At a time when the newspaper debate was raging, this year's examination was successfully concluded.

A total of 12 women went to the Ministry of Rites to receive exam tickets. But only five people actually showed up for the exam, and the rest all went home with their admission tickets.

Under the test list, a few families are happy and a few are sad.

There are also some guys, whose focus is obviously different, and they keep looking at the list of scholars, asking back and forth: "Is there a woman who has won the tribute?" ”

Gongshi, that is, the candidates who have been admitted to the entrance examination, can only be called this before the palace examination.

Since the list only writes names, places of origin, and schools from which they graduated, it is impossible to tell which one is female, so many people are concerned about this matter.

"Alas!"

Qi Biaojia looked at the list several times, turned around and said to her daughter and prospective daughter-in-law: "It's great that you can participate in the exam, even if you don't fall off the list, you don't have to be sad." ”

"Father doesn't have to be comforted," Qi Deqiong barely squeezed out a smile, "There are many candidates in various provinces, and the middle school entrance examination is not easy, and my daughter has expected this." In any case, the second brother has won the tribute, and he should celebrate today. ”

Although Qi Bansun passed the exam, he was depressed: "There are so many talented people in the world, I thought I could win the top list, but I didn't expect to only hit the bottom list." ”

When this family came to Nanjing, they were all full of confidence, but who knew that only Qi Bansun passed the dangerous and dangerous examination.

There were a few candidates next to him, standing there in despair, and some people began to complain while standing.

"Your Majesty is so thin on scholars, why can you only take the exam once? If you have immortal talent and happen to be sick during the exam, won't this life be ruined? ”

"Yes, even if you can't take the exam for life, you should be allowed to take it at least three times."

"Don't say three times, you can take the test twice!"

“……”

In fact, the imperial examination in the Ming Dynasty also set an age limit for a period of time, but gradually it disappeared. Zhang Xuan, who deprived Confucius of the king, was admitted to the Jinshi until his hair was gray.

But now Zhao Han stipulates that a candidate can only take the exam once!

The entire system of the imperial examination is as follows:

In the third year of primary school, he participated in the county's graduation examination, but the county examination was presided over by prefectural-level officials. Those who pass the examination will be awarded a primary school graduation certificate; Those who fail to pass the examination will be awarded a primary school certificate. Those who are among the top will be admitted to secondary school for free. Those who have obtained a graduation certificate are eligible to study in secondary school at their own expense. Primary school can be repeated indefinitely until you get your diploma.

Three-year secondary school (about to become a four-year system), take the provincial graduation examination. The situation is the same as that of elementary school, there are also graduation certificates and graduation certificates. Those who are at the top of the list will be admitted to the university for free. With a secondary school diploma, you can go to university at your own expense. However, you can take the secondary school leaving exam up to three times.

And when it comes to college, whether it is the university graduation exam or the next entrance exam, anyone only has one chance.

If you say that you are sick and unwell, you can apply for an extension of the exam before you get the admission ticket, but as long as you get the admission ticket, you are not allowed to change it.

It may seem a bit impersonal, but it doesn't really make a difference.

Because those who are eligible to receive the admission ticket for the entrance examination, even if they do not take the exam, they can go directly to become an official. You have a college diploma in your hand, it's just that you started lower when you were an official, and you can still climb up if you are really capable.

Like Qi Biaojia's daughter and prospective daughter-in-law, although they fell off the list this time, as long as they are willing to be officials, they can also get a low-end miscellaneous official.

Universities in various provinces have a lot of students enrolled every year, but the graduation exam is really difficult. Officials from the Ministry of Rites personally conducted the examination, and the difficulty of obtaining a university diploma was no different from that of the Jinshi, and the pass rate of the university's graduation examination was less than 50 percent – a pass rate that will continue to decline as the number of college students increases.

While talking, Yan Ruoxuan, Yan Yuan and Tang Zhen, three friends, squeezed out of the crowd.

Qi Biaojia's family immediately gave up his hand and said, "Congratulations to the two of you!" ”

"Rejoice, rejoice!"

Yan Yuan will take the second place in the examination, Tang Zhen will take the thirty-fifth place in the examination, and Yan Ruoxuan is not qualified for the imperial examination.

