Emperor Ming Dynasty

Chapter 821 Clan
On April 23th, nearly [-] candidates from [-] provinces and two capitals across the country participated in the lively examination in the capital.

Before dawn, the city of Beijing is busy.

The streets and alleys are full of soldiers from the Beijing camp standing guard, and the soldiers and horses of the five cities are constantly patrolling to relieve the traffic pressure.

In front of the Gongyuan, the lanterns of the provinces were hung high, and the eunuchs lined up one by one, the majority were silent, and the voice of discussion was also very small.

At this time, the Gongyuan was as bright as daylight.

The emperor, on the other hand, came out in low clothes and made a fuss.

Dongchang and Jinyiwei accompanied them as usual, and their protection was steady, not to mention that they were still in the capital, the most benevolent place.

Looking at the bright lanterns, the emperor glanced across and stopped at the three provinces of Liaodong, Suiyuan and Ningxia.

These three provinces are newly established. In theory, there should not be many Juren, but in reality there are quite a few.

Without him, he is just a child of a military household.

There are about 30 people in Liaodong, 25 in Ningxia, and [-] in Suiyuan. .

The number of candidates is very precious, and often there is less than one in a county.

In previous years, Jiangxi had the largest number of applicants, with 95 candidates admitted in one session. You must know that Nanzhili is equivalent to two provinces, and only 130 applicants can be admitted.

The lowest is in Yunnan and Guizhou. In the previous two provinces combined, there were only 50. Later, Guizhou was separated, with 45 in Yunnan and [-] in Guizhou.

Now, last year, Liaodong ended military control and resumed the civil administration of the province. Considering that there are less than 200 million people, the number of candidates is only 30 people.

Although Ningxia is a large place, its population is less than one million. Most of them come from military households, 25 of them.

Not to mention Suiyuan, if it weren't for the fact that he is a provincial administrative agency, the township examination would not have been held at all. Juren is the most deserving person, and ten people are considered to be taken care of.

It is conceivable that they are trying a nine-day tour.

The general examination is basically the same as the township examination, with one session lasting three days, three consecutive examinations, and venue examination items, including four scriptures, five-character and eight-rhyme poems, five scriptures, and strategy questions.

At this time, the examination subjects are the most important four-book essays and policy questions.

In fact, this is easy to understand. In the era without news broadcasts, although Juren has a very broad vision compared with ordinary people, it is still narrow in reality.

Asking them for advice is like a high school student trying to govern the country.

If it is really adopted, it would be laughable and generous.

"I heard that people hate stereotyped writing recently?"

While enjoying the excitement leisurely, Wu Bangfu suddenly heard the emperor's question.

He quickly turned around and replied respectfully: "It is true."

"In the 300 years of Guochao, especially since the development of Xinxue, scholars have become increasingly dissatisfied with stereotyped writing..."

The emperor smiled when he heard the words: "A group of young people who don't know the five grains, although stereotyped articles have many disadvantages, but this is the best way now. If there is a change, they will be the ones who will cry."

"However, there will be good shows this year."

Not only now, but in later generations, I don't know how many people scolded the public examination, but no matter how much they scolded, it didn't help, and the stereotyped essays were still passed down.

Without him, the imperial examination is the most fair stereotyped essay.

As the old saying goes, stereotyped essays are also a kind of policy theory, but they are just dancing in shackles.

Compared with the poetry of the Tang Dynasty, in the Song Dynasty, there was no longer a test of poetry and fu.

The reason Wang Anshi gave was that a person who wrote poems and prose from a young age was familiar with the rhyme, but knew little about the words of the sages, would inevitably lack experience in governing the country and the people when he was an official and governed the world.

Just like the job test and application for future generations, isn't it just another stereotype?
Of course, stereotyped writing also has limitations. The elites have been reading four classics and five classics all the year round, so it is very easy to be imprisoned by the classics, thus solidifying their thinking.

Therefore, Zhu Yixi also made changes. For example, the provincial examination for selecting Zuo Er officials no longer uses stereotypes, but has more laws, geography, and history.

It can be said with certainty that changing the imperial examinations will not succeed overnight.

After all, he has studied hard for decades, and once you dethrone him, it will be a waste of work.

Governing a big country is like cooking small fish.

Starting from the provincial examination, the emperor saw that there was not much resistance, and immediately prepared to implement it again, continuing to clear the way for the imperial examination.

As for the method, it is from top to bottom.

As the name suggests, his next knife was aimed at the imperial examination.

Because the imperial examination does not depose Jinshi, it just affects the ranking. The consequences are not serious, but the impact is great.

Then step by step, the palace test, the general test, and then the rural test.

As for scholars, the eight-legged essay is still used.

Why?

Because the stereotyped essay only tests the Four Books and Five Classics, the sum of this set is only a few silver dollars.

