Chapter 180 179 Imperial Examination

Before the imperial examination, Wei Guangde and other new Jinshi visited the president of the examination, the chief examiner and his own teacher as usual.

As a cabinet minister, Lv Ben was only receiving Wei Guangde and other Jinshi as a courtesy.

"Congratulations to my teacher on his promotion to the Prince's Guardian and the Grand Secretary of Wuying Palace."

Just two days ago, Lv Ben, who was the Grand Secretary of Wenyuan Pavilion, was rewarded by Emperor Jiajing. Not only was he given the title of Sangu, but he was also entrusted with the responsibility of inspecting the officials of the Nine Ministers and the Ministry of Personnel.

"Haha, Wei Chuanlu, please stand up, don't be polite."

This visit was just to pay a visit under the pretext of promotion, but Lv Ben's attitude towards these new Jinshi was only very enthusiastic but lacked sincerity, and there was not much acceptance in his words.

Well, Wei Guangde knew very well that there was nothing to say about Lü Ben. It was impossible for him to be attached to him. Perhaps it was because of himself that the Yan family clearly wanted to take him under their wing. Lü Ben himself was able to enter the cabinet thanks to Yan Song.

At Yin Tai's house, Wei Guangde's treatment was much better. Yin Tai and Wei Guangde talked a lot, and also mentioned Wei Guangde's room teacher Kang Siqian.

"You'd better revise your best articles in the past and polish them in preparation for the imperial examination."

Yin Tai was envious of the luck of his young fellow villager. He was originally a top three, but his article was actually favored by the emperor and directly ranked first in the second class. It seems that there has never been such a situation before. It is really an unheard-of miracle.

After Wei Guangde nodded in agreement, he said, "Tomorrow, your teacher Kang Siqian will go to Henan to supervise the school. To be honest, you can have the glory now, all thanks to this teacher's advice. I have seen the test papers. If it were me, I would never choose you."

"Yes, I have heard from my classmates. Tomorrow morning, all of us classmates will go to see the teacher off."

After hearing Yin Tai's words, Wei Guangde was a little embarrassed, but still spoke.

"Zi Yi is going to be the supervisor of the school from the Hanlin Academy this time, which is a more difficult path. If you can make achievements in Henan, you may be transferred to the Imperial College in the future. It may be of great benefit to you."

Yin Tai looked at Wei Guangde and said, his eyes fixed on the changes in Wei Guangde's facial expression.

However, Wei Guangde was more concerned about the imperial examination at this time, as Yin Tai said, so he did not show any emotion about his teacher Kang Siqian's exile.

The next day, 21 Jinshi from Kang Siqian's room went out of the city to see him off.

After returning from outside the city, Wei Guangde began to select his past articles to prepare for the imperial examination.

In the past, Wei Guangde was still troubled by the six imperial examinations, and never paid attention to the imperial examination after the palace examination.

However, things are different now. Wei Guangde carefully studied the methods of the imperial examination and felt very annoyed.

The imperial examination in the Ming Dynasty was implemented very early, since the period of Emperor Hongwu Zhu Yuanzhang, but the imperial examination system currently in place was indeed determined in the Hongzhi Dynasty.

The imperial examination is an examination for new Jinshi, mainly to select talents from them to enter the Hanlin Academy as Shujishi.

Jinshi who failed to impact Shujishi will be assigned to various yamen to observe politics according to their grades and rankings. After the observation period, they will be granted positions such as chief official, secretary, and county magistrate.

In principle, the second-class Jinshi have a greater chance of staying in Beijing, while the third-class Jinshi will mostly be sent to the local area to serve as a local parent.

"Only Jinshi can enter the Hanlin Academy, and only Hanlin can enter the cabinet."

If you want to get to the cabinet and become one of the helmsmen of the great empire of Ming Dynasty, the Hanlin Academy must fight hard.

Unfortunately, the rules of the imperial examination set by the Hongzhi Dynasty, "New Jinshi records the essays, policies, poems, fu, prefaces, notes and other texts they wrote on weekdays, limited to more than 15 articles, and submit them to the Ministry of Rites, and send them to the Hanlin Academy for revision. Young people who have five new works are also allowed to submit them to the Hanlin Academy for examination. Those with good rhetoric and literary logic will be selected according to their numbers. The Ministry of Rites will cover the test papers with names, and the cabinet ministers will set questions for the examination in the East Pavilion. Those whose test papers are consistent with the submitted articles will be accepted for preliminary selection."

That is, at that time, the imperial examination not only required Jinshi to enter the examination room again for the examination, but also to submit their previous articles, which could be essays, policies, poems, fu, prefaces, and notes, and the total number could not be less than 15.

Then, Wei Guangde was in trouble.

