Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

When the Ming fleet set sail from Ceylon, the second imperial examination after Zhu Ming ascended the throne ended.

The opening of the palace examination papers directly made the southern officials speechless.

Seven of the top ten were from Sichuan, Shaanxi, Henan, Luoyang Prefecture and Kaifeng Prefecture. The remaining three were from Zhejiang, two from Zhejiang and one from Fujian.

This was completely different from the early years of the Southern Song Dynasty, when most of the top few in the palace examination were from Fujian, Zhejiang and Jiangxi. Not to mention Henan and Shaanxi, even Huainan was in a mess, so how could the northerners have anything to do with the imperial examination?

Now, Sichuan was the first to stabilize, followed by Shaanxi and Henan, and was the first to promote subjects such as mathematics.

In addition, the prosperity of the printing industry also played a very important role.

There were three major printing centers in the Northern Song Dynasty, namely: Meishan, Hangzhou, and Jianyang.

The Ming Dynasty added two more: Hanzhong and Luoyang.

These five places all had developed papermaking industries, and paper could be obtained nearby to print books. Moreover, the literary style was extremely prosperous, and village schools and community schools were very popular, and even the children of self-cultivating farmers could read.

Hu Anguo carefully counted the data and said, "First, Jiangxi measured the land, then the clans were demolished. This lasted for nearly two years. The scholars may not be interested in learning. This time, there is no one from Jiangxi in the top 20, and the total number of Jinshi is 12 less than the previous session."

After browsing the birthplaces of the new Jinshi, Zhu Ming said to Hu Anguo, "In the next imperial examination, set up a separate list for the former Liao and Jin areas and the northern part of Goryeo to give three Jinshi quotas. Otherwise, the scholars there will never pass the exam. After 20 or 30 years, these places will be merged into the northern list again."

"Yes!" Hu Anguo bowed.

The imperial examination always takes politics first, don't talk about whether it is fair.

Since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, it has been suppressing the three provinces of Fujian, Zhejiang and Jiangxi because there are too many officials in these places. If it is allowed to develop freely, the court will be full of southerners at a glance!

However, now that Sichuan, Shaanxi and Henan have risen, the south can be moderately relaxed.

Zhu Ming continued, "Zhejiang, Fujian, and Jiangxi provinces can each add two more candidates for each term."

"Yes!" Hu Anguo accepted the order.

Zhu Ming said, "Let's announce the names tomorrow."

The cabinet and the Ministry of Rites officials withdrew, and Zhu Ming continued to review the memorials.

The memorials submitted by the Ministry of War were a headache. It was almost time to end the war in the southwest.

Last autumn, the four routes of southern Sichuan, eastern Sichuan, western Hunan, and Guangxi sent troops to clear the barbarian chieftains who pretended to obey along the way, and then attacked Luodian Kingdom, Ziqi Kingdom, and Temo Road.

Facing Yang Zaixing's army, the chieftain of Temo Road, Nong, was the first to surrender.

This kind of surrender was the same as not surrendering, because Temo Road had already surrendered to the Ming Dynasty. But it was just surrender, not paying tribute, not listening to orders, and often looting surrounding tribes.

Yang Zaixing asked the chieftain of the Nong family to surrender in person, but the other party hid in the mountain stronghold and refused to come out.

Then we can only attack the mountain!

In just two days, Yang Zaixing broke through the barbarian camp, but the chieftain of the Nong clan escaped. Then he gathered the remnants and fought guerrilla warfare in the vast mountains, and from time to time he also coerced or robbed other small tribes.

For four months, the chieftain of the Nong clan had not been destroyed, and who knows where he was hiding in the ravine.

Yang Zaixing was so angry that he burned down the barbarian camps after breaking through them, and burned down twelve barbarian camps before and after, which forced the barbarians of Temo Road to share the same hatred.

According to the recent news, the chieftain of the Nong clan seemed to have fled to the territory of Dali.

So Yang Zaixing sent a memorial to the court, saying that the weather there was about to get hot, and requested to withdraw his troops first. Another chieftain named Nong Dezhi was very obedient throughout the battle, and hoped that the court would appoint him as the envoy of Temo Road.

