dognovel Chapter 426 Punishment Must Be Severe
Chapter 426 Punishment Must Be Severe
Disciple of the Emperor.
When Zhu Biao uttered those four words, many candidates in the hall unconsciously held their breath.
As is well known, "the emperor's disciples" refers to candidates who participated in the palace examination and were admitted as Jinshi (successful candidates in the highest imperial examination).
However, the imperial examination system did not guarantee that one would obtain the title of Jinshi simply by participating in the palace examination.
According to the ranking of the palace examination results, the top three in the first class were called "Ci Jinshi Jidi" and the second class were called "Ci Jinshi Chushen".
As for the third class... those were all granted the title of Jinshi (a high-ranking scholar in the imperial examination).
The so-called "granted the title of Jinshi" means that your knowledge is still far from sufficient, but in view of the difficulty you have made in taking the imperial examinations, you are granted the status of a Jinshi.
This is similar to how a concubine is treated as a lowly official rather than a true wife, and a scholar who has passed the imperial examination is treated as such rather than as a true scholar.
Therefore, in the true sense, only the candidates in the first and second classes were qualified to call themselves the emperor's disciples; the candidates in the third class were not qualified to call themselves the emperor's disciples.
It is precisely because of this that terms such as "mentor" and "fellow student" have become so popular.
After all, the number of places available for the first and second tiers is limited, while the third tier, which has the most places available, is not considered a student of the emperor.
In order to avoid being isolated in officialdom, the top three students would naturally form cliques through their networks of mentors and classmates.
Zhu Biao, now the de facto Vice Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, publicly stated, "From now on, people will say I am a disciple of the Emperor..."
This represents not only a promise to the top-ranked and second-ranked candidates, but also an expectation and encouragement for the top-ranked candidates.
Zhu Biao glanced at the many candidates, a barely perceptible smile playing on his lips.
My brother-in-law is right. These candidates have all made it to the final examination. Even the last place in the third class is definitely not a fool.
If you don't win these people over, they will gravitate towards the examiner, and then form one small group after another.
The only thing that bothered Zhu Biao was the few candidates from Ningyang County.
There were a total of 146 people in the entire palace examination.
(According to official history, a total of 120 people participated in this palace examination.)
The twenty-six candidates from Ningyang County were the only ones who seemed oblivious to everything else and focused solely on answering the questions in front of them.
Zhu Biao stepped down from the imperial steps, took a few steps, and then slowly walked behind Zhou Jingxin.
Zhou Jingxin had already answered the fourth question.
"I have heard that the sage obeys Heaven and rules the world. The Chinese people rely on him for governance, and the four border regions depend on him for peace. However, the essence of this is nothing more than bringing peace to the common people and clarifying the laws and rewards."
"I have also heard that: when a law is established, it is said that I am upholding the law for Heaven and will not privately discuss its reform; when money is issued or withdrawn, it is said that I am guarding the wealth for Heaven and will not privately profit or lose; when an official is appointed, it is said that I am acting on the mandate of Heaven and possess virtue; when a criminal is eliminated, it is said that the Emperor is punishing the guilty for Heaven."
"A crime is the manifestation of evil in one's actions. If crimes are not made public, the common people will find it difficult to live in peace. If people are depressed and cannot express their opinions, how can they expect good fortune?"
Therefore it is said: punishments must be severe.
"..."
Zhu Biao was torn between the two options.
Based on Zhou Jingxin's answers to the first three questions, Zhu Biao felt that Zhou Jingxin should be transferred to a post as county magistrate.
However, looking at the answer to the fourth question, Zhu Biao felt that Zhou Jingxin should at least be a Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review or a Vice Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate.
If all else fails, a secretary in the Ministry of Justice's Office, or a junior secretary or clerk in the Ministry of Justice, would also be acceptable.
But when Zhou Jingxin started answering the fifth question, Zhu Biao's heart sank.
For the fifth question, Zhou Jingxin's initial answer was quite normal, nothing more than the stuff from the official gazette and the Shenming Pavilion, which her brother-in-law had talked about before.
My purpose in returning to Beijing this time is precisely to take this opportunity to formalize and normalize the official gazette and the declaration pavilion, and to seize the right to speak from the hands of those gentry and scholars.
The problem lies in the last sentence Zhou Jingxin wrote.
"The grievances accumulated by the common people are enough to disrupt the harmony of heaven and earth. Why bother asking those who follow trivial paths?"
This is practically pointing a finger at Zhu Chongba's nose:
If Emperor Zhu could have managed to govern the officials properly, ensured the people lived a good life, and prevented them from suffering injustice, such absurd problems would not have existed. Why bother using them as questions for the imperial examination?
Seeing this, Zhu Biao completely abandoned the idea of keeping Zhou Jingxin in the Dali Temple, the Censorate, or even the Ministry of Justice.
Forget it, let's just get him a position as deputy commissioner or assistant commissioner in the provincial judicial commissioner's office.
If all else fails, he could be sent to Shandong or one of the Sixteen Prefectures of Yan and Yun to serve as an official.
If a player of this caliber were allowed to remain in the imperial court, his father would be driven mad with rage sooner or later.
Even as the executive vice emperor, I might get scolded every day.
While Zhu Biao was haphazardly figuring out how to arrange things for Zhou Jingxin and the others, he also glanced at the other examinees in the main hall.
After watching for a short while, Zhu Biao felt increasingly uncomfortable.
Can anyone explain to me why only 146 people participated in the palace examination in the first imperial examination of the Ming Dynasty?
Or to put it more bluntly: apart from the twenty-six candidates from Ningyang County, there were only one hundred and twenty people in the entire palace examination.
Among these 120 people, three are Koreans.
So, out of the thousand or so prefectures and counties in the Ming Dynasty, only 117 candidates were selected to participate in the palace examination?
Emperor Zhu, along with Li Shanchang and Liu Bowen, shared the same thoughts as Zhu Biao.
Have to admit.
Although Yang Dianfeng has never done anything decent, assigning him any work either results in him assigning work to Emperor Zhu or causing trouble for Li Shanchang and Liu Bowen.
However, Yang the Madman really did understand Ningyang County.
In one county, a remarkable twenty-six candidates managed to pass through the layers of selection, from the county examination to the prefectural examination, then to the provincial examination, and finally to the tribute examination.
Moreover, all twenty-six candidates were taking the imperial examination for the first time, with the oldest being only seventeen years old and the youngest only fourteen!
Where the hell can we go to seek justice?
As Emperor Zhu flipped through the numerous candidates' answer sheets, he sighed deeply.
"Our Great Ming Dynasty has more than a thousand prefectures and counties. If even one prefecture or county can send one person to participate in the palace examination, we can get more than a thousand Jinshi this time."
"But look at this, look at this! Over a thousand prefectures and counties, including the Imperial Academy, and in the end only about a hundred students were able to participate in the palace examination."
"What's even more infuriating is that so many prefectures and counties, especially in Jiangnan, are not as good as Ningyang County?"
At this point, Emperor Zhu couldn't help but feel secretly fortunate.
Fortunately, the Imperial Academy was about to be split up, and the imperial examination system was about to be reformed.
If this isn't changed, won't another batch of Jinshi graduates from Dengzhou Prefectural School emerge in the palace examination three years from now?
After letting out a soft sigh, Emperor Zhu turned his gaze back to the answer sheet in his hand.
After only a few glances, Emperor Zhu's brows furrowed tightly.