Chapter 8 Counter-essay!
Guo Chong and other officials were shocked. They stood up quickly, went to an empty space aside, knelt on the ground, and respectfully welcomed the arrival of Prince Zhu Biao.
Soon, Zhu Biao, wearing regular clothes, entered the hall. Zhu Biao had a square face, a slightly thin complexion, and a gentle smile on his lips.
Enter the palace.
Seeing all the ministers kneeling down, Zhu Biao frowned and said with displeasure: "My lords, please get up quickly. Since the fourth year of Hongwu in the Ming Dynasty, Your Majesty has issued an edict, ordering officials and people to resume bowing. Salute.”
"The Hu customs of the old Yuan Dynasty have been abolished by the Ming Dynasty."
Li Shanchang raised his hand to signal the officials in the palace to get up quickly, and said at the same time: "What your Highness said is absolutely true. Your Majesty will drive out the Tartar humiliation and restore China. At the beginning of the founding of the country, he was determined to overthrow everything of the Yuan Dynasty. "
"When the country was founded, the soldiers and civilians in the world still followed Hu customs, drank banquets and wine, and mostly knelt down as a ritual. Therefore, I, the Ming Dynasty, chose Chen Gang. Establish discipline."
"However, the reason why the officials bowed to His Highness was not to follow Hu customs, but to follow another law of the Ming Dynasty."
"Fan. If a subordinate officer is inferior in rank to his superior, he will kneel down when he is asked to do something. It is difficult for officials who are close to him to do so, so they should kneel down and bow.”
"Your Majesty has appointed you as the chief executive officer of the imperial examination this time. He is the direct superior of our ministers, and you should accept this ceremony of kneeling down."
Li Shanchang made a gesture to salute Zhu Biao.
Guo Chong and others also took advantage of the situation and followed Li Shanchang's words, bowing to Zhu Biao and saluting, with their eyes showing a little touch of Zhu Biao.
Zhu Biao shook his head and said nothing more.
Li Shanchang smiled slightly, with a hint of cunning and shrewdness in his eyes.
He knew that Zhu Biao did not really hate the kneeling ceremony of hundreds of officials, but that the officials who reviewed the papers today were mostly people with literary talents and talents. Zhu Biao always valued these people, so he made a special statement and revealed his own feelings. Respect and intimacy.
Li Shanchang understood the truth, so he went out of his way to explain a few words to the officials, and also gave Zhu Biao an acceptable reason.
Both parties gained decency.
The Ming Dynasty did abolish the old system in name, but in writing and in reality, it is still different after all. If you really believe in that, you will only harm yourself.
The officials recruited for review this time have all been serving in the court for more than ten years, and there is no one who doesn't know the rules.
Zhu Biao sat down at the main seat and said in a deep voice: "It has been thirteen years since the last imperial examination in my dynasty. Now the imperial examination is newly opened. There are many candidates taking part in the imperial examination. Now the test papers have been sealed here."
"I don't want to talk nonsense."
"Just one request, you must not have any thoughts of malpractice for personal gain, grade papers fairly, and treat all candidates' papers equally."
" If someone has selfish motives, undermines the fairness of the imperial examination, and ruins the reputation of our country, then don't blame Gu Bu for mercy."
Zhu Biao had a stern look on his face.
He would never allow anyone to commit fraud in the imperial examinations. He would never show mercy to anyone who dared to undermine the fairness of the imperial examinations in the Ming Dynasty.
Li Shanchang and other officials hurriedly said: "I have absolutely no selfish motives and will definitely report it to the Duke for review. Please rest assured, Your Highness."
Zhu Biao nodded.
He waved his hand and motioned to the clerks on the side to distribute the test papers for this imperial examination.
After this episode, Wenhua Hall became quiet again. The officials sat in their seats and reviewed the relevant test papers that had been assigned.
During this period, if any test paper is outstanding, it will be notified to other officials and marked. After the preliminary review is completed, it will be handed over to other officials for review again.
The final ranking will then be determined.
It’s approaching noon.
