.. Chapter 240 of lā is a prophecy

Build a pole hall one

Li Hongyu sat in the central seat in the first row of the main hall, after all, he was the Huiyuan who could take the test, so he naturally had to sit in the most prominent seat

An attendant held the holy decree in his hand and read out the policy of the Wanli Emperor in a low voice

Generally speaking, there will be three to five strategic questions for the Ming Imperial Examination

The first question is usually related to the history of "scripture", which emphasizes that "scripture and righteousness" is the foundation of one's life, and tests the foundation of Gongshi's learning

Most of the second questions involve the evolution of institutional history, such as the evolution of the central government system, the method of selecting and examining officials, and so on

The third question often asks about local governance, and the content related to water conservancy and sea pond remediation will also be mentioned in this part

The fourth question basically covers the evolution of history and geography or the discussion of various methods of storing and accumulating corn, usually related to economics

The fifth course generally deals with issues such as military affairs and coastal defense

Of course, regional differences will also be taken into account, for example, the Jiangnan Township Examination will ask about the pros and cons of the evolution of the Haitang Project and the transportation of water, while the Northern Township Examination will not involve such topics

Compared with the first two of the township examination and the general examination, the third policy question can be said to test the comprehensive strength of the candidates, otherwise the palace examination will not be tested separately and the emperor will ask the questions

Generally speaking, the emperor will also deliberately emphasize that he must not deliberately stick to the old-fashioned and perfunctory official language, and ask for a straightforward statement

Therefore, in order to win by surprise, many candidates either use fierce rhetoric to acupuncture the disadvantages of the times or sing praises of virtue in flowers, and the chapter of singing praises of virtue is a sycophant in the eyes of the common people

As the highest-level imperial examination of the emperor, the questions of the palace examination are naturally different from those of the township examination and the general examination, and the questions are often related to important military affairs

Emperor Wanli came up with three questions this time, the first question reaffirmed the ancient precept of governing the country based on discipline, that the emperor ruled the country and the world, all based on the discipline and discipline, "since ancient times, the emperor has been prosperous and reasonable, and the government is solid, and the people's hearts are soothed and the world is maintained, and the discipline must be the business"

The second question, Emperor Wanli, first praised the great achievements of the ancestors of the Zhu family: "My Taizu Emperor Gao Zhaozao District Xia, Emperor Chengzu and then Jingjiabang, the more ancient the system and regulations, the more it can be passed on for generations."

Then he said that he inherited the merits of the emperor, "I inherited the great industry, and described the beginning of the emperor's reign, the cultivation of politics and religion, the transformation of vulgar beauty, and the legacy of several ancestors."

Then Yu Feng turned around and pointed out that in recent years, the world has been declining, "Since the beginning of the year, the law has gradually improved, the human feelings are playful, morality is strong and not investigated, the edict is not good, although the application is diligent, the tomb is very ...... The disorder of the Gang Discipline is extremely difficult today"

Translated into meaning, the laws and regulations are lax, the edicts are not understood, the incumbents do not perform their duties, the subordinates commit disorder, the cart is turned upside down, the name is lost, and the discipline is disordered.

The third question, Emperor Wanli, proposed how the king should organize the country, "Ask the emperor's government and the emperor's heart?" ”

"Ask the Emperor's Government and the Emperor's Heart?"

When Li Hongyu heard the chamberlain read out the question of Emperor Wanli's third question, he was stunned, and his eyes showed a look of surprise

He is too familiar with this topic, if he is not mistaken, this is a question that the Wanli Emperor tried to come up with in the Wuxu Hall in the twenty-sixth year of Wanli, and the champion Zhao Bingzhong gave an answer, and the answer was wonderful, which can be called "a volume through the ages", and he can be said to be fresh in his memory

Li Hongyu was very surprised that this question appeared in the 47th year of Wanli and had not been examined, and it stands to reason that this question had been tested in the 26th year of Wanli, and it should not be mentioned again at this time

"Didn't you take this question back then?" Soon, after the initial consternation, Li Hongyu came back to his senses, and a thought came to his mind, although it was hard to believe, but it was the only explanation that worked

