The Bad Guys: Playing the Fake Li Xingyun at the Beginning

Chapter 133: List of Jinshi released

The imperial court was weak, but the righteousness was still there, and it could slowly gather talented people from all over the world. His Tang Dynasty was not the Sima family, and it had no reputation at all.

After a hundred years of war, the aristocratic families started a new life and joined the military governors in various places, in order to display their talents and protect their families.

This is an inevitable choice under the changing circumstances and cannot be changed.

Even during the An-Shi Rebellion, there were not necessarily many children from aristocratic families who joined An Lushan and Shi Siming?

What the court should do now is first of all to sort out its finances, increase revenue and reduce expenditure. With money, everything will be easy. The reason why most feudal dynasties collapsed was because of financial problems.

Without money, we can’t afford to support the army and suppress local forces, so we will face up to all kinds of troubles.

However, this year is the first year of Hongwu, and the imperial court is going to hold a beauty contest. Jiedushi from various places are willing to send their daughters to the palace. At the very least, they have to pay a dowry and also escort some taxes and grain.

These days, it is particularly important that the dowry given when marrying off a daughter must be generous, and must be more generous than the man's gift. Otherwise, the daughter may be looked down upon by her husband's family when she goes to another family.

It’s nothing like the later generations, where the bride price is hundreds of thousands, but the dowry is just a few quilts, or even no hair at all, it’s a straight marriage fraud.

In the main hall, Su Ming was reviewing memorials while having a lot of thoughts in his mind. The money in the national treasury was public property and he could not make a decision on his own because the Three Envoys were not his men but Li Siyuan's men.

In other words, the three offices are now controlled by Li Siyuan, with the aim of controlling the financial power of the court. Without the financial power in his hands, Su Ming will be restricted in what he can do.

However, the Three Departments were too powerful and had swallowed up most of the power of the Ministry of Revenue. He could not take this power back for the time being. Financial power was too sensitive and could easily touch Li Siyuan's nerves.

Suddenly, Su Ming smiled lightly, shook his head and sighed. It was too early to think about these things now. One must eat one bite at a time and walk one step at a time. It would be useless to calculate too much. The most important thing for him now was to unite the forces around him and pull them into a rope.

Calculating the time, two hours have almost passed. I don’t know how many poor children will stand out in today’s palace examination and how many children from noble families will be able to enter the court.

After reviewing the memorial in his hand, he stood up and walked towards the Taiji Hall.

In the main hall, King Qi, King Jin and King Xue were supervising the exam, and they were also one of the examiners.

Li Siyuan was very powerful in the court. No matter what was done, he could not be avoided. It was impossible for him to have the exclusive share of the officials selected by the imperial examination. Even if he did, Li Siyuan had ways to bribe them.

It is better to put everything out in the open and let everyone take what they need. A hundred years ago, the imperial examinations in the Tang Dynasty were also like this. The Jinshi admitted by the court were recruited and employed by the military governors of various places.

Because they ruled local areas, their demand for talent was much greater than that of the imperial court. The imperial court had many officials and many positions, but they were not as efficient as the small offices of the Jiedushi in getting things done.

Specifically, the Three Departments hollowed out the Ministry of Revenue. You should know that there was no such centralized monster as the Three Departments in the early Tang Dynasty.

The Salt and Iron Bureau was in charge of industrial and commercial income and weapons manufacturing; the Ministry of Revenue was in charge of financial revenue and expenditure and grain transportation; the Ministry of Revenue was in charge of household registration, taxes, and liquor, etc., and they monopolized all the financial power of the court and even held the court's food lifeline in their hands.

However, with the Three Departments, the court's three-province and six-department structure is still there, which is a distortion. With the Three Departments, the Ministry of Revenue is not needed at all, but the Ministry of Revenue still exists and is collecting empty salaries at the court.

There was a thick stack of test papers on the desk, and the candidates were taken to other places to eat, use the toilet, and wait for the results of the palace examination.

Although Su Ming showed up in the palace examination, he did not directly participate in the marking of the papers. The three kings selected the top ten papers, and then he would select the top three.

Three hundred examination papers were read in half an hour. With the status of the three kings, even if they were enemies of each other, they would appear to be friendly with each other on the surface and would not tear each other apart.

