Amid much anticipation, this year’s provincial examination was finally held.
Zhao Han resumed the imperial examination, which was directly a rural examination instead of a county examination. The Taoist examination tested talents.
Moreover, tradition and newness go hand in hand.
Middle school graduates from all provinces who have not been admitted to college can take the provincial examination. The local government does not provide travel expenses.
All imperial examination fees are borne by oneself...
Scholars of the previous dynasty could take part in the provincial examinations as long as they could produce a scholar certificate, and they had to bear all the expenses themselves. However,
Must be under 30 years old!
Those who are successful in the examination can start as a ninth-rank official, but they need to observe politics (internship) for one year first.
The top candidates in each province can choose not to become ninth-rank officials, but to go to Nanjing to take the joint examination next spring. The quota for the joint examination in each province is not strictly based on the population ratio, and the quota for new-style students must be several times that of traditional scholars. .
Take Sichuan Province, which has the largest population, as an example. There are 60 places for new-style students and 15 places for traditional scholars.
In the three provinces of Jiangxi, Guangdong, and Hunan, the number of traditional scholars was reduced to only five. Zhao Han deliberately
These three provinces were the first to be conquered, and the scholars have not yet become officials, which shows that they are unwilling to endure hardships as small officials.
Even the exam papers are different.
The traditional imperial examination for scholars still follows the same old routine. However, the weight of eight-legged essays is reduced and the scores of official documents and policy papers are increased.
All new mathematics, physics, astronomy, geography, and Datong theory will be included as additional questions, and the scores for the additional questions will be doubled.
The new-style imperial examination for students is actually the province-wide unified examination. The best students can go to university for further education at public expense. Those whose families are not short of money can go to university at their own expense. Those who don’t want to go to university can take the provincial examination and be directly assigned to a ninth-grade official position.
A small number of people can take the examination, and those who pass the examination can become eighth-rank officials.
In the Ming Dynasty, eighth-grade and ninth-grade officials were considered to be of the lowest rank and would be looked down upon by serious Jinshi. However, in Zhao Han's case, only middle-grade Jinshi could be ranked in the eighth grade.
In addition, college graduates can directly take the examination.
College graduates who pass the Jinshi examination can either go to Hanlin Academy or Qintian Academy to engage in research, or they can enter the cabinet to observe politics and become a scholar.
After serving as a scholar in three years, you still have to be promoted to the eighth rank (county prime minister). However, this kind of eighth rank can be promoted faster because they all know the emperor and cabinet ministers. Even if they are not familiar with each other, they must have met each other. !
This whole set of four different imperial examination systems is a product of the transitional period.
Scholars among the people are complaining, and it is time to open a crack in the imperial examination door for them. When new education is popularized in various provinces,
As old scholars age, the traditional imperial examination route will be completely closed.
In addition, the proportion of officials in the south is too large, and the north was recovered late, and now there are not even middle school graduates.
In order to balance the officialdom between the north and the south, we have to leave a way for traditional scholars. Moreover, this is the most important thing, otherwise Zhao Han would not pay attention to the complaints of poor scholars.
Another factor in the rush to resume the imperial and provincial examinations is that there is something wrong with the current official selection system.
According to the report of the anti-corruption inspector, there is a large number of nepotism and malpractice among middle and low-level officials across the country. Even in the past two years, Zhao Han imposed qualification restrictions on the candidates for official positions, but the status quo has not been completely changed.
Hebei, Tianjin.
Li Jixiu was twenty-nine years old. Historically, he took part in the Manchu imperial examination and passed the exam, ranking second and third in the imperial examination in the fourth year of Shunzhi.
But in this time and space, he was not even a civil servant. The war years were so unbearable that he fled to Yanshan with his family and ate sweet potatoes for several years. It was not until last year that he took his family out of the mountains and returned to Yutian County to register.
Li Jixiu had no resentment towards the new emperor.
Although the land he had accumulated for generations was gone, when he returned to his hometown to settle down, the government returned his ancestral home. His family's oil press in the town had been sold to a small businessman who had moved from other places.
Afterwards, the government generously compensated some silver taels.
Moreover, the land was allocated to his family according to their population.
