The moment Lu Jing saw the title, he thought of Emperor Yuanyong's big move against the salt administration last year, and I am afraid that there was a financial problem in the court.

Money shortage is a difficult problem that all dynasties have to face head-on, and the measures to solve the money shortage usually include restricting the use of gold, silver and copper, prohibiting private collection, prohibiting outflow, expanding mineral mining, promoting alternative currencies, and implementing barter.

These measures may be modest in the short term, but they will not solve the underlying problem unless paper money is issued.

However, the issuance of paper money also has the experience of the Song Dynasty, paper money needs to be changed every year, and often issued for three or five years, and then began to increase the issuance of a large number of them, resulting in a rapid depreciation of paper money, and finally caused turmoil.

At the beginning of the dynasty, paper money was also found, but because there were too many problems, it was abolished after not persisting for five years.

Lu Jing has deeply explored the monetary system of the previous dynasty, since the beginning of the dynasty, the circulation of copper coins was the mainstay, and gold undertook large transactions, but after the Tang Dynasty, gold became scarce and basically withdrew from circulation.

After the Song Dynasty, silver entered the field of circulation, replacing gold began to assume the function of bulk trading, but the main force is still copper money, money shortage basically refers to the lack of copper money, insufficient circulation.

After four generations of rule, the economic development of this dynasty has reached its peak, and the demand for currency has also reached its peak, but the amount of currency issued by the imperial court is far from meeting the demand for circulation, and there is a shortage of money.

The emergence of a money shortage will lead to people starting to hoard money, which in turn will lead to the scarcity of money circulating in the market. Moreover, the price of copper is much higher than the value of copper coins, which leads to many people destroying money casters, making the problem of money shortage more serious.

Lu Jing concluded that private collection, outflow, and destruction of money are only the secondary causes of money shortage, and the root cause is the lack of mineral reserves, the difficulty of mining, and the inability to expand the supply of coins.

In order to solve the problem of copper ore, in addition to mining a large amount of copper ore in its own country, the dynasty also imported a large amount of copper ore from Qianxiang country, but the quantity was limited, and the issuance of copper coins still could not keep up with the speed of economic development.

Lu Jing thought for a quarter of an hour before he began to answer the question.

He begins with the root causes of the money shortage, and then lists the short-term ways to solve the problem of the money shortage, and explains the advantages and disadvantages of these methods one by one.

Then, from the perspective of monetary finance, a financial system applicable to the present stage is sorted out, focusing on the circulation of money, the change of the functions of the government-run bank, the unified management of financial institutions, how to standardize the issuance of banknotes, and the anti-counterfeiting identification of banknotes.

Later, thinking of the financial problems of the imperial court, he elaborated on treasury bonds, futures, and options, and gave specific implementation strategies, and finally gave two plans for rapid financing.

The more Lu Jing wrote, the more he became engrossed, and finally devoted himself to it.

Time passed quickly, and by the time Lu Jing was done in one go, there were still two quarters of an hour left.

Because he wrote carefully, he didn't notice that Emperor Yuan Yong stayed in his case for a while when he was inspecting.

When Xu Jingnian and several people followed Emperor Yuanyong to inspect, they wrote down the beginnings of some candidates, so that they could be taken care of when marking the papers.

After Lu Jing examined it carefully, he found that there were no clerical errors and taboos, and his tense nerves immediately relaxed, quietly waiting for the time to hand in the papers.

The other candidates also tried their best to write a strategy that was in line with the will of the Divine Spirit, in order to come out on top.

After the exam, the examiner of the Ministry of Rites began to collect the examination papers, and then led the candidates out of the palace.

Everyone walked all the way, and no one spoke, and when they left the palace, everyone was completely relieved.

Three or five friends got together to talk about today's strategy topics and exchange each other's answering experiences.

Lu Jing spent too much energy answering the questions, so he refused the invitation of Shen Liang and Ge Yin, and went back to the house to rest.

Lu Zhiyu, Lin Daiyu, Lin Ruhai and others knew that Lu Jing was tired, so they didn't bother him, and only ordered Yinglian and other good students to serve.

This subject is the one that Emperor Yuan Yong has the strongest control, so he attaches great importance to the palace examination, and the members of the marking team are all personally designated by him.