In fact, when Emperor Wanli changed the time set by Yang Hao from February 21 to the third day of March, it already meant that Li Hongyu had unconsciously triggered a series of imperceptible chain reactions, and the flapping wings of a small butterfly had caused subtle changes in the affairs of different time and space

Obviously, in the three policy questions of the Wanli Emperor, the third question is the key point, and the first two questions can be said to be the emperor's usual routine during the palace examination

But the third question is different, the test is current affairs, although the question is short, but there is a lot of room for swinging, in other words, this question can be a needle and a disadvantage can also sing praises, let the candidates wave

"Providence!" After shaking his head, Li Hongyu decided not to dwell on this matter anymore, and began to answer the questions with his spirit, and it was imperative that he answer these three questions of Emperor Wanli, especially the third question is important

"The manager of the emperor will also have a solemn way to draw one, showing that the first life is turbulent, and then the wind is beautiful and the national lineage will always enjoy ......"

After some thought, Li Hongyu took up the pen and wrote down the answer to the first question in an orderly manner on the exam paper, "...... His Majesty Emperor Qinwei, great virtue and blessing, but Lu is famous and longevity; Zhiren Shengwei, and the east, west, north and south are suited"

Li Hongyu is very smart, and he quoted the principle of governing the country from the Gangji, advocating that "the law of Deze is to model the hearts of the people, and the Taoism is a mastery", and the reason why the ancient Shengming emperor was able to rule the Quartet and convince the people was that he mastered this law to make the prosperous era perpetuate

Of course, in the end, Li Hongyu also praised Emperor Wanli greatly, and this ending was naturally so that Emperor Wanli could better agree with what he said earlier

"My Taizu Emperor Gao, sweeping away the fishy and causing the district Xia, can really do it yourself...... The saints inherit each other, and there is an interpretation from generation to generation, to my emperor, and the worship is unique to ,......"

After answering the first question, Li Hongyu began to brew the answer to the second question, pondered for a while, and then wrote, "...... And the military and business are poor, and the public and private are poor, as the holy system cares, the ministers think that if the law is there, everything can be examined, and the law is clear and everyone can abide by it."

In answering the second weight, Li Hongyu began by boasting about the ancestors of the Zhu family, affirmed the merits of the Wanli Emperor, and finally pointed out the shortcomings of the Wanli Dynasty, showing that abiding by the law is the key to governing the country.

"When the minister hears that the emperor is in control of the universe, there must be the actual administration of the manager, and then he can restrain the crowd, which is intricate, and there are many intricacies, so that the rule of Yongxi is ......" As for the third question, Li Hongyu didn't think about answering it directly on the exam paper

Since this question did not appear in the palace examination in the twenty-sixth year of Wanli, he naturally wanted to "learn from" Zhao Bingzhong's wonderful answer at that time, and only this chapter would be able to shine in the palace examination

At the same time, Qianqing Palace, East Warm Pavilion

The Wanli Emperor summoned Congzhe, an assistant to the cabinet, Li Ruhua, the secretary of the household department, and Huang Jiashan, the secretary of the military department, to discuss the operation of military supplies in Liaodong to ensure that the Liaodong army could receive sufficient military supplies

"Your Majesty, Liaodong Yang Jingluo has come to Baili Urgent Book!" Suddenly, Wu Liangsi, the head of the military department, walked into the house quickly with an anxious look, holding a volume of urgent newspaper in his hand and reporting in a deep voice, "The three armies of our army, the South Road, the West Road, and the North Road have been repelled by the Jianzhou rebellion one after another, and Yang Jingluo asks for assistance!" ”

"What?" Hearing this, Emperor Wanli, Fang Congzhe and others were taken aback, and they all looked at Wu Liangsi in amazement, never expecting that the Ming army in Liaodong would be defeated by the small Houjin

"Bring it" Emperor Wanli stretched out his hand and took the urgent gong from Wu Liangsi's hand, and looked at it with a gloomy face

