Ming Dynasty Detective 1546

Chapter 77: Becoming a Imperial College Student (Part )
In the school.

Some people waited silently, some looked at each other in bewilderment. The atmosphere was quite strange.

On the one hand, it is expectation.

Every month, students are eliminated and new students are admitted, and their scores are tested and reviewed on the spot.

After all, there are only 100 test papers. There is no need for a doctoral student to show up. The teaching assistants can mark them directly and quickly draw up a ranking, determine the additional students to be admitted, and then verify their academic status, and they can be admitted directly.

So at this stage, everyone is eagerly waiting for the results to be announced.

You should know that students of the Imperial College in the Ming Dynasty could directly hold official positions.

The imperial examination was undoubtedly the right path, but not all officials entered the government through the imperial examination. The Imperial College was one of the core channels to bypass the imperial examination and enter the government directly.

After graduating from the Imperial Academy, students theoretically obtained the qualifications to become officials.

Especially in the early Ming Dynasty, outstanding students were directly selected and temporarily assigned to frontier areas or emergency government affairs. Their official positions were quite high, and the highest position they could hold was a second-rank official.

By the middle and late Ming Dynasty, the status of students gradually declined, but even in the Jiajing period, they still retained the legal right to enter the officialdom by "starting from school". As long as they had connections in the Ministry of Personnel, it was absolutely possible to be sent to the local area to become an official in a prefecture or county.

By the Qing Dynasty, this was even more well-known. After all, there was a famous saying that was very eye-opening: "You are a student of the Imperial Academy and a dismissed seventh-rank official. What right do you have to show off your power here?"

Oh yes, in history, Yan Shifan was also a student of the Imperial College and served as a seventh-rank official in the Left Army Commandery.

It is precisely because of this that so many people are competing for the additional admission of students.

With some practice, after two years, you can take up a position in one of the six ministries, run errands for a few months, and be sent out of Beijing, then you will become a real local master.

Compared with the scholar who studied hard for ten years but still failed to pass the imperial examination, and could only pass the juren exam in his thirties or forties, and finally became a low-level official in the local area, which one is more labor-saving and convenient?
Obvious.

Of course, this path requires someone in the family to be rich, and the upper limit for becoming an official is not high. The children of the truly powerful and wealthy actually look down on it. Those who know about the salaries of Ming Dynasty officials know it. If they go to wealthy prefectures and counties, it's okay, but if they go to poor places, they may not even be able to get back their capital. It is equivalent to simply spending money to buy an official position and satisfy their desire.

Everyone has their own choice.

But today, regardless of why they came to take the exam, due to the screams during the exam and the rumors after the exam, everyone's attention was diverted to it. Instead of focusing on the last ten students, they only wondered what the screams meant...

Who happened?

Could it be Young Master Gui?
He is the son of the current cabinet minister!

One of His Majesty's most trusted ministers is now leading reforms, causing a stir throughout the country!

If he really died in the Imperial College, the whole government and the public would be shocked!
Just as I was pondering this, a tall, thin teaching assistant walked in and read out the list with a blank expression: "Guangdong, Chaozhou Prefecture, Lin Daqin, 19 years old, supplementary enrollment!"

Lin Daqin stood up excitedly and stepped forward to express his gratitude: "It's me! Thank you, sir!"

The teaching assistant looked him over carefully, his eyes etched with admiration: "Great article! Great writing!"

"Isn't this Mr. Cui?" "It's him! The most talented teaching assistant in the prison!" "I heard he's the strictest and never praises his students. What kind of article did he write that deserves such praise?"

This statement attracted the attention of many students, especially some who knew the teaching assistant, who were immediately surprised.

The teaching assistant praised him, then his expression returned to its cold state. He began to call out the next qualified candidates: "Northern Zhili..." "Northern Zhili..." "Northern Zhili..."

It wasn't until the fifth one that I heard the name of that remote place again: "Guangdong, Qiongzhou Prefecture, Hai Rui, seventeen years old."

Hai Rui stood up, looking obviously excited, and stepped forward to bow and express his gratitude.

Haiyue was sincerely happy for her younger brother.

From this moment on, Hai Rui's fate was completely changed by him. A student of the Imperial College at this age would never be a late bloomer. This capable minister who was both talented and able to stick to his original intention would surely shine at a later historical node!

"What's going on?" "Two people from Lingnan?"

But when Hai Rui stepped forward, the looks from the others were already strange.

There are students from remote areas of Guangdong and Guangxi in the Imperial College, but they are indeed very few, and most of them entered the college as Juren. Where did two such young students come from who not only know the conditions for supplementary admission but also have such a high level of ability to rank among the top?

Where did they buy the exam questions and answers? Could it be that they cost more than what they paid? That would be a loss. After all, it's just to get into the Imperial College. I can't afford to invest hundreds of taels...

“Northern Zhili…” “Northern Zhili…” “Northern Zhili…”

After Hai Rui, those who were born in the capital naturally took up the sixth to ninth places.

"Is it not possible?"

Just as Haiyue secretly sighed, thinking that there was no hope this time and she would have to come back next month, Lin Daqin and Hai Rui also looked at her with worried eyes. The assistant coach paused and finally spoke: "Guangdong, Qiongzhou Prefecture, Haiyue, seventeen years old."