Being able to do this, Li Jixiu thinks it is very commendable, and the new Datong Dynasty is really impressive.
In fact, for the sake of political performance, local officials are eager to have as many people as possible. Therefore, they have various policies. In addition to land, as long as they can produce proof, they will return it if they can, and if they cannot, they will compensate. This can attract people who come to the mountains.
, went down the mountain again and settled back to his place of origin.
In the northern provinces where everything is in need of development, population growth is the biggest political achievement!
On the day of the rural examination, Li Jixiu got up in the middle of the night and arrived outside the Gongyuan in the southeast of the city early.
There were not many people there, because the rules had changed and the emperor did not allow the candidates to be tormented in the middle of the night, so all procedures of the imperial examination were postponed for three hours.
"What do you call this brother?" asked a traditional scholar.
Li Jixiu said: "The surname was Li when he was born late, his given name was Jixiu, and his given name was Gongyu."
The scholar said: "It's a coincidence that my surname is Zhang when I was born late, and my given name is Zhaoyong. I also have the nickname Gongyu."
The two of them had the same first name, which was fate, and they immediately got closer, and they began to talk about the years when they were scholars.
Li Jixiu said: "It seems that there are not many talented people participating in the Hebei Provincial Examination."
Zhang Zhaoyong sighed: "How can we get more? When the Tatars returned to Liaodong, they kidnapped many gentry and common people, and there were not many left in Hebei. There may be many scholars, but with the war and chaos, how many of them can still produce certificates?
What's more, there is an age limit, and those over thirty years old will not be allowed to take the exam."
"It's true," Li Jixiu gritted his teeth and said, "Tatars deserve to die! If the Holy Emperor hadn't been born, my whole family would still be hiding in the mountains."
Zhang Zhaoyong said with emotion: "The provincial examination is actually good for you and me. The students in primary schools in Hebei have not graduated yet, and the middle schools have not yet been opened. There are not any new scholars who participated in the provincial examination this year, and the former scholars
The number of exams is so small that as long as you take the exam, you are almost sure to win!”
Li Jixiu nodded and said, "That's exactly the reason."
Zhang Zhaoyong suddenly laughed: "The quotas for the provincial examinations in each province have been announced. In the three provinces of Jiangxi, Hunan, and Guangdong, only five scholars were admitted in the previous dynasty. Especially in Jiangxi, there are countless talented people among the people. I am afraid that they will be overwhelmed by the imperial examination this time."
Moreover, the county magistrates also have a headache. Your Majesty will not hold a subject examination (rural examination qualification selection examination). The county magistrates must first organize their own examinations to select.
Li Jixiu actually guessed what Zhao Han was thinking: "It's just like the North and South Ranking List. There are too many officials in the South. His Majesty is already dissatisfied with it and wants to suppress the South in the imperial examination."
The two chatted until dawn, when Gongyuan finally sounded the cannon horn and began to check their identities and enter the examination room.
In the entire Hebei Province, the quota for the provincial examination is 30, but there are only 114 scholars who took the examination. There is not a single new-style student.
The examination booths have all been renovated and are made of brick and tile structures. There is no need to nail tarpaulins yourself, and there are even glass windows for light transmission.
Li Jixiu was speechless when he got the test questions.
There is only one question on the traditional Four Books. There is only one question on the traditional Five Classics. The rest are all tests on official documents, policies, criminal proceedings, etc.
There are also nonsense additional questions. Li Jixiu only studied "Datong Theory" by himself, but other astronomy, geography, mathematics, etc.
Physics, water conservancy... they are all blind.
Li Jixiu didn't finish the two eight-part essays on the Four Books and Five Classics until the afternoon. There was not much time left, so he could only speed up and answer the questions he knew quickly.
The booklet of "Datong Collection" is not thick, Li Jixiu has memorized it by himself, and now he can answer the questions very easily.
Then there is astronomy: try to write down the five major planets.
Li Jixiu knows the twenty-eight constellations and the Big Dipper, but what the hell are the five planets?
The topic, which is known to third-grade primary school students in the south, stumped Li Jixiu, who had read the classics of sages. Fortunately, Li Jixiu's textbook was "Shangshu", and he was able to make divergent associations.
