Huangming

Chapter 145 Imperial Academy Scholars, Phoenix Palace Selects the Best

For the Ming Dynasty, the chaotic year of 1620 was over.

The 48th year of the Wanli reign and the first year of the Taichang reign have both become the past. The people of the Ming Dynasty have ushered in a brand new reign title - Tianqi!
January 10th, the first year of the Tianqi reign.

Ten days have passed since the ceremony marking the change of reign title.

The people of Beijing were still immersed in the afterglow of the grand ceremony and the New Year celebrations.

Qianqing Palace.

Inside the East Warm Pavilion.

Emperor Tianqi, Zhu Youxiao, was already dealing with state affairs.

He picked up the memorial, which contained a request from an imperial censor to expedite the determination of the date for the imperial examination in the first year of the Taichang era.

Last year, two emperors died in succession, and the imperial examination for the Gengshen year was postponed. Candidates from all over the country were stranded in the capital, and were even taken advantage of by those with ulterior motives, almost causing a major incident.

Zhu Youxiao also took this matter very seriously.

Zhu Youxiao looked at Sun Ruyou, one of the Grand Secretaries of the Cabinet, who was attending him, and asked, "The imperial examination has been postponed for a long time. Can it be scheduled for a later date?"

When asked by the emperor, Sun Ruyou immediately replied, “Your Majesty, please allow me to explain that the reason why the imperial examination of the Gengshen year was postponed was because the Ministry of Rites was worried that during the examination period, candidates would gather in the capital and easily engage in “playful drinking and frolicking,” which would violate filial piety. Now that the national mourning period has passed, the imperial examination can be held on schedule.”

"Is February this year possible?" Zhu Youxiao asked again.

Sun Ruyou answered truthfully: "According to the 'Collected Statutes of the Ming Dynasty,' the imperial examination was originally scheduled to be held in the second month of the years of Chou, Chen, Wei, and Xu. This year is the year of Xinyou, which is not a year of regular examinations."

Zhu Youxiao frowned and said, "Last year was the Gengshen year, which doesn't seem to be a year for regular examinations."

The imperial examinations of the Ming Dynasty were not held every year.

The provincial examinations were held in the years of Zi, Wu, Mao, and You; the metropolitan examinations were held in the years of Chen, Xu, Chou, and Wei.

The provincial and metropolitan examinations were held every three years, while only the prefectural examination was held once a year.

Sun Ruyou gave a wry smile and said, "Last year's Gengshen imperial examination was postponed due to the Liaodong war. The Ministry of Rites planned to hold the examination in the first year of Taichang, but Emperor Guangzong suddenly passed away, disrupting the plan."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Youxiao was speechless.

No wonder those test takers were so resentful.

Zhu Youxiao thought the imperial examination had been postponed for several months.

I never imagined it would be delayed for almost two years!
His imperial grandfather was truly unreliable.

Of course, the Tianqi Emperor in history was also unreliable.

The imperial examination of the 47th year of the Wanli reign (1619) was postponed to the 2nd year of the Tianqi reign (1623) and taken together with the next examination.

Zhu Youxiao immediately said, "The imperial examination for the Gengshen year will be held in February this year."

Sun Ruyou immediately nodded and asked, "May I ask Your Majesty, who will serve as the chief examiner for the Gengshen imperial examination?"

Zhu Youxiao pondered for a moment and said, "Let Sun Shenxing, the Minister of Rites, be the chief examiner for this examination."

Sun Ruyou asked about the other matters, and after receiving the emperor's reply, he felt more confident.

"Your Majesty, I will now draft the imperial edict."

"Not urgent."

Zhu Youxiao stopped Sun Ruyou and said, "It is not easy for these candidates to live in the capital. The Ministry of Rites should select a venue for them to rest and prepare meals for them every day so that they can focus on their studies."

Upon hearing this, Sun Ruyou immediately launched into a tirade of flattery:
"Your Majesty is benevolent and virtuous. On behalf of those students, I thank Your Majesty for your great kindness!"

"Go!"

Seeing that the horses had not pleased the emperor, Sun Ruyou had no choice but to withdraw and draft the imperial edict, thus fulfilling the task assigned to him by the emperor.

For Zhu Youxiao, the imperial examination was also an opportunity to reorganize the court.

Newly appointed scholars can inject fresh blood into the imperial court.

Most importantly, most of these people have not entered officialdom, have clean backgrounds, and have not yet started forming factions. With a little favor, they would naturally become part of the emperor's faction.

