Chapter 33 Wouldn't it be a pity if you look good and don't look like a flower?
There are about 400 tributes participating in the palace examination. As the emperor's disciples, theoretically, these papers need to be reviewed by the emperor himself.
But reading 400 articles in two days and selecting the good and bad ones is still a very heavy task. Therefore, since the Ming Dynasty, emperors of all dynasties have organized officials below to review the papers, and they only read the top ten papers.
.
The minister who reviewed the papers this time, Chief Assistant Li Dongyang, did not participate. After all, he was old. Emperor Hongzhi did not allow him to participate in such a time-consuming matter.
Therefore, Xie Qian, who was in good health, became the main person in charge of the examination, with the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Personnel as deputy ministers, and the rest of the examiners were composed of learned people such as Hanlin bachelors, Imperial Academy Jijiu, and Dr. Taichang.
The officials marked the papers very quickly, and they basically completed the review in just over a day. After writing their names and comments on each paper, they began to judge the quality, and finally selected some excellent papers to recommend to the chief examiner Xie Qian.
He came to select the top ten and gave them to Emperor Hongzhi for reading.
On the eve of the Chuanlu Ceremony, Xie Qian and others ranked the test papers of the four hundred candidates. After the emperor reviewed them, they could fill in the rankings and wait for the results to be released tomorrow.
In the imperial study, Emperor Hongzhi was reading the top ten articles sent by Xie Qian and others. Next to him, Prince Zhu Houzhao was sitting quietly. Although he had an active personality, there were courtiers watching below.
He is still alive, so he will not cause trouble to his father at this moment.
Hongzhi carefully read the top ten articles, and his expression did not change much. To become a tribute, especially the top ten selected by Xie Qian, his writing style and language organization skills are naturally extremely strong. Hongzhi just
Just by glancing at it, you can get a rough idea of the points in the article.
"Zhao'er, if you were asked to answer, how do you think the Southwest should be pacified?"
While reading the test paper, Hongzhi turned his head slightly, wanting to hear the opinions of his only son.
"Father, give me a hundred thousand troops. I am willing to personally lead the troops to fight. It will not take half a year to completely solve the hidden dangers in the southwest!"
Zhu Houzhao was very excited. In fact, as long as it involved military matters, he was very interested. In his opinion, being an emperor was not as interesting as being a general leading troops in battle.
Hongzhi couldn't help but sigh when he saw this. He naturally knew very well what kind of character his son had. With this kind of character, he would easily stand in opposition to the ministers after he ascended the throne in the future.
"It seems that before Zhao'er ascends the throne, I need to help him find a capable minister who can protect him from the wind and rain!"
Looking at the clichéd articles a little absent-mindedly, Emperor Hongzhi began to wonder who in the court today could become his future son's minister.
"Li Dongyang? This person is quite upright, capable, and not clique-y. It's just a pity that he is too old. It is estimated that Zhao'er will become an official after he ascends the throne."
"The prince wants to read Yang Tinghe? He is in the prime of his life, and his abilities are still above Li Dongyang's. It's just a pity that this person's mind is a little too complicated. Zhao'er may not be able to control him in the future!"
"Um?"
At this moment, when Hongzhi picked up the tenth-place exam paper, the content in the paper attracted him instantly.
"Everything in the world is not the king's land, and the shores of the land are not the king's ministers!"
"Three strategies, upper, middle and lower? Use barbarians to control barbarians, push back favors, change the soil and return to the locals... Okay, what a good conversion to the locals and return to the locals!"
The first two strategies were quite satisfactory, and some candidates mentioned these two points in several articles that Emperor Hongzhi read, but the method of reforming the land and returning it to the local people really surprised Hongzhi.
It's not that he and his ministers didn't think of it, but it was a blind spot. No one would think about it at all, because they would subconsciously ignore it and didn't think that the official system could replace the native official system of the southwest indigenous people.
But now, Lin Nuo's examination paper clearly proposed this method for the first time, and even described in great detail how to implement this system. This made Emperor Hongzhi's eyes light up, and he felt like he suddenly realized something.