In Chinese culture, the number five is easily associated with the five elements.
There are seven political affairs in "Shang Shu Shun Dian". The seven political affairs are the sun, the moon and the five planets.
Li Jixiu wrote quickly and wrote the answer: the five stars are wood, fire, earth, metal, and water. The wood sun is the star, the fire sun is the star, the earth is the sun, the earth is the sun, the metal is the sun, and the water is the sun star.
Geography question: How close or far is the Netherlands or the Ottoman country from China? (Full points will be awarded for the detailed description of the two countries, and half points will be awarded for the correct answer)
Li Jixiu scratched his head. He could only guess at this question.
The Netherlands sounds refreshing, while the Ottomans are more difficult to pronounce. So Li Jixiu replied: The Netherlands is close, but the Ottomans are far away.
Mathematics questions are probably like a chicken and a rabbit in the same cage. If you use traditional arithmetic methods, you can only get half the points if you calculate it correctly. You have to use new mathematics to get full points.
Li Jixiu tore up the draft paper to make calculations and quickly came up with the correct answer, but he was destined to only get half a point.
The physics question is about mechanics.
Li Jixiu stared at the question for a long time. He didn't know the question, and the question didn't know him.
When night falls, give me a candle. When the candle is used up, I must hand in the paper.
Li Jixiu handed in the paper and was a little discouraged. He found that he didn't understand a lot of knowledge and had never even heard of it. This feeling of ignorance was more devastating than failing in the imperial examination.
After returning home, you must study the new classroom teaching materials by yourself!
"Brother Jixiu, how did you do in the exam?" Zhang Zhaoyong asked.
Li Jixiu shook his head repeatedly: "You can probably guess the astronomy questions, but you can only guess the geography questions. The answers to the math questions are given, but you can only get half a point. As for physics, mechanics, etc., my brain is dizzy."
Zhang Zhaoyong smiled bitterly and said: "It's almost the same below."
A few days later, the results were released outside Gongyuan
Li Jixiu checked from the bottom but never found his name, and then he scanned to the first place.
This guy actually passed the Jieyuan exam in Hebei Province after just one operation.
Zhang Zhaoyong was crying and laughing next to him: "I won, I won, and I am ranked tenth. I can just go to the national examination!"
Hebei Province has a quota of 30 people admitted to the provincial examination. They only need to observe politics for one year to become a ninth-rank official. However, only the top ten are eligible.
You can give up your Ninth Grade qualification and go to Nanjing to take the examination next year.
Li Jixiu cupped his hands and said: "Congratulations, congratulations!"
"Same joy, same joy!" Zhang Zhaoyong laughed.
Li Jixiu said: "We will go to Nanjing next year."
Zhang Zhaoyong said: "Yu brother lives in Tianjin. Despite the war, he has saved a few shops and still has some money. It is better to stay with Yu brother at Yu brother's house to study, and then go south to Beijing to take the exam together."
Li Jixiu said: "Brother Zhaoyong's kindness is accepted, but I still have my parents, wife and children at home, so I have to go back to farm. The sweet potatoes and corns planted after the wheat harvest have to be harvested and stored in the warehouse."
Zhang Zhaoyong sighed: "Unexpectedly, Brother Xiu has to work in the fields himself."
Li Jixiu sighed: "It is not easy to hide in the mountains and survive. After returning to his hometown, the government divided the fields again.
It is another matter to compensate for the loss of the shop. UU Reading www.uukanｓｓcomｏ has also done its best to be kind and righteous. Hebei is a vast land with few people, and the acres of land allocated can only be cultivated by one's own family. How can one recruit tenants? It has been ten years of cold weather and not working hard.
The crops are actually not grown well, and the harvest is much less than that of farmers in the countryside."
Zhang Zhaoyong thought that it was not easy, so he said: "I'm afraid there will also be a test on astronomy, geography, mathematics and physics in the general examination. I can't give it as a gift.
I will buy a set of new textbooks for you."
"So, thank you very much!" Li Jixiu did not refuse, this was exactly what he needed urgently.