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Zhai Wenben sighed and said, "Oh, brother, if you don't change it, you will cause trouble. Last year, how many people died because of disrupting the land administration in the provinces? We oppose the women's imperial examination. No matter how fierce the disturbance is, the imperial court will not take care of it. But once If Tian Zheng is involved, this newspaper will definitely not be able to survive!"

Zhang Tianzhi did not refute, but did not agree either.His family was given away the land, and he himself was too old to take the imperial examination, and he couldn't bear the fact that the former house slave didn't take him seriously.This book, he has a sense of substitution, he really doesn't want to change a word.

Zhai Wenben persuaded: "My brother, my family has also been divided. Can't I understand your mood? It must be changed. If you don't want to do it, I will write it. And even if it is changed, I can understand it." Readers can still understand and empathize."

"Okay, it's up to you to change it." Zhang Tianzhi chose to compromise.

Before Zhang Tianzhi started to write, his partner Li Xun pushed the door open and entered.

Li Xun said happily: "Good news, there is not a single female tribute in this exam, and all the girls have failed."

"Great!"

Zhang Tianzhi clapped his hands in praise, and said: "We should take advantage of the victory and write a few more articles, discussing the whole process of this test, and discussing that women are not suitable for imperial examinations to be officials! Let's write one each, and then ask friends to write a few more, and choose the best one." Two articles will be published in the next issue.”

The three of them were very happy, the sales of the newspaper had increased, and there was hope for the victory of the debate.

Li Xun said with a smile: "Tonight I will be the host, and go to Xuanwu Lake for a boat trip. I invite famous prostitutes to join in the fun, and you and my brother will play the fou and sing songs. When this happy event happens, it will be a big white song!"

"It should be a banquet to celebrate. I haven't been so happy in the past few years." Zhang Tianzhi said.

There was a sudden noise outside the house, and more than a dozen young people rushed in soon.

The person at the head cupped his hands and said, "I'm Zhang Xiliang, I've met you gentlemen."

Zhang Tianzhi quickly returned the gift, confused and asked: "Everyone, this is..."

Zhang Xiliang explained: "We are all scholars who have failed in the current department. We intend to knock on the door to ask for life, but there are too few people to decline. I heard that the three gentlemen value morality and righteousness, so I am here to ask for help. Please contact more scholars who have failed the examination. , Knock on the que together and ask His Majesty to increase the number of imperial examinations."

A student next to him who failed the exam immediately helped to explain: "Brother Zhang used to be the first in the Hubei provincial examination (the graduation examination for college students in Hubei), but this time because he ate bad food, had diarrhea and fever, he missed the exam, and he didn't even pass the final exam. "

Zhang Xiliang said: "I am not alone in Kou Que. There are countless scholars in the world, and they will always fail in the exam due to various things. And the imperial court only allows each person to take the exam once, which is really unreasonable!"

Another student who failed the exam said: "I am from Guangxi. The Guangxi provincial examination is presided over by Kong Yingtao, the president of Guilin University, and jointly invigilated by Sun Mao, a member of the Ministry of Rites, Liu Junen, the censor of the Inspectorate, and Bian Tao, the chief judge of Guangxi. , the exam questions were leaked before the exam. There were wealthy people who bribed the invigilators, so that even the uneducated people also got the graduation certificate of Guilin University and were eligible to come to Nanjing to take the exam. However, those who were diligent and eager to learn were rejected by the imperial examination. Fraudsters have taken places."

"Is there really any fraud in the imperial examination?" Zhai Wenben's eyes lit up when he heard that.

"It's absolutely true!" The Guangxi underachiever said with certainty.

Li Xun said: "Tonight I will be drinking in the east, and all the students will go to Xuanwu Lake to have a drink together. I will talk about what is going on in the boat."

……

Zhai Wenben and Zhang Tianzhi were conceited about their talents, but they could not take the imperial examination because they were too old.Now that running a magazine has sparked public opinion, they can't help but feel a little smug, and even call themselves "white censors" in private.

White clothes, that is, common people, are ordinary people, and they want to serve as censors among the people!

