"In the seventh year of Shaowu's reign, on April 29th, we tried to test the world's tributes. The first three people were awarded Jinshi status, and the second A67 people were awarded Jinshi status.
The 230 people in the third class were granted the same background as Jinshi."
After the announcement was completed, the officials began to roll the call, and the civil and military officials and scholars in the main hall listened with bated breath.
The official Chuan Lu sang: "The first one, the first place, Wang Xu——"
As soon as these words came out, the tributes kneeling before His Majesty were agitated.
Many people looked back frequently with surprise and confusion on their faces.
The examiners were even more horrified, suspecting that they had sent the wrong paper.
This is totally against common sense.
Not only them, but also Wang Xu himself, the pores all over his body were opened, a rush of heat hit his head, and his face immediately turned from fair to red.
Going from last to first is so exciting.
There is one subject every three years, and there are 300 people in each subject.
In the Ming Dynasty, there were two provinces in the two capitals and twenty-two provinces. In three years, a champion would be selected. The emperor would hand-pick him and he would be ranked first on the gold list. He would be praised throughout the streets and receive great honor.
He couldn't hear the next rankings.
From the left gate of the Imperial City of Chang'an to the East Fourth Archway, it was as if my feet could not touch the ground. There were people everywhere cheering me up, smiling faces everywhere, flattering words in my ears, I felt dizzy and unable to calm down.
Needless to mention the fun along the way, the number one scholar who is elected every three years is the most talked about among the people of the capital.
Although later generations have said that the number one scholar is useless, and few of them serve as chief ministers, this is nothing more than survivorship bias.
According to the survey, among the 90 number one scholars in the Ming Dynasty, 17 people including Hu Guang, Ma Yu, Peng Shi, etc. were included in the cabinet from officials to bachelors or non-majors, accounting for 19.1% of the total number of number one scholars.
Nearly half of the champions are high-ranking officials, or ministers of the six bureaus, or ministers.
It can be said that the No. 1 pick has a bright future and is enviable.
The next day, the inner court began to publish the imperial examination papers, and then published them all over the world.
In an instant, the situation of the palace examination became known to everyone, and public opinion was in an uproar.
No one expected that after entering the palace examination, there would be additional questions.
The news spread from Beijing to the world like the wind.
At the foot of Wulaofeng Mountain in Lushan Mountain, Jiangxi Province, there is an academy that is famous throughout the world.
It is called Bailudong Academy.
During the Tang Dynasty, Li Bo from Luoyang and his brother Li She lived in seclusion here to study and raised a white deer, so it was called Bailu Cave. Later, Zhu Xi became an official here and rebuilt Bailu Cave Academy.
Afterwards, it became a model for the "lecture-style" academies for hundreds of years from the late Song Dynasty to the early Qing Dynasty. It became a cultural center in my country at that time and was known as "the first academies in the world".
In the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang attached great importance to social studies, encouraged official studies, and despised private academies.
During the Jiajing and Wanli periods, the officialdom was flourishing and ideas developed greatly. In particular, Wang Yangming advocated academies and opened lectures wherever he went.
Unfortunately, the imperial court was extremely vigilant against heretical ideas, suppressed them by forming cliques for selfish purposes, and banned schools many times. During the Zhang Juzheng period, he "destroyed academies all over the world."
Of course, the intensity was even greater during the Tianqi period, when 9,000-year-old Wei Zhongxian directly issued an edict to destroy the Donglin Academy in the world.
"Is it coming out today?"
"Are you from Cantonese? That's strange——"
"It's not our Jiangxi Jishui? Damn it!"
A group of scholars gathered in the courtyard, each wearing a t-shirt and a scarf on his head. The last one was also a scholar, and they started talking indiscriminately.
"Eh-" Suddenly, someone well-informed directly obtained the court policy published from Beijing City.
"There are additional questions?"
"Nine chapters of arithmetic problems? Damn it, it's so simple. I should have won it long ago if I had tried."
Two arithmetic questions and one geography question made everyone furious.
It's as if they can become Jinshi after entering Beijing.
"Ahem -" Suddenly, a gentleman in a green shirt came over: "Everyone, sit down, I have something important to say."
As he spoke, he spread out the book in his arms and said, "The reason why the top scholar came out on top in today's imperial examination is because he did a few additional questions."
"I believe you all know that the third question is very difficult. Only the top candidate can write it. Your Majesty is very happy. This point is hereby chosen as the top candidate."
"And if before, he was among the top three——"
As soon as these words came out, everyone was in an uproar.
"Then sir, that's just stereotyped writing. Isn't the imperial examination just for policy discussion?"
Some scholars couldn't help but say.
"Today I attach more importance to it, but I won't mention the strategy."
The teacher shook his head: "You are about to pass the imperial examination, or you are about to go to Beijing to take the examination. You have to be aware of these changes. Don't make any omissions-"
The scholars nodded.
