Chapter 166: The beauty of the red sleeves, discussing the state

February twenty-fourth.

In the Western Garden, Wanshou Palace, it was almost nightfall.

The Wanshou Palace was brightly lit. Zhu Yijun sat in front of the imperial desk, holding a red pen and making circles and marks on the last test paper.

The imperial examination has been over for nine days.

On February 9th, there will be examinations on calligraphy, on February 12th, on discussion and judgment of imperial edicts, and on February 15th, on classics, history and strategy, for a total of three examinations.

As for the announcement of the results, it will be within these four to five days.

The Ministry of Rites had already finished marking the test papers of 400 candidates yesterday, and is now waiting for the results from the eight sons of court officials who are personally reviewed by the Emperor.

Because of the tight time, Zhu Yijun had to work overtime and work hard.

Before I knew it, it was already night.

Fortunately, after grading the last test paper, everything is done.

Soon.

Zhu Yijun picked up the red brush and drew the last circle.

He put down his pen, picked up the test paper with both hands, and blew on it gently.

After examining it for a moment, he nodded with satisfaction, feeling a sense of relief as if he had finished his homework.

He glanced at Wang Jiaping who was still next to him. Fortunately, he had finished reviewing the documents before the lock was locked, otherwise the Hanlin scholar on duty would have to go off work.

Zhu Yijun divided the eight test papers with fake names on them into three piles and placed them on the table.

Then he called Wang Jiaping to come closer and said, "Mr. Wang, send the test papers to the Ministry of Rites."

"The ones on the left are the candidates I selected, and the ones on the right are the candidates who almost failed. I asked the Ministry of Rites to remove the names and put them together again to see if I made a mistake."

Although he only graded the test papers of eight people, Zhu Yijun still showed meticulous professionalism.

Upon hearing this, Wang Jiaping stepped forward silently and packed the two stacks of test papers separately.

Then he looked at the pile in the middle: "Your Majesty, what is this?"

Upon hearing this, Zhu Yijun opened the test paper in the middle.

He turned to a certain page, pointed to a certain place, and tapped it gently: "This is not avoided, it was deposed."

According to the rules, candidates who were eliminated without any taboos needed to be listed separately to make it clear, so Zhu Yijun was separated separately to make it easier for the Ministry of Rites to distinguish them.

The taboos in the Ming Dynasty were actually not very strict.

When the storyteller tells Journey to the West, he always calls himself "I am the old pig" and "I am the old pig", and no servants ever cause trouble for him.

It is even acceptable to have a name that shares one character with the emperor, as long as both characters are not the same.

But the exam is different.

As the most profound classic, it naturally follows fundamentalism. The Spring and Autumn Annals avoid mentioning the names of respected people, relatives, and wise men.

Not only the emperor's name must be avoided, but also the parents' name and even the Ming Dynasty's name must be avoided - there are also some specific notes that will be made public before the exam.

The methods of dealing with it, such as "changing characters", "changing names", "blank characters", "missing strokes", etc., have become commonly accepted ways and are also items that candidates must master.

It’s the same reason why one’s name cannot appear in future generations. It’s something that you have repeatedly emphasized before taking the exam.

Therefore, when Wang Jiaping heard this, he was stunned.

The children of hall officials were admitted to the Imperial Academy through patronage. Before the examination, the Imperial Academy often repeatedly reminded people of these matters. It is not a remote provincial school like Yunnan, so how could they make such a mistake?

He frowned and looked at where the emperor pointed, and there was a sentence from the Analects: "Even if a man wants to kill himself, how can he harm the sun and the moon?"

This does not avoid the taboos of the Ming Dynasty!
This taboo is too blunt.

Wang Jiaping frowned slightly and left with the test paper.

Zhu Yijun saw Wang Jiaping's reaction and couldn't help feeling a little emotional.

Wang Jiaping only felt that this candidate was crude, but Zhu Yijun was amazed that Zhang Jingxiu was such a sensible boy that he even deliberately violated the taboo - of course this test paper belonged to Zhang Jingxiu.

Is Zhang Jingxiu's level good enough to pass the exam?
To be fair, it's still a little short of the mark, maybe the peak of half-step Jinshi Great Perfection. It all depends on your performance on the spot.

Judging from the answers in this volume, even if it did not violate the taboo, Zhu Yijun would still have demoted him.

Zhang Jingxiu obviously also knew that his level was still in between.

If the emperor lowered the standard and allowed him to pass, he would certainly not be able to convince the people. People outside would probably doubt whether the title of his policy essay was "My Father, the Prime Minister", or even suspect that the emperor was partial.

But if the emperor deposed...

Zhang Jingxiu understands himself and obviously also understands his father.

Historically, after Zhang Jingxiu passed the imperial examination, Zhang Juzheng was still somewhat dissatisfied and complained to Zhang Siwei, "Puzhou was recommended by me, why are you stingy with the first place and not give it to my son?"

In his father's mind, Zhang Jingxiu was obviously at the top level - this was recorded in Zhang Han's notes, which was much more reliable than Wang Shizhen's essay.

