The official newspaper is really a good thing.

At present, for the Ming Dynasty, the social effect of official reports is far greater than its economic effect.

Due to the distance between places, the spread of information was much slower, so Zhu Ying did not hastily arrange for each province to start publishing official gazettes immediately.

If we cannot control the gun of public opinion in our own hands, we will be asking for trouble.

It’s better to go slower than to lose control.

Zhu Ying was very young, too young. He had plenty of time to build his ideal Ming Dynasty.

Just seven days after the court reports were dissipated, the spring imperial examinations in the capital finally began.

The imperial examination in the Ming Dynasty was divided into three levels: provincial examination, metropolitan examination, and palace examination.

The provincial examination was a local examination held by Southern and Northern Zhili and the various provincial administration commissioners' offices.

The Joint Examination was a national examination hosted by the Ministry of Rites, also known as the Liwei and Chunwei.

At present, Zhu Ying is presiding over the imperial examination.

The examination was divided into three sessions, one held every three days.

Because this is an encore test, the specific time is somewhat different from previous years.

Students who wanted to take the imperial examinations would wait for notification in the capital.

"The environment of this Imperial Examination Hall is really bad. It's considered quite something to be able to pass the exam from this place."

Zhu Ying inspected the Imperial Examination Hall and said with emotion.

There are tens of thousands of single rooms here, also called houses, which are five feet long, four feet wide and eight feet high, like a cage.

There are three exams, each lasting three days. For nine days and six nights, the candidates can only stay in this small cage, eating, drinking, defecating and urinating here.

The imperial examination hasn't started yet, so there's almost no smell.

Zhu Ying could fully imagine what the scene here would be like nine days later.

The Ministry of Rites was the main organizer of the imperial examination, but now the position of Minister of Rites was vacant, so the Ministry of Rites' left and right vice ministers would be in charge.

Examiners are usually selected from the Hanlin Academy.

After all, the Hanlin Academy represents the highest academic institution in the Ming Dynasty.

Soon, at Zhu Ying's signal, the gate of the Imperial Examination Hall was opened, and tens of thousands of candidates filed in after being searched.

According to your number plate, find the corresponding number house.

"Your Highness, can we begin?"

The Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue asked with a smile on his face.

Zhu Ying said, "Eating, drinking, defecating and urinating are human nature. I heard that during the examination at the Imperial Academy, if a student went to the toilet, a shit stamp would be put on the paper. Is this true?"

The Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue did not dare to conceal it: "Reporting to Your Highness, this is indeed the case."

Zhu Ying said: "From now on, students must be accompanied by guards when they go to the toilet, and when they come back, their papers are no longer allowed to have stamps like shit stamps on them."

"From now on, all the shit stamps in the Imperial Examination Hall will be discarded and not used. Do you understand?"

The left and right assistant ministers, as well as the examiner from the Imperial Academy, immediately stood up, bowed, and said, "We respectfully obey the order of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

Zhu Ying nodded and told Guo Zhong, "Go and pass the message."

Guo Zhong bowed and said, "I obey your command."

Then he winked at a few young eunuchs nearby, and they all started jogging and stood in several areas of the Imperial Examination Hall.

Seeing that the young eunuchs were ready, Guo Zhong said loudly:

"Pass on His Royal Highness the Crown Prince's order. From now on, students are not allowed to cover their poop sticks when using the toilet!!!"

As Guo Zhong's voice sounded, the second young eunuch immediately began to repeat and shout.

Then the third one, and the fourth one.

The news spread throughout the Imperial Examination Hall.

Upon hearing this order, all the candidates became excited and some of them even had red faces.

They had all passed the provincial examinations, so they naturally understood how uncomfortable it was to use the toilet during the imperial examination.

The vast majority of candidates have already stopped eating before taking the exam so as to avoid having to go to the toilet.

Those who were poor could only bring a few steamed buns with them, as long as they were not starving to death.

Those who are richer would bring a ginseng with them and take a bite to stay alive when they were really hungry.

Often after completing three exams, all candidates feel half exhausted.

It has long been normal for people to faint due to physical weakness during the imperial examinations.

What is the difference between this order from His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and saving a life?

When the decree was read out, a voice rang out: "Thank you, Your Highness, the Crown Prince!"

As this voice sounded, all the students in the Imperial Academy shouted together: "Thank you, His Royal Highness, for your grace!"

