Guangzong Yaoming

Chapter 129: Escape from the Imperial College and Enter the Officialdom
When the emperor spoke, there were actually people who came to report things.

Li Dai stood up and said, "Now that the appointments of the Beijing officials have been completed, the performance appraisal of the local officials is related to both the rewards for diligence and honesty, and the appointments of local vacancies. I request that the lottery method be abandoned. After the list of replacements is drawn up by the ministry, it will still be presented to Your Majesty for your review and public announcement!"

Everyone was slightly stunned: Dai Li also stood up?

This obviously means that the power to appoint local officials will bypass the cabinet and be presented directly to the emperor for public announcement.

Yes, there is a public notice anyway, and it’s just local officials anyway.

Drawing lots does not offend anyone, but if the list is made public and the emperor finalizes the list after the ministers make secret reports, the final responsibility does not have to be borne by the Ministry of Personnel alone.

Over the years, the power of the Ministry of Personnel has been gradually eroded by the Cabinet.

Now Li Dai has keenly discovered a way to get it back cleverly.

Zhu Changluo did not need to read everyone's secret reports on this matter.

So he nodded: "Okay."

Seeing Li Dai receiving the imperial edict and returning to class, countless smart people in the court began to think about it.

This seems to be a good idea... As long as you don't write it up as a memorial to the cabinet, but directly report on the matter and come up with strategies at the court, then you may be able to bypass the cabinet's drafting process.

What’s even more interesting is that even if you are a cabinet minister, you cannot express your opposition verbally in court without special favor.

It seems... as long as the emperor grants permission on the spot, the cabinet ministers cannot restrict it?
Wonderful!

Immediately, several people came out to report the matter, and the emperor responded with different responses.

Some decisions were made on the spot, while others allowed the cabinet to vote on opinions and the ministers to present their views in memorials.

Tian Le felt relieved after seeing this: the emperor had all the decision-making standards, so there was no need to worry about newcomers in the cabinet taking control of the government.

At least he trusts the emperor more now.

……

The people in the Ming Dynasty who are best at adapting to and utilizing the rules made today's court meeting last longer than in previous days.

After daybreak, the curfew was lifted, and people from inns, guild halls, and temples, big and small, inside and outside the capital, were anxious and impatient to go out to the Imperial Examination Hall.

But in fact, there are people waiting here, some are afraid to go and see the result in person, some are confident and just waiting to buy the good news from the clerk of the Imperial Examination Hall to announce the good news.

This is also an industrial chain. How could the clerk who filled in the list not know the list in advance?
As long as people don't beat drums and gongs to announce the good news and expose the fact that there is a traitor in the Imperial Examination Hall on the first day after the results are announced, no one will care.

Wang Heng knew yesterday that he was the champion, and now he was worried about his father who was going to court again.

If he petitions the emperor to recruit the barbarians as his personal soldiers, he will become the target of public criticism.

If you are the top scorer in high school, there will also be a lot of rumors.

Gong Nai also knew his ranking. Although he was a little dissatisfied, he still sat comfortably in the inn, as if he had it all planned out. He didn't need to look at the list and all he had to do was prepare for the palace examination.

Not long after, a report came.

"Congratulations to Mr. Gongnai from Mengyin, Shandong, who ranked seventh in the imperial examination! I wish you will rank first in the imperial examination!"

Amid the congratulations from others, Gong Nai let out a sigh of relief and then said, "Excuse me, I can't help but worry about gains and losses. Thank you for telling me, let me see the reward!"

His servant happily sealed the newspaper and laundered the money.

This is what some people do. Wei Yunzhong, Cheng Qinan and Meng Xikong went to see the list in person.

Today's list is posted outside the Imperial Examination Hall. It only has the seal of the Ministry of Rites on it, and those on the list are tribute scholars.

One month after the palace examination, the list that appeared was the real yellow list, imperial list, and golden list. It was an imperial edict with the emperor's seal and was posted outside Chengtian Gate.

By then, the new scholars would not have to look at it, because they would have a ceremony to announce their achievements and go to the palace to meet the emperor and express their gratitude.

Outside the long palace walls of the Imperial Examination Hall, there was a bustling crowd of candidates who had come from all over the Ming Dynasty.

After passing the imperial examination, you can take the exam in all subjects.

By this time, the number of candidates taking part in the imperial examinations often exceeded 10,000.

This year is the new emperor's first imperial examination, and more people are coming to take the exam, nearly twelve thousand people.

Among so many people, only the top 300 will be selected in the imperial examination and chosen as tribute scholars. They will enter the next palace examination without any exclusion to determine their ranking.

Only 300 out of 10,000 are selected, so the admission rate for this stage is only 3% every three years.

Therefore, when Wei Yunzhong and the other two arrived, they saw that most of the people outside the Imperial Examination Hall were wailing, distraught, and crying with their faces covered. Among them were many people with gray hair. It made people feel the same way and become more worried and anxious.

The innermost circle is often composed of the candidates themselves, while there are also many people outside, and most of them are well-dressed.

Further away, there were many sedan chairs with curtains drawn.

It is also common to catch a son-in-law from the list.

Those who made the list were already guaranteed to be officials. If they were not arrested now, would they wait until the palace examination list was released and then go outside Chengtian Gate to arrest them?

"I got it! I got it! Hahahahahaha!"