Wu Gongda has reviewed nearly a hundred test papers, but only a handful of them caught his eye. In fact, these test papers are not without their dazzling features, but they are just not enough.
Breaking the topic, continuing the topic, starting the lecture, the first part, the second part, the third part, etc., etc., etc., do not always give people a refreshing feeling.
In such a grand examination as the imperial examination, if you cannot always maintain outstanding answers, you will ultimately be of insufficient quality, and it will not be enough to support this candidate to stand out.
When Wu Gongda opened a new test paper, he just glanced at it, but his eyes lit up and he read it out loud.
"Your Highness, I have seen a good test paper." "The first test of the general examination, the question is: the people are enough, the king is not enough, and this examinee is quite good at breaking the questions and answering the questions. Opinion. ”
“The candidate’s point of view is: the people are rich below, and the king is rich above.”
"Then the title is: The wealth of the emperor is hidden in the people; since the people are rich, how can the emperor be alone in poverty? Youruo expresses the meaning of the unity of the emperor and the people to express his condolences to the Duke."
< br>"Gai said: The public added gifts to meet the needs of the people; if they want to meet their needs, they must first satisfy their people..."
"..."
Wu Gongda had a look on his face He solemnly read out this answer question to seek the opinions of other ministers. If more than half of the ministers agree, it can be included in the next step of the review process.
Zhu Biao and others listened carefully.
The title of the first examination content comes from "The Analects of Confucius·Yan Yuan", which tests the relationship between the people and the monarch, and Wu Gongda read this article with great literary talent.
The arguments discussed are all reasonable.
It is outstanding.
Just when Wu Gongda read the fifth and sixth verses with a joyful expression, he heard a plop, and Guo Chong next to him accidentally fell off the stool.
This scene also made everyone laugh.
Wu Gongda was interrupted by this and subconsciously stopped, but it didn't matter whether he finished reading it or not. He had just noticed the expressions of Zhu Biao, Li Shanchang and others, and they were all very satisfied with the test paper.
In fact, there is no need to read this test paper again.
The standard has been met.
He collected the test paper and looked at Guo Chong. He also became interested and said jokingly: "Brother Zixiang, the content of this test paper is certainly good, but you don't need to be so surprised."< br>
“The article you wrote for the imperial examination was ranked first in the imperial examination. You are so shocked now, it is not your normal character.”
Wu Gongda joked, taking this opportunity to liven up the atmosphere. It was approaching noon, and it was almost time to eat, so there was no need to be so serious.
However, Guo Chong did not answer.
Rarely, he didn't refute. He didn't seem to hear Wu Gongda's teasing at all. He stared straight at the test paper in front of him, and his face turned pale without warning.
His lips turned blue, his body couldn't help but tremble, his pupils were filled with fear, and there was no trace of joy at all as Wu Gongda thought.
Only fear.
He saw a counter-article!
Zhu Biao also smiled and said: "Guo Shilang, I have heard about your talent. The answers to this test paper are good, but after all, this is the resumption of the imperial examination after a suspension of more than ten years. In these Naturally, he has accumulated a lot of literati. "
"Why are you so rude? "
Guo Chong just woke up from his dream and didn't even bother to wipe the cold sweat from his forehead. He knelt down without getting up. On the ground, he trembled and said: "Your Highness, it is not the test paper that I read in Brother Wu, but..."
"It is the article that I read myself."
"Oh." Zhu Biao's eyes were slightly strange, and he was also interested. He smiled and said: "But Aiqing has discovered another great talent. Come on, read it to me."
Zhu Biao looked happy. .
Why did the Ming Dynasty reopen the imperial examination?
Isn’t it just to select people with great talents to govern the country from all over the world? Nowadays, a test paper can shock a role model. How can this not surprise him?
Guo Chong lowered his head and did not dare to raise his head at all. He hesitated and refused to speak. It was not until Zhu Biao asked again and again that he spoke tremblingly.
"Go back to Your Highness."
"What I saw was not an article of great talent, but an article..."
"An anti-article!!!"
( End of chapter)