Throughout April, Shao Mianren met friends in Luoyang. When he had free time, he would write poems and paint at home, listen to music and watch dance, and relax a little.
Wang Zhenbai was sent out to Chang'an to inquire about the news.
At this time, Chang'an was in a very lively time.
This year's imperial examination results have been released.
There were 108 people admitted to the Jinshi department, and the saint added a palace examination and selected Chen Ti, a native of Jinjiang, Quanzhou, Fujian, as the number one scholar.
Chen Ti is thirty years old this year. He took part in the imperial examination for the first time in the thirteenth year of Jianji's reign and failed.
I took the exam again in the first year of Tongguang and still failed.
This was the third time I took the exam this year, and I finally won the imperial examination. In the subsequent additional examination, I won the favor of the saint again, became the top scholar in high school, and was awarded the title of Secretary Lang.
This is an official position starting from the sixth rank. Since the imperial dynasty, it has been exclusive to the number one scholar and is very important.
In the pre-Tang Dynasty, they were the officials in charge of various books on classics and history. If a saint needed to read them, they would immediately find them according to the book list and present them to them. This dynasty had another clerical job, drafting edicts for the saints and sending them to other dynasties.
The content of their work is actually very critical, and they are often accompanied by saints. Their future is bright.
There were four Secretary Langs in the Tang Dynasty, but only two in the Guo Dynasty. Currently, they are Cui Miao and Chen Ti.
The former was the number one scholar in the tenth year of Jianji's reign and was from Bianzhou. He was first awarded Youbu Que and later served as Secretary Lang.
In the 19th year since the founding of the Xia Dynasty, there were only three champions, namely Cui Chu, Cui Miao, and Chen Ti. It can be said that they are all people with great luck - yes, some luck is needed, because winning the champion requires additional palace examinations.
The emperor personally presided over the ceremony, which did not happen every time.
Cui Chao was already the governor of Xizhou.
Cui Miao had just left Beijing and served as the governor of Yizhou.
Chen Ti has taken over the banner of the two seniors and continued the tradition of the number one scholar entering the secretarial department.
Of course, it makes sense for the number one scholar to become a secretary, but it is a bit intriguing that Xu Yin, who ranked first in agricultural science, also became a secretary.
Xu Yin is a rather interesting person.
He is a traditional scholar, but he is highly motivated and has "black spots".
It is said that when the king of Liang was in Bian, Xu Yin once wrote poems to charm Quanzhong, but Quanzhong was so worried that he ignored him and left in dismay.
Actually, he is pretty good in this time and space.
In history, in order to curry favor with Zhu Quanzhong, he often wrote poems and poems, but he didn't know what went wrong, which made Zhu Quanzhong furious.
He was worried that he would not be able to escape, so he wrote "Ode to Guo Daliang", which included the sentence "One glance at the Hu slaves makes me feel timid at the sight of the British power", which was obviously a mockery of Li Keyong and a compliment to Zhu Quanzhong.
After escaping from Bianliang, Xu Yin returned to his hometown of Putian, Fujian, and was re-employed by Wang Shenzhi. He paid great attention to farming and suggested that Wang Shenzhi build seawalls to prevent seawater intrusion, dig ditches, build ponds, and irrigate fertile fields.
Fujian has quite a reputation.
Originally, he was like this, living his life in an ordinary way. But what happened next made him firmly recorded in the history books.
After Li Cunxu destroyed Liang, he asked: "Is Xu Yin here?"
After learning that he was under Wang Shenzhi, he said to the envoy from Fujian: "You have returned to tell Wang Shenzhi that parents and parents cannot be the same. Xu Yin criticized the late emperor. Now that he has heard of it, how can he tolerate it?"
Fortunately, Wang Shenzhi cherished Xu Yin's talent and kept him alive.
Xu Yin in this time and space was also hired by Wang Shenzhi to serve as an official in the shogunate.
However, the secretarial positions, including Jiedushi, were theoretically temporary positions. After Fujian surrendered, Xu Yin lost his position and had to return to his hometown. Moreover, he had no fame yet, so he could only live as a minor official in Putian.
Although it's not bad, it can't be said to be great.
