the other hand, went out incognito and joined in the fun.
In Dongchang, the Jin Yiwei accompanied him as usual and protected him steadily, not to mention that he was in the capital, the most benign place.
Looking at the bright lanterns, the emperor's eyes swept across and stopped at the three provinces of Liaodong, Suiyuan and Ningxia.
These three provinces are newly established. In theory, there should not be many candidates, but in fact there are quite a few.
Without him, he is just a son of a military family.
There are the most people in Liaodong, about 30 people, 25 people in Ningxia, and 10 people in Suiyuan.
The quota for candidates is very precious, and often there is less than one available in a county.
In previous years, Jiangxi had the largest number of candidates, admitting 95 people in one session. You must know that South Zhili is equivalent to two provinces, and it can only admit 135 candidates.
The lowest is in Yunnan and Guizhou. In the past, the two provinces combined had only 50. Later, Guizhou was separated, with 45 in Yunnan and 30 in Guizhou.
Now, last year, military control was ended in Liaodong and civilian rule was restored. Considering that there are less than 2 million people in the province, the number of people to be elected is only 30.
Although Ningxia is a large area, it has a population of less than one million. There are many people from military households, with 25 people.
Not to mention Suiyuan, if it weren't for the fact that he was a provincial administrative agency, he would not have held the provincial examination at all. The candidates were the most qualified, and ten people were taken care of.
It is conceivable that they will try the nine-day tour.
The general examination is basically the same as the provincial examination, with one session lasting three days and three consecutive examinations, including four written essays, five-character and eight-rhyme poems, five classics and policy questions.
At this time, the most important subjects in the examination were the Four Books and Policy Questions.
In fact, this is easy to understand. In the era before news broadcast, although Juren had a very broad vision compared to ordinary people, it was actually still narrow.
Asking them for advice is like asking high school students to govern the country.
If you really adopt it, it would be ridiculous.
"I heard that people hate stereotyped writing a lot lately?"
While enjoying the excitement leisurely, Wu Bangfu suddenly heard the emperor's question.
He quickly turned around and replied respectfully: "It is true."
"In the three hundred years of our reign, especially with the rise of spiritual learning, scholars have become increasingly dissatisfied with stereotyped writing..."
Hearing this, the emperor showed a smile: "A group of young people who don't know the grain of grain. Although the eight-part essay has many shortcomings, it is the best method now. If it needs to be changed, they will be the ones crying."
"However, there will be something good to watch this year."
Not only now, but also in later generations, I don’t know how many people criticize the public examination, but no matter how much they scold it, it doesn’t help, and the eight-legged essay is still passed down.
Without him, the imperial examination would be the most fair one based on the eight-legged essay.
It is a cliché that eight-part essays are also a type of policy theory, but they are just dancing in shackles.
Compared with the poetry of the Tang Dynasty, in the Song Dynasty, poetry and fu were no longer examined.
The reason given by Wang Anshi is that a person who is familiar with the phonology of poems and poems since childhood, but knows very little about the words of saints, will inevitably lack experience in governing the country and the people when serving as an official.
Just like the professional examinations and application essays of later generations, is it not just another stereotyped article?
Of course, there are also limitations to the Eight-Part Composition. The elites often write the Four Classics and the Five Classics, and it is very easy for them to be imprisoned by the classics, thus solidifying their thinking.
Therefore, Zhu Yixi also made changes. For example, the provincial examination for selecting Zuo Er officials no longer used eight-part essays, but added law, geography, and history.
It can be said with certainty that changing the imperial examination cannot be achieved overnight.
After all, people have studied hard for decades, and if you depose them once, then their hard work will be in vain.
Governing a big country is like cooking small dishes.
From the beginning of the provincial examination, the emperor saw little resistance and immediately prepared to implement it again and continue to pave the way for the imperial examination.
As for the method, it is from top to bottom.
As the name suggests, his next attack was aimed at the imperial examination.
Because the imperial examination does not depose Jinshi, it only affects the ranking. The consequences are not serious, but the impact is huge.
Then step by step, the palace examination, the general examination, and then the provincial examination.
As for scholars, they still use the eight-legged essay.
Why?
Because the eight-legged essay only tests four books and five classics, the total cost of this set is only a few silver dollars.
For students from poor families, this is the cheapest way to get started.
It's like the college entrance examination. If you have good moral, intellectual, and physical qualities, taking any piano, baseball, or golf exams, then the threshold is purely high and your brain is sick.
After being admitted as a scholar, ordinary people can have money and spare energy, and can afford to read more books, such as geography, law, history books, etc.
For the lowest level, eight-legged writing is the fairest.