Liu Shuying was also accompanying them to watch the list, and couldn't help but be curious: "Little Brother Yan is only second place, what is the origin of this famous Huiyuan?" ”

Yan Yuan replied: "Fang Zhongtong, the second son of Dr. Fang (Fang Yizhi) of the Physics Museum of the Qintian Academy. The eldest son of Dr. Fang's family, who also won the Jinshi three years ago, ranked ninth in the second list, and I heard that he is now a magistrate. ”

"Alas, the family history!" Qi Biaojia couldn't help but sigh.

A guy who looked like a businessman inquired about Yan Yuan's situation and came over and asked, "Your Excellency is Yan Yayuan in person?" ”

Yan Yuan replied directly: "I have already married a wife." ”

"I'm sorry." Shang Jia immediately smiled and left.

Tang Zhen muttered, "Why didn't you come to ask me?" I haven't married yet. ”

Shang Jinghui quipped: "If Tang Gongzi doesn't marry a wife, I can help be a matchmaker." ”

Tang Zhen hurriedly waved his hand: "No need, I have a marriage contract, I was just joking." ”

While the people were talking, a scholar was surrounded by a group.

But he will try the third place Pu Decoction, born in a family of salt workers in Jiangsu. Strong physique, dark-skinned, unsightly, but not yet engaged, is an excellent target for those mid-level businessmen.

"Pu Gongzi, my little girl is fourteen years old, and she is also knowledgeable. is still in a girls' school, but you can make a marriage contract first, and get married when the little girl graduates from middle school. ”

"Pu Gongzi, the little girl is fifteen this year, and she will graduate from middle school in a few months. If the child is interested, he can first look at the portrait of the little girl. Not to mention the sinking fish and geese, it is also as beautiful as a flower......"

"Hey, I said Liu Si, your daughter has a big mole on her face, how can she be as beautiful as a flower? Regardless of appearance, it is not good to study, and it is at the bottom of the girls' school exam. Pu Gongzi, my daughter is a talented girl. After getting married in the future, your husband and wife will sing poems and harmonize, and if you have endless words, you will definitely be very affectionate. ”

“……”

Pu Yan was obviously a little overwhelmed, he was the son of a salt worker, and he usually only knew how to study hard, and he studied all the way to college graduation at public expense.

Moreover, from elementary school to university, my grades are usually above average, which is not particularly eye-catching. It's just that every time he takes a key exam, he can perform extraordinarily, and this time he inexplicably took the third exam.

Pu Pan was squeezed straight back, and stammered, "I...... I...... Good intentions are received, and they are in the ...... Next...... Don't go to the ground...... Local officials. I...... I...... has already entered the Qintian Temple, in Zaifang...... The Doctor's Subordinate ...... Grind...... Research on the ...... of physics"

The businessmen looked at each other, they didn't expect to try the third place, but it was actually a stammer. And I don't plan to be an official, I want to stay in the Qintian Academy in the future and study the physics of Naraushzi.

This kind of person will definitely have no future, and he will be a doctor of Qintianyuan who has no real power for the rest of his life.

In just a dozen seconds, the businessmen who surrounded Pu Fang disappeared so quickly.

Pu Pan didn't care about this, he wanted to rush back to write his thesis, and he didn't even pay much attention to the palace exam. Anyway, he has already been admitted to the graduate school, even if he does not participate in the imperial examination, as long as the graduate student graduates and passes the assessment of the Qintian Academy, he can enter the Qintian Academy as a bachelor.

Jinling University has a special dormitory for graduate students.

Pu Pan graduated two years ago, and while waiting for the exam, he went to various salt farms to investigate. Fang Yizhi also helped him get a sum of funds, a full fifty taels of silver, and wrote a letter, hoping that the salt yamen in various places would cooperate.

The paper was proposed by Zhao Han.

At first, I felt that Fang Yizhi's academic report, there was too much nonsense and it was a waste of time, so Emperor Zhao taught him how to write a thesis.

In the past two years, Pu Pan has visited the salt farms of Hebei, Shandong, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Fujian provinces, and he has written a paper analyzing the differences in sea salt production in these five provinces. Finally, it was concluded that once the people prospered, the salt output of the Changlu Salt Farm in Hebei would inevitably exceed that of the Jianghuai Salt Farm.

Moreover, the salt fields in Hebei and Shandong have far greater advantages in drying salt than in the south.

Because there is a lot of rain in the south, once it rains, you can't dry the salt, so you can only use the old way to fry the salt.

