Countless people are waiting for the imperial court to announce the chief and deputy examiners for this Gengchen Examination. As the only one with legal decision-making power, Zhu Yijun, the Emperor of Heaven, is also in a dilemma these days.
Zhu Yijun's entanglement actually starts with the addition of cabinet ministers not long ago. The final additions to the cabinet ministers this time were Yu Youding and Xu Guo. In terms of school of thought, Yu Youding was obviously a scholar of Xinxue.
Xu Guo could not be said to have much academic inclination, but because he was a disciple of Gao Gong, he must be a member of the practical school in the eyes of the outside world.
In this way, after the addition of the cabinet, the contrast between practical learning and spiritual learning has changed from two to one before to three to two now. Theoretically speaking, the spiritual learning line has made a small profit.
But some things cannot be based on “data” alone, because there are many people who come from the school of mind and body, and not everyone may act according to the current retreat trend of mind and body. For example, Zhang Juzheng in history, his favor was still Xu Jie.
Doesn’t he still manage politics according to practical ideas?
Yu Youding was actually a person with a background in psychology, but he did not have much political leanings. In fact, before he entered the cabinet, it was not easy for him to have any leanings, because he was a Jinshi in the 41st year of Jiajing, and he had no political leanings in this subject.
The three persons A are Shen Shixing, Wang Xijue, and Yu Youding. All three of them were selected by Yuan Wei, the then chief examiner. Yuan Wei, the famous "Qing Ci Prime Minister" died in the 44th year of Jiajing, so this
The three first-class Jinshi were quite isolated and helpless in the court. To a certain extent, the three of them had no choice but to join the group for warmth.
However, joining a group to keep warm is not perfect. Liu Guanzhang also needs a big brother. As the top undergraduate student, Shen Shixing has the smoothest official career, so he has undoubtedly become the "leading brother".
Wang Xijue, who was second on the list, came from a well-known Wang family in Taiyuan, and his family was very wealthy in Taicang. In addition, he had a younger brother named Wang Dingjue, who was a Jinshi in the second year of Longqing (he was also a top student, fifth in the joint examination and ninth in the palace examination).
In fact, this is not over yet. Historically, Wang Xijue’s son Wang Heng will be able to get second place in the provincial examination and second place in the palace examination in the future, thus achieving the reputation of the Wang family as “three Jinshi in one discipline, and father and son both in second place” - Li Xunhuan and his son in Gu Long’s novel
"Three Jinshi in one discipline, father and son two Jinshi" may be derived from this.
It's okay for one person to be a top student, but it's too great for a whole family to be top students, so there's no point in having Wang Xijue as the second brother.
As a result, Yu Youding had no choice but to consciously regard himself as the younger brother among the three. However, the problem was that among the three of them, Yu Youding was actually the oldest, eight years older than Wang Xijue, and Wang Xijue was older than him.
Shen Shixing was one year older. Under such circumstances, Yu Youding naturally behaved the most generously.
In the officialdom, the main manifestation of magnanimity is not to argue. Yu Youding did not argue for anything. He would do whatever tasks the court gave him. He was honest and well-behaved, but there was no rush.
Gao Gong was relatively indifferent to people with Yu Youding's personality. It was neither a promotion nor a deliberate suppression. But when Guo Pu took over as the chief minister, he liked such people, so Yu Youding was promoted all the way to
Zuo Shilang of the Ministry of Personnel.
For a disciple of the Heart Study to be promoted to such a prominent position by the chief assistant of the Practical Study, it would naturally arouse suspicion. Therefore, although Yu Youding insisted on presenting himself as a disciple of the Heart Study, his position in the lineage of the Heart Study was indeed somewhat embarrassing, so
Many times he can only downplay his political attitude and try to deal with things as fairly as possible.
After such a calculation, there are actually some problems with the three-to-two ratio in the cabinet. On the surface, it must be three-to-two, but whether it will be effective... no one can say for sure.
The reason why Zhu Yijun's tangle started with adding cabinet ministers was because Zhu Yijun originally planned to let Zhang Siwei preside over this spring. After all, Guo Pu had already presided over several conferences, so according to convention, Zhang Siwei should be the one to preside over.
The fourth dimension is coming.
However, unexpectedly, Zhang Siwei refused. The reason was that his nephew Gao Pragmatic was also taking the exam this time and he wanted to avoid suspicion. Zhu Yijun was very angry about this - I just want you to win your nephew. How can you avoid it?
