Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

Luoyang, Gongyuan.

One after another, Tai students were suddenly told that there would be no class today, so they had to bring their pens, ink and inkstones and follow the teacher.

As we walked, we arrived at the Gongyuan of the Ministry of Rites, where the imperial examinations were held.

"Is this an exam?" Hong Mai looked at the team in front.

Lu You didn't answer this. He realized something was wrong last night.

His father, Lu Zai, was urgently recalled to the capital and succeeded Huan Guo as Minister of Rites. I arrived in Beijing at noon yesterday and went to the palace to meet the Holy Spirit in the afternoon. I have not returned home until now.

His mother sent a servant to inquire, and the Donghua Gate guard asked him to wait slowly.

After continuing to inquire, I learned that many officials from the Ministry of Rites had gone to Gongyuan. They all ate and stayed in Gongyuan last night and did not leave.

Wang Lianqing whispered: "Have you noticed? The three intellectuals are not here today. They are usually in school every day."

Hong Mai guessed: "You won't be caught?"

"Don't talk nonsense!" Lu You scolded, "The three intellectuals paid tribute to the Academy yesterday."

Wang Lianqing asked: "How do you know?"

Lu You said: "My father went to Beijing yesterday and became the Minister of Rites. He also stayed away from Gongyuan all night."

"Your Majesty did it..."

In the middle of speaking, Hong Mai quickly resisted shouting and turned to look at Wang Lianqing next to him.

"Line up, all line up, waiting to get your number for the entrance exam!" An official came over to maintain order.

The three intellectuals they mentioned were all in Gongyuan at the moment.

The emperor ordered a surprise test to test the academic skills of all the students.

The battle was very scary. They were first called into the palace, and then went straight to the Gongyuan to ask the questions. They were busy working most of the night and didn't sleep.

The Imperial College official positions in the Ming Dynasty were basically inherited from the Song Dynasty, but there were subtle changes.

For example, Guan Gou Taixue's official affairs (principal) was changed to Zhi Taixue's official affairs. It's called Zhixue.

There are also two vice-principals, whose names were changed to Tong Zhixue.

In the Song Dynasty, official positions such as knowing, judging, coordinating, promoting, advising, and managing hooks... were all dispatched positions, and they were initially temporary or part-time.

Take the Privy Council as an example. The real chief officer is the Privy Councilor, but there is often someone who knows about the Privy Council affairs. The same goes for county magistrates, who occasionally appear to be magistrates.

The Ming Dynasty and the New Dynasty continued to simplify the official system and merged official posts, official posts, and official posts into official titles, which were used to determine seniority and pay wages. All specific assignments are unified into formal official positions to confirm the relevant rights and responsibilities of officials.

Now Taixue has one Zhixue (principal) and two Tongzhixue (vice-principals).

There are also Taixuezheng, Shishixuezheng (students, no official title), Taixuelu, Shishixuelu (students, no official title), Taixue doctor (professor), Taixue assistant (lecturer), Taixue Direct Lecture (Junior Level Lecturer)…

"The emperor has arrived!"

"The emperor has arrived!"

Several voices came from far and near, and all the officials, teachers and students in the Gongyuan were in a mess. They turned around and came to pay their respects outside the gate of the Gongyuan.

But he saw a horse running towards him and shouted: "Do whatever you have to do, and go back!"

Everyone quickly stopped and restored the previous order.

Ju Ming's car stopped at the entrance of the alley, and he opened the curtain and observed silently.

Suddenly, a few guys who looked like students were walking carefully against the wall, trying to get past the emperor's car to the gate of Gongyuan.

Immediately, a guard went over to stop him. After some questioning, he came back and reported, "Your Majesty, those are all imperial students."

Ju Ming's face was extremely ugly: "Hold it and let their teacher take them."

Taixue allows students to study as day students, especially those whose elders are in the capital, and can go back to live with their families every day.

However, there is a strict attendance system, students are not allowed to arrive late and leave early, and requests for leave must be approved by Taixue University. Even if you are sick, you must make up for the leave afterwards, and it must be signed by a doctor.

The decline of Taixue in the past dynasties all started with absence from classes.

After a hundred years of development, the vast majority of Taipei students have graduated and have never attended a class. He even lives directly in his hometown, one or two thousand miles away from Taixue!

