The Ming Dynasty’s Prodigal Son - Chapter 607

[607.Chapter 589 Palace Examination]

The palace examination in the sixteenth year of Hongzhi’s reign was highly anticipated.

Mainly because I lost too hard.

Outside Xishan Academy, almost no one had a bright face.

Among them, the tenth place is a Gongsheng student from Jiangxi. Logically speaking, the top ten are considered to be among the best, but… it is still like eating a fly. In this world, some people only remember the first place, but not necessarily the second place. It is also possible to remember the second place. Second, even third, fourth, fifth… But what the hell is this tenth?

Emperor Hongzhi got up early in the morning, washed himself first, and then had breakfast. The early breakfast was a bowl of rice porridge with some side dishes.

It’s just…

the taste of this rice porridge…

those imperial chefs are really wasting their resources.

Although there are a lot of ingredients in the rice porridge, when you taste it, it always feels like something is missing.

As for the side dishes…

not very good!

Emperor Hongzhi raised his eyes: “Why didn’t you put some thirteen incense?”

Xiao Jing understood: “I remember, the day before yesterday, His Highness the Crown Prince sent some food to Kunning Palace, saying it was some radish… the empress likes to eat it. It is said to be spicy and delicious. It is said that Mr. Wen personally pickled it.”

Emperor Hongzhi shook his head. Although it was sent to Kunning Palace, it was considered filial to send it to the palace, but he specified that it should be sent. Kunning Palace, what the hell is this?

Emperor Hongzhi said: “Bring some. When I heard the word Mr. Wen, I felt that the food here was even more unpalatable, but I was salivating over Mr. Wen’s food. Come on, go get the radish.” Emperor Hongzhi did

n’t. I like eating radishes, but they always taste weird.

But Mr. Wen’s radish must be tasted.

Xiao Jing hurriedly filled a bowl of shredded radish. The radish was in strips and had a lot of sauce on it, especially the sauce, which looked terrible and red.

Emperor Hongzhi glanced hesitantly, then picked up a radish and put it in his mouth.

Since the last time I ate hot pot, I tasted the spiciness. Although it was too spicy and I couldn’t stand it, thinking about it afterwards, I actually found it a bit interesting. From now on, the meals in the palace will also be better because of Empress Zhang and the Empress Dowager. Put some spicy thirteen incense, and Emperor Hongzhi gradually got used to it.

Emperor Hongzhi chewed the shredded radish. It was very crisp, without the usual taste of carrots, but the sour and spicy feeling suddenly stimulated the tip of his tongue, which was a bit ‘painful’. He was busy hanging his head. After drinking a bowl of gruel, he

let out a long breath.

It’s a little interesting.

He continued to drink porridge with spicy strips. After a while, Emperor Hongzhi was sweating profusely. But it felt so refreshing. It was the first time that I had such a refreshing breakfast.

Comfortable…

He wiped the sweat from his forehead, pointed at the shredded radish and said, “This thing can’t be bought with a lot of money.”

Xiao Jing said with a smile: “I heard that this shredded radish is also used to make radish rouge, but This chili is not made from Spicy Thirteen Fragrance, but the chili is minced and pickled. Your Majesty, this small dish is said to be worth only a few dollars, only a dozen yuan. It is said that At this price, it is still profitable.”

Emperor Hongzhi laughed dumbly: “This is called turning decay into magic. Mr. Wen is like this, and the same is true for many things in Xishan, like the balloon, which is just a few whale skins. , it can make people float in the sky, and it can be used as a weapon in border towns.”

Emperor Hongzhi stood up and said, “Let’s go, today is the palace examination, I want to see how big the students of Jinke are. His ability.”

A moment later, Emperor Hongzhi arrived at the Jinshen Hall and ascended the throne. All officials and tribute students had been waiting for a long time and saluted Emperor Hongzhi one after another.

Emperor Hongzhi looked at all the students with a smile, especially the first ones, led by Liu Jie and others, all of them were in high spirits. Emperor Hongzhi said: “I have been appointed by God for sixteen years, and I have consulted five tribute students. , Now I am getting older and my body is occasionally not good, but I can see that the spirits of all the students are here. Soon I will enter the court as an official. They all say that there are three great pleasures in life, and among them is the time when I am named on the gold medal. Today, I am asking you to discuss the pros and cons among outstanding people. National affairs involve the well-being of millions of soldiers and civilians. Therefore, those who are ministers must guard against arrogance and caution; and those who are officials must respect the common people. The common people are in mind. In the future, you will be both ministers and officials. It is not enough to enter the official position just by relying on eight-legged essays. You should have strategies to stabilize the country so as not to lose the reputation of being a disciple of the saint.”

The Gongsheng students are gearing up one by one .

, then the roll call began, rolls were scattered, and then praises and salutes were made.

Emperor Hongzhi composed himself: “It’s time for me to pose a question…”

Seeing countless pairs of eyes looking at him, Emperor Hongzhi muttered: “How can I convince everyone.”

“…”

As soon as the question came out.

Liu Jie has bowed his head.

How to convince everyone? This is a ‘people-friendly question’.

I originally thought that His Majesty would take the Ma Zheng test, but unexpectedly, the test was actually this question.

To put it bluntly, the purpose of this question is how to convince the people.

This topic may seem small in scope, but in fact, it is so big that it can convince the people. Since the Qin and Han Dynasties, everyone has been advocating this, but how many people can do it?

