Emperor Wanli's court examination questions this time are obviously related to the end of last year's joint letter to Shandong disaster relief, over the years there have been frequent droughts and floods in the south of the Yangtze River and Jiangbei, and the report of the disaster has been spared a few books, and the Wanli Emperor in the deep palace wants to do nothing and be annoyed, so he asked the three hundred and forty-eight Chinese scholars of Bingchenke for countermeasures with the palace test strategy, of course, if the countermeasures are just staring at the silver of the emperor's inner treasury, then there is no good ranking, and the top three are at the bottom - Zhang Yuan saw the court test questions, and he was simply overjoyed, Finally, there is no need to write those useless eight-strand essays on behalf of the sages, you can write a macro essay that you have always wanted to write that has been used in the world, Zhang Yuan can be said to be thoughtful about the problem of disaster relief and famine preparedness in the Ming Dynasty, he knows very well in his heart that in addition to strengthening the armament to resist the Manchu slaves, the most important thing is to deal with natural disasters and civil changes, without large-scale homeless turmoil, the Manchu slaves will not have the opportunity to enter the Central Plains, and they must first settle inside.

An inkstone of fragrant ink, the ink fills the nose, the purple bamboo tube lake pen, gently twisted between the fingers, the tip of the pen soaked in ink beats lightly on the grass roll, and a delicate little Kai rushes out of the nib, Zhang Yuan wrote:

"The minister to the minister: the rule of the emperors in ancient times was nothing more than raising the people. At the time of Yao, the nine clans were friendly, with the grace of wide love and respect, and the kindness of friends; At the time of Shun, the bottom of Yu was blind, and the position of the father and son was determined, and the brother was formed; Three generations down, Han, Wei, Tang, Song, persuasion of agriculture, Mulberry, Xiuguang school, its support for the people is also one. To my Emperor Gao, from Longmu, well aware of the people's suffering, reigning for decades, light taxation, for the people to relieve their worries, every courtier and farmer farming suffering, as for the cry, agriculture is the country's capital, all needs are its out, if the farmer can not settle down, then the country is in danger......"

The Imperial Palace is deep and wide, hundreds of people hold pens to write on paper, gather a wonderful sound, as if the spring grass sprouts and grows, and like the dark night drizzle moistens things silently, the morning sun shines from the carved long window on the east side of the main hall, 348 candidates are exhausted to answer the questions, in order to compete for a good ranking in the palace examination, although they are all Jinshi, but the first, second and third class are still very different - when Zhang Yuan wrote more than 500 words on the grass scroll, his thoughts surged, and he focused on the end of the pen, feeling that this question should be written at least five or six thousand words, If this is the case, I am afraid that there is no time to transcribe the truth on the main paper, so simply put aside the grass scroll, directly on the main paper to answer the question, Zhang Yuan's composition has always been good at the draft, he is not very fast, but as long as the writing is well thought out, rarely need to be changed, of course, this is a prerequisite, that is, the palace examination paper does not require a draft, and three corrections are allowed - Zhang Yuan is not limited to the idea of disaster relief and famine, he discussed the disadvantages of the land policy in the late Ming Dynasty, wrote: "—— Before Jiajing, the people were eleven in the official, nineteen in the farmer, because the four people each have a fixed industry, the people are content with the agricultural acres, there is no other ambition, the government also drives it to the farm, without bothering, so the family is abundant, and the people are happy to be farmers. In the past 60 to 70 years, taxes have increased, forced labor has been heavy, and the lives of the people have been unbearable, so they have all moved their jobs. In the past, there were not many eunuch families, but now the number of people who go to agriculture and become eunuchs is ten times as many as before. In the past, it was said that the number of people who were exempted from forced labor and taxation was limited, but now the number of people who go to agriculture and encroach on the government is five times as many as before. In the past, it was said that there were few idle people, but now those who go to the farm and seek to eat are three or four out of ten, and most of the people say that they have gone to the farm for seven or eight minutes.

