There are three points in the imperial examination, and each of the three categories, rich, middle and poor, will get a quota.

The eight rich provinces are Jiangsu, Anhui, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Hubei, Hunan, Shandong and Guangdong.

In addition, it also covers Beijing and Nanjing.

The central provinces are six, Hebei, Henan, Shanxi, Sichuan, Chongqing and Liaodong.

The poor provinces are Guangxi, Yunnan, Guizhou, Fujian, Anxi, Gansu, Shaanxi, Ningxia, Suiyuan, Chahar, Jilin, and Heilongjiang.

People at that time collectively called it the Two Beijings, Two Mongolians, Two Generals and Twenty-Two Provinces.

Compared with the two capitals and thirteen provinces in the pre-Ming Dynasty, it was theoretically nearly doubled in size.

In addition, the newly established Mobei Governor's Mansion was not included in the calculation because its time was too short.

Among the imperial examination quotas, the eight rich provinces competed for 200 places, the six middle provinces competed for 120 people, and the twelve poor provinces competed for 80 people.

The twelve rookies pecked each other, changing the previous mode of accompanying each other, and almost everyone was attracted to it.

Among them, Fujian has 30 places, Shaanxi has 22, Yunnan has 10, and Guangxi has 8.

Gansu and Guizhou each have two people, and the remaining six provinces each have one person, which is a big gain.

Chahar, Ningxia, Suiyuan, Jilin, Heilongjiang, and Anxi have achieved zero breakthroughs, which is an unimaginable encouragement to local scholars.

For example, in Zhejiang, in the early Ming Dynasty and the Song Dynasty, the industry was not prosperous. However, in the reign of Emperor Yingzong, Shang Ren was promoted to the third place in the Three Yuan Dynasty, which greatly boosted the morale of the province. Zhejiang Jinshi began to have a spurt and jumped to the top three.

Therefore, if Jinshi can emerge from these border areas, the encouragement for the future will be unlimited. This is also the original intention of the emperor to reclassify the quotas.

Of course, it is undeniable that the emperor played a part in it.

At this time, Huiyuan was located in Xia Yuan, Dantu County, Zhenjiang, Jiangsu Province.

For a time, the guild halls in Beijing were bursting with firecrackers and beaming with joy, so that the number of banquets continued to expand, and many tributes had to take on debts to treat guests.

Zhang Yingxi is smiling brightly, and he is on the imperial list at the age of thirty, which is not too late for him at all.

The Jiangnan Guild Hall was extremely lively at this time. There were a hundred people from Anhui, Jiangsu, and Nanjing, sixty from Jiangsu, thirty-five from Anhui, and five from Nanjing.

A quarter of the Jinshi were from Southern Zhili, which is an exaggeration.

Zhang Ying looked at the several layers of firecrackers laid out in front of the guild hall, which were several times the number of other guild halls. He was filled with emotion for a moment. Fortunately, Nanzhili was divided into three, otherwise the public opinion would have been unstoppable.

But when he thought about it carefully, it was appropriate for Nanzhili to do this.

Although northern Anhui and northern Jiangsu have been devastated by war, the essence of southern Jiangsu and southern Anhui has been preserved.

After more than ten years of peaceful development, coupled with the regulation of the Huaihe River, the Huaihai Plain has revived again, and the population has increased significantly.

"How can the imperial court survive with such a huge thing?"

Zhang Ying held her head high and felt happy in her heart. If she had competed with Jiangsu for those 135 people, Anhui would have been crushed and divided well.

The guild hall was very popular, and wealthy businessmen from the capital also came there one after another, especially the Huizhou merchants. The carriages were flowing like water, blocking the alley, making it very lively.

Huizhou merchant tycoon Chen Su was riding in a carriage, and his handsome horses were used to pull the carriage, which made the people passing by dumbfounded.

But he sat in the carriage, opened the window, looked at the equally lively Shaanxi Guild Hall, and said:

"Shaanxi has taken advantage of it. Twenty-two people are taller than Shandong. It deserves to be an imperial hometown!"

To be honest, as an Anhui native, he was particularly dissatisfied with Anhui being classified as a wealthy province and competing with Jiangsu and other places.

Anhui is so poor. Except for Huaibei, it's almost all mountainous. It's too much to pay 30% of the tax.

Shaanxi is inseparable from it, and has directly turned into a poor province. It has taken advantage of taxation and imperial examinations, which makes people envious and jealous.

"I, Anhui, am also the hometown of the emperor!"

He shook his head and made up his mind.

Anhui must be separated from a rich province, at least it must be a central province, so as to reduce the burden on the people.

Who knows, Shandong, Hunan and other places also want to escape from the sea of ​​suffering and return to the scope of the central province, and they start to make noises one by one.

There are more than twenty guild halls in the capital, and at this lively moment, they can no longer stand the loneliness.

