"Speaking of which, I didn't grant you a leave of more than ten days, and allowed you to enter the palace again on the first day of April, so what are you going to do when you go back to the palace today?" Yun Xi suddenly asked Wang Xidao.

"Official, the slave was driven back by his mother." Wang Xi smiled bitterly: "The slave's mother thinks that this is not a new year or a festival, how can a slave not serve his master?" The slave barely stayed at home for two days, and the mother had to let the slave go back to the palace to serve the official. ”

Yun Xi wasn't quite sure if he was telling the truth or making himself happy or something else, but even if he was making himself happy, as long as he set the limits on the eunuch's power, it wouldn't matter.

"The so-called gentleman has no jokes, since I gave you a fake, you can rest assured to go back and rest, and serve the old lady. When the old lady asked, you said that I said it and let you go home. After saying this, Yun Xi thought for a while and said, "You go to the pharmacy, take another ginseng, and bring it to the old lady." ”

"Thank you for your grace." Wang Xi immediately knelt down and said.

"Alright, you go back and wait for your mother." Yun Xi said.

Wang Xi stood up again and saluted, bowed and retreated.

After saying this, Yun Xi stood up and stretched his waist, thinking that he had just met Yang Feng and Cao Xing, and he was about to announce Cao Zheng's visit, when suddenly a little eunuch passed the word: "Official, Dong Auxiliary Official Xie Jin asks to see." ”

"Let him in." Hearing Xie Jin's request to see him, Yun Xi immediately knew why he came and commanded.

Xie Jin then walked in with Yang Shiqi, Yang Pu and Jin Shan, who were from the middle school, still holding many documents in their hands, and immediately bent down and saluted after seeing Yun Xi: "The minister Xie Jin (Yang Shiqi, Yang Pu, Jin Shan) has seen Your Majesty, because there are many documents on him, please forgive me for not being able to perform the full salute." ”

Yun Xi didn't care about their salute, and asked directly, "This is the test paper for this year's exam?" ”

"Your Majesty, this is the three examination papers of the one hundred and seven tributes that have been prepared for admission by the examiners and others at this year's meeting. Among them, 14 provinces have always been subordinate to 100 people, one from the Min Domain, one from the Ying Domain, one from the Qin Domain, one from the Su Domain, and one from the Song Domain. Due to the scarcity of local scholars, Yongfan, Luofan, and Pufan did not send anyone to take the exam. In addition, North Korea, Ryukyu, Fuso and other countries are on the same list, and there are two people who are the last to admit tributes in each province, one in North Korea and one in Ryukyu. Xie Jin said.

The Ming Dynasty now adopts a provincial admission system for the imperial examination, with a number of places in each province, a total of 100, if the last place admitted by a province is tied, and the examiners are in dispute, they can all be admitted.

In addition, several feudal states that have been canonized have a fixed number of tributes per year for each domain, which can also be tied; People from overseas countries can also come to participate in the Ming Dynasty's examination, and those whose level is above the worst Gongshi Wencai admitted by the Ming Dynasty can be admitted, but the number is controlled within five people.

Yun Xi asked the little eunuch to take the test paper and put it on the table, walked over and sat down by himself, and read them one by one.

Yun Xi opened the first test paper, first read a few articles of Jingyi, mainly to see the comments of the examiner, then put the Jingyi test paper aside, and looked at the strategy. When I opened the test paper, I saw that the first line of the first page read: "Heaven does not give birth to Taizu, and the people are like blindness." Yun Xi continued to look down, and saw that most of the text of this article of more than 1,000 words was slapping Zhu Yuanzhang's sycophants, and he frowned unconsciously.

After reading this article, he opened the second policy article and saw the first line that read: "Those who are not of my race will have different hearts." "Continue to read, it is an article that discusses the behavior of the Hu people who entered the Central Plains in the past dynasties, and finally concludes: The Hu people are not credible, and they should be used with caution.

Looking at this article, although Yun Xi loosened his frowning brow, judging from his expression, he was still not satisfied.

Xie Jin was standing aside when Yunxi was reviewing the test papers, but he kept secretly watching his expression. Seeing that Yun Xi's expression was not very good, he beat a drum in his heart: "Didn't I understand what Your Majesty meant?" ’

……

……

At the same time as Yunxi reviewed the examination papers, in the yamen of the Suzhou Fu Industrial Park, hundreds of miles away from the capital, a man wearing a cloth robe hurriedly walked into a house and said to a person in the house: "Master, the lower official has taken the question of this year's examination." ”

A man in his thirties, dressed in a six-rank official uniform, stood up, took the scroll from his hand, and before he could speak, he put the scroll on the table and spread it out to look at it.

The first few pages were hurriedly skimmed, and he quickly turned to the page of the strategy, only to see that it read:

The first topic of the policy discussion: According to historical data, there were 7.68 million households in the seventh year of Jin Taihe (1207 AD), and after the Mongols raised troops, there were only 870,000 households in the third year of Tianxing (1234 AD) after the death of Jin; In the sixteenth year of Jiading of the Song Dynasty (1223), there were 12.67 million households, and in the second year of Xiangxing of the Song Dynasty (1279), only 9.37 million households remained.

