On February 27, the 26th year of Chongzhen, a light rain had just fallen near the county seat of Neiqiu County, and everything was wet. Because the roads were slippery, there were not many people going out at this time. There were only twos and threes carrying origami umbrellas on the road.
Hurryers.
However, the entrance to the county government office was crowded with people.
Dozens of scholars wearing round-neck spring shirts crowded under the huge "notice" and read the content written on it with red eyes. From time to time, someone opened their mouths with despair on their faces, as if they had seen the bad news that would kill someone.
The government officials on both sides of the county government office also looked dejected. They slumped down and supported themselves on the water and fire sticks. It seemed that without the support of the sticks, they would be lying on the ground helplessly.
The scholar was surrounded by a group of ordinary people watching the fun. Those people obviously knew the contents of the notice and pointed at the scholar under the notice.
"The sky has changed, the sky has really changed!"
"Now all scholars are finished!"
The scholar Huang Guiji stood in the middle of the group of scholars. He read the notice with black characters on the red paper again.
"This county will hold the civil service examination on April 27th, with the main examination being public ethics, and the secondary examination being mathematics and literature. Those with excellent results will be eligible to join the government as officials. Those with outstanding results can take the provincial examination, and those who pass the provincial examination can become officials!
"
If the emperor's suspension of the imperial examination for one year before was just a signal that the imperial examination was about to be replaced, then the determination of the date of the civil ethics examination this time should be regarded as true proof that the imperial examination is completely finished.
The imperial examination is held once every few years, so stopping it for one year does not mean anything. The game between Li Zhi and the emperor is full of twists and turns, and no one knows what will happen in a year. If Li Zhi loses power by then, it will be very difficult for the emperor to regain control of the situation.
It's possible. But now that the public ethics examination has officially begun, it means that the situation in the world has been settled at once.
The public ethics examination will officially replace the imperial examination and become the standard for selecting officials and scholars in the Ming Dynasty.
The rich knowledge of scholars, scholars, and scholars will become completely useless, and even become a piece of black history.
Huang Guiji staggered back and bumped into a child behind him.
He suddenly couldn't restrain his grief and burst into tears under the notice.
"Sweep the floor gracefully! Where is the sage and master? Sweep the floor gracefully under the sun!"
He cried and cried, tears streaming down his face, and became more and more sad. Finally, he bent down weakly and lay on the ground. He cried convulsively on the ground, and his tears kept falling in front of the county government office like water drops.
The bluestone on the floor was mixed with the rainwater in the gaps between the stones.
Huang Guiji's bitter cry aroused great resonance.
The other scholars and students all sighed and burst into tears. The death of the imperial examination is really more sad than the death of the country.
If the fall of the Ming Dynasty meant the fall of the country, then the cancellation of the imperial examination would mean the fall of the world.
The country has perished but Confucianism remains. No matter who becomes the emperor, he will still govern the country according to Confucianism of "lord, minister, minister, father, father, son." In the original history, the entry of the Manchu Qing Dynasty did not change the tax-free privileges of the gentry, nor abolished it.
The special status of famous people. Gentlemen are still lords, and Confucian scholars are still in clothes.
But if the world is destroyed, all the scholars in the world will be completely ruined.
In the future, scholars with great reputations will no longer be respected by people, and great scholars who can write articles will no longer be able to pass the imperial examination to become officials. Scholars will turn from respected figures into useless scholars.
The readers cried more and more sadly under the notice. Dozens of people howled and shouted together, looking like a group of people mourning.
In particular, Juren Liu, a man in the crowd, was extremely sad, his eyes were blood-red, and he seemed to be about to collapse and go crazy at any time.
Ma Kuai Zhou Wenden stood outside the scholars and sighed.
Although he was just a horse rider, he had been working in the government office for a long time and had learned some words by himself, so he could understand the notices.
Seeing the words "appoint officials based on public morality", Zhou Wenden sighed again.
