In late July, the night sky was pitch black with no trace of the moon.

There was a row of lanterns on the edge of the grain drying field, swaying gently with the breeze. However, the people chatting under the lamps gradually dispersed, and everyone went home to sleep peacefully.

In a hut not far away, a tiger-headed little girl propped her chin up and looked at the oil lamp placed on the table. Her plump face was illuminated red, and her eyes stared blankly at the light and the splash of ink opposite.

A swaying young man.

She liked the silence of the night, the dancing lights at that time, and the focused look of her brother studying under the lamp, so she would shake her short legs from time to time.

Enke has been released, and there is not much time left for Lin Haoran to study, so he has been studying very hard these days.

In the morning he was a farmhouse man, and in the evening he ascended to the Emperor's Hall.

From Tianshelang to Jinshilang, there are six examinations, but many people refer to the county examination, government examination and courtyard examination as the boy examination, so they think that the imperial examination in the Ming Dynasty was a four-level examination system.

Lin Haoran has only completed the boy's examination with flying colours. The following provincial examinations, general examinations and palace examinations are each more important than the last. It is worth noting that the strategies for the provincial examinations, general examinations and palace examinations will account for a considerable proportion.

The provincial examination is okay, and more attention will be paid to the examination of the Four Books and Five Classics. For example, in the imperial examination, the emperor will appear more pragmatic, giving you a problem faced by the country, and then asking you to answer it.

This actually has historical origins. During the Sui Dynasty, Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty formally established the Jinshi subject to assess candidates' views on current affairs and select talents based on examinations, which is to select scholars based on their response.

The emperors of the past dynasties were not stupid. The Four Books and Five Classics could select scholars who inherited Confucianism, but those who were truly useful to the court were those who could come up with ways to explain problems.

For example, if there is a disaster in the country, is it useful to explain the scriptures? When there is a Japanese invasion along the coast, is it useful to explain the scriptures? When there is a rebellion in Guangxi, is it useful to explain the scriptures?

Just like this, the Four Books and Five Classics can make you ascend to the Emperor's Hall, but if you want to stand out among many candidates, you need to make good strategies. It doesn't need to be very good, but just better than others.

Compared with the Four Books and Five Classics, policy theory is indeed much more practical and can even be a sharp knife in political struggles.

During the Mid-Tang Dynasty, the situation of separatist regimes in vassals and towns became more and more intense. At that time, vassal towns in various places strongly advocated the restoration of the feudal system before the Zhou Dynasty and opposed the centralized county and county system, in order to create public opinion for their own separatist regimes.

Liu Zongyuan, who was demoted to Yongzhou and served as Sima at that time, wrote "On Enfeoffment". This article demonstrated the great superiority of the system of counties and counties, affirmed that the substitution of the system of counties and counties for the system of enfeoffment was inevitable in historical development, and denounced various people who advocated the system of enfeoffment.

fallacy.

It was this policy article that dampened the arrogance of the feudal lords and towns. It had strong practicality and clear combat nature.

Now that Emperor Jiajing has convened Enke, it is very likely that he will come up with the questions for the palace examination. So now there are two issues that are undoubtedly the most urgent. One is the Japanese invasion, and the other is the financial embarrassment.

But according to Lin Haoran's guess about the selfish Jiajing, financial problems are more likely, because they are more related to the interests of Emperor Jiajing and his career as a monk.

This is not completely unfounded. During the period of Jiajing's accession to the throne, the local vassal king ascended the throne and the issue of changing his parents caused a dispute, which was known as the "Great Etiquette" in history.

The civil servants headed by Yang Tinghe, the chief assistant of the cabinet, proposed "succession" and asked Jiajing to change his parents and name Xiaozong of the Ming Dynasty as his father. Zhang Cong, who was only 47 years old at the time and was a Jinshi, proposed the theory of "succession" and suggested that Jiajing should still use his biological father as his father.

