The original intention of the imperial examination since the Sui Dynasty was to replace the examination system, allowing scholars all over the country to get rid of all external factors and participate in an intelligence test in an individual capacity, in order to achieve the effect of recruiting heroes from all over the world. After the development of past dynasties,
, this system has developed quite well, and has indeed selected a large number of outstanding talents who are unyielding, honest and honest.
The rulers of the Ming Dynasty paid special attention to the imperial examination, and the methods they formulated were more rigorous than any previous dynasty. Although the rise of the eight-legged essay made the imperial examination a tool to imprison intellectuals and destroy talents, it was still a way for children from poor families to escape from that
With such a humble status, the best choice to enter the official career is regarded as the only right path. One of the reasons why scholars in this era called Chongzhen a faint king is that he had not only engaged in a scandal in the year he ascended the throne.
Apart from that, no more imperial examinations were held.
Six years! There has been no examination for six years. This has made many well-educated people in the world feel discouraged. It has also made many court officials who hope to make a fortune by taking advantage of the scientific examination? It has even made the court more disappointed.
What made the middle ministers miserable was that it was precisely because of this shameful behavior that they were put in an embarrassing situation for their successors, and the foolish emperor Chongzhen was able to blatantly deceive the scholar elites and make fun of these mature and prudent ministers.
Maybe it was because the curse of the scholars secretly stabbing villains took effect, or maybe it was because the biggest traitor around the emperor went to the Japanese island, or maybe... anyway, since the decree issued in October of the fifth year of Chongzhen
The imperial edict finally gave them what they wanted. The imperial court was about to re-open the academic examinations, and this time directly skipped the academic examination and the provincial examination, and held the joint examination in Nanjing. As if to compensate for the efforts made by scholars all over the world in recent years,
The imperial court also made it clear that there would be no limit on the number of candidates for this scientific examination.
As soon as this news came out, scholars all over the world were immediately flattered. According to unreliable gossip, dozens of scholars in the smelly land of Guangdong alone went crazy with joy. In fact, this is easy to understand. What is that? Can you try it?
Those who take part in this exam must first obtain the qualification to be a scholar. This makes those children who have never been a scholar in their seventies or eighties how can they not be ecstatic? [
All of a sudden, the roads leading to Nanjing from all over the country were filled with traffic. Those who lived far away had already packed up their packages and prepared pens, inks, paper and inkstones before the New Year. New Year? What kind of New Year should I celebrate at this time? I don’t care if I can’t live it.
If you pass this level, you must first go to Yingtian to get a good name and go home to honor your ancestors! Fortunately, it is still popular these days that the poor are poor in culture and rich in military affairs. Scholars, no matter how rich their families are, will basically travel alone. Otherwise, by the time they reach Chongzhen Sixth
In March of this year, there were more than one million people in Nanjing.
When they arrived at the place, those poor scholars discovered that the imperial court had really put in a lot of effort to hold this very large-scale examination. All the inns in Nanjing City had been booked by the imperial court, as well as all the places where people could live in temples, Taoist temples and even brothels and Chu palaces.
It was also designated as a residence for scholars. It also provided two free meals a day. Although the accommodation and food were not that good, it was at least better than what they were prepared to endure hungry until the day of the examination. It is said that from then on
The Gongyuan, which started large-scale renovations half a year ago and is still closed, seems to prove that the court is fully prepared.
And a series of events that happened in the sixth year of Chongzhen gave students who were rushing to take the exams a glimpse of the dawn of a prosperous age. The sudden start of free education for all in February allowed their descendants to qualify as children. Even if they lost their names this time, they still have
Sons and grandsons will continue to work one after another, and one day they will be able to break out of the siege and shine brightly.
The large-scale purges in the court gave many interested people hope. It is no wonder that the scale of this scientific expedition was so large. The Donglin Party members were eliminated, and the Qichu and Zhejiang Party also fell into disrepair. This shows that
As long as they can pass this level, they will be directly appointed by the court. Unlike those northern scholars who have long been bullied by the generals who govern the country, many students from the Jiangnan area have begun to form cliques and prepare for the future.
Form a new alliance and become an important official in the imperial court who can rule the people under the wexe emperor.
If those long-awaited southern scholars had time to inquire about Zhou Yanru, who was busy preparing to build a business school, they might know that they were being teased by the court again this time. According to Kong Yanzhi's treacherous statement, those seventy-year-old children were actually
The court would not hire any props, but they had already prepared a monthly salary of eight taels for them. The purpose was just to prevent the people from misunderstanding that the court no longer respected knowledge.