Led by Li Qian, the secretary of the Ministry of Officials, Feng Yanji, the secretary of the Ministry of Households, and Xu Chengjing, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, Xu Jingnian, a scholar of the Cabinet University, Zhang Yuan, a bachelor of the Hanlin Academy, Qi Zhe, the left attendant of the Ministry of Households, Guo Kun, the right attendant of the Ministry of Households, Yan Sheng, the political envoy of the General Administration, and Wang Ran, the six ministers of the Zhan Mansion.

Such a marking lineup can be called the most luxurious lineup in history, and every marking officer is a pivotal boss in the DPRK.

The hall examination is different from the general examination, which needs to be passed on in turns, and each marking officer must read the examination paper once, and at the same time write his or her surname on the examination paper, as well as the evaluation of the merits of the examination paper.

The evaluation of good and bad is divided into five grades, which are expressed in circles, points, points, straights, and forks, and in order to prevent the examiner from being biased, the evaluation of the same test paper is generally not much different.

If there is a big difference, the inspector will send another minister to read the papers, and the examination papers of the first and second class must have eight circles.

Lu Jing's test paper was first passed to Li Qian, and Li Qian pondered for a long time after reading it, and finally drew a circle and passed it to Feng Yanji.

Feng Yanji had some impressions of Lu Jing's exam papers, the emperor had stayed to watch for a long time, at that time he only looked at the beginning, but now when he looked at it carefully, he was more and more surprised, especially Lu Jing's many ideas inspired him a lot, so he gave a circle, and then passed it to the right.

The nine graders hurried and finally finished reading all the papers at dawn the next day.

They deliberated, picked out the top twelve volumes, and Li Qian, Feng Yanji, and Xu Chengjing personally presented them to the imperial court.

According to the usual practice, the top ten need to be ranked by the emperor in person, especially the first three need to be hand-picked by the emperor.

Emperor Yuanyong waited for the results of the reading papers, and hurriedly announced Li Qian and the three of them in.

"Your Excellency, please Saint Ann!" The three old ministers saluted a little tiredly.

"The three Aiqing worked hard, Liu Ru went to move an embroidery for the three adults!" Emperor Yuanyong said with a smile, and then ordered someone to bring a bowl of eight-treasure ginseng porridge to Li Qian and the three of them.

After Emperor Yuan Yong swept over the twelve test papers, he took out four of them, and then pointed to one of them and said, "This one is set to be the first place in the second class!" ”

Then he ordered someone to open the desk of the remaining three test papers.

Li Qian and the three of them watched Emperor Yuan Yong personally select three test papers, and were busy to see who the three lucky ones were.

After the names on the three test papers were revealed, they were Zhao Xian, Nie Zhuang, and Lu Jing.

Emperor Yuan Yong knew a little about Zhao Xian and Nie Zhuang, Zhao Xian's Huiyuan was ruled by him, Nie Zhuang was the eldest son of Nie Huan, Taichang Siqing, and he only had no impression of Lu Jing, "You can discuss which of these three people is better?" ”

Unable to figure out Emperor Yuanyong's thoughts, Li Qian and the three of them were waiting for each other to speak first.

In the end, Li Qian looked at Emperor Yuan Yong looking at him, and then said: "Zhao Xian is the Xie Yuan of Jiangnan Province last year, and the Huiyuan of Jinke, if he is appointed by the Shengshang, it can also be regarded as the first Sanyuan and the first in this dynasty, which can also show the prosperity of the literary style under the rule of the Shengshang!" ”

Emperor Yuan Yong did not speak after hearing this, but looked at Xu Chengjing.

Xu Chengjing groaned: "Nie Zhuang's family has a strong academic origin, outstanding character, and his literary style is also the most mature among the three!" ”

"What about Feng Qing?" Emperor Yuan Yong continued to ask.

"From the perspective of the old minister, Gusu Lu Jing is sharp, his arguments are novel and realistic, and he should be capable." Feng Yanji suggested.

Li Qian saw that Emperor Yuanyong's eyes fell on Lu Jing's test paper, and said with a smile: "This Gusu Lu Jing can also be regarded as a famous teacher, a disciple of Lin Ruhai of the Hanlin Academy, and he is also the youngest of the three. ”

"Lin Ruhai's disciple!" Emperor Yuan Yong said softly, his eyes suddenly revealed an inexplicable meaning, and he disappeared in an instant.

