Chapter 271 The Emperor Has a Problem, and the Power of the Capital Gradually Becomes Apparent

Gongshi are now unattainable among the common people and scholars, but when they come to the Forbidden City, they become a veritable primary school student.

Following the officials of Honglu Temple to the front of Fengtian Hall, 601 tributes were divided into two groups, east and west, standing facing north in Danqi. However, they were destined not to see the emperor.

Not to mention that only officials of the fourth rank or above can enter the palace, there is also a group of civil and military officials in public uniforms in front of the palace, so they, a group of tributes who do not have official positions, can only stand at the back in a dignified manner.

"Ascend to the palace!"

After waiting for a long time, a slightly sharp voice sounded from Fengtian Hall.

"I (students) are waiting to bow before Your Majesty. Long live my emperor, long live, long live!" The 601 tributes knelt down one after another and followed the officials in front of them in bowing.

At this moment, Haikuan and other Xinke Gongshi were very excited, especially some of the elderly Gongshis shed tears. It was the first time for them to be so close to the emperor.

After learning martial arts, he was sold to the emperor's family.

This is the highest pursuit of all their scholars, and now there is only one small step left.

As long as they go through the last rituals in an orderly manner and pass the last exam well, they will be able to become officials of the Ming Dynasty and fulfill their original wishes.

In fact, Confucianism has a bad side, but it also has a good side. Many tributes indeed have a pure heart of loyalty to the emperor.

The palace ritual music sounded and firecrackers were lit in front of the palace gate.

Zhu Youtang, wearing a dragon robe, appeared on the throne, and his whole person became more and more majestic as an emperor.

Today is the first day of the third lunar month, and all the rituals are the same as in previous court gatherings, but a grand palace examination ceremony needs to be added.

After the traditional ceremony, Guo Yong, the eunuch in charge of the ceremony, came to the palace with the palace test questions, and handed the test questions to Xu Qiong, the Minister of Rites, with his own hands.

Zhu Youtang couldn't help but raise the corners of his mouth slightly when he saw the test questions handed to Xu Qiong's hands.

There is only one current policy in the palace examination, and usually the cabinet ministers and other important ministers draft several questions for the emperor to choose one.

Zhu Youtang is a person who dares to make decisions. Whether it is rectifying the salt policy, sending troops to the Li Dynasty, or promoting cotton to go to sea, he can make the final decision despite all opinions.

Although Wan An and other important ministers sent many current affairs policies for him to choose from, they were all different from what he wanted to test, so he decided to concoct them himself for this palace examination.

Although it is not appropriate to eliminate candidates from the palace examination, it is still necessary to examine their true standards and select good candidates who can work professionally.

After receiving the test questions, Xu Qiong, the Minister of Etiquette, who was wearing a first-grade official uniform, walked out of Fengtian Hall holding the test questions, and then placed the test questions on the table in the center in front of the palace door.

"Student, thank your Majesty for the title. Long live my emperor, long live, long live!" Upon seeing this, the officials of Honglu Temple led 601 tributes to perform five bows and three kowtows to the title.

After the ceremony, the firecrackers went off again.

Amidst the sound of firecrackers, Emperor Hongzhi took the lead in retreating from the palace.

After the civil and military officials shouted long live the mountain, they exited the palace one by one.

Since the palace examination was nominally conducted by the emperor, the emperor himself was the examiner, and important ministers such as Wan An were only readers and deacons. Therefore, all tribute scholars were disciples of the emperor.

Under the auspices of the elderly chief minister Wan'an, the palace examination was announced to begin.

A group of military academies placed the prepared test tables in the open space on the east and west sides of Danqi, arranging them facing north.

Officials from the Ministry of Etiquette were responsible for distributing the answer papers, and the tributes had to kneel in line to receive them. After kowtow, they took their seats and answered the papers in the open air.

Eight years after Chenghua, the date of the palace examination was always fixed on March 15th. If it rained, you could only take the examination in the corridors on both sides of Fengtian Palace.

The Qintian Supervisor checked the date of this Enke Palace Examination and found that it would not rain today.

At this time, the sky was as clear as blue, with only a few gauze-like light clouds dotting the blue sky, among which were a few spring swallows and sparrows flying.

Six hundred and one tables were neatly arranged, and a group of important officials stood aside to supervise and whisper, while officials from Honglu Temple and the Ministry of Rites kept an eye on the candidates.

In fact, when it comes to the palace examination, fraud is unlikely to occur.

Not to mention that it is impossible to cheat in public, in fact there is no motive for cheating anymore. If you take the exam honestly, you can get the title of Jinshi. If you cheat here, you may be beheaded. The risks and benefits are obviously asymmetric.

"Here are the questions for the imperial examination!"

