In July in Beijing, a sudden rainstorm washed over the brick streets, and the sludge and debris in the gaps between the bricks flowed to the low-lying areas.

"Hey...... What the hell is the weather! ”

"Our Northern Suburbs Poetry Meeting is going to be in the soup again!"

"It's not that I'm not famous, but God doesn't make beauty!"

……

Several scholars made an appointment to go to the northern suburbs to participate in the poetry meeting, but when they went out, they saw the heavy rain in front of them, so they had to stand in front of the inn and look at the rain and sigh.

As the triennial Shuntian Township Test is about to be held, tens of thousands of scholars from Beizhili gathered in the capital, causing the poetry meeting in the capital to sprung up.

The students were already people of status in this dynasty, and many scholars were born in wealthy families, which made it easy for them to devote themselves to eating, drinking, and having fun, and became the most noisy group in this era.

However, God seems to be unaccustomed to their behavior, when Guangxi was still thousands of miles of terracotta, it was a torrential rain in the capital, which directly swept the interest of these scholars.

"Let's go back to our room and study well, and strive to realize our life's ambitions as soon as possible!"

Wang Shiju was just forced to come out, and when he saw the heavy rain in front of the door to get him out of trouble, he turned around and went back without hesitation, and persuaded these playful fellow villagers.

"My life's ambition? Isn't it just that you want to seek power? ”

"No, what I want is that there is Yan Ruyu in the book, and I can marry Yangzhou Oiran in the future!"

"Huh...... I just want to have a big garden in my old age and leave some inheritance to my children and grandchildren! ”

……

Several scholars looked at Wang Shiju who walked into the inn, but they were disdainful of Wang Shiju's words, and they no longer believed that some scholars would be full of ambition to serve the country, and they all expressed their "ambitions".

From the founding of the Ming Dynasty to the present, it has gone through more than 100 years.

In the current environment, scholars are no longer as shy about fame and fortune as they were back then, but openly tempting each other with wealth and power, and the ambition of many scholars who study hard has become promoted and made a fortune.

However, it is no wonder that, just like many high school class teachers who "want to become dragons" in later generations, they will not stress too much with you about being admitted to the university and applying for the country, but directly talk to you about future employment.

Education not only requires teachers to teach knowledge, but also requires students to work hard to learn.

When they find that patriotic education cannot achieve the goal of urging students to study hard, they naturally want to "teach students according to their aptitude", or to induce power or money, so as to stimulate the self-motivation of these protégés.

This is no longer an isolated phenomenon, but an increasingly common time, so that when Xu Jie first taught, some officials accused him of placing too much emphasis on fame and fortune.

A large amount of rainwater poured down the roof tileway, then collected into the canal, and then poured towards the drain, and everything seemed to be in order.

This rainstorm not only affected the travel of scholars, but also caused many small traders to run under the eaves to take shelter from the rain, which also brought nuisance to the lives of the people in Beijing.

However, due to the times, even the Chinese nation, which stands at the top of the world, cannot compete with God, and can only passively bear in the face of unpredictable natural disasters.

This rainstorm seems to be very fair, and it also affects the emperor who lives in Xiyuan, and also affects the high-ranking officials and bigwigs in Dongjiang Mixiang, making the entire capital like the end of the world.

The Yamen of the Ministry of Rites, the Left Waiter Hall Office.

Raindrops the size of soybeans hit the green tiles, the roof was filled with a noise like fried beans, a few peonies in the courtyard were petaled, and the rain carried many dead leaves to the drain, but they were stopped by a bamboo net.

The signing room was dim, and the candles had been lit at this time, making it very bright. If it weren't for the constant crackling sound outside, I am afraid that I would have mistakenly thought that it was night.

Lin Haoran, who was wearing a three-grade crimson official uniform, sat at the desk without smiling, and was dealing with some affairs at hand. Next month is the triennial autumn festival, and the chief examiners of the township examination promoted by him will be dispatched out in six batches.

No matter what the disaster situation in various parts of the Ming Dynasty is, even if there is a disaster in Guangxi that has not been encountered for decades, this Ming Talent Ceremony is the top priority, but it is impossible to delay it.

said to Xiaoli that this is a vital matter for Daming scholars to exchange for fame, and it is related to their chances of promotion; Xiang Dali said that this is related to the selection of "virtuous officials and capable ministers" by the imperial court, and it is related to the foundation of the Ming Dynasty.

