The Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was extremely rebellious

Chapter 196: Autocratic
The winter of the 13th year of Wanli passed in such a lively manner.

The people in the capital celebrate the New Year with joy.

The civil servants in the court enjoyed fighting with each other.

The civil servants of the Ming Dynasty were inherently belligerent, especially after the Jiajing period.

The seeds of factional strife among civil officials had already been sown under the instigation of Emperor Jiajing.

During the Longqing Dynasty, Xu Jie's faction and Gao Gong's faction were already enjoying fighting each other.

The reason why there was no fighting in the early Wanli period was because Zhang Juzheng was too powerful and suppressed it.

Historically, after Zhang Juzheng's death, Zhang Siwei and Shen Shixing took control of the government again and engaged in a dispute over the foundation of the country with the then Emperor Wanli for more than ten years.

Therefore, the party struggles at that time only started after the dispute over the national foundation ended.

It seems that the dispute over the national capital is no longer viable.

Because the little emperor was too rebellious, he would kill anyone who dared to suggest establishing a crown prince.

Jiang Yinglin's entire family was executed, and Shen Jing was also beheaded for no apparent reason.

In addition, the news of Queen Wang's pregnancy also spread from the palace, and the civil officials really did not dare to fight for the throne.

There was no one to fight for the national foundation, so Wanli pulled out the fierce dog Shen Yikuan and bit him wildly, and the civil service factional struggle finally broke out ahead of time.

Shen Yikuan was really fierce. He was fighting against three people at once. Shen Shixing's party, Zhang Siwei's old party and Zhang Juzheng's old party were all fighting against him.

He actually had a slight advantage.

This advantage was actually the result of Wanli's secret favoritism.

Because Wanli asked Yu Youcai to hand over all the officials who were found to have problems to the three judicial departments for trial.

The Three Judicial Departments were controlled by Zhang Juzheng's old party and the upright officials. They could not and dared not show favoritism.

Therefore, any officials with problems were punished by the Three Judicial Departments.

The vacancies left behind were filled by officials selected by the Ministry of Personnel.

The Minister of Personnel Yang Zhao deliberately ignored the matter. Shen Yikuan was the Left Vice Minister of Personnel who was in charge, and the Langzhong of the Personnel Selection Office was still Sun Yan from the Yuyao Sun family.

Naturally, Shen Yikuan has the final say in selecting officials. It would be strange if he didn't have some advantage.

Zhang Juzheng's old party and the Qingliu were in a miserable situation. They not only wanted to punish the officials on Shen Yiquan's side, but also Shen Shixing's party and Zhang Siwei's old party. They even wanted to punish their own people if there was any problem.

This made them feel like they were in a very difficult situation.

In short, Wanli had so much control over the civil servants in the court that they had no time to oppose him, and he also spent a happy New Year's Day with his whole family.

After the New Year comes the 16th day of the first lunar month.

The 14th year of Wanli happened to be the year of the imperial examination, and the chief examiner and deputy chief examiner or co-examiner became the focus of competition among civil servants.

Early in the morning at about noon that day, Yu Youcai ran to the imperial study with a large stack of memorials.

Seeing this, Wanli actually greeted him with a smile: "Bingzhong, Happy New Year."

Upon hearing this, Yu Youcai hurriedly bowed and said, "Your Majesty, Happy New Year, Happy New Year."

Wanli was quite curious and asked, "What kind of memorials are you holding? Why are they still fighting so fiercely during the New Year?"

People in officialdom still have to observe superficial etiquette. If they bite others during the New Year, it means they don't know etiquette, and generally no one would do that.

Yu Youcai quickly bowed and handed over the memorial, explaining, "Your Majesty, they didn't bite during the New Year. Many officials submitted memorials to recommend the chief examiner and co-examiners for the imperial examination."

Oh, so that’s what happened.

These civil servants are probably dreaming.

I want to cultivate the imperial party, and it is not the turn of these civil servants to preside over the imperial examination.

Wanli took the memorial, flipped through it, and said with some disdain, "It's not their turn to make the decision on this examination."

Uh, what does this mean?
Yu Youcai thought for a moment, then asked cautiously, "Your Majesty, have you already selected the chief examiner and co-examiners for the imperial examination?"

Do I need to choose this?

Wanli said without hesitation: "Why don't you and Zhonghua preside over the imperial examination?"

what?
Yu Youcai shrank his neck in fear, and said in a panic, "Your Majesty, I dare to say that I have already been the chief examiner of the imperial examination once. If I do it again, I am afraid they will scold me as well."

Are you afraid of being scolded?

Wanli pondered, "What do you think of Zhonghua being the chief examiner for this imperial examination?"

This one.

Shen Li is very tough and not afraid of being scolded.

Yu Youcai nodded repeatedly and said, "Your Majesty is wise. Zhonghua is indeed a good fit."

Wanli pondered again and said, "Let Er Zhang be the co-examiner. He should be qualified enough to be promoted to a Hanlin Academy Bachelor, right?" A Hanlin Academy Bachelor is a fifth-rank official, and he is also the chief officer of the Hanlin Academy, a leader among scholars.

