The stupid son of Chongba

Chapter 163: The Emperor is going to give up the sickly Crown Prince? The Wu Wang Party will soon appear in Ming Dynasty!
Chapter 162

Forbidden City, Kunning Palace.

"This time, I have acted like a rogue! There is no other way. In order to select more talented scholars and to give the northern candidates a chance, I have no choice but to do this."

"Next, it's up to that brat to write his test questions. He told me that his test questions can screen out truly capable officials. Humph! Let's give him a chance!"

"But, I'm still a little worried... If we re-examine and follow the brat's test questions, what should we do if the Jinshi quota is still occupied by candidates from the south? After all, after years of war, the resources enjoyed by southern students are not equal to those of northern students..."

"Girl, girl?"

Ma Xiuying was concentrating on mending the tiger-toe shoes in her hands, and seemed a little perfunctory in responding to Lao Zhu's chatter.

"Oh, stop mending shoes! What's the point?"

Zhu Yuanzhang snatched the tiger-head shoes from Ma Xiuying's hand and said impatiently,

"If you want to make shoes, we can just find a servant from the Needlework Bureau or the Clothing Bureau to make them for you! We can make a thousand or ten thousand pairs!"

"Don't put your energy into these useless things!"

When her tiger-head shoes were taken away, Ma Xiuying just frowned.

"Here, give it back to me."

Although her tone was calm, it contained a hint of command.

"you……"

"Hey!"

Zhu Yuanzhang sighed, but could only return the tiger-head shoes in his hand to Ma Xiuying.

“If I don’t put my energy here, then where should I put it?”

Ma Xiuying took back the tiger-head shoes and snorted,
"I'm not confident about the craftsmanship of those servants in the Needlework Bureau! Besides, this is for my future grandson. Every stitch is a token of my love as a grandmother. It can't be compared to a thousand or ten thousand pairs of shoes! Do you understand? Look at the beautiful gold thread on it!"

"For this beautiful cloud pattern, I even found someone to teach me how to do it!"

"In the future, my eldest grandson will wear these tiger-head shoes and my tiger-head hat, and he will definitely look very tiger-like! Hehehe!"

As she thought about it, she actually started laughing.

Zhu Yuanzhang: "..."

"Grandson, grandson, you only know grandson! It's still early for your grandson!"

He said angrily,

"Can we solve the current problem first?"

Ma Xiuying blinked when she heard this.

"The current problem? What is the current problem?"

"I have managed the harem in perfect order, and I have almost finished arranging Xiaojuzi's wedding. I was in a hurry at first, but the Imperial Astronomical Observatory said that there was a star movement on the eighth day, so the date was changed to the twenty-eighth, which was pushed back twenty days. So I am not in a hurry anymore, I just count the days and wait for the day to come."

"As the queen, I have done everything I need to do!"

Zhu Yuanzhang rolled his eyes.

"You are pretending to be confused even though you know the truth, right? We are talking about the current difficult problems in the imperial examination!"

Old Zhu said angrily,
"I still have some concerns! You always think you are so smart, can't you help me share some of my worries?"

"Also, don't tell us that the harem is not allowed to interfere in government affairs! We don't want to hear it! Go ahead and do it. I can't think straight, so I allow you to do it! Do it until you die and are carried into the coffin. The next generation of empresses will not be allowed to interfere in government affairs, and that's it!"

Ma Xiuying pursed her lips and smiled.

"Okay, I'm just teasing you! Would I not help you think of a solution?"

she said,

"When you said that, I was already thinking about it. It's actually not that difficult. Since you want northern scholars to become officials, why not just give them the chance to become Jinshi instead of letting them compete with southern scholars?"

"Northern scholars compete with northern scholars, and southern scholars compete with southern scholars. Both sides are given a certain number of Jinshi places. In this way, no matter what the results of the exams are, both sides can produce Jinshi and can become officials."

When Zhu Yuanzhang heard this, his eyebrows raised immediately.

"Separate them?"

He murmured,

"Is this... feasible?"

