Since the silkworm girl revealed her heart, although Qian Jin felt that she was more careful and considerate of herself, she also obviously felt that there was already a gap between the two, that is, etiquette.

In this regard, Qian Jin has no choice, it is not easy to change a person's mind, maybe after he opens a tailor shop for Silkworm Niang, she will no longer be so restrained when she has her own livelihood.

For the next ten days, Qian Jin stayed at home, practiced Qian's knife technique in the morning, and reviewed the books for the imperial examination the rest of the time. The ancients said: 'There is Yan Ruyu in the book'. According to Qian Jin, this book is his wife, and if he doesn't pay attention to it for a few months, this relationship will be divided.

Fortunately, Qian Jin has read these books thousands of times since he was a child, coupled with the recitation of 'Zhihu Ye' every day in the past few days, he finally regained his previous feeling, and Qian Jin was so happy that he shouted, "The ancients are honest and do not deceive me".

Just as Qian Jin was studying hard in retreat, Chen Xiong's case also began to ferment in the community, and the name 'Qian Jin' also became the hottest topic in the market. Many people inquired about his origins, but found that they didn't know anything except that they knew that he was from Guanhai City, that he was sixteen years old, and that he was a thousand households.

……

On the eighth day of February, the capital ushered in the first rain after the beginning of spring.

There were only two snowfalls this winter, and the cold that Qian Jin feared did not last long. The earth seems to be starting to warm up, and some of the pine and cypress trees are actually growing buds early. If there is no accident, this year should be a bumper year, which is tantamount to Ganlin for the people of Chen Guo.

This day is also the day when all the people in Chen Guo will participate in the examination.

All the examination procedures are the same as those of Qiuyu, the examination time is still nine days, and the content of the examination is still Baguwen, Chen Lu and Strategy. The difference is that the examination is presided over by the Ministry of Rites, and the examiner is also several grades higher.

After changing the country name to Renwu, this was the first time to take the exam. His Majesty attached great importance to it, and appointed An Ruhai, a waiter of the Ministry of Rites, as the president (1), Guo Guangming, a scholar of the Hanlin Academy, as the vice president (2), and Li Wenhuan, a waiter of the Ministry of Rites, presided over the relevant processes, and a number of personnel assisted. The examination questions are selected by the president, and once the papers are printed, all officials who produce the papers are not allowed to interact with the outside world.

Qian Jin, Jin Taiming, and Liao Donglin arrived at the gate of the Gongyuan in the inner city early.

At this time, there was already a long queue at the gate of the Gongyuan, and officials were supervising the search. The students who come to participate in the general examination have already participated in the primary examination and the township examination, and are naturally familiar with these procedures before the examination. The three of them exhorted each other, agreed on the meeting place, and entered the dragon gate in turn.

After the gong sounded, the first eight-strand essay exam paper was distributed. The title of the exam paper is: "The way of science is in Mingmingde, in being close to the people, and in stopping at perfection." This means that the purpose of science is to guide people to goodness, to promote righteousness and light, so that the most perfect state can be achieved.

Seeing this topic, Qian Jin immediately thought of His Majesty's year name as 'Renwu'. So, he took the theme of "those who want to be virtuous in the world in the ancients, rule the country first", and use "water can carry boats, and can also overturn boats", and praised the emperor by the way...... In the end, the conclusion is that whoever wins the hearts and minds of the people wins the world.

Three days later, Qian Jin walked out of the tribute courtyard with a tired face. When I saw Liao Donglin and Jin Taiming, I found that Liao Donglin was no better, with black eyes.

Jin Taiming is good, looking at his calm demeanor, it is no different from usual. The three of them ordered some food and drink, and then went home and fell asleep.

…………

The next Chen Lu is difficult to get in, and it is still a test of the law and the judgment. The judgment is based on a homicide case, and the students are required to list the procedures and basis for the judgment of the case, and finally list the crimes committed one by one according to Chen Lu. This is a piece of cake for Qian Jin.

The title of "Policy Theory" attracted money and examined the relationship between the treasury and taxes.

