The Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was extremely rebellious

Chapter 286 Han Yu Comes Out
After the New Year's Day comes the 16th day of the first lunar month.

The 17th year of Wanli was also a year for the imperial examination.

The joint examination will be held on the ninth day of the second month.

At this time, many candidates who were taking the imperial examinations had already arrived in the capital.

However, Wanli had not yet decided on the chief examiner and co-examiners for the imperial examination.

Early in the morning around noon, he rushed to the imperial study, dealt with the memorials, and began to think about it.

Who will be the chief examiner and co-examiner for the imperial examination?

Is Yu talented?

No, this guy is timid and afraid of being scolded.

Shen Li doesn't seem to be able to do it either.

Although this guy is not afraid of being scolded, he has served as the chief examiner and co-examiner for two consecutive terms. If he does it again, he will arouse the jealousy of all the civil servants in the court.

Li Tingji can do it again.

The problem is, this one is not enough, we need another one, who should it be?
If we follow his rules, it would naturally be Peng Zungu, the top scorer of the previous session.

However, Peng Zungu was in charge of shipbuilding in Nanjing at that time and could not come over at all.

So, who should we choose?
He was sitting there frowning in thought when Li Xuancheng suddenly poked his head out and said, "Your Majesty, Luo Sigong requests an audience."

Why is this guy here?

Could something have happened during the New Year holidays?
Northern Tartar, Southern Zhili, or Bashu?

He was stunned for a moment, then said loudly: "Xuan."

Soon, Luo Sigong walked in quickly, bowed and said, "Your Majesty, I pay my respects to you."

Wanli nodded slightly, then asked, "What's wrong? Is there something wrong?"

Luo Sigong shook his head repeatedly and said, "No, Your Majesty, it is Han Yu who has come to the capital."

Han Yu finally came out of seclusion.

This guy must be here to take part in the imperial examination, otherwise, he wouldn't come to the capital at this time.

It seems that the secret guards are keeping a close eye on him. They even know that this guy has come to Beijing.

Wanli nodded slightly, then asked, "Have the secret guards infiltrated the Han family?"

Luo Sigong nodded repeatedly and said, "We have been planning for several years and finally placed a few people there. One of them is Han Yu's accompanying guard. Han Yu trusts him quite a bit."

Very good, this successor trained by the three major families of Puzhou is under close watch, and those big fish will take the bait sooner or later.

Wanli nodded in approval and said, "Well, that's good. Keep a close eye on Han Yu and wait for the net to close."

Luo Sigong quickly bowed and said, "I understand."

Wanli waved his hand slightly, and Luo Sigong quickly bowed and took his leave.

Now that Han Yu has come out, the chief examiner and co-examiner can be decided.

Didn’t Donglin like to fight against the Qi, Chu and Zhejiang parties?
Then let the Donglin giants and the Zhejiang Party giants meet and get to know each other first.

Wanli thought carefully and then said decisively, "Xiaoyi, draft an imperial decree to promote Li Tingji to the position of Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites and concurrently in charge of the Hanlin Academy and the Bureau of Imperial Finance, and to preside over the Jichou Imperial Examination. Shen Yiguan, Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, will also be the co-examiner."

He was too lazy to care about the imperial examination this time. He had to keep an eye on the situation in the southwest.

The three major families in Puzhou obviously want to fight him in the southwest, so he can't be careless.

Yang Yinglong had already handed over his second son Yang Kedong in accordance with his order and sent him to Chongqing as a hostage.

The three powerful families in Puzhou will definitely kill Yang Kedong.

Once Yang Kedong "dies", there will be turmoil in the southwest.

Unexpectedly, the three major families in Puzhou have not yet taken action in a hurry.

He waited for more than a month, and the results of the imperial examination came out, but there was still no movement in Chongqing!
On the 27th of February, at about 10:00 p.m., when the sun had just set and the sunset glow was at its thickest, Li Tingji hurried into the palace holding a scroll.

At this moment, Wanli was still waiting in the imperial study, because he knew that the list of tribute scholars would be delivered today.

Although he was not in charge of the imperial examination, he still had to take a look at the selected candidates, as he might find some great talents among them.

After the emperor and his ministers exchanged greetings, he asked Sun Hai and Tian Yi to slowly open the huge list of tribute scholars.

Tao Wangling, the first place in the imperial examination?

I have no impression of this.

He took one look and couldn't help asking, "What's Tao Wangling's background?"

Uh, I'm afraid you don't like this.

Li Tingji explained carefully, "Tao Wangling was a scholar from Kuaiji County, Shaoxing Prefecture, Zhejiang Province. His grandfather, Tao Xie, was a Jinshi in the ninth year of the Hongzhi reign and rose to the position of Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of War. His father, Tao Chengxue, was a Jinshi in the twenty-sixth year of the Jiajing reign and rose to the position of Minister of Rites in Nanjing. His cousin, Tao Dalin, was second in the imperial examination in the thirty-fifth year of the Jiajing reign and rose to the position of Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel."

How come he is from Zhejiang and is also a scholar?
The "shi" in "shiji" does not mean soldier, but rather "shizu", which means someone who comes from a family of officials.

Upon hearing this, Wanli could not help but frown slightly and asked, "Why was he chosen as the champion?"

Alas, I knew His Majesty would not like it.

But, since he knows how to answer the test, he will be ranked first.