Ma Xiuying responded:
"Why not? You can give more Jinshi quotas, for example, 36 in the south and 36 in the north. Then the northern scholars will definitely have no objection. And the southern scholars will have more quotas because they will have less competition from the northern scholars, so they will definitely have no objection."

"The Ming Dynasty is short of officials now anyway, so recruiting 72 people in one imperial examination is not too many! As long as the selection is done properly, it will be fine."

These words made Zhu Yuanzhang fall into deep thought.

Ma Xiuying did not disturb him and continued to sew tiger-head shoes... This was the pattern between her and Zhu Yuanzhang. She just gave opinions. As for whether they were adopted or not, or whether they were implemented or not, that was all Zhu's business and had nothing to do with her.

“…Okay, OK!”

After a long time, Zhu Yuanzhang finally figured it out and clapped his hands in praise.
"This method is indeed feasible! After all, it's the first year, so we can recruit as many as possible. We can create a southern list and a northern list! Let's have people on both lists, and everyone will be happy!"

"Let's go study the division between north and south later!"

"However, as you said, when recruiting people in such large numbers, the screening must be strict and there must be no problems! Hey... why hasn't this brat come yet? Didn't we send someone to call him?"

Before he finished speaking, footsteps were heard.

"Say Cao Cao, and Cao Cao will be here."

Ma Xiuying smiled and said,
"Isn't this coming?"

Zhu Yuanzhang raised his head slightly and saw Zhu Ju strolling leisurely in the garden, and he couldn't help but frown.

"Brat, come here quickly!"

He ordered,

"I told you to come early, why are you dawdling?"

"Last time you boasted to me that you could come up with a real exam question to screen talents. For your question, I withstood the pressure and had the exam retaken. Now candidates from the north and south are eagerly waiting for the day of the retake!"

"Now, the key to the test lies with you! Are you ready?"

Upon hearing this, Zhu Ju just grinned, took out the paper in his arms and shook it towards Zhu Yuanzhang.

"Why are you in such a hurry? Isn't it right here?"

"Here... take it and have a look!"

He threw a few pieces of paper in his hand over. Zhu Yuanzhang was also curious at the moment, so he naturally did not blame the boy for his rudeness and quickly took them.

Just one look and Lao Zhu was a little surprised.

“So many words?”

"So long?"

Zhu Ju's test paper took up several pages! The paper was filled with dense writing!
Traditionally, the imperial examination questions were only one sentence, or even just a few words, but he did the opposite!
"That's the reference material. I took a lot of effort to compile it."

Zhu Ju said calmly,

"Real exam questions should be detailed and rigorous, with sufficient materials to allow candidates to make accurate judgments. If a person is talented, he will naturally be able to write brilliantly, while an incompetent person who just talks nonsense will be easily seen through."

"Just watch!"

Upon hearing this, Ma Xiuying also leaned forward and started reading along with Zhu Yuanzhang:

The Tao Te Ching says: "A great country is a lower stream, the female of the world, the intersection of the world."

The capitals of great countries are often located in the lower reaches of rivers, and are the hubs of water conservancy in the world. If water conservancy is prosperous, the country will prosper; if water conservancy is neglected, the country will decline...

Since the construction of the Grand Canal, it has been an important route for water transport in all dynasties and the lifeline of the national economy. However, since the first year of Hongwu, the Yellow River broke through Yuanwu, and the water of the Yellow River overflowed Caozhou and flowed into the Liangshan area, silting up for more than 400 miles, cutting off the north-south waterway and paralyzing water transport. The blockage of water transport not only affected the national economy, but also caused great trouble to the local people. Your Majesty is very worried about this.

If you were appointed by His Majesty as the chief officer in charge of water conservancy and dredging, how would you proceed with water conservancy in the face of siltation in the canal?
"This……"

Ma Xiuying said in some surprise,
"This exam question is really novel! It directly asks the students to solve the current problem!"

"Can they...answer it?"

How many officials in the court, let alone candidates who have not yet entered the officialdom, are capable of answering this kind of question?
"Hahaha, okay, very good!"

Zhu Yuanzhang held the test paper in his hand and exclaimed,
"That's what we want! If they can't answer, what do we want them to do?"

