Chapter 1509 Scientific prediction, always accurate!

In March, Xiangshan Mountain is covered with flowers. The tall magnolia trees are in full bloom with pure white pigeon flowers, the golden stripes of forsythia and suspensa are like yellow brocade covering the valley, and the peach blossoms and light pink crabapples make Xiangshan Mountain a sea of ​​flowers.

If it were any other place, it would have been crowded with tourists coming to enjoy the spring, but Xiangshan is a royal garden, so it can maintain a rare tranquility.

Only at the top of the hour would the melodious bell from the tower with white brick and black walls and a yellow-orange globe on top ring out, reminding the students of Xiangshan Academy that the palace examination was one hour away.

At this time, ninety-eight Chinese scholars from the School of Science were undergoing their long-awaited ultimate special training in the Zhengming Pavilion opposite the bell tower!

Their highly admired teacher Zhao kept his promise this time and personally served as the main speaker of the ultimate special training!

After going through untold hardships, students were finally able to listen to the teacher’s lectures in person. Many students felt a greater sense of accomplishment than passing the imperial examination.

In fact, for the last session, Teacher Zhao started special training before the New Year.

There is no other way. As the tutor's career grows bigger, the time he has to guide students will naturally shrink...

If the time is not enough, then we have to add more tricks... Bah, that's to improve the quality!

The ultimate special training of Zhengming Pavilion is definitely worthy of the students' expectations!

First of all, the guest lineup for the Xiangshan Forum has been upgraded. In addition to regular guests such as Shen Shixing, Wang Xijue, and Yu Youding, Zhao Hao also invited

Minister of Personnel Zhang Han, Left Censor-in-Chief Ge Shouli, Minister of Rites Wan Shihe, Minister of Revenue Wang Guoguang, Minister of Punishment Wang Zhigao, Minister of Works Zhu Heng, Minister of War Tan Lun, as well as Minister of Public Security Wang Haowen and Chief Justice Li Youzi, were the keynote speakers on the corresponding topics.

All the nine ministers are present. The last time they were so complete was when Lord Xu was giving lectures in Lingji Palace.

It really makes people sigh that fortune changes and it will be my turn next year.

~~

The ten-day forum was hosted by Zhao Hao himself. He still gave a topic every day and asked the guests to speak freely about it. He controlled the direction of the discussion to avoid going off topic.

After the afternoon guests leave, he will do a summary and tell his disciples who is talking nonsense and who is talking bullshit… from the perspective of his father-in-law, of course.

Then at night, the disciples wrote policy essays on this, which were reviewed by several senior scholars who had served as examiners for the palace examinations, such as Zhao Jin and Wan Shihe.

Wan Shihe succeeded Lu Shusheng as the Minister of Rites. He is from Yixing and one of the three big bosses of the Jiangnan Gang. He has the obligation and likes to guide the younger generation.

The other two were Zhang Han, the Minister of Personnel, and Yin Zhengmao, the Minister of Revenue in Nanjing. However, Yin Zhengmao had a bad reputation, so he was not usually mentioned, and Zhao Jin was used instead.

But in fact, Yin Zhengmao was the number one favorite general under Prime Minister Zhang, and Zhao Jin could not compare to him.

~~

Naturally, Zhao Hao also incorporated the essay topics of the palace examination in the second year of Wanli into these ten topics.

Because the examination is conducted in the emperor's tone, asking Chinese candidates for advice on how to govern the country, the questions in this year's palace examination are not difficult to guess.

Previously, at various literary gatherings in the capital, senior leaders had speculated that, in order to be consistent with the emperor's age of twelve, the questions in the policy essays naturally could not be too profound, nor too specific, and would inevitably fall into generalities.

Therefore, it is not wrong to raise the tone when writing policy papers, and write in the direction of respecting heaven and following ancestors, working diligently and loving the people, and selecting virtuous people and employing capable people...

As for the final ranking, it depends on who writes better and writes a more pleasing article.

The Great Prophecy told Zhao Hao that they only guessed right at the beginning, but were completely wrong later on.

The person who asked the question was his idol, his father-in-law, so how could he possibly take the ordinary path?

A man of Zhang Xianggong's high standards must pursue what is reasonable and unexpected. He will kill you and make you convinced.

If Zhao Hao didn't have the ability to predict the future, he would have guessed wrong...

The theme of this year's palace examination questions is indeed the four words "learning hard and governing diligently".

"Classics" means that the princes or emperors are devoted to learning. It goes without saying that they are diligent in government.

It seems that it is within everyone's prediction range, but once I read the questions, I was definitely sweating.

In simple terms, this year's policy essay is the emperor asking the tribute scholars, "Since I took over, I have not stopped studying for a single day, and I have studied very hard. But why is it that the world was conquered on horseback, but no one created an emperor's career by reading poetry and books?"

Moreover, I am also working hard every day to govern the country. But why can we create a peaceful world by ruling by doing nothing like Emperor Wen of Han?

I am still young, and I don't understand some things yet. I can only rely on my beloved Master Zhang to make decisions on major and minor matters. But I also have to study hard and strive to rule the country as soon as possible. But I heard that the learning of emperors is different from that of ordinary people, and it is not in articles and poems. If I don't learn these, what should I learn?

Others say that as long as the rulers grasp the outline, everything will be handled properly. Does the so-called "outline" really exist?

