Chapter 425 The most stringent imperial examination in history
The regulations for reading papers in the palace examinations over the years are roughly as follows. Generally, there are more than a dozen people such as the cabinet bachelor, the six ministers, the censor of Zuodu, the minister of Dali Temple, the general affairs secretary, the Hanlin bachelor of the chief academy, and Zhan Shifu of Zhanshifu.
official.
Then these dozen paper readers will gather in Wenyuan Pavilion, read the test papers in the hall, and roughly rank them.
Then the three best test papers were pre-selected and presented to the emperor, who asked him to determine the ranking of the Three Tripods.
Of course there are occasional tweaks to specific details, but generally that's how it's always been.
In the happy time of the Chinese-style candidates, or prospective Jinshi, the regulations regarding the Ji Chou Imperial Examination in the 17th year of Wanli were distributed from the palace to the Ministry of Rites and communicated to the candidates.
It is said that these regulations were decreed by the emperor, and compared with the usual palace examinations, there are several differences.
But all these changes are to make the palace examination more stringent!
First, in addition to the policy theory, try an eight-legged essay.
——Needless to say more about this meaning.
Second, the examination questions are no longer provided by the cabinet and printed one day in advance. Instead, on the day of the palace examination, the emperor personally turns over the book to determine the questions and announces them on the spot.
——It eliminates any possibility of missing questions in advance, unless the emperor wants to miss questions for someone.
Thirdly, the Mi Feng officer responsible for anonymizing the name is no longer a civil official, but is replaced by a royal guard. Moreover, the Mi Feng officer is no longer allowed to directly deliver the papers to the document reader, and there is an additional document delivery officer in between.
——It eliminates the possibility that the sealing officer may pretend to be anonymous but actually deliver the test paper of the designated person to a certain reader.
Fourth, all the examiners are not allowed to go to the examination room to read the answers. They are not allowed to go home at night during the examination period. They all live in the Ministry of Etiquette and are not allowed to meet in private. Guards in uniforms are assigned to monitor them.
——It eliminates the possibility of more than a dozen readers colluding and giving or receiving privately.
Seeing these regulations decreed by the emperor, everyone can realize that this year's imperial examination may be the most stringent imperial examination in history. The emperor seems to be serious about it?
Of course, in the eyes of the central figure, Lin Daguan, through these regulations, he seemed to see a happy man hiding in the palace.
Zhou Yingqiu next to him asked: "Why are you so calm?"
Upon hearing this question, Lin Daguan suddenly realized that he should not be too calm.
I'm afraid everyone thinks that this most stringent imperial examination in history is aimed at me, the fraudster.
The purpose is to expose your true face and let yourself show your true colors under justice, so your correct reaction should be to be furious, like an ant on a hot pot!
If you are too calm, will you arouse others' suspicion?
When Lin Tailai was thinking about performing arts, he heard Zhou Yingqiu remind him: "There is another possible trend of thought that you need to guard against.
In the previous examinations, some people were not capable enough and relied entirely on joint training to learn the Chinese style. If the imperial examinations were strict and included eight-part essays, these people would be at risk of being exposed.
So these people are likely to resent you, and they will think that you are responsible for the strictness of the palace examination."
"What does this have to do with me?" Lin Daguanren was determined not to take the blame, "It is obvious that the emperor wants to see the ministers have fun!"
Zhou Yingqiu: ""
Brother, there's nothing wrong with you wanting to blame the emperor, but don't blame the emperor!
Lin Daguan felt that he could no longer be idle and had to control the situation. He should perform the performances and pass the blame where it should be done.
So he jumped up and said, "I heard that Xu Ge's old illness has recovered. I'm going to pay my respects to him right now!"
In the officialdom of the Ming Dynasty, the examiner was the biggest teacher of Jinshi. His relationship was second only to the relationship between heaven and earth, which was of extraordinary significance.
As a rule, those on the list should have gone to pay homage to the Grand Master. This is equivalent to "signing a contract". After paying homage, the teacher-student relationship will be officially concluded.
However, after the results of the general examination came out, Xu Guo, the examiner, fell ill and was unable to see guests until recently.
Of course, there are also irresponsible rumors that Mr. Xu Ge has not completely recovered, but he is afraid that if he delays it any longer, it will delay the recruitment of students.
Today's custom is bad. After the examination, students must bring real gifts when visiting their teacher.
What it really means is that it's substantial and sincere, and don't give frivolous gifts like pens, inks, paper, and books, except of course antiques or famous ones.
Lin Daguan is a very down-to-earth person. The gift for his apprenticeship was four large silver ingots, each of fifty taels, which was not frivolous at all.
Dong Qichang, who was traveling with him, asked: "Isn't your gift a bit too vulgar? It's completely careless. It's just cold money and no human kindness attached."