In early March, the palace examination was officially held.

On the same day, "Scholars Picking Up Interests" was published.Two of the articles unilaterally declared victory in the pen battle, using "facts" to prove that women are not suitable for the imperial examination to be officials.

These two articles are nothing.

Another article reported that Zhang Xiliang, Xieyuan from Hubei two years ago, discussed whether it was reasonable to only give scholars the qualifications for the general examination because a bad stomach affected his performance in the general examination.

Another article questioned last year's Guangxi "rural examination" fraud, and the son of a wealthy businessman obtained the content of the test paper in advance.

At this moment, the students who failed the examination had not yet left Nanjing, waiting for the Ministry of Officials to assign them the positions of low-ranking miscellaneous officials.As soon as the report came out, it immediately caused a sensation among the students who had failed the exam, and those who were interested took the opportunity to join forces to ask for their lives.

At the time when the Xinke Scholars were calling their names at Donghuamen, more than 200 failed students and former Ming scholars rushed to Donghuamen.

In fact, even without this, Jinshi would still be confused.

Because the No. [-] Scholar was decided in advance, he didn't even take part in the palace examination, and he didn't participate in the activities of passing on people. He heard that he had already gone to the Changlu Salt Field to handle errands.

The No. [-] and Tanhua were quite embarrassed. From Fengtian Temple to Donghuamen, the No. [-] seats in front of them were always vacant.

After finally going out from Donghuamen, there was a dense blackness in front of them. More than 200 kowtowers knelt there and begged for orders, and blocked the exit of Donghuamen.

Inside and outside the city gates, the Shinke Scholars and the unexamined students looked at each other in blank dismay.

"Please Your Majesty thoroughly investigate the Guangxi imperial examination fraud case!"

"Your Majesty, please increase the number of imperial examinations and leave a way out for the scholars of the world!"

Petitions came one after another, and even won the sympathy of some Jinshi.They also felt that the examination should not be allowed only once, and that fraud in the imperial examination must be strictly investigated.

The battle was very noisy, and the nearby onlookers, who had come to see Jinshi riding through the streets, did not expect such a big melon to suddenly appear halfway.

The governor of Jinling was present at the moment, leading an empty horse belonging to the number one scholar.He felt that he could not suppress it by force, so he quickly asked the guards of the imperial city to report it, and asked His Majesty the Emperor to make a decision in person.

Yan Yuandian took the No. 1 exam, and he was very puzzled: "It is necessary to thoroughly investigate the fraud in the imperial examination, but why do these failed scholars come to ask for an increase in the number of exams? Your Majesty has already been extraordinarily merciful!"

Zhao Han has been adjusting all the time, this time the trial will be more favorable than last time.

During the first general examination, the Jinshi could only be released as an eighth-rank official.Among the students who failed the rankings, public-funded college students can be released to the ninth-rank official, and self-financed college students can only go to the provincial government official examination.

This time belongs to the second session of the general examination, and the adjustment is as follows: Jinshi can be released from the seventh rank at the highest.Unsuccessful students do not distinguish between public and self-funded students. As long as they get a university diploma, they can be released as ninth-rank officials.College dropouts, instead of being able to take the provincial government official examination, are given priority in being admitted as provincial government officials.

Since the students who failed the exam can become ninth-rank officials, why bother to take the exam again?

If multiple exams are allowed, you have to wait three years for one exam and six years for two exams.If you fail the exam three times in a row, nine years are gone.With those nine years spent on exams, it's better to be a ninth-rank official directly, maybe you will be promoted to seventh-rank by then.

Yan Yuan thought this way, but the students who failed the exam thought differently.

They still retain the concept of imperial examinations from the Ming Dynasty, and believe that only Jinshi and officials have a future.Although Jinshi at the bottom of the list, he is only an eighth-rank official, which is no different from the ninth-rank official who failed the list.But a Jinshi is a Jinshi, and a failure is a failure. In the future, there will definitely be circles, and there will definitely be academic discrimination in the officialdom.They would rather take the exam for a few more years, but also have a Jinshi status.