As an official from Honglu Temple showed the question board, all the candidates suddenly felt like they were dreaming of going back to the county examination. The initial county examination did not issue test paper questions, but a county official held the question board. Walk around the exam room.

Of course, the question boards for the palace examination are not the same as those for the county examination, and the questions in the palace examination are usually longer, and some questions in the palace examination can reach more than 300 words.

In addition to the original questions, several officials from the Ministry of Rites copied four copies and placed them in the four major areas so that candidates can see the questions more accurately.

In fact, none of the candidates who have made it this far can be Ma Daha. They can usually know what the palace exam is about by just looking at the questions.

In full view of everyone, the title of the imperial examination was presented: "Since I came to the throne, I have been eager to govern, day and night... In the past Qing Dynasty, we talked about Lao and Zhuangzi, in today's Qing Dynasty, we talked about Confucius and Mencius, using empty words to understand one's mind and one's nature, instead of cultivating one's own governance. People's practical knowledge is lazy and everything is in ruins. The minions are dead and the four kingdoms are in chaos. The Chinese state is overthrown and the clans and societies are in ruins. Empty talk about waste affairs and idle writings hinder the important... As far as the Huai and Yellow Rivers, people's livelihood and destiny are tied, but river affairs The embankments built by ministers and ministers are of no use, and they will collapse during heavy floods. If you have lived under the embankment for a lifetime, and the embankment collapses this summer, and your houses and farmland are lost, how will you make a living? And how will the court arrange it?... Erduoshi Yunhuai Kangjijiu Well, the details of the reckless man are in the article, and I will take a look at them personally."

When all the candidates looked at the front of the test questions, they felt that the question about river management was easy to come by, but after reading the question, they were stunned.

They are better than anyone else when it comes to talking about how to control rivers, or how to resettle victims. They even have countless good water control methods in their minds from the sages of the past.

Just let them put themselves in the shoes of the victims and put themselves into the victims. What the hell is this?

River management has always been nothing more than the imperial government allocating money. Local officials would take some and then use it to work the people to build embankments. As for the disaster, the court can open warehouses to provide disaster relief.

Incidentally, the current focus is on the people who have lived under the dike for generations, allowing them to view this recurring disaster from the perspective of the people under the dike.

When Xu Hong read the questions, he couldn't help but swallow hard, but he remembered the question about Huichang Hou in the second test.

As it has been pointed out earlier that "empty talk is useless, and superficial words are useless", we cannot talk rhetorically, but need to come up with concrete measures, but there is actually a dilemma here.

For a bankrupt, asking for too much from the court would be too greedy, but if he doesn't ask for anything from the court, he is doomed to starve to death, so this is actually a matter of stance.

For a while, the candidates in the entire examination room were slow to write. This palace examination with no elimination rate brought them a huge problem.

After Li Yu and Li Si saw the questions of the palace examination, they couldn't help but exchange glances silently. The current emperor really had the common people at the bottom in his heart.

The people downstream of the river embankment are a vulnerable group among the vulnerable groups, but they are still under the discernment of the current Holy Emperor.

It's just that this is undoubtedly a difficult problem. Now that the emperor has raised an unprecedented problem, it is necessary for these new members to express their stance and provide suggestions.

Forbidden City, Palace Garden.

After presiding over the court meeting, Zhu Youtang went to Qin'an Hall to worship Emperor Zhenwu and pray for the Forbidden City to be protected from fire.

Things have proven that this move is still effective. Even though what he is doing now violates the interests of many people, there has never been a fire in the Forbidden City since he came to the throne.

After Zhu Youtang briefly worshiped, he walked out of the gate of Qin'an Hall.

It is already March in spring. Although the Ming court does not like to plant flowers and plants in the palace gardens, the tall locust trees on both sides have sprouted tender green leaves, presenting a spring-filled scene.

"I have met Your Majesty!" A middle-aged woman in a rich dress walked towards him and saluted immediately.

"Royal Aunt, how are you doing lately?" Zhu Youtang smiled slightly when he saw the visitor.

The fertility of the Ming emperors during this period was actually quite strong. Not to mention that he has a small group of younger brothers and sisters, Emperor Yingzong is also very prosperous, with as many as eight daughters alone.

It's just that they are both princesses. Due to the different status of their mothers and concubines, they are naturally favored and not favored. The most prominent one is the Chongqing Princess Zhu Shuyuan in front of her.

Zhu Shuyuan ranked second among the eight daughters of the Yingzong. Because she was the sister of Mingxianzong, and she was quite popular with her mother, the Empress Dowager Zhou, she had a transcendent status.

The Prince Consort's Mansion in the Ming Dynasty was usually built in the man's hometown, but the Prince Consort's Mansion of the Princess of Chongqing was located in the east of Beijing. She often visited the Empress Dowager Zhou in the palace, so she was a frequent visitor to the palace.