It's much simpler and easier than spending a huge amount of money to win over those old foxes.

This method, which didn't cost much money but yielded significant results, was exactly what Zhu Youxiao preferred.

As emperor, Zhu Youxiao still needed people to do things for him.

By promoting a new group of elites, he could then take action against his corrupt former officials.

Otherwise, if the court were to become completely empty, who would handle the affairs of the court?

Zhu Youxiao continued processing the memorials. At this moment, Wei Chao stepped forward with a memorial in his hand, and said with a fawning smile, "Your Majesty, this is the memorial for the selection of imperial concubines drafted by the Ministry of Rites. Please review it."

Zhu Youxiao was taken aback for a moment, but still accepted the memorial.

"Let me take a look!" In fact, this matter did not require his involvement.

During the Ming Dynasty, emperors typically did not directly participate in the preliminary and secondary selections of imperial concubines. They only symbolically confirmed the candidates in the final selection stage, while the actual decision-making power was mostly in the hands of the empress dowager, imperial concubines, or eunuchs.

This system was designed both to prevent the emperor from becoming obsessed with women and to prevent interference in politics by the emperor's relatives.

Only a few powerful emperors (such as Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Di) would personally intervene in the selection of concubines, while the selection of concubines in the mid-to-late Ming Dynasty was more of a manifestation of the power struggle between the harem and the court.

When Wei Chao handed over the power that originally belonged to him, it was naturally out of a sense of sycophancy.

Zhu Youxiao was somewhat surprised after reading the memorial.

"The primary elections are already over?"

The preliminary selection was entirely carried out by local officials and the Ministry of Rites. Zhu Youxiao did not expect that they would act so quickly!

Of all the stages of the talent show, the preliminary selection takes the longest.

It usually takes one to three months.

There was no other way; the Ming Dynasty was still very large. If they were to select women from Guangdong, it would take at least two months just to travel there.

Compared to the lengthy preliminary selection process, the subsequent procedures, such as the second round in Beijing and the final selection, are extremely short.

It will probably take about a month to select an empress.

Seeing the emperor's shocked expression, Wei Chao honestly replied, "Actually, the preliminary selections in the regions began in August of the first year of the Taichang era."

Zhu Youxiao was taken aback for a moment, then quickly understood what Wei Chao meant.

It turns out that when his cheap father was still alive, he had already ordered the Ministry of Rites to select concubines for the palace.

This is in line with Emperor Guangzong's personality.

After all, it wasn't a good thing, so Zhu Changluo wouldn't have died less than a month after ascending the throne.

just
Zhu Youxiao's expression was somewhat strange.

These women, who were originally slated to become Emperor Guangzong's concubines, ended up being his in a single transaction.

From a legal and ethical standpoint, there is no problem.

But from an ethical standpoint, it's a bit thrilling to think about.

"I see."

Zhu Youxiao returned the memorial to Wei Chao and said, "Just do it according to the regulations."

Wei Chao quickly replied, "I wonder what kind of woman Your Majesty prefers?"

Good guy.

Fortunately, things have progressed to this point.

Zhu Youxiao looked at Wei Chao and thought, "This fat old man really wants to improve!"
"Follow the rules. After the second round of selection, thoroughly investigate the backgrounds, personalities, and appearances of the fifty women. I want to examine them closely."

Wei Chao immediately nodded and said obsequiously, "This servant obeys."

In fact, the women selected by the emperors of the Ming Dynasty were all quite good-looking.

What Zhu Youxiao cared about was character and ability.

Especially the selection of the empress.

For the Ming Dynasty, the emperor and empress were like the bright moon.

This bright moon is meant to assist the sun of the Ming Dynasty.

If the chosen empress is biased and not only fails to help the emperor but also hinders him at every turn, then the selection process will be a waste of resources for someone else.

Zhu Youxiao put down his brush, his eyes flickering uncertainly.

Imperial examination, talent show
What he had to do next was truly complicated.

Fortunately, the Ming Dynasty is now back on track.

The eunuchs who went to Shanxi to confiscate property kept bringing good news, and Marquis Dingyuan Deng Shaoyu had already completed the task of recruiting 3,000 soldiers in Beizhili.

Zhu Youxiao estimated the time.

Yuan Keli has been in the Beijing garrison for some time now.

It's time to go on a tour and see how my elite troops are doing!
Although the imperial examinations and the imperial concubine selection were important, Zhu Youxiao knew in his heart that only by controlling the military could he completely solve the chronic problems of the Ming Dynasty.

Everything else is secondary compared to this.

(End of this chapter)