For the sake of examination, the Xianwang Temple was built separately in Beijing.

In the end, the dispute ended in the victory of Emperor Jiajing, and Yang Tinghe, the chief minister of the cabinet, was demoted to a civilian position, interrupting the political and economic reforms that Yang Tinghe implemented after the death of Ming Wuzong.

Zhang Cong, a newcomer who just entered the officialdom, was eventually promoted from a lower-level official to the chief minister just because he catered to the emperor's intentions. Since Emperor Jiajing succeeded to the throne, many cabinet ministers have used "Qing Ci" to cater to Jiajing, thus successfully entering the officialdom.

Pavilion.

"Catering to the Holy Will" seems to have become the only rule for promotion of officials in the Ming Dynasty.

If Lin Haoran wants to stand out in future exams, he must "cater to the Holy Will." And the most troublesome problem in Jiajing now is undoubtedly money. If he can think of a way to solve Jiajing's financial crisis, he will not only be able to win among the many candidates

Standing out will more likely open a fast track to promotion.

"A country without wealth is not a country; wealth without righteousness is not its wealth. Therefore, when a gentleman generates wealth, he should not harm those below so as to benefit those above. He must manage it properly so that he can enrich the country."

Lin Haoran tried to write a policy essay on The Wealth of Nations based on his embarrassment of financial problems. In the article, he first expressed a more flattering attitude, that is, he should not make money by losing money.

The reason for the Ming Dynasty's financial distress was not entirely due to Jiajing's monastic expenditure, but also to the vassal king's expenditure, official salary expenditure, and the prevalence of corruption.

Needless to say, the problem of embezzling money has always been practiced in Jiajing. In February this year, more than 400,000 taels of silver and countless gold, silver and jewels were confiscated from the house of Li Bin, the eunuch who presided over the ceremony.

But if issues such as the expenditure of the vassal king and the salaries of officials were really handled properly, Jiajing's fault would not have been delayed until the thirty-sixth year of Jiajing's reign, and now Yin is eating grain. Because of this, Lin Haoran focused on the maritime ban and proposed that Emperor Jiajing reopen the Shipping Department.

In the sixth year of Emperor Gaozong's reign in the Tang Dynasty, the Municipal Shipping Envoy was established in Guangzhou to take charge of maritime diplomatic relations and foreign trade, and appointed special officials to serve. The main duties of the Municipal Shipping Envoy were: to collect tariffs from incoming trade ships, to purchase a certain amount of imported goods on behalf of the palace, and to manage merchants.

Items paid tribute to the emperor, and the city's shipping trade was supervised and managed. This was the predecessor of the city's shipping department.

However, in the first year of Jiajing, due to the rampant Japanese pirates, the two divisions of Zhejiang and Fujian were abandoned, leaving only the first division of Guangdong, which was soon abolished.

Not to mention, the abolition of the Municipal Shipping Department did not solve the problem of Japanese pirates, and undoubtedly reduced the imperial court's income. Especially under the premise that maritime trade is increasingly prosperous, this is a waste of the benefits brought by the growth of maritime trade.

.

"The benefits of trading ships cannot be underestimated. If the measures are taken properly, the tax revenue can reach tens of millions. Wouldn't it be a victory for the people? This policy will not harm the people, but will enrich the country."

Lin Haoran's pen reached this point, but suddenly stopped, frowned slightly, then crumpled the paper into a ball, and sighed heavily.

This view seems too taken for granted, and scholars from other regions may not understand it. But living in western Guangdong and witnessing the grand scene of Dianbai Port, how could I not know that the sea ban is a ban on the people but not the officials.

Nowadays, many powerful people sell goods to the sea and make a lot of profits from them. If the shipping company really reopens, it will undoubtedly compete with them for profits. Are these vested groups really soft persimmons?

That's why he couldn't go against a group of ministers just to please Emperor Jiajing. If he held this view, he might not have anything to do with the imperial examination and the provincial examination.
Chapter completed!