"If you can answer this kind of question well, you will definitely be a pillar of the country in the future! It's a little difficult, but it's difficult in the right way!"

"It's not easy to be an official in the Ming Dynasty! People who are incompetent should get out as soon as possible!"

After reading the test questions, Lao Zhu began to feel somewhat excited.

How will more than 400 candidates answer the questions?

With so many 'young talents', there should be someone who can deliver a good answer, right?
"It's actually not that difficult. This exam question is not asking the scholars to solve the canal blockage problem."

Zhu Ju smiled and said,

"If you can directly provide specific operational methods for such difficult problems, you don't have to be an editor, you can just go directly to the Ministry of Water Resources."

"What I want to examine is their problem-solving ideas. A person's experience can be accumulated and cultivated, but ideas often require a certain amount of talent. Unconventional ideas can often surprise people."

"Dad, Mom, please continue reading. I have provided reference materials at the end that can reduce the difficulty of their answers."

Wow.

Zhu Yuanzhang turned to the second piece of paper and saw the words "Reference Material 1" written on it. It gave a detailed introduction to the topography of Yuanwu, Caozhou, Nanwang and other places, and also focused on one of the key places, "Dai Village".

After reading the thousands of words, Zhu Yuanzhang gave a thumbs up.

"Sixth Brother, you can do it!"

He praised,

"I can see that you have put a lot of hard work into your research! It must have been very hard for you to collect these reference materials, right?"

"I feel like we can send you directly to build water conservancy projects now! None of the officials in the court understand as much as you do!"

These documents were very detailed and after reading them carefully, he was able to simulate the local topography and landforms in his mind at once, and even had some ideas on how to control the water!

"Well! After all, we are selecting talents for the country!"

Zhu Ju smiled helplessly and said,
"I'm asking for trouble by bringing up such a matter with you. You know my temper. If I do it, I'll do it well. Otherwise, I'll feel uncomfortable all over!"

"The reason why I spent so much effort to find information is that I want to set a sample for the imperial examination later. When setting questions, it is not enough to simply pick out sentences from the Four Books and Five Classics. That is pure laziness! If you really want to recruit talents, you have to put more thought into the questions!"

"All of you should follow my standard. This time you will ask about water conservancy, next time you will ask about disaster relief, and in the future you will ask about law. If you raise specific questions and provide materials to assist and guide, why should you worry about your pearl being covered in dust?"

In fact, his idea of ​​setting questions was also based on the "essay" questions in later civil service examinations.

clap clap clap!
Hearing this, Ma Xiuying also clapped her hands.

"Okay, great!"

She praised,

"You are worthy of being my child, you are so excellent!"

"Zhongba, you can finally praise your son this time, right? Just tell him how he did in the imperial examination!"

Zhu Yuanzhang smiled and nodded.

He looked through the reference materials again, and at the end he saw a simple water transport map. Several important places were marked on the map, and even the silted areas were painted black!
"Wow, the blueprints are all out!"

Old Zhu exclaimed,
"You're really something, little bastard!"

Originally it was just a question, and he thought it was a bit thin. But now, with the reference materials and the canal transportation drawings, he takes another look at it - it is simply perfect!
"I really have to praise you today, and I also allow you to stick your tail up!"

"Let's see. From now on, you will be the one to decide the questions for the Ming Dynasty's imperial examinations! I am very satisfied with this question and will use it in a few days! You can now take some time to start thinking about the next question. We will use it in the next imperial examination."

Zhu Ju: “???”

"You want to tire me to death? I'm just responsible for setting an example!"

He said quickly,

"Don't look for me later! I won't do it even if you look for me!"

I don’t know how much information I looked up and how many brain cells I used to come up with this question. I didn’t study so hard when I took the college entrance examination!

Come again?

forgive me!

"Hehe, with great power comes great responsibility."

Zhu Yuanzhang snorted,

"Don't want to do it? That's not up to you."

Old Zhu is the example of someone who would use his talents to the utmost. Now that he has grasped Zhu Ju's ability, how could he let him sit idle?
"Little Orange, don't feel pressured."