In the fourth year of Zhizheng (1344), the Yellow River burst its embankment, and the imperial court requisitioned the people to control the water, which was strict and abnormal, and the people were tired and died.

In that year, there was a drought of locusts in the Jianghuai River and a great famine. Taizu was seventeen years old, and his parents and brothers died one after another, and he was too poor to be buried.

The second topic of the discussion: the rebellion of Yisi Paxi. Quanzhou is so many people from the Western Regions, Song Ji has Pu Shougeng and so on, and Pinghai Kou won the official. Jing Yanjian, Yiwang toured the south, stationed in Quanzhou port, Zhang Shijie awarded Shou Geng with 3,500 Huai soldiers. King Yi came to the city, Shou Geng closed the door, killed more than 30 people in Quanzhou, and left no one left in the Huaishui army. and the state Sima Tian Zhenzi in Hangzhou, instigated the capital to surrender. Zhang Shijie could not resist the counterattack for 90 days. Yuan Jun system, to merit Shou Geng Ping Zhang, for the Kaiping Sea Province in Quanzhou, for a time the descendants of the noble crown of the world, the people of Quanzhou by its lavengers for 90 years.

......, as a result, the Yuan government declined, the Quartet rose up, the country's life was not good, his son-in-law in the Western Regions that played the vulture attack and caused chaos, Fuzhou Xingzhongshu Province, played the Xun Meichang Division Cheng Chen Xuan, Yongchang Division Gong Ming'an, and joined forces to discuss it. ......, it is a service, and all the people in the Western Regions are annihilated, and there are people who are killed by mistake with high hair and high nose. After three days of punishment behind closed doors, the folk autumn did nothing.

The graves of the thieves, all the corpses are naked, facing the west, Yi Yi learned that he was punished with five punishments, abandoned his corpse in the pig trough, and reported that he was rebellious in Song Xing. In the seventh year of Hongwu, Emperor Gao granted amnesty to the world, and the holy decree: the remnants of the Dupu clan were all matched with Rong Wu, imprisoned, and there was no one in the world to be registered, and they were imprisoned. Du Zimei Shiyun: "The lord of the Hu affair is helpless in the end. "Honestly.

The man read the two questions three times, thought for a while, and said, "This year's questions should be like this." ”

"What topic does this?" One walked in through the door and said with a smile to him.

When the six-rank officials saw him before, they immediately saluted and said: "Suzhou Prefecture has been sentenced to transfer the industrial park, and Yang Zirong, the magistrate of Wu County, has seen the prefect. ”

The prefect of Suzhou immediately returned the salute. After the reply was finished, Xiang Bao saw Yang Zirong's paper scroll on the table at a glance, and said with a smile: "Yang Tongju is really also looking at this year's test paper." ”

"Xiaguan is also from a Jinshi, so naturally he has to take a look at this year's examination and palace examination papers every year. What's more, since the second year of Jianye, His Majesty personally came up with the topic of the discussion, and it can be seen from this what His Majesty is most concerned about at the moment, so the minister asked people to copy the test questions and come to see. Yang Zirong said.

'Do you also use this to figure out what your majesty means?' Xiang Bao wanted to say this, but in the end he didn't say it. This is quite ironic, Yang Zirong was sent to Suzhou Mansion and seemed to be reused, but he was far away from the court, and he and Yang Zirong did not have much contradiction, so they still said a few words.

"I also ordered someone to copy the topic of this year's trial strategy, some thought, but I didn't dare to guarantee it, this time, I just want to ask Yang Tongju, what does Your Majesty mean by the topic of this year's trial strategy?" Xiang Bao said.

Yang Zirong thought for a moment, and felt that he still relied on him for the affairs of the industrial park on weekdays, so it was better not to offend. But he said: "Xiang Governor, although there is a guess in the bottom, I don't dare to guarantee it. ”

"I also know this, you just have to say yours, even if it is different from His Majesty's original intentions, it doesn't matter." Xiang Baodao.

5 repeatedly said that his guess may not be accurate, and only after receiving repeated assurances from Xiang Bao did he speak: "Xiang Governor, if ordinary people come to do these two questions, the first article will most likely praise Emperor Taizu, and the second article will most likely say 'If you are not of my race, your heart will be different'. ”

"So, isn't that right?" Xiang Bao asked. That's how he understands it.

"Xiang Governor, according to the following, if you want to win Your Majesty's blue eyes, you must be so determined."

……

……

Yun Xi looked at the twelve test papers, and saw that there was a big difference from what he thought, so he put down the test papers and said to Xie Jin and the others: "I won't read these test papers for the time being, and you can go back and evaluate the theory of countermeasures." ”

Xie Jin immediately bowed down and said: "The minister is dull, it is difficult to understand what the emperor meant, please make it clear." Yang Shiqi, Yang Pu, and Jin Shan behind him also bowed down and said.

