As for the Zhongguan, Xun Qi’s memorial to beg for salt, resulting in excessive salt production, and the invasion of border military villages, Li Jie only briefly mentions it in the article. It is better not to write about such sensitive issues in the examination room.
As a Beijing official, there is no guarantee that there will be no one with vested interests. Even if you want to offend someone, you have to wait until you enter the officialdom. What happened to your teacher Chen Xianzhang is still vivid in my mind.
Li Jie wrote thousands of words on the policy of reforming the Salt Law, and finished it in one go. After reading the second policy question, "The river has been suffering for a long time, how can it be dredged to become a major event."
The river here refers to the Yellow River. The issue of "controlling the Yellow River" has always been a top priority for all dynasties. In May of the second year of Hongzhi, the Yellow River burst in Kaifeng, and part of the floodwater flowed into the Grand Canal. Worried about the safety of water transportation, Emperor Hongzhi appointed Bai, the minister of household affairs.
Go ahead to control it. Controlling the Yellow River is a big project and requires hundreds of thousands of people. Therefore, controlling the Yellow River is now the top priority of the court.
The Yellow River has always flowed into the sea from Shandong. However, in the late Northern Song Dynasty, in order to prevent the Jin soldiers from invading southward, the Northern Song Dynasty court opened the Yellow River channel near Anyang and flowed the Yellow River water southward into the Huaihe Plain. This caused endless disasters. The Yellow River has since flowed into the Huaihe River, using the Huaihe River
The river flows from Jiangsu into the East China Sea, which is the famous "seizing the Huai River and entering the sea" in history (it also happened once during the Republic of China).
After "taking the Huai River and flowing into the sea", the Yellow River invaded the Huai River's channel into the sea, which caused the Yellow River water system to become disordered and natural disasters occurred frequently, either floods or droughts. Bai'ang spent three years to control it, but two years later the Yellow River burst again
Well, the fundamental reason is that firstly, he is eager for political achievements and has no idea of sustainable development. In addition, Baiang's main purpose of regulating the Yellow River is to preserve the canal and not affect water transportation. How can it be managed well?
Of course, these cannot be written in policy papers. It is useless to talk about soil erosion, environmental protection, etc. The ancients cannot understand it at all. We can only start from the contemporary era and provide timely suggestions.
Thinking of the management experience of later generations, Li Jie first wrote down the management strategy in the article: "dredge the silt, build embankments and blockades, use water to control the water, and clear the enemy of the Yellow River." Dredge the river, block the fortress, and use water to control the water.
According to the characteristics of "the Huaiqing River is turbid, the Huaiwei is strong and the river is weak", the Guiren embankment was built to prevent the Yellow Water from entering Hongze Lake from the south, and the embankment from the east of Qingpu to Liupu Bay was built to prevent the Yellow Water from invading southward; in addition, the Gaojia Weir was built to store water from the entire Huaihe River.
In Hongze Lake, the water level is raised to allow all the Huai River to flow out of the clear mouth, so as to resist the power of the Yellow River and prevent the Yellow River from flowing back into the lake.
Then he wrote that controlling the Yellow River is a very complex issue. We must consider all aspects and not rush for results. At the same time, those who go to control the Yellow River must study water conservancy and have special skills. At the same time, they must use an iron fist to restrain the management personnel and must not embezzle.
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After finishing writing "Zhi Huang Yice", Li Jie simply made some food. Ce asked more words. It was already noon after finishing two questions. After eating, he started to do the third question. The third question was a military-related question, discussing "
Tribute and mutual trade”.
Since the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, it has been in a long-term confrontation with Mongolia, which retreated to Mobei. After Emperor Shun of the Yuan Dynasty fled the capital, various tribes in Mongolia fought for power and profit. They were mainly divided into Tatar (Eastern Mongolia) and Wasi (Western Mongolia).
Mongolia), Ulyangha, among which Tatar borders the Ming Dynasty.
In the fifteenth year of Chenghua, Dayan Khan (little prince) ascended the throne, conquered Wasi, and unified all Mongolian tribes. He considered himself to be on an equal footing with the Ming Dynasty and demanded trade with the Ming Dynasty. At present, the court's interactions with the Tatars are still based on tribute.
Mainly with the mutual market, there has been no large-scale war.
During the Yongle period, the Ming Dynasty established a horse market in Liaodong. During the Zhengtong period, a horse market was established in Datong. Mongolians could exchange mules and horses for daily necessities. However, the horse market was more of a private economic activity, and government transactions only occurred occasionally.
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Li Jie wrote in the article that tribute and mutual trade are undoubtedly powerful tools for stabilizing the border. Our country has a vast territory, abundant resources, and a developed economy. It can control the Mongols through economic means. The Tatar nomadic economy is single and fragile, and it is extremely short of food and food.
Handicrafts are highly dependent on the agricultural economy.
In the tribute trade, the Tatars paid tribute mainly in the form of horses, mules, cattle and sheep, etc. The court could give back fox furs, gold woven clothes, silk fabrics, etc. In the mutual trade, the Tatars exchanged horses, cattle and sheep for food and daily necessities.
, the imperial court should stipulate that only cloth, rice, salt and other daily necessities are allowed to enter the market. Weapons and iron tools that can be used in war and production are prohibited goods.
In fact, what Li Jie really wants to say is that even a small-scale influx of ironware is not a big deal, because the imperial court can continuously produce it, but the Tatars do not have this ability. Unfortunately, this is an examination room, and many things cannot be explained quickly.
The establishment of a mutual market is conducive to peace on the border. There can be an unlimited supply of daily necessities. The horses obtained in exchange can be used to train cavalry and the cattle can be used to cultivate fields. As long as the control is effective, there is no need to strictly limit the time, location, and scale of mutual market transactions. As long as
To ensure that ironware does not flow into Tatar, mutual trade can be regarded as normalized economic exchanges.
In fact, the reason why the Ming Dynasty and Mongolia often fought in the late Hongzhi period was that after the little prince came to the throne, the various Mongolian ministries were more closely connected and the demand for supplies was greater. Mutual trade could not meet the daily needs of the Tatars, so they resorted to war to plunder supplies.
Li Jie also mentioned in the article that military power is the basis of mutual trade. If there is not enough military power to deter, the Tatars will inevitably launch a war to obtain supplies. Part of the income earned during the transaction should be invested in border defense.
, strengthen military strength so that the Tatars do not dare to act rashly.
The next two questions are about ethics, "A benevolent person regards heaven, earth, and all things as one", requiring candidates to elaborate on their own views on ethics and morals; the other is about culture and education, "A good scholar is a blessing," which requires candidates to express their views on ethics.
Discuss the theory and behavior of Confucius' love of learning.
The last two questions were just average and it was hard to stand out. After all, compared with the first three policy questions, these two questions were a little more pragmatic. Li Jie recalled what he had learned in the past and finished the two questions in a fair way. If he wanted to stand out in the policy questions, he could only
Close to the first three questions.
After all, other candidates are not standing on the shoulders of giants like Li Jie. In ancient times, transportation was inconvenient and message transmission was blocked. Except for those officials and officials, most candidates did not know much about specific affairs. In handling specific affairs
, Li Jie is even more outstanding than those children of high-ranking officials.
After writing the five policy questions, Li Jie checked it over first, then transcribed it and handed it in.
The moment I walked out of Gongyuan, this joint examination was officially over. Just wait for the results to be released on the 29th. The same batch of candidates all had relaxed smiles on their faces. There were also many candidates who complained about this examination.
The content of the exam is too tricky. Whether it is salt administration, anti-pornography or mutual trading, it is difficult for most scholars to come into contact with it in daily life.