Temo Road was already very difficult to fight, and Luodian Kingdom and Ziqi Kingdom were even more difficult to deal with.

The terrain of those two small countries was more complicated, and they had the same origin as the thirty-seven barbarian tribes of Dali Kingdom.

The Ming army fought their way forward and won several victories in succession.

Those barbarians immediately changed their tactics, not only fighting guerrilla warfare among the mountains, but also retreating to Dali Kingdom when they were in danger. Then they brought the 37 barbarian tribes of Dali Kingdom and suddenly came back to set up an ambush in the mountains.

Dali Kingdom agreed to help, but was powerless.

From the Nanzhao Kingdom of the Tang Dynasty to the current Dali Kingdom, the 37 barbarian tribes have never been conquered. They could only force these barbarians to surrender, and then they rebelled from time to time, killing two prime ministers of Dali Kingdom.

The Ministry of War summarized these situations and has given a solution:

First, withdraw troops before the weather gets hot.

Second, Ziqi and Luodian must abolish their country names and surrender to the court.

Third, in Ziqi, Luodian and Temo, each of them will appoint a local chieftain as a pacification envoy.

Fourth, speed up the immigration around these three places.

Zhu Ming picked up his pen and wrote: "Yes."

This way of handling means strategic failure.

The four armies attacked, and if the local soldiers and civilians were counted, the total number of people mobilized was nearly 100,000.

Countless money and food were wasted. Although the barbarian population was sharply reduced and the casualties were heavy, not even a king or a chieftain was captured. They could only force the barbarians to surrender like the Dali Kingdom. Who knows when they will rebel again in the future.

Juzhou has been changed to Guizhou. Zhu Ming added a sentence in red pen: "Within five years, no more troops will be used against Temo, Ziqi, and Luodian. The serious criminals in Sichuan will be exiled to Guizhou. The southern Sichuan army will nibble at the three barbarians of Mahu, Nanguang, and Luoshi, and recruit landless farmers to build villages and cultivate."

Damn, the southwest cannot be conquered!

Zhu Ming is not Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Di after all. He really can't bear to carry out large-scale immigration.

Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Di conquered the southwest and easily immigrated hundreds of thousands of people. In the process of forced migration, I don't know how many people were separated from their wives and children, and how many people died in the Yunnan-Guizhou area.

After thinking about it, Ju Ming added another sentence: "For those who voluntarily immigrated to Mahu, Nanguang, Luoshi, and Guizhou, all guilty persons will be pardoned, and all debtors will have their debts written off. The government shall not pursue their crimes, and creditors shall not pursue their debts! This order , announced to the world with an edict that voluntary immigrants can register at the local government.”

The southwest region seems to be in business for a long time, and the Dali Kingdom can continue to exist for many years.

Ju Ming decided to shift the direction of expansion to the northwest and destroy Xixia first!

Although the northwest is barren, the immigration environment is better than the southwest, and it is more convenient for the court to send troops to suppress it.

…

The Grand Ceremony of Chuanlu.

"The first person in this imperial examination is Zizhou Zhao Kui."

A 19-year-old young man who is short, thin, ugly, and has a face full of acne, takes the lead with a confident step.

From the Tang Dynasty to the Song Dynasty, when the imperial examination was established, there has never been such an ugly number one scholar!

At this moment, everyone is paying attention.

This Zhao Kui was called "Little Dongpo" by Zhao Gou in history, and the people called him the "Pockmarked Number One Scholar".

Because he advocated resisting the Jin Dynasty and not dealing with Qin Hui, the top scholar actually used his body as a selector to work as a minor official.

The school secretary, who could have been directly awarded the award, illegally delayed the award for three years, and his luggage was searched on the way back to Beijing. As a result, except for travel expenses, all he brought were books.

Qin Hui could not cure him of corruption and bending the law, so he took his family to the capital, claiming to be taking care of him, but in fact it was a threat. Still didn't work, Qin Hui's party members accused him of writing poems to complain about the emperor.

Unfortunately, this man died young.