Seeing that Zhu Ju looked unhappy, Ma Xiuying quickly consoled him.

"The imperial examination only takes place every three years. It shouldn't be that difficult if you spend three years preparing for one question."

"When the time comes, mother will help you think about it. Selecting talents for the country is ultimately for our Zhu family, don't you think?"

When Zhu Ju heard this, his composure recovered a little, but Zhu Yuanzhang's next words made his blood pressure rise again.

"By the way, you will still be the president of this re-examination."

Zhu Yuanzhang laughed and said,
"You set the exam questions and you are also the invigilator. Now, it will be difficult for those new scholars to not become your students."

"That's good. It's better to let them be the prince's disciples than to be disciples of Li Shanchang and Song Lian."

Originally, he wanted to train Zhu Ju to become the "Prime Minister" so that he could complement Zhu Biao.

If one has many disciples, he will have a greater say in the court, and then he will be able to suppress a group of civil and military officials, which would be great.

"What the hell..."

Zhu Ju rolled his eyes and almost fainted from anger!

The idle prince... can't be the prince after all!
……

The next day, the emperor issued an edict to reopen the imperial examination on the 23rd of that month, with only one test lasting three days!

a few days later.

Outside the Imperial Examination Hall, there was a lot of noise.

Except for the thirty-six scholars who were deprived of their fame and reduced to their original state, all the other scholars were eager to fight and were in high spirits.

I thought I had failed, but miraculously the emperor ordered me to retake the exam!
This undoubtedly gives them a chance to revive!

"Last time, I didn't perform well enough. This time, I must seize the opportunity!"

"That's right. I didn't perform well last time. Fortunately, His Majesty showed mercy and ordered me to take the exam again. This time, I will definitely win the title!"

"Hey, do you know why His Majesty ordered a re-examination? I heard that... he was extremely dissatisfied with those thirty-six people and issued an order to re-examine them out of anger!"

"Tsk tsk, what a shame! They couldn't even seize the opportunity they were given."

"..."

The scholars were whispering to each other, and they were all in a good mood at the moment.

"What the hell are you farting at?"

The thirty-six scholars were already unhappy, and now they were being bullied behind their backs, how could they bear it? Some of the more irritable ones started shouting,

"You have no idea what tricky questions His Majesty has asked. Even if you were in his place, you wouldn't be able to do it! You're just making sarcastic remarks here!"

"By the way, you are not qualified to go. You are not even qualified to be eliminated! You failed last time, and you will fail this time too!"

These words touched the sore spot of the failed scholar. Both sides opened up each other's scars and became more and more emotional. They were all young men full of vigor and vitality, and when things got desperate, they would resort to violence!
"That's enough! We are all family, why are we making a fuss?"

"I heard that His Majesty sent them back this time to take care of the northerners! Did you know that no one from the north was on the list?"

"Yeah, I've heard that many people traveled a long way and were unable to take the exam. Haha... With their mediocre skills, what good would it do even if they managed to catch up? Can they be our opponents?"

"Just a northern barbarian."

"Shh, don't let them hear you, they are so big..."

"..."

The candidates whispered to each other, and naturally, they were divided into two groups, the north and the south.

The two sides dislike each other.

Since the fall of the Tang Dynasty, the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun in the north have been controlled by foreign races for as long as four hundred years!
Four hundred years have passed and the world has changed dramatically. If Zhu Yuanzhang had not successfully conquered the North and unified China, I am afraid that the South and the North would have truly been two races instead of recognizing the identity of "Chinese"!

From this point of view, it is no exaggeration to say that Zhu Yuanzhang had the merit of rebuilding China!

Boom!Boom!
A figure walked out of the Imperial Examination Hall.

When the scholars who had taken the exam saw the newcomer, they immediately bowed respectfully and said respectfully:

"Students meet the president."

Zhu Ju nodded and his eyes fell on the group of northern candidates.

"Are you all here? No one will miss the exam this time, right?"

He greeted with a smile,
"Students from the north have traveled all the way here and don't know southern music. You've worked hard."

