Daming talker

Chapter 425 The most stringent imperial examination in history

The regulations for reading papers in the palace examinations over the years are roughly as follows. Generally, more than a dozen people, including the cabinet bachelor, the six ministers, the censor of Zuodu, the minister of Dali Temple, the general affairs secretary, the Hanlin bachelor of the chief academy, and Zhan Shifu of Zhanshifu will read the papers. official.

Then these dozen paper readers will gather in Wenyuan Pavilion, read the test papers in the hall, and roughly rank them.

Then the three best test papers were pre-selected and presented to the emperor, so that the emperor could determine the ranking of the Three Tripods.

Of course there are occasional tweaks to the specifics, but generally that's how it's always been.

In the happy time of the Chinese-style candidates, or prospective Jinshi, the regulations regarding the Jichou Imperial Examination in the 17th year of Wanli were distributed from the palace to the Ministry of Rites and communicated to the candidates.

It is said that these regulations were decreed by the emperor. Compared with the usual palace examinations, there are several differences.

But all these changes are to make the palace examination more stringent!

First, in addition to the policy theory, try an eight-legged essay.

——Needless to say more about this meaning.

Lin Daguan is a very down-to-earth person. The gift for his apprenticeship is four large silver ingots, fifty taels each, which is not fake at all.

Lin Daguan felt that he could no longer be idle and had to control the situation. He should perform the performance and blame the blame.

"It's unreasonable! It's unreasonable! Those people from the Qingliu forces actually invited the palace to take the eight-part essay test!" Lin Huiyuan waved his arms fiercely and shouted at the top of his lungs.

Of course, there are also irresponsible rumors that Mr. Xu Ge has not completely recovered, but he is afraid that if he delays it any longer, it will delay the recruitment of students.

Senior official Lin looked like a humble social animal living in a crack, and sighed: "If I give gifts to Mr. Xu Ge too carefully, and if there are any other favors besides money, I'm afraid the chief minister will not be able to sleep at night."

In previous trials, some people were not capable enough and relied entirely on joint training to achieve Chinese style. If the palace examination is strict and the eight-legged essay is additionally tested, these people will be at risk of revealing their secrets.

In the officialdom of the Ming Dynasty, the examiner was the biggest teacher of Jinshi. His relationship was second only to the relationship between heaven and earth, which was of extraordinary significance.

Fourth, all the examiners are not allowed to go to the examination room to read the answers. They are not allowed to go home at night during the examination period. They all live in the Ministry of Etiquette. They are not allowed to meet in private, and Jin Yiwei is assigned to monitor them.

When Lin Tailai was thinking about performing arts, he heard Zhou Yingqiu remind him: "There is another possible trend of thought that you need to guard against.

"Disciple, I think this is an insult to you, Master! This is tantamount to publicly accusing Master of failing to preside over the examination, so I added the eight-part essay in the palace examination!"

As the first Hui Yuan, Lin Daguan naturally has privileges. He doesn't have to wait in line and can just go in when he arrives.

Second, the examination questions were no longer provided by the cabinet and printed one day in advance. Instead, on the day of the palace examination, the emperor personally reviewed the books to determine the questions and announced them on the spot.

——Eliminates any possibility of missing questions in advance, unless the emperor wants to miss questions for someone.

Of course, in the eyes of the central figure Lin Daguan, through these regulations, he seemed to see a happy man hiding in the palace.

Upon hearing this question, Lin Daguan suddenly realized that he should not be too calm.

Therefore, these people are likely to resent you, and they will think that you are responsible for the strictness of the palace examination. "

As usual, those on the list should have gone to worship the Grand Master long ago. This is equivalent to "signing a contract". After the ceremony, a teacher-student relationship is officially concluded.

To others, it seemed that Lin Huiyuan was anxious to test the eight-part essay in addition to the palace examination, and encouraged his teachers to fight back. This was a normal and reasonable reaction.

——It eliminates the possibility that the sealing officer may pretend to be anonymous but actually deliver the test paper of the designated person to a certain reader.

"Teacher's patience will only be regarded as weakness. The madmen who act recklessly must pay the price for their stupidity! The bastards who stir up trouble must be given the strongest fight back!"

——Eliminating the possibility of more than a dozen document readers colluding and giving or receiving privately.

Brother, there's nothing wrong with you wanting to blame the emperor, but don't blame the emperor!

Third, the Mi Feng official responsible for anonymizing the name is no longer a civilian official, but is replaced by a royal guard. Moreover, the sealing officer is no longer allowed to send papers directly to the paper reader, and there is an additional paper-delivery officer in the middle.

So he jumped up and said, "I heard that Xu Ge's old illness has recovered. I'm going to pay my respects to him right away!"