Zhang Yuan analyzed the reasons for the reluctance of the people to farm: First, the landlords in the south of the Yangtze River merged the farmland to plant some crops with high output value, such as planting cotton and fruit trees, but they were unwilling to plant rice and wheat, and the people pursued profits like water, which was understandable in a good year, but once a large-scale natural disaster occurred, the food shortage would be extremely serious; Second, heavy taxes and forced labor led to a large number of bankruptcies of homesteaders. The third is land annexation, tax pass-on, the price of official land is light, the price of private land is heavy, and the price of poor people is heavy, and the pseudo-government is the people; Over time, most of the people's land was returned to Haoyou, and most of the official fields were left in poverty, and the rich households in the countryside, the fields were even strange, and the hungry people were all tenants -- to reform the land policy of the late Ming Dynasty, the huge power of the royal family and the clan could not be avoided, Zhang Yuan rewrote the well-known drawbacks of the Zong's domain's rice and land occupation, and proposed that the imperial court grant a fixed amount of land to the world's guards, and the generals and below each received land for the second time, and rested for their own eternal inheritance, so as to limit the endless occupation of land by the Zongfan. Zhang Yuan's question is quite acute, but the solution to the problem is relatively mild, the rights and interests of the powerful forces are only restricted, not deprived, Zhang Yuan also knows that this kind of boot-scratching reform can not solve the fundamental problem, but this is also a last resort, he can not put himself on the opposite side of those vested interest groups, he is reform, not completely break the current system and start over, the gentry group also has many visionary people who are willing to improve, such as Ye Xianggao, Xu Guangqi, Gao Panlong, Liu Zongzhou, etc., There are all songs to talk about this aspect of the problem, but Zhang Yuan looks at the problem more comprehensively, and the sensible gentry also know that the distribution of interests should maintain a relative balance, and tilting and encroaching too much will lead to a large number of bankruptcies and collapses of the peasant class, and will also have a great impact on the interests of the gentry, such as the civil uprising in the six counties of Shandong, robbing the rich and killing the gentry abound, and the gentry who are familiar with the scriptures and history naturally know the stakes in it, and maintaining the stability of all social strata is the most important, otherwise it is like the Qin, Han, Jin, Tang, Song, The great destructive power of the peasant turmoil during the change of these dynasties of the Yuan Dynasty was the first to bear the burden of the wealthy gentry and landlord class, and this was also the case four hundred years later - so it was necessary to find a way for the people to live in the natural disaster [***], otherwise everyone would not have a way to live, the vested interest groups were not monolithic, there were many people who had a sense of crisis and realized the shortcomings and hoped to improve, Zhang Yuan wanted to fight for this part of the people, this is the palace test policy, it will be spread to the world, he must make his point of view clear, the wording can be mild, but the position must stand firm, He is not a two-faced speculator, and must have the courage to face criticism and resistance -- in view of the cold climate and frequent natural disasters in recent years, Zhang Yuan put forward the "glacial theory" that occurs once every 300 years, saying that the climate is cold and the drought will continue for another 30 to 40 years, and that there will be continuous large-scale drought in Shaanxi, Henan, Shandong, and even Gyeonggi in the next few years Waiting for the books to be confirmed, as for the officials who can't find these two books, it's not about Zhang Yuan, who makes them lonely and unheard, Su Shi dared to make up the story of Yao and Gaotao in the palace examination, and even the chief examiner Ouyang Xiu was blindfolded, why can't he Zhang Yuan make up two Western books?

Since the "glacial theory" was proposed, there should be a countermeasure, so the construction of water conservancy, the promotion of drought-tolerant crops naturally put forward, the "Taixi Water Law" in the dragon tail car, Yuheng car, Hengsheng car and the method of building reservoirs, as well as sweet potatoes, potatoes, corn and other drought-tolerant crops, although these can not fundamentally change the survival status of the late Ming Dynasty farmers, but can alleviate, can make farmers not starve to death in disaster years, Chinese farmers are the most kind, as long as there is a bite of food to eat, will not think of fighting, Even the army of displaced people led by Zhang Xianzhong and Li Zicheng were all horse thieves, deserters, and village scoundrels, and the peasants who were really desperate were all coerced, in order to eat a bite of food -- Zhang Yuan put forward his own views on famine relief and disaster relief in the last part of the essay, that is, the combination of government disaster relief and civil famine relief, the rich people have the responsibility to help their tenants, and the rich people should ask for awards for the rich people who assist the government in disaster relief, and the official positions conferred should also be respected by the society. There will be no good way, only to tear down the east wall to make up for the west wall, and to eat more grain, the key is to do a good job in the front, increase savings, and improve the people's ability to cope with famine -- at the end of the essay, Zhang Yuan wrote:

In the past, Su Shi said to Song Renzong, 'If there is nothing in the world, the words of the minister are as light as a feather; When the country is eventful, the ministers wish that the saints will not regard the words of the ministers as feathers, and the ministers will bow down to the dust, and listen to the dust, and they will tremble - the ministers are right. ”

After writing the last word, he put down the pen and rubbed his hands, only then did he feel that the sky had darkened, and I didn't know when a bag of palace cakes was placed on the side of the desk, and when he turned his head to look around, the hall was empty, and the other candidates had finished the exam, and he was the only one left, and the rest of the paper readers and deacons silently looked at him from afar at the edge of the hall - Zhang Yuan stood up and packed up the examination basket, and the tall and thin Wu Daonan walked over slowly, standing ten steps away from him, and couldn't get too close, otherwise there would be an invigilator who said that he looked at Zhang Yuan's exam papers well, Wu Daonan smiled and said: "Zhang Yuan, In another half a moment it will be dark, and you will be forced out. ”

Zhang Yuan bowed down and said: "The student's countermeasures are written so well that before I know it, it is already twilight." "I flipped through the twelve main volumes, and almost half of them were all written, each volume was eight hundred and two crosses, and his palace test essay was nearly 10,000 words, from the beginning of the morning to the beginning of the pen non-stop, until the beginning of the dusk, a full four hours, ten thousand words!