Li Tingji reluctantly explained, "Your Majesty, Tao Wangling is a master of poetry and prose. He is quite talented. His writing is excellent, and his poetry is well-known in Jiangnan."

Okay, just don’t let him rank first in the palace examination.

Wanli nodded slightly and continued reading.

Jiao Hong, the second place in the imperial examination?
This seems to have some impression.

He couldn't help but ask again, "What's Jiao Hong's background?"

You'll definitely like this. Li Tingji quickly said, "Jiao Hong, a military officer, was born in Jiangning County, Yingtian Prefecture, Nanzhili. His ancestor Jiao Yong was given the name by the Hongwu Emperor, as recorded in the imperial registers. The emperor and his close ministers changed their names, which is a unique case. When he went to Fengtian Gate and summoned the flag bearer guard Jiao Shuo and gave him the name Yong, this is even more unique."

He is a military man, and from the imperial guards, not bad.

Upon hearing this, Wanli nodded slightly and continued reading.

Wu Daonan, the third place in the imperial examination?

I have no impression of this.

However, he did not ask any further questions.

Dong Qichang ranked fourth in the imperial examination!

This is the most famous calligrapher and painter in the Ming Dynasty.

Han Yu was actually ranked in the top ten.

It seems that this guy's first place in the provincial examination is not an exaggeration.

There don't seem to be any other celebrities after that.

Wanli kept looking at people who were over a hundred in number, and suddenly his eyes widened.

Yuan Keli!
This is very famous in history.

Let’s not talk about his achievements for now.

The key is that he made the Jiannu feel terrified.

It is rumored that during the Qianlong period, Yuan Keli was specifically listed as a taboo, and it was strictly forbidden to record anything about Yuan Keli, and even his name was not allowed to be recorded.

Later historical materials about Yuan Keli seemed to have been obtained from vassal states.

What did this guy do to make the Jiannu so afraid?

He couldn't help but ask again, "What is Yuan Keli's background? Have you checked it?"

Since you like to check my background, I naturally have to check it out carefully.

Li Tingji said without hesitation: "Yuan Keli, a military officer from Suizhou, Guide Prefecture, Henan Province, and a member of the Suiyang Guard."

Well, very good, this character who scares the Jiannu people should be trained well and let him deal with the Jiannu people.

Wanli nodded slightly and looked down carefully again.

As a result, I looked at more than a hundred of them but still didn't find any that impressed me.

This year's class is actually pretty good, with enough celebrities emerging.

He thought there was nothing more to come.

Unexpectedly, I saw two more celebrities outside the last three hundred.

Feng Congwu and Gao Panlong!
There are quite a few bigwigs in Donglin this year.

Wanli immediately pointed at the two people's names and said, "These two cannot be accepted as disciples."

They are outside the top 300. Why should I accept them as my disciples?

Li Tingji nodded repeatedly and said, "I understand."

Next, Wanli didn't even care about the palace examination, as the examination questions were all set by the cabinet.

He was waiting for news from Chongqing Prefecture.

Unexpectedly, the palace examination was over and the list of successful candidates was about to be posted, but there was still no movement in Chongqing.

On the 17th day of the third lunar month, just after noon, Wanli came to the Wenhua Hall to determine the ranking.

As usual, the examiner Li Tingji presented the papers of the top three and second-class students, and the reader began to read them.

Wanli followed the old rules. After listening to the essays of the top three candidates, he raised his hand and asked Li Tingji to present the palace examination rankings.

This ranking is not much different from that of the imperial examination, except that the first place changed from Tao Wangling to Jiao Hong, Wu Daonan ranked second, Tao Wangling ranked third, and Dong Qichang ranked first in the second class.

Yuan Keli is ranked in the top three.

Wanli took a closer look and then asked, "Why are these three always the top three?"

Well, we look at the article, not the background.

Li Tingji carefully explained, "Your Majesty, the articles written by Jiao Hong, Wu Daonan, and Tao Wangling are indeed excellent.

Jiao Hong is good at writing books and has published several of them. His writing is so good that I, an humble official, feel inferior to him.

Wu Daonan was also good at poetry and prose, and his level of poetry and prose was almost the same as Tao Wangling's.

Oh, it’s because the article is well written, right?

I don't read articles.

However, Wu Daonan and Tao Wangling's love for writing poetry can be encouraged.

The reason why many civil servants fight for power and profit all day long and have bad ideas in their minds is that they seem to have no other hobbies except fighting for power and profit.

This hobby can be cultivated. You can write books when you are free, and you can recite poems and paint in your spare time.

Wanli thought about it carefully, then nodded slightly and said, "You should accept Jiao Hong, Wu Daonan, and Tao Wangling as your disciples. Let them help you write articles for the court gazette. If you think their poems are good, you can also publish them in the court gazette for the readers to read.

Also, I've heard that Dong Qichang's calligraphy and painting have become somewhat famous. You can accept him as your disciple, and you can select the best of his paintings and calligraphy to print as scrolls."

Is His Majesty trying to encourage scholars to write poetry and paint?
Li Tingji quickly bowed and said, "I understand."

Well, this top scholar is really good.

Wanli nodded slightly, then said decisively: "You will also accept Yuan Keli as your disciple, and rank him second in the first class, Dong Qichang third in the first class, and the others in the same order."

what?
You promoted a third-class Jinshi to second place!
Li Tingji was stunned for a moment before he quickly bowed and said, "Your humble servant obeys your order."

(End of this chapter)