"call!"

Haiyue stood up, a bright smile on her face. He had originally thought that he had no chance.

Actually, this is normal. There are ten places in total, and the three people were not given any clues about the questions. They all performed on the spot. It is difficult to get all of them into the top ten.

Anyway, as long as he knows the way, if he fails this month, he can try again next month. He is confident that he will be able to pass the exam.

I didn't expect that the last one would catch up with me.

This couldn't be better!

However, as soon as he stood up, the other students started to complain: "This isn't right! How did these three Lingnan students do so well in the exam?" "Something must have been cheating!" "We need to investigate thoroughly. Did they cheat?"

What he said meant the same thing: how come three barbarians from Lingnan got in among us, a group of Beijing gentlemen?

However, the assistant coach gave him a cold look and said, "If you dare to make any more noise, get out!"

Don't underestimate the teaching assistants. According to regulations, the Imperial College has only five doctors, who teach "The Book of Changes", "The Book of History", "The Book of Songs", "The Book of Rites" and "The Spring and Autumn Annals". That is, they are responsible for teaching the core classics of the Four Books and Five Classics. Below the doctors are the teaching assistants, who assist the doctors in teaching and provide guidance in different subjects.

In terms of official rank, both of them are from the eighth grade.

Compared with the old professors who have devoted their lives to studying classics, the teaching assistants are not only young, but also have a high academic level, which is why they can win the support of the people in the Imperial College.

Especially in the recent atmosphere of rectifying the academic style, they all have real talents and knowledge, and have considerable power within the prison.

Seeing the teaching assistant getting angry, the voices of many students also became lowered, but the anger was still there between their brows.

Haiyue ignored those losers who had already read the test papers and memorized the answers but still couldn't do as well as her. She walked forward happily and took her number plate.

The assistant teacher reprimanded the other students and nodded slightly to Hai Yue, Hai Rui and Lin Daqin, showing a kind look.

Who wrote those articles for students from Northern Zhili? Everyone inside and outside the Imperial College knew very well that many of their writing styles were familiar to them. There were always a few people who wrote good articles for them.

However, these three students from Lingnan really improvised. Their writing was a little immature and not as good as those of the veteran ghostwriters, but many of the contents could not be written by those who had not lived in the coastal areas. It can be said that they were lucky as they happened to encounter this topic that was enough to display their talents.

Admission is reasonable and compliant.

If it weren't for the need to appease the young masters from wealthy families, the assistant instructor would have even wanted to rank these three in the top three, but now they are deliberately separated.

However, this also caused many people to think of a question: "Didn't Young Master Gui accept anyone?" "Sure enough, something happened!" "Let's go and take a look?" "Oh! If you want to go, go ahead. I don't dare get involved in such a troublesome matter!"

"Those who are qualified, please follow me!"

Not to mention the discussions in the hall, Hai Yue, Hai Rui, Lin Daqin and ten other newly enrolled students followed the teaching assistant to another room and began to collect various items.

First of all, there are identity documents and documents.

A wooden waist badge engraved with name, native place, and year of enrollment, used for entering and exiting the Imperial College and for identity verification.

Another plate indicates the dormitory number and is used for accommodation allocation and attendance.

Next came clothing and ceremonial items.

A set of blue silk robes with a standard round collar and wide sleeves, made of dark blue silk, with patches embroidered on the front and back, but no decorative patterns, which distinguishes him from an official and reflects his student status.

A square flat scarf made of black gauze symbolizes the uprightness of a scholar and must be worn during entrance ceremonies and sacrifices.

A set of sacrificial deep robe is used for the worship of Confucius on the new moon and full moon days, but it is not issued now.

In addition, there are study and living supplies.

For example, the vouchers for silver and rice for granary meals.

Students of the Imperial College could receive rice every month. They would go to the Food Hall with their food coupons and receive one stone of rice and one tael of silver.

Because of this, whenever there was a period of chaotic management, there would be cases of people drawing salaries without working. Some students were only listed as candidates for official positions, and the number of people who actually attended classes was reduced. Their subsidies were often withheld, and "many students were registered falsely, and half of the food rations went into the hands of clerks."

There are also four treasures of the study, textbooks, dormitory utensils, etc. Under normal circumstances, all these treatments are enough to make the students worry-free and concentrate on their studies. Of course, the huge profits are often embezzled.

During the period when Yan Song served as the chief academic officer, he effectively rectified the chaos and greatly improved the treatment of students. He specially approved charcoal subsidies, additional quotas for writing and ink, etc. for poor students. Think about what the students ate and wore before, and then look at the spirit of the Imperial College after the rectification.

Yan Jijiu’s kindness is not over yet!

Various items were neatly piled into a large package, which Hai Rui and Lin Daqin were extremely happy to carry. Coming from poor families, these two desperately needed these things, but Hai Yue was unaware that a matching tune was already playing in her heart. As someone approached, the teaching assistant, who had just been stern, showed respect: "Master Yan!"

"Mr. Cui is polite!"

Yan Shifan's face was solemn, but he did not forget to return the greeting politely. However, his eyes soon fell on Hai Yue. Without caring about anything else, he took him aside and said earnestly: "I have an unwelcome request. I hope Brother Hai can help me!"

(End of this chapter)