In the blink of an eye, the February imperial examination quietly arrived, and this three-year contest immediately attracted the attention of the people in the capital.

As talented scholars became famous with the help of "Talking about the Ancient and the Current", the popular candidates of Huiyuan not only did not form a unified opinion, but instead made all parties even more quarrel.

Influenced by "Talking about the Ancient and the Current", now everyone has downplayed their beautiful articles about the candidates for the top scorers and paid more attention to the political opinions of candidates.

That's true, even examiners can only lean towards scholars who write good ideas, but they are afraid of being questioned by dismissing talented candidates.

In the dispute over the candidates for the top scorer, many people are popular candidates who support themselves or their parents' ancestry, but they obviously have a complex of fellow countrymen.

A large gambling house in Beijing went to United Money House to borrow money, and even received the guarantee from United Money House, but it opened a market share for the popular candidates for the top scorers and top scorers of this session.

The Chinese people like gambling, which is a common feature throughout the ages. The gambling house endorsed by the joint money house is like a tiger, but it inspires the enthusiasm of the people in the capital.

"One or two, Zhao Zhigao!"

"Five liang, Wang Jiaping!"

"Ten taels, Chen Yuzhi!"

...

The people in the capital faced the gambling house with a joint money house, but they took out the money without hesitation, but they bet on the candidates they like.

The same is true. This year's spring exam is obviously more lively than before, and more people are concerned about the final destination of the top scorer.

However, for the big bosses of the dynasty, the ownership of a small top scholar could not influence the political situation of the court, nor could it even bring out a trace of ripple.

As the dispute over the establishment of the crown prince began, the situation in the court had undergone subtle changes.

In terms of the candidate for the examiner, Xu Dang, who was favored by Long Qing, won this position, but Li Chunfang, the second assistant of the dynasty, was appointed as the examiner for the examination.

The examiner of this examination is actually doing chores. If he does not do well, he will be attacked by public opinion and may even lose his head.

In the spring of the 12th year of Hongzhi, Cheng Minzheng, the right minister of the Ministry of Rites and Hanlin scholar of the Crown Prince, was appointed as the chief examiner of the examination, but was imprisoned because he was reported. He died of a carbuncle and poison four days after he was released from prison.

However, compared with this risk, the benefits are also jealous. According to the unwritten regulations in the officialdom, all the examiners who preside over the examination can accept the discipleship posts of the new Kegongs, thus becoming the teachers of these newcomers who are about to enter the officialdom.

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It is precisely because of this that Xu Jie has won a wealth of political resources, but he can cultivate the new power to obey him.

Faced with the position of the chief examiner of the examination by Xu Dang, Lin Qingran also worked hard to win his own interests and personally recommended the Hanlin scholar Chu Dashou as the deputy chief examiner of this examination.

However, in this confrontation about the examiner of the examination, Lin Weiran was completely defeated.

The chief examiner and the deputy examiner seem to be only one level apart, but the only one who can get the new Jinshi student post is the chief examiner, and the deputy examiner is actually a foil.

But no matter what, this is the best result.

After all, Xu Jie and Long Qing are getting closer, and it is a certain fact that Li Chunfang defeated Guo Pu and became the chief examiner of the examination, and they have gained something for the next deputy chief examiner.

However, the courts of the Ming Dynasty are always open and secretly arrows, and wars always follow inadvertently.

After finalizing the candidate for the examination examiner, Xu Jie openly proposed to Longqing: "Emperor, today's literary spirit is in full swing, and a wise king needs to recruit talents. I suggest that this imperial examination can accommodate 400 people, one of which shows the emperor's

Long-honor, the second thing is that you can make no wise men!”

this……

When the officials in the hall heard Xu Jie's proposal, they couldn't help but look at each other.

Although there is no fixed number of Jinshi admitted to each term, the Jiajing Dynasty had three hundred people to be punished, but now it is suddenly mentioned that 400 people to be punished.

You should know that although this increase in quotas gives more opportunities for juren to participate in the examination, the Jinshi officers who have expanded their capacity still need to settle down and even give corresponding tax-free land quotas.

It is precisely because Xu Jie's proposal won the gratitude of the scholars and made Longqing show his kindness, but it laid a small hidden danger for the Ming Dynasty.

Lin Feng, the left assistant minister of the Ministry of Rites, stepped forward with one foot, but thought that his nephew was also participating in this new examination, but he couldn't help but shrink his foot back.

After all, although Xu Jie's proposal is a bit inappropriate, he is also a potential beneficiary, and his nephew is likely to gain fame and honor from the Jinshi.

Longqing, who was yawning on the dragon throne, heard Xu Jie's proposal and thought that this move could show his long grace, his eyes lit up slightly.

"Your Majesty, this is inappropriate! The government is in financial difficulties now, but the officials are not very prone to being very skilled, and the court should be based on being capable. If we do it again, I think we should adhere to the principle of not being insignificant than being insignificant, but we should not be hasty to increase our staff. Just now, we should not be able to increase our staff.

All the officials in the hall stood in the court after the waves and washed away the sand. Only the hundreds of refiners could help the emperor rule the world!" Lin Qingran, however, without waiting for Long Qing to make a statement, immediately stood up and opposed it.

this……

When Li Chunfang heard Lin Qinran's reasons for opposition, although he had known Lin Qinran's first eloquence as the Ming Dynasty, he was still shocked by Lin Qinran's eloquence and unique political views.

Anyone with discerning eyes knows that this action is inappropriate, but it involves complex interest relationships, which makes people unable to start. However, Lin Weiran doesn't seem to have to think about it, and he shows a sufficient and "popular" reason for opposition.

"What Master Lin said is very reasonable, I'm just talking about it!" The pride of Ma Sen and other officials immediately arose, and stood up and expressed their opinions like a verbal response.