"Your Majesty is the one who decides for us! Wooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooow..."

Some students who failed the exam were already crying, and soon there was a lot of wailing. This kind of behavior is called "crying and knocking on the door".

There are also former Ming scholars who lost their qualifications for the imperial examination because they were too old, and they are also following the bitter cold: "Your Majesty, please resume the rural examination and cancel the age limit!"

In the first imperial examination, former Ming scholars under the age of 30 were allowed to participate in the provincial examination.

The second imperial examination was directly cancelled, because there were almost no former Ming scholars under the age of 30.The first level of the township examination, all college students take part!

These former scholars came to fish in troubled waters, what if the emperor changed his mind?

Chapter 810 [The emperor has many bad ideas]

The Guangxi imperial examination fraud case involved the officials of the Procuratorate, so the case was handed over to Dali Temple for full jurisdiction.

Dali Temple is equivalent to the highest court in the country.

"Your Majesty, the Guangxi imperial examination fraud case, the preliminary trial of the parties involved has ended, and officials will be sent to Guilin to investigate the case."

"let it go."

Before Zhao Han, there were only three transcripts of the parties involved.

The college graduation examinations in each province have been combined with the provincial examinations (provincial examinations).University presidents can only arrange and organize exams, and are not qualified to invigilate the exams in person, or even get access to the exam questions in advance.There are three real examiners, one is the chief judge of the province, one is Yuanwailang sent by the Ministry of Rites, and the other is the Qingzheng Yushi sent by the Procuratorate.

Zhao Han carefully read the three transcripts and was basically able to determine that the fraud case was fake.

Because the test papers were taken from Nanjing to various examination centers by Wai Lang, a member of the Ministry of Rites.On the day of the exam, in addition to the three examiners, the president of the university and the head of the auditorium of the province must be present.Only when all five people are present can the sealed test paper be opened. After the approval is correct, the five people will stamp their seals together and start the test.However, if any problem is found in the test paper, the test must be terminated.

Something went wrong, and all five of them lost their jobs together!

The sealing of the test papers was done together by the Ministry of Officials, the Ministry of Rites, and the Ministry of Punishment, and it was stamped with the seals of the three ministers.There are also three layers of sealing. The test paper is sealed once, the outer waterproof oil paper is sealed once, and the outermost box is also sealed.Each layer is sealed with three big seals, and only the outermost layer is allowed to be damaged by wind and rain.

The printing of the test papers was carried out by the Si Li Jianjing Factory, and the whole process was carried out in the Forbidden City.Therefore, the first seal of the test paper still bears the seal of the supervisor of ceremonies.

If the question can be released in advance, the problem will really explode, and a lot of officials will be investigated and dealt with.The Superintendent of Rituals, the Ministry of Officials, the Ministry of Rites, the Ministry of Punishment, the Procuratorate, the Guangxi Grand Court, the Guangxi Hall of Ceremony, the president of Guilin University...all will be severely investigated.

If there is really cheating in the imperial examination, it will not be leaking the questions, but inviting someone to take the exam for him!

Chief Assistant Song Yingxing said: "Your Majesty, this matter must be strictly investigated, not only the fraud case, but also those scholars who knocked on the gate! When is it not good to knock on the gate, we must call Donghua on the day of Donghuamen's call." The door is completely blocked, and Jinshi of the current department is blocked in the door and cannot get out. If there is no severe punishment, what is the majesty of the court?"

In the reform of the Ministry last year, three more cabinet ministers were added, and Zhu Shunshui has also joined the cabinet.He said: "Kouque scholars should indeed be punished, but they should not be forced blindly, otherwise it will be difficult to block the mouths of the world. Many of them were just bewitched. They heard that there was a fraud case in the imperial examination, and they came to Koque with enthusiasm. The minister thought that it was enough to punish those who took the lead in causing trouble and collaborating with others, and there was no need to punish all the scholars who knocked on the queue.