The method of reforming the land and returning it to the locals was only implemented during the Qing Dynasty. After the implementation of this system, the southwest region was basically completely stable, and there were very few rebellions. It can be said that it was a permanent solution.
"Your Majesty, I and others were also shocked by the candidate's proposed method of returning home to local people, but the veteran minister and others could not make up their minds for a while. Although the candidate gave detailed implementation measures, they have not been tested in real life after all.
, it cannot be ruled out that it is just arrogance, so after deliberation, I decided to rank it as the tenth one!"
Seeing Hongzhi's expression of surprise after seeing the tenth-placed examination paper, Xie Qian quickly stepped forward to explain.
"Well, what you are thinking is not unreasonable. After all, if we directly change the situation, it may cause a backlash among the chieftains in the entire southwest region, and I am afraid it will cause chaos in the entire southwest region!"
Emperor Hongzhi nodded thoughtfully, "But no matter what, the method given by this candidate is a good strategy. Although it is very troublesome to implement, you must also know that if you can really change your origin and return to your hometown, Southwest
There will be no hidden dangers in the area, right?"
"The imperial court is looking for talented ministers who can come up with good strategies and dare to propose good strategies. In my opinion, this person should be the number one scholar!"
As Emperor Hongzhi spoke, he unfolded the paper completely. He wanted to see who this capable person with clear thinking and not sticking to ordinary people was.
"Jiangxi, Lin Nuo?"
After seeing the name, Emperor Hongzhi couldn't help but frowned. He first glanced at the prince without any trace, and then put down the paper thoughtfully.
"Your Majesty, according to the records of the Ministry of Rites, Lin Nuo, a student from Jiangxi, is handsome and knowledgeable. He is only nineteen years old this year!" Xie Qian said.
"Success at a young age may not be a good thing!" Hongzhi whispered to himself, and then found Lin Nuo's second poem. When he saw it, his eyes immediately couldn't take it out.
“Such majestic and powerful words were really written by a boy under twenty years old?”
Taking a deep breath, Emperor Hongzhi shook his head, "It is a good thing to be successful at a young age, but Lin Nuo is even a little crazy. If he is selected as the number one scholar, it may not be a good thing for his future career!"
"Your Majesty is wise!" Xie Qian nodded in agreement, "A champion who is under twenty years old, and his personality seems a bit young and frivolous, it is too easy to attract jealousy. It is said that being too strong is easy to break, and becoming famous at a young age can easily lead to disaster!"
If a certain prince or a certain commander-in-chief wrote such a poem, Hongzhi might have other ideas, but this poem was written by a young man under the age of twenty. The emperor and his ministers did not think much about it, they just felt that the other person was young.
It's nothing more than frivolousness!
"But my father, Lin Nuo is indeed very good in both articles and poems. You can't let him rank lower just because he is young, right?"
Zhu Houzhao was anxious. Originally, it was just a temporary expedient for him to take Lin Nuo as his disciple, but now after seeing Lin Nuo's poem, he suddenly felt extremely proud and wanted to take up his gun and mount his horse to fight on the battlefield.
At this moment, whether it was Lin Nuo's martial arts or talent, Zhu Houzhao was completely impressed. At this time, he really planned to treat Lin Nuo as his master!
"Haha, Zhao'er, don't be impatient! Didn't the records of the Ministry of Rites say that Lin Nuo is extraordinarily handsome? His talent and learning are as good as those of a top scholar, and his appearance is even more handsome. It seems that he must be the one to win the title of Tanhualang!"
Emperor Hongzhi laughed. Since ancient times, the most handsome candidate has been selected from among the candidates with the best talent and learning.
Ever since he learned that the prince wanted Lin Nuo as his disciple, Hongzhi had other plans for Lin Nuo's future. If the other party became the number one scholar, some methods would be difficult to use.
It just so happened that this imperial examination could give Lin Nuo a slight advantage, so in Hongzhi's opinion, the rank of Tanhualang was really suitable for Lin Nuo!