The Ming Dynasty took an unconventional approach

Chapter 455 Exam Questions
The emperor was not in a good mood and he arrived late, so he spoke briefly and then announced the topics of this palace examination.

Six huge characters are hung on both sides of the front, middle and back of the hall, ensuring that candidates in any corner of the examination room can see the questions by looking up.

If you still can't see it, you can raise your hand and ask the examiners patrolling the exam room, and they will convey it to you.

Alas, after years of studying, there are always some candidates with poor eyesight. Even though these six characters are already very large, we have to allow for some candidates who just cannot see them.

Xue Shao had good eyesight and remembered the question at a glance, but he was a little surprised.

Although he did not intend to strive for the top spot in the palace examination, his test-taking instinct was there, and he still thought about the questions of the palace examination before the exam.

He had thought that the palace examination would ask about maritime ban policies, economic policies, and northern border security policies, but he had never thought that they would use this sentence from "The Great Learning" as the topic.

Xue Shao lowered his eyes, poured some water into the inkstone, and began to grind the ink. As he ground, his thoughts wandered.

This question is very loosely asked. It is said to be one sentence, but in fact only half of the question is asked. If you don't know the questioner's thoughts, it is very easy to go wrong in answering.

Yang Pu was a simple person and would definitely not set such questions to make things difficult for the candidates. However, he was the chief examiner and the only one who could set questions bypassing him was the little emperor sitting on the dragon throne at that time.

Xue Shao recalled the two imperial edicts issued by the emperor last year. One was strictly prohibiting internal officials from forming secret alliances with external officials; the other was strictly prohibiting internal and external officials from communicating and cheating.

When the previous announcement was made, he thought the young emperor was finally going to rectify Wang Zhen's abuse of power, but he didn't, and Wang Zhen still held sway over the government and the country;
It was not until the next announcement that he realized that the young emperor was still targeting the civil officials in the cabinet.

He was not wrong. In recent years, the atmosphere has deteriorated and the politics has become turbid. Officials from outside the capital have bribed officials in Beijing, and officials in Beijing have flattered officials inside the capital, so that the people's voices cannot reach the ears of the emperor. The atmosphere of corruption has become more serious, and the lives of the people have become more difficult.

It was the civil and military officials in the court who started it. The emperor wanted to make changes and take power, so he used Wang Zhen.

You used the wrong method, and there was a fight between the inside and the outside. You seized the land, and I exposed you. However, the confiscated land was not returned to the owner, but went from the external officials to the internal officials.

It seems to be fighting corruption, but it is just transferring the money and land from one powerful official to another. The money and land that were embezzled from the people have not returned to them. In fact, because of the fight between the two sides, the people lost more.

Everything has its root and end, and everything has its beginning and end. The emperor wanted them to understand that the development of things has its root and end, which is the foundation of political ethics and moral principles.
Knowing what comes first and what comes later will lead to the right path. Clarifying the boundary between the inner court and the outer court, and the division of responsibilities between the inner court and the outer court, knowing the rules and mastering them will lead to clear politics.

Political clarity...

Xue Shao could not help but smile with his head down. It was fate and he wanted to give a casual answer and then write the petition on the draft. Unexpectedly, the emperor handed him the knife directly.

The knife is already there. If he doesn't unsheathe it, wouldn't it be a waste of Pan Yun's rare good luck?
Xue Shao was extremely intelligent and figured out all the key points in an instant.

The palace examination is a national event, so how come only half of the questions are asked?
Something must have happened that caused the emperor to change the questions. I'm afraid the questions originally set by the examiners are not used?
Such a probability is very rare.

Xue Shao could only think of the golden light of merit that almost blinded him last night.

It is really strange, why Pan Yun's luck is so deeply intertwined with merits and virtues, and her luck has such a great impact on the people and things around her.

Xue Shao ground the ink, put down the ink stick, picked up the pen and dipped it in ink. This was not a good thing.

As soon as he picked up the pen, all the messy thoughts in Xue Shao's mind disappeared. He paused for a moment and then started writing, and never stopped again.

The emperor also saw Xue Shao, but there was nothing he could do because the man was sitting right below him. He could see him whether he looked up or down.

I really didn't expect that the young man I met at that time was so capable and actually became the champion.

The emperor supported his head and looked for a while. He couldn't help it, so he stood up and walked down, starting from the person on the left and looking all the way down.

Whenever the emperor passed by, the examinees' hearts would rise and their pens would tremble. Some of them could not write the next sentence for a long time, and some even wrote the wrong characters. Zhu Qizhen thought it was quite fun and simply walked among the examinees.

Some people did not have the psychological quality to meet the requirements, while others did. There were still many people who seized the opportunity and cashed in when the emperor stayed there.

The emperor was also very satisfied, his complexion became better and better, and he began to pay attention to the candidates that satisfied him. As he walked, he walked back from the back to the front and stood next to Xue Shao.

Most of the candidates were still making drafts, but Xue Shao did not. He answered the questions directly, writing in his neat official script, which was pleasing to the eye and yet unique in style.

The emperor was slightly surprised and tilted his head to read his article.

His handwriting was so beautiful that the emperor was admiring his handwriting while reading the article. But after a short while, his mind was attracted by the article.

The emperor looked closer and closer, and saw that Xue Shao's arm was blocking the first answer sheet. He moved his arm and directly unfolded the answer sheet to look at the rest.

Xue Shao was disturbed and couldn't help but frowning. He looked up and saw that it was the emperor. The tip of his pen paused. Fortunately, he started writing quickly and did not contaminate the test paper.

Xue Shao put down his left hand and let the emperor unfold more papers. He was silent for a moment and then continued to write at the end.

Only the last two paragraphs are left.

Xue Shao wrote quickly, but the emperor read faster. His face changed from joy at first to admiration, then to indifference and expressionlessness, and finally to a slight blue look.

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He didn't finish reading, put the test paper down, turned around and left.

Yang Pu on the side wanted to speak several times, but he was afraid of disturbing other candidates, so he had to hold it in.

Seeing the emperor coming out, he immediately walked up to him and said unhappily: "Your Majesty, this will affect the examinee, that is this year's champion Xue Shao..."

The emperor turned his head and looked at him. "Why, my dear minister, do you want to appoint him as the top scholar?"

Yang Pu paused and said, "Of course it depends on the test paper. If the answers are good, it is indeed a good omen to pass the exam."

The emperor snorted coldly and said, "I have seen that the test paper is not very good, but it may suit your taste."

Yang Pu sensed the emperor's displeasure and said hastily, "The selection of talents for the palace examination is still based on your majesty's decision. I..."

"Then let's take a look at his paper together later."

As soon as he finished speaking, Xue Shao had already put down his pen. He had finished writing.

At this time, other candidates had just finished writing their drafts and began to copy their answers onto the test papers.

Xue Shao only read it through once, confirmed that there was no problem, and then blew the ink dry. He felt that he could not delay too long so as not to affect the scoring of the subsequent palace examination.

After all, there was a high possibility that he would fail, so there was no need to delay other candidates.

So he stood up and handed in the paper.

The emperor had just sat down on the dragon throne when the test paper was handed to him.

　good night

　　(End of this chapter)