The few imperial students were brought before the emperor, looking panicked and embarrassed.

Zhu Ming smiled and asked, "How long has it been since you came to take the exam?"

A Tai student replied: "We were so hungry last night that we were late this morning. We didn't know there was an exam, so we went to the school first and then rushed to Gongyuan..."

Ju Ming interrupted: "Do you know what the crime of deceiving the emperor is?"

"Your Majesty, spare your life!"

The Tai student knelt down and immediately changed his words: "We went to Goulan to play last night and slept too late to get up early."

Ju Ming asked: "Who is your father? He should be a senior official in the court, right?"

The student lowered his head and remained silent, not daring to answer at all.

Zhu Ming thought about it seriously and said: "Forget it, you are still young, it is not too late to change your mind now. I won't ask your names, nor will I find your teacher. Go to Gongyuan to take the exam quickly."

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Several imperial students all knelt down, kowtowed crazily towards the emperor, and then ran away without a trace.

Lu You and his friends have already received their numbers to enter.

The Imperial College of the Ming Dynasty offered many subjects, but only "Mathematics" was compulsory, and then one "Six Classics" and one natural subject were optional.

As for the "Four Books", they are not taught in schools but must be tested.

Why not teach?

How the hell did you get recruited into the Imperial Academy if you didn't even master the "Four Books"? Even if you are a recommended student from the descendants of honorable ministers and martyrs, you should first go to Piyong (Tai Xue Preparatory Class) and study the "Four Books" before coming back.

The Six Classics of the Ming Dynasty belong to the New Six Classics, which removes the "Yue Jing" and adds "Xunzi".

Of course, if students feel that they have extra energy, they can continue to take more elective courses. If they pass more elective courses in the exam, they will be more likely to be given priority in the graduation exam.

Since the time of Emperor Huizong of Song, the graduation exam of the Imperial College has been presided over by the emperor himself.

Zhu Ming also inherited this fine tradition. Every year, there are limited places for graduates of the Imperial College to be directly awarded as Jinshi. Those who can get this honor are all the best papers without exception!

Last year, there was a student of the Imperial College who scored full marks in mathematics, full marks in physics, three excellent and one good in the Four Books, one excellent, one good and four acceptable in the Six Classics, and all acceptable in astronomy, geography and law. However, he was not awarded the status of Jinshi and could only choose to fight again next year.

By the way, Zhu Ming merged the Imperial College graduation exam with the system exam and changed it to a specialized exam that included various miscellaneous studies. This attempt failed and lasted only one term before it was announced to be separated.

Now there are three types of imperial examinations in the Ming Dynasty:

First, the Imperial College Shangshe exam.

Only the students of the Imperial College Shangshe can participate. It is held once a year, and there are ten Jinshi quotas in each term.

A student of the Imperial College can take the exam up to three times, and then he is forced to graduate or finish the course.

If a student of the Imperial College cannot do well here, he can also take other exams. Especially graduates of the Imperial College, they will immediately obtain the status of Juren and can directly take the joint examination - but graduates cannot.

Second, the regular examination.

That is, the traditional imperial examination, all scholars can sign up.

Third, the special examination.

That is, the special examination, which has a variety of subjects, divided into two categories: various schools of thought and practical studies.

It is staggered with the traditional imperial examination, and is also held every three years, but there are only 50 special examination quotas for Jinshi in each session, which can be directly appointed as middle and senior art officials. There are also 100 special examination quotas for Juren, who can be directly appointed as low-level art officials.

Lu You took the "Spring and Autumn Annals", which is his family's knowledge.

He also took the "Er Ya" in the Thirteen Classics, which is also his family's knowledge.

He also took the "Physics", "Astronomy", "Geography", "Xunzi" and "Book of Songs".

Lu You heard from his seniors in Shangshe that if he only chose these, he would not be able to be awarded the title of Jinshi unless all of them could get excellent grades. Of course, there would be no problem in graduating successfully, as long as he graduated, he would have the status of Juren.

He didn't know what a roll was, but he felt it was so terrifying.

The top scholar of the Imperial College last year was a guy named Zhang Congdao. He entered the Imperial College at the age of ten as a Shandong child prodigy, and studied in the Imperial College for a full ten years. He only passed the promotion exam when the time limit was up, and even the graduation exam was taken when the time limit was up.