Xu Yin is ambitious.
He paid close attention to current affairs and tried every means to find out the news. After learning that Tongguang would take the agricultural examination in four years, he devoted himself to research and long-term preparation, and finally won the only place in Fujian Province, which was also impressive.
Later, in the palace examination, the sage personally asked the question: "Adapt measures to local conditions."
Xu Yin relied on his policy of linking the economy and sea trade in Fujian's mountainous areas, and won the favor of the saints, and was ranked first.
The first place in the imperial examination is called Zhuangyuan, and the first place in the agricultural examination has not yet been officially called, but it is not important. Xu Yin is known as the "Nongzhuangyuan" in private, and he has gained real fame and benefits.
By the way, Yelu Quanzhong also passed the exam.
Lu Qi and Han Zhaoyin, who rented with him, both lost their names in Sunshan.
With a long sigh, Lu Qi said goodbye to Yelu Quanzhong and went to Anxi to prepare to become a doctor of Confucian classics.
Han Zhaoyin packed his bags and returned to his hometown, preparing to fight again.
An imperial examination illuminated all kinds of things in the world.
Someone jumped over the dragon gate and entered the ranks of officials.
Some people sighed, but they remained determined and prepared to carry out the exam to the end.
Some people have a profound enlightenment, give up their unrealistic thoughts, and re-plan the rest of their lives.
Human life is actually spent in such constant choices.
The result of your choice determines the rest of your life, and you pay the price at your own risk.
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On the tenth day of April, the saint followed the tradition and held a banquet in Qujiang Pool to entertain a total of 140 successful scholars.
In fact, the saint only attended for a while, drank a few drinks and then left, leaving space for these newly promoted officials who were "proud of the spring breeze and horse hoofs".
Yelu Quanzhong sat next to Xu Yin, drinking wine silently.
He didn't need to raise his head to feel the gazes of the Jinshi from time to time - of course, not towards him, but towards Xu Yin sitting next to him.
Xu Yin was calm and composed, drinking, eating meat, and talking to others without any abnormality.
"Yelu Langjun's policy is not bad." After Xu Yin put down the wine bottle, he turned to look at Yelu Quanzhong and said, "It's a bit of a fluke that I can win the number one prize in agriculture."
"The number one scholar is too modest," Yelu Quanzhong said.
Xu Yin shook his head and said: "It just so happens that the saint attaches great importance to sea trade, so I connected the tea mountains and orchards in Fujian with it, scratching the saint's itch, that's all."
What he said is generally correct, but it is still a bit modest.
Xu Yin himself comes from a traditional literati background. He has a high level of literary skills, beautiful handwriting, and very particular wording on the test paper. These are all bonus points. Coupled with the outstanding content, it is normal for him to win the top prize in agriculture.
"The Number One Scholar is...frank." Yelu Quanzhong cupped his hands and said with a smile.
After the palace examination was completed, everyone's policies and articles were engraving and printed and compiled into a volume. Yelu Quanzhong read Xu Yin's article and found out that he had some knowledge.
Xu Yin believes that Fujian has many mountains and little land, so the few plains, river valleys, and mountain basins should be properly utilized to grow food.
In mountainous areas where it is inconvenient to grow food, we can examine the climate and transform them into tea gardens or build orchards, and so on.
Of course, if it were just these, it wouldn't be that great.
Xu Yin mentioned in his policy article that in the Tang Dynasty, there were large merchants buying tea, but the quantity was not large, but in recent years it has increased.
He keenly discovered this fact, so he proposed a feasibility: first, let Hu merchants admire Daxia culture; second, promote the benefits of tea.
If outsiders admire Daxia, they will subconsciously imitate the living habits of the Xia people. As tea, which is consumed by princes, nobles, and traders and footmen, it is easy for the Hu people to favor it - here, he even cited Tubo
Examples of Zanpu purchasing tea from Sichuan, Jiangnan and other places.
The second point is easier to understand. Promote the benefits of tea and make people buy more.
Xu Yin finally made a summary. He believed that although Fujian produces tea, its scale and reputation are much inferior to those in Jiangnan and Sichuan. This is abnormal.