"Are you from Jiangsu again?"

In the mansion, Yu Chenglong couldn't help but frown when he heard Huiyuan's place of origin.

The number one scholar in Shaowu's 16th year was also from Jiangsu, so he wanted to win the championship!

But he shook his head again.

The emperor will not sit idly by and do nothing. The existence of the palace examination is for balance.

The number of places in the joint examination is to balance the poor and rich provinces, while the number of places in the imperial examination is related to the future of scholars.

There is no cabinet except Hanlin. This has been a tradition for many years, and it is the imperial court's compensation for Jiangnan and other places.

If you suffer a loss in terms of quota, you will make up for it in terms of ranking. It is impossible to take advantage of everything.

Being born in the same family as Jinshi and Jinshi, just a few words represent a huge difference in future.

With the Jinshi in the eight ministries watching the government, the shujishi directly served as the daily minister, or as the secretary in the cabinet, doing miscellaneous tasks for the cabinet elders.

It's not on the same level at all.

However, Jiangsu went too far. The reference candidate was only 370 people, and 60 people were directly selected, with a ratio of one out of six.

However, four hundred people were admitted to the general examination, but only one out of twenty was chosen.

"Jiangsu should be split up!"

Yu Chenglong sighed, and then ordered his family to pack their bags and prepare to go south.

He couldn't wait until the palace examination began.

Yu Chenglong was still quite wary about shipping, so he took the canal when going south.

After 70% of food was transported by sea, the thousands of miles of canals became a paradise for civilian ships, and supplies from the south and specialties along the river were continuously transported northward.

On the surface, the canal connects the north and the south, but in fact, more goods are transported from the north than from the south, and goods from the south account for 80%.

There are millions of people in Beijing, 200,000 troops in the capital, and a huge group of nobles and officials, creating a strong consumption capacity.

He stood on the deck and looked at the various ships like ants, feeling filled with emotions.

When he took a boat from Beijing to Hangzhou, Yu Chenglong learned about the list of Ding Weike's Jinshi in the 19th year of Shaowu's reign.

The number one scholar is Dong Na, a native of Shandong Plain.

Second on the list is Miao Tong, a native of Suzhou, Jiangsu.

The third flower is Zhang Huaichen, a native of Fengxiang, Shaanxi.

The list of remaining Jinshi was sent to all prefectures and counties in official documents, and the Ming Dynasty Gazette published it clearly on both sides, which can be said to be extremely detailed.

"Appease Shandong!"

Yu Chenglong shook his head and continued heading south.

At this time, if he chooses to go by land via Fujian to Guangdong and Guangxi, it will take more than a month, while the sea route only takes three to five days.

If you have a family certificate, naturally you can only choose to take a sea boat.

When we arrived in Guangzhou, we saw numerous sails on the sea, the bustle of the docks hit our hearts, and the heat wave hit us.

As soon as we got off the ship, the governor of Guangdong, the chief envoy, the inspector, the academic administrator, the general soldier, the prefect of Guangzhou, etc. all came to greet him with a very respectful attitude.

Although both the governor and the governor-general were of the second rank, the governor-general held the title of Youdu Censor, which made him one step higher.

It goes without saying that I should be welcomed.

Although Yu Chenglong was an upright official, he had to obey the rules in the officialdom.

Xijiang Tower is adjacent to the Pearl River Estuary. You can see patches of white sails when you look up. The location is excellent.

In addition to high-ranking officials, there were also some local gentry present, which meant that the officials and the people were enjoying themselves together.

The group of people came and went, and the atmosphere gradually became harmonious.

Yu Chenglong couldn't help but feel a little drunk, his cheeks were slightly red and the corners of his mouth were raised.

The Governor of Guangdong and Guangxi was in charge of southern Xinjiang and could be described as the real official of the feudal frontier.

"Huang Gong, please—" Yu Chenglong raised his glass and toasted to an old man with a gray beard.

Huang Jin, a native of Raoping, Chaozhou, became a Jinshi of Renxu in the second year of Tianqi (1622). He successively served as Minister of Rites and Minister of Personnel, and then retired to Nanjing to serve as Minister of Rites.

When Emperor Shaowu ascended the throne and appointed old ministers, Huang Jin was recommended, but he gave up due to his old age, and his reputation became even higher.

Now in his 70s and 80s, he is a clean and self-sufficient person, has high moral standards and is respected by everyone in Guangdong.

"Governor Xian please——"

Huang Jin drank a glass of wine tremblingly, but did not put down the glass. Instead, he raised his head and asked stubbornly:

"I dare to ask Governor Xian, Lianzhou Prefecture is our old land in Guangdong, why was it transferred to Guangxi?"

"Is there any legal basis?"

The old man was trembling and his chest was heaving, obviously he was very angry.
To be continued...