He was a stickler who didn't leave, and ate and drank for free in the Imperial College while studying.

His graduation results were terrifying.

Mathematics, physics, astronomy, geography, law, and the Four Books were all excellent, the Six Classics were two excellent and four good, and even the dictionary Erya was good.

He even invented mathematical formulas when he was still studying in Neishe.

Lu You felt desperate when he thought of Zhang Congdao.

How could he compare with such a child prodigy?

However, Zhang Congdao's whereabouts were even more bizarre. He was not given any real job, but was only given an initial official title, and then disappeared without a trace.

I heard that he was taken to Wangchuan Valley by the emperor.

But Lu You thought it must be a rumor. The emperor had abdicated long ago, so why would he take such a genius?

After waiting for a long time, the questions were handed out.

Lu You found that the questions were not difficult, and the number of questions was also small. It was no different from the usual monthly and ten-day exams, and even the extra elective subjects did not need to be answered.

Lu You answered the questions on an empty stomach until the afternoon. He finished answering the required questions, and then went to do the optional questions out of boredom.

It was not until dusk that the invigilator announced the handing in of the papers when he was so hungry that he was uncomfortable.

The invigilator also said: "There are cars outside the alley. Take the cars back to school in batches. The canteen has prepared meals."

Lu You left the Imperial Examination Hall with the crowd and found that the emperor's carriage was still at the entrance of the alley, blocking half of the alley.

Zhu Ming had been in the backyard of the Imperial Examination Hall.

The examiners quickly corrected the papers, and they were very perfunctory in marking them. They just glanced over the papers without any problems.

On the contrary, they would stop and look at the unqualified papers for a few more times, and then immediately hand them over to the guards to send to the emperor.

Zhu Ming was checking more than a dozen papers at the moment, and his face was extremely ugly.

He had only started marking the papers for half an hour, and so many rubbish papers were sent in.

Although there were self-funded students in the Imperial College, there was a threshold for paying to study, and not just anyone could come.

Zhu Ming said to the officials of the Ministry of Rites and the Imperial College around him: "How did these students get into the outer dormitory of the Imperial College? If they were not recommended students, the professors in charge of the official schools they originally studied at would all be arrested for investigation!"

No one responded, this was the power of the Ministry of Justice.

The number of recommended students in the Imperial College was very small, and they were all descendants of those who had made great contributions or sacrificed for the country, or descendants of officials in bitter and cold places.

For example, Yue Fei and Han Shizhong were officials in the grasslands, where the education conditions were poor, so their sons were sent directly to the capital, and were promoted from various official schools to the Imperial College.

Zhu Ming asked: "Is Biyong just for show? Why don't students with poor academic performance go to Biyong for supplementary studies?"

Ding Wo, the scholar, replied: "Biyong's quota is full. Most of these students are promoted from official schools in various places, and it is really not easy to let them all drop out."

Zhu Ming said: "Enforce the discipline of the Imperial College. You set a standard, and those whose academic performance is too poor will be directly ordered to drop out!"

Ding Wo reminded: "Your Majesty, in some remote counties, the students are not good overall, and you can't kill them all with one stick."

"That's right," Zhu Ming was willing to accept the advice, "then give the unqualified students a year to make them work hard to catch up, at least not to fail all subjects. Except for those from remote counties, all unqualified students this time will be expelled."

"As ordered." Ding Wo bowed.

Zhu Ming said to Lu Zai: "Reformulate the rules for admission to official schools and plug the loopholes of favoritism and fraud."

"Yes."

Lu Zai secretly breathed a sigh of relief, it seems that the emperor did not intend to investigate to the end.

He had just become the Minister of Rites, and he did not want the education system to be investigated and messed up.

Qin Hui suddenly confessed Su Zhu, just to disperse the manpower of the three judicial departments, so that the investigating officials who were already stretched to the limit would go to investigate corrupt officials in a wider range. In this way, he could delay time so that he could live a few more days.

Zhu Ming's idea was simpler. Those school officials were indeed messing around, but in the final analysis, there were loopholes in the rules.

Just plug the loopholes, let the school officials from all over the country off for now, and only investigate those who were caught in this surprise test.

The administrative cost of a large-scale investigation is extremely high. If we have that time, we might as well investigate a few more corrupt officials.