"His Majesty the Emperor, among the retainers under the Shu Palace, there are many people who have studied Zhu Zixue. In Japan, Zhuzixue was regarded as a formal study, and every three years the shogunate held an examination called Gakubun Ginmi to select the shogunate's ministers, and all the shogunate flagships and imperial drivers were allowed to participate. In addition, the shogunate also established the Shoheiza Academy, which mainly taught Zhuzixue, and there were also a number of similar schools in many feudal domains in Japan that spread Zhuzixue. It can be said that Confucianism in Japan flourished second only to China, Korea, and Vietnam. ”

Tokugawa Saiaki spoke eloquently. It seems to be quite proud of the spread of Confucianism in Japan, because the biggest advocate of Confucianism in Japan is the Mito clan of Tokugawa Saiaki.

"Taste of learning?" Zhu Jishixin said, "This Chinese imperial examination has imprisoned the wise man and fooled the elite of a country, why didn't the Japanese imperial examination play the same role?" ”

"Your Majesty, can you let the retainers of Shugong take the imperial examination?" Tokugawa asked.

"There is no problem taking the exam, but ...... Do you want me to arrange official positions for them? It's a bit difficult. ”

"Doesn't Your Majesty need to arrange official positions for these people? Now there are nearly 20,000 retainers under the Shu Palace, all of whom are ordinary 'scholars', and there is no superiority or inferiority, so it is difficult to manage. ”

"I ignored it." Zhu Jishi pressed his temples and said with a smile, "Then let them participate in the imperial examination of the Ming Dynasty, both the literary and martial arts examinations can be examined, and they can also be referred to at the same time, and the upper and lower levels will be determined according to the results of the imperial examination." Quan Da said that I plan to organize Shuzi's retainers into 400 battalions in the form of a team of 100 people and a battalion of five teams, and the captain and battalion commander are all served by those who are both excellent in literature and martial arts. How? ”

"Very good." Qi Zhao said again. "Also. I hope that the shogunate will send people to inspect the imperial examination reform of the Ming Dynasty and prepare for the full implementation of the imperial examination system in Japan in the future. ”

"Japan wants to fully implement the imperial examination system?" Emperor Zhu muttered, "Oh, it's after the combination of public and martial arts, right?" ”

"It is precisely that after the integration of public and military forces, Japan will become a unified country, and there must be a mechanism for the selection of officials applicable to a unified country, and it is still the most appropriate and fair way to become an official by examination."

"Hmm. Reasonable. Zhu Jishi said, "The essence of the imperial examination system lies in the word fairness." But Japan ...... Will the imperial examinations to be carried out be for the entire population? ”

"It's still the prerogative of samurai and ministers." Tokugawa Saiaki said in a mocking tone, "If you want to deprive the samurai of their privileges, you must first ask them about the knives in their hands!" ”

The full implementation of the imperial examination in Japan is not a nonsense of Tokugawa Qizhao, but something that the Tokugawa shogunate has been planning for a long time. Because after the integration of public and military forces, Japan will also become a centralized and unified country, just like China. At that time, Japan's central government will be faced with the problem of selecting officials for the entire country. Although Japan has always had a tradition of gate politics, whether it is a public family or a samurai, it is actually gate valve politics, but it is always necessary to give the lower class samurai a little hope to rise. In this way, it will be easy for the country to be stable. The imperial examination system is undoubtedly a system that plays such a role. Although there are various flaws. But it did give the lower class of scholars a slim hope. And the imperial examination reform that Zhu Jishi is now implementing is to dash the hopes of some people!

The next day is the day of the great joy of Emperor Zhu and the prince of Japan and the queen of the Ryukyus. At four o'clock, the procession departed from the Japanese embassy where the lady temporarily resided. At the front are 200 samurai on horseback and armed with guns, all dressed as Japanese samurai, wearing ornate armor but weak defenses, all of whom are retainers of the Lady Queen. Next were 300 dressed maids, all of whom were well-behaved maidens selected from the homes of the lady's royal retainers. Behind it is a Japanese-style long-handled sedan chair and fifteen Japanese-style fishing sedan chairs, the long-handled sedan chair sits the lady queen, and the fishing sedan chair is the concubine Teng who marries, seven of which are from the public family, and eight are the beauties selected by the shogunate. Behind the palanquin were 200 samurai who served as guards, followed by a dowry worth 30,000 silver dollars, and a long procession carrying a banner bearing the crest of the Ryukyu royal family, and four horses laden with gold and silver decorated with dazzling decorations, with bells jingling on their necks. Walking behind the most are Iwakura Gushi and Tokugawa Saiaki, who have been campaigning for this marriage. The whole team is in good order.

