Chapter 381: The Palace Exam

The so-called lower class probably refers to the direction of Shilin, which refers to the principle of "discipline" and "doing things" upheld by scholars in the Ming Dynasty.

The reason why Sun Dan copied so many poems on the wall in the examination room was also to create an elegant story and gain fame for himself.

One can imagine what kind of benefits this collection will bring to itself once it is published and put on sale.

However, everything still has to wait for the end of the palace exam, as long as you can get the first class and have these poems to cooperate, this is how famous the world knows in one fell swoop.

Saying goodbye from Zhao Shangshu, Sun Dan didn't want to go around, so he went home to rest. The damn palace exam is the same as the emperor's early dynasty, but the exam starts at the end of the day, and if you don't go to bed early, tomorrow will be bad.

There is only one question in the palace exam, and it is only one day, but there is no time for Sun Dan to sleep in the examination room.

So, after taking a shower and eating at night, Sun Dan went to bed early.

When it was about three o'clock, Zhi Niang called Sun Dan up, saying that breakfast was ready, and after eating, he could take the carriage to the palace.

Zhi Niang's eyes were red, showing that she hadn't slept all night.

Sun Dan felt distressed, and while drinking porridge, he complained: "Zhiniang, you are also pregnant, why don't you know that you are going to rest your body." ”

Zhi Niang: "Aren't I afraid that you will miss the hour?" ”

Sun Dan smiled bitterly: "This is just an exam, if the palace exam is passed, I will definitely go to work in the Hanlin Academy." In the future, I will get up so early every day, and it is no longer like when I was in Fangshan, I can get up whenever I want, and no one cares. Don't you sleep every day in the future? ”

Zhi Niang was a little surprised: "Then Danlang, you should go back to Fangshan after you win the champion, don't go to that courtyard." ”

Sun Dan smiled: "The official body is not up to others, the state system is like this, but I can't go wherever I want." ”

He put down the porridge bowl: "Don't eat it, Zhiniang, I'll go for my husband." ”

"Why do you eat so much, what if you're hungry?" Zhi Niang said busily.

"You can't eat too much before this exam, especially me, if you eat too much, your brain won't work." Sun Dan explained: "Also, you can save money by eating less. ”

Zhi Niang laughed: "Saving is not saving on this." ”

Sun Dan laughed and walked out of the house.

In the courtyard, Tinglan was already waiting there with a group of maids and boys, and when she saw Sun Dan coming out, she said at the same time: "I wish the eldest master success and the Toad Palace will win the crown." ”

For the palace, Sun Dan is very familiar, only a moment to turn to the noon gate, in the square, there are already hundreds of candidates waiting there, all with a solemn face, no one speaks.

It can be seen that everyone is happy and relaxed.

The people who can come here are all elites, and they have already passed the level of the examination, and if they become tributes, they can be appointed officials and wait for the state to assign jobs. Among them, even if the one with the worst grades can be a magistrate.

Of course, those who have strict requirements for themselves and want to go further in their careers are also full of thoughts to write good articles in the palace examination, impress Tianxin, and squeeze into the Hanlin Academy in the future. These people all had solemn faces, and there was an indescribable excitement in their eyebrows.

Of course, as long as Zhang Xuan looks gray, he is so decadent that he seems to be a different person.

Lao Zhang doesn't seem to have taken a shower and changed his clothes, and his body is dirty. His beard and hair were white in every part, and his face was full of wrinkles.

Sun Dan walked over and just shouted, "Brother Zhang Nian." I was almost suffocated by the body odor on Zhang Xuan's body.

He held his breath and pretended to have a calm expression: "Brother Zhang, I happened to run into you, why don't we go all the way in." ”

Zhang Xuan shook his head bitterly: "Jingyuan is really a good word, Zhang Xuan's results in this exam are not successful, I looked at the rankings, I am afraid that after ranking in the top two and seventy, the Hanlin Academy will not think about it." ”

Sun Dan comforted him and said: "Brother Zhang Nian is going to be depressed, now no matter what you say, you are also a cijinshi, and a county magistrate can't run." First, your talent, in the future, you will experience more than ten years in the local area, and you may not be able to be a supervisor. ”

"Zhixian, I'm afraid I won't be able to even do it." Zhang Xuan smiled bitterly, because he didn't do well in the exam, he blamed Sun Dan for "disturbing" himself in the examination room, which affected his performance. But after all, he is a person who has read the books of sages for so many years, and he thinks about it every day, and when he thinks about it carefully, the reason why he is influenced by Sun Dan is, in the final analysis, not enough cultivation and not enough mind. If you are open-minded and have a heroic spirit in it, it is natural that the eight winds will not blow. You can only blame yourself, and complaining about others is not a gentleman's doing.