He didn't know what the questions would be in the imperial examination, because the main purpose of the imperial examination was to select people who were good at literature and calligraphy. Wei Guangde used to follow the path of exam-oriented education, and everything was aimed at the imperial examination. He didn't have any achievements in poetry and songs.

And the number was really large, and he had to submit 15 old works.

Poetry and songs were not good, so Wei Guangde could only write policy essays temporarily, anyway, he just took out the opinions of later generations and used them.

As for the questions, he looked for policy essays from the provincial examinations.

The ones from Jiangxi were definitely not usable, because they had already been written, so he went to find other provincial Jinshi such as Zeng Shengwu to ask about their provincial examination questions. In the end, in order to make up 15 articles, he found the questions from the previous provincial examinations and finally wrote 15 policy essays temporarily.

Well, Wei Guangde's writing skills really surprised all the Jinshi scholars. They didn't know what was wrong with his brain. Each of his essays included something new. Although it seemed insignificant at first glance, a careful analysis of the new things added seemed to make sense.

In this way, Wei Guangde's quick wit and unique perspectives on things were spread among the Jinshi scholars.

There was no point in hiding something that had to be submitted to the Hanlin Academy. Wei Guangde was rare and generous this time to let others see it.

Of course, Wei Guangde actually had his own ideas. He felt that people of this era were smart, but the limitations of the times made them unable to see many things, and their thoughts were not as divergent as those of later generations.

He also hoped that through his writings, more Jinshi could consider issues from a higher perspective and look at things from the shoulders of giants.

This was also considered to be his full use of his strengths. I remember when he said goodbye to his teacher Kang Siqian, his teacher said that he liked the strategy he wrote, and Wei Guangde was definitely a practical talent.

On April 1, Wei Guangde, Lao Kan and others got up early to wash up, and then took a carriage to Chengtian Gate. This time they did not gather at Daming Gate, but gathered directly outside Chengtian Gate.

Under the leadership of officials from the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Personnel, the Jinshi entered the Forbidden City for the third time, and the purpose was naturally to take the imperial examination.

According to the system established in the 11th year of Jiajing, the imperial examination was conducted by the cabinet together with the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Personnel for a re-examination, the censors supervised the examination, and the Jinyiwei patrolled.

The test questions were still nominally set by the emperor, but the cabinet drafted the questions and the emperor made the selections.

The location of the imperial examination was in the East Pavilion. They entered from Chengtian Gate and passed through Wumen, then turned right and passed through Zuoshun Gate, instead of continuing forward through Fengtian Gate as before, because Emperor Jiajing was not in the Forbidden City at this time. He was still staying in the West Garden to practice his magic.

Of course, for Wei Guangde, today's exam was different from the past in that the pressure was much less. It was similar to the palace examination, and there was no problem of who would be eliminated.

Another difference was that Wei Guangde was walking in the first row on the left of the first row of Jinshi this time, and his position in the examination room was also ranked first, all according to the palace examination results.

Well, this was the first time for Wei Guangde. It was the first time in his life that he took the exam as an excellent student. It was a very novel experience.

Even in Wei Guangde's previous life, he was just a middle-lower-class student. When had he ever been treated like this?

Wei Guangde sat in his seat and looked at the questions that were said to be set by the Hanlin Academy after consulting with the two cabinet ministers Yan Song and Xu Jie. There were only two very simple questions, one policy essay and one poem.

In fact, for the Hanlin Academy, the essays written in an exam did not have much reference significance for them. They actually referred more to the fifteen essays when selecting Shujishi. A good essay might be a result of inspiration. They valued the level of Jinshi in normal time more.

The policy essay was obviously written by the cabinet. At present, natural disasters in various provinces have caused the people at the bottom to suffer. In fact, small-scale riots have emerged one after another because of this. Naturally, the cabinet wanted to ask if there was any solution.

Wei Guangde had some experience with this. When he traveled around the prefectures and counties of Jiangxi, he saw and heard a lot.

Jiangxi, a relatively wealthy place in the territory of the Ming Empire, was devastated by the drought. Even though the imperial court exempted national taxes, the local showdowns did not decrease. As a result, a large number of people could only borrow money from landlords and gentry, one to relieve temporary economic pressure, and the other to purchase production materials for future farming.

The price was naturally their only land and property as collateral. Once they could not repay the loan, they would become landless people and fall into the abyss completely.

Wei Guangde's response to this was not beyond the wisdom of the ancients. He chose Wang Anshi's Qingmiao Law to deal with it. The government provided loans and grain to farmers, and charged two or three cents of interest every six months, thus limiting the exploitation of farmers by usury.

Well, the countermeasures were good countermeasures, but for the Ming Dynasty court, which was extremely poor, it was actually impossible to implement.