Fujian is mountainous, the climate is suitable for the growth of tea trees, and it is close to the sea. If tea is produced and transported to Quanzhou and other places to be sold to foreign merchants, the country's income will increase.
I should say, very insightful.
Shao Shude also felt very surprised when he saw it.
The reason why Fujian tea’s output and reputation are not great is related to Fujian’s level of development.
After the founding of the Xia Dynasty, Fujian suffered from repeated turmoil, and the Dongman people fought fiercely with the government and army. It was in this process that the Wang family rose to power and made a fortune.
With the war, a lot of people were naturally lost. Even if people from the north moved south, their first stop was Huainan, and their second stop was Jiangnan. After layers of "filtering", there were not many people who came to Fujian to make up for the war.
The loss of population was already good, and could not even be compensated at all - a large number of rebellious Dongman were sent to Liaodong.
The entire Fujian Road currently has a population of more than 400,000 registered households, which may be the smallest in the country. For this reason, when Fujian Road was first established, some people raised objections and believed that the five Fujian states could be merged into Jiangdong Road. This can be seen.
Shao Shude very much approved of Xu Yin's idea and believed that it would help develop the local economy in Fujian and increase the population - this kind of population does not need official money to immigrate. They are driven by economic interests and will go to Fujian on their own.
Moreover, as the economy develops, the resistance to household registration will not be so great. Dongman is not that stubborn. In the end, under the double blow of economy and military, he will gradually succumb. Even if Fujian is stable, it will become another development project.
Where it ends - this process may last hundreds of years or even longer.
After reading the policy, Shao Shude decisively awarded Xu Yin the official position of Secretary Lang, making him and Chen Ti the only two Secretary Langs.
"Yelu Langjun——" Xu Yin glanced at Chen Ti who was being admired by the stars in the distance, and said with a smile: "There are 108 people admitted to Jinshi, and only 32 people are in agricultural science. From now on, we have to work together.
"
Yelu Quanzhong nodded silently.
Factional issues, no matter which generation, have never disappeared.
For his future career, he had to stand on the side of agriculture.
Rumor has it that, except for a few current officials, most of the 108 Jinshi went to various provinces to serve as ninth-level officials at the county level, that is, county magistrate, chief registrar, county captain, etc.
A few outstanding individuals were directly awarded the post of county magistrate.
Except for Xu Yin, there is no county magistrate among the 32 scholars who passed the examination in agricultural science. They are all county officials. To be more precise, most of them are county lieutenants.
The reason is that Zhao Guangfeng, the assistant minister of Zhongshu, mentioned the duties of the county captain: "In charge of general affairs, judging among all the officials, cutting off the pursuit of punishment, and collecting and regulating the work."
In short, within a county, the county magistrate has overall control.
The county magistrate is the deputy of the county magistrate. In terms of scope of responsibilities, he is similar to the county magistrate, but he is subordinate to the county magistrate.
The chief bookkeeper is responsible for county government documents, government orders, account books, cashiers, assessments, etc.
The county lieutenant is responsible for the specific execution of various tasks in the county, somewhat similar to the "executive deputy county magistrate".
Zhao Guangfeng believed that placing agricultural science candidates in the position of county captains would better leverage their practical advantages.
The sage thought so and played it accurately.
When the news spread, everyone hated Zhao Guangfeng as a "thief".
Take the following county as an example. The county magistrate is below the ninth rank, the chief registrar is from the ninth rank, and the county lieutenant is from the ninth rank, which is the lowest official level.
You are one or two levels lower than others at the beginning, how can you not hate it?
On the other hand, county captains work the hardest and are easy to take the blame. Although it can train people, who wants this kind of training?
Therefore, it is normal for Zhao Guangfeng to be hated by others.
"Haha, it seems you understand." Xu Yin picked up the wine glass and said, "We must unite."
Yelu Quanzhong also raised his wine glass in return.
When you are an official, you really need to help each other. Not only must the candidates who take the agricultural subjects unite, but also the candidates who take the arithmetic and law subjects must unite with them in the future. Otherwise, all the benefits will be taken away by Jinshi, so what can we do?