Zhang Xuan has always been at odds with Huang Jin. Originally, as the think tank of Zhang Guifei's family, Zhang Xuan's treatment in that group of people was also good. But after the list was released yesterday, Huang Jin saw that Zhang Xuan was ranked low, so he immediately spoke coldly, and removed the two subordinates of the waiter Zhang Zhang, and cut off his supply this month.

Zhang Zhang's family was originally a wealthy family, and there was no shortage of two employees and a few taels of silver, but Huang Jin's actions made him feel cold in his heart.

I'm also in the middle anyway, although the grades are not good, but how to say that it is also a jinshi, and the jinshi is a jinshi, and the same jinshi is also a jinshi. In contrast, that Pingqiu is even more famous in Sun Mountain, and there is nothing great to do in this life. It's strange, it's weird, people treat everything as before, I heard that Concubine Zhang also found a good messenger for him, and he will be able to take office in a few days.

Favoring one over the other, Zhang Xuan suddenly couldn't catch it in one breath, and he completely tore his face with Concubine Zhang.

But now things are a little troublesome, in the eyes of outsiders, he Zhang Xuan is Huang Jin's person, and when he is awarded an official in the future, he can't even think about a real position like the county magistrate. The Chinese officials of the DPRK have always despised the eunuch party, and it is conceivable that Zhang Xuan will definitely be sent to a Qingshui Yamen to stay until he dies of old age.

As soon as he thought of this, Zhang Xuan felt very depressed, and he didn't have any expectations for this palace test, but it was just a formality.

With his current mental state, he doesn't want to get a good score in the palace exam.

After listening to Zhang Zhang's explanation of all this, Sun Dan's heart moved: That's fine, as long as you give Zhang Xuan a little benefit at that time, this guy will naturally join our camp. In general, Zhang Xuan is a person who is eager to make a name for himself, and when the time comes, he can start from this aspect. Anyway, he is Huang Jin's person to the outside world, and he will discuss it together in the future, but it will be his reputation for Huang Jin...... It's a good idea!

Of course, now is not the time.

Sun Dan was about to comfort him casually, but at this time, the side doors on both sides of the noon gate were slowly and heavily pushed open, and several eunuchs ran out and shouted loudly: "The tributes who participated in the palace examination have entered the palace." ”

All the candidates cheered up at the same time and began to line up to enter the palace.

The examination room of the palace examination is located in the Baohe Palace, a little distance from here, there are many old tributes who take the examination, not to mention, they are not diligent and do not distinguish between grains and grains, and they go all the way, and they are out of breath when they walk straight.

The weather in Beijing is still a little cold in the early morning, and many people have soaring white gas.

Outside the Baohe Palace, there were also eunuchs and guards waiting there, and other candidates went to find their seats.

Strange to say, next to the white marble railing of the main hall, Sun Dan found Bi Yun, an old acquaintance.

Because there was an examination system there, Sun Dan was not easy to talk to him, and at the first point, he said hello and was about to enter the hall. Bi Yun said slowly: "Sun Dan." "It's a routine look.

Sun Dan knew that Bi Yun must have something to say, and he was not angry: "Candidate Sun Dan is here, please ask your father-in-law to speak." ”

When the two of them spoke, the candidates before and after stopped and looked at Sun Dan with admiration. Sun Dan's previous reputation was only limited to the capital of Shandong, but now that he has won Huiyuan, he is already famous all over the world.

Bi Yun said softly: "There is a purpose, Sun Dan, the magistrate of Fangshan County, must answer the exam questions within an hour, and then make a decree in the Baohe Partial Palace." ”

"Yes." Sun Dan hurriedly responded, but it was strange in his heart, the emperor let him finish the exam questions within an hour, and had a will, could it be that something terrible happened in the palace?