Lin Daguan looked like a humble social animal living in a crack, and sighed: "If I give gifts to Mr. Xu Ge too carefully, and if there are any other favors besides money, I'm afraid the chief minister will not be able to sleep at night."
The friends around me turned around in their minds several times before they tasted the Versailles in these words.
When I arrived at Mr. Xu Ge's house, I saw lanterns and colorful decorations, as if a happy event was coming.
Official Lin checked the register at the door to confirm who had come and who had not come yet.
Mr. Xu Ge was sitting in the main hall, accepting visits from his disciples in turn.
As the first Hui Yuan, Lin Daguan naturally has privileges. He doesn't have to wait in line and can go in directly when he arrives.
In front of Mr. Xu Ge, Lin Huiyuan behaved like a manic patient.
"It's unreasonable! It's unreasonable! Those people from the Qingliu forces actually asked the palace to take the eight-part essay test!" Lin Huiyuan waved his arms fiercely and shouted at the top of his lungs.
"Disciple, I think this is an insult to you, Master! This is tantamount to publicly accusing Master of failing to preside over the examination, so I added the eight-part essay in the palace examination!"
"Such behavior clearly reflects their strongest hostile intentions towards their teacher, as well as their extremely vicious and heart-rending aggression!"
"Those Qingliu forces don't know the heights of the world and dare to trample on the dignity of the master. They are just the dying struggle of a mad dog on the road to death!"
"Teacher's patience will only be regarded as weakness. The madmen who act recklessly must pay the price for their stupidity! The bastards who stir up trouble must be given the strongest fight back!"
To others, it seemed that Lin Huiyuan was anxious to test the eight-part essay in the imperial examination, and encouraged his teachers to fight back. This was a normal and reasonable reaction.
Lin Huiyuan's roar made Mr. Xu Ge's ears buzz, but Mr. Xu just looked at the Huiyuan he had pointed out with his own hands. He was still dumbfounded.
If there is only one person in the entire capital who understands Lin Huiyuan's true power of eight-part essay, it must be Mr. Xu Ge.
The third question in the general examination was temporarily changed by Mr. Xu Ge, and he could swear that he never leaked it in advance.
But for this temporary topic, Lin Tailai was not only able to write with ease, but also took the time to design small tricks. The finishing touch was to use a "pseudo-study" hook at the end, which is enough to prove that his eight-legged writing skills are profound!
But Mr. Xu Ge also knew that even if he told the truth, no one would believe it.
Everyone believed that he, the examiner, leaked the questions to Lin Tailai in advance (including the third question), and then, under pressure from the chief assistant, selected Lin Tailai as the first place winner.
As almost the only person who knew the truth, Xu Gelao looked at Lin Tailai who was "bluffing" and felt it was ridiculous.
But in the court, there were many people who were even more ridiculous than Lin Tailai.
After performing his angry performance in front of the public, Lin Huiyuan felt that he didn't have much to say, so he left first.
But Lin Huiyuan did not leave the Xu family, and stayed at the gate to help the disciples greet him and send him off.
Half an hour later, Gu Xiancheng's assistant Gao Panlong, Gu Xiancheng's friend Ye Maocai, Gu Xiancheng's classmate Xue Fujiao, and Gu Xiancheng's disciple An Xifan arrived at Xu's house together.
Even as reserve cadres of the Qingliu forces, they cannot avoid the custom of paying homage to their master.
When they saw Lin Tailai guarding the gate, they felt like they were jealous of enemies meeting each other.
They were on the imperial list together, and they were originally good scholars. They could be nicknamed the "Four Gentlemen of Guishan" or something like that.
As a result, Lin Tailai's loud voice called him "Gujiaban", and then it became popular again, and he immediately became crazy!
In this era, family classes refer to private opera troupes!
And everyone knows that Gu Xiancheng loves to lecture, so the "Gu Family Class" also secretly mocks Gu's lectures as acting and singing.
In the scholarly world, destroying a person's reputation is like destroying a person's wealth, so the four members of the Gu family looked at Lin Tailai angrily!
The main reason is that Lin Daguan's people are blocking the gate, and they can't get through without glaring angrily.
Lin Tailai pointed at the leader, Gao Panlong, and shouted, "What are you looking at?"
Gao Panlong, whose family was a loan shark, could still hold on to his momentum and responded: "So what if you look at me?"
Official Lin shouted again: "Would you like to take another look?"
Gao Panlong said firmly: "Just give it a try, it'll be up to you!"
"Look for a fight!" Lin Daguan took a step forward and rushed forward.
After two rounds, Gao Panlong fell directly. Ye Maocai came up to start a fight, but was accidentally knocked down by Lin Daguan.
Xue Fujiao and An Xifan came up together, but were accidentally knocked down by Lin Daguan.
