I was compiling the daily records during the Wanli reign

Chapter 1: Landing at the Hanlin Academy, Trainee

"Your mother is a maid!"

A clear sound of shouting and cursing came from a house on the west side of Masheng Hutong, east of Chongwenmenli Street.

Shen Nian, who was swearing, suddenly sat up from the bed, with beads of sweat on his forehead.

aside.

A beautiful young woman, about eighteen or nineteen years old, wearing a pink undergarment and with fair skin, quickly took up a handkerchief and wiped his sweat, saying as she did so, "Husband, it's just a nightmare, just a nightmare!"

Shen Nian looked at everything around him, his mind a little confused.

When did I marry?

How could I marry such a beautiful wife?
When did I live in such a quaint and elegant bedroom?
I... I seem to have changed my appearance. Why are my hands so slender and white?

By the way, who was I scolding just now?
……

When Shen Nian was confused, a strange memory rushed into his mind.

About a quarter of an hour later.

Shen Nian's cloudy eyes gradually became clear.

He realized that he, who was originally the chief lecturer of a listed education and training group, had become a historian of the Ming Dynasty.

……

This is the fourth watch of the third month, the fifth day of the third year of the Wanli reign in the capital.

Shen Nian, courtesy name Ziheng, was a native of Qiantang County, Hangzhou Prefecture, Zhejiang Province. He was born in the 1550th year of the Jiajing reign () and was currently years old.

He was famous for his talent at a young age.

He passed the examination for scholar at the age of fifteen, for juren at the age of eighteen, and for jinshi at the age of twenty-one. The chief examiner was Zhang Juzheng. In July of the same year, he was awarded the title of Shujishi. On the ninth day of the fifth month of the first year of Wanli, he was appointed as a reviewer of the Hanlin Academy (the seventh rank).

From birth to entering officialdom, everything went smoothly for him and he had a prosperous life.

You should know that the path to officialdom for students in the Ming Dynasty was extremely difficult.

It’s difficult to pass the imperial examination!
Those who passed the examination to become a scholar at the age of fifty were considered the “outstanding young people” within a hundred miles of the county or township.

It is very difficult to pass the imperial examination!
The King of Hell, who had a sharp pen and cursed the emperor and the prime minister, was just a juren.

It is as difficult as ascending to heaven to pass the imperial examination!

None of them is not gifted, has studied hard for decades, and is very lucky.

After passing the imperial examination.

Becoming a Shujishi and joining the Hanlin Academy after graduation is even more difficult!

The so-called Shujishi.

That is, the best among the second and third class Jinshi who were selected to study in the Hanlin Academy. They were required to be under 40 years old and have excellent character, literary talent and calligraphy.

After graduation (i.e., disbanding the academy), the best ones would stay in the Hanlin Academy, while the rest would be appointed as officials in the Ministry of Personnel, heads of the Six Ministries, or be sent to serve as officials in prefectures or counties.

Although Shen Nian ranked 103rd among the top three, he became a scholar-official with his excellent poetry and calligraphy.

Take Shen Nian’s class as an example.

There were 77 second-class Jinshi, 316 third-class Jinshi, and only 30 people were selected as Shujishi.

In the end, only 13 people remained in the Hanlin Academy.

Apart from the three people in the first class who were directly granted official positions, Shen Nian could be said to be one of the thirteen best scholars in the two capitals and thirteen provinces of the Ming Dynasty.

Shen Nian's next imperial examination was in the second year of the Wanli reign.

Because the eldest son of Prime Minister Zhang Juzheng, Zhang Jingxiu, failed the imperial examination, Prime Minister Zhang did not select any of the candidates as Shujishi and sent all the Jinshi candidates to serve as officials outside the capital.

There is a saying: Only Jinshi can enter the Hanlin Academy, and only Hanlin can enter the cabinet.

The Hanlin Academy is the court's reserve pool of high-level talents, the cradle of cabinet ministers, and a place for cultivating talents and prospects. It is also the place where officials are promoted the fastest.

Shen Nian’s current resume.

Starting from the first imperial examination of the Zhu family, they were rare.

Such a start to life.

If you can survive until you are forty or fifty years old, as long as you don't make big mistakes and don't stand on the wrong side, you can at least become a chief academic officer of the Imperial College or even a vice minister of the Ministry of Rites.

It is not impossible to enter the cabinet as a second or first minister.

after all.

The three chief ministers, Xu Jie, Gao Gong and Zhang Juzheng, all came from the Hanlin Academy.

……

but--

Shen Nian has been unhappy ever since he was appointed as an official.

There are two reasons:

First, it’s too hard and tiring.

In the Ming Dynasty, the Hanlin Academy and the History Institute were merged into one. As a reviewer of the Hanlin Academy, Shen Nian, in addition to compiling the Veritable Records, the Imperial Records, and historical records, had to compile the memorials of the Six Departments, serve as an examiner for the provincial examinations, teach students, copy court reports, and transcribe various documents.