For poor students, this is the cheapest way to get started.

It's like the college entrance examination. If you are moral, intellectual, and physically beautiful, and you take piano, baseball, or golf exams, then the threshold is purely high and you are mentally ill.

After being admitted as a scholar, ordinary people can have money and spare energy, and can afford to read more books, such as geography, law, history books, etc.

For the lowest level, stereotyped writing is the fairest.

"Let's go, there's nothing to see."

After watching for a long time, Zhu Yixi looked away and walked down the tall building.

Everything was proceeding step by step, and what surprised him most was the palace examination, but he had to wait for more than ten days.

But what gave him the most headache was martial arts.

That's right, it is martial arts that is on par with liberal arts.

In fact, due to the military household system, the hereditary officers have guaranteed loyalty, and there have been outstanding generals like Qi Jiguang, Yu Dayou, Li Rusong, You Shiwei, etc., but it is certain that the disadvantages outweigh the advantages.

There has always been little interest in martial arts. From the second year of Longqing to the eighth year of Wanli, only 450 Wu Jinshi were admitted.

During the reign of Chongzhen, due to the decline of the country, martial arts began to flourish, but talents were still scarce.

However, compared with the previous dynasty, due to the abolition of the military household guards, the disintegration of the [-] military officers once disintegrated, clearing the obstacles for the martial arts.

However, since practicing martial arts is too expensive, it can be said with certainty that those who can participate in martial arts are basically local powerful families.

Therefore, in the first martial arts competition, the emperor directly held a big competition in the Beijing camp, and directly selected the martial arts candidates.

But this year can't be so absurd, there must be an exam.

The Ming Dynasty believed that "strategy should be used first, followed by martial arts", and that military strategy should be placed above military technology. If you fail the written test for answering strategies, you will not be able to participate in the military test.

Considering that at this time, the whole world is transitioning from cold weapons to hot weapons, and bravery is still an important option, this military move is simply a joke.

Equal emphasis on civil and military affairs is an important prerequisite.

What to test and what to compete, and try to make the competition as fair as possible, has become the emperor's worry.

"Little Er, check out."

"okay!"

With two deep-fried dough sticks and three steamed buns in his belly, Zhu Yixi patted his stomach and left the stall straight away.

In the sky in front of my eyes, the morning star had gone down, the sun was already high, and the air was slightly moist, filled with a lot of dust and the smell of sweat.

In a big city with nearly a million people, these are just idle things.

"Grandpa, where are we going?"

"Where are you going? Go out of Beijing and have fun."

Zhu Yixi saw a lot of cities, and immediately yearned for the countryside.

The countryside in this era is more impoverished and more real than the city.

It is conservatively estimated that with the development of the commodity economy, the urbanization rate of Daming is around [-]%.

There are only nearly ten million people in large and small cities, while the remaining [-] million people still stay in the countryside.

The city of Beijing cannot represent the standard of living of this era, just like a wealthy family taking Wushisan cannot represent the poor who have subjugated the country; the prosperous and luxurious Bianliang of Tokyo cannot offset the countryside full of bandits.

"Master?" Liu Afu stomped his feet and looked at Yang Le beside him.

As the admiral of Dongchang, Yang Le opened his mouth, but he didn't say any words of dissuasion.

In the final analysis, he, like Liu Afu, is a slave, and it only takes the emperor's thought to crush them to death.

But Wu Bangfu, the commander of Jinyiwei who hesitated again and again, could only obey the emperor's opinion.

However, another team of cavalry was added to the team protecting the emperor.

The emperor went straight out of Xuanwu Gate, then headed east, galloping along the canal, and Tianjin was in the distance.

The speed of the group was extremely fast, and the journey of twenty or thirty miles was over in an hour.

The large army was behind, and Zhu Yixi led dozens of people forward slowly. This is a small town.

Prospered by the canal, there are no walls, hundreds of households, a commercial street, a wharf, thousands of people live together, and it is very lively.

The emperor came from a grassroots background and had a deep understanding of the bottom, so he went to Mipu the first time he saw it.

A wooden board with the rice price of the day written on it.

Fifty coins for brown rice, eighty coins for polished rice...

This is the price of a bucket (twelve catties).

Compared with Beijing City, it is a few pennies cheaper.

Then, he turned his gaze to the salt shop.

This time it is not about the price, but about the flow of people.

The official salt sales are good, which means that money is making a fortune, private salt has less chance of survival, and the imperial court has strong control.

Obviously, here is enough to satisfy him.

Then, he went up to the restaurant, found a seat by the window, and just waited and watched with great interest.

Soon, a mourning team attracted his attention.

Two hundred or so people, all dressed in linen and mourning, carried the coffin and walked out of the city.

Both young and old, with crying looks on their faces.

Obviously, they are all from the same family.