Official Lin's subordinates could only gather around and watch, not daring to step forward to help. After all, the opponent was a Jinshi master, and they were not qualified to take action.
Lin Daguan pointed at the four people and shouted: "Don't think I don't know, behind you is Gu Xiancheng, and behind Gu Xiancheng is Shen Li!
However, this time the palace examination is strict and there is also an additional examination of eight-legged essay, it was Shen Li who took the lead in requesting it!"
The other classmates who were watching from a distance suddenly realized that it was no wonder that Lin Huiyuan was so angry that he took action. He was really angry.
Lin Tailai said to others around him: "They relied on their connections to get on the examination list, but in the blink of an eye they were clamoring for a re-examination in the palace examination!
You must stay away from hypocrites like this who smash pots after eating and don’t care about the lives of others, lest you be betrayed without even realizing it!”
What Lin Daguanren means is that if any of you perform "poorly" in the palace examination, blame these Qingliu forces. He, Lin Tailai, is also a victim!
After the performance, the blame was passed on. Lin Daguan felt that there was still something missing, so he withdrew from the Xu family first.
After the four people who were beaten paid homage to their master, they all went to Gu Xiancheng's house to complain about their grievances.
Gu Xiancheng had no choice but to take people to Shen Li, the Minister of Rites.
On the one hand, see if Lin Tailai's evil deeds can be turned into evidence; on the other hand, let a few relatives and friends become familiar with Shen Shangshu to pave the way for the imperial examination.
"Patience, be patient!" Shen Shangshu warned calmly: "This is Lin's last act of madness before the palace examination. Just wait for the palace examination and don't cause any extra problems."
Xue Fu said angrily: "Is this beating in vain? Is there no royal law at all under the emperor's feet?"
Shen Shangshu really wanted to say, "The emperor's feet are the most unfaithful," but such unpositive words would damage his image.
So I could only patiently advise: "It won't be in vain. After the palace examination, we will calculate the general ledger."
In fact, the crazier Lin Tailai behaves, the more at ease Shen Shangshu feels, which shows that Lin Tailai has "reached the end of his rope."
As for the younger ones being beaten, we can only suffer for the younger ones first.
While they were talking, a slave from the Shen family suddenly ran over and shouted in panic: "My uncle just went out and was beaten and seriously injured!"
Everyone knows that Shen Shangshu has a hard time having heirs. He is old and has only one daughter, so the son-in-law he hired is really half a son.
So when he heard that his son-in-law was beaten, Shen Shangshu was shocked and angry!
The slave from my hometown continued to shout: "It's Lin Tailai who personally led the people to do it! He's blocking the alley outside the door!"
"What a thief! You're a bastard!" Shen Shangshu yelled out of control and started to slap the case.
The bottom line of officialdom struggle has been trampled even if it does not harm the family. Is there any royal law?
The slave from his hometown reported: "The Lin thief is still clamoring that since the great uncle has not kept his word and wants to take action against his fame, don't blame him for not abiding by the bottom line."
I don't know if Lin Tailai is crazy, but Shen Shangshu feels like he is going crazy.
The main reason is that since the examination, Shen Shangshu has been under tremendous pressure, especially the greatest pressure coming from behind him, his comrades and party members, everyone pushed him to rush forward and fight Lin Tailai hand-to-hand.
In recent days, Shen Shangshu felt that he was caught between himself and Lin Tailai, and was under double pressure.
Sometimes, tossing and turning late at night, Shen Shangshu wonders, is this stressful situation beyond his ability?
And today, Lin Tailai blocked the door of his house and showed off his face like this, directly detonating Shen Shangshu.
"Call all the servants at home and come out with me. I wonder if Lin Tailai dares to attack me!" Shen Shangshu shouted to the servants.
Damn it! Gu Xiancheng was frightened and hurriedly advised: "Be patient! Uncle Zong, please be patient! This is Lin Thief's last madness before the palace examination!
Lin Tailai wants to use himself as bait, and Da Zong Boduizi must not be fooled!"
If things get serious and the emperor sees too much repercussions and cancels the strict regulations on palace examinations, won't it affect the overall situation?
Seeing Shen Shangshu almost explode on the spot, the four would-be Jinshis who were beaten suddenly felt that being beaten today was nothing.
If Shen Shangshu explodes, then when it comes to the palace examination, who can help them get a good ranking?
If they rank among the top three, they will have to go to other places to become county magistrates first, which is definitely something they are not willing to do as they are ambitious.
Thinking of this, the four people who were beaten did not dare to complain and complained, and they quickly worked with Gu Xiancheng to comfort Shen Shangshu.
"Then wait for the imperial examination!" Shen Shangshu finally endured.
As a mature politician, he takes the overall situation into consideration!