Xiao Huan, who also joined the cabinet last year, disagreed with Zhu Shunshui's opinion: "Your Majesty, I feel that it should be strictly dealt with. Anyone who participates in knocking down the que is not allowed to be an official. However, their careers cannot be cut off and they are allowed to participate in the provincial government. Examination for official officials in the government."

Chen Maosheng stood up and said: "The people who knocked on the que this time are mostly scholars who have failed the rankings. They only think about the title of Jinshi, and they would rather waste time repeating the imperial examination and delay for a few years before releasing the seven or eight ranks, rather than the nine ranks. Officials should be down-to-earth. This class of scholars will become officials, and they will not be good officials! Also, this imperial examination has been more generous than it was three years ago. Let self-financed university graduates also have the qualifications to be released. The imperial court is already making concessions, and the scholars who have failed will press harder. If the imperial court makes further concessions, I don’t know what unreasonable demands will be made in the next imperial examination!”

"What are you going to do?" Zhao Han asked.

Chen Maosheng said: "Those who participated in knocking on the gate will all have their honors revoked. Their university diplomas will be taken back. Not only will they not be able to be officials anymore, they will not even be allowed to take the official examination!"

"No!"

The other cabinet ministers objected in unison, and they all disagreed with Chen Maosheng's statement.

However, Chen Maosheng was firm: "For a Jinshi title, even a ninth-rank official would be disdainful, and would rather take the exam for three, six, nine, or even more than ten years. What is this kind of person an official for? They Even if you become an official, will you be serious about doing things? Will you plead for the people? No way, you will only form cliques to climb up! If you don’t punish severely, you will definitely fuel the arrogance of this generation, and you will also create unhealthy tendencies in the officialdom. In the end, it became like the previous Ming Dynasty. The first list looked down on Shuji scholars, the Shuji scholars looked down on ordinary Jinshi, the second list looked down on Jinshi, and the third list Jinshi, and Jinshi looked down on Juren as an official, and Juren looked down on Bagong officials! , have sex with each other, form cliques, officials and officials protect each other, and form cliques to fight against each other!"

Everyone is silent, it is not good to argue.

Zhao Han smiled and said: "So many failed candidates knocked on the que, then I will take another step back..."

"Your Majesty, don't back down!" All the cabinet ministers stopped together.

"If I don't back down, how can I dispel the grievances in the hearts of scholars?" Zhao Han laughed more and more happily, "I ordered the Ministry of Rites to publish a list outside Donghua Gate, saying that they would be allowed to participate in the examination indefinitely. They are determined to take the exam. Jinshi, let them take the exam. But..."

As soon as the cabinet ministers heard the "but", they knew that the emperor was about to play tricks again.

Zhao Han said: "First, as long as you fail the first test and give up the opportunity to be released as a ninth-rank official, you will not be able to be released directly for the rest of your life. You must be admitted to Jinshi before you can become an official. If you are admitted to Jinshi, you can no longer be a government official, you can only be a miscellaneous official, or you can be sent to a local school. Third, if you are over 30 years old, you can no longer take the official examination!"

The cabinet ministers were all holding back their laughter, the emperor was really full of bad water.

If these three conditions are taken out, even if the imperial examination is allowed indefinitely, most of the failed scholars will choose to directly release the ninth-rank officials.Except for those who are really confident, who the hell would dare to take the imperial examination repeatedly?Once you fail the exam three times in a row, you can only be a miscellaneous official for the rest of your life, so it's better to just let it go.

In this way, Yoyo's mouth can be blocked, so that the failed scholars can no longer complain.The truly capable candidates were given three full chances to take the test, but within nine years, they couldn't have diarrhea and get sick all three times, right?If this kind of thing really happens, don't complain, it is reasonable to find a temple to burn incense.

Suddenly, Zhao Han's expression became serious: "The leader who investigates this matter strictly, will be deprived of his honor, and his university diploma will be taken back!"

……

Outside the Donghua Gate, the past two days have been very lively.

The scholar Kou Que knelt down and did not leave, but it was cheaper for the small street vendor.

Although stalls are not allowed outside Donghua Gate except for important solar terms, you can set up stalls far away.Noodles, chaos, three meals a day are sold, and anyone who is hungry can order takeaway.