Some were happy and some were worried. Those who were on the list confirmed their examination results and were naturally ecstatic.

This candidate looked a bit old, and most of the servants waiting to catch a son-in-law looked through the curtain of the sedan chair to confirm his age, but did not make any move. However, they were still the focus of everyone's attention, receiving congratulations and friendships from many people.

"Let's start from the back?" Wei Yunzhong suggested.

The three nodded.

They came from Shanxi, and although they were also talented, they were not as academically confident as many of the candidates from Jiangnan.

Read from the back to the front, and if it is on the list you can see it earlier.

Looking all the way through, the first name that appeared on the list was Meng Xikong.

Wei Yunzhong couldn't help but squeeze his shoulders: "Brother Yu Shi! Lianjie High School! I'm so jealous!"

The so-called joint examination means that one passes the autumn examination in the first year and is listed on the list of successful candidates in the imperial examination the following year.

For those who have failed the exams many times, isn't it envy? Although Wei Yunzhong is also a person who passed the exam in the same category, and is younger than Meng Xikong.

Meng Xikong, the poorest in the family, couldn't help but have tears in his eyes and nodded repeatedly: "Lucky! Lucky!"

More than 250 people, if that’s not luck, then what is that?
But at least he no longer had to burden his family with supporting his studies, and he could continue taking exams.

"Lianjie High School, is it just a fluke? I'm afraid it's... eh?"

Cheng Qinan is the oldest, and he is already 40 years old after the Chinese New Year. Naturally, he envies Meng Xi, who is younger than him and is studying at Lianjie High School.

His eyes had not left the list when he spoke, so he was stunned for a moment when he got to the last part. When he saw the column "No. 167 Cheng Qi, Nanshan, Shangdang, Shanxi", he blinked and couldn't help smiling.

Those who are older are also more stable.

Wei Yunzhong grabbed his arm again: "Congratulations, brother Zhili! You all won, and I am the only one left... Well, it doesn't matter, I am still young after all..."

Wei Yunzhong, who was born in the ninth year of Wanli, has just turned twenty this year. It is indeed rare for someone to pass the imperial examination and become a Jinshi at this age.

What’s more, we have already seen almost the top 100?

Wei Yunzhong had expected this, but it would be too embarrassing if he was the only one who failed the exam among three good friends.

Unexpectedly, Meng Xikong, who was in a relaxed mood and looking back from Huiyuan, shouted: "Brother Dingyuan, seventy-six! Seventy-six!"

Wei Yunzhong looked over quickly, and sure enough, he saw that in the direction Meng Xikong was pointing, it was written: No. 76 Wei Yunzhong, Shangdang, Shanxi.

"Hahahaha! How great! All three of us brothers have gone to Lianjie High School! How great!"

Wei Yunzhong was very proud, and his youthful spirit suddenly radiated. He held the hands of the two and walked out under the envious gazes of others: "Today, my younger brother will host a banquet. The three of us brothers will not return until we are drunk. Let's celebrate the victory together!"

The eyes around them were like knives cutting into them: All three good friends went to Lianjie High School, they deserved it!

But seeing the three of them coming out with happy faces, and two of them being young gentlemen, many servants soon swarmed over.

"Congratulations on getting into high school, are you married?"

It's very direct, and no one doesn't understand it anyway.

Cheng Qinan smiled and said, "I already have a wife, but you two brothers are still unmarried."

"What's the hurry? Marriage is such a big deal, how can you be so careless? Let's go drink first!"

Wei Yunzhong was born in a wealthy family and now he has been appointed as an official. How could he look down on those families who were determined to capture his son-in-law?
From now on, someone will come to propose marriage. It is inappropriate to bargain here.

At this time, the owner of Lu'an Guild Hall also came and said, "Congratulations to the three gentlemen for passing the imperial examination. The messenger has come to the guild hall to report the good news. I have already awarded the three gentlemen with silver. I also want to let the three gentlemen know that the owner is hosting a banquet in his mansion to congratulate the three gentlemen and other fellow townsmen who have taken the same exam."

"Uncle Fan?" Wei Yunzhong was stunned for a moment.

"No, it's Master Meng's family, Master Wang from Puzhou."

Wei Yunzhong and the other two couldn't help but be shocked.

The Wang family of Puzhou, isn’t that the Wang Chonggu family?
"Thank you for coming all the way to let us know. We will prepare some small gifts and pay you a visit."

"The owner has ordered that we must not be too polite. If you three masters have nothing to do, why don't you go now? I have already hired a carriage."

"How can I be disrespectful?"

Wei Yunzhong shook his head. He didn't need this little money.

Once he passed the imperial examination, the local wealthy families, who were only nodding acquaintances at the time, held banquets for several days to make friends with him.

They didn't know yet the relationship between the Ten Families of Shanxi and the emperor, but they at least knew that Wang Chonggu's grandson Wang Zhizhen was now the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

Such scenes were played out in many places in the capital.

The guild halls in each province would weave a network like this every three years, starting from the provincial examinations and continuing until the appointment of new Jinshi.

Fellow townsman, same major, same school, same surname…

Ahead is the highest and most complex power arena of the Ming Dynasty, and every newcomer who is about to step in will inevitably feel hesitant.

At this moment, they would at least not reject making friends in the name of celebration.

From then on, they either became enemies or formed cliques.

(End of this chapter)