If the rural constraint system and the gentry class are regarded as the cornerstone of the Ming Empire, then the imperial examination system is the most dazzling pearl in the crown of the Ming Empire.
This pearl is surrounded by traps and red lines, large and small. No one dares to touch it, including the emperor.
This system, founded by Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty in the first year of Daye, has developed over more than 900 years and has become closely related to the lives of the gentry. By the Ming Dynasty, the gentry controlled the countryside and land through the rural constraint system, and controlled the court and the emperor through the imperial examination system. .
The powerful centralized system established by Chong Bago not only gave his descendants safety, but also dug a grave for them to eat and die.
Zhu Shou lived in this extremely gorgeous tomb.
But in the center of the tomb, in a warm pavilion on the east side of Qianqing Palace, Zhu Shou was sitting on the dragon chair, looking at the two people kneeling on the ground.
The one on the left has a big beard, a fat head and big ears, and the belt on his belly hangs down to his knees. He is Zhu Shou's biological uncle, Empress Dowager Zhang's younger brother, and the owner of the most luxurious Feng Wu Building in the capital, Shouning Hou. Zhang Heling.
The one on the right, who is as thin as a bamboo pole and has lewd eyes, is none other than Boss Liu Jin.
After receiving the message from Wei Bin, Boss Liu rushed over immediately. He had just received a large sum of money and was in a great mood. However, as soon as he heard the emperor say "a list of fifty people", he knew that the matter had been leaked, and he He knelt in front of Zhu Shou in shock and fear, fearing that the emperor would be furious.
Not to mention Boss Liu, any passerby on the streets of the capital would know that the imperial examination was a national policy of the Ming Dynasty. Anyone who dared to fight against the imperial examination would be doomed to death.
Since Zhu Shou traveled through time, Liu Jin's ability to cover the sky with one hand has become weaker and weaker. The Eight Tigers are fighting on their own, and there are more and more things that are inflicting trouble on each other. Therefore, although Boss Liu still has the false reputation of "establishing the emperor", he has become increasingly weak. The more careful he is, he will not even make political deals on things that are of little benefit, so as not to give clues to his political opponents.
But the benefits this time are really too great, there are fifty places for the examination!
Looking at the imperial examination system of more than 900 years, which subject dares to compare with the Wuchen Section of the Zhengde 3rd year? Boss Liu's handwriting is not only unprecedented, but also unprecedented.
Liu Jin spent a huge amount of political chips to obtain the acquiescence of Li Dongyang, Yang Tinghe and others. He thought it would be smooth sailing, but he didn't know which bastard leaked it to the emperor.
It is now the eleventh day of February in the third year of Zhengde (note: according to the lunar calendar, I made a small mistake in the first few chapters and used the New Calendar data, the same below), the Wuchenke Examination and the Wuchenke Daming Games are in full swing. conduct.
The examination starts from the ninth day of the lunar calendar and is divided into three sessions. Tomorrow is the second session, and there will be another session on the 15th. The undergraduate examiners are Li Dongyang, the elder of the cabinet, and Bai Yue, the minister of the Ministry of Rites. (In the official history, they are Wang Hao and Liang Chu. , but Wang Hao returned to his hometown, and Liang Chu went to Yizhou)
Li Dongyang is the chief assistant and should not be the examiner. However, the Wuchen Section examination is a bit special because two of the three elders in the cabinet have sons who are taking the examination in this subject.
Jiao Fang's son Jiao Huangzhong, Yang Tinghe's son Yang Shen, and even Maritime Governor Liu Yu's son Liu Ren, as well as the Donghai Company board of directors who were deeply loved by Zhu Shou reviewed the Han Bangqi brothers. Therefore, in order to avoid suspicion, neither Jiao nor Yang could Serve as examiner.
The Boshin Section Examination, which is destined to be recorded in history, started in a very unusual way. There were too many rich and handsome people filling it, and the criss-crossing political transactions also made the admission results of this subject seem complicated and confusing.
Yang Shen accidentally had his test paper burned in the official history, but as of today, such an unfortunate incident has not happened. According to the political deals of Liu Jin and others, if nothing happens, he will become the undisputed number one scholar in this subject.
….
Zhuohuang Zhong will be the leader of the top two, and the rest will be among the top two.
Yang Shen was already very talented, and Zhu Shou admired him very much. As long as he passed the general examination, the palace examination in early March was just a formality.
Some of the fifty people Liu Jin wanted to admit were related to the Eunuch Party, but there were also many backbones of the major factions, including four of Li Dongyang's disciples.
Therefore, if Zhu Shou terminates this political transaction, the political blow to Liu Jin will undoubtedly be devastating.
Boss Liu was kneeling on the ground, not daring to raise his head or speak. He was feeling very anxious and uneasy.
But Zhu Shou did not speak to him, but said slowly: "Xuan, Jin Xingji Zhang Jizu was the commander of the Yizhou Guard, and his special grace was hereditary for five generations."
Xingji is the hometown of Empress Dowager Zhang. Zhang Jizu is the eldest son of Shouning Hou Zhang Heling. During the Ming Dynasty, the three levels of Duke, Hou, Bo and Fan were named as meritorious officials and relatives.
After Zhang Heling died, his eldest son could not inherit the title of marquis.
All emperors of the Ming Dynasty were extremely strict in controlling their relatives. Unless they had made great contributions to the founding of the country, hereditary nobility was not allowed. Occasionally, those who had been hereditary for several generations had to do so out of special favor.