The purpose is to expose your true face and let yourself show up in justice, so your correct reaction should be to be furious, like an ant on a hot pot!
If you are too calm, will you arouse others' suspicion?

Seeing these regulations decreed by the emperor, everyone can realize that this year's imperial examination may be the most stringent imperial examination in history. The emperor seems to be serious about it?

However, after the results of the general examination came out, Xu Guo, the examiner, fell ill and could not see guests until recently.

Zhou Yingqiu: "."

Today's custom is bad. After the examination, students must bring real gifts when visiting their teacher.

In front of Mr. Xu Ge, Lin Huiyuan behaved like a manic patient.

Dong Qichang, who was traveling with him, asked: "Isn't this gift of yours a bit too vulgar? It's completely careless. It's just cold money and no human kindness attached."

"Such behavior very clearly reflects their strongest hostile intention towards the teacher, as well as their extremely vicious and crazy aggression!"

"What does this have to do with me?" Lin Daguanren was determined not to take the blame, "It is obvious that the emperor wants to see the ministers have fun!"

I'm afraid everyone thought that this most stringent imperial examination in history was aimed at him, the fraudster.

Official Lin checked the register at the door to confirm who had come and who had not come yet.

"Those Qingliu forces don't know the heights of the world and dare to trample on the dignity of the old master. They are just the dying struggle of a mad dog on the road to death!"

The friends around me turned around in their minds several times before they tasted the Versailles in these words.

Mr. Xu Ge was sitting in the main hall, accepting visits from his disciples in turn.

Zhou Yingqiu next to him asked: "Why are you so calm?"

The real meaning is that they are substantial and sincere, and do not give frivolous gifts such as pens, inks, paper and inkstones, of course, the exception is ancient products or famous ones.

When I arrived at Mr. Xu Ge's mansion, I saw lanterns and colorful decorations, as if a happy event was coming.

Lin Huiyuan's roar made Mr. Xu Ge's ears buzz, but Mr. Xu just looked at the Huiyuan he had pointed out with his own hands, and he was still dumbfounded.

If there is only one person in the entire capital who understands Lin Huiyuan's true skill in eight-part essays, it must be Xu Ge Lao.

The third question in the general examination was temporarily changed by Mr. Xu Ge. He could swear that he never leaked it in advance.

But for this temporary topic, Lin Tailai not only wrote with ease, but also took the time to design small tricks. The finishing touch was to use a "pseudo-study" hook at the end, which is enough to prove that his eight-legged writing skills are profound!

But Mr. Xu Ge also knew that even if he told the truth, no one would believe it.

Everyone believed that he, the examiner, leaked the questions to Lin Tailai in advance (including the third question), and then, under pressure from the chief assistant, selected Lin Tailai as the first place winner. As almost the only person who knew the truth, Xu Gelao looked at Lin Tailai who was "bluffing" and felt ridiculous.

But in the court, there are many people who are more ridiculous than Lin Tailai.

After performing his angry performance in front of the public, Lin Huiyuan felt that he didn't have much to say, so he left first.

But Lin Huiyuan did not leave the Xu family, and still stood at the gate to help the disciples greet him and send him off.

Half an hour later, Gu Xiancheng's assistant Gao Panlong, Gu Xiancheng's friend Ye Maocai, Gu Xiancheng's classmate Xue Fujiao, and Gu Xiancheng's disciple An Xifan came to Xu's house together.

Even as reserve cadres of the Qingliu forces, they cannot avoid the custom of paying homage to their master.

When they saw Lin Tailai guarding the gate, they really felt like they were jealous of enemies meeting each other.

They were on the imperial list together, and they were originally good scholars. They could be nicknamed the "Four Gentlemen of Guishan" or something like that.

As a result, Lin Tailai called him "Gujiaban" with such a loud voice, and then it became popular again, and he immediately became crazy!

In this era, family classes refer to private opera troupes!
And everyone knows that Gu Xiancheng loves to lecture, so the "Gu Family Class" also secretly mocks Gu's lectures as acting and singing.

In the scholarly world, destroying a person's reputation is like destroying a person's wealth, so the four members of the Gu family class glared at Lin Tailai!

The main reason is that Lin Daguan and his people are blocking the gate, and they can't get through without glaring at them.

Lin Tailai pointed at the leader, Gao Panlong, and shouted, "What are you looking at?"

Gao Panlong, who came from a loan shark family, could still hold on to his momentum and responded: "So what if I look at you?"

Official Lin shouted again: "Would you like to take another look?"

Gao Panlong said firmly: "Just give it a try, it'll be up to you!"

"Look for a fight!" Lin Daguan rushed forward with a lunge.

After two rounds, Gao Panlong fell directly. Ye Maocai came up to start a fight, but was accidentally knocked down by Lin Daguan.

Xue Fujiao and An Xifan came up together and were accidentally knocked down by Lin Daguan.

