Ming Dynasty: Moral blackmail? I, Emperor Chongzhen, have no morals!

Zhu Jian thought for a moment and then said, "Since Prince Su has requested reinforcements, the expenses for relocating the people and the military expenditures should be covered by Prince Su's residence and the Su family!"

Zhu Jian wouldn't do a losing proposition. The Prince Su's mansion, with over two hundred years of history, must be wealthy. Rather than falling into Li Zicheng's hands, he'd rather keep it in his own. If Prince Su disagreed, he wouldn't mind using the pretext of unauthorized communication with military commanders to depose Prince Su. However, if he did that, Hong Chengchou, as the commander-in-chief, would also be implicated...

"In that case, the court might face resistance from Prince Su!" Sun Chengzong said after hearing this.

"resist?"

Zhu Jian looked at Sun Chengzong in disbelief: "A prince resisting the imperial court?"

Zhu Jian couldn't understand Sun Chengzong's thinking. Why would a legitimate emperor with a spotless throne fear the resistance of a minor vassal king whose line had lasted for over two hundred years? The fact that there wasn't a large-scale purge of the vassal kings was entirely due to the primary enemies being the Jurchens and natural disasters, necessitating internal stability...

"I believe that Prince Su will not only not resist, but will also cooperate more with Your Majesty!" Li Banghua said from the side.

Li Banghua believed that while the princes might resist the Tianqi Emperor, or even the Wanli Emperor, they wouldn't resist the Chongzhen Emperor now unless they were foolish. The imperial power was now as stable as a mountain; who would dare to cause trouble? Did they have a death wish? Or did they prefer to go to Yanzhou Prefecture to weave cloth?

Sun Chengzong belatedly realized his mistake and awkwardly said, "I was overthinking it..."

"It's alright, Grand Secretary Sun is only acting in the best interests of the court!"

Zhu Jian waved his hand, slowly sat down, and took a sip of pre-rain tea: "Ni Yuanlu and Huang Daozhou came by earlier. I set the exam questions. After the exam, you two will also participate and randomly check the papers that were rejected!"

Zhu Jian felt that the imperial examination was a rare opportunity, and to prevent Ni Yuanlu and Huang Daozhou from placing too much emphasis on essays and causing some candidates who focused more on practical problem-solving to fail, Zhu Jian instructed Sun Chengzong and Li Banghua to randomly check the failed examination papers...

"We obey your decree!" the two said in unison.

......

A few days later, the capital was bathed in sunshine and a gentle spring breeze. The three-day imperial examination came to an end, and many candidates, after leaving the examination hall, headed to taverns to discuss the contents of the examination.

"Brother Wei, which of the four strategies did you choose?" Zhang Huangyan asked from the side.

"Save the country!" Wei Zaode responded calmly.

In the original history, Wei Zaode was the top scholar in the imperial examination of the thirteenth year of Chongzhen's reign, which was the following year. However, he participated in the examination ahead of schedule due to the large-scale special examination held by Zhu Jian. He was also the last Grand Secretary of the Ming Dynasty. He was well-versed in the emperor's strategies, but he was talented but lacked virtue. He could not take responsibility for the country and devise a plan to govern it. In the end, he defected to the enemy and died tragically in prison.

"Which strategy did Brother Zhang choose?" Wei Zaode asked curiously.

"I chose to quell the bandits!" Zhang Huangyan replied.

Zhang Huangyan, along with Yue Fei and Yu Qian, was known as one of the "Three Heroes of West Lake." Originally, he only passed the imperial examination in the fifteenth year of the Chongzhen Emperor's reign, but due to the expansion of the recruitment plan by the Zhu Jian, all the quotas were increased, and he was also included.

Upon hearing this, Yang Wei cupped his hands in greeting and stepped forward, saying, "I have also chosen the path of saving the country. I wonder what insightful opinion Brother Wei has?"

When Yang Weizhi rebuked Sun Kewang for wanting to claim the title of King of Qin, he flew into a rage, removed his crown, and threw it at Sun Kewang, killing him on the spot. He was a man of courage and integrity...

"I believe Your Majesty's actions are those of a wise ruler!" Wei Zaode replied slowly. In plain terms, he had written a sycophantic piece...

"Brother Yang, what is your strategy?" Wei Zaode asked curiously.

"To correct His Majesty's shortcomings!" Yang Weizhi replied calmly.

Zhang Huangyan was taken aback upon hearing this: "Brother Yang, how could you be so presumptuous as to bring up His Majesty's vacancy?"

"If a subject does not point out his shortcomings and instead curries favor with the powerful, wouldn't that be the behavior of a petty person?" Yang Weizhi replied without any concern.

Wei Zaode shook his head; he felt that Yang Weizhi had no hope of passing the imperial examination.

Zhang Huangyan sighed and shook his head.

.....

The officials at the Imperial Academy, who were grading examination papers, were marking up Wei Zaode's policy essay.