The entire Yingtian City was filled with a festive atmosphere, but the lady queen sitting in the long-handled sedan chair had a complicated expression. In fact, she only met her husband Zhu Jishi for the first time a month ago, it was a handsome man, in terms of appearance, he was definitely an ideal marriage partner, and he was the king of a big country. But the lady queen felt a sense of inferiority that she had never felt before, and she suddenly felt that she was probably not worthy of the man in front of her—she had been angry for a long time that the emperor had married the emperor of China to be a side room, and she was the daughter of a dignified emperor, how could she be a side room? What kind of man can have a side chamber with such a noble blood?

But when she appreciated the prosperity and wealth of the Ming Dynasty, she knew the power and wealth of the Ming Dynasty. Especially after learning that Zhu Jishi actually copied a Kyoto Imperial Palace in Yingtianfu and gave it to herself, and her pocket money in the future was more than the total income of the entire Heavenly Emperor, her dissatisfaction with this marriage was gone. But then came worry, worried that she would not be able to get her husband's favor - when she was in Shanghai, she had already seen the Ming Empress Luo Xiangmei, the noble concubine Luo Xiangju and Tokugawa Akiko, and naturally knew that her appearance could not be compared with them at all!

"There should be many beautiful women around the emperor, right?" The lady queen couldn't help but think of her concubines, especially the eight women selected by the Tokugawa shogunate, these girls from the flag book and the imperial family all have stunning appearances!

"Fortunately, the children born by Concubine Teng are counted in her own name, so that there will always be children to rely on in the future...... The future king of the Ryukyus should also be selected from the children of Concubine Teng, right? ”

"I am the sister of the emperor, and I married on behalf of Japan, so even if I can't be favored, I should show virtue and virtue."

Just when the lady queen who didn't expect to be favored by Emperor Zhu was thinking nonsense, Emperor Zhu himself was still receiving ministers in the cautious palace. Although the etiquette of welcoming the lady is more than the ordinary concubine, it is still a concubine after all. Therefore, the emperor himself does not have to deal with a bunch of cumbersome etiquette, he only needs to go back to the Qianqing Palace at night to receive the visit of the lady and the queen, and the government still has to be dealt with as usual.

"If His Majesty insists on overhauling the imperial examination, then he should prepare for the worst." Zuo Zongtang's loud voice sounded in the hall of prudence. Of course, he knew that there was a problem with China's imperial examination system, but in fact, most officials from the imperial examination knew this truth. But no one dared to propose major reforms, especially restrictions on the age and number of references to be taken in the imperial examinations. Because the interests involved are too great! But now that Emperor Zhu has made up his mind, as the prime minister, Zuo Zongtang can only support it!

"What's the worst-case scenario? Zuo Xiang, do you think the gentry of the eight provinces will rebel? ”

"No, the gentry of the eight provinces have been firmly controlled by His Majesty, and the best of them have already become officials, and they naturally want to maintain the majesty of the imperial court, so the minister thinks that the real danger is outside the eight southeastern provinces." Zuo Zongtang said eloquently.

"Will there be a rebellion?"

Zuo Zongtang shook his head: "The rebellion may not be enough, but in the five years of recovery, it will be difficult to collect the land tax outside the eight provinces, and the local civil unrest will also increase greatly...... If Yi Xin and Yi Xin make any changes, it cannot be ruled out that someone will raise troops to respond. ”

Zhu Jishi nodded, Zuo Zongtang's analysis was relatively objective. At present, the Ming Dynasty has a strong rule in the eight southeastern provinces, with 300,000 officials and 500,000 Ming troops, most of whom come from the eight provinces. Moreover, the public bureaus and parliaments of the eight provinces also integrated the merchant class into the ruling group, so the middle and upper classes of the eight provinces and the Ming court were one. However, this is not the case in areas outside the eight provinces, and the rule of the Ming court is only superficial, and the gentry are still in control. After all, he hurt the vital interests of many gentry this time, and it was natural to cause a revolt. (To be continued......)