Long Chizhong wiped the water stains on his face and clothes with a hand towel, and took the tea cup sent by Lin Fu, but he sat on the chair opposite Lin Haoran and said: "Senior brother, the atmosphere of scholars is really bad now, many candidates are completely for fame and fortune to participate in the township examination, how can we select talents for the imperial court?" ”

Although Lin Haoran was dealing with the affairs at hand, his ears were shrugging, and he said half-jokingly: "I'm already busy with the matter of the township test, and you still have the problem of the atmosphere of being a scholar, is the work at hand too easy?" ”

"Senior brother, don't take this seriously! Now many of the scholars outside are coming for promotion and making a fortune, if you really let it go, I dare to guarantee that the court in the future will be selfish officials! The dragon pond held a teacup and said to Lin Haoran seriously.

Lin Haoran understood the harmfulness of the corrupt atmosphere, otherwise the Donglin Party would not have taken advantage of the situation to rise, but he wrote the last stroke: "Brother Fangzheng, then what do you think should be done?" ”

"Naturally, it is to get rid of this bad atmosphere, and if you want to get rich, don't be an official, and turn away some people with ill intentions!" The dragon pool looks righteous and awe-inspiring.

Lin Haoran put down the brush, picked up the tea cup next to him, and said to Longchi Zhongzhong: "It's just that the current reality is: if you want to make a fortune, you can only enter the official career and become an official, and even Xu Ge Lao said in the past - raise people to marry beautiful concubines, enter the priest and take the oiran, and the champion sleeps in all directions!" ”

"Senior brother, can we just stare at this corrupt atmosphere and ignore it?" Long Chizhong held the teacup in his hand and asked with a frown.

Lin Haoran took a sip of tea, sighed lightly and said: "The world is going down, this is the eternal truth, this trend is not something that the two of us can change if we say change!" However, we are now in this position, and we must first understand what the original intention of the imperial examination is! ”

Long Chizhong wanted to take a sip of tea, but found that Lin Haoran looked over, and he already replied seriously with the intention of assessment: "The main purpose of the Ming imperial examination is fairness and talent selection. justice, so that the poor scholars have a chance to advance; Selection, so that you can select the future rulers of the Ming court! ”

Lin Haoran had the heart to communicate with Long Chizhong, and he said seriously: "As long as we can always achieve fairness and talent selection, even if the scholar's atmosphere is worse, it will not be able to shake the Ming Dynasty's talent ceremony!" I don't think the crux of the problem lies in the atmosphere, after all, there are millions of scholars in the Ming Dynasty, is it true that every one of them is here for promotion and fortune? ”

"Naturally not, at least I know that my brother's fellow countryman Hai Rui is definitely not!" Long Chizhong shook his head solemnly, and said helplessly: "So the crux is actually the eight-share selection we mentioned earlier, this method is too rigid, and it is no longer possible to select truly outstanding talents for Daming!" ”

"There's nothing wrong with the eight-share taker!" Lin Haoran took a sip of tea, but responded seriously.

In the early Ming Dynasty, it was undoubtedly a very effective way to select materials, but it paid too much attention to fairness and justice, but it invisibly restrained the thoughts of scholars.

In the early days, everyone was able to compete for their talents. It's just that with the improvement of the quality of scholars, the competition in the imperial examination fell into bad rote memorization, and in the end, many talents who really have great talents could not pass the imperial examination, but a kind of nerd became the final winner.

However, these are all things that Lin Haoran can't change, these eight shares of people have drawbacks, but they also ensure fairness to the greatest extent, at least so that many children from poor families have the opportunity to become masters.

If you really engage in the method of taking judges, the examiner's character will pass the test, but once the examiner's character is poor, then only rich children and related households will be admitted.

Lin Haoran looked up at Long Chizhong, and said seriously: "It's just that the times have changed, and we must change with them!" But if we want to change these things, you can't do it, and I can't do it! ”

Long Chizhong smiled bitterly, he was just a small outsider from the Wupin Ritual System, where could he make such a big reform, Lin Haoran said this in fact, he was exalting him.

A strong belief surged in his heart, and he looked at Lin Haoran and said seriously: "But I believe that in the future, Senior Brother will be able to do the right thing and change this untimely way of selecting talents!" ”

Lin Haoran glanced up at him, but responded bitterly: "Maybe!" ”

He has been serving as the left attendant of the Ministry of Rites for more than half a year, not only to see all kinds of shady scenes in the Ming Dynasty, but also to see all kinds of shortcomings of this decadent dynasty.

Even if he comes from the afterlife, in the face of such a thorny problem, he is still powerless more often than not. Most importantly, he knows what happens to a true changemaker.