The new scholars went to change into their official uniforms and lined up to enter the main hall to pay homage to the emperor.

Zhu Ming waved his hand and said, "The Number One Scholar is coming closer."

Zhao Kui moved forward step by step.

Ju Ming carefully observed the pimples and said, "After the Qionglin Banquet, you can see the imperial doctor for treatment."

"Thank you for your concern, Your Majesty!" Zhao Kui said with a bow.

Ju Ming smiled and said, "Tan Hua Lang, you go and choose the flowers."

"yes!"

Sun Yaochen happily accepted the order.

Sun Yaochen is thirty-one years old this year. He is from Shaanxi. He is unknown in history. He probably died in the Jingkang disaster.

He took several palace guards and happily went out of Donghua Gate and became the first flower-hunting man to resume the flower-hunting activity.

The group of people rode horses and wandered around the city of Luoyang. First they went straight to Tianwang Temple, which has more than 100,000 peonies.

Since the capital was Luoyang, and the imperial examination coincided with the flower blooming season, it was natural for the Jinshi to use peonies for hairpins and parades.

When Sun Yaochen was selecting flowers at Tianwang Temple, many Luoyang citizens heard about it and came. Especially those florists, who came to recommend themselves with samples and asked the flower hunters to choose their own peonies.

The new Jinshi was waiting outside Donghua Gate, and Sun Yaochen returned with three hundred peonies.

After everyone finished tying their hairpins, they began to ride horses and parade through the streets.

The Xixia envoy Cao Tuan stood on the roadside, looking at the Jinshi who were proud of the spring breeze, and hearing the cheers of Luoyang citizens in his ears. He couldn't help but sigh: "This is what scholars should be like!"

Taira Kiyomori held a Japanese sword and asked, "Cousin, can we reform the imperial examination?"

"It's difficult." Hanoi Jingguo shook his head.

Japan also had an imperial examination system at this time, but it had been abandoned for more than a hundred years.

All Japanese candidates must be recommended by powerful people. As long as you take the exam, you will definitely pass. If the essay is too bad to pass, then the recommender will help change the judgment and pass.

This is similar to the imperial examinations in Goryeo and North Korea.

Especially North Korea's Enko, the exam results have already been released, and only the poor scholars know that there is an exam this year.

Taira Kiyomori said: "I know why the Ming Dynasty has become strong. Talented people can become officials instead of being promoted based on noble blood. Japan also has many heroes, but without a prominent background, they can only be buried among the people."

Hanoi Ching-kuo said: "Whoever dares to reform the imperial examination will definitely die a good death. Don't mention this again after you return to China."

"I know." Taira Kiyomori was quite helpless.

Hanoi Jingguo asked again: "How are you doing at Taixue?"

Taira Kiyomori said: "I have already completed the elementary school, and I learned many of them in Japan. If I take the exam again, I will be promoted to the inner school to study the scriptures."

"The Confucian classics contain the road to governing the country. You should study hard." Hanoi Jingguo told him.

Taira Kiyomori was too lazy to argue. He still wanted to learn the art of war, but it was a pity that the military academy did not admit foreign students.

After the hairpin parade, the next day they paid homage to the Confucian Temple.

Then came the Qionglin Banquet.

At the banquet, Zhao Kui showed up again.

When responding to a poem in front of the emperor, Zhao Kui, the ugly number one scholar with a face full of acne, wrote two famous sentences that moved Luoyang: "The number one scholar has thousands of flowers, but I am the first to bloom."

Zhu Guoxiang also came to participate in the Qionglin Banquet. After eating and drinking, he returned to the palace. He said to his son: "I will move out in a few days."

"So soon? You can stay for another two years." Zhu Ming persuaded.

Zhu Guoxiang laughed and said: "Luoyang is boring. I feel more comfortable when I go to a villa. I farm, grow flowers, and fish every day. I go hunting when I have free time, and then make inventions with the craftsmen. Haha, how many more days will you live in this kind of retirement life?" It takes ten years to enjoy it. No, you may not be able to enjoy it in your lifetime. It is very difficult to retire as an emperor!"