Without money, what is the point of being a traitor?

Chapter 597 The king and his ministers get along well with each other
The palace examination lasted only one day, with candidates entering at sunrise and submitting their papers at sunset.

There is only one question, and generally no further eliminations are made.

The purpose of the palace examination was probably just to give the emperor a sense of participation.

Generally speaking, unless someone as unlucky as Wang Chang drops from third place in the provincial examination to third from the bottom in the second-class examination, most people who should be at the top will still be at the top.

So after the palace examination, everyone breathed a sigh of relief and went to the market to have fun that very night.

Perhaps because of the curfew, time was tight and many people felt they didn't perform well.

Pei Yuan's underlings had all been instructed beforehand not to come looking for him.

Tang Gao and his two companions immediately wanted to meet at Zhihua Temple, but when they arrived, they were told that the commander was busy these days and would not be there for the time being.

All three of them felt a little regretful that they couldn't share their joy with Pei Qianhu immediately, and returned to Longhua Temple dejectedly.

The next day was the day the exam papers were read aloud, which meant the exam takers were graded.

Since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, the criteria for selecting examiners have been constantly changing.

In the early stages, academic ability was highly valued, and officials from the Imperial Academy were selected to serve in these positions.

At this point in time, more emphasis is placed on the authority of the results, and the examiners are generally selected from two major groups.

First are the nine permanent members of the UN Security Council.

The nine members of the Standing Committee, being ministers in power, are better able to grasp the direction of ideology in such a liberal arts examination.

Secondly, there was the Hanlin Academy.

Because the people in the Hanlin Academy were all top scholars from previous generations, and with the participation of Hanlin Academy officials, those junior candidates who were still taking the imperial examinations dared not question the results of the palace examination.

Some may wonder why cabinet ministers are not included.
That's because the cabinet was a subordinate unit of the Hanlin Academy.

During the reigns of the Hongzhi and Wanli emperors, the Great Ming Code was revised twice, and both revisions clearly defined the organizational structure of the Grand Secretariat being subordinate to the Hanlin Academy.

Therefore, cabinet ministers participated in the review of examination papers based on their qualifications as Hanlin scholars.

Such a team of seventeen people reading the papers, and participating in the imperial examination which did not require elimination, naturally created a united atmosphere of "you're good, I'm good, everyone's good".

It wouldn't be an exaggeration to call it a team-building activity that fostered consensus.

In the early Ming Dynasty, the time allotted for reviewing papers was short, only half a day.

Since they couldn't possibly finish reading it all, the reading group basically chatted and drank tea, happily drawing (○), (△), and (、) haphazardly.

In the sixth year of the Hongzhi reign, the emperor felt this was too outrageous, so he extended the review period to one day and changed the announcement of the results to be released every other day.

This honest emperor's only request was: please read the papers carefully, please.

It was precisely because of this relaxed and easygoing atmosphere in the examination that the imperial court was not so strict in its prevention of the palace examination papers.

According to the rules of the imperial examination, whether it was the provincial examination or the metropolitan examination, in order to prevent the examiners from recognizing the examinee's handwriting or any hidden marks, the examination papers needed to be rewritten.

After the copying is completed, the names are covered up before the papers are graded in a unified manner.

However, when it comes to the palace examination, only a symbolic anonymization is required, and there is no need to rewrite the names.

So why is the name "Anonymous" a symbolic name?
Because, before the examiners officially scored the papers by marking (○), (△), (、), the top three papers in the first grade had already been sent to go through the formal process.

At this point, have you noticed the blind spot...?

Why is it that the first-class papers are already going through the process even before they have been graded?

Don't ask, the answer is there's no time. The candidates are all waiting, you should go back and grade them.

This matter was recorded in detail in Ye Sheng's "Shuidong Diary", because Ye Sheng was the official in charge of sealing the names during the palace examination in the second year of Jingtai.

He hadn't even finished sealing the exam papers when the top scorer was decided.

Then the remaining papers were distributed to the reading group for grading. They ate lunch and sang karaoke, and then filled out the yellow list.

Isn't that outrageous?
In the third year of the Zhengde reign, Jiao Fang's son, Jiao Huangzhong, participated in the imperial examination. According to the rules, Jiao Fang should have avoided participating in the grading of the papers to avoid suspicion.

At that time, Jiao Fang was at the height of his power, and with the support of the "Ten Men of Jia Shen", he wanted his son Jiao Huangzhong to become the top scholar in that imperial examination.

As a result, although Li Dongyang and Wang Ao did not dare to offend Jiao Fang, they also did not dare to go too far and be ridiculed by the world, so they gave Jiao Huang the first place in the second class.

After the grading was finished, Jiao Fang went to ask Li Dongyang.

Li Dongyang tactfully remarked that your son is highly talented and has been ranked number one by everyone.

Unexpectedly, Jiao Fang was not easily fooled and immediately began to hurl insults at Li Dongyang.

"That bastard is playing me for a fool. Do you think I want to be number one in the rankings?"

"What I want is first place without any scoring!"