After marking the papers, an examiner approached Ni Yuanlu with the exam paper in hand: "Lord Ni, this exam paper is worthy of His Majesty's approval!"

Ni Yuanlu took it, examined it slowly, and nodded slightly: "Approved!"

The imperial selection process, also known as the palace examination, only involved a re-ranking of candidates; there was no elimination. It was the final step in the imperial examination system...

"What utter nonsense is this? How dare you presume to criticize His Majesty's shortcomings?" one of the examiners said, then threw the exam paper aside.

Another examiner looked at the exam paper in his hand and shook his head: "Suppressing the bandits requires provisions and troops. As a common saying goes, this is achievable, but the handwriting and arguments are mediocre. Let's put it aside..."

Just as the examiners were grading the papers in hushed tones, Sun Chengzong and Li Banghua slowly walked into the Imperial College.

Upon seeing this, everyone rose and bowed, saying, "Greetings, Grand Secretary Sun, Lord Li!"

In terms of power and function, none of the examiners could surpass Sun Chengzong and Li Banghua; before them, they were all subordinates...

"His Majesty has instructed us to review the rejected exam papers to see if any talented individuals have been overlooked, as this concerns a person's entire future!"

After saying this, Sun Chengzong walked to the discarded exam papers and saw the top one, an essay that filled the gap in His Majesty's knowledge. He laughed and said, "Even the two of us dare not interfere, but this student certainly has a lot of spirit..."

Sun Chengzong and Li Banghua dared not interfere with anything decided by Prosecutor Zhu; at most, they could only offer reminders. And this exam paper was still in the policy discussion section...

"Reporting to Grand Secretary Sun, this paper has been rejected!" one of the examiners replied.

As Sun Chengzong examined the scroll closely, his expression grew increasingly solemn. The scroll contained many matters the emperor hadn't explicitly stated—after all, the emperor couldn't concern himself with such details—yet these matters weren't entirely nonexistent. He nodded repeatedly, "This scroll is acceptable… As for its ranking, Your Majesty's decision is still required!"

"This..." The examiner was momentarily speechless... then bowed slightly and said, "Yes!"

After all, Sun Chengzong's official rank was higher than his, and he dared not offend Sun Chengzong...

After three days of this hectic approval process, the final examination arrived...

All those who passed the imperial examination gathered outside the main hall of the palace... a total of 3,075 people... the largest number of successful candidates in the history of the Ming Dynasty... Due to the large number of people, a fine day was chosen, and they were housed outside the hall...

Zhu Jian slowly walked outside the hall and wrote two characters on a sheet of Xuan paper with a splash of ink! He then handed it to Wang Dehua, the Grand Eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial...

Wang Dehua took the Xuan paper, went to one side of the high platform in the main hall, and shouted loudly: "The exam question is the two characters 'natural disaster'!"

Zhu Jian wanted to see how many of these successful candidates had ideas on combating natural disasters, which could be applied to local governance at the county magistrate level...

Upon hearing this, all the candidates picked up their pens and began writing the policy essay for the final question...

Zhu Jian sat on a chair outside the hall, sipping his pre-rain tea and thinking to himself: So this is what it feels like to be an examiner... Every word and action can define someone's life. The taste of power is truly captivating... Such a power, how could one not be reluctant to leave?

"Grand Secretary Sun, where is the person who said he was investigating my shortcomings?" Zhu Jian asked casually.

Sun Chengzong slowly walked to Zhu Jian's side, leaned down and whispered, "Seventh row on the left, third seat!"

Zhu Jian nodded slightly: "After this is over, bring this person's exam paper to me! I want to see it!"

"yes!"

From dawn till dusk, all the candidates left the examination hall. Inspector Zhu glanced at the sky, then at the exam papers: "Grasp them as quickly as possible; the results will be released the day after tomorrow!"

Prosecutor Zhu picked up Yang Weizhi's exam paper and began to read it, nodding frequently: "His insights into matters are indeed meticulous!" Yang Weizhi's understanding of natural disasters and policies was highly detailed. Regardless of whether it could be accomplished, his ideas were sound; he was the kind of person who could elaborate on anything given only a basic framework...

The following day at noon, all the exam papers had been graded. Inspector Zhu had ten papers in front of him, and he needed to select the top three from them: the champion, the second-place scholar, and the third-place scholar...

Zhu Jian pulled out a card: "This Wei Zaode should be placed in the top three..."

Others might find Wei Zaode's writing excellent, but Zhu Jian knew this man well... Aside from his excellent writing skills and ability to flatter the emperor, he was good for nothing else...

"As you command!" Wang Dehua placed the examination paper in the top three positions.

"Zhang Huangyan is the top scholar in this examination, Yang Weizhi is the second-highest, and Wu Yi is the third-highest! The rest will be ranked accordingly. The results will be announced tomorrow!"