Chapter 323: Civil and Military Examinations

Prince Fu, Zhu Yousong, was in Jinling, Prince Rui, Zhu Changhao, was in Hanzhong, and Prince Heng, Zhu Changshu, had been enfeoffed in Qingzhou, Shandong. The remaining Prince Qingyuan, Prince Pingyao, and the various related imperial clansmen and nobles were scattered all across the realm.

Although the Chongzhen Emperor had already ordered the Embroidered Uniform Guard to cooperate with local regular troops to arrest and escort all the imperial clansmen to the capital, distance was still distance — the Embroidered Uniform Guard could hardly fly over, arrest them, and fly back with them in tow, could they?

Take the farthest one, Prince Rui, Zhu Changhao — whether he could safely make it here from the war-torn land of Shu was already anyone's guess. Even if he was lucky enough to arrive safely, it would be at least ten days to half a month later. There was no point in rushing.

The Chongzhen Emperor also wanted to deal with this batch of parasitic, cut-rate imperial relatives as quickly as possible — after all, every extra day they remained meant more of his money lost and more of his reputation ruined.

That one in history had been cautious about everything, but I have no connection whatsoever with you people, so of course I can deal with you however I please, without any burden on my conscience.

Even so, the Chongzhen Emperor's most pressing concern was still resolving the new trouble that had just cropped up — and that trouble was the imperial examinations, which were to be held in just a few days.

This was the triennial metropolitan examination. Because it happened to be held in spring, contemporaries also called it the "Spring Enclosure." This examination was divided into three sessions, each lasting three days, for a total of nine days.

Every time this season came around, the juren and Imperial Academy students heading to the metropolitan examination from all directions would travel a thousand li to rush to the capital, all for the sake of displaying what they had learned in life and achieving fame and rank.

Speaking of which, these were also the nine days merchants loved most in any three-year span.

The scholars coming to take the metropolitan examination would temporarily reside in the capital during these nine days and purchase large quantities of daily necessities and clothing, in turn driving commercial development throughout the capital region.

This examination system had continued for so many years that its rules and regulations were truly numerous.

In simple terms, the Great Ming had made clear regulations for the examination system that had endured for a thousand years, dividing it into four levels: the prefectural examination, the provincial examination, the metropolitan examination, and the palace examination.

The examination content was monotonously uniform — basically the so-called Confucian classics. Questions were set from sentences in the Four Books, the essay format was the eight-legged essay, and interpretations had to follow Zhu Xi's Collected Commentaries on the Four Books as the standard.

To qualify for the metropolitan examination, scholars across the realm first had to take the prefectural examination in their respective localities, which contemporaries also called the "boy's examination." Those who took the boy's examination were called boy candidates, and those admitted to "enter school" became government students, also called sheng, colloquially known as xiucai.

Reaching the xiucai stage — at the very least, one had already obtained the most basic "privileges" of a scholar; at the most, this was the starting point of the "rank, wealth, and glory" they so eagerly anticipated.

Of course, to ensure these scholars received proper cultivation, the court had always invested heavily — among the most famous government-run institutions alone, there were prefectural schools, prefectural schools of the second tier, and county schools they could enter to study.

After government students chose a location to "enter school," they came under the discipline of professors, school directors, instructors, and assistant instructors appointed by the court.

Government students were further divided into three categories. To put it plainly, those with the best grades were stipend students, whose quotas were limited but who received grain subsidies from the court; next were supplementary students, whose quotas were also limited but who received less subsidy; and those newly "entering school" were called attached students, who received no subsidy.

Each year, in every locality, the education commissioner was responsible for examinations, with students promoted or demoted by grade. Strictly speaking, the prefectural examination did not really count as a formal imperial examination — at most it was an entrance test.

The formal imperial examinations were divided into only three levels: the provincial examination, the metropolitan examination, and the palace examination.

First in the provincial examination was called "Jieyuan," first in the metropolitan examination was called "Huiyuan," and first in the palace examination was the Zhuangyuan.

Those who achieved the "triple first" were extremely rare, but not unheard of. The later Chongzhen Emperor had specifically looked into it — in thousands of years of history, reportedly only seventeen people had received the honor of the "triple first."

Three in the Tang dynasty; the Song dynasty had the most with six, accounting for nearly half; the Jin and Yuan dynasties were the weakest with only one each; and in the Ming dynasty so far, only three had appeared.

All of the above were civil triple-firsts. As of now, only two people had achieved the military triple-first, and both were in the Great Ming.

The first was Yin Feng of the Jiajing era, who achieved the triple first in the military examinations and was appointed Assistant Regional Commander. Assisting the famous general Yu Dayou, he repeatedly distinguished himself in the anti-pirate wars along the coasts of Fujian and Zhejiang, with outstanding military merit.

The second was Wang Mingshi, a native of Yongjia, Zhejiang, who achieved the triple first in the military examinations during the Wanli era of Emperor Shenzong and was appointed Chiliarch of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

It was said that this man was not only first in the realm in military examinations, but was also broadly versed in the classics and histories, skilled in poetry and calligraphy. Contemporaries called his martial arts, poetry, and calligraphy the "Three Perfections." What was especially commendable was his upright and unyielding nature — he did not flatter the powerful, and had quite the bearing of a man of the straight path.

Interestingly, from the Ming dynasty to the present, the military examinations had been held sporadically and sometimes abolished. But whenever they were successfully conducted, nearly all of the large batch of military jinshi selected would fight to the death for the court, rushing to various regions to become the young and promising among military officers.

In truth, for the Chongzhen Emperor, under the current circumstances, the military examinations were clearly more effective and practical than the civil ones.

Unfortunately, by the nineteenth year of the Chongzhen reign, the military examinations had been held only a few times, and most had been mere formalities to muddle through. The so-called juren selected were all hereditary nobles and meritorious relatives. Due to various reasons, only in the fourth year of Chongzhen had a single military Zhuangyuan of peasant origin emerged.

In the fourth year of Chongzhen, among the candidates taking the military metropolitan examination, the vast majority were sons of hereditary noble families. These imperial kinsmen were slick and foppish — waving around swords and spears like they were putting on a monkey show. Of those who could wield a hundred-jin great blade, there were only two: Wang Laipin and Xu Yanqi.

When the results were posted, Xu Yanqi's name was absent from the list, replaced instead by a frail, thin son of a noble family. Outcry erupted.

At the time, the Chongzhen Emperor, who was "keenly emphasizing martial affairs," believed someone had cheated. He threw a large number of officials — examiners, supervising censors, and others — into prison or dismissed them, and ordered Minister of Revenue Ni Yuanlu and Director of the Imperial Academy Fang Fengnian to preside over a re-examination of the military candidates.

The re-examination was successfully conducted, selecting a hundred men. Following the example of the civil examination rankings, they were divided into three grades, with the results proclaimed and a banquet bestowed.

Chongzhen personally reviewed the examination papers of the top thirty, imperially designating the three men of the first grade. Wang Laipin ranked first in the first grade, becoming the military Zhuangyuan, and was appointed Vice Regional Commander of Denglai.

Before the fourth year of Chongzhen, the court's military examinations had never included a palace examination, nor had they established the distinction of first, second, and third grades or the titles of the top three. Wang Laipin was the first to formally hold the title of military Zhuangyuan.

But what was even more regrettable was that a year later, during Kong Youde's rebellion in Dengzhou, Wang Laipin fought at the forefront and died in battle, never writing his own page in history.

From the fourth year of Chongzhen to the present, the court had never once held a proper military examination again.