The two comrades who had originally defected together broke off their alliance, and Liu Jin even spoke up to help them reconcile.

Jiao Fang also regarded this matter as one of the greatest regrets of her life.

My chubby, big-eared, adorable son has tragically lost the title of top scholar!
A narrow defeat!

So how prestigious was Yang Shen's title of Zhuangyuan in the sixth year of the Zhengde reign?

do not know.

Because he was the first one who didn't get a score.

If someone like Jiao Huangzhong can get first place even with graded papers, then it's even harder to say who will get first place without grading.

When did this process change?
The fifth year of the Jiajing reign.

Many important events occurred in the fifth year of the Jiajing reign.

With the Great Rites Controversy settled, the "Zhang Cong-Huo Tao-Gui E" party, which won a landslide victory, is increasingly poised to take the cabinet and govern.

The political beast Zhang Cong is carrying out political persecution against his former ally Yang Yiqing, as well as his recently returned comrade Fei Hong and others.

At the same time, Zhang Cong also carried out sweeping reforms to the imperial examination system.

Xi Shu, the Minister of Rites and a political ally of Zhang Cong, understood the emperor's intentions from the sound of the zither. In order to eliminate malpractices and ensure the fairness of the palace examination, he took the initiative to suggest to the emperor that the examination papers should be sent out anonymously, and that the selection of the top three candidates should be decided by the officials who read the papers.

In addition, he suggested to Emperor Sejong that "officials in charge of sealing the documents should not send them in advance, and officials in charge of reading the documents should stay overnight at the Ministry of Rites after court," and should not return to their private residences.

From then on, the system of recommending candidates for the top rank through the cabinet was finally abolished in the palace examination.

Therefore, it is impossible for a time traveler to claim that he passed the imperial examination as the top scholar before the fifth year of the Jiajing reign by virtue of his own ability in the eight-legged essay.

Because the top scorer isn't determined by exams.

Yang Tinghe came to this year's National Examination with a strong purpose.

Therefore, when the official in charge of sealing the examination papers took out to seal them, Yang Tinghe simply dismissed the official and went up to flip through the papers.

This is the standard procedure, so no one was surprised.

The son of a Grand Secretary was able to be let off lightly after slaughtering more than two hundred people, so what's wrong with him being ranked first class?
But as time passed, the people waiting to read the papers began to realize that something was wrong.

According to past practice, Grand Secretaries of the Cabinet usually already had a candidate in mind, so they would come and directly select the top candidate based on the name before sealing the examination papers.

But Yang Tinghe was different. He didn't pay any attention to the names on the papers. Instead, he just glanced at the contents.

I only slow down to read occasionally.

Everyone noticed that the articles he occasionally stopped to read were placed on his left. The examiners couldn't help but exchange bewildered glances.

What's wrong with Yang Tinghe? Is he really going to select talent for the country?
Just as they were exchanging glances, they suddenly heard Yang Tinghe clap his hands and say "Good".

Everyone perked up and looked at Yang Tinghe again.

But then Yang Tinghe picked up the paper in his hand and read it carefully, word by word.

Then he placed that one next to him, and with a quick glance, threw away the other papers that he had placed on his left.

Everyone understood; it seemed that the exam paper had raised Yang Tinghe's selection criteria.

Then, as if he had taken a powerful tonic, Yang Tinghe began searching again.

The many examiners waiting below looked at each other in bewilderment once again. According to the usual procedure, they should have already been drinking tea and reading the papers by now, but the first step of the cabinet's selection of papers had not even been completed.

Fortunately, Yang Tinghe increased the selection criteria and thus sped up the process considerably.

I'm too lazy to even glance at regular exam papers anymore.

After selecting another seven or eight papers, he reluctantly put away the rest and instructed the official in charge of sealing the papers, "Paste the papers."

The official in charge of sealing the document was Jia Yong, the newly appointed Director of the Department of Ceremonies and Ceremonies of the Ministry of Rites. He hesitated for a moment and said, "According to custom, a Grand Secretary is only allowed to select the papers from the first rank."

Yang Tinghe glanced at Jia Yong and said, "Why be so particular about these things when selecting talents for the country? These few are also excellent and should be presented to the Emperor for review."

Jia Yong dared not say much. He first sealed the few copies in Yang Tinghe's hands, and then, together with the officials of the Ministry of Rites, sealed the remaining papers and distributed them to the examiners.

As it approached noon, many of the examiners couldn't help but start complaining.

Many people didn't even read more than two lines of the test paper before starting to scribble their scores on it.

The nearly two hundred candidates awaiting the results had their difficulty level of life hastily determined by the examiners who were in a hurry to eat.

Yang Tinghe, with a calm expression, took the several scrolls in his hand and went to request an audience with the emperor.

Even if Zhu Houzhao was unruly, he knew that the imperial examination was a grand ceremony of the court. Moreover, he had other plans this time, so he patiently waited in the palace instead of going to play at the Yongshou Earl's mansion.

Seeing Yang Tinghe being led in by the eunuch, he immediately asked with concern, "Minister Yang, how did the palace examination go?"