However, officials, including Lin Yun, the right assistant minister of the Ministry of Rites, stood up willingly. Compared with that little selfishness, they were more confident in the path they had taken.

Since I can stand out from the 300 quotas, why can this class of candidates get 400 quotas, and how should I arrange the additional 100 quotas?

For a moment, there were many followers, but they all stood on the other end of Lin Weiran.

Although Xu Jie gradually won the emperor's heart, Xu Jie was already at an absolute disadvantage in this court's power comparison, and Lin Weiran became the real leader of the civil service group.

That's why when Xu Jie and Lin Qingran's opinions were different, Lin Qingran was right now, even if there was no reason, he could surpass Xu Jie in terms of momentum.

Although Longqing tends to choose 400 places to show his name as a wise ruler, he only sees the huge power difference in this palace, but he knows which side to choose.

Although he is the king of a country, he does not have the courage to fight against all officials like his father, nor does he have the means of playing with all officials like his father.

Long Qing looked at Xu Jie with no intention, and then agreed to Lin Junran's suggestion and said: "Since that's the case, I'll ask the old master Lin to recruit 300 Jinshi according to the old system!"

"The emperor is wise!" Lin Weiran got the result he wanted, and he breathed a sigh of relief and thanked him.

Although the increase in the number of employees can give the Juren who took the imperial examination more opportunities to pass the Jinshi exam, this kind of expansion not only increases the financial burden of the Ming Dynasty, but also leads to the old path of "redundant officials" in the Song Dynasty.

Since the development of the Ming Dynasty, there has been no shortage of officials, especially in this era, there is no retirement system, and what is lacking is officials who can concentrate on doing things.

If you blindly add new Jinshi now, you will certainly be able to replenish more new forces, but it will actually accelerate the "inversion" and will only lead to more corrupt officials.

No matter in any era, if you can get what you can get through hard work, I believe many officials can stick to the principles. However, when they find that they cannot get what they want through hard work, they will often quickly corrupt.

That's true, Lin Qingran did not intend to correct this fallacy when Zhang Juzheng was in the Wanli period, nor did he intend to make the officialdom more degenerate. Now he personally strangled Xu Jie's proposal to death.

Ma Sen and other officials did not think as deeply as Lin Fengran. Seeing that they successfully blocked Xu Jie's proposal again, they felt the strength of their own group.

Xu Jie's proposal was sniped by Lin Qinran. Not only did there be no anger on his face, but the corners of his mouth were slightly raised, and he glanced at Lin Qinran with a smug look.

Guo Pu noticed Xu Jie's reaction and frowned slightly, feeling a little uneasy in his heart, realizing that this might be a trap Xu Jie gave Lin Junran.

As he expected, shortly after the morning court ended, this incident spread throughout the capital.

"Ge Lao Lin said it nicely. I think he clearly out of party struggles!"

"Yes, what's wrong with this one hundred more places? Master Xu is the old man who is planning to build a country!"

"Georg Lin is too selfish. I think the court should remove all his official positions!"

...

After hearing this news, some people were fueling the fire behind the scenes, and many people who were blinded by anger immediately pointed their finger at Lin Yanran, and even pointed directly at the black hat on Lin Yanran's head.

Although Lin Weiran's starting point was to benefit the country and the nation, it "infringes" the core interests of the candidates, so their favorability for Lin Weiran has plummeted.

The same is true. The trend of the scholar group has quietly changed, and many juren have supported Xu Jie, the chief minister of the cabinet who is known as the "virtuous prime minister".

It has to be said that some of the seemingly "virtuous ministers" practices are of no benefit to the country and the nation, and are just measures to please certain groups.

In just one day, an article about the theory of cake splitting appeared in Shuntian Daily, which pointed out that the increase in staff will cause many Jinshi to "unemployed" or "unexpected employment", and at the same time, the value of the fame and reputation of the Jinshi class will decrease.

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At this point, Lin Weiran has his own way of dealing with it in the face of various unfavorable public opinion. Wang Zhideng and Kang Wanrong have already formed a crisis public relations group.

"Do you think the increase in staff is to open a convenient door for you? Those are actually for related households!"

"If you don't want to say that it's far away, which one of them, like Pan Yunduan, and Yang Bo's son, isn't there a bright future?"

"The fewer children of these officials are a Jinshi quota. Once they enter the officialdom, they will be a complete Shangshu, which is even more fragrant than the top scholar!"

...

After this article was published, Kang Wanrong also guided public opinion and threw out a "conspiracy theory", which immediately led public opinion to the current situation in the officialdom.

The same is true, and many juren seem to suddenly wake up.

Although they did increase their chances of getting a Jinshi exam, they only greatly reduced their value, and their official career will be even more difficult.

The current officialdom has already formed a network of interest relations. With the competition between the children of officials with backgrounds, they will only become cannon fodder.

"If I can't enter the top three hundred, I, Chen Mouning, don't want this fame!"

"Our dignified man is seven feet tall, how can we ask that evil man to be kind to you!"

"Mr. Lin Ge said it well, the imperial examination is a big wave of gold rush, and only three hundred people can see the quality!"

...

As public opinion fermented, although there were still some voices attacking Lin Qinran, most of the candidates agreed with Lin Qinran's approach and accepted the result of only 300 people.

That's right, in this public opinion war without gunpowder, although Xu Jie was well prepared, he quickly lost in the counterattack of crisis public relations.

Lin Weiran not only did not lose his reputation and status as a scholar, but instead won more support from scholars, especially those who were strong and top scholars.

As for those officials who had nephews participating in the examination, although they felt very sorry for their nephews missing this opportunity, they also knew in their hearts that Lin Junran was the move to plan for the country.
To be continued...