Official Lin's subordinates could only gather around and watch, not daring to step forward to help. After all, the other party is a Jinshi master, and they are not qualified to take action.

Official Lin pointed at the four of them and shouted: "Don't think I don't know, behind you is Gu Xiancheng, and behind Gu Xiancheng is Shen Li!

This time, the imperial examination was strict, and there was also an additional examination of eight-legged essay, and it was Shen Li who took the lead in requesting it! "

The other classmates who were watching from a distance suddenly realized that it was no wonder that Lin Huiyuan was so angry that he took action. He was really angry.

Lin Tailai said to the others around him: "They relied on their connections to get on the examination list, but in the blink of an eye they were clamoring for a re-examination in the palace examination!
You must stay away from this kind of hypocrite who smashes the pot after eating and doesn't care about the life and death of others, lest you be betrayed without knowing it! "

What Grand Official Lin means is that if any of you perform "poorly" in the palace examination, blame these Qingliu forces. He, Lin Tailai, is also a victim!
After the performance, the blame was passed on. Lin Daguan felt that there was still something missing, so he withdrew from the Xu family first.

After the four people who were beaten paid homage to their master, they all went to Gu Xiancheng's house to complain.

Gu Xiancheng had no choice but to take people to Shen Li, the Minister of Rites.

On the one hand, see if Lin Tailai's evil deeds can be turned into evidence; on the other hand, let a few relatives and friends become familiar with Shen Shangshu to pave the way for the imperial examination.

"Patience, be patient!" Shen Shangshu warned calmly: "This is Lin's last act of madness before the palace examination. Just wait for the palace examination and don't cause trouble."

Xue Fu said angrily: "Is this beating in vain? Is there no royal law at all under the emperor's feet?"

Shen Shangshu wanted to say, "The emperor's feet are the most unfaithful," but such unpositive words would harm his image.

So I could only patiently advise: "It won't be in vain. After the palace examination, we can calculate the general ledger."

In fact, the crazier Lin Tailai behaves, the more at ease Shen Shangshu feels, which shows that Lin Tailai is at the end of his rope.

As for the beatings of several juniors, we can only suffer for the juniors first.

As they were talking, a slave from the Shen family suddenly ran over and shouted in panic: "My uncle just went out and was beaten and seriously injured!"

Everyone knows that it is difficult for Shen Shangshu to have heirs. He is old and only has an only daughter. The son-in-law he recruited is really half a son.

So when he heard that his son-in-law was beaten, Shen Shangshu was shocked and angry!
The slave from my hometown continued to shout: "It's Lin Tailai who personally led the people to do it! He's blocking the alley outside the door!"

"What a thief! Born of a beast!" Shen Shangshu yelled out of control and started to slap the case.

Even the bottom line of officialdom struggle, which does not harm the family, has been trampled. Is there any royal law?

The slave from his hometown reported: "The Lin thieves are still clamoring that since Uncle Da Zong has not kept his word and wants to take action against his fame, don't blame him for not abiding by the bottom line."

I don't know if Lin Tailai is crazy, but Shen Shangshu feels like he is going crazy.

The main reason is that since the examination, Shen Shangshu has been under tremendous pressure, especially the greatest pressure coming from behind him. His comrades and party members, everyone pushed him to rush forward and fight Lin Tailai hand-to-hand.

In recent days, Shen Shangshu felt that he was caught between himself and Lin Tailai, and was under double pressure.

Sometimes, tossing and turning late at night, Shen Shangshu wonders, is this stressful situation beyond his ability?

And today, Lin Tailai blocked the door of his house and acted like this, which directly set Shen Shangshu off.

"Call all the servants at home and come out with me. I wonder if Lin Tailai dares to attack me!" Shen Shangshu shouted to the servants.

Damn it! Gu Xiancheng was frightened and quickly advised: "Be patient! The eldest uncle must be patient! This is Lin Thief's last madness before the palace examination!

Lin Tailai wants to use himself as bait, and Da Zong Bo Duizi, don't be fooled! "

If things get too big and the emperor sees too much repercussions and cancels the strict regulations on palace examinations, wouldn't it affect the overall situation?
Seeing Shen Shangshu almost explode on the spot, the four would-be Jinshis who were beaten suddenly felt that being beaten today was nothing.

If Shen Shangshu explodes, then when it comes to the palace examination, who can help them get a good ranking?

If they are ranked among the top three, they will have to go to other places to become county magistrates first. This is definitely something they are not willing to do as they have lofty ambitions.

Thinking of this, the four people who were beaten did not dare to complain and complained, and they hurriedly comforted Shen Shangshu with Gu Xiancheng.

"Then wait for the imperial examination!" Shen Shangshu finally endured.

As a mature politician, he takes the overall situation into consideration!

(End of this chapter)