"Let's go, there's nothing to see."
After looking at it for a long time, Zhu Yixi withdrew her gaze and walked down the tall building.
Everything was going according to plan. What surprised him most was that he had taken the imperial examination, but he still had to wait for more than ten days.
What troubled him the most was the martial arts.
That's right, it's martial arts on a par with liberal arts.
In fact, due to the military household system, officers were hereditary. Although loyalty was guaranteed and outstanding generals such as Qi Jiguang, Yu Dayou, Li Rusong, and You Shiwei emerged, the disadvantages definitely outweighed the advantages.
There has always been little interest in martial arts examinations. From the second year of Longqing to the eighth year of Wanli, only 450 Wu Jinshi were admitted. However, in the eighth year of Wanli, there were only more than 180 candidates waiting for promotion, and those without official positions.
During the Chongzhen period, due to the decline of the country's power, martial arts began to flourish, but talents were still scarce.
However, compared with the previous dynasty, due to the abolition of the Military Guards Station, one hundred thousand military attachés were disbanded in one go, clearing the way for military campaigns.
However, since martial arts training consumes too much money, it can be said with certainty that those who can participate in martial arts competitions are basically powerful local families.
Therefore, in the first martial arts competition, the emperor directly held a competition in the Beijing camp and directly selected the martial arts candidates.
But this year we can't be so ridiculous, we must have an exam.
The Ming Dynasty believed that "strategy should be put first, and martial arts second", and military strategy should be placed above military technology. If you fail the written test of answering strategies, you will not be able to participate in the military test.
Considering that at this time, the world is transitioning from cold weapons to hot weapons, and bravery is still an important option, this martial arts move is simply a joke.
Paying equal attention to civil and military affairs is an important prerequisite.
It became the emperor's worry to take whatever test and compete and try to make the competition as fair as possible.
"Waiter, check out."
"okay!"
With two fried dough sticks and three buns in her belly, Zhu Yixi patted her belly and left the stall.
In the sky in front of me, the morning star has gone down, the sun is already high in the sky, the air is slightly moist, and it feels like it is filled with a lot of dust and the smell of sweat.
In a big city with nearly a million people, these are just commonplace.
"Master, where are we going?"
"Where are we going? Let's go out to Beijing and have some fun."
Zhu Yixi saw a lot of cities and immediately yearned for the countryside.
In this era, rural areas are more impoverished and more real than cities.
Conservative estimates suggest that with the development of the commodity economy, the urbanization rate of Ming Dynasty will be around 10%.
There are only nearly 10 million people in large and small cities, while the remaining 100 million people still stay in the countryside.
The city of Beijing cannot represent the living standards of this era, just as the rich and powerful families taking Wushisan cannot represent the poor people who have perished; the prosperous and extravagant Bianliang of Tokyo cannot offset the rural areas where thieves are infested.
"Master?" Liu Afu stamped his feet and looked at Yang Le beside him.
As the admiral of Dongchang, Yang Le opened his mouth, but did not say anything to dissuade him.
After all, he is just like Liu Afu, they are slaves, and it only takes the emperor's thought to crush them to death.
Wu Bangfu, the commander of the Jinyiwei, who hesitated repeatedly, could only obey the emperor's opinion.
However, a team of cavalry was added to the team protecting the emperor.
The emperor went directly out of Xuanwumen, then headed east, running along the canal, with Tianjin in the distance.
The group of people moved very fast, and the journey of twenty to thirty miles was over in an hour.
The large army is behind, and Zhu Yixi leads dozens of people forward slowly. This is a small town.
It prospered because of the canal. As you can see from the bottom, there are no walls, hundreds of households, a commercial street, a dock, thousands of people living together, it is very lively.
The emperor came from a grassroots background and had a deep understanding of the grassroots. At first sight, he went to Mipu.
A wooden board with the price of rice for that day written on it.
Brown rice costs fifty cents, polished rice costs eighty cents...
This is the price for one bucket (twelve kilograms).
Compared to Beijing, it's a few cents cheaper.
Then, he looked at the salt shop again.
This time it’s not about the price, but about the flow of people.
Good sales of official salt means that money is flowing in, private salt has less chance of survival, and the court has strong control.
Obviously, this place is enough to satisfy him.
Then, he went up to the restaurant, found a seat by the window, and watched with interest.
Soon, a mourning procession attracted his attention.
About two hundred people, all wearing sackcloth and mourning, carried the coffin and walked out of the city.
There were people of all ages, all with tears in their faces.
Obviously, they are all from the same family.
The shops on the roadside held road festivals one by one, burning paper and setting up tables, which was really lively.
The entire town, thousands of people, were moved by this.
