In the palace.

Luo Cheng lay on the couch with his eyes closed, listening to the eldest grandson's suggestions for him to read the imperial examination of hundreds of officials.

The two palace people were kneading and massaging the emperor, and the eldest grandson's voice was soft and rhythmic, and the words were clear and very comfortable to listen to. Most of the officials' recitals have nothing to say.

This is mostly the excerpts of those generals, many princes and generals, but they don't know a few words. Of course, there are also military generals with good backgrounds, but the suggestions put forward by the imperial examination are completely off.

And those civil officials, some of them talked a lot of chapters, but many of the contents did not conform to the emperor's intentions.

The purpose of the imperial examination is to win scholars for the country, and the examination is just a means to screen a sieve that meets the needs of the imperial court.

From some point of view, as some famous figures in history have said, the imperial examination itself is not important, no matter what you are taking, the purpose is to first include those who study in the system, let them take the examination.

And then pull those spikes out of it.

Brilliant and intelligent people, no matter what kind of examination system, they can always be top-notch.

If a scholar is unwilling to take the test, or even fails to pass a certain test method, it means that they are not good enough.

Although Luo Cheng does not fully agree with this kind of remark, there is some truth to it.

This is also the reason why by the time of the Ming and Qing dynasties, the eight articles developed to the extreme, and they took that tricky road, all because at that time, all the scholars in the world had been included in this system, and what the imperial court needed was to pick those top people from among the thousands of readers.

Therefore, there is no need to pick out what poems and songs are done well, or what strategies can be said, just pick out the words and chapters from the four books and five classics and let them write, the purpose is actually to strengthen the difficulty and pick out the sharp points as quickly as possible.

This seemingly unreasonable system has its practical usefulness.

But Luo Cheng is still the one who opposes this set.

Of course, he was even more opposed to the imperial examination method in the Sui Dynasty, and there were two kinds of imperial examinations in the Sui Dynasty, including regular subjects and special subjects, of which the regular subjects were divided into six subjects, such as Xiucai, Ming Jing, Jinshi, Ming Law, Ming Shu, and Ming Calculation.

Xiucai is the most difficult subject to examine, and it often takes several years to open one subject, and only one or two people are admitted to each subject. Because it is too difficult to get into, all the talent courses have no practical meaning for Luo Cheng.

In the imperial examination of the Sui Dynasty, the more examined were the Ming Jing Department and the Jinshi Department.

The Ming Jing subject is mainly based on Confucian scriptures as the content of the exam, and some ink scripture questions are examined, etc., to put it bluntly, it is only a few designated scriptures, such as filial piety and the Book of Changes, etc., and then the test fill-in-the-blank questions, silent writing questions, etc., as well as the scriptures and meanings, comprehension questions.

In general, scholars from the scholar family like to test the scriptures very much, because the scriptures are handed down, and their families have both inherited these Confucian scriptures, and they all have their own origins of the scriptures to read, which is regarded as family learning, natural advantages.

And ordinary students are more willing to be admitted to the science department, because many of them are not qualified to read through many scriptures, even if the Ming Jing department also considers designating one or two classics as their specialty, only these two classics, but for many people, the cost of reading in this era is high, and a set of scriptures that they cannot afford to have, and they can only learn by borrowing and copying and other ways. But Jinshike is different, Jinshike is mainly the five ways of current affairs, and the advantages and disadvantages of the article are used as a mark for the exam.

Relatively speaking, what the Ming Classics Department needs more is the foundation, and it is much easier to take the test, and the rote memorization of the scriptures is enough. The Jinshi Department is more pragmatic, more particular about literary talent and writing, and the mastery of scriptures is not so high.

However, relatively speaking, the Ming Jing is still much simpler, so the Sui Dynasty imperial examination has the saying that there are thirty old Ming Jing and fifty young Jinshi. In the examination of the Ming Sutra, the thirty-year-old examination is considered old, and the fifty-year-old examination is already considered young, which is enough to explain the difference between the Ming Sutra and the Jinshi department.

As for the three subjects of explaining the law, calligraphy, and arithmetic, they are actually the professional talents of calligraphy, law, and arithmetic.

Luo Cheng still plans to innovate this time and no longer follow the old path of the Sui Dynasty.

The six subjects of the Sui Dynasty were not examined every year and were often interrupted. Luo Cheng prepared for one subject a year, only admitted to the Shi department, and canceled the Ming Jing Ming Fa Ming Shu Ming Calculation and Xiucai Course, but at the same time, he also set up a graded examination system, not directly to the capital for the exam, through the layers of examinations, and sent the sharp ones to Luoyang.

Now it's all about the content of the exam.

Many officials from the scholar clan insisted that the examination of the Ming scriptures should be based on scriptures, and they even proposed that the Three Rites and Three Transmissions, together with the "Yi", "Shu" and "Poems", should be listed as the books for the imperial examination. The three rites are the Zhou Rite, the Rite and the Book of Rites, while the Three Rites are the Zuo Transmission, the Ram Transmission and the Gu Liang Transmission.

As for only taking the Nine Classics, Luo Cheng of course disagreed.

If you only take the Nine Classics, won't you be like the Eight Classics in the future, only to take the exam and only get out a bunch of nerds who only study the Nine Classics and can only memorize by rote?

"Your Majesty, the content of this piece is novel."

The eldest grandson picked up a piece of music, opened it and looked at it, and couldn't help but light up, and read the chapter for the emperor for several days in a row, and there were thousands of copies of the music, and the eldest grandson was very familiar with the imperial examination.

