Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

At the end of October, the list of successful candidates, which many scholars had been eagerly awaiting, was finally released.

The first subject to come out was Mathematics, which was the easiest to grade.

In accordance with the emperor's request, the Ming Suan subject used objective questions and the grading was completed within a few days after the exam.

Because the Jiangnan County Examination this year was delayed for too long, Liu Lishun released the list of Ming Suan subjects before the end of October, and also attached the scores and test answers.

This answer was very close to the reference answer published by Zhang Pu and others in Ming Pao, and as expected, he became the champion of the Ming Dynasty mathematics exam.

This disciple of Xu Guangqi and leader of the scientific school established his position in mathematics. The name of the science of hedou metrology became even more famous.

Countless students were congratulating the new champion and at the same time wondering whether they should study science.

The teahouse accountant, Mr. Pan, did the same and was looking at the list nervously.

After seeing the score of 78 at the end of the list, he still had a glimmer of hope in his heart, because he could not remember some of the questions when he estimated the score, and according to an optimistic estimate, it was possible to reach this score.

However, he looked through the list twice, from beginning to end and then from beginning to end, but did not see his name on the list of successful candidates.

I could only sit down dejectedly, knowing that I had failed the exam:

"If I can't pass this subject, the next one will be even harder."

"It seems that I will never be a juren in this life!"

Knowing clearly how familiar he was with mathematics as a bookkeeper, Mr. Pan felt that he had a chance of passing the imperial examination.

However, he underestimated the gap in family background and intelligence. Some people can surpass him in more than ten years of accumulation with just a few months of hard work.

Looking at the answers to some questions on the exam, he couldn't figure them out, while many young scholars around him were discussing them. Mr. Pan felt that he would never pass the exam in his lifetime, so he could only train the next generation.

Pan Xiucai took a pen to write down the exam questions and answers. Just as he was about to leave, a scholar he knew in the exam room suddenly said:
"Brother Pan, congratulations!"

"You are on the vice list, so you can go to the capital to study."

"If you make it to the main list, don't forget your brothers!"

Mr. Pan had never participated in the provincial examination before, and forgot that there was a secondary list in addition to the main list. When he was reminded of this, he remembered that he had not even looked at the secondary list.

When he heard this person say that he was on the vice list, he hurriedly grabbed the other person's sleeve and said:
"Second place? What's going on?"

"I didn't see it just now."

The scholar was surprised:

"Brother Pan, don't you know that you are ranked ninth on the vice list?"

"If there are nine people on the main list who pass the Mingjing or Mingfa exams, you can fill in the gap."

"Even if you can't catch up, you can still go to the capital to study. You can enter without taking the entrance exam, and you will also receive a monthly stipend."

The rules of this exam are to take the exam in the order of Mingjing, Mingfa, and Mingsuan. If a candidate passes two or even three lists at the same time, the quota will be calculated based on the previous one. If a place is missing in the main list, the place will be filled by the deputy list.

Therefore, the Ming Suan subject's deputy list is easiest to be filled: anyone who passes the Ming Jing subject and the Ming Fa subject will not occupy the Ming Suan subject's quota.

For example, if Zhang Pu, the top scorer in the Ming Suan exam, passed the Ming Jing exam, he would not occupy the Ming Suan exam quota. Those who ranked second would move up.

If the person who is being replaced has the same score as others, they will also be added to increase the number of Ming Suan subjects. This is a rule set by Zhu Youjian in order to recruit more Ming Suan subjects. In name, Ming Suan subjects have the lowest status among the three subjects, but in fact, the number of recruitment quotas has been increased the most.

After Mr. Pan understood this, he hurriedly squeezed forward and looked at the secondary list carefully.

It was discovered that the top three students on the second list all scored 77 points, ranking first to third. Five people scored 76 points, ranking fourth to eighth. He, who was ninth, was tied with six other people, all of whom scored 75 points.

Therefore, his ninth place was correct. As long as nine people on the main list passed other subjects at the same time, he and the others with the same ranking could be promoted to Juren.

This made him suddenly excited and even more nervous than when he was waiting for the results to be announced.

He even hoped that Zhang Pu and others would pass other subjects so that he and others could take their place:

"Mr. Ximing is a talented person, he must pass the Mingjing exam!"

"I will definitely go to the Wenchang Temple to pray for you to become the best in the world."

Muttering to himself, Mr. Pan looked carefully at the list of candidates on the main list to see how many people might pass other subjects and how likely he was to be admitted.

Other candidates who were listed on the second list of candidates in the imperial examinations had the same idea as Mr. Pan.

These people eagerly inquired about the possibility of the candidates on the main list being admitted into other subjects, hoping that they could be promoted.

There was also a lot of discussion about the list of Ming Dynasty mathematics subjects. Ming Pao even published a special issue to discuss who might pass other subjects at the same time and how many people could be promoted to the secondary list.

At the same time, the preferential policies for the deputy list have also been widely discussed.

Because the date of the provincial examination was close to that of the university entrance examination, not many scholars signed up for the examination this year. After consultation between the Nine University Halls and the Imperial College of Martial Arts, they cancelled this year's entrance examination and instead recruited candidates from the provincial examination vice list.

All the scholars who were on the vice list could enter the universities in the capital without taking the exam. In particular, the law and mathematics courses were only offered in the two capitals, and there were only 200 scholars on the vice list, so the universities welcomed them very much.

If Mr. Pan was willing to study, given his status as the ninth on the second list, he would have a great chance of entering the Imperial College as a tribute student, and after graduation he would be granted an official position and become an official of the Ming Dynasty.

It can be said that from now on, he is a prospective official of the Ming Dynasty and can be called a gentry.

His life changed dramatically because of this. Not only did the owner of the teahouse give him a sum of money as a bonus, but many people, whether they knew him or not, came to visit him and gave him generous gifts.

Mr. Pan was flattered and decided to go to Beijing regardless of whether he could pass the imperial examination or not, either to take the imperial examination or to study at the Imperial Academy.

In his heart, he was also full of gratitude towards the current emperor. If the emperor had not established the Ming Suan Department, how could he, a poor scholar who kept accounts in a teahouse, have the opportunity to change his fate?
There are many scholars like him. This year's provincial examination was expanded and quite a few people were admitted.

Especially after the newspapers published that the next year's Xinwei Imperial Examination would also recruit 800 Jinshi and 400 deputy candidates, these scholars who passed the examination and became Juren were even happier.

They also applauded the Shanxi corruption case that led to the increase in quotas, believing that those corrupt officials should indeed be cleared out to make room for them.

The current emperor's cleansing of the Shanxi officialdom has not been criticized at all. Instead, countless scholars have sung praises and believed that these officials should be dismissed.
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Geng Ruqi, who had just returned to Beijing after resigning from his post as governor of Shanxi, looked even more depressed after reading these articles in the newspaper.

Because the person primarily responsible for the purge of Shanxi's officialdom was him, the governor.

It was his indulgence that led to the frequent occurrence of corruption cases in Shanxi, forcing the imperial court to take drastic measures to clean them up.

If the emperor had not remembered his loyalty, his title of Chief Censor would have been stripped, and he might even have been sent back to prison.

This made him hate those officials who deceived him even more, and he hoped that the emperor would give him another chance. (End of this chapter)