Feng Heming

Chapter 218 The Imperial Examination System

Chen Chao respectfully set the bowls and chopsticks for Chen Xiong, humble and pleasing to the eye, "Second brother and the others are also very filial to the father, but the second brother is the crown prince, with a lot of work to do every day, so he is a bit busy, the third brother and the fourth brother also come to the table Now that he is the governor, the son is the only one who has nothing to do, so the son naturally has to honor his father, and he also takes the second elder brother's share to honor his father."

Gu Yidan said that in front of his father, one must never slander other brothers, on the contrary, say as much as possible, which will naturally cause his father's dissatisfaction with them and his love for him.

"Hmph, if they really have a heart, don't they have time to cook some dishes and stew some soup for me? Don't speak well of them. After all, they are not filial enough for you."

Chen Xiong snorted coldly in dissatisfaction, as if he had forgotten that there were also princes in the harem who learned how to cook and eat with him, but he reprimanded them for their false filial piety, which made those princes feel ashamed.

Chen Xiong picked up the chopsticks and took a bite of the stir-fried pork, and soon a smile appeared on his face, "Ah Chao's cooking skills are getting better and better, as expected, he put his heart into it, and it's not much worse than the imperial chef."

Chen Chao snorted proudly, his face was very humble and shy, "Father praised me, my son didn't understand anything when he made soup for the first time, and he didn't know how to taste it first." , Tired father and mother suffer, it is the son's fault."

These words brought back Chen Xiong's memory. He remembered the first time he ate the stew brought by his son with great interest. He just took a sip and spit it out. The taste was too salty. He still remembered his son's face full of shame What about He He's disappointed expression, which made him laugh out loud,
"That's why I said that you put your heart into it. After a while, you can cook such a table of dishes by yourself."

Chen Xiong took a sip of wine and a sip of small dishes. Chen Chao accompanied him. When Chen Xiong was almost used up, Chen Chao saw that he was in a good mood, so he tentatively opened his mouth, "Father, son, these days, I occasionally get something, but I don't know Is there any help to the father, I am here to ask the father."

Chen Xiong was drunk and in a good mood, he also loved his son, he waved his hand and said, "Tell me, Father will give you some pointers."

Chen Chao settled down, and according to the draft that he and Gu Yidan had edited many times, trying to figure out what his father might say, he said, "Father, do you think there is a kind of embarrassment in the court today? Feeling powerless?"

Chen Chao carefully coveted his father's expression, and seeing Chen Xiong's face turned cold, he quickly said, "My son is guilty, and my son should not discuss government affairs indiscriminately."

Chen Xiong waved his hand, "You are my son, the majestic King of Prestige, there is nothing you can't talk about the government, it's just that the father thinks of those elm bumps on the court, and his brain hurts. He always opposes me everywhere, sooner or later They look good!"

Seeing that his father's reaction was just as Gu Yidan guessed, Chen Chao was relieved and said comfortingly: "Father calm down, how are those people worth being a father and hurting the dragon's body? And my son has a plan here, you can Weaken the authority of the aristocratic family, let the father and emperor take over the court."

These words aroused Chen Xiong's curiosity, "What good plan does Ah Chao have?"

Chen Chao did not get straight to the point, but proceeded gradually, "Father, the courtiers in the court today all start their official careers by advocating filial piety, and only a small number of them are children from poor families."

Chen Xiong nodded in agreement, with a hint of gloom between his brows, "Since I ascended the throne, I wanted to promote Gan Dongsheng to be a court officer, but those aristocratic families stopped him, saying that Gan Dongsheng didn't know the law and couldn't be a court officer. It's really ridiculous. I want someone to be an official, but they still obstruct me, I am really angry."

Chen Chao echoed a few words, seeing his father's anger getting more and more intense under the smell of alcohol, he was secretly happy, "Father calm down for now, my son privately thinks that it is very easy to change the situation where the aristocratic family only covers the sky with one hand, as long as the selection of officials is carried out. Once the method is changed, the aristocratic family will no longer be able to do evil."