"Yes, the handwriting on this test paper is vigorous and powerful, quite similar to the style of Yan Zhenqing of the previous dynasty, and the essay is also very well written." Deputy Secretary Li Cunli flipped through the test paper in his hand, with a hint of interest between his brows.

The emperor personally selected these three people, on the one hand to increase the weight of the palace examination, and on the other hand to send a message that the disputes in the court had been resolved and the situation was stable.

For the current imperial court, a stable political situation is more important than anything else. Only with stability can there be development. Otherwise, even if the court is powerful, it will be exhausted by party struggles and internal frictions all day long.

Li Siyuan realized this and took a step back and made friendly gestures to the emperor. He knew that the emperor was no ordinary person and would not break off relations with him at this time without considering the overall situation.

Li Cunli and Li Siyuan had a grudge against each other, but under Su Ming's suppression, they still maintained a situation of fighting but not breaking. He is now the Deputy Minister of the Central Secretariat and can only rely closely on the emperor in the court.

Hearing Li Cunli's words, Li Siyuan glanced at them and ignored them. He then took out several test papers and listed them separately.

The empress did not pay attention to them, but was concentrating on marking the test papers. Unlike Li Siyuan and Li Cunli, her mind was all on the test papers written by the candidates.

Now, her relationship with the emperor has gone a step further. She knows the emperor's thoughts best. He doesn't care about Confucian scriptures at all. He only promotes people based on their merits.

Just like the saying in later generations, no matter whether the cat is black or white, a cat that can catch mice is a good cat.

Confucian scriptures teach people how to be a good person, teach principles, and teach wisdom, but they do not teach people how to do practical things. The so-called agronomy, water conservancy and other practical matters related to people's livelihood are not found in Confucian scriptures.

It just so happens that the imperial court needs these right now, so the empress also selected some test papers that were answered very well from these test papers.

After the three of them discussed it, they finally selected the ten best test papers, including seven from children of aristocratic families and three from children of poor families or even farming families.

The ten test papers were finally sent to Su Ming. After some thought, he selected the children of the Pei family and the Wei family as the top two, and a student from a poor farming family as the third.

In this way, it not only gave face to the aristocratic families, but also encouraged the children of poor families so that they would not become discouraged and disappointed with the court.

Under such circumstances, he absolutely could not choose them as top scorers in order to win over the children from poor families.

If he did so, it would be tantamount to a humiliation to the children of aristocratic families, and they would not even be able to serve in the court or take part in the imperial examinations in the future.

Even if we ignore their identities and just look at the test papers, the quality of the test papers of those children from wealthy families is one level higher than those from poor families. Even if the list is announced, it will not convince the public.

Now the united front value of the poor is definitely not as good as that of the aristocratic families, but when the court's rule is consolidated, the situation may be reversed.

An hour later, the list of candidates for the palace examination was posted on the official list, and the new Jinshi were announced. This time, the court selected a total of ninety-nine Jinshi, seventy percent of whom were from aristocratic families and ranked at the top, while thirty percent were from poor families and ranked at the bottom of the list.

Chapter 134 Oh, I won!

When Su Ming was selecting the top scholar, the 300 candidates were released from the palace after resting, waiting for the announcement of the results the next day.

At 3:15 on the next morning, soldiers from the Luoyang government came to post the red notice.

At this time, the whole place was packed with people inside and outside.

"Hey, I won, I won!" In the bustling crowd, a middle-aged man squeezed to the front with great effort, his nervous eyes kept scanning the list, and suddenly he looked up to the sky and laughed wildly.

Then, he grabbed the person next to him and kept repeating, "I won, I won." At the same time, he danced with joy.

He jumped up and down like a madman and couldn't stop.

Someone familiar with him said in surprise, "Oh no, Brother Li is in a nightmare. We need to wake him up quickly, otherwise he will go crazy."

"Brother Li, wake up, wake up!" Everyone around him shouted at him, trying to wake him up, but it was no use.

Among the crowd of onlookers, some expressed regret, some gloated, and some said strange things, "Tsk tsk, he finally passed the imperial examination, but he went crazy. How pitiful."

"Some people just don't have this kind of fate! In my opinion, he shouldn't have come to take the imperial examination, otherwise he would be fine now."

……

Finally, after pouring cold water on him failed to wake him up, someone stood up.