She is busy from morning to night, copying and writing, like an old maid in a wealthy family who washes dishes without stopping.

In addition, the implementation of the performance evaluation system means that people cannot afford to be lazy at all.

When he was a Shujishi, he only had one day off every five days, which he felt was very hard.

Now as an official, I only have 18 days of vacation a year. I got married at the end of last year, and the time was made up of annual leave and marriage leave.

……

Second, there is a big psychological gap.

In the blink of an eye, the young talent became a slave at the bottom of the officialdom.

Before he passed the imperial examination, Shen Nian was already a young talent and a distinguished figure in Hangzhou Prefecture, and everyone treated him with great respect.

Now he has entered the Hanlin Academy.

It is full of "human experts" who are more capable, more hardworking and more capable than him.

A group of editors, compilers, and reviewers who were older than him could all order him to do things.

This caused Shen Nian, who had always been arrogant and ambitious, to suffer a lot.

What made Shen Nian feel most devastated was——

At the end of last year, Lu Diaoyang, the chief instructor when Shen Nian was a scholar and the current deputy minister of the cabinet, gave him a comment when Shen Nian made a small mistake.

"Shen Nian's admission to the Hanlin Academy was half due to his father's contribution."

Shen Nian's father was a scholar who originally taught in the county school. Later, in order to support Shen Nian's studies, he became a medicinal herb merchant.

After making money, he spent it like crazy, visiting famous teachers and hiring no less than fifty teachers to teach him writing and calligraphy.

Just for Shen Nian to become successful.

It caused quite a stir in Hangzhou at the time.

Lu Diaoyang's evaluation is actually quite fair.

At present, Shen Nian is good at examination essays and calligraphy, but once he enters the Hanlin Academy, he is not as good as most people.

This evaluation obviously affected Shen Nian's career.

Some people even called him Shen Banshi in private.

Half a scholar means half a Jinshi, and the other half is from his father.

Such insulting titles made him very angry, but he had no place to vent his anger.

This year is the once-every-six-year Beijing inspection year.

If Shen Nian's performance is not good, he will most likely be sent out. Once he is sent out, it will be difficult for him to return to the capital!
...Just when Shen Nian was feeling depressed, a piece of news cheered him up again.

"The cabinet's chief minister, Zhang Juzheng, reinstated the daily record and ordered the Hanlin historians to take turns keeping it."

The daily records are similar to the diary written for the emperor.

It was mainly used as a material library for compiling the Emperor's Records. It was abandoned in the early years, but is now to be restored.

This thing is very easy to write.

In particular, the thirteen-year-old emperor Zhu Yijun had not yet taken power.

The content is nothing more than——

On a certain day of a certain month, the emperor held court; on a certain day of a certain month, he attended the imperial lecture; on a certain day of a certain month, he gave lectures in the Wenhua Hall, and also copied the contents of some memorials from ministers.

As for the private life of the harem, it was written by the eunuchs in "Nei Qi Ji Zhu".

This is a great job!
If one could write the daily notes, it meant that one could often be in front of the emperor and could speak during the daily lectures.

Once you perform well, you will have the opportunity to serve as a lecturer in the imperial lectures.

The future is limitless.

Unfortunately, Shen Nian was not among the rotating historians confirmed.

His main task in the near future is to teach in the inner school hall.

That is, he went to teach the young eunuchs around ten years old in the inner school under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Rites.

For ordinary Jinshi, teaching in the inner school is also a good job.

After all, the eunuchs are very powerful nowadays.

If I could teach another Feng Bao, it would definitely be of great benefit to my future career.

But in the eyes of those who were transformed from Shujishi into Hanlin Academy officials.

This is like the top scholar selling tofu - a waste of talent.

Especially now.

The imperial court expanded the number of imperial lecturers and daily lecturers, and low-level historians also had the opportunity to lecture on history for the emperor.

Who would be willing to teach a group of little eunuchs when they can serve the emperor!

For them, relying on eunuchs to rise to power is a great shame.

For Shen Nian, even more heartbreaking things are yet to come.

This evening when the court is dismissed.

He heard a group of clerks in the Hanlin Academy chatting and laughing, discussing which of the current historians had the potential to enter the cabinet.

They love to talk about these things the most so that they can curry favor with others as soon as possible.

Someone mentioned Shen Nian, and then all the officials laughed.

Yu Daen, the chief eunuch, said, "The difficulty of Shen Banshi leaving the Imperial Academy and entering the Cabinet is no less than that of a Confucian scholar castrating himself to become an internal minister!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the officials burst into laughter.

Confucian scholars castrate themselves and become eunuchs, which is another way for some young scholars to seek fame and fortune.

