In comparison, in history, someone crossed the river on a mud horse and held an imperial examination to select scholars. He actually asked dozens of questions in one breath, and no one knew what his purpose was.
Five specific questions.
The first one is a major political issue. Zhao Jiu opens his article by asking how the Song and Jin countries won after four years of war in the long run.
The second is a specific military issue, which Emperor Zhao put it very directly: if the Jin army comes again in the autumn, how should we defend ourselves? How should we defend ourselves?
The third is the issue of fiscal balance, which asks how to reduce the burden on the people in the rear as much as possible while ensuring the military deployment on the front line?
The fourth one is the old issue of talent selection. Zhao Jiu pressed the button here and asked how to select qualified talents who can face military pressure under the new situation?
The last question, however, goes back to the foundation of Confucianism, which is quite general, saying that "the way of governance is based on Heaven, and the way of Heaven is based on the people." How should the emperor uphold the way of governance between Heaven and the people?
It seems that Emperor Zhao was still affected by the conversation with Hu Anguo.
After the five questions were written, the chief escort Lan Gui took it first and handed it to the Minister of Rites Zhu Shengfei. Zhu Shengfei actually just passed it around to make sure that the questions were not particularly absurd, and then returned it to the original author.
Then, Lan Gui raised his voice as loud as he could in the silent Jiying Hall and recited these five short questions three times in a row. After reading them three times, he asked again if anyone in the audience had not heard them clearly.
In fact, this was just a formality. Several Hanlin scholars had already heard the topic clearly, quickly copied it in large characters, and prepared to hand it over to the eunuchs. At that time, a eunuch would hold up the topic every ten or so desks, allowing the scholars to see it carefully, write it down on the draft, and then write the composition.
It's still a bit crude, not as good as the previous formal times when students would sign up in advance, be given wine, and carefully copy the test papers.
But it’s useful.
However, just when Lan Gui finished reading and was about to leave, Emperor Zhao, who was sitting on the throne, suddenly took the initiative to speak and made a loud announcement, attracting the attention of several prime ministers and generals around him and hundreds of prospective Jinshi candidates below.
"Gentlemen, before you answer the questions, I have one more thing to say..." Zhao Jiu announced loudly, his voice was clear and unmistakable in the Jiying Hall, which had excellent sound transmission. "I think that the world today is a time of all-out war between Song and Jin. The country is in danger day and night, and everything is disturbed by the war. Therefore, all ceremonies can be simplified. When you answer today, you don't have to worry about the rules and customs of the article. Just say something meaningful! And answer the questions!"
Such words actually made many people in the hall feel a little moved... Some people felt that the emperor's words were a necessary reminder, some people felt that the emperor was hinting at something, and some people were simply shaken by the four words "all-out war".
But no matter what, after he finished speaking, the emperor calmly left the Jiying Hall with other important civil and military officials and went to the Huangyi Hall next door to drink tea and wait for a while.
For a while, only officials from the Ministry of Rites and eunuchs from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, as well as the armed imperial guards, were left in the Jiying Hall, accompanying the 602 prospective Jinshi candidates to take this ordinary examination.
Ps: Thanks to the new cute masters, Weiweiweiweidu and Linghu No. 5 Middle School, the 71st and 72nd cute masters of this book... now we have 72 cute masters.
Here's half a chapter first... I'm so sleepy, I'm taking a half-holiday to sleep... It's not because I'm stuck, but I've been dealing with some work these two days, and I've been so dry as to write that I've spent four or five hours in front of the computer to write this half chapter. Can you believe it? Or is it another form of stuck? Please forgive me, I'll try to finish it before 12 o'clock tonight.
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