Chapter 87: Martial Arts Champion
In the spring of the fourth year of Yuanguang, the palace examination was held again, and Zhu Yuhuan was still present to personally review the questions and answers of the candidates.
After the palace examination, Zhu Yuhuan would summon candidates who were applying for civil service positions to formally select talents to join the Academy of Sciences.
The former is an administrative office staff, and the latter is a special talent. Zhu Yuhuan intends to show an attitude of "treating them equally".
As for whether it is truly fair or not, that is not something that others should consider. The emperor employs neither treacherous ministers nor mediocre people, and he has even issued an edict to "seek talents". Naturally, it is not the turn of others to criticize how the emperor employs people.
"Are you Wang Yue?"
Zhu Yuhuan looked down and saw a tall young man standing there. He had a slender figure and a nose like a gall bladder, and he stood out even among the crowd of military tribute students.
Although Zhu Yuhuan did not arrange a physical examination for the military scholars, she could roughly estimate their heights. Among the two batches of military scholars she had seen, there were not many as tall as Wang Yue.
As for why Zhu Yuhuan was so impressed with Wang Yue, it was because he had heard the examiner mention that one of the military scholars had also answered the written test very well, and could be said to be the best essay written by military scholars in history. Therefore, the essay was specially presented to Zhu Yuhuan's desk for the emperor to review in person.
Zhu Yuhuan had read both the civil and military examination papers. If this answer paper were placed among the civil examination papers, it would certainly not be the best, but among all the military examination papers, this answer paper stood out from the crowd, and it was no wonder that the examiner was so "amazed".
"Your Majesty, I am Wang Yue, born in Jun County, Daming Prefecture."
Zhu Yuhuan smiled slightly and said, "I have read your essays and policy papers. They are indeed good, and are on par with the essays of the imperial examination candidates."
Wang Yue immediately bowed and said, "I thank Your Majesty for your appreciation."
Zhu Yuhuan then raised his own question, saying, "If that's the case, why don't you take part in the civil service examination?"
This question was very sharp, and the officials sitting below were a little surprised that the emperor would ask the candidates this question.
The emperor had always been lenient towards students taking the palace examinations, and when he summoned them for questioning he would only ask superficial questions. But this time it was completely different.
Wang Yue's expression didn't betray a single ounce of nervousness. He remained calm as he spoke, "Your Majesty, I was born in the first year of the Xuande reign. At that time, there was no military examination, so I could only delve into the civil examination. Your Majesty is wise and had the intention of establishing a military examination even before the rise of the Dragon. However, in the six years since its establishment, the military examination has been far less prosperous than the civil examination. It wasn't until the Yuanguang reign that it saw a revival. It was precisely because Your Majesty treated students taking the military examination equally that you repeatedly promoted them, and even reformed the borders and organized military farms. This shows that Your Majesty values military affairs. As a student with martial arts skills, I owe it to Your Majesty and my country to relieve their worries, so I have devoted myself to the military examination."
This answer can be called perfect.
The emperor's original intention was probably to tease Wang Yue that he knew he could not rank among the top in the civil examination, so he turned to the military examination.
But Wang Yue explained his motives in just a few words, praised the emperor highly, and demonstrated his ambition and mind, which can be said to be killing two birds with one stone.
Zhu Yuhuan showed a somewhat satisfied expression on his face and said, "You are very good."
Wang Yue won the first place in the martial arts examination and became the top martial arts scholar. He was extremely famous, which showed how much the emperor valued him.
If the appointment of the general flag was in accordance with the old precedent, then the fact that Wang Ji was later made the governor of Gansu and Shanxi, working with five military scholars including Wang Yue, was enough to prove that the emperor was determined to cultivate Wang Yue, a good seedling with both civil and military talents.
Zhu Yuhuan did have this consideration. Wang Ji had experience in commanding large-scale wars and was a rare mentor and friend. With Wang Ji guiding and teaching these people, Zhu Yuhuan could rest assured.
More importantly, Wang Ji himself was an official who came from the civil examination. For these military officers who were squeezed out by the civil examination officials, Wang Ji was not a fellow traveler. The emperor was his most valuable backer.
After the palace examination, the talents sent from all over the country had gathered in the capital. Zhu Yuhuan interviewed them again and selected more than 20 people in each subject. A total of 177 people were admitted to the Academy of Sciences, including 121 men and 56 women, which was somewhat beyond Zhu Yuhuan's expectations.
However, after thinking about it, she understood that this group of people took into consideration that the emperor was a woman and valued female officials, so they were looking for women to bring to the capital.
In any case, these officials who successfully joined the job passed Zhu Yuhuan's test, which was enough to prove their outstanding ability level. After joining the job, they began to study in various aspects according to the plan formulated by Zhu Yuhuan.
Some craftsmen who had previously stayed in the capital became guides for these officials, responsible for helping them adapt to the work processes of the Academy of Sciences as quickly as possible.
Zhu Yuhuan took the time to take care of another exam, which was to find study partners for Zhu Shuyuan and Zhu Jianshen.
From the time Zhu Yuhuan started learning to the time he started formal school, he never had any playmates of the same age. One reason was that Zhu Yuhuan was born too early. Zhu Zhanji had not yet ascended the throne at that time and had to depend on others for everything he did. It was naturally impossible for Zhu Yuhuan to contact others freely to avoid being tricked.
Later on, Zhu Yuhuan's academic progress had already "jumped ahead" of her peers. In addition, she was studying like a prince, and it was impossible for her to find a man of the same age to enter the palace to accompany her, so she attended classes alone.
But now the times are different and the atmosphere is different. Zhu Yuhuan did not want the only two children in the palace to be too lonely, so he began to find children of appropriate age among the tenants in the imperial farm for them to study together.
The selected tutors entered the palace to accompany the royal heirs in their studies and lived in the imperial city. They were taught and supervised by special people and could go home to rest for four days at the end of each month. They could also take holidays on festivals such as the Emperor's Birthday, New Year's Day, and Lantern Festival. Their monthly salary was four shi, which could be exchanged for cloth, spices, etc.
This treatment was very good. Although the palace was dangerous, the people accompanying them were the children of the "old boss", His Majesty, so all the tenants flocked to it.
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