The reason why this misunderstanding may have occurred is that the imperial court decided to cancel a series of special treatment for scholars, such as not having to pay taxes and not kneel before officials, and to completely overturn the thousand-year-old tradition that the punishment is not as good as that of a doctor but not that of a commoner. In this regard
Zhou Yanru and others also deeply agreed. They have also prepared a public opinion offensive. After all, they are businessmen now, and they absolutely do not want anyone to dominate them.
As for those guys who dare to start forming cliques for personal gain before entering the court, do they really think this was a few years ago? Don't they know that this is Yingtian, and there is a large group of spies hiding around the emperor who don't know where? Wait for them
It will never be nominated for a gold medal, it will only be deprived of fame and demoted to a lowly slave!
"Brother Hongzu, you have become more energetic after not seeing you for many years! Come and tell me about the strange things you have seen along the way over the years!" Not all Jiangnan scholars are so indifferent, and they are still holding on to their disapproval.
A realistic fantasy. At least this middle-aged student who came from Jiangxi and was assigned to a famous brothel by the Qinhuai River is not so energetic. Instead of wasting time on reciting poems and getting them right, he would rather calm down and work hard to revise them.
own writings.
"Hey! Brother Chang Geng, don't mention it..." Xu Xiake felt aggrieved. He just wanted to rely on his family's money to realize his childhood dream of traveling to famous mountains and rivers. Along the way, he was frugal and had no money.
Whether he stole it or not, how come he was arrested and thrown into jail by that damn Zhuge Xi as soon as he entered Guizhou? He was also charged with a crime he had never heard of before, called illegal surveying and mapping.
The well-informed Xu Xiake didn't take this matter to heart. Anyway, these days, Jiangnan officials have seen a lot of cases where officials in Jiangnan used clever excuses to expropriate money. He thought that at most he would be fined a little money and hit twice. But he didn't expect this time.
He was really in big trouble. Zhuge Xi was not setting this up indiscriminately, and this charge was comparable to collaboration with the enemy and treason. Although it was later verified that he escaped with his life, but the death penalty can not be avoided.
He was eventually escorted back to Nanjing to take the exam because he unfortunately appeared on the blacklist assigned by Zhu Youcong.
"No injustice! No injustice!" Seeing Xu Xiake showing signs of getting angry, Song Yingxing hurriedly explained: "Brother Hongzu, you are much luckier than my younger brother. Master Zhuge treats you with courtesy no matter what, but my younger brother has been
They were kidnapped!"
Song Yingxing was indeed more unlucky than Xu Xiake. In any case, Zhuge Xi still maintained a scholarly demeanor when doing things. Even if he sent troops to escort him, he did not forget to serve him delicious food and drinks along the way, so Xu Xiake did not suffer anything.
But Gao Yingxiang, who was responsible for going to Jiangxi to find hermits, was different. The horse dealer basically used pure violence and non-cooperation to recruit people if they didn't agree with each other.
Although the road from Fengxin in Jiangxi to Yingtian Mansion is not long, it is uncomfortable no matter who is being tied up all the time. What is even more egregious is that in order to prevent someone from escaping, Gao Yingxiang would not even eat or sleep without untying him, even to relieve himself.
There was a large group of people watching. Moreover, Song Yingxing was not the only one who was unlucky about the Song family. His eldest brother Song Yingsheng, his clan uncle Song Guozuo, was thrown into teaching in the newly opened official school. And the two clan nephews could not escape the clutches and were forced to become slaves.
The first batch of students.
"Haha..." Xu Xiake laughed happily. He had met the Song family when he traveled in Jiangxi in the early years. Unexpectedly, Song Yingsheng, who would rather resign from Liuzhou Prefecture and return to his hometown to run education, was still targeted by the court.
But this time he should be able to get what he wanted. "According to this, brother Chang Geng, you should be resentful, but according to Brother Yu..."
"Brother Hongzu didn't know something. Even if the imperial court drives me away now, I won't leave! This time I will be admitted to that institute no matter what!" After saying that, Song Yingxing took out the latest pocket watch and said:
"Brother Hongzu, look at it. I heard from the horse thief named Gao along the way that such exquisite objects are just civilian products with no secret at all. It is said that people will soon be allowed to produce them on their own. If you can really enter that place
In this mysterious research institute, you can not only see steam engines whose names are only heard but not actually seen. You can also see the flying artifact used by the Zhenguo general, and you even have the opportunity to personally participate in the research of the machine that creates lightning. Do you think I will give up?