The shops on the side of the road held road sacrifices one by one, burning paper and setting tables, which was very lively.

The entire town, thousands of people, were moved by this.

Seeing this, the emperor's face turned green.

"Xiaoer, which clan is this from?"

Zhu Yixi poked his head in for a few glances, then asked Xiao Er who was beside him.

"Reporting to the guest officer, this is the Wei family in this town. It is the old Mrs. Wei who is mourning today. As early as the first year of Chongzhen, he was selected as a scholar..."

Xiao Er said proudly: "The Wei family lives next to each other in this town. There are as many as [-] to [-] households. The fields are as far as the eye can see. The radius is a hundred miles. Who doesn't give face to the Wei family?"

"Two years ago, the magistrate of the county sent someone to invite the old man Wei to be a clerk, but he refused—"

After asking a few more words, Xiao Er backed away.

Wu Bangfu, who was on the side, stepped forward quietly, and said in a low voice: "Old Master Wei is called Wei Wuxian. He was indeed a scholar in the first year of Chongzhen. He is 70 years old this year and died without a problem."

"His three sons, one son is Tongsheng, and one grandson is a scholar. They have a total of more than [-] mu of land in this county. There is even an ancestral hall covering an area of ​​[-] mu, and the family farm has [-] mu of land..."

The emperor nodded slightly.

This is a typical gentry family.

Maybe there will be no scholars in one or two generations, but because the family's Chinese style is prosperous, there will always be someone who will come forward and bring the family back to prosperity.

Similarly, because of Wei Wuxian, an old scholar, the entire family of hundreds of people also benefited from it.

Although it sounds ugly, in the feudal dynasty, such a person is the cornerstone of feudalism.

A simple analogy, the imperial court needs to collect a thousand stones of food and grass for military use in a short period of time.

The yamen summoned the people one by one, and it would take only ten days and a half a month.

But as long as the Wei family is persuaded, not only can he contribute a few hundred stones of grain and grass, but he can also quickly drive other people to donate grain.

Likewise, such a person was an ally of the court and, to some extent, an enemy.

If the whole brain is wiped out, I'm sorry, at this time the Ming Dynasty needs at least hundreds of thousands of officials to fill the vacancies of the gentry.

But raising [-] officials would put a huge burden on the court, and it would be unrealistic to expand it several times.

Therefore, we can only pull and fight.

"The gentry is not to be feared, but the uncontrollable gentry is to be feared."

The emperor couldn't help sighing.

Although he has a strong desire to control, he understands that since it cannot be eliminated, it should be weakened as much as possible.

The weakened channel is to split the clan.

Large and small clans, several generations live under the same roof, this is the foundation of the clan.

If family divisions spread all over the property, financial and material resources will be dispersed, and the clan will be affected.

Confucianism puts the most emphasis on principles and norms, and it is impossible to give up principles and norms.Expelled from the ancestral hall and not allowed to participate in sacrifices.

For most people, it was a crueler punishment than exile.Even an illiterate Bai Ding will feel that the roots between himself and his ancestors have been cut off, he has lost his protection, his life and death are wandering, and he has no home to return to.

After controlling the clan, the gentry extended from the clan to the whole township, then to the whole town and the whole county.

In other words, with the blessing of the clan, the gentry is equivalent to a businessman, with thousands or even tens of thousands of people under his command, and hundreds of thousands of people eating. Which yamen is not polite?
So be an entrepreneur.

And if there are only dozens or hundreds of people under his command, they are capitalists.

From this, in feudal society, a clear conclusion can be drawn:

If the gentry's family is large, the government will look at them and act, and the harm to the court will outweigh the benefits, and the harm will outweigh the contributions.

The gentry family is small, and it will become the pillar of the government, a good person who can be trusted.

At the same time, because of the clan, the gentry must maintain superficial moral standards, and they are not stingy about building bridges and paving roads in their hometowns, and donating porridge for relief.

For other places, that would be fatal exploitation.

Therefore, the common people trust the gentry more than the government, and this cannot be eliminated.

On the other hand, the government cannot do without the gentry as a buffer and as a lubricant.

The greed of officials is unavoidable, a little bit of power will overflow, if you don't scan the QR code to welcome first, then close the door, this is even more common in feudal society.

Good coups and tyrannical regimes all fail in execution.

It can be said with certainty that in the feudal era, if there were no gentry to check and balance the yamen, the people at the bottom would be exploited to death.

The unlimited expansion of power is not a very good thing for the people at the bottom.

With such a meal, Zhu Yixi thought for a long time, and then came to the Wei Family Ancestral Hall.

The sound of reading is loud and intoxicating.

The [-]-acre family farm next to it is the guarantee for the children to learn, and when they become useful, they will be fed back to the family.

At the same time, clans can support each other in times of famine and maintain bloodline continuity.

(End of this chapter)