According to Yang Hao's report, on the tenth day of the first month of March, the 30,000 Western Route Army arrived in Salhu and encountered more than 50,000 people of the main force of the Houjin Army

On March 11, after learning the news of the defeat of the Western Route Army, Ma Lin, the commander of the Northern Route Army, led 15,000 people to go to the defense at Shangjian Cliff in the northwest of Salhu, but the Houjin Army was not only large in number but also good at cavalry and archery, so it was overwhelmed in one day, and Ma Lin led more than 100 personal soldiers to withdraw from the battlefield

On March 13, after defeating the Western Route Army and the Northern Route Army, the Houjin Army gathered forces to ambush the Ming Army's Southern Route Army at the port of Abu Dari, seventy miles south of Hetuala

On March 14, the Houjin army defeated the Southern Route Army, and Liu Wei was killed in battle

On 15 March, Yang Hao ordered the Southwest Route Army to return to the division in the area east of Qinghe Fort to avoid being besieged by the Later Jin Army

In view of the heavy losses of the Ming army that lost on the three routes, Yang Hao asked the imperial court to send more troops and fight to the death with the Houjin army

"It's a prophecy!" After reading the battle report in his hand, Emperor Wanli, who had a cold expression, couldn't help but say slowly, with an extremely complicated expression on his face

He never imagined that the course of the war in Liaodong was exactly the same as Li Hongyu had expected, and the Houjin army really defeated the Ming army's three-way army in five days, and the Ming army on the southwest road really withdrew without even facing the battlefield

"Your Majesty, after this defeat, Yang Jingluo's hand has not many troops, and in the opinion of the ministers, troops should be mobilized as soon as possible to reinforce Liaodong" Seeing that Emperor Wanli's face was not good, Fang Congzhe hesitated for a moment and said in a serious voice, to be honest, he never expected that the Ming army would be defeated by the Houjin army, and it was defeated so badly

"Your Majesty, it's too late to transfer troops now, the top priority is to make a decision as soon as possible and make a trade-off for the cities in Liaodong" Hearing this, Huang Jiashan's brows furrowed and he bowed his hand to Emperor Wanli and said

Obviously, it will take a lot of time to transfer troops from the Guannai, and at this time, the Ming army was defeated on the battlefield in Liaodong, and the Houjin army would definitely take advantage of the victory to pursue, and some remote cities would be in a critical situation

"Your Majesty, Jianzhou is rebellious and not good at attacking the city, as long as our army sticks to the city and does not come out, then they will have nothing to do" At this time, Wu Liangsi also opened his mouth to express his opinion, "The top priority is to send capable people to clean up the mess, and the strength of Liaodong should be enough to compete with the rebellion of Jianzhou"

"Spread the decree, tomorrow the court pushes, and select the person who will go to Liaodong to govern!" Emperor Wanli was very satisfied with what Wu Liangsi said, and after a deep groan, he issued an order in a deep voice, preparing to select officials to rush to Liaodong to clean up the mess

Fang Congzhe and the others couldn't help but glance at each other when they heard this, now that they are in charge of Liaodong, it is a hot potato, it is estimated that no official wants to go there at this time, and if they are not careful, they may even lose their lives

The so-called court push, refers to the Ming Dynasty emperors because of the attack of the selection of officials of an ancestral system, where important officials are vacant, by the Jiuqing will consult with the court officials above the third grade, the public to recommend two to three people or even more to be selected, by the emperor to select and appoint

Of course, the emperor can also directly issue an edict appointing officials, called "decrees"

In the late Ming Dynasty, the Wanli, Tianqi and Chongzhen court push became more and more intense, so that officials regarded the court as the right way and often refused the emperor's decree, not because they did not want to be promoted, but because they were afraid that they would not be able to get the recognition and support of their colleagues after receiving the emperor's decree, which would be difficult to move an inch in the officialdom

This was unthinkable before the Jiajing Dynasty, and it was related to the personalities of Emperor Wanli, Emperor Tianqi and Emperor Chongzhen, and it also meant the expansion of vassals