I studied in modern times

Chapter 983 Yuanyou Innovation (1)

The ninth day of the second month of the third year of Yuanyou.

Sun Gu, the Grand Secretary of the Zizheng Palace and the Judge of Henan Prefecture, was also the Director of the Zhongtaiyi Palace.

The old minister's career has come to an end.

He only had to wait for the court to appoint a new minister to take office in Henan Prefecture, and then he could go home and retire.

The reason why Sun Gu retired was not only because of his poor health.

They were besieged by young people from the Censorate.

The main reason was that he was in Henan Prefecture and liked to hold poetry meetings.

I often put aside my official duties to sing with my friends.

Originally, this is nothing.

In fact, if Sun Gu's behavior were put in the context of the Xining Reform, he could be described as "loyal to the country."

After all, when the political reform took place, those old ministers who were driven out of Bianliang and went to local areas were considered wise ministers of the country if they just said a few words while serving as prime ministers.

There were many people like Fu Bi who directly went against the central government and openly hindered the new law.

But today is different from the past.

With the Yuanyou changes today, the contradictions between the new and old parties have been greatly eased.

Although they still do not get along, the leaders of the two parties can still collude in private (tolerate each other for the sake of the country).

At this time, Sun Gu's behavior was somewhat offensive in the eyes of young people.

Lao Deng!

Don't occupy the toilet without doing anything!
It’s time to retire!
Don't block our path to progress!
Therefore, the young men from the Censorate launched a sneak attack on Sun Gu, a 72-year-old scholar, without any moral integrity.

After a series of moves, Sun Gu himself was very tactful and submitted a petition, requesting to be granted the position of a palace temple official due to his old age and illness, and in response to the court's call (the Northern Song Dynasty had always encouraged scholars to retire at the age of seventy).

The imperial court naturally went along with it and gave him the respect he deserved.

On February Wu Zi (eleventh day), Han Jiang, the former prime minister, the Minister of Works, the Grand Master of the Imperial Court, and the Duke of Kangguo, was retired and promoted to be the Minister of Military and State Affairs, and was given the titles of Minister of the Interior and Prince's Tutor, with an additional fief of 3,000 households and a fief of 1,200 households.

The reason why Han Jiang was given the treatment was because Han Jiang's health was getting weaker and weaker. The imperial physician team responsible for Han Jiang's physical condition reported to Zhao Xu that the old prime minister might not live for many months.

Naturally, we have to give him all the treatment and honors he deserves while he is still healthy.

On the same day, a special decree was issued to promote Han Jiang's sons to a higher position each because of his contribution to the country by assisting the young master.

He also promoted Han Jiang's eldest son, Han Zongshi, who was a doctor of the imperial court and the junior minister of the imperial guards, to the position of Zhilongtu Pavilion.

Han Jiangsun and Han Yu's companion in the Jiying Palace were specially granted the title of Zhengzi of the Secretariat (a Beijing official, the ninth rank), and were granted palace status. They were also ordered to rest at home and serve Han Jiang.

He also issued an edict to grant vacations to Han Jiang's sons-in-law, and ordered the officials to allocate money as travel expenses for Han Jiang's sons-in-law.

Before the imperial examination, the imperial court intensively extended favors and praised retired prime ministers.

Countless scholars were envious when they saw it.

"That's what a man should be like!"

Countless scholars expressed their feelings.

However, this year's imperial examination is a problem for many experienced examiners.

Because this year, many new restrictions have been added to the imperial examination.

At least, this path of carrying out the mission is no longer feasible.

This really made those scholars who originally thought they were well prepared and should have no problems in this imperial examination, somewhat overwhelmed by being caught off guard.

After breaking the defense, they began to find ways to find fault with the imperial examination.

Every day, Dengwen Drum Court received a large number of letters of denunciation from scholars.

These letters basically accused the chief and deputy examiners of this year's imperial examination of favoritism and fraud.

Wang Zishao, in particular, became the target of public criticism because of his bad reputation.

Many people started to talk about the incident in which Yang Danian cheated for his nephews and fellow villagers.

As a result, Wang Zishao's nephews, nieces and even fellow villagers who took the imperial examination this year were implicated.

This makes these people very annoyed.