"My father specifically told me to take care of you. If you have any requests or ideas, you can raise them now. I will solve them for you on the premise of fairness and justice."

When the southern scholars heard this, they all looked indignant.

This is clearly biased!
When the northern scholars heard this, they were all moved.

"Thank you, President!"

"Your Majesty has shown us the grace to allow us to take part in the imperial examination. We are already extremely grateful. We only hope to do well in the examination and have the opportunity to repay Your Majesty's grace. Apart from that, we have no other requests."

"Yes, I have no other request!"

They were quite sensible about the current situation and did not make any demands.

"Okay, that's a good idea."

Zhu Ju said loudly,
"I believe that whether you are scholars from the north or the south, you all have the ambition to repay the emperor's grace and benefit the people."

"But there are only so many Jinshi titles, and it is impossible to satisfy everyone. For this reason, my father racked his brains and stayed up for several nights before finally making the decision - the first imperial examination in the Ming Dynasty will increase the number of Jinshi candidates!"

When these words were spoken, everyone was happy!

No matter who you are, increasing the number of places is a good thing! It means that your chances of winning fame will increase greatly!

Even one more is a good thing! What if that one is me?
At this moment, even the thirty-six scholars who were beaten back had hope in their eyes!

I didn't want to make money just to show off my reputation! My honor was taken away the first time, but if I can pass the exam again the second time, it would prove that I'm not a fool, right?

If you can pass both exams, then your scores will be of great value and will be remembered by future generations!

"The number of Jinshi candidates has been increased from 36 to 72!"

Zhu Ju announced,
"After you finish the exam, His Majesty will sort your test papers according to your place of origin, and divide them into two lists, the South and the North!"

"By then, there will be 36 Jinshi candidates on the Southern List, and 36 Jinshi candidates on the Northern List!"

"This is an unprecedented way to recruit officials! Everyone, the opportunity is right in front of you, so seize it!"

"Come into the examination room!"

All candidates: “!!!” They were still in great shock and hadn’t reacted yet, but the soldiers had already walked up and searched them!

"Divide into north and south rankings? Your Majesty is determined to give honors to the northerners!"

"Is it too late for me to change my place of origin now? Actually, my grandfather is from the north..."

"Come on! You are a native of Jiangnan, and your grandfather is from the north, and my grandmother is from Shanxi!"

"..."

The southern scholars murmured, but under the stern gaze of the soldiers, they finally shut their mouths and walked into the examination room.

The northern scholars all had a look of joy on their faces, as if pie had fallen from the sky.

I was worried that I couldn’t compete with the Southerners, but then this happened!
At this moment, all the northern scholars developed a sense of belonging to the Ming Dynasty and developed a sense of admiration for the Ming emperor whom they had yet to meet.

The emperor’s grace is so great!
Long live our emperor!
Seeing their different expressions, Zhu Ju couldn't help but smile secretly and walked to the center of the Imperial Examination Hall with his hands behind his back.

"Hey, will selecting 72 Jinshi at once cause the number of officials in the court to become bloated?"

Li Shanchang said with some worry,
"The main thing is that they are a group of inexperienced scholars... They still need to be trained and cultivated, but the problem is, where are there so many positions in the six ministries for them to train?"

"Your Majesty, if you do this, the Ministry of Personnel will be under great pressure."

Song Lian also nodded in agreement.

"Your Majesty should select the best from the best. I originally agreed with your Majesty's decision to reject the 36 scholars who he thought were not good enough, but now you have doubled the number of Jinshi candidates! Can you really select good officials this way?"

He sighed softly,

"I'm afraid there will be more mediocre people!"

Both examiners were a little worried.

You won’t become fat by eating all at once, but it may cause indigestion!

Don't you understand this truth, Your Majesty?

"You two, you worry too much."

Zhu Ju waved his hand and said,

"Although there are 72 quotas, it is not certain whether we can collect 72 answer sheets."

Li Shanchang and Song Lian were both confused when they heard this.

"What does this mean, President?"

"You will know when the time comes."