"Oh, let Guanyin say okay, it seems that there is really some content, which Zaifu's words?"

The eldest grandson covered his mouth and chuckled, "Your Majesty is wrong this time, this is a general's book, the left pro-Wei Zhonglang general, Wushui County's founding Bo Chang He's chapter, this word is also very well written." ”

As soon as he heard Chang He's name, Luo Cheng immediately smiled and said, "Chang He is just an old man, he can't read a basket of words, and those words are written like a dog. ”

Chang He's recital was indeed written by Ma Zhou, who first patted the emperor for the imperial examination, and praised it greatly, and was very impressed by the scale of the imperial examination that the emperor had decided, and the identity and conditions of those who participated in the imperial examination.

He went on to propose that the imperial examination of Daqin should include the examination content of the past Ming Jing Jinshi Ming Fa Ming Calculation Ming Shu, and at the same time, the four conditions of the official selection of the Ministry of Rites should be included, and they should be combined to form the Jinshi examination of the Great Qin Imperial Examination.

When Luo Cheng heard this, he couldn't help but be surprised.

"It's really different, after listening to so many movements, it's really very constructive to say this one. Combine the past Ming Jing Ming Law Ming Shu and Jinshi Ke together, and then combine the body and words to judge the four articles, well, insightful. ”

In the past, the Ming scriptures were tested for the meaning of the scriptures, and the Ming law was mainly tested for the laws and decrees, etc., and the Ming books were also known as the Ming character subjects, which were mainly for the examination of words and calligraphy, and the Ming arithmetic was for mathematics.

In the past, in the era of emphasizing the treatment of techniques and techniques, and the importance of Taoism and weapons, in addition to the Ming Jing and Jinshi Branch, the Ming Law and Ming Calculation and Ming Books were all subjects that were not taken seriously, just for the selection of special officials.

It has always belonged to the last department.

Ma Zhou believes that the Great Qin Imperial Examination should not only test the scriptures, but also the current affairs and policies, as well as the ability to write, calculate, and law, and at the same time, it is necessary to list the body, speech, and judgment of the officials selected by the officials as the assessment criteria.

"Judging by one's body and words is one of the four standard conditions for selecting officials, one is the body, and the physical appearance must be plump and tall. The second is speech, that is, speech should be eloquent and reasonable. The third is the book, and the French style of the book should be strong and beautiful. Fourth, the judgment should be written beautifully and smoothly. ”

In Ma Zhou's words, after all, the imperial examination is for the national election of officials, so it has to be based on the criteria for evaluating officials. If they are too ugly or disabled, of course, they cannot be conferred an official, which will damage the image and majesty of the court and the government. And if you can't say it clearly, how can you be an official? If you can't write well, don't mention anything else.

And the judgment is also extremely critical, take some real cases in counties or Dali Temple, especially difficult cases, teach them to decide, and see if they can, which requires candidates to be familiar with the reason, familiar with the law, so as to be able to distinguish right and wrong, and judge impartially. At the same time, there must be good judgments, which must be beautiful and smooth, far-reaching and neat.

In the final analysis, Ma Zhou thinks that the Jinshi selected by the Great Qin Imperial Examination must not only have good facial features, but also be talented, articulate, eloquent, and write a good handwriting of dragons and phoenixes, and understand the law and count, and finally understand human accidents.

It's not just about being able to learn the scriptures of the saints, it's about being excellent in all aspects.

When the emperor heard this, he couldn't help but open his eyes and sit up.

"Immediately summon Chang He into the palace, I want to hear who is giving him advice and offering such good words. Such a talented person, it is too condescending to give Chang He, a big old man, a doorman's staff, such a talent, even if he is given an official position now, it is not too much. ”

"Is that what Your Majesty means?" The eldest grandson asked with a smile.

"It's not exactly in line with the idea of the imperial examination system in my heart, but among these suggestions from the ministers, this is already a rare good, and it is indeed good. Add a few more and you're ready to go. ”

"Your Majesty, it's not too early, it's better to summon Chang Zhonglang again tomorrow."

"It's okay, I'll want to see you today. Come here, go to Chang He's mansion to announce the decree, let Chang He come to see me, and remember to bring the person who caught the knife for him with him. ”

The chamberlain hurried out of the palace.

In the twilight, the door drums were already beating.

The arrival of a team of chamberlains still made Chang He a little apprehensive, secretly wondering if Ma Zhou's recital had written any foul words?

"Your Majesty summoned Chang Zhonglang to enter the palace to face the saint quickly, and the one who wrote the chapter for Zhonglang will also be brought with him, and Your Majesty will also see him."

Chang He asked uneasily, "Dare to ask why you are so eager to summon you?" ”

"Don't worry, Your Majesty is in a good mood, and you also praised General Chang Zhonglang, saying that you have a good vision, and you actually invited such a good doorman, Your Majesty is very happy to see the recital written by your staff."

Hearing this, Chang He's heart relaxed, but he was still amazed, the emperor was really sagely, and he could see at a glance that the music was written by someone else.

"Please wait a minute, I'll go and call Mr. Ma."

When Ma Zhou heard that the Son of Heaven was calling, he was very calm, and dusted his sleeves, "Let's go." ”

"Aren't you afraid?"

"Seeing the Son of Heaven, this is the opportunity I have always dreamed of, why should I be afraid? I can't ask for it! ”

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