In addition, Pu decoction also found that the salt drying method of the Ming Dynasty was first born in Haifeng, Shandong (Wudi), and was not transmitted from the southern coast.

In the current paper, Pu decoction is to improve the method of drying salt at this time.

In fact, due to the adoption of the mode of government supervision and commercial management, the salt production technology has developed rapidly in recent years, and the salt drying technology has become more and more mature and popular. However, Pu Pan, who has lived in the salt field since he was a child, still feels that the salt workers are too hard.

The thesis was already written to the final stage, but it was not put into practice, everything was his idea out of thin air. Due to the high cost of improvement, no salt farm owner was willing to cooperate with the experiment.

This is a revolutionary improvement, and the current salt drying method is called drenching brine and drying salt. It is necessary to make brine by two methods: spreading ash or scraping, which is very difficult and the yield is not very high.

The invention of Pu decoction is the "beach drying method", which does not need to be brine again, which greatly reduces the manpower and material resources required to make brine. It can also reduce costs while increasing salt production – historically, this method of salt production was not popularized in Shandong until the Xianfeng period. Moreover, it was only popularized in Shandong, and was not promoted to the salt works of the whole country.

After writing the paper and waiting for the palace exam, Pu Fang was a little bored, so he took the paper to the teacher to look at it wisely.

Fang Yizhi also knew something about salt making, and after reading it carefully, he was shocked: "If this law can be promoted, it will definitely benefit the country and the people." Don't wait for the temple to try, I'll take you into the palace immediately! ”

Pu Pan stammered: "First ...... Sir, students only ...... It's just a pipe dream. Beach ...... The method of drying, although the design is ...... Counted, but not ...... Inexperienced...... Verify. Be...... Be...... Whether ......"

"Don't do it," Fang Yizhi listened with great difficulty, and interrupted, "If there is no verification, then Your Majesty will demarcate the salt field for you to verify." ”

While the two were waiting in the Forbidden City, some literati were already cheering and celebrating, and they felt that they had won: in the current examination, there was not a single female tribute, and all the female candidates failed the list. This proves that women are not suitable for the imperial examination, let alone for being an official, and women are inherently inferior to men in the imperial examination.

Zhao Han had already received the news, and he had no joy or sorrow about it.

Having a woman participate in the imperial examination is already a breakthrough, and it is only a matter of time before she passes the examination.

However, the salt drying method has improved, which made Zhao Han very happy, and ordered Fang Yizhi and his apprentice to be brought in immediately.

Zhao Han asked, "Can this law be implemented nationwide?" ”

"Back to ...... Back to ...... Return...... His Majesty ...... "Pu Pan was already stammering, but seeing that the emperor was even more nervous, he couldn't speak.

Fang Yizhi was afraid that the emperor would be impatient, so he hurriedly said: "Back to Your Majesty, this method can be promoted in Hebei and Shandong." Once successful, the amount of salt produced will inevitably be doubled. Jianghuai salt field can also use this method, but due to weather conditions, it may not be as effective as in the north. The less rainfall there is in the salt pan, the more useful this salt making method will be! ”

Zhao Han said to Pu Yan: "You don't have to take the palace exam, you are the champion of today's subject, and this paper is your palace exam article." You immediately go to the Changlu Salt Works, and I will order the local officials to cooperate and verify your beach drying method first. If it fails, summarize the reasons and give you five years to do it. If it succeeds, then slowly improve, and leave you to be a salt maker in the Changlu Salt Field! ”

The emperor is the biggest, and the emperor has the final say.

100% of the candidates who are admitted to the entrance examination can be jinshi, and the palace examination is just a ranking.

Who Zhao Han wants to be the champion, as long as the palace test does not hand in the blank papers, he can directly point to the champion. In this case, then Pu Fang does not need to take the palace examination, and this paper is his palace examination article.

"Salt making envoy" is not a serious official position, but a temporary invention by Zhao Han, which can probably be understood as "salt making technology improvement and promotion ambassador".

In this way, there may be candidates who are dissatisfied, but who dares to say nothing?

Zhao Han is purely deliberate, showing that he attaches great importance to technology. With Pu Xuan as an example, there will be more students in the future who will study the kind of technology that benefits the country and the people, instead of thinking about studying Confucian classics all day long.

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