After a while, all the candidates sat down, and Zhu Ju also gave instructions at this moment:
"Distribute the test questions!"

Wow!

Wow!

The soldiers handed the test papers to the examinees one by one. What was different from the past was that this time each person was given several sheets of paper! There were also many words densely written on them!
If you don’t know, you might think it’s a cheat sheet!
When the confident and eager candidates got the test papers and read the questions, all kinds of expressions began to appear on their faces.

"hiss……"

"what?"

"this??"

They were well prepared, but were stunned at this moment!

The format of the question is a completely new version that has never been seen before!
Expressions of daze, bewilderment and puzzlement all appeared one after another, and slowly, they turned into the same expression - bitter!

"What's that expression?"

Song Lian took in the examinee's expression and said with some doubt,

"Is this test... so difficult?"

"Let me have a look at one."

Just like last time, they could only get the real test questions after the exam started.

Li Shanchang also waved his hand.

In an instant, two test papers were delivered, and a question and a pile of densely packed reference materials came into view.

"The Yellow River is blocked... How can we build water conservancy projects?"

Song Lian was stunned.
"Why is it such a topic?"

"This is too weird! Is this still the imperial examination?"

The degree of unconventionality of this exam question is almost the same as the one during the palace examination when His Majesty asked the candidates to identify rice grains!
Li Shanchang also frowned. While he was shocked, he had already started thinking about how to answer the question.

"The Yellow River flood is indeed a more difficult problem at the moment."

He said in a deep voice,

"Your Majesty, it may seem strange that you raise this question, but if you think about it carefully, it is not that strange. It is nothing more than putting a difficult question from the palace examination directly into the imperial examination."

"It is indeed difficult, but there are so many reference materials provided. Oh... there is also a simple map at the back. With these things, I think this question can be answered in one go."

Upon hearing this, Song Lian also perked up and focused all his attention on the reference materials.

After a long while, he couldn't help but exclaimed:

"This question is brilliant, very brilliant! Anyone who can answer this question can definitely take up the position right away!"

"I wonder who came up with this question. It's so brilliant! Could it be that His Majesty came up with it himself?"

Zhu Ju, who was standing aside, coughed dryly, with the corners of his mouth slightly raised.

This feeling of being praised is quite satisfying, and it's worth using so many brain cells.

"...No wonder His Highness said that we might not be able to submit all 72 answers."

Song Lian looked at the candidates and said with a smile,
"Look at you all, you're all scratching your heads... We won't receive a bunch of blank papers when the time comes, right? Hahaha..."

Li Shanchang stroked his beard.

"possible."

Song Lian stopped talking immediately.

He is feeling somewhat fortunate now... Fortunately, he has already achieved success. If he had participated in this imperial examination with this group of candidates, he might not have been able to answer the questions!
……

A few days later.

Inside the Huagai Hall, Zhu Yuanzhang drank hot mutton soup and looked at the memorial in front of him with a frown.

Slurp, slurp.

The warm mutton soup tasted delicious, but he couldn't be happy.

"Father, there has been no rain in the area around Yingtian and the southern Zhili region for a month."

Zhu Biao said in a deep voice,
"I have tried everything I could think of. I have called in monks, invited Taoist priests, and tried all kinds of ways to pray for rain, but to no avail."

"Perhaps, only if you and mother go to the altar to pray for rain together can you move the heavens and make the rain fall."

Zhu Yuanzhang looked gloomy.

"If it can move God, that would be the best, but what if it can't?"

He said,

"Where will we put our old faces when the time comes?"

"There is no room for manipulation or whitewashing when it comes to rain. If it rains, it rains. If it doesn't rain, it doesn't rain! You can't fake it!"

"You just said that you have tried all kinds of methods, but there is no effect at all?"

Zhu Biao nodded.

"Yes... We invited many eminent monks and masters to chant sutras and pray for rain day and night. I also went to the Dragon King Temple and the City God Temple in person."

"There were a few days in between when there were indeed storms and thunder, but in the end it was all in vain."

Zhu Yuanzhang raised his eyelids.