Princess Chongqing has been in contact with Zhu Youtang several times, and she responded quite politely: "Your Majesty is sincerely concerned about me. Everything is fine!"

Zhu Youtang has finished his routine work here and is preparing to go to Yangxin Hall to handle official business.

Princess Chongqing saw that Zhu Youtang was about to leave, but she knew that her nephew was no longer the obedient prince he had been before, so she hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, please stay!"

"What's the matter?" Zhu Youtang had already guessed that Princess Chongqing deliberately created this chance encounter, so he asked calmly.

When the Princess of Chongqing saw Zhu Youtang stopped, she smiled and said her intention: "I heard that Zhu Ji was going to retire and return to his hometown, so I wanted to discuss something with His Majesty!"

Huh?

Liu Jin couldn't help but be stunned for a moment, looking at the Chongqing princess in confusion.

Not to mention that the resignation of the dignified Jin Yiwei commander is of great importance, but the emperor has not yet learned about it, so why would the Chongqing princess know about it in advance?

Of course, it could also be a rumor outside the palace, but the princess believed it to be true.

"Huang Gu, who did you hear about this? I have not received Zhu Ji's resignation so far!" Zhu Youtang was also slightly surprised and asked back calmly.

Although he only had to use his words to remove Zhu Ji, he just needed to clean up the Jinyiwei. He could find a reason to clean up all the related households occupying the position, so he adopted the strategy of stopping with silence.

Originally, Yang Han could be traced to Zhu Ji through Jin Yiwei's colleagues, thus forming a super major case within Jin Yiwei, but Wang Yue has not yet found Yang Han.

If the source of Princess Chongqing's information is reliable, then Zhu Ji should have realized the crisis, but was ready to take the initiative to put down the power of the Jinyiwei commander and run away.

But before the resignation was officially submitted, the reason was a very secret matter. Why would the Princess of Chongqing, who was outside of power, know about this matter?

Princess Chongqing was also stunned for a moment, and then said with a smile: "I heard other people talk about it, but I don't know whether it is true or not! It's just that Zhou Xian was smart since he was a child, and the emperor often praised him when he was still alive. I think he can Share your Majesty’s worries!”

Adding people to the Jinyiwei system is not the exclusive domain of Wu Xun, civil servants and relatives. The son of a prince-in-law usually also joins the Jinyiwei system, and Zhou Xian, the son of a Chongqing princess, now serves as a member of the Jinyiwei Qianhu.

Originally, she had always felt that her son was too young, but her thoughts became active after she saw that the Queen Mother's natal family was being reused.

She does know how much her son weighs. Although it is unlikely that he will serve as the commander of the Jin Yiwei, serving as the third in command of the Jin Yiwei is also a good result.

Just like this, she knew that the emperor would come here every first day of the lunar month to worship Emperor Zhenwu, so she created this opportunity to find a position for her son to become a royal guard here.

"Since I came to the throne, I have always appointed talents and used their talents. If Zhu Jizhen really asks to resign, I will consider Zhou Xian!" Zhu Youtang knew that Zhou Xian was a typical playboy. Earlier intelligence showed that he was jealous of Sun Gao. As for the big fight, he said it lightly and perfunctorily.

Princess Chongqing's eyes lit up slightly, and she continued: "Your Majesty, there is one more thing! Yin Songcheng of Shuntian Mansion ignored the iron book of alchemy given to Huichang Marquis Mansion by the late emperor, and now he is still insisting on the case of Qian Mansion. , actually sentenced Sun Ming, the Marquis of Huichang, to death. This act of disregarding the iron seal of the elixir is simply an act of treason, so please Your Majesty to deal with Song Cheng and issue an order to release Sun Ming!"

this……

Liu Jin looked at the sharp-toothed Chongqing Princess with complicated eyes.

Since Song Cheng, the Yin of the Shuntian Prefecture, was the one who advocated the execution of Sun Ming, he guessed that the Huichang Houfu would definitely use their connections and eventually find the emperor to intercede.

It's just that he even considered the Dingguo Duke's Palace, but he didn't expect that the first person to plead for Sun Ming would be the Princess of Chongqing.

"Princess Chongqing, Song Cheng is a third-rank official of the Ming Dynasty. If he makes a mistake, I have my own discretion on how to deal with it! If you think his judgment this time is inappropriate, you can impeach him, but... the princess is not allowed to interfere in politics. , please remember this ancestral precept!" Zhu Youtang naturally defended Song Cheng, and expressed his stance calmly with a straight face.

ah?

The Princess of Chongqing thought she had caught the dignified Shuntian Prefecture Yin, but only then did she realize that things were completely different from what she thought.