The director of the Ministry of Official Work came to collect Zhang Yuan's volume, "Huh", and asked, "Zhang Yuan, you didn't write a draft scroll?" "The examiners and deacons in the Imperial Palace all recognize Zhang Yuan, this Zhang Yuan is known as a brilliant talent, but now the palace examination is the last to hand in the papers, which is really eye-catching - Zhang Yuan said: "If you go back to the adult, I am afraid that I will not have time to transcribe it in the evening, so I will write it directly on the grass scroll." ”

The king took a look, and there was a "huh" sound, almost all of the twelve volumes were full, and there was no longer strategy than this for more than two hundred years in the Ming Dynasty, do you still need to use the seal, the readers of the papers know that the longest one is Zhang Yuan's - Zhang Yuan put the bag of palace cakes into the examination basket, and went out of the Huangji Gate, the Noon Gate, the Duanmen Gate and the Chengtian Gate alone, at the twilight, Jinshui Qiaotou, Zhang Lianfang, Zhang Dai, and Wen Zhenmeng, Huang Zongxi and other eight Han Society candidates were waiting for him, so that his heart warmed, and he walked over quickly, Zhang Lianfang asked with a smile: "Jie Zi, why are you the last to hand in the papers?" ”

Huang Zongxi knew that the court trial strategy was very right for Zhang Yuan's way, and Zhang Yuan must have written happily, and said: "Zhang Sheshou said that he had a big discussion today, how many volumes did he write? ”

Zhang Yuan said: "The twelve volumes are almost full, about nearly 10,000 words. ”

Everyone was shocked.

Zhang Lianfang frowned and said: "It is not necessarily a good thing to write too much and write profoundly, the emperor likes to listen to words, and even if the official accuses him of bad words, he may be punished-", Zhang Lianfang is a very smooth person, no matter whether it is right or wrong, first be invincible and then consider others, and be wise to protect himself.

Zhang Yuan said: "I didn't think about it so much, what Cewen wrote is also the foundation of my future official administration, as for whether the emperor is willing to take care of it, that's another matter." ”

The candidates of the Han Society do not know what Zhang Yuan's ten thousand words of strategy are written, but they dare to express their opinions in the palace test, and the disadvantages of the times, this kind of courage is worthy of admiration, everyone goes out of the thousand-step corridor together, their servants are waiting outside the Daming Gate, Shang Zhouzuo is waiting for his sister-in-law Zhang Yuan in the carriage, and Mu Zhenzhen and Wuling are standing by the carriage - the palace test is more difficult today, and they go back to rest, and the people of the Han Society meet at noon tomorrow to gather in the restaurant near the Dalongfu Temple, and finally the exam is over, and the ceremony will wait for three days. These two days can be a good relaxation.

Zhang Yuan got into the carriage, Shang Zhouzuo asked him about the palace test, and heard that Zhang Yuan wrote a 10,000-word policy, and said with a smile: "Jie Zi always has amazing moves." ”

Back at the East Fourth Archway, Shang Zhouzuo saw Zhang Yuan take out the palace cakes and share them with Jinglan, Jinghui, Mu Zhenzhen, and Fanghua, only then did he know that Zhang Yuan hadn't eaten for a day, and he hadn't drunk a sip of water, so he hurriedly asked the kitchen to serve wine and rice, Zhang Yuan smiled: "I just want to eat eight-treasure porridge for the exam, and I'll cook it myself." ”

Zhang Yuan cooked a big bowl of eight-treasure porridge, Jing Hui also came to eat porridge with Zhang Yuan, very happy, Zhang Yuan was also very relaxed, it took four years, he finished the long road of the imperial examination.

……

On March 15, the Wenhua Palace, the lights were bright all night, the director of the examination officer Wang handed over the three hundred and forty-eight examination papers received to the sealing officer, the sealing official stamped the seal of the seal and sent it to the palm officer, the palace examination ink paper did not need to be transcribed into a red scroll, and was directly sent to the East Pavilion to read the paper, each of the fourteen examination officials headed by Fang Congzhe and Wu Daonan had to read the three hundred and forty-eight examination papers in two days and write a brief comment, to rank them in grading, and to stamp the seal of each reading officer, the task of marking the papers was quite heavy, and it was necessary to continue to say at night. There is a couch in the east pavilion for the examiner to rest, but he is not allowed to go home - the first assistant Fang Congzhe specially found the book of 10,000 words to have a sneak peek, and sighed: "If these more than 300 candidates all have 10,000 words of books, then I will not be able to finish reading them in the past two nights." ”

Liu Chuxian, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, said with a smile: "Fortunately, it's okay, it's just this one, and most candidates only have more than a thousand words." ”

All the examiners knew that this exam paper was Zhang Yuan's, and they smiled at each other.

(To be continued)