Several servants walked back and forth, and suddenly their eyes lit up, and a servant came over and pointed to the chaotic soup on the ground: "Your Majesty is kind enough to allow you to eat outside Donghua Gate, but you didn't let you dirty the gate of the city. Who spilled it? Tang Shui, fine ten cents!"

The student who accidentally spilled the soup couldn't get used to the servant's arrogance. He wanted to argue a few words, but he was afraid that something big would happen.He had no choice but to put down the bowl, and took out two coins for Wuda: "Take it!"

Dang Wuda is already the highest denomination of Datong copper coins.

The Datong New Dynasty was very unreasonable. Only the copper coins of this dynasty were allowed to be used, and Tongbao from the Tang, Song, Yuan and Ming Dynasties could not be used.

Of course, in order not to seriously affect the lives of the people, there is no such thing as a one-size-fits-all approach.As long as it is copper coins, it can be exchanged at Datong Bank, weighed, and inspected for fineness. Anyway, the bank will not suffer losses.The rubbish in the last years of Chongzhen was worth ten qian, and if it was taken to Datong Bank, ten qen could only be exchanged for one penny of new money.

Even the low-quality copper coins minted by Li Zicheng were accepted, but the exchange value was kept very low.

This approach has caused the people in some areas to have their little savings shrink sharply.

Therefore, in some provinces, they dare not only collect money for agricultural taxes and allow farmers to pay their grain directly, because they are afraid that people will have trouble if they have no money to pay taxes.

"Brother Da Zhong fainted, send him to the hospital!"

The team that knocked on the que for orders suddenly became chaotic, kneeling for two days in a row was really unbearable.

Amidst the chaos and clamor, many scholars took the opportunity to adjust their postures, stretching their arms and loosening their legs.Some people's legs and feet are already stiff because of kneeling for too long, and they can't move at all. They simply lie down and say to those who come to help them: "It's okay, it's okay, I'll lie down for a while."

Lying all over the place in disarray.

Not long after, there was even a snoring sound, and I don't know which man fell asleep.

Zhang Tianzhi stood far away and said in a low voice, "Will your Majesty give in?"

Li Xun said: "Even if you make concessions to the scholars who failed the ranking, you will not make concessions to us scholars of the former Ming Dynasty. To be honest, I regret it a little. I am originally from Nanjing. If I had served as a small official back then, I guess I could be a magistrate now." Yes. I had a childhood classmate who didn’t even pass the examination as a scholar, but now he is the magistrate of Yongping. Although Yongping is remote and there are not one out of ten people, the magistrate is the magistrate after all. Time and fate are all to blame. too high."

"How can you think like that?" Zhai Wenben said, "We all have a reputation for raising people, how can we be a knife and pen official? It's a shame and a shame!"

"An official is here!" Zhang Tianzhi's eyes widened.

A clerk of the Ministry of Rites, followed by two miscellaneous officials, walked quickly from the south street.

When they arrived outside the Donghua Gate, one miscellaneous official brushed the paste, and the other miscellaneous official posted the notice on the wall.The official said, "Don't kneel down, just read the notice."

The unsuccessful scholars who knocked on the que quickly got up and gathered under the notice to read carefully.

There are a few students who failed the exam, probably because they were self-confident about their talents, and felt that their performance was abnormal this time, and they would definitely pass the next exam.They cheered, knelt down again, kowtowed towards Donghua Gate and shouted: "Your Majesty is holy, long live your majesty, long live, long live!"

More failed scholars looked at each other in blank dismay, speechless for a long time.

"Oh, let's go."

Finally someone left with a sigh, and walked with a limp due to kneeling for too long.

For the vast majority of scholars, they dare not gamble their lives at all.The emperor seems to have given them an unlimited opportunity to take the imperial examination, but the attached conditions are too harsh, and it is very easy to beat them. It is better to become a ninth-rank official after the first exam.

Moreover, they have no reason to fight anymore.

The emperor did give him a chance, he did make concessions, and if he continued to make trouble, he would only appear to be unreasonable.