Too bad!
But Zhang Siwei refused, and Zhu Yijun had nothing to do. Theoretically speaking, he has not yet taken charge of the government. In the final analysis, the country's operation is actually supported by the cabinet. Guo Pu is not suitable, and Zhang Siwei also refuses. Then the examiner will only
I can choose one from the other three elders.
Logically speaking, there should be no need to choose this. Shen Shixing has been in the cabinet for several years. It is a natural operation to let him preside over the interview this time. However, Zhu Yijun also knows that Shen Shixing is a master of psychology, and he may not be interested in high-pragmatic articles.
I'm relatively familiar with it. What if he just refuses to be pragmatic and middle-level? This is the talent of the king's assistant left to me by the late emperor!
If Gao Pragmatic passed the general examination but his ranking was not good, there would be no problem. Zhu Yijun could adjust his ranking after the imperial examination; but if he failed to pass the general examination, then Zhu Yijun, the emperor, would have nothing to do.
But if you don’t use Shen Shixing, what about using Yu Youding? It seems to be similar.
In Zhu Yijun's view, no one dares to vouch for Yu Youding's political philosophy. He is from a psychology school, so he may tend to write articles in the style of psychology; he may also be impartial and just look at the quality of the articles; he may also take care of people like Guo Pu.
As a favored prime minister, his students are highly pragmatic.
In short, Zhu Yijun felt a little unsafe.
As for Xu Guo, if he serves as the examiner of the joint examination, he must be the most likely to win the middle and high school pragmatism. After all, Xu Guo is a disciple of Gao Gong and has known Gao pragmatism for many years. Moreover, he is an official himself, so he is very important to Gao Gong.
Pragmatism also has the gift of teaching.
Of course, this seniority is difficult to discuss, because from the perspective of Gao Gong’s relationship, Xu Guo’s most formal name for Gao Jingshi should be Gao Jingshi’s “Brother”—this is the official name given by disciples to the disciples of their teachers.
They are divided into different ages. They usually refer to each other as brothers, but in fact it can only be regarded as a nickname. After all, Xu Guo is fifty-four years old this year, and Gao Jingshi is only eighteen years old. Xu Guo calls Gao Jingshi "Brother". This
...it's indeed a little embarrassing.
But for Xu Guo to be the examiner, although there is no problem in terms of qualifications, background, etc., this lack of problem itself is a big problem - what if Xu Guo also refuses? What if he also avoids suspicion?
Zhu Yijun considered: Even if he does not refuse and does not avoid suspicion, what if he feels regretful in the future and feels that he is not the right person to be a Jinshi? Couldn't I have done something bad with good intentions?
So Zhu Yijun delayed and delayed, but finally couldn't make up his mind, so he had to invite Guo Pu over and ask Guo Pu what his opinion was.
Who would have thought that Guo Pu's answer would be very decisive: "Shen Yaoquan was born in the imperial examination and is a cabinet minister. Since the veteran minister and Zhang Fengpan are trying to avoid suspicion, it is natural that Shen Yaoquan should take charge of the exam. Please trust the cabinet and believe that Shen Yaoquan can take charge of the exam impartially."
Speaking of this, Zhu Yijun couldn't help but hesitate, because Guo Pu said that he wanted him to "trust the cabinet", so Zhu Yijun had no choice but to nod and ask the deputy examiner who was suitable.
In fact, this question is a routine matter, because after the middle of the Ming Dynasty, generally speaking, a cabinet elder was the main examiner and the Minister of Rites was the secondary examiner. Therefore, Guo Pu did not think much and answered directly: "Pan Sheng, the Minister of Rites, is the deputy examiner."
If you look at each other well and you are balanced in politics, you can be the deputy examiner."
Guo Pu's evaluation of Pan Sheng is basically in line with Zhu Yijun's view. Pan Sheng was quite arrogant when he was young. Later, as he got older, he gradually became more stable and generally would not do anything out of the ordinary.
On the 19th day of the first lunar month, the chief and deputy examiners of the joint examination were announced. The chief examiners were Prince Taibao and Shen Shixing, a bachelor of Wuyingdian University. The deputy examiners were Prince Shaobao and Pan Sheng, the Minister of Rites.
The Spring Festival of Gengchen has finally entered the final stage. People from all over the world, old and young, who have come to the capital, will soon gather in the Gongyuan of the capital to compete together.