Of course, such discussions were only a small part of it. More of them proposed to rectify the administration of officials. Local unrest was mostly related to corrupt officials and local gentry. Rectifying the administration of officials could at least cure the symptoms.

If you want to cure the root cause, well, there doesn't seem to be much better way in the future, unless you levy business taxes, transfer the bulk of taxes from fields to mines, and collect taxes from the rich.

But can Wei Guangde bring it up?

No.

At least not now.

There is nothing outstanding. In fact, Wei Guangde has some other ideas, but he still doesn't dare to write them down. It's not that it hurts the harmony of heaven, but it's mainly because it's not practical. It's simpler and cheaper to rectify the administration.

Wei Guangde can only write like this. The cabinet members can't find a good way. Do you still expect a bunch of young people to come up with any constructive suggestions?

As for the poems with no restrictions on themes, Wei Guangde thought about it for a long time and didn't have an idea. He was used to being asked questions and responding by himself. Now a poem with no restrictions on themes has stumped Wei Guangde. It's still the lack of background that caused the trouble.

After sitting for a while, Wei Guangde remembered what he did to send off Kang Siqian a few days ago. Changting Ancient Road, a cup of wine to say goodbye to my teacher.

Kang Siqian was also very happy to see them coming to see him off, and he gave instructions to every Jinshi he selected.

When it came to Wei Guangde, Kang Siqian said very directly, in fact, it was similar to what Fang Shi said at the provincial examination. He needed to study more. He selected him not because of his literary talent, but because of his good policy essays, which touched his heart. He hoped that he could contribute to the country and the people and become a capable official of the court.

There seemed to be only two standards for officials in this era, either talented or able to do things.

When thinking of farewell, Wei Guangde thought of the "Farewell" by Mr. Li Shutong in later generations. Because the song was sung, it became one of the only two complete poems in later generations that Wei Guangde could write.

However, that poem seemed a bit inappropriate.

However, at this time, Wei Guangde could not care about many things. Although he knew that there would be some discussions about the ci form of this poem in later generations, he was still very clear about this point.

In fact, in this life, Wei Guangde carefully studied the only two poems he remembered. There are indeed many differences between "Farewell" and the previous ci forms.

However, Wei Guangde also found two similar ci forms, namely "Happy Oriole" and "Ruan Lang Gui".

The most appropriate one is actually the sentence structure of the second stanza of the ci form of "Ruan Lang Gui", but the rhyme and tone are slightly changed, but it is smooth to read.

The ci form of "Happy Oriole" is mostly close, with only a few differences, which can also be explained by variants.

Wei Guangde thought of some other ones, but he was not satisfied with them. It seemed that he could only copy them. He had to get through the current problem first. As for the controversy that might be caused later, he could just play ostrich. They could say whatever they wanted. At most, it was that he was not talented enough. It should not be difficult for him to stay in Beijing as an official.

Trouble, next I have to prepare to buy a house in the capital.

After becoming a Beijing official, I naturally can't continue to live in Jiujiang Guild Hall for a long time, I have to move out.

As for the collective dormitories provided by the court, Wei Guangde doesn't plan to live in them. Not only are the conditions poor, but the rent is not cheap. It's just that it's in a good location and convenient for commuting.

Well, Wei Guangde's thoughts are scattered at this moment, and he has completely forgotten that he is still taking the exam.

When he came to his senses, I don't know how much time has passed, and some classmates have already started to hand in their papers.

Wei Guangde didn't want to waste time any more, so he picked up his pen and wrote "Farewell".

"Outside the long pavilion, beside the ancient road, the grass is green. The evening wind blows the willows and the sound of the flute is faint, and the sunset is beyond the mountains.

At the end of the sky, at the corner of the earth, half of my friends are gone. A pot of turbid wine is enough to make me happy, and I will not dream of the cold tonight."

I silently said to the author of this poem, I borrowed it first, you are so talented, you can definitely write another popular masterpiece.

After finishing the questions, Wei Guangde checked them again. This was a habit for taking exams. He couldn't change them in a short time, and there was no need to change them. He should have the attitude of taking exams.

After the task was completed, Wei Guangde stood up and handed in the paper.

In fact, Wei Guangde sometimes overestimated himself. As for his literary talent, most people in the officialdom were already very clear. He was slightly below average, but he was just lucky enough to be selected by the emperor.

As for Wei Guangde's writing of eight-part essays, no one paid attention to it, because it was impossible to write it very well.

However, because of the provincial examination that year, the evaluation that Wei Guangde did a good job in policy essays was still circulated in a small range in the officialdom, so today's court examination, even the three cabinet elders were very concerned. They hoped that Wei Guangde could come up with some solutions that they had not thought of.

However, Wei Guangde's paper was destined to disappoint them.