Ming Dynasty 1627

Chapter 38: The Imperial Examination Questions for the Martial Arts Examination in the Ming Dynasty! (Seeking monthly votes)
—To carry on the heroic spirit of Southeast Asia and restore the old rivers and mountains of Liaodong!

Having finally managed to compose this poor, doggerel poem, Zhu Youjian felt that all his talent had been exhausted.

He quickly scanned the remaining question booklet; it was all just trivial matters.

He was puzzled and turned to look at Gao Shiming, "Are all the question books from yesterday here?"

Gao Shiming replied earnestly, "Your Majesty, all 172 copies from yesterday and 43 copies submitted to the palace this morning are here."

Zhu Youjian was even more confused now.

His actions yesterday were so outrageous, they practically wrote "reckless" on the gates of the Forbidden City.

Why are these civil officials and nobles so silent, like quails?

Then who was it that went to plead with Consort Liu yesterday? Could it have been Duke Zhang Weixian of England?

What's going on? My real reforms haven't even started yet, how dare you, the imperial backer, be the first to undermine me?

He hesitated for a moment, but decided to trust Consort Liu's instructions first, and directly ordered, "Go and summon the Duke of Yingguo to the palace this afternoon."

"Furthermore..." Zhu Youjian paused slightly, a hint of embarrassment in his voice, "Starting tomorrow, the memorials should still be compiled by the Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs before being reported to me."

Gao Shiming bowed and agreed, then asked softly.

"Your Majesty, the martial arts instructors and more than three hundred squad leaders with basic literacy have all arrived. What should be done with them?"

Zhu Youjian rubbed his temples and sighed, "Let's call the teachers in first."

……

Soon, the sound of footsteps grew louder as they approached.

Xu Yingyuan, the chief eunuch of the Imperial Horse Administration, walked at the front, followed by three people.

With just one glance, Zhu Youjian's initial expectation sank significantly.

He even suspected that Xu Yingyuan might have brought the wrong person, perhaps the old scholar who had been appointed to the Hanlin Academy.

The person walking at the front was a fat man, round and chubby, like a Maitreya Buddha.

He was panting heavily as he walked, and his forehead was covered with fine beads of sweat.

The one in the middle was a thin man, so frail that he looked like a bamboo pole, as if a gust of wind could blow him over.

His face was sallow, his eyes were sunken, and his gray long robe hung loosely on his body, making him look even more impoverished and destitute.

The last person was an elderly man, who looked to be over sixty years old, with gray hair and a somewhat messy beard.

He was slightly hunched over, his face marked by the ravages of time, but his eyes were still quite clear.

Zhu Youjian's brows furrowed almost imperceptibly.

It can't be like in martial arts novels, where the more bizarre the appearance, the more extraordinary the skills, right?
"Your subject... Your subject Qian Kuan (Sun Li, Li Ru) kowtows to Your Majesty, long live the Emperor!"

As soon as the three entered the hall, they knelt down with a thud, their voices filled with barely suppressed excitement and trembling.

Especially the fat man, Qian Kuan, whose forehead hit the cold floor tiles with a dull thud because of his violent movement.

For these down-on-their-luck literati who had never found their place in the world, being able to see the Emperor was already an incredible stroke of good fortune.

Zhu Youjian remained silent for a moment before slowly speaking, his voice revealing neither joy nor anger.

"Be flat."

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

The three of them stood up tremblingly, still keeping their heads down, not daring to look directly at the emperor's face.

Zhu Youjian turned his gaze to the old man Li Ru, thinking that older people should be more composed.

"Instructor Li, may I ask you, what do the martial arts schools in the capital teach every day?"

Upon hearing this, Li Ru trembled and quickly bowed in reply.

"Your Majesty, in martial arts, students must choose one classic from 'Elementary Learning,' 'The Analects,' 'Mencius,' and 'The Great Learning.'"

“Then select one from the Seven Military Classics and the Biographies of One Hundred Generals as the weft.”

“Every day, the teacher teaches about two hundred words from the chapters.”

He hesitated for a moment, then quickly added.

“Those who are gifted and have lofty aspirations may also be exempt from this restriction and study on their own.”

As Zhu Youjian listened, his fingers unconsciously tapped lightly on the imperial desk.

Leaving aside the interpretations of classical texts, aren't the Seven Military Classics a bit too detached from reality...?

He patiently continued to ask, "Then... are there any teachings of Qi Shaobao's 'New Book of Military Efficiency' and 'Records of Military Training'?"

Upon hearing this, the three instructors were taken aback, exchanged glances, and hesitated.

In the end, it was Sun Li, the thinnest man who seemed the most timid, who mustered his courage, stepped forward, and said in a low voice, "Your Majesty... the military examinations in the provincial and metropolitan areas do not test Qi Shaobao's military strategies, therefore... therefore, they are usually not taught in schools."

"If any students wish to read this, they may...read it on their own."

Since it's not tested, it's not taught.

What a brilliant "If it's not tested, then it's not taught" approach!
Zhu Youjian felt a nameless anger rising in his heart, but he forcibly suppressed it.