The rise of academies was initially due to ideological changes, such as Neo-Confucianism in the Song Dynasty and Xinxue in the Ming Dynasty. However, in the later period, academies became advanced cram schools.
In the later stage, it gradually evolved into a tool for forming cliques and seeking private interests.
Didn’t the Donglin Party come from the academy?
In other words, either the connections are in place and the learned stereotypes are extremely proficient, or else you will not be able to enter the academy at all.
There was a lot of discussion in the school, and in the rear, the mountain chief (principal) Wang Shijing met with the Jiujiang prefect at the famous scenic spot Sixian Terrace.
"The visit of the great master of Futai is really a rare visitor, a rare visitor!"
Facing the Jiujiang magistrate, Wang Shijing showed no face at all and coldly held his hand in front of him.
He also has this capital.
As the world-famous headmaster of Bailudong Academy, he can even be called a brother-in-law with the governor of Jiangxi. His students are all over Jiangxi, and his power is huge.
In response, Qi Jing, the prefect of Jiujiang, could only smile bitterly and said: "Brother Wang, didn't you just not agree to rebuild the academy? Why is that so?"
"You also know that Poyang Lake has dried up very badly recently. The imperial court asked me to devote all my energy to destroying those private fields and restoring them to their old condition. There is really nothing I can do for the academy."
Bailudong Academy has more than 300 buildings. At its peak, it could accommodate 3,000 students. It was extremely large in scale. However, due to changes in time and vicissitudes of life, less than 30% of the buildings have been restored.
In order to survive, Bailu Cave even further transformed itself into an official institution, inviting government officials to recommend officials to preside over cave affairs, but this was nothing more than supervision.
Even so, with the status of a semi-official school, one can confidently request the court's support to rebuild the school.
When Wang Shijing heard this, he couldn't help but be startled: "As far as I know, Poyang Lake is vast and vast. Although there has been drought in recent years, fortunately the fields have been opened up to support the people. How can it be leveled and repaired?"
Qi Jing said helplessly: "The regulations issued by the Ministry of Industry say that a severe drought will be followed by a severe flood. If we are greedy for land now, there will be a huge flood in a few months."
"I'm afraid it will affect half of Jiangxi by then."
"The purpose of leveling private land is to conserve water sources so that when floods come, there will be a place to go."
Wang Shijing was stunned for a moment and felt that these words made sense: "Why did the mansion come to me?"
"The school field in Bailu Cave is not in Poyang Lake."
"Although Xuedian is not here, the students are here!"
Qi Jing Duanzheng said: "The influence of a certain prefect in Jiangxi is not half as big as that of Shanchang.
Nowadays, the people and gentry near Poyang Lake have taken advantage of this summer's drought to reclaim tens of thousands of hectares of private land. I am helpless and can only ask the mountain chief to appeal."
"One word from you is worth ten thousand words from me."
Wang Shijing squinted his eyes, listened to what he said, and started to think about it.
Good guy, this is putting him on the fire.
Regardless of his influence, asking people to sell tens of thousands of hectares of private land is no less than cutting off people's wealth. If he said this, I don't know how many people would scold him.
The point is, everyone is greedy for profit, and not many people will listen to him.
Thankless, nothing more than that.
"Futai, I am so helpless!"
Wang Shijing kept smiling bitterly.
When Qi Jing heard this, he sighed: "If you can't persuade me, the imperial court will really do it."
"What do you mean by this?"
"The Ministry of Industry wants to control Poyang Lake, so it will destroy all the land in Chongzhen in ten years, whether public or private."
"When the time comes, the patrol battalion will be dispatched directly, and they will destroy the lake at all costs, just to control the lake."
"What about the people? This is where their food and clothing are." Wang Shijing was anxious.
It is not something that the government can do to displace hundreds of people because of an unpredictable waterlogging disaster in the future.
"Exempt from five years of corvee service and reward twice as much land from Liaodong."
Wang Shijing suddenly laughed: "Is this to control the lake? I'm afraid it's not to fill the border. It's just a reason you can find."
Qi Jing himself thought the same way, but the reason was really ridiculous.
However, he still had to bite the bullet and said: "It's about taking care of both sides."
"Then forgive me for being presumptuous. If this is really the case, I will definitely call on the Jiangxi scholars to write to the court together to curb this tyranny and hold those responsible accountable."
Wang Shijing held up his hand, his face full of rejection, determination, and a little bit of passion.
Yes, this is indeed a good opportunity to become famous.
Unfortunately, Qi Jing did not panic and said bluntly: "The governor's office copied the documents and asked the county patrol battalions to dispatch to suppress the civil unrest."
"The Poyang Lake Inspection Department is even more prepared."
"As for the Book of All Nations, I'm afraid it won't reach the emperor's desk."