?”
"You, you, you! Your temper has not changed after all these years..." Xu Xiake smiled bitterly and shook his head. He knew this unexpectedly acquainted brother of the same age. It was useless to talk about classics with him, but as long as he got something
Weird and weird things will immediately attract his attention.
"Brother Hongzu, can you really let go of your hobby of traveling around?"
"Of course I can't let it go. But..." Xu Xiake sighed, and took out something similar to a pocket watch and said: "This is the Si Nan that Master Zhuge gave to Brother Yu. Before leaving, he once said that he hoped Brother Yu could be admitted to the Imperial College.
Academy, use your feet to measure every inch of land in the Ming Dynasty, find countless minerals for the Ming Dynasty, and find the source of every river..."
"Si Nan?" As the saying goes, "different Taoists do not seek each other." Song Yingxing was not interested in Xu Xiake's hobbies at all, but the little compass made his eyes light up. "Brother Hongzu, can you give me a look?" [
"That won't work!" Xu Xiake quickly put the compass back in his arms. He also admitted that Song Yingxing was a clever person, but this guy had a bad habit of taking apart any strange things he saw. If he didn't understand the principle,
He will not restore the structure and structure to you. "Brother Chang Geng, I am not just being stingy, but the fact is that this object can tell the direction and observe the sky. It is said to be military supplies for the Southern Corps. Master Zhuge has repeatedly told me not to show it to others easily.
!”
"The two brothers are indeed here!" As he was speaking, a young student rushed in.
Song Yingxing was embarrassed to continue to pester in front of the young people. He could only glare at Xu Xiake with a grudge and said: "Brother De Bing? What's the important matter?"
For these scholars, those who are knowledgeable and can only write some splendid articles can at best be called a great Confucian. Only those who have attainments in chess, calligraphy, painting, poetry, and songs, and can be unique in their own style can be called
Huang Zongxi was a talented man. He was abducted to the capital two years ago and was finally allowed to run back to the south of the Yangtze River for a walk. He was obviously trying to move in this direction. And what he wanted to do was to know astronomy from above and geography from below.
He can be regarded as a romantic figure who can influence future generations.
However, if Huang Zunsu, known as the Seven Gentlemen of Donglin, knew that his eldest son was actually obsessed with the heresies that the scholars said, and had become friends with these two deviants, he would probably be so angry that he would jump out of the coffin.
come out.
"Brothers, do you know who lives in the buildings across the street?" Huang Zongxi, who didn't want to live near the Confucius Temple with the Confucian scholars, but wanted to come to the Qinhuai River to mingle with these aliens, has been there recently.
Don't wander around much. Anyway, it's useless to just cram for the content they need to take the exam. They have to rely on long-term knowledge accumulation.
"Aren't they all rotten scholars?" Just as the scholars looked down upon Xu Xiake, who had no fame, he also looked down on those guys who studied hard.
"Brother Hongzu is wrong, 60% of the people living there are students from Luoyang Academy!" Huang Zongxi said with a serious face: "As far as I know, they have been receiving teachings from celebrities invited by General Zhenguo since they were young.
He may be on par with us, but his attainments in astronomy, calendar, geography, arithmetic, etc. are far beyond what we can match..."
"Hiss" Song Yingxing is not familiar with these people, but when he visited fellow countryman Zhu Zhiyu, he inadvertently mentioned that there will be a large number of strong opponents competing with them, and it is no less difficult to enter the Imperial Academy than to be nominated for the top three on the gold list.
"According to what the wise brother De Bing said, wouldn't this trip of ours be..."
"Isn't it?" Huang Zongxi said angrily: "The Luoyang Academy is originally home to famous people. It is said that even the academy will send people there to provide guidance from time to time. They have received more professional teaching than us since they were young. This is too unfair.
!”
"Brother De Bing, don't worry too much!" Song Yingxing's competitive spirit was also aroused. He swept away his unhappiness at not being able to grab the compass and said confidently: "They are guided by famous experts, and we have been working for decades.
They have studied hard and read a lot of books, and they have the help of experts. We have also traveled around the world to visit heroes from all over the world. Which one is better and which one is worse will have to be tested with real skills in the examination room!" (To be continued...