Xu Chengjing was a little unhappy because Feng Yanji recommended Lu Jing, but when he learned that Lu Jing was Lin Ruhai's disciple, he was even more disgusted, and immediately smiled: "The minister remembers that Lin Ruhai was a flower explorer back then, if the saint points Lu Jing as a flower explorer, they will be a master and apprentice to explore flowers, and it is also a good story to say it!" ”

Although Feng Yanji said that he had no intersection with Lin Ruhai, he was extremely optimistic about Lu Jing, glanced at Xu Chengjing with some dissatisfaction, and retorted: "According to what Lord Xu said, Nie Huan was a rumor back then, wouldn't Nie Zhuang fall to the second rank?" ”

Xu Chengjing's expression remained unchanged and said: "Lord Feng's words are wrong, don't you hear that the blue is out of the blue, and it is better than the blue, and the son is better than the father and becomes the top of the top, and it is even more beautiful in the Hanlin!" ”

"Nie Zhuang can be blue, but Lu Jing can't?" Feng Yanji asked rhetorically.

"It is a major matter of the country for the imperial court to open a department and recruit scholars, how can it be judged by the elders."

After Feng Yanji finished Xu Chengjing, he suggested to Emperor Yuanyong: "The old minister thinks that among these three people, if you talk about talent and learning, Lu Jing should be the leader!" ”

Xu Chengjing retorted: "If you talk about talent and learning, Nie Zhuang and Zhao Xian's literary talent is better than Lu Jing's. ”

Later, he also suggested to Emperor Yuanyong: "Lu Jing is young, if he is a young man, it may not be a good thing, and the old minister is afraid that it will be difficult for him to become a great weapon in the future." ”

Feng Yanji was about to refute, but Emperor Yuan Yong waved his hand to stop him, and then looked at Li Qian.

Li Qian had already seen that Emperor Yuan Yong wanted to point Lu Jing as the champion, so he echoed: "In terms of facts, among these three people, Lu Jing's strategy is more novel, but the views of the ministers are not important, and the ranking of the top is all determined by the saint!" ”

Emperor Yuan Yong nodded, and then wrote one on Lu Jing's test paper, two on Nie Zhuang's test paper, and three on Zhao Xian's test paper.

Immediately ordered someone to unseal the remaining eight test papers: "The ranking of these people, the three Aiqing will discuss it!" ”

After Emperor Yuan Yong finished speaking, he left the space to Li Qian and the others.

Feng Yanji and Xu Chengjing argued about the ranking of the remaining eight people, and finally relied on Li Qian to mediate in the middle, and the three of them determined the final ranking.

After Li Qian saw the final ranking, he was a little afraid in his heart, if it weren't for Zhao Xian being named Tanhua, the top three in the test would probably fall to the second grade, if this is the case, he and Xu Jingnian will be responsible.

Out of the Heart Cultivation Palace, Xu Chengjing stared at Feng Yanji dissatisfied, and sneered: "Brother Yanji is really a good means!" ”

Feng Yanji replied lightly: "The imperial court is open to scholars, so it is natural to be meritocratic. ”

"Whoever is the champion has nothing to do with the old man!" Xu Chengjing shook his head and said, he didn't care about a small champion, he just let Feng Yanji get what he wanted, and he was a little unhappy in his heart.

Then he asked in an unkind tone: "Why was the bill handed over by our Ministry of Rites returned?" ”

Feng Yanji said slowly: "Lord Xu should first make it clear with the Ministry of War, and then come to the Ministry of Household Affairs to report the account!" ”

Xu Chengjing said angrily: "When the emperor summoned him a few years ago, it was clear that you want to take this account now and intercept the budget of my Ministry of Rites." ”

"The expenses of the Ministry of Rites were clearly calculated before the year, and they were not overspent, and when you came to report the account a few days ago, it was a million taels more."

Feng Yanji said coldly: "The difference is so big, Lord Xu should think about how to explain to the emperor." ”

"The old man will explain this matter to the emperor, if you really want to know, go to the Taiji Palace and ask!" Xu Cheng Jing pointed out.

"Okay, let's dissipate our anger, we've been busy all night, you're not tired, the old man can't hold it anymore!" Li Qian looked tired and said, "Let's talk about these things until the pre-imperial meeting, there are still a few confused accounts in the ministry that have not been settled!" ”

Feng Yanji and Xu Chengjing immediately stopped talking, now the imperial court's finances are becoming more and more difficult, and all ministries have a big deficit.

It's just that last year, the general account of the imperial court's expenditure, overspent nearly 10 million taels, in order to make up for the deficit in recent years, taxes from all over the country have been received by Yuan Yong for ten years, and now it is not just as simple as Yin eating grain.