Emperor Yinzhen issued a special decree forbidding anyone from privately looking at the candidates' names, without any reason.

Because the review process was extremely rigorous, the results of the provincial examination were not released until a month after the examination itself.

After reviewing the exam papers and ranking them, the examiners were sent back to their residences.

Yinzhen was quite considerate, giving them a three-day holiday so they could spend quality time with their families, which showed he was a very humane emperor.

The results of the provincial examination were released, and the palace examination followed immediately. The questions for this palace examination were set by Emperor Yinzhen in public. The general idea of ​​the questions was: Please share your understanding of the reforms.

Those who could pass the imperial examination and appear before the emperor were all quite capable. Since ancient times, almost every dynasty has carried out reforms, which can be big or small and cover all aspects. There is a lot to write about, but it is quite difficult to write something that touches the emperor's heart.

They weren't mind readers, so they didn't know what the emperor wanted them to write. They could only guess, based on the emperor's bad deeds over the past few years, that he was probably planning to reform things. If that was the case, then they had to write in that direction.

As for how to write it, that depends on each person's ability.

Yinzhen collected the exam papers, first had them anonymously graded, and then roughly determined the rankings. He originally only needed to look at the top ten, but Yinzhen read them all.

There were indeed a few insightful opinions, but their rankings were somewhat low. Emperor Yinzhen, valuing talent, had them investigated and then moved them up in rank.

Yinzhen spent three days of his free time reviewing these exam papers. After reviewing them, he determined the final rankings and then summoned those who were on the list to the palace.

This year's top two scholars were Han Chinese, while the third-ranked scholar was a twenty-year-old Manchu with a very handsome appearance.

Once the imperial examinations were over, Yinzhen immediately planned to include the new mathematics in the next metropolitan examination, and give it a significant weight.

This incident caused quite a stir. Many of the candidates who failed the exam hadn't left yet, thinking they would stay and see what would happen. Who would have thought they would receive such news?

The imperial examinations included mathematics, but this new mathematics was something no one had ever heard of before. If the content was obscure, the imperial examinations were already difficult, and now they had to learn something new. What should they do?

While they were discussing and speculating, the imperial court issued a clear proclamation.

Any scholar who passed the preliminary examination could obtain books on the new mathematics from the local education office, and importantly, they were free. Moreover, after the New Year, the imperial court would send teachers skilled in the new mathematics to various prefectural and county schools to meet with students from all over the country.

Needless to say, the Imperial College in the capital city also had the advantage of both time and quality.

Time is easy to say; they naturally have more time to study at the same time. As for quality, that's also easy to understand. There are different levels of teachers, and the teachers in the capital are naturally "better".

Yinzhen did a good job. Although it was a bit sudden, the emperor had arranged it so carefully that they naturally wouldn't continue to say they were unwilling to learn.

Since the Emperor has issued such an order, it must be necessary. The students who passed the imperial examinations consider themselves intelligent, and the new mathematics curriculum only consists of a few books, which they can accept.

Once everything settled down, the capital city was no longer as bustling as it had been in recent days; those who were meant to leave had left, and those who were meant to stay had stayed.

Once the new books on mathematics are distributed gradually, almost every scholar in the country will be able to access their contents.

The new mathematics is essentially the content of modern elementary school textbooks. It's simple, but fundamental, and the content involves basic operations that can be widely applied in the Six Ministries. Anyone with a discerning eye can see the emperor's intentions.

Moreover, the introduction of Arabic numerals further reduced the amount of calculation required...

Moreover, after studying it, they found that it was not difficult at all, and many students were able to digest the content by reading the book themselves.

Some far-sighted individuals recognized the value of the new mathematics and used it as one of the methods for children's early education.

Prince Bobo in the palace was naturally among the first to be exposed to the new mathematics. Yunrong had seen Bobo use Arabic numerals before he even started learning, and later taught him some mental arithmetic skills. Now that the new mathematics books were out, Bobo's progress was naturally very fast.

Bobo's new math teacher is Yunrong.

Yunrong was pregnant, and Yinzhen couldn't bear to see her overworked, so he naturally wouldn't let her do any research or anything like that. Yunrong's pregnancy was stable, and in order not to get bored, she decided to become her son's teacher.

The results proved to be quite good. Although Yunrong had never been a teacher before, she had taught Bobo a lot since he was born, so the teaching went smoothly.

In addition, Yinzhen kept nagging in Bobo's ear every day, saying that his mother was carrying a little sister and that he had to listen to his mother, otherwise the little sister wouldn't like him anymore...

Bobo naturally became even more well-behaved and sensible. In addition, Bobo was thinking about becoming her younger sister's teacher, so she studied even harder.

Zhang Ying was quite impressed by Bobo's self-discipline. Despite his privileged background and being younger than his son, Bobo was more hardworking and talented than his son.

Zhang Ying sighed with admiration, feeling that it was truly a blessing for the Qing Dynasty.

With such a wise and virtuous emperor, and now the young prince so resembling his father, both generations of rulers are virtuous and capable, ensuring a century of prosperity.

It's no wonder Zhang Ying sighed so much. The Qing Dynasty had been established for so many years, and it wasn't until the reign of Huang Taiji that the capital was officially moved. Various rules and regulations were gradually established, and things only became stable during the Shunzhi era. However, because of Consort Dong'e, a rift developed between the Empress Dowager and Shunzhi. Furthermore, due to Shunzhi's sudden death, the four regents began to fight for their own interests.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!