"Didn't you ask Lao Liu to ask his master last time? Why hasn't he replied yet?"

"Did this kid forget?"

he asked.

"I guess I've been too busy lately, so I forgot."

Zhu Biao said helplessly,

"He had to learn wedding etiquette, preside over the imperial examinations, and review the examination papers. He was really exhausted."

"I could have helped him share some of the burden, but... oh! I am such a useless big brother!"

Zhu Biao was a little depressed.

Seeing his younger brothers busying around, he, as the eldest brother, could only stand aside and watch.

To be honest, he was not happy about it either! Especially since he was a responsible and doting brother!

"Don't say that. Once you recover, you can help us."

Zhu Yuanzhang comforted his son at the right time and said,

"Forget it! He is indeed a bit busy, so let's talk to Peng Xuan in person!"

"You go and summon Peng Xuan to the audience!"

Originally he was a little embarrassed and wanted to find Zhu Ju to express his feelings.

In this situation, I can't care about face anymore, I'm almost out of it! I should ask for help, it's not the first time anyway.

To be honest, Zhu Yuanzhang has always been skeptical about Buddhists and Taoists, but he has an inexplicable trust in Peng Xuan, and at the same time, he is also a bit wary of him.

Perhaps, it is because the other party has always been very smart and has never failed!

It is true that such people are experts, but they are actually not easy to control.

"Okay, I'll go right away."

Zhu Biao left immediately.

Now, he can't do anything else but running errands and passing messages... At least it can be considered a form of exercise.

As soon as Zhu Biao left, he heard a voice from outside:
"Your Majesty, Li Shanchang and Song Lian request an audience."

Zhu Yuanzhang raised his eyebrows.

"Tell them to come in."

In a moment, the two of them had walked into the Huagai Palace and kowtowed to the emperor.

"No gifts, no gifts."

Zhu Yuanzhang looked at the two people in front of him with a smile.

"Examiners, are the results of the imperial examinations out?"

Compared with the last time, he is more looking forward to the results of this screening.

However, the two examiners looked embarrassed at this moment, hesitating and finding it difficult to speak.

"what happened?"

Zhu Yuanzhang frowned and said,

"say something!"

Seeing the two of them in such a mess, he suddenly had a bad feeling in his heart.

"…Your Majesty, the results of this imperial examination are somewhat unsatisfactory."

Li Shanchang didn't say anything, so Song Lian had to speak up.

"Your Majesty has divided the list into northern and southern lists, and a total of 72 Jinshi places have been released."

"But the test questions this time were too tricky. So out of more than 500 candidates, only 140 or so could be judged. The rest... were almost the same as if they had handed in blank papers."

As everyone knows, you cannot hand in a blank paper in the imperial examination. That is considered a bad attitude and you might end up in jail, so... even if you don't know the answer, you have to make up some information.

If it were based on previous topics, it would actually be easier to write, but this time...

The test questions are so professional that I can’t even write them up!
"what?"

Zhu Yuanzhang said unhappily,

"You mean, more than 300 scholars handed in blank papers in this exam?"

"Is that what you mean? Did I understand correctly?"

Song Lian smiled bitterly and nodded.

"That's right... But, you can't really blame them."

He said,

"I am ashamed. If I were asked to take a test like this, I would probably not be able to answer it."

Zhu Yuanzhang snorted lightly.

"Then it seems that you, Song Lian, are also lucky to have this official title."

He said,

"If you were asked to control the flooding of the Yellow River, I don't think you would be able to do it."

Song Lian smiled awkwardly and did not refute.

"...Forget it! Let's not dwell on it. There are still more than 140 people who have answered the question."

Zhu Yuanzhang did not pursue the matter too much, and said,

"This is beyond our expectations. To have more than 140 is not bad!"

"How did they answer? Have the seventy-two Jinshi been selected?"

This time, Song Lian refused to speak even if he was beaten to death, and pushed Li Shanchang.

Li Shanchang also knew that he could no longer pretend to be dumb, so he had to tell the truth:
"Your Majesty, although more than 140 candidates have completed their answers, after careful examination, more than 90 of them are aimless and not a good strategy. Some can even be described as nonsense."