Come on, from now on, my position as Ma Kuai is over, and I will definitely be replaced by someone who has passed the public ethics exam.
Zhou Wenden put his hands in his sleeves, glanced at the children, scholars and officials kneeling on the ground, and couldn't help but sneered.
No matter how miserable Zhou Wenden was, he still saved a lot of money from blackmailing merchants over the years, and could still become a rich man. These scholars lost everything when they lost their fame, and their losses were far more severe than Zhou Wenden's.
Zhou Wenden was smiling at the same time when he suddenly saw an old man carrying a pole walking over.
The old man was a vegetable seller in the vegetable market and had always been a loner. Zhou Wenden bullied him for being lonely and once blackmailed him for fifteen taels of silver. At this time, Zhou Wenden was about to lose his position in the government office and lose all his power. The old man began to court
Zhou Wenden got angry.
"Zhou Wenden, follow me to the court to beat the drum. I'm going to sue you for extortion. You defrauded me of fifteen taels of silver!"
Zhou Wenden's eyes widened and he looked the old man up and down!
Zhou Wenden no longer remembers these fifteen taels. There are not even 100 people in Neiqiu City who were blackmailed by Zhou Wenden. How could he remember everyone? In the past, Zhou Wenden could have commanded the archers to kill this troublesome old man at any time.
Beat him up or even arrest him.
But things are different now. As soon as this notice came out, everyone in the county knew that Zhou Wenden was about to lose power. How could those archers listen to Zhou Wenden's orders? If they continue to follow Zhou Wenden to do evil, sooner or later they will be sued and lose their lives!
Zhou Wenden was staring there when he suddenly heard a middle-aged man next to him yell angrily: "Zhou Wenden, you took away two horses of silk from my cloth shop without giving me any money! If you don't come back today! I will go to the court to sue you tomorrow.
you!"
Zhou Wenden was dumbfounded by the middle-aged man's angry shouting and scolding.
Is this a sign of collective liquidation?
This is really earth-shaking.
A middle-aged woman nearby suddenly rushed up, grabbed Zhou Wenden's sleeve and shouted loudly: "Zhou Wenden, you extorted two envelopes of money from my family, why don't you come back!"
Zhou Wenden was woken up by the woman's tug.
I can't stay in Neiqiu County any longer. I have done so much extortion in the past, and I don't know how many people I have offended. Now if I lose power, I am afraid that my skin will be peeled off by these enemies.
The judges in those courts were encouraged by this notice, and they probably even took action against themselves.
Zhou Wenden pushed the woman in front of him away with a fierce push and fled towards his home.
The middle-aged businessman standing nearby shouted: "Zhou Wenden, don't run away!" He waved his sleeves and chased after him.
Huang Guiji was crying, but he stopped crying when he saw Zhou Wenden running away in embarrassment.
Things have changed! The glory and arrogance of the past will become the crime of the future. The common people who have been trampled under my feet still don’t know how to retaliate against the Confucian scholars like me in the future!
Huang Guiji suddenly felt a sense of fear and looked at the people around him in panic.
In the middle of the crowd, the man surnamed Liu with blood-red eyes gritted his teeth and said: "The sky cannot fall! We cannot sit back and watch Li Zhi force the emperor to abolish the thousands of years of sainthood!"
Ju Ren's words attracted the attention of others, and the readers all looked at Ju Ren.
"Everyone knows that if the imperial examination is over, our money and property will not be saved! Our former enemies will jump out and skin us!"
The juren glanced at the scholars around him and said loudly: "The reason why the emperor was forced by Li Zhi to abolish the imperial examination against his will is because he has no soldiers! Now that the emperor has trained a new army in the capital, what he lacks is nothing but money. At this time, we can't
Just focus on the present! Everyone donates money to support the emperor in training a new army."
"The day when the new army is reorganized is the day when Li Zhi falls and the imperial examination is revived!"