I heard that studying the plans made by ministers for the monarchs in the past is also beneficial to the present. For example, Dong Zhongshu's "Three Strategies for Virtuous and Good People", the theory of "changing customs" during the reign of Emperor Xuan of Han, the theory of "examining customs" during the reign of Emperor Yuan of Han, as well as the "six precepts for governing the nature", "four rituals for encouraging learning", as well as "frugality at the beginning of the Yuan Dynasty", "purging troubles and harshness at the beginning of the Jian Dynasty", "Ten Things in Yuanyou", "Three Notes on Zhiping", and "Xining's Study of Antiquity and Correcting Learning".

Could you please tell me what these are, one by one? Are there any of them that are still usable?

You are all professionals who have learned the art of ancient sages and understand the affairs of the present. Can you help me synthesize these strategies and find out their central ideas? Which one should be the focus of "classical learning"? Which one should be the focus of "establishing politics"?

Of course, some people say that things are different now than they were in the past, and starting a business and maintaining a business are not the same thing. You can all speak freely to meet my idea of ​​"being cautious at the beginning"...

~~

The above is what Master Zhao recalled from the Ming Shilu using his great prophecy skills and what he remembered about the palace examination in the second year of Wanli.

There are ten questions in total. The first four questions are tricky and profound, challenging the words of sages everywhere. If you answer one of them incorrectly, you will fail.

This is a highly political palace examination. If the candidates are not mentally prepared, they will be scared to death.

Without special guidance, they would not dare to answer these risky questions.

If you don't pee on the first four questions, you will pee on the next ones. The damn question setter actually asked the candidates to introduce the ten famous ancient policy essays mentioned in the question stem one by one! And they also had to analyze them in depth and make their words meaningful!

This is such a rip off!

In order to pass the provincial and metropolitan examinations, the scholars of the Ming Dynasty focused all their energy on the Four Books and Five Classics. Who would work hard on policy essays?

I'm afraid there aren't many scholars who even know that "Yongguang" and "Chuyuan" are actually two reign titles for the same emperor! Not to mention what these policy essays are all about...

Zhang Xianggong was too lazy to listen to their irrelevant rhetoric, so he just tested their basic knowledge. He turned a subjective question like policy essay into an objective question.

This way, the ranking will be easy. Whoever has mastered more knowledge points and does better in reading comprehension will be ranked higher!

Don't be dissatisfied. Before taking part in the policy examination, shouldn't you study all the famous policy essays of previous generations?

What, no research? Sorry, I will serve you like a scholar...

~~

For objective questions, whether or not you have prepared the knowledge points will make a huge difference in your scores!

Mr. Zhao certainly would not directly mark the test points for his disciples, but he had already subtly incorporated these knowledge points into the ten-day lectures and daily after-class exercises.

Because this forum is about the policy of governing the country. Scholars like to quote classics, so it is not abrupt to bring up these ten allusions. As for the four tricky questions, they were naturally brought up when asking the masters for advice...

In short, as long as you listen carefully in class and check and fill in the gaps you didn’t understand in time after class, you will not be at a loss when you enter the examination room.

As for what you can catch, it all depends on your luck. Teacher Zhao can only help up to this point.

The ten-day forum ended quickly, and the disciples took a special course titled "How to Write the Top-scoring Paper."

The course is divided into three lectures, upper, middle and lower, and is taught by Shen Shixing, Fan Yingqi and Yu Shensi.

Shen Shixing was the number one scholar in the 41st year of the Jiajing reign; Fan Yingqi was the number one scholar in the 44th year; and Yu Shensi was the number one scholar in the 5th year of the Longqing reign.

Three top scorers will share their experiences to teach you how to become a top scorer. I hope you will listen carefully!

In fact, Fan Yingqi's position should have belonged to Mr. Zhao, but Mr. Zhao backed off because he felt that his position as the top scholar was picked up and he didn't want to mislead other students.

What could he tell these academic masters? That he got the top spot in the imperial examination thanks to his son's planning, the ancestors' help, and his lover's presence?

Wouldn't that be embarrassing? So let's give this chance to the real top scorer.

Fortunately, Master Zhao has many top scorers, so he doesn't need another one.

So Mr. Zhao suddenly caught a cold those days and had to ask Fan Zhuangyuan for help.

Fan Yingqi was from Wucheng County, Huzhou Prefecture, and was Pan Jixun's fellow villager and brother, and the two families were also related by marriage. So like Shen Shixing, they were both the most reliable people!

~~

Because they had to go to the Ministry of Rites to register on the 14th and listen to the relevant instructions for the palace examination, on March 13th, the 98 candidates bid farewell to their master, teachers, and brothers, and went down the mountain to take the exam with full confidence.

On the 15th day, the first palace examination of the new Wanli Dynasty was held grandly in front of the Huangji Hall, with all the important officials of the court attending.

After all the ministers and candidates had paid homage to the little emperor on the golden stage, the palace examination began.

When the students of the science department saw the policy essay question, they couldn't help but feel relieved.

Although they had never thought of this topic, they were not unfamiliar with the question and even felt it was very familiar.

What else is there to say? Just roll up your sleeves and get to work!

For candidates who have mastered the knowledge points, this kind of question is too easy to answer. If it weren't for the advice from their seniors, it would be best not to hand in the paper in advance. They would have handed in the paper in the morning and could have gone to the Eight Great Hutongs to relax at noon...

Uh, that's not right! The Eight Great Hutongs have been closed down. I heard it was the Empress Dowager's decree, so I'm afraid they can never be reopened.

Damn! Why do women have to make things difficult for other women?!

p.s. It’s too late, I’ll make up the next chapter tomorrow.

(End of this chapter)