Chen Xiong was like a cat being tickled by a feather, his curiosity became more and more intense, and he urged, "Tell me how to change it, and what kind of change will it be?"

Chen Chao stopped showing off, "My son once watched the master's examination of the students in a private school, after returning home and thinking hard, he felt that we could learn a lesson.

Father, what if we replace Ju Xiaolian with a method of testing students' knowledge?In this way, the poor students are no longer afraid of not being able to find a recommender. As long as the poor students have poems and books in their stomachs, the aristocratic family will certainly not be able to prevent them from serving the father. "

Chen Xiong paused the hand holding the wine cup, slowly put down the wine cup, and began to frowned in thought. The more he thought about it, the more he felt that his son's words made sense.

"This method is indeed good, but the method of selecting officials is to use school knowledge, so what kind of knowledge should be tested?"

Chen Xiong is an old man who only knows how to fight, and he doesn't know anything about those people.

Chen Chao looked very calm and confident at this time, "Father, since it is to replace Ju Xiaolian, the knowledge of the school must make the aristocratic family speechless.

The son thought this way, and divided the content of the school examination into three parts, progressively, the first subject was the school posting scriptures and Moyi.

The so-called posting of the scriptures is to open a page of the scriptures, leave the left and right sides blank, and only open a line in the middle, and let the students fill in the blank space.

The scriptures used in pasting scriptures are "Book of Rites" and "Zuo Zhuan", which are the Great Classics; "Book of Songs", "Zhou Li", and "Yili" are the Zhongjing; Gongyang Zhuan and Guliang Zhuan are small scriptures, and for school examinations in the pasted scriptures, the major scriptures, middle scriptures, and minor scriptures must be included.

Mo Yi also tested the scriptures and meanings in the Nine Classics. He extracted one or two lines of scriptures and asked students to comment on them.

The son of this subject is called the Ming Jing Ke, and a student who can pass the Ming Jing Ke shows that he has already mastered the scriptures. ①"

Chen Xiong's expression became serious, "Go on."

Chen Chao said again: "Only those who pass the first subject Ming Jing can take the second subject. My son also divided the examination content of the second subject into two parts. Bi Suan Jing and Nine Chapters of Numeracy.

The second one is Ming Law, which is my law of Beiliang.

The son of this second division is called the Xiucai Division. As long as those who pass the Xiucai Division can be sent to various counties as a tax or prison official. ②"

It was Gu Yidan who proposed to make the imperial examination system so complicated. At first, Chen Chao couldn't figure out why he had to take the school's math and law exams, let alone why he could become a minor official as long as he passed the scholar's department. After Gu Yidan explained, he suddenly understood.

"Father, if the treasury wants to collect taxes, we need people who know how to calculate the scriptures. These people can help us collect taxes very well. They understand the way of the law. It can also play a big role.”

Chen Chao's explanation made Chen Xiong suddenly realize, and then he heard Chen Chao said: "Those who have passed the second subject can participate in the third subject of Jinshi. The emperor hand-picked the seventh-rank officials and entrusted them with important tasks.

The son of the Jinshi Section is also divided into two parts for the examination, the first is essays, the examination is poetry and fu, and the second is policy questions, which are about my fields, business, law, military affairs, government affairs, water transportation, etc. in Beiliang. Salt administration, etc. raised questions and answered them.

Only those who pass the three subjects can be called Jinshi, and Jinshi can share the burden and relieve the father's worries as a seventh-rank official.

And the son called this kind of examination school the imperial examination system. "

. . . . . .

　Note: ①, Borrowed from the Mingjing section of the imperial examination system in the Tang Dynasty.

　　②. The scholars in the Tang Dynasty did not examine algorithms and laws. Here I use Mingfa and Mingshu as a scholar.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)