The door was pushed open, and a figure came in from the outside, but a dazzling white light appeared on the floor. Inadvertently, the torrential rain outside stopped.

A scribe appeared here, saluted Lin Haoran and said, "Lin Butang, the main hall is invited!" ”

"Trouble is coming!" Lin Haoran looked at the middle of the dragon pool.

Long Chizhong's eyes revealed a hint of schadenfreude, and as the two got along for a long time, the relationship between the two was more like friends, so he stood up and said with a smile: "Hehe...... The lower official retired first! ”

Lin Haoran glared at him, and led Lin Fu towards the main hall of the Ministry of Rites.

Every place has its own troubles, and the capital is no exception. Although the disaster situation in various places is not as serious as in Guangxi, many places have been affected, resulting in a sharp drop in summer grain income this year.

Faced with a headache of financial problems, the always restless Kedao officials threw a bombshell again.

"Zhang Yue of the Weichen Criminal Department gave the matter: There are two major drawbacks today, and it is advisable to pay attention to those who are timely and demanding, the border defense outside, and the clan clan inside! The disadvantages of the clan are nothing more than the feudal domain, and the current clan is flourishing, and there is no division to give. Thousands of feudal clans are fed in one city, and there is no other way to make a living, so that they can starve on the land, and can they not be changed? Nowadays, most of the poor families live in one city, and nothing is not only arrogant, but also invites each other as a coercive technique. Serving its power is extremely reasonable, in case life changes, as for the rout, and it is out of control, although it wants to be discussed, is it not too late? However, the annual income of the imperial court is less than 20 million Lu rice, and many places need to save it, and the Lu rice of the Zong Domain is 8 million stones, and now it should be cut and leveled by the Zong Domain......"

In the Criminal Division, Zhang Yue won his prestige after the last impeachment of the military department, and it inspired him to have a stronger fighting spirit, this time it was to stab at the shortcomings of Zong Fan Lumi.

However, he did not blindly propose to reduce the rice of the sect, and also saw the plight of the poor sects at the bottom, but launched a "win-win" plan of reduction and average.

It's just this move that undoubtedly detonated this Ming Dynasty again.

Even Yan Song, who leans towards the government and the opposition, does not dare to easily touch the crux of the sect. In particular, Emperor Jianwen's move to cut the feudal domain was eventually replaced by Chengzu, so that the emperor had to be cautious.

Li Chunfang invited Lin Haoran over, it was precisely because of this matter that he asked Lin Haoran straight to the point: "Uncle Shaozong, what do you think of this matter?" ”

"Lord Zhengtang, I don't know what the emperor's reaction is?" Lin Haoran did not rush to express his position, but inquired.

Li Chunfang glanced at Lin Haoran, and finally revealed: "According to the news I got from the palace, the emperor did not react excessively, but just passed the excerpt to a eunuch and sent it to our Ministry of Rites!"

"In this way, I'm afraid this matter should not be delayed any longer!" Lin Haoran's brows immediately frowned, but he judged helplessly.

"I don't know why I can't put it off any longer?"

It was at this moment that a loud voice came from outside the door.

Li Chunfang and Lin Haoran followed the prestige, but saw a bearded official coming over majestically.

After the last encounter, Qin Minglei had already lost all of his holy favors. Just a few days ago, it can be said that he got what he wanted, and Qin Minglei became the left waiter of the Ministry of Rites, but the word "Nanjing" had to be added in front of him.

From the right attendant of the Ministry of Rites in the capital to the left attendant of the Ministry of Rites in Nanjing, he was already destined to be out of the game, far away from the center of the Ming Dynasty.

Qin Minglei was lucky enough to pick up a "thunder champion", although he could make him prosperous for a while, but it was impossible for him to be prosperous for a lifetime. If he writes well, he may still shine in the Jiajing Dynasty, but his level is average, in fact, he has already been doomed.

Although the inducement was that Lin Haoran slapped Qin Minglei in the face of the envoy in Nanyang, at a deeper level, Qin Minglei did not win enough holy favors, but it was impossible to get to the step of entering the cabinet.

No one will care about a loser, when Qin Minglei was transferred, everyone was only concerned about one thing: who would take over the errand of the right attendant of the Ministry of Rites.

Soon the answer came out, and the Dachang Temple Qing and the national prince priest Jiu Gao Gong became the lucky one, became the third in command of the Ministry of Rites, and directly entered the sequence of the six high-ranking officials.