He was a burly man with a beard, leopard eyes and a fierce face. He walked forward, spitting and yelling, "You beast, what has hit you?"

Then, a hand as big as a palm-leaf fan came over and fanned him, causing him to spin around on the spot and sit down on the ground.

The slap directly knocked him unconscious. He felt his head buzzing and his face burning with pain. After a long while, his dazed eyes gradually became clear.

"Where am I?" He looked around and asked puzzledly.

Before anyone could answer, he gasped again, "Hiss, my face!"

Friends gathered around him and helped him up. "Brother Li, are you okay?"

He shook his head and said, "Hiss, I'm fine, I just feel pain on my face. Wasn't I just looking at the list? Why am I here?"

Then, a friend's words made him fall into ecstasy. Fortunately, he did not go crazy this time. "Brother Li, you passed the imperial examination and can become an official!"

……

Chen Shuge was also in the crowd looking at the list. He finally squeezed to the front and looked down from the top. The first place was Pei Zhixing, the second place was Wei Dao, and the third place was Li Qingshan...

Every time he saw a name, his heart sank more and more. The 97th one was not him, and the 98th one was not him either.

Finally, at the end of the list, he saw his name, No. 99: Chen Shuge.

He was almost going to fail the exam.

Fortunately, he won.

From then on, he no longer had to dig for food in the fields, work as a clerk, and struggle for a living all day long, and his family would live a better life.

After the list was made public, the imperial examination of the court came to an end. Most of the scholars from all over the world stayed in Luoyang, which is the most prosperous place in the world and has more opportunities to succeed.

Some chose to continue studying and take the imperial examinations, while others gave up their studies and became merchants...

In the evening, the palace held a Deer Singing Banquet for these new scholars, and received them one by one in the main hall. They bestowed official robes and money on them, talked to them for a few words, left a good impression on them, and then sent them home.

At this stage, there is no need to pay too much attention to these new scholars. Now they are not inferior to the officialdom. It will not be too late to promote and reuse them after they have truly made political achievements.

……

The night was as dark as water. Su Ming stood in the imperial garden, looking at the starry sky, silent for a long time. There was a hint of fatigue between his brows. This month, he had to deal with memorials and pay attention to the imperial examinations, and he was very tired.

Chi Meng and Zhang Zifan's family also knew that this matter was of great importance, so they did not come to see him for a month.

After the imperial examination, he finally had a few days of leisure.

Light footsteps slowly approached, "You are here indeed."

"It's late, why aren't you sleeping yet?" Su Ming didn't look back, still looking at the starry sky.

The empress often handled government affairs all night long, so he gave her an imperial badge that allowed her to ignore palace restrictions and enter and leave at will, so she could come to the Imperial Garden in the middle of the night.

"I've been very busy lately, so I came to see you." The empress walked to his side and spoke softly.

"The Khitan princess will arrive in Luoyang in a few days." Suddenly, Su Ming turned his head and looked at her.

"How are you going to arrange her? Make her the queen?" The empress blinked, as if smiling.

Looking at the sly smile in her eyes, Su Ming remained silent.

In fact, Yelu Zhiwu is not the most suitable candidate for queen. Looking around the world, the most suitable person to manage the harem is only the empress, but Su Ming is unwilling to let her enter the palace.

It is not a good thing for a woman like her to be trapped in the deep palace.

Besides, he was planning to use his elder brother-in-law in the future, so he couldn't let her become the queen.

The eldest brother-in-law was not a good person. He had threatened Emperor Zhaozong many times in history, and it was he who led the army to Luoyang. It was obvious that he was promoted and valued by Emperor Zhaozong step by step, but he turned around and turned against him. He was a real ungrateful person.

Once she becomes the queen, my brother-in-law's ambition will probably be even greater. By then, I may not be able to subdue him. At this stage, he can only be the empress's lover and ally.

He couldn't possibly tell these words to the empress and could only keep them in his heart.

Su Ming reached out and held the empress in his arms, sniffing the fragrance of her hair, and murmured, "Now, it's not the right time."

……

In a luxurious mansion in the city, many young men from aristocratic families gathered together.

"Congratulations, Brother Pei, for winning the title of Jinshi. You will rise to a high position in the officialdom in the future."

"Yes, I have wasted many years waiting, and now what I have learned can finally be put to good use."

……