Chapter 241 The World Has Changed (Part 8)
Old Fourteen looked at the group of people in front of him, and the displeasure in his eyes made them almost tremble. This was the angry glare of the Prime Minister of the Cabinet, which could potentially kill someone.
"Your Majesty, Sun Jiagan is ungrateful..."
"Bullshit!" Old Fourteen said angrily, "Sun Jiagan is a man who loves fame. Since he said no, why are you still unwilling to let go? Do you want to embarrass me?"
The people in front of him bowed their heads in silence. It turned out that it was the Fourteenth Master who sent people to speak up for Xiang, and after being rejected shamelessly, he stopped the people below from taking revenge for personal gain, and it was these people who spoke well of Sun Jiagan in return. Why is it so difficult to work for the Fourteenth Master?
Almost at the same time, Lord Lu also arrived at the Thirteenth Old Man's residence. When there was no one around, Lord Lu whispered, "Your Majesty, this time I saw a few people who wrote well..."
"Give it to me." Old Thirteen said, and put down the document in his hand.
Lord Lu quickly sent over several copies of the article. When Old Thirteen saw the last copy, he couldn't help but laugh and said, "Is this all done in one go? Also, what's with this ghostly scribble?"
Lord Lu smiled bitterly. They were all scholars. One could tell whether a piece was completed in one go by looking at it. Whether it was the ink color, the force of the brush, or whether the writer had eaten in between, there would be obvious differences.
After telling Thirteenth Master about Gao Pang's situation, Lord Lu explained, "Your Highness, Gao Pang said that he couldn't remember clearly, and he could only use this mark to remember which part it was."
"Oh. That's interesting." Old Thirteen nodded. "Ask these people to write a few more articles. As for the titles, here are them."
"Your Highness. This..." Lord Lu was a little uneasy.
"Don't be afraid. I asked Sun Jiagan to take a look, and it has nothing to do with this scientific expedition."
Lord Lu was relieved. After all, the examiner was Sun Jiagan, a man who dared to publicly say that he had a "good reputation" during the Yongzheng era. Such a person was so careful about his reputation that if there was any involvement, it would be troublesome.
After Lord Lu left, Old Thirteen picked up a few more articles, glanced at them casually, and then picked up Gao Pang's article. The more he read, the more he felt that although the article was immature, it had correct ideas and good intentions. Even if he didn't say it directly, the emperor's attitude towards the sole power was very much in line with Old Thirteen's feelings.
Now too many forces want to have their own influence in the court, and Yongzheng was ruthless to these people. Even guys like Li Fu, who were upright and courageous, would be dealt with ruthlessly as long as they were considered to be cliques by Yongzheng.
The killing of Yongzheng triggered a major change in power within the court. However, the Thirteenth Brother did not change his original intention. To this day, he still believes that the path chosen by Yongzheng is correct.
Putting aside Gao Pang's article, Old Thirteen continued to immerse himself in official duties. After the beginning of spring, this imperial examination will end, and in March, the expeditionary army equipped with a large number of artillery and muskets will march to Shandong to fight the traitor Huo Chong to the death.
Gao Pang didn't expect that he would be asked to do the test questions alone. He was surprised but didn't feel anything special. He finished a few sets of questions quickly and then stood up to leave.
The other people obviously didn't expect Gao Pang to leave so soon, and they looked at him as if he were a monster. Lord Lu just looked to see if the questions were finished, and when he saw that the questions were answered, he also said nothing.
After everyone finished the questions, they were reluctant . It was obvious that they wanted to get something out of Lord Lu. Lord Lu would never let these guys affect his future. He politely but indifferently told them to go back and study hard to prepare for the exam.
I took advantage of the night to deliver the question to the Thirteenth Master's residence, and saw that there was already a young official waiting there. Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be Liu Tongxun.
Now Liu Tongxun is the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice. Although officials in the capital generally believed that Liu Tongxun would be given an important position when Yongzheng was alive, they did not expect that Liu Tongxun would be given an important position so soon after Yongzheng's death.
Lord Lu knew his duty, so he left without saying anything more. The Thirteenth Master had no intention of keeping him, so he naturally let him leave.
After leaving, Lord Lu sighed in his heart. Although the court lost an emperor, there were so many people who were qualified to be emperor, and there was no shortage of backup. However, the six ministries of the court lost hundreds of officials, leaving a large number of first, second and third grade positions vacant, and many fourth, fifth and sixth grade officials were quickly promoted.
Liu Tongxun was transferred away from Yongzheng and went to the Ministry of Justice at that time, so he survived. Just by surviving, he got such a major promotion. This luck is really extraordinary.
However, the first Jinshi in the special examination this time were also very lucky. Even if they were Manchu Jinshi, they had to serve as Shujishi for several years. This time they could directly become officials.
After all, this is Enko.
The Qing court kept a close watch on Huo Chong. However, Huo Chong behaved like a normal bandit, staying in his lair and minding his own business. Apart from launching an attack on Liangshan, he did not cause any trouble.
That's how it was. When the special examination was being conducted, the capital was on high alert, as if war was about to break out at any time.