As early as when he was in Pyeongchang Mansion, Wen Tianzheng had to point out money to enter the imperial examination articles, and occasionally mentioned the general trend of the world. Once, Wen Tianzheng talked about his worries about the treasury, saying that a few years ago, Taicang (3) was only more than 2 million taels of silver. Qian Jin was taken aback when he heard it, and said that the emperor was really poor enough. Of course, most of Chen's taxes were mainly based on various kinds of rice, grain, cloth, etc., and silver was only a part of it.

Later, Li Shoufu entered the cabinet to pay homage to the prime minister, and spent three years re-measuring the country's acres of land, combining all the tax items into one, and collecting all other tax burdens except autumn grain in silver. These decrees were somewhat similar to the "One Whip Law" of the Ming Dynasty, and the results were also remarkable, and Chen Guo was able to take a breather.

In his previous life, Qian Jin studied economics and had some knowledge of the two systems of Western economy and planned economy. Therefore, he borrowed Adam Smith's (4) 'The Wealth of Nations' as the title, discussed the relationship between tax rates and treasury revenues, and finally put forward two technical suggestions:

The first is the separation of revenue and expenditure, that is, after each province collects the tax money, it must be handed over to the national treasury in full, and the local expenditures are uniformly allocated by the national treasury. In this way, the imperial court was able to reduce local corruption, increase state revenues, and strengthen the influence of imperial power on the local level. Qian Jin's suggestion is also the favor of the examiner, and the biggest examiner is undoubtedly the one on the dragon chair.

Second, the printing of large Chen treasure banknotes, and gradually changed the circulation of silver into treasure banknotes. The advantage of issuing treasure banknotes was that it was easy to trade, and at the same time, it could also increase the amount of gold and silver reserves of the imperial court. Of course, the issuance of treasure money must also be supported by a certain economic volume. In the past, when I was in Guanhai City, the silver tickets of the money bank were popular in the market, because there were many merchants from the south of Guanhai City, and the transaction was developed. The inland provinces are different, this time the money came from the south to the north, and it was found that there was bartering in many places.

This first recommendation is premised on the second. If treasure banknotes are not issued, there will be no basis for the two lines of revenue and expenditure, and the freight of those silver taels alone will be terrible.

Of course, a dynasty cannot solve all its problems with just two proposals.

The biggest contradiction in Chen Guo is that the people are rich and the country is poor. Of course, the people here do not refer to the common people, but to the local tycoons. The main reason for this is that the main wealth of the agrarian economy is land, and after hundreds of years of annexation, land has been concentrated in the hands of a few tycoons. These tycoons want to use all kinds of methods to refuse to pay taxes, how can the treasury not be poor? After Li Shoufu's reform, although the income of the treasury and silver has improved, the fundamental contradiction has not been resolved, and the land is still in the hands of the chaebol.

Qian Jin is also full of confidence in his answers, if the economic theory of the 21st century can't conquer these examiners, then it can only be said that they don't know the goods.

After finishing the three subjects, Qian Jin returned to the courtyard and ate something casually, then lay down on the bed and dreamed of his spring and autumn season.

……

Three days later, Guo Guangming, a scholar of the Hanlin Academy, took a scroll and presented it to President An Ruhai and said, "President An, you have to take a look at this strategy. ”

An Ruhai was piled up with sealed test papers in front of the case at this time, and when he saw that Guo Guangming said solemnly, he asked, "How is the answer?" ”

The lower officials did not dare to comment on themselves. This "Wealth of Nations" seems to have the style of Li Shoufu, could it be that he is a disciple of his old man? ”

An Ruhai took the paper and read it from beginning to end, and after thinking about it for a long time, he said: "This policy either has to be evaluated, or it is not bullshit." In order not to omit talents, it is better to compromise and give a review first, and finally ask Your Majesty to decide. ”

"Then according to the president's ......"

Note: (1) President: the title of the examiner;

(2) Vice President: The title of the deputy chief examiner.

(3) Taicang: the treasury of the imperial palace.

(4) Adam. Smith: Scottish economist, born in 1723, author of The Wealth of Nations