"There are more than thirty of them, which are barely in the middle range and may be useful."

"There are only more than ten copies, which can be regarded as good strategies. They can be directly selected as Jinshi."

"If we divide these more than 40 lists into the southern and northern lists, there will be 24 people on the southern list and 17 people on the northern list."

"Both lists...are not full."

Zhu Yuanzhang: "..."

Seventy-two places were given out, but in the end only a little more than half were selected?
It would be really ugly if the results were announced!
"...It seems that there are still few people who are truly capable."

Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't help but sigh,
"If we ask them to write eight-part essays, it will be very easy to recruit 72 people."

"But we changed the test questions and the result turned out to be like this."

At this moment, he was not depressed, but rather somewhat happy.

The good thing is... at least the 40 or so people we recruited are talented and capable! We can use them with confidence when the time comes!
"Your Majesty, I would like to ask if we need to take some measures to recruit the full 72 people?"

Song Lian said,
"If the current result is released, it will definitely not look good and will cause an uproar..."

There was an imperial examination, but the number of recruits was not enough and was sparse.

Doesn’t this mean that there is no one in the Ming Dynasty?

"No need!"

After hearing Song Lian's proposal, Zhu Yuanzhang waved his hand and said firmly,

“It’s better to lack than to waste!”

"Electing officials is the most important thing for the operation of the country. Every official is a blue sky for the people!"

"We can accept that they are few in number, but we cannot accept that they are incompetent! Incompetent officials are a scourge, and we must not have them! We don't need to whitewash anything by recruiting Manchus. On the contrary, the current result can alert the majority of scholars! This can let them know what kind of officials the Ming Dynasty needs!"

"Just release the results directly based on the current situation!"

Song Lian and Li Shanchang looked at each other.

"According to the order."

Immediately, Li Shanchang said:

"Your Majesty, the top three candidates have not yet been selected. The order of the top three candidates still needs to be determined through the palace examination."

"I don't know when your majesty will hold the palace examination, so we can inform the new scholars to prepare."

Zhu Yuanzhang pondered for a moment.

"These..."

He suddenly said,

"Give these to King Wu and let him sort them out!"

"He set the test questions, so he can naturally tell the quality of the answers. Just let him select the scholar with the best answer as the top scorer! As for the others, let him decide freely!"

Li Shanchang: “?!”

Song Lian: “?!”

It turns out that such a tricky test question was thought up by His Royal Highness the Prince of Wu!

It’s hidden deep enough!
When they were in the Imperial Examination Hall, they praised the person who set the questions so much, and later when they were pondering, they even scolded the person who set the questions. But he was actually indifferent and looked as if it had nothing to do with him?

You are so patient!
At the same time, they were also shocked by one thing - His Majesty actually handed over such great power to the King of Wu!

You know, throughout the dynasties, not even the prince had the power to appoint the top scholar!
Your Majesty has really delegated too much power to the King of Wu!
Suddenly, they both didn't know who was the crown prince between Zhu Ju and Zhu Biao! At present, Zhu Ju's involvement in government affairs and his power were even greater than those of Zhu Biao!

Could it be that... Your Majesty really intends to abandon the frail and sickly Zhu Biao and train Prince of Wu Zhu Ju?
They are not the only ones who have this doubt.

After Zhu Ju has picked out the top three candidates and ranked all the Jinshi scholars, I guess all the civil and military officials in the court will have the same doubts!

With this appointment, all the Jinshi had to be grateful to King Wu and would be his lackeys from then on! The reason was simple... their fame and future were all granted by King Wu!

It is no exaggeration to say that in an instant, a Wu Wang Party composed of newly-minted Jinshi will emerge from the Ming Dynasty court!

"Your Majesty means that... the achievements and rankings of the new Jinshi will all be decided by His Royal Highness the Prince of Wu?"

Li Shanchang looked cautious and wanted to confirm with the emperor.

"Yes, let him decide."

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded and said,

"Once it's decided, just show us the list."

"That's it."

(End of this chapter)