Hearing the holy decree issued by Bi Yun, the candidates who were still watching the excitement just now were all taken aback, they originally thought that Sun Dan was the same as them, and he was just a person before, even if he was an official, at most he would only be a county official, but he didn't want to be the actual magistrate of the county, did this person have something extraordinary.

Could it be that he can win the first place in Huiyuan?

However, the palace examination is very important, and the general candidates get the questions are cherished and valued, pondering repeatedly, and they are not willing to write easily without spending half a day. It's really embarrassing to let Sun Dan hand in the papers in an hour!

It seems that this new branch will be worse this time.

Sun Dan didn't think so, speaking of which, the questions of the palace exam were really simple for him. It's just a policy question, and the length of the question is no more than two or three hundred words, and it is not allowed to exceed 1,000 at most. If you want him to write this kind of thing, you can say that you can raise your hand and finish writing it in a moment.

And Emperor Jiajing also trusted Sun Dan's talent very much, and did not feel that an hour was not enough.

Sun Dan was thinking about how to submit the paper in advance, for fear of causing the examiner's unhappiness, making them feel arrogant and maliciously suppressing their scores. Now, with the emperor's holy purpose, it is naturally the best, and it can justifiably appear in advance.

Thinking of this, he rejoiced in his heart and said, "Yes, Sun Dan obeys the holy order." ”

Entering the hall, Sun Dan found his seat and found that several deputy examiners of the current hall examination had already come. Several examiners at the time of the examination have resigned after the end of the examination, and now the chief examiner of the palace examination is naturally the son of today, and the three deputy examiners are Yang Tinghe, Jiang Mian and "Mao" Ji, the three auxiliary ministers of the cabinet, and the main marking work is done by these three people. In addition, next to the three of them are five adults with more than three grades, all of whom are well-educated. plus Yang Shoufu and the three people, these eight people are the paper readers of this subject.

The remaining dozen or so officials of the Ministry of Rites were in charge of other chores.

After a while, the long-lost Emperor Jiajing also came.

Naturally, it is long live the three calls.

It's another busy "chaos", and the next procedure is to roll call, scatter, praise, and salute.

In the end, I began to formulate the topic of the strategy, and after tossing for nearly an hour, the palace examination finally began.

The questions in this examination are a bit difficult for some candidates, and they are quite "sexual".

It is mainly said that the Ming Dynasty is in financial difficulties, and the number of officials is large and corrupt, so let the candidates talk about how to rectify the rule of officials and how to increase the central financial revenue.

Recalling what Zhao Shangshu said when he went to visit the master yesterday, Sun Dan nodded unconsciously: This old Zhao is really shrewd, and he really said it.

If you guessed correctly, this topic should have been made by Yang Tinghe and the emperor.

The emperor thought about how to reduce the state's financial expenditure, while Yang Tinghe thought that there were too many civil servants in the Ming Dynasty, and it was necessary to suspend a group and streamline the organization.

So, the two hit it off and asked for "sex" to throw out this question, allowing the candidates to play freely.

It's just that the emperor's mind is to reform, but he doesn't want to smash the jobs of civil officials and shake his rule. And Lao Yang is thinking about how to make the number of people who eat official meals a little less, a little less, the emperor's thoughts, he understands best. Since you don't want to be a villain, the emperor, just let the examinees come and break this layer of window paper.

It's a pity that Sun Dan has already figured out the emperor's thoughts, how can he write according to Yang Shoufu's meaning, and he can't get by himself?

However, if you don't write according to Yang Tinghe's intentions, I'm afraid that the score will not be too high.

That's embarrassing.

Sun Dan hesitated in his heart, and he couldn't start writing for a while.

Like Sun Dan, none of the other candidates in the hall started to write, they didn't know the power of this question, and they all took the pen and thought hard and began to write the draft.

If you guess correctly, these people's answers should have a lot of tricks.

For example, some people will say that the method of rectifying the rule of officials is to strengthen punishment, following the old path of Taizu; Others believe that indoctrination has been strengthened; Or someone will reply, set up a supervisory department.

As for how to increase the central fiscal revenue, there are many answers. For example, it is difficult to say how to open up and reduce expenditure; For example, increasing taxes; Others will reply that new taxes will be created.

Although there is some truth in such an answer, it is some distance from the voice that the emperor or Yang Tinghe wants to hear.

Sun Dan is bent on getting a high score and showing the world a top prize, so naturally it is impossible to be like other candidates.