The probability of achieving the inner phase is very low.

The Internal Prime Minister refers to the eunuch who holds the seal of the Imperial Household Department. The current person in this position is the powerful eunuch Feng Bao.

This is extremely insulting!
Shen Nian was very angry, but he did not dare to rush over and scold the clerk Yu Daen.

Although Yu Daen was just a clerk, he had been in charge of books and archives in the Hanlin Academy for many years and had a deep background. If Shen Nian offended him, the latter would definitely make things difficult for him.

Shen Nian went home sulking.

Then he got drunk and cursed Yu Daen in his dream. Finally, his body was replaced by a soul.

……

At this moment, Shen Nian, whose soul had been changed, was fully aware of his situation.

He didn't think that his current life was bad or that his future career was bleak.

He had a good appearance, a good voice, good handwriting, above-average literary talent, and a wealthy family. At the age of 25, he became a reviewer in the Hanlin Academy and married a beautiful wife.

This configuration is already top-notch.

Everything is possible in the future, there is no need to give up on yourself.

At this time.

Shen Nian's wife, Gu Yue'er, asked with concern, "Husband, are you okay?"

The dazed Shen Nian calmed down, looked out the dark window, and said, "It's okay. What time is it?"

"It's almost five o'clock in the morning, it's time to get up!" Gu Yue'er said gently.

Shen Nian nodded.

As an official in the imperial court, he had to report to the yamen at five o'clock every morning.

If you are late, you will be fined at the very least and beaten with a stick in court at the worst.

If you have to go to the morning, you basically have to get up at three o'clock in the morning.

Immediately.

Gu Yue'er began to help Shen Nian change clothes.

The moment the door opened.

Gu Yue'er's maid Xiaotao brought hot water for Shen Nian, and the servant Aji brought him the official uniform and boots, as well as freshly prepared meals.

While Shen Nian was washing up, he looked around the rented house.

Feeling okay.

According to his monthly salary, without the addition from his family, he would not have the money to rent a house like this less than a kilometer away from the Hanlin Academy.

Gu Yue'er is the daughter of a business friend of Shen Nian's father.

A typical Jiangnan woman.

She has a particularly gentle personality and has been influenced by the idea of ​​"putting the husband first" since childhood. She obeys Shen Nian in everything and keeps the house in order.

The main task of her, the maid Xiaotao, and the book boy Aji is to serve Shen Nian.

This made Shen Nian feel much more comfortable.

After a while, Shen Nian finished his breakfast and whispered in Gu Yue'er's ear: "Yue'er, you've worked hard!"

After saying that, Shen Nian strode out.

This caring voice made Gu Yue'er a little dazed, and then a happy smile appeared on her face.

The two had been married for nearly four months, and this was the first time Shen Nian had said such words of gratitude.

This was a recognition of her as a wife, and she was flattered and very happy.

　Note 1: The identity of the protagonist of this book is an artistic fiction. I would like to apologize to the real Zhang Yingyuan, the 103rd Jinshi who ranked third in the Xinwei imperial examination in the fifth year of the Longqing reign. I will fly for you!

　　Note 2: The protagonist passed the imperial examination at the age of 21, which was determined by the historian's entry point. Before the protagonist, Li Dongyang passed the imperial examination at the age of 18, Yang Tinghe passed the imperial examination at the age of 19, Xu Jie passed the imperial examination at the age of 21, and Zhang Juzheng passed the imperial examination at the age of 23, ranking ninth in the second class.

　　Note 3: "In the second year, Jiaxu, his son failed the imperial examination, which displeased Ju Zheng, so he did not select him as a Shujishi." The historical data comes from "History of Ming Dynasty·Election II".

　　Note 4: The number of Jinshi (second and third class) and Jinshi (Shujishi) in the fifth year of Longqing in the article comes from Professor Guo Peigui’s paper “The Composition and Characteristics of the Shujishi Group in the Ming Dynasty”. In that year, Shujishi accounted for 7.63% of the second and third class Jinshi.

　　Note 5: On March , the third year of the Wanli reign, Zhang Juzheng ordered the daily lecturer Ding Shikun (Ding Shimei) and six other officials to take turns to go to the History Museum to record daily life. He ordered the compilers Wang Jiaping, Xu Xianqing, Zhang Wei, Yu Shenxing, Shen Maoxiao, and the editor Shen Yikuan to compile memorials. Later, he recommended the editors Shen Yuan and Huang Fengxiang to be the editors of the Daily Records Office. The historical materials come from the "Wanli Daily Records".

　　Note 6: There are three categories of full-time historians in the Hanlin Academy: "sixth-rank compiler, seventh-rank editor, and seventh-rank reviewer". In the middle and late Ming Dynasty, there was no fixed quota.

(End of this chapter)