Yang Tinghe bowed and said, "Your Majesty, I have retrieved the best essays from this imperial examination. Please preview them."

Fearing that the three might not be among them, Zhu Houzhao took the initiative to say, "I have quite a bit of free time today, so I can select a few more to look at, and also to see the outstanding figures of my Great Ming Dynasty."

As he spoke, Zhu Houzhao planned to have the eunuchs who had memorized the sentences go to the front to select the examination papers.
Unexpectedly, Yang Tinghe smiled and said with satisfaction, "This old minister's thoughts coincide with Your Majesty's, so I brought a few more copies."

As he spoke, Yang Tinghe took out the scrolls and had the eunuch hand them to Zhu Houzhao.

Zhu Houzhao was dumbfounded. Why wasn't this old man playing by the rules?

Seeing that his plan was about to fall through, Zhu Houzhao had no choice but to grit his teeth and start looking at the papers in his hands.

As he flipped through the papers, Zhu Houzhao was also thinking about how to find an excuse to send someone to the front to select the papers.

However, when he turned to the second article, he immediately saw two sentences that he already knew by heart.

Zhu Houzhao was overjoyed and breathed a sigh of relief.

Unexpectedly, those three were indeed quite capable; Yang Tinghe actually managed to take the imperial examination papers directly.

Zhu Houzhao glanced at it quickly and praised Yang Tinghe, saying, "This article is indeed excellent. In my opinion, it is worthy of being ranked first among the top scholars."

Yang Tinghe had chosen the articles himself, so he naturally had a general idea of ​​their content.

Seeing that Zhu Houzhao not only did not dislike the views in the articles, but also praised one of them highly, he smiled even more, saying, "Your Majesty has discerning eyes and can make clear judgments."

Before long, Zhu Houzhao discovered another one.

Even Zhu Houzhao couldn't believe it.

Could it be that Pei Yuan really has the ability to judge people, and that he actually managed to send all three members of the First Rank to the capital by helping out of a predicament?

Although this idea was somewhat exaggerated, it did indeed generate considerable anticipation for Zhu Houzhao.

He couldn't help but turn to the next page, and his anxious anticipation instantly turned into a pleasant surprise.

The remaining person actually appeared in the other exam papers as well.

When Zhu Houzhao realized what this meant, he couldn't help but smile.

This isn't my fault!
Although I was planning to cause trouble, I didn't expect that before I could even make a move, Yang Tinghe would hand those three people over to me.

Do we even need to choose?

Zhu Houzhao then pretended to look at the remaining articles, and then took out the three exam papers and said to Yang Tinghe, "These are the top-ranked papers for undergraduate studies."

Yang Tinghe breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing Zhu Houzhao's words.

What he wanted was a result, and he wanted the emperor's approval of how the matter was handled.

Yang Tinghe immediately pressed his advantage, saying, "Then let's remove the seal and ask Your Majesty to determine the order of the successful candidates in the imperial examinations."

Generally speaking, after the emperor finalizes the first rank, he will look at the names and then rank them.

Because he only has so much power, he has to choose someone he's comfortable with.

Generally speaking, the emperor would not cause trouble for no reason, because extra favoritism would invite criticism.

Of course, those who are willful are an exception.

For example, in the eighteenth year of the Hongwu reign, Zhu Yuanzhang claimed to have dreamt that someone surnamed Ding was the top scholar in the imperial examination, so he named Ding Xian, who was ranked over one hundredth, as the top scholar.

In the twenty-second year of the Yongle reign, the top scholar should have been Sun Yuegong, but characters in that era were read vertically. Sun Yuegong looked very similar to Sun Bao. So the top scholar was not chosen.

In the twenty-third year of the Jiajing reign, the candidate Wu Qing's name sounded like "heartless," which led the Emperor Wanshou to believe that he might be a scoundrel, so he was also disqualified from being the top scholar.

However, this time Zhu Houzhao, who usually likes to be unconventional, seemed very sensible.

He smiled at Yang Tinghe, who was unaware of his predicament, and said, "No need. They are all my subjects, why should I show favoritism to any of them? Let's determine their order first, and then remove the seals."

As he spoke, his gaze swept over the three papers.

While confirming the coded language he had memorized beforehand, he also recalled the correspondence between A, B, and C mentioned by the eunuchs.

He kept moving his hands, raising one scroll at a time, saying, "This is the top scholar."

He casually picked up another one, saying, "This is the runner-up."

Then his gaze fell on the third dish, "This is the third-place winner."

Yang Tinghe took the top scholar's exam paper and saw that it was the very essay that had made him applaud.

This article quotes a lot of his son's arguments. Although it may be a bit presumptuous, his son's writing feels very relatable.

The key is that it was able to justify itself afterward, linking the benevolent rule with reform.

Yang Tinghe took the remaining two portions, and they were both to his liking.

He was deeply moved and admired the harmonious relationship between the ruler and his ministers at that moment.

Zhu Houzhao was also pleased. Suppressing his malice, he looked at Yang Tinghe and said with a smile, "Then, let the Grand Secretary remove the seal."

(End of this chapter)