But if you want to write it according to the emperor's intentions, talk about tax reform on the volume, and Yang Shoufu will not be able to pass the test. Yang Ge Lao is very radical, he just wants to cut off half of the officials in the world first, but he doesn't pay much attention to tax reform, and feels that it is difficult to promote this matter, and it is too late to take effect, and there is no meaning. In fact, Zhang Juzheng's later reforms were only formalized after more than 10 years of implementation, during which many unconventional methods were adopted. Lao Yang is an outstanding politician, and it is impossible not to see this, and there is also a lack of interest in the new tax reform.

But if you write according to Yang Tinghe's intentions, you will offend the emperor again.

It's a bit of a tough thing to do.

It was still early, it was still dark, and there were candles in the hall, which were brightly illuminated.

At the beginning, the emperor was still sitting on the Sumeru seat and looked at the tributes in the hall with a smile and a look of excitement. After all, this is the first national ceremony presided over by the young emperor, and it is full of freshness.

Moreover, these candidates here will all be his protégés in the future, and they are the first batch of talents selected since his reign.

He has the thrill of being in control of the fate of others.

Indeed, as Bi Yun said before, he had something important to find Sun Dan, so he asked him to pass on the decree to Sun Dan within an hour.

But now Sun Dan looked like he was thinking hard, and he didn't start writing for a long time, but the emperor was a little anxious.

He didn't care about anything else, got up from his chair, walked to Sun Dan's desk with a candle, and placed the candle on his desk.

Sun Dan didn't expect the emperor to come over and palm the lamp for himself in person, he was a little surprised in his heart, and he also knew that the emperor was urging himself. He was a little annoyed in his heart: What are you panicking, what are you panicking, no matter how panicked you are, you have to wait for me to finish answering the question. This palace test is related to whether Sun Dan can enter the top three in the first class, which is Lao Tzu's future. You, the emperor, are in such a hurry, and you probably have important matters, but you can't be so selfish.

The emperor asked Sun Dan in a gentle whisper: "But I can't see clearly, come on, come on, I will personally hold a candle for you." ”

However, the emperor's move still shocked all the candidates, and everyone looked at the emperor, and then lowered their heads in panic at the same time, their eyes suddenly moistened, and they were moved by the emperor's attention to talents and the imperial examination.

There were already people whose tears fell on the paper in a row, and their shoulders couldn't help shaking.

Affected by this aura, Sun Dan also had to pretend to be moved, lifted a mouthful of phlegm from his throat, poured it into his throat, and said in a low voice: "Your Majesty." ”

Seeing Sun Dan's grateful look, the emperor was also amused in his heart: this Sun Dan was the chief thinker when he won the heir, he was a celebrity, and he looked like he took the world as his own responsibility, and he was the most arrogant. In his heart, there is only calculation, only pondering, and if he wants to be moved, it is what a counselor should be. It's just that this guy is still pretending to be like this, which is really speechless.

The emperor snorted in his nose with a voice that only the two of them could hear, and he didn't leave, just stayed by Sun Dan's side.

Obviously, what he encountered was very important, otherwise it would not be possible to be in such a hurry to let Sun Dan answer the question quickly.

Sun Dan was helpless, so he had to pick up the pen. I thought to myself, Yang Ge Lao wanted to reduce his staff and increase efficiency, and the emperor wanted to reform immediately in order to save a large amount of money in a short period of time. No matter how my Sun Dan answers, it can't fit their minds. Write something else about "sex", Lao Tzu is not playing with you.

Isn't your topic to rectify the rule of officials, so I'll give you an idea.

So, Sun Dan immediately wrote.

The emperor only read two sentences, his eyes suddenly brightened, and he unconsciously clenched his fists.

The gist of Sun Dan's article is: In order to rectify the rule of officials, it is necessary to increase the income of officials and support them with high salaries. It seems that the income of the officials of the Ming Dynasty has not increased much since Taizu, and the expenses of the officials have become more and more huge. As a result, the imperial court could only acquiesce to the officials to find other ways to make money, which created the soil for corruption. As long as the state gives the officials clean money, the officials will naturally become incorruptible.

Of course, the state doesn't have that much money to support the incorruptible, so we have to find another way.

My solution is to implement a monetary tax system, and all taxes will be settled in silver, and the fire consumption of silver will be owned by the officials for daily use