Volume 1: Birth! Seven time travelers Chapter 023 Loyal Ministers and Officials
"Your Highness Sun Chengzong pays homage to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."
"Hahaha, Mr. Sun, I've heard of your great name for a long time. Now that I've met you today, I feel like hearing about you is not as good as meeting you in person."
"I am terrified. I am only a Jinshi last year. How did my lowly reputation get to the ears of the Crown Prince?"
Because I am a time traveler, I am of course very familiar with and understanding of you, the famous official whose entire family died heroically in this historical plane.
Objectively speaking, Sun Chengzong will be 42 years old this year. As a newly-appointed Jinshi, this age is a little old: the ups and downs of officialdom, even if the second place has a high starting point, generally speaking, it is difficult to enter the cabinet without 20 to 30 years. At that time, the life span of the emperor in the Ming Dynasty was rarely more than 50 years old, so such a newly-appointed Jinshi was definitely not a potential stock.
In terms of history, Sun Chengzong's rapid rise in official position was due to the rise of the Jurchens and the corruption of the Liaodong War. During his four years in Liaodong, although there were no major wars, Nurhaci was unable to effectively capture the land of the Ming Dynasty again. On the contrary, his power was constantly shrinking. This is a manifestation of the fact that those who are good at fighting have no great achievements.
Of course, if he passed the imperial examination at this age in a peaceful and prosperous era, the best he could have achieved would probably be a minister.
However, no matter what, Zhu Youdong liked such a loyal, capable and pure minister from the bottom of his heart and was eager to recruit him for his own use.
"Student Zhu Youdong, greetings to Mr. Sun." I can't answer your question, let's perform the ceremony of paying respects to the teacher .
"Uh... hehe, please stand up, Grandson. The three of you should stand up as well."
After the teacher and student exchanged greetings, Sun Chengzong said, "Grandson, there are three more. For ordinary people like us, eight-part essays are a necessary skill for the imperial examination. But for those of you who will never have to take the imperial examination in your lifetime, the importance of eight-part essays is not that strong. But why do you have to learn eight-part essays?"
After Sun Chengzong asked this question, Zhu Youdong turned slightly and looked at his three study partners: Although you are very young, I also want to see how you answer.
"Sir, I think that if the crown prince learns eight-part essays, he will be a good examiner in the palace examination in the future."
The only person who could give such a crude answer was Li Chunzhong, a martial arts heirloom.
At this answer, Sun Chengzong just smiled slightly and looked at Zhang Shize.
"Sir, I think that we will have to deal with court officials in the future. And all the court officials are born with the eight-part essay. If we don't understand the eight-part essay, we will not be able to serve the Crown Prince in the future."
"Yes, the prince has mentioned something." Nodding slightly, Sun Chengzong turned to look at Wang Chengen.
"Sir, I think that the eight-part essay is the foundation of all essays. As long as you learn it well, you will be able to write poetry and songs easily in the future. Therefore, eight-part essay is a must-learn."
"Hahahaha~~ Well said. Well, what do you think, Your Highness?"
"Haha, I thought that eight-part essays were mainly used in the imperial examinations. The imperial examinations were an important way for the country to select talents. The country must have certain standards when selecting talents, and eight-part essays are this standard. As a monarch, only if you master this standard yourself can you select the best talents for the country!"
There are many arguments in later generations criticizing the eight-legged essay, and Zhu Youdong hated it before he traveled through time. But after traveling through time, his perspective was different, and the problems he saw were naturally different.
To put it bluntly, the eight-part essay is just a format. In the civil service , all candidates had to answer according to this format.
As for the format, what can't be found? In modern society, does the essay have a certain format? The formats of official documents at all levels are very clear: notices, letters, requests, and implementation plans are all different but have their own rules. Even various papers in natural sciences have strict regulations on the format.
Since these formats are popular in modern society and play a certain role, then according to the theory that existence is reasonable, the eight-part essay as a format is actually nothing big - the country must have standards and formats for selecting talents, and if there is no eight-part essay, there must be something else to replace it.
Its negative effect lies not in itself, but in the ancient Chinese feudal society. The only way to get ahead is to become an official. And the eight-legged essay became the only way for people to become an official. As a result, all the energy of the entire social elite was focused on the eight-legged essay. As a result, other aspects of society lacked talent and vitality.
"Your Highness is indeed intelligent! I bow down to you in admiration!"
"Sir, you are too kind."
Sun Chengzong's class didn't last long: it was too early for Zhu Youdong and his age to learn eight-part essays. How could he explain the meaning of the classics if he hadn't memorized the Four Books and Five Classics? He could only learn slowly.
The next person to appear was Wen Tiren, who was responsible for etiquette teaching.
To be honest, the imperial palace and the nobles attached great importance to providing Zhu Youdong with teachers and study companions, and they brought in all the elites.
Let's talk about Cao Huachun, who was scheduled to be Zhu Youdong's companion. He was the best student in the inner school. After polishing his essays for a few more years, he could take the imperial examination outside. Although he couldn't guarantee that he would get the first place, he should be able to get the second place easily. Chen Ju released such a person directly. Wang Chengen was also a leader among the young eunuchs. Other eunuchs who were not companions and were responsible for serving Zhu Youdong were also sent to the palace. It can be said that except for Wei Zhongxian, who was personally appointed by Zhu Youdong, other eunuchs were favored by the top eunuchs of the palace.
As for the nobles, it goes without saying that they all helped the crown prince to kill them. What else is there to say?
But on the civil officials' side, it is obvious that they are not very attentive.
Lu Kun and Shen Li are two old guys who are destined not to accompany the Crown Prince for long. Then the rest are the nerd Zhang Yicheng, the foul-mouthed Xiong Tingbi, the late starter Sun Chengzong, the lazy Xu Guangqi, and this "honest and lone minister" Wen Tihen.
Etiquette was very important to the ancient monarchs. Etiquette was the system, and ritual was the specific manifestation of these systems. In ancient society, especially in the middle and late Ming Dynasty, the literati believed that the most virtuous monarch should be a ritual machine: at different times and occasions, the emperor would attend and practice appropriate etiquette. Then the specific affairs of the country would be handed over to them - this was the most ideal monarch.
Specifically speaking of Zhu Youdong, he is now the grandson of the crown prince, the crown prince of the crown prince, and many rituals such as offering sacrifices to heaven and the state are not his turn. However, greeting the elders is a series of different rituals: meeting the empress dowager is one set, meeting the emperor is another, meeting the crown prince, meeting the other concubines of the previous emperor, meeting the concubines of the current emperor, and meeting other relatives, all have their own etiquette. In the future, there may be foreign affairs activities, meetings with religious figures, meetings with ethnic minority chiefs... There will be corresponding clothing, body postures, and many other requirements.
Therefore, etiquette lessons are of utmost importance and are a profound subject that must be taught by professional officials.
"Your Highness, the Crown Prince ."
"Haha, Mr. Wen, no need to be polite." Zhu Youdong was really happy looking at this famous official in history.