The Imperial Examination Hall was right next to the Qinhuai River. The shouting of tens of thousands of people, even if not in unison, was enough to cause a sensation in Qinhuai.

"What's going on? Why is there such a loud shout?"

"Don't you understand? It must be His Royal Highness the Crown Prince showing mercy."

“I don’t know what kind of kindness it is that makes these students so excited.”

"Don't think too much about it. Such a big event will be published in the official newspaper in two days. Then we will know it."

The students were very excited, and even after receiving the test papers, it took them a long time to calm down.

But as far as exams are concerned, there is no shortage of time.

Of the three examinations, only the first one is truly taken seriously, as it tests the meaning of the scriptures.

The so-called classics refer to the Four Books and Five Classics.

In fact, there is a misunderstanding here. It does not mean that every student has to be proficient in all the Four Books and Five Classics. During the exam, they can choose their own classics.

The so-called "main classic" means to select one classic from the Five Classics, namely "Book of Songs", "Book of History", "Book of Rites", "Book of Changes" and "Spring and Autumn Annals" as the direction of your examination. Students only need to do the four questions above.

The following section on the meaning of the Four Books asks students to answer three questions from the four Neo-Confucian classics: The Analects, Mencius, The Doctrine of the Mean, and The Great Learning.

Therefore, the examiner prepares twenty-three questions, and the students only need to take seven questions.

Zhu Ying was just here for formality, and his status as the Crown Prince did not allow him to stay here all the time.

Before leaving, Zhu Ying instructed the left and right assistant ministers of the Ministry of Revenue: "Every student here may be the future minister, assistant minister, or even the local official of the Ming Dynasty."

"The imperial examinations of the imperial court were meant to select talents, but they were used to torture them."

"I will send a message to Guanglu Temple, asking them to prepare dinner for all students today, including two meals tomorrow."

"I'll be in a lot of trouble then."

Upon hearing this, the left and right assistant ministers did not dare to say much, and could only bow and kowtow: "We will obey the orders of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

…

Zhu Ying’s reforms to the Imperial Examination Hall were published in the Beijing Gazette on the third day.

The reputation of the Crown Prince for his kindness spread throughout the capital.

Whether it was students who had not yet taken the imperial examination or officials who had taken the imperial examination to become officials, they all applauded the move of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.

These two actions made all the students feel the care and concern of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.

"My benevolent and wise ruler, my benevolent and wise ruler, why should we worry about the Ming Dynasty not prospering?"

"Your Highness, the Crown Prince, is a man of high integrity. He respects the will of Heaven and cares for the people."

In just half a day, all the writers were writing poems to praise His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.

"This move of my grandson was really effective in seconds. We used to be too worried that he might be boycotted by scholars. But after this happened, scholars all over the world praised him immensely and all of them became his loyal followers."

Zhu Yuanzhang said with a laugh.

The aftermath of the rumor case has not disappeared until now.

Although no one in the capital talks about this topic anymore, it is widely spread in other parts of the Ming Dynasty.

Even if the government issues a ban, it cannot stop the spread of the virus by those with ulterior motives.

In today's society, are businessmen the main targets of communication?

No, it's a literati.

In front of the literati, the merchants are just younger brothers.

Zhu Yuanzhang seemed to see that all the unfavorable remarks about his eldest grandson were completely shattered after this imperial examination.

"Grandpa, you are too kind. I just went to the Imperial Examination Hall and heard about some of the rules and regulations regarding the imperial examination. I feel that they are a bit too strict for the students."

"The imperial examination is like a carp leaping over the dragon gate. Especially for poor students, it is the only way to change their destiny."

"These poor students usually study late into the night, are lazy, and don't know how to distinguish between grains. They are very weak."

"If a person is extremely hungry, how can he think? It is not easy for us to select some talented people. If this causes some people with outstanding talents to fail, it will be a pity."

"After passing the imperial examination and becoming an official, it is no longer a matter of one day or one night, but rather the accumulation of political achievements over several years."

"My grandson just hopes that these students who want to serve the country can fully develop their talents."

Zhu Ying's tone was very serious, which reflected his true thoughts.

In fact, thinking from another angle, in Zhu Ying's view, the current Ming Dynasty can be described as eager for talents.

The purpose is very simple, which is to gradually reduce or even close the line of recommending officials.

Only in this way can the existence of cliques be less absolute.