Liu Jie thought for a while and then started writing. He was deeply touched by this, so he first wrote directly to break the topic: “Regard the people as human beings, and the people will obey them.”

He then wrote: “The way of the sage lies in benevolence. The way of benevolence is based on the people. If the people are the foundation, then the world will be stable. Look at it from the perspective of ministers. The people are human beings. They have flesh and blood. They have birth, old age, sickness and death, as well as joy, anger, sorrow and joy. The only thing that exists in the world is food, clothing, shelter, and transportation. Therefore, if you want to serve the people, you should see the weather change and look at the people’s warmth and coldness, and look at what the people eat…”

He started writing quickly. The policy was only about two thousand words long, but there were not many restrictions on the subject matter. You could write whatever you wanted.

As for Emperor Hongzhi, he was sitting high behind the imperial court. In fact, this question had been hidden in his heart for too long. How could he convince everyone? Yes, how could he convince everyone? The emperor had to convince everyone before he could become the most respected person in the world. Ministers must convince the public before they can be regarded as their parents.

This seems to be an extremely simple question, but its essence is the most essential issue surrounding the core idea of benevolent government in Confucianism.

Everyone was silent, while Emperor Hongzhi waited patiently.

This time when he came out of hell, he had too many emotions.

In the evening, the palace examination had just ended. The eunuchs collected the papers, and the students stood up again to salute Emperor Hongzhi.

Emperor Hongzhi didn’t say much. He treated all candidates equally, but… he just needed to find an answer.

Emperor Hongzhi immediately stood up.

At this time, someone said: “Your Majesty…”

Emperor Hongzhi looked back.

The ministers in these two groups have been silent all the time, and the ministers who are here to accompany the exam include officials from the Imperial Academy and the Ministry of Rites. Of course, the cabinet bachelors are also here. However, Liu Jian did not come because he wanted to take a break, and Li Dongyang did not come because he was sick. and Xie Qian are both there.

Li Dongyang and Xie Qian never expected that a disharmonious scene would occur at this juncture.

The two of them blushed slightly. The cabinet bachelor is the head of the hundred officials. They are the leaders of the officials and manage the officials for the emperor.

If something happens suddenly that disrupts the order of the court, it usually means that the cabinet bachelor cannot suppress the matter and cannot convince the public. Otherwise, with the cabinet bachelor here, who would dare to make noise and make trouble at will.

This kind of situation where lower-level officials jumped out to cause trouble at every turn was only in the Chenghua Dynasty when they were ridiculed and scolded as paper ministers and clay ministers. People had no respect for the cabinet ministers and the six ministers, and they would do it at every turn. Someone stood up and directly confronted the people below and made accusations. Moreover, such officials can be said to succeed one after another.

However, after Liu Jian and the others entered the cabinet, there were fewer such incidents. The main reason was that the three cabinet bachelors were dignified and respected. No one dared to bypass the cabinet and openly sabotage the government in the court, especially during the imperial examination. order.

Therefore, Li Dongyang and Xie Qian hurriedly wanted to apologize.

Emperor Hongzhi pressed his hand, and glanced at the person who spoke from a distance, it was Yang Tinghe.

Yang Tinghe Dayi stood up solemnly. He was a bachelor of Hanlin’s lectureship and concurrently served as Zhan Shifu of Zhan Shifu.

This is a clear stream among clear streams.

However… because of his notoriety, his career in this life may come to an end.

Because of this, he had nothing to be afraid of: “Your Majesty, I have something to report.”

Emperor Hongzhi nodded: “I love you, but it doesn’t matter.”

Regardless of whether Emperor Hongzhi likes Yang Tinghe or not, he is also willing to show that he is willing to accept advice. Attitude.

Yang Tinghe said: “I heard that His Royal Highness the Prince of Xishan Academy personally taught Zhu Shengzhi Lun a few days ago. I think this approach is very unfair. The Prince is the crown prince. He knows His Majesty’s thoughts, so he came to teach The students of Xishan Academy can surely win the heart of His Majesty with their answers.”

Emperor Hongzhi thought for a while and said, “Isn’t this possible?”

Yang Tinghe said, “If this is the case, then the students of Xishan Academy, He is bound to be at the top of the list, but I am afraid that saying this will be unfair to other candidates. “

“Then, how can we convince the public?” Emperor Hongzhi was not angry. He thought that although Yang Tinghe had some troublesome elements, he was still unreasonable. Such people also represent the views of some of the subjects. In this case, there is no need to be angry.

On the other hand, Li Dongyang and Xie Qian were very angry. Yang Tinghe had broken the rules. However, although they were angry, their faces were calm and at ease.

Yang Tinghe said seriously: “I think that if this is the case, then it is okay. This palace examination can be read out in public, and then your Majesty will be asked to judge it in person. I am waiting here to listen respectfully. I wonder what your Majesty thinks?”

Emperor Hongzhi took a look at the sky: “I’m afraid it’s getting late.”

Yang Tinghe said: “Your Majesty, this matter is related to the talent recruitment ceremony. In order to select good talents, even if some time is wasted, why not? The original intention of the court is to recruit talents.”

“Your Majesty .

Xie Qian had a bad temper and stood up: “I thought what Li Shi said…”

Emperor Hongzhi smiled and pressed his hands: “There is no need to be angry at Xie Qing’s family. His words are not unreasonable. That’s the case.” , so according to what he said, why not?”

(End of this chapter)