When the emperor saw this, his face almost turned green.
"Xiao Er, which clan is this from?"
Zhu Yixi looked around for a few times and asked the waiter on the side.
"Replying to the guest officer, this is the Wei family in this town. The person mourning today is Mr. Wei. As early as the first year of Chongzhen, he was selected as a scholar..."
The waiter said with pride on his face: "The Wei family lives next to each other in this town. There are thirty or fifty households. The fields are as far as the eye can see. They are hundreds of miles in radius. Who doesn't give the Wei family face?"
"Two years ago, the county magistrate sent someone to ask Mr. Wei to serve as a clerk in the first room, but he refused abruptly——"
After asking a few more questions, the waiter finally withdrew.
Wu Bangfu, who was on the side, quietly stepped forward and whispered: "Mr. Wei's name is Wei Wuxian. He was indeed a scholar in the first year of Chongzhen. He was seventy years old this year and died without any illness."
"Of his three sons, one was born as a child and one grandson is a scholar. They have a total of more than 3,000 acres of land in this county. There is also an ancestral hall covering an area of five acres, and the family farmland has 100 acres..."
The emperor nodded slightly.
This is a typical gentry family.
There may be no scholars in one or two generations, but because the family's Chinese culture is prosperous, someone will always come forward to bring the family back to prosperity.
Similarly, because of Wei Wuxian, an old scholar, the entire family of hundreds of people also benefited from this.
Although it sounds ugly, in the feudal dynasty, such people were the cornerstone of feudalism.
A simple metaphor is that the imperial court needs to collect a thousand stones of food and grass for military use in a short period of time.
The yamen summoned the people one by one, and it would not take more than ten days and a half.
But as long as the Wei family is persuaded, not only can he contribute hundreds of stones of food and grass, but he can also quickly motivate others to donate food.
Likewise, such people are allies of the imperial court and to some extent enemies.
If they were wiped out wholesale, I'm sorry to say that at this time the Ming Dynasty would need at least hundreds of thousands of officials to fill the vacancies of the gentry.
To support one hundred thousand officials would be a huge burden on the court, and it would be simply unrealistic to expand it several times.
So, I can only pull and hit.
"Gentlemen are not to be feared, only gentry who are irrepressible are to be feared."
The emperor couldn't help but sigh.
Although he has a strong desire to control, he understands that since he cannot eliminate it, he should weaken it as much as possible.
The weakened channel is to split up the clan.
Large sects and small sects live under the same roof for several generations. This is the foundation of the clan.
If the family is divided and the property is spread out, financial and material resources will be dispersed, and the clan will be affected.
Confucianism attaches the greatest importance to principles and principles, and it is impossible to abandon principles and principles. They are expelled from the ancestral hall and are not allowed to participate in sacrifices.
For most people, it is a crueler punishment than exile. Even the illiterate Bai Ding will feel that the roots of his ancestors have been severed, he has lost his blessing, and his life and death are wandering with no destination.
After controlling the clan, the gentry extended from the clan to the entire township, then to the entire town and the entire county.
In other words, with the blessing of the clan, the gentry is equivalent to a businessman, with thousands, even tens of thousands, or hundreds of thousands of people under his command. Who in the yamen is not polite?
So he is an entrepreneur.
And if there are only dozens or hundreds of people under his command, they are capitalists.
From this, in feudal society, we can draw a clear conclusion:
If the gentry has a large family, then the government will act based on their opinions, which will do more harm than good to the court, and cause more harm than contribution.
And if the gentry family is small, they will become the backbone of the government and good people who can be trusted.
At the same time, because of their clan, the gentry had to maintain superficial moral standards, and they were not stingy about building bridges, paving roads, and giving charity to their hometowns.
For other places, it is fatal exploitation.
Therefore, the common people trust the gentry more than the government, and this cannot be eliminated no matter what.
On the other hand, the government also needs gentry as buffers and lubricants.
The greed of officials is unavoidable. If they have some power, they will overflow. If they don't scan the QR code to welcome them first, they will be closed. This is especially common in feudal societies.
Good government and bad government all fail in execution.
It can be said with certainty that in the feudal era, if there were no gentry to check and balance the yamen, the people at the bottom would be exploited to death.
The unrestricted expansion of power is not a good thing for the people at the bottom.
After just one meal, Zhu Yixi thought about it for a long time, and then came to the Wei Family Ancestral Hall.
The sound of reading is loud and intoxicating.
The one hundred acres of clan farmland next to it provides a guarantee for the children to learn and provide feedback to the clan when they become successful.
At the same time, clans can support each other during times of famine and maintain the continuation of their bloodline.