Yun Xi glanced at them a few times, and suddenly thought of one person, and said in his heart: "If Yang Zirong is here, he will definitely be able to understand what I mean." Although Xie Jin is smart, he is not politically acumen. ’

"Xie Qing, this first topic of policy discussion, those who praise the emperor with too many words are all ranked in the middle. This question does not need to be elaborated too much on by the men, as long as they say how brutal the Mongols were. ”

"The second question, don't talk about what is not my race, its heart must be different, in the past few years, there have been many incidents, what kind of barbarians are the ones who intend to be unfavorable to the Ming Dynasty and even to me? It's a Celestial Cultist! ”

"First of all, there were Boyi, who was full of age at the end of Hongwu, who did not respect the orders of the Ming Dynasty and invaded the Three Buddhas, and then there were Samarkand spies who colluded with the people of the Manjapahit Boyi State to assassinate me in Guangzhou, and there were domestic Semu people who rebelled in Annam, not to mention that the title was also written by Tianfang Christians. Such a clear and clear thing, I still need to be reminded? ”

Yun Xi's purpose in the first question was very simple, that is, to tell the people and gentry that the barbarians invaded the Central Plains, but if they wanted to massacre the Han people, nine out of ten people would be killed. Therefore, when everyone faces the barbarian invasion again, we must not think that we can live as obedient people, and we can't live as obedient people! Therefore, the person who answers the question only needs to stick to this topic, if it can't be extended to the second point, just say how brutal the Mongols are, and there is no need to pat Zhu Yuanzhang on the back.

The second question is to prepare public opinion for a war with Samarkand. Confucianism is traditionally opposed to war, and even Confucius's original intention is to oppose unjust war, so in order to eliminate as much opposition as possible in the court, it is necessary to prepare more public opinion.

The combination of the two questions is to tell the gentry and the common people what kind of genocidal massacre they will suffer if they let Samarkand enter the Central Plains, so that they will fear Samarkand and support the imperial court to fight against it. However, because there has never been a precedent for two questions to be read together, I am afraid that if there is no example to answer it, he will not ask for it.

After Yun Xi's explanation, Xie Jin understood what he meant, and immediately said that he was stupid, and then stepped forward to pick up the test papers, bowed again, and retreated with Yang Shiqi and others.

……

……

Yang Zirong was going to explain how to answer these two questions and explain to Xiang Bao, Xiang Bao stroked his beard and said: "It turns out that there are still these Taos in this question, if I take the exam this year, most of them will not be able to pass the Gongshi." ”

Yang Zirong opened his mouth and said nothing in the end. Xiang Bao has long been an official, and he doesn't need to participate in the imperial examination, and he doesn't have to comfort him.

Xiang Bao asked a few more questions that he didn't quite understand, and after getting Yang Zirong's answer, he thought about something, thought about it for a while, sighed, and whispered to Yang Zirong: "Yang Tongju, you'd better be careful these days, Zheng Zhicha, who patrols Susong, has recently gotten some rumors." ”

It stands to reason that I shouldn't have reminded him. But he is in Suzhou, and he takes care of the park and Wu County very well, and it would be a pity if he was dismissed because of this. I hope he will repent. ’

……

……

In the afternoon, Yun Xi had just woken up, got up and put on his coat and was about to go to the front hall to approve the answers, Xie Jin came to the Qianqing Palace with one hundred and seven test papers, and asked Yun Xi to review them.

Yun Xi said with some surprise: "Nearly three thousand test papers, how can one hundred and seven of them be re-selected in just two hours?" Also ranked? He then stared at Xie Jin suspiciously and asked, "Xie Aiqing, are you just re-ranking according to the intention of the article?" "If Xie Jin really did this, it wouldn't work. Although the idea is important, the style and the logic of the article are equally important.

"Your Majesty," Xie Jin said, "As the promotion officer and the policy marker of this examination, the minister remembers what is written in the policy of more than 3,000 test papers, so he can pick out these one hundred and seven test papers within two hours." ”

"If Your Majesty doesn't believe it, you can send someone to select a few test papers that have been assessed as unsuccessful by the ministers, and compared with these test papers, the style can be compared."

"That's not necessary, of course I can trust Aiqing." Although Yun Xi had doubts in his heart, he would not show it to his face. Anyway, after the announcement of the list, all the test papers can be checked by the scholars at will, and there is no hurry.

Yun Xi then read all the one hundred and seven test papers, picked out a few that he was not very satisfied with, and asked him to take the test papers that were ranked later in this province, and after comparison, the people who were selected on the list were ranked and ranked.

"This is called Zhou Shu, he is Huiyuan, and his younger brother is also on the list, and the family style of this family must be good. Zhou Shu is still Jiangxi's Xie Yuan, if he can win the champion again, it is also a good story. Yun Xi suddenly noticed a pair of brothers on the list and said.

"This is also the kindness of Your Majesty, so that there can be such a good story." Xie Jin patted his ass.

Yun Xi did not answer. He just said it casually, even if there was another person who was even in the middle of the three yuan, it would not make sense to him. However, he still remembered the Zhou Shu brothers because of this.