The candidates who came with Gao Pang felt even worse after they passed through the passage with a guard every three steps and underwent strict inspection. They were already depressed when they learned the real purpose of the Enke. The capital has been very alert, and they were not allowed to visit the famous places in the capital.
Everyone was shivering in the cold twelfth lunar month, and it was inevitable that they would drink while warming themselves by the fire. After drinking too much, they could not help but complain, which made them even more unhappy.
Gao Pang had completely given up all his thoughts since the day he learned about En Ke's true identity , and concentrated on preparing for the exam according to what he had learned. Since he was sure to fail, it didn't matter.
Bannermen already accounted for half of the Jinshi quota, and this time they were going to select bannermen as Jinshi. There was nothing much to say.
No, that's exactly why. Precisely because there was no hope, Gao Pang was full of anticipation for this exam. He wasn't looking forward to the results, but was full of interest in the exam itself.
After the exam, Gao Pang could go to Shandong to join Huo Chong without any regrets. Gao Pang even wanted to write down the content of the exam and ask Huo Chong to help analyze whether there were any mistakes in the logical relationship.
Gao Pang concentrated on the test paper and did every question very carefully. He found that the contents of the Four Books he had read carefully in the capital city had actually come into play. He had already mastered three of the five questions. He had memorized two of them when he was studying hard in the capital city.
After finishing the questions, I completed the other parts. After checking to make sure I had made no mistakes, I handed in the paper.
When the exam time is up, all the candidates leave the room and hand in the exam papers after sealing them.
Sun Jiagan certainly knew the purpose of this special examination, and he did not allow the name to be written separately. This caused many officials to go to Lao Shisi to complain. Lao Shisi snorted coldly after hearing this, "Do you look down on us Manchu men so much?"
When this was said, the officials were puzzled. Of course, some smart ones knew what the Fourteenth Master meant, but most of them didn't.
The fourteenth elder cursed in a disappointed tone, "At this point in the exam, almost anyone who passes the examination can become a Jinshi. Don't we Manchu men even have enough? I heard that many people who knew about the things in this special examination did not come to take the exam. If you are still talking so much nonsense at this time, are you still trying to give us Manchu men face?"
No one dared to say anything after being rebuked like this. However, everyone felt much worse about the Prime Minister.
Many people even think that the Fourteenth Prince is too hypocritical. This hypocrisy is worthy of being a brother of the deceased Fourth Prince, Yongzheng, who has the same father and mother!
Someone here also quietly told Sun Jiagan what happened. Sun Jiagan didn't care at all. As a person who values reputation, he would not compromise or give in on matters related to reputation even if he was beheaded.
Not only did Old Fourteen's reaction fail to make Sun Jiagan burst into tears of gratitude, but it made Sun Jiagan feel that Old Fourteen was still the key to figuring out the problem.
The Ming Dynasty promulgated the "Imperial Examination Rules" which stipulated that "all talented children from the public can participate in the selection, but clerks are not allowed to take the exam". The Ming Dynasty's imperial examinations excluded singers, servants and minor clerks, and also restricted the appointment of Jinshi from royal families. Shen Shixing, a university scholar during the Wanli Dynasty, once said: "The imperial examination system of our dynasty does not distinguish between the poor and the officials."
After the establishment of the Qing Dynasty, Shunzhi made the rule that "Manchus cannot be selected as the first place" and "Bannermen cannot take the top three places" in order to balance the relationship between Manchus and Han people. However, when it was implemented, there was an unwritten rule: if no one in more than three generations passed the imperial examination, they could not participate in the imperial examination, which was called "cold status". In addition, when participating in the examination, Bannermen could choose their own seats, but Han scholars did not have this right.
The so-called "Manchus are not ranked first" and "Bannermen are not ranked among the top three" are just for show. Manchus do not need to be ranked among the "top three" to enjoy many super-national treatments. As for the top three, "number one, number two, and number three", those Eight Banners children who are only interested in eating, drinking and having fun are naturally not interested in them.
Because of the requirement that someone must pass the imperial examination within three generations, the majority of Jinshi and Juren candidates were children of bannermen.
Sun Jiagan felt that if the Fourteenth Prince really wanted to be wise, he should cancel this rule. That would be the true respect for Manchu men.
After the grading was finished, Sun Jiagan reported his work to Old Thirteen. Old Thirteen was really a little uneasy. Sun Jiagan would not show favoritism, so the one he picked must be knowledgeable. For this reason, Old Thirteen ordered Sun Jiagan through Emperor Hongli that the number of people who passed this time must be four times that of the last time.
What if... the Qing Dynasty really doesn't even have enough qualified people...
The sealing line was removed to reveal the names. After checking, Old Thirteen finally breathed a sigh of relief. One hundred people were to be selected this time, twice the number of people in the usual imperial examination. That's why four times the number of people had to pass.
Ninety-one Manchu candidates passed the examination and were qualified for the palace examination. At least there was not a big gap.
One hundred minus ninety-one, the remaining nine are naturally for the Han candidates. In the eyes of Old Thirteen, this ratio is just right. It can even be said to be very good.