Wang Shijing was suddenly shocked. He looked at the prefect seriously and said in surprise: "When you come to Bailu Cave, he is not asking me to persuade people, but to supervise me."
"That's right." Qi Jing cupped his hands and said with a wry smile: "This is a national policy and I have to do it."
"Besides, as far as I know, although the people have become more peaceful in recent years, they have been unable to reclaim wasteland. More than 90% of it is led by local gentry and large households."
"This land exchange will only affect the gentry, not the common people. Don't let the princes be angry."
Hearing this, Wang Shijing shivered with anger. The gentry were also citizens!
Helpless, in the end he could only obey.
Jiangxi governor's office has a firm attitude and decisive actions.
First of all, send local officials to various academies, large and small, to persuade them to stick to their duties and not to cause unrest in the local area.
In small Jiangxi, there are more than a hundred academies, large and small, which are equivalent to more than a hundred voices. As long as they are controlled, public opinion among the people will calm down.
Then, of course, horses trampled the mountains and rivers, and all the land that had been planted in Poyang Lake was fenced off, and had to be moved again after the summer harvest.
As for the newly reclaimed land that is still being weeded and reclaimed, fields and dams have been destroyed and people have been evicted.
It involves 13 counties and more than 100,000 people.
But the whole of Jiangxi seemed to have lost its voice, not a sound could be heard from the court, and except for those counties adjacent to the lake, the other counties were as quiet as ever.
As a result, the area of Poyang Lake expanded by 30%, and the land that was demolished was immeasurable.
Of course, this opportunity comes from the dry water in Poyang Lake.
In the seventh year of Shaowu's reign, the water surface of Poyang Lake has shrunk by half compared to last year, and a large amount of the lake bottom has been exposed. The grass is lush and even sheep can be raised.
The fundamental reason is that more than 50% of the rivers flowing to Poyang Lake have stopped flowing, or have become a trickle, and millions of acres of land have suffered from drought.
Jiangxi Province was extremely panicked and had no choice but to accept the imperial decree and carry out actions to protect and nourish the lake.
Summer has brought drought, and if there is another flood, the people of Jiangxi will have no hope of survival.
The power of the Little Ice Age began to show.
In fact, the imperial court was divided into three types when it came to the management of lakes, canals, and rivers across the country.
One is to attach great importance to large rivers such as the Yangtze River, Yellow River, Huaihe River, Pearl River, and Han River, and set up naval divisions.
Responsible for anti-smuggling, eradicating water bandits, maintaining the safety of dams, dredging river bottom mud, etc. The scale depends on local stability.
Directly under the Ministry of War.
The second type is to set up inspection departments, such as Poyang Lake, Dongting Lake, etc., which are responsible for managing fishermen, eliminating water bandits and other matters, and the scale is limited to about 10,000 people.
The Inspection Department Yamen is under the dual leadership of the local commander-in-chief and the governor.
As for the third type, which is also the Inspection Department, there are some small lakes and rivers, which are directly managed by the county government or the government government, and the size is controlled to about a hundred people.
However, the emperor was surprised that Poyang Lake was so quiet and peaceful after returning farmland to the lake.
"The place is so peaceful that not many students even break into the yamen. It's really strange!"
Zhu Yixi couldn't help but sigh.
The most obvious point in the late Ming Dynasty is that the authority of the Yamen was weakened, and the representative incident was the intrusion of students into the Yamen.
Because these intellectuals were well connected, they were often exempted from punishment, so that the dignity of local government offices was lost, which further encouraged the trend of land annexation.
You must know that under the previous New Deal, local officials and gentry frequently wrote to the Secretary of General Affairs to complain and denounce their views on the New Deal, which made people's heads ache.
Then the officials also joined in the fun, but it was all nonsense and annoying.
As for this major event involving more than ten counties in Poyang Lake, there was not even the slightest disturbance in the entire court.
Jin Yiwei reported that there was no news in Anqing Mansion, which is across the river from Jiujiang Mansion.
"Why is this?"
The emperor thought about it and then wrote the word academy.
These private academies, like private universities, are the center of public opinion storms.
A piece of news spreads in all directions to the world.
The first thing everyone in Jiangxi Province did was to control the academy, thereby curbing the spread of public opinion.
"This -" Suddenly, Zhu Yixi felt that this was accusation!
I ended up becoming the group of people I hate the most.
However, the power of the academy is still a bit unexpected.
"I originally thought it was a private university, but when I looked into it carefully, I found out it was a private party school——"
For a moment, Zhu Yixi felt threatened.
He smelled danger.
There is no doubt that those who can go to the academy are those with merit. They are reserve officials and future local gentry.
At that time, the Donglin Party relied on Donglin Academy and accumulated lectures for decades to defeat the Chu Party, consolidate the Party, and spread throughout the court.