The eldest son received the fifth-generation official position, but Zhang Heling was not happy. Instead, he was sweating profusely. He did not care about the etiquette of a monarch and his ministers. He raised his head and looked at his nephew emperor pitifully.
He is not an idiot, nor does he dislike the empty position of Yizhou Guard, but he knows an old saying: When you treat others with courtesy, you must ask for something.
How could the emperor's gift be so delicious? Even if the emperor's request could not be satisfied even by chopping off his great head!
This nephew has become more and more difficult to guess since a year ago. He is neither as soft-hearted as his emperor's brother-in-law, nor as loving as his sister the Queen Mother. This boy has been quirky and cruel since he was a child.
I remember one year when Emperor Xiaozong held a family banquet, he casually touched a few of the maids next to him, and ended up having vegetable soup poured all over him.
Sure enough, as soon as he raised his head, he saw Gu Dayong, the admiral of the West Factory who was accompanying him, picked up a pile of memorials from the dragon table and gently placed them in front of him.
Zhang Heling was sweating like rain, and with trembling hands, he picked up a piece of paper at random. As expected, he was impeaching himself. Every matter was well-founded and clear. If the emperor dealt with it impartially, according to Ming law, it would just be like this.
With this memorial, you can chop your head off seventeen or eight times.
You don’t even need to read the rest of the memorials to know what they are about. Zhang Heling knocked his head to the ground and cried: "Your Majesty, this humble minister deserves to die for his crime, he deserves to die for his crime!"
Zhu Shou smiled. He felt that he seemed to have mastered the basics of being an emperor. He ignored his uncle and asked softly: "Liu Jin, do you have anything to say?"
Liu Jin was dazzled by Zhu Shou's two straight punches. He looked at the expressionless eunuchs around him, gritted his teeth and said in a deep voice: "Old slave, I understand!"
Talking to Boss Liu would save you worries. Zhu Shou glanced appreciatively at Boss Liu, who had murderous eyes. He was indeed the number one figure among the Eight Tigers. Compared with him, the other bosses were left behind several times.
Zhang Heling just killed a chicken by the way. What Zhu Shou really wanted to warn was the old monkey Liu Jin.
On the mountain of the palace, there is only one tiger, and that is Zhu Shou. Liu Jin and others are just a group of monkeys that kill each other. When outsiders attack, this group of monkeys must act unanimously; when the emperor needs it, this group of monkeys must fight against each other.
A group of monkeys also have to worry about life and death; as for what kind of fighting they have in private, as long as no one is killed and Zhu Shou is not allowed to work hard to train a new monkey, he will not care.
"Then what are you going to do?" Zhu Shou continued to ask, "Can you clarify my doubts?"...
This is to force Boss Liu to submit a petition without giving him any chance to connect with others. According to Boss Liu's ability to control government affairs, it would be unsightly for him to temporarily reach a compromise with Li Dongyang and his group.
Liu Jin took out the roster in his arms, tore it into pieces, and then said in a deep voice: "This case of fraud in the examination room involves major matters, and its scale even exceeds the case in the twelfth year of Hongzhi. The old slave proposed that the cabinet, six
The ministry will work with the three divisions to thoroughly investigate this shocking case!"
The iron-blooded Boss Liu lived up to his reputation. He sold out all his middle- and lower-class allies in one fell swoop and vowed to kill them all. But his bottom line was to reach a compromise with a big faction like Li Dongyang and not bring the war to the leadership of the Ming Dynasty.
layer.
In the twelfth year of Hongzhi, Li Dongyang and Cheng Minzheng served as examiners. As a result, they were impeached by Zhonghua Chang, who said that Cheng Minzheng, Tang Bohu, Xu Tai and others were suspicious. In the end, Li Dongyang had to examine the papers alone. Cheng, Tang, and Xu all
His future was ruined. Tang Bohu, the most talented man in the south of the Yangtze River, fell into poverty all his life and became a regret for a generation.
Zhu Shou threw down another booklet from the Dragon Case, threw it in front of Liu Jin, and said with a smile: "There is no shocking case. Liu Jin, take this book and go back and study it."
Liu Jin shuddered in his heart. He picked up the book and looked at it. Sure enough, it was his own list of fifty people. Even the positions were exactly the same. Cold sweat dripped down his body.
Which bastard betrayed me? This was Boss Liu's first thought, but it was fleeting. In front of the emperor, the person who would not betray Boss Liu has not yet been born.
Does the emperor want to go to war with the civil service group? This was his second thought, but when he thought about it again, no, who dared to go against the civil service officials in the imperial examination system? Even the emperor did not dare.
Since it is not a war or a thorough investigation, there is only one possibility: causing trouble!
This is the approach that best suits Zhu Houzhao’s personality: I don’t dare to fight you, I will disgust you to death!
Liu Jin guessed what Zhu Shou was thinking, and the emperor slowly said: "Marquis Shouning, I heard that you opened a gambling game in Fengwu Tower?"
Zhang Heling finally regained his breath at this time, and regardless of the etiquette before the emperor, he wiped the sweat from his forehead and said repeatedly: "Wei Chen is willing to donate all the property in the capital to Donghai Company to use it as the venue for this year's auction.
"
Donghai Company's second auction will be held in April. Zhang Heling thought the emperor wanted to make him lose money and bleed.
Zhu Shou smiled and said: "What do I want from your little fortune? I just heard that in your gambling game, someone bet on the leader of archery, and I wanted to ask you whether this person bet on the Huiyuan of Zhongjinke.
?”
Liu Jin and Zhang Heling were shocked at the same time. It turned out that the emperor's back-up plan was left here!