He turned to look at Xu Yingyuan with a blank expression.

Xu Yingyuan immediately understood and bowed.

"Your Majesty, what Instructor Sun said is true."

"What martial arts are taught depends entirely on what the martial arts examination tests."

"His Majesty gave the order yesterday, and I quickly collected the essays written by the top military scholars when they were selected."

"This is the most popular and outstanding article in martial arts today."

As he spoke, he took out a stack of papers from his sleeve and had a young eunuch present them to him.

"A masterpiece?"

Zhu Youjian was intrigued by these four words. Wasn't that just like the Sunflower Manual in the martial arts world?
He took the exam paper and opened the first page.

Name: Wen Zhi.

Horse archery: 8 out of 9 arrows hit the target. (The standard for the military examination was 3 out of 10)
Archery: 3 out of 9 arrows hit the target. (The standard for the military examination was 1 hit.)

Judging by his skill in archery and horsemanship alone, he can be considered a decent martial artist.

Further down, you'll find the examiners' comments.

The examiner, Langzhong Nie, said: "I chose you not only because of your literary talent, but also because your loyalty and integrity are evident on the page!"

Ling, the Supervising Secretary, said: "Is your strategy and theory perhaps a reincarnation of Zhou Jifu and Fang Shu?"

Wang, the Imperial Secretary, said: "Excellent article! Such a magnificent piece should be sent to the nine border regions and circulated among the generals to rectify their minds and clarify their intentions!"

……

As Zhu Youjian read these lavish words of praise, his curiosity grew even stronger.

He waved his hand, signaling everyone in the hall to be quiet, and then concentrated on reading.

The first question in the policy essay begins with a grand and ambitious framework:

In ancient times, those skilled in warfare did not form battle formations; those skilled in battle formations did not engage in combat; those skilled in combat were never defeated; and those skilled in defeat were never destroyed.

As the art of war says: Engage with the orthodox, and win with the unorthodox.

Please compare and contrast Han Xin's defeat of Long Ju, Wang Ba's encounter with Wang Lang, Zhou Yu's victory at Chibi, Xie Xuan's victory at Fei River, Li Su's victory at Huai and Cai, and Guo Ziyi's victory at Jingyang. Analyze whether the success of these battles was due to divine favor or human planning.

Does it conform to military strategy?
The border situation is currently extremely difficult, and the emperor is eager for talented individuals. If these students were to become generals, who would they learn from?
Great topic!
Zhu Youjian secretly praised him.

This question is extremely well-chosen, directly addressing the core of war—is it luck or strategy that determines victory or defeat?

Is it a clever scheme or a righteous act?
A competitive spirit arose spontaneously from the bottom of Zhu Youjian's heart.

He seemed to have returned to the examination hall of a later era, where the question was clearly marked with the words "Bonus Question: 15 points".

He didn't rush to look at the top scholar's answer; instead, he silently began to formulate his own draft in his mind.

Take Han Xin's victory over Long Ju in the Battle of the Wei River as an example.

In the Battle of Wei River, Han Xin feigned defeat, luring the Qi-Chu allied forces led by Long Ju to cross the river in pursuit.

When the enemy was halfway across the river, they breached the riverbank upstream, which had been blocked by sandbags. The floodwaters rushed down and split the enemy army in two.

Immediately afterwards, Han Xin turned back and launched a fierce attack on the enemy army that had already crossed the river, killing Long Ju and inflicting a great defeat on the enemy.

What is the key to this question?
Zhu Youjian's fingers tapped lightly on the smooth imperial desk as he fell into deep thought...

　[Historical Materials in this Chapter]

　　1. The content about martial arts instruction comes from the Ming Dynasty Code, but I omitted a small part of it. If they encountered garrison drills, they needed to be divided into two shifts to participate.

　　2. However, the selection criteria, the policy questions, and the top scholar's answers are all authentic, coming from the martial arts top scholar's examination paper of the 32nd year of the Jiajing reign, including the examiners' comments. I simply modified the originally difficult classical Chinese into more understandable classical Chinese, and then summarized some content in vernacular Chinese.

　　 3. The martial arts academy in the capital is located in Huanghuafang, next to Zhihua Temple, near Chaoyang Gate. Nobles and sons of garrison troops in the capital region would study here.

　　The answer (Zhu Youjian's) will be revealed in the next chapter, updated at 0:7 AM on July 29th. Would you like to try this question?
　　Let's examine the differences in problem-solving approaches between modern people and people from the Ming Dynasty.

　　Those who answer well may be appointed as the Supreme General of the Heavenly Strategy! Haha!

　　Finally, some good news! Thanks to everyone's support with monthly tickets, comments, follow-up reading, and recommendation votes...

　　This book, despite its terrible title, jumped from outside the top 100 on the new book chart to 32nd place this morning, and even reached 6th place on the all-time new book chart! It also climbed to 352nd place on the recommendation chart across the entire site!
　　Although I only managed to snag a win because of Monday's data reshuffling, I'm still very happy!
　　Writing this novel feels like creating a thrilling story – your sword may be sharp, but mine is never dull!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)