Upon hearing this, Yu Youcai said cautiously, "Your Majesty, Er Zhang has already been promoted once. He's been promoted twice in three years, and to the rank of Fifth-Rank Hanlin Academy Bachelor. I'm afraid he'll be impeached."

Humph, let’s see who dares.

Wanli said coldly: "Whoever dares to impeach Er Zhang, just give the memorial to me directly."

I won't kill him!
At this time he was able to act arbitrarily.

As soon as the chief examiner and co-examiners of the imperial examination were announced, there was an uproar in the court.

Shen Li has already been a co-examiner once, so logically speaking, he should not preside over the imperial examination again.

Li Tingji was even more outrageous. He was promoted twice in three years and was even promoted to the fifth rank of Hanlin Academy Bachelor. Even the top scholar could not be promoted so exceptionally.

If he continues to be promoted like this, in three years he will be promoted to the third rank of Vice Minister of Six Ministries!

Promoted to the fifth rank in three years, are you kidding me?
Many officials will never be promoted to the fifth rank in their entire lives.

The civil servants in the court were filled with envy, jealousy and hatred.

However, they only dared to curse a few times in private to vent their anger. No one dared to impeach Li Tingji, and no one dared to impeach Shen Li.

Because they all knew that these two were the favorites of the little emperor, and if they dared to impeach these two guys, the little emperor would definitely be angry.

The little emperor would kill people if he got angry!
If the civil servants were still unyielding at this time, perhaps someone would dare to give it a try.

The problem is that they are already fighting fiercely at this moment. Whoever the little emperor wants to chop, the one on the other side will definitely applaud.

They can't do such stupid things that will make their loved ones sad and their enemies happy.

Shen Li and Li Tingji became the chief examiner and co-examiner of the imperial examination, and no one in the court dared to fart.

Next, we have to prepare for the imperial examination, which will begin on February 9th.

Shen Li was indeed a rare capable official. He was ready within a few days.

Early in the morning at about noon, he came in behind Yu Youcai, holding a pile of palace examination questions and a list.

After the emperor and his ministers exchanged greetings, Shen Li respectfully presented a large pile of palace examination questions and said carefully, "Your Majesty, please choose a topic."

There are indeed a frightening number of questions in the imperial examination. One set of questions is enough to give you a headache, let alone several sets.

Wanli saw the thick stack of documents and said with some fear, "You and Bingzhong can choose the examination questions."

After saying that, he picked up the list and looked at it carefully.

These are the things you need to prepare for the imperial examination. Compared with the examination questions, this list is much simpler.

However, there is a lot of content in it.

The imperial examination required the mobilization of the Beijing Army or the Imperial Guards to conduct body searches and inspect the venue. A large number of officials such as examiners, sealing officials, and inspectors had to be appointed, and a lot of things had to be prepared.

Wanli took a closer look and then couldn't help but ask curiously, "How much is a pound of charcoal? Why does it cost more than 10,000 taels of silver to buy charcoal for an imperial examination?"

This one.

Shen Li looked at Yu Youcai and then explained in detail: "Your Majesty, charcoal is about three and a half coins per hundred catties, and if the quantity is large, it is one ounce of silver per three hundred catties.

As for why so much charcoal was needed, it was because the weather was still very cold in February, and the rooms had no doors. Without the charcoal brazier, the candidates would freeze to death in the rooms.

Especially at night, that is the most difficult time. The charcoal brazier is always burning but still cold, and you will get frostbite if you are not careful. Therefore, we have to ensure that every candidate has charcoal fire to roast at night.

Each candidate is now provided with about 50 kilograms of charcoal every day, but this can only guarantee enough charcoal at night. They will not be able to roast during the day unless they are too cold to bear it.

The imperial examination lasted nine days, and each candidate needed to be given 450 kilograms of charcoal, which was about one and a half taels of silver. Since there were roughly 6,000 to 7,000 candidates each time, plus the examiners and soldiers who watched over the examination hall also needed to keep warm, a little over 10,000 taels of silver was already considered a small amount.

This is not burning charcoal, this is simply burning money!

Coal seems to burn a little longer than charcoal, and coal seems to be much cheaper than charcoal.

This business seems to be promising.

Of course, this business does not refer to a one-time deal, but the needs for warming oneself by fire in the entire north during the winter. The quantity must be terrifyingly large.

Wanli thought about it carefully, then asked, "What is the current price of coal?"

Uh, this.

Shen Li said carefully: "Your Majesty, coal is much cheaper. If the quantity is small, it is about 1.3 grams per 100 catties. If the quantity is large, it is 1.2 grams or even 1.1 grams per 100 catties.

The problem is, this coal can't be used for a fire. It's very fuming. If you burn it for a while, you'll get a headache or even vomit. If you burn it for a few days, you could die."

This is because coal smoke is poisonous, so it is definitely not advisable to grill with a charcoal brazier.

Wanli nodded slowly and said, "Well, let's go to the Imperial Examination Hall early tomorrow morning."

(End of this chapter)