During the middle and late Ming Dynasty, one could be recommended as an official as long as one knew a little bit of literacy and showed filial piety. The imperial examination was despised instead. This way of selecting talents would only accelerate the collapse of a dynasty.

Although Zhu Ying is already trying to popularize education, as the saying goes, it takes ten years to grow a tree and a hundred years to cultivate a person.

It takes at least two or three years for students in today's schools to truly learn to read and write.

It would take at least ten or eight years to completely get rid of illiteracy as defined by the current situation in the Ming Dynasty.

Among them, there are even fewer who can truly be used by the court and Zhu Ying.

It can be foreseen that in the next five or six years, or even ten years, the talents that Zhu Ying can use will be the current batch of students who have studied hard for a long time.

This is why Zhu Ying directly announced the reform measures for the Imperial Examination Hall, in order to show favor to the students.

If you want to change a student's views and thinking, the most effective way is not to reform the imperial examination system or compile classics.

The fastest and most effective way is to let students have a kind of admiration for themselves.

This method is actually similar to that of the fans of later stars, when the students recognize the prince from the bottom of their hearts.

For many things, even if students do not understand, they will choose to support them without reason.

When thoughts have a leader, things become much easier.

…

The imperial examination soon ended amid a lot of discussion.

With the end of the imperial examination, each of the tens of thousands of students who enjoyed the grace of the Crown Prince in the Imperial Examination Hall was Zhu Ying's best publicity.

When they started chatting with their former classmates, all they talked about was the crown prince.

"I don't want to engage in personality cult, but the world is like this, what can I do?"

Zhu Ying expressed helplessness.

As the imperial examination came to an end, with only a few days left before the announcement of the results, a piece of news began to spread rapidly through the imperial gazette of the capital.

The Imperial Military Academy was officially established.

Starting today, we will recruit the first batch of students from all over the country.

The deadline is August 18th.

It is planned to enroll 800 students. Your Majesty will be the dean, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince will be the vice-dean, and the teachers will be military generals and commanders of various levels.

Outstanding students can be awarded the title of Dunwu Xiaowei upon graduation.

Note: Those who are literate and have a good record will be given priority in admission.

As soon as this news came out, the capital city, which had just been in a state of excitement, became excited again.

The storytellers in various teahouses gave many explanations for the news, including the duties, powers, and other preferential treatment of the Dunwu Captain, all of which were explained in detail.

Even an ordinary citizen knows how rare this opportunity is.

"It's a pity that the military academy only accepts students aged 16 and above and under 30 this time. Otherwise, I could try."

"Come on, this isn't about being a pampered official. If you join the army, you're actually going to fight in the war."

"That's natural. If you still go when you're 50 or 60, you'll probably be retired before you're even finished training. According to the rules a few days ago, sergeants also have to retire when they're 60."

"I'm already sixty, what's the point of fighting? There's nothing left to fight for."

The people were obviously quite looking forward to this matter, and some strong young men were eager to try it.

Ever since the retirement regulations for sergeants were finalized, people suddenly realized that joining the army is also a good choice.

And due to the previous Imperial Examination Hall turmoil, many students began to feel shaken.

"Brother Li, if we fail the imperial examination this time, how about we go to the Military Academy together to take the exam?"

"Brother Cheng, I think so too, but can we do it with our bodies?"

"I don't think it's impossible. Besides, the body can be trained. At least it's faster than studying. It's clearly written in the court bulletin that those who have a merit and can read are given priority. We are all scholars, so our chances are greater anyway."

"Brother Cheng is right. Let's wait for a few days. I'm afraid they have similar ideas to us. When the list comes out, if we are not on the list, it will be a good place for us to go."

"In my opinion, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is not only focusing on improving civil governance, but also on military affairs. I heard a few days ago that in order to improve military discipline and maintain the image of soldiers, the practice of sending prisoners to the army has been abolished."

The conscription of criminals into the army is undoubtedly an important reason for lowering the image of the army.

Ever since the cancellation of the exile of criminals was published in the court gazette, and coupled with the continuous promotion of the strategy of elite troops, most people's stereotypes about the Ming army have changed.

Three days later, the imperial examination list was announced.

Naturally, some are happy and some are sad.

After the joint examination, it is the palace examination, which has nothing to do with those who fail.

However, on the day the results were announced, a piece of news quickly spread throughout the capital.

One of the people at the top of the list actually gave up the palace examination and instead applied for the Imperial Military Academy.