In particular, Wang Zishao's sons and nephews had no choice but to announce that they would give up the imperial examination this year to avoid being suspected of being in a compromising situation.

Even the relatives, nephews and grandchildren of Zhang Heng, Fan Bailu and others followed suit and announced that they would give up the imperial examination this year.
The public opinion is too loud!
They have no choice but to give up!

Otherwise, once they passed the imperial examination, they would be suspected of cheating.

It's like yellow mud falling into your crotch, it's hard to explain.

The sons and relatives of other officials appointed by the capital as examiners were also trembling with fear.

However, public opinion did not have time to pay attention to them for a while.

After the sons, nephews and clansmen of the three ministers in charge of the imperial examinations announced that they would give up taking the imperial examinations this year, the scholars who had achieved a temporary victory took advantage of the victory to pursue further.

They began to target the prime minister in power.

All the scholars who were related to these ministers were targeted by them.

However, he is different from Wang Zishao and others.

The ministers are very confident and are not afraid of public criticism at all.

It's about a man who can be as strong as he wants, with the breeze blowing over the hills, and who can be as arrogant as he wants, with the bright moon shining on the river.

This made the scholars very dissatisfied.

The number of submissions to Bian Jing Xin Bao and Bian Jing Yi Bao has increased significantly!
Every day, someone would publish an article questioning whether the ministers might be corrupt and abuse their power for personal gain, or calling on the ministers' sons, nephews, and clansmen to give up taking the imperial examination this year for the sake of their elders' reputation.

But are those who submit their works human or ghosts?

Few people can explain it clearly.

This is part of the rules of the imperial examination game in the Song Dynasty.

In the past, similar dramas were a reserved part before each imperial examination.

This year the momentum is just bigger and the public pressure is a little higher.

After all, the imperial examination in the Song Dynasty was a typical zero-sum game.

From the examinations of prefectures and counties to the tribute examinations of the Ministry of Rites and the palace examinations.

Everyone is showing off their unique skills!
Everyone is trying to find ways to eliminate their competitors, and getting rid of one is a good idea.

The reason is very simple - whether it is the examination of prefectures and counties or the examination of the Ministry of Rites.

The number of places is limited.

If one Zhang San is admitted, it means that a large number of Li Si will fail.

Amid the chaos and noise of public opinion.

February, Renchen (fifteenth day).

Zhao Xu finally received the questions for this year's imperial examination proposed by Zhang Heng, Wang Zishao and Fan Bailu.

After Zhao Xu got it, he read it once and shook his head.

Since the third year of Xining, Zhao Xu's father accepted Lu Gongzhu's suggestion to reform the imperial examination process, changing the Ministry of Rites test to focus on classics and the Palace Examination to focus on policy essays.

Simply put, the Ministry of Rites examination mainly tests the basic skills of the candidates.

That is, the degree of understanding and mastery of the sage's classics (after Yuanfeng, it was allowed to use Wang Anshi's words and the idea of ​​the Three Classics New Interpretation to explain and understand the sage's classics.)
The palace examination tests the candidates' understanding and ideas about issues concerning the country and the world.

Doing so is certainly progressive.

But then the problem was exposed.

Just like what Big Beard said - in the old days, candidates were selected based on their poetry and essays, and the topics on the poems and essays often involved astronomy, geography, rituals, music, and calendar... Nowadays, candidates are selected based on their literary skills, so scholars often talk big but have no real knowledge.

This is also the biggest reason why the poetry and prose school demands to go back to the past!
As for the policy essay questions in the palace examination...

Even the examinees began to flatter the emperor crazily...

For example, Ye Zuqia, the top scholar in the third year of Xining, is a typical example.

One sentence: Our ancestors mostly followed simple and easy-to-understand policies, but Your Majesty changed them when you ascended the throne.

This made Zhao Xu's father, the emperor, very pleased, and he directly appointed him as the top scholar.

With Ye Zuqia's example, the palace examination became a place of praise.

All the candidates are grateful to the government for their kindness!
This time, the test questions set by Zhang Heng and others naturally stepped on the accusations made by public opinion against the selection of officials based on the classics - only the classics!
Whether it is Confucius, Mencius, or Wang Anshi.

How is this possible?

(End of this chapter)