It is hard to say whether Zhu Yijun would be unhappy if he was deposed by Zhang Jingxiu.

It can be said that the best way is to give up the exam, wait until your level is stable after three years, and then pass the exam in one go, saving yourself from all the trouble.

However, after what happened last time, it was no longer up to Zhang Jingxiu whether to take the exam this year. It would not be an exaggeration to say that he was being roasted on the fire.

Therefore, this trick of breaking the taboo in the imperial examination was really clever.

At the same time, he is extremely sensible!

Zhu Yijun thought of this and called Zhang Hong, saying, "Send someone to comfort Zhang Jingxiu and ask him if he is willing to try for the position of Zhongshu Sheren."

Those who share the worries of their king and father should have good luck.

In order to commend Zhang Jingxiu, we can allow him to accumulate experience from now on within the scope permitted by the rules, instead of wasting three years.

The Zhongshu Sheren are divided into "actual Zhongshu Sheren" and "trial Zhongshu Sheren".

The imperial court established an imperial examination system to select scholars. Officials who were in the official ranks were not allowed to take the examination. Even the seventh-rank Zhongshu Sheren were not allowed to take the examination, whether it was an actual appointment or a test.

However, after Emperor Xianzong made a special exception and allowed the son of cabinet minister Lu Yuan to take the exam as a Zhongshu Sheren, later generations had a new ancestral law - allowing Zhongshu Sheren to take the exam.

So-called, first enter the officialdom, then take the examination to become a non-full Jinshi, without delaying either qualification or academic qualifications.

Zhang Hong hesitated for a moment after hearing this and asked, "Your Majesty, wouldn't it be better to wait until the results are announced before going to comfort him?"

If the results are not released, I will be relieved. Isn't this a leak of news? It is hard to say how it will spread outside.

After being reminded, Zhu Yijun came to his senses.

I was getting busier and busier, and almost made a mistake.

He looked at Zhang Hong with admiration and nodded, "Go after the results are announced."

Zhang Hong then stepped aside with relief.

……

Halfway through the Xu hour.

Zhu Yijun still had no intention of resting.

He took Yin Zhengmao's memorial and opened it to read.

It is said that the pirate Lin Feng once again disturbed Chaozhou and Huizhou, and moored his boat in Qian'ao (Chaoshan, Huizhou), asking for surrender, and asking whether he should be eliminated or surrendered again.

After Zhu Yijun made some comments on it, he handed it to Zhang Hong and ordered him to discuss it with the cabinet.

He then followed the same method and dealt with several more memorials.

Ever since he issued the edict to select a concubine, the cabinet has sent him more and more memorials.

There are both big and small things, involving all aspects of military affairs, personnel, finance and taxation.

After he finished reviewing it, he sent it back to the cabinet for discussion and drafting. If there were different opinions, sometimes the process would go back and forth several times.

These memorials were obviously sent by the cabinet intentionally for practice so that they could be improved step by step over a period of time.

Zhu Yijun naturally cooperated well.

He turned to Ni Guangjian's memorial and seemed to remember something, so he asked casually, "I heard that Minister of Public Affairs Ni Guangjian was almost beaten during the court meeting today?"

The Tongzhengsi was a department that should theoretically be very powerful, after all, it was responsible for delivering memorials to the emperor.

However, after successive emperors showed no interest in dealing with memorials to the emperor for a hundred years, his status plummeted and he was no longer qualified to sit at the table for meals - the court deliberations often did not even call him the Tongzhengshi.

Zhu Yijun will definitely deal with memorials properly in the future.

Therefore, after He Yongqing retired, in order to let Ni Guangjian sit at the table for dinner, Zhu Yijun specially gave him the honorary title of Minister of Rites, while he was still in charge of the Tongzhengsi affairs.

As a result, he didn't get to eat at the table and was almost beaten during the court meeting today.

Isn't this bullying the new official?

Zhang Hong heard this and explained carefully: "Your Majesty, there was no fight, just one or two tugs."

Zhu Yijun was accustomed to court officials with strong martial virtues.

He asked without changing his expression, "What's the reason?"

Zhang Hong pondered for a moment and said, "Your Majesty, Ni Tongzhengshi and Huo Duyushi were entangled for a while because of the shift issue."

Afterwards, he, as an eyewitness, explained the reasons to the emperor.

Ni Guangjian took office as the Minister of Public Administration a month ago and has been in court for more than a month. In fact, it cannot be said that he is unfamiliar with the affairs, but he is a little dogmatic.

The so-called dogma is that according to the rules of "Etiquette and Rituals", after Ni Guangjian was promoted to the title of Minister of Rites, his rank should be before that of the Censorate.

Therefore, after he took office, he always stood in front of Ge Shouli openly.

Ge Shouli was an honest man and didn't think there was anything wrong with it.

But today, the Left Censor-in-Chief Ge Shouli was absent from the court meeting due to some matters, and the Right Censor-in-Chief Huo Ji came from the Censorate.

When Censor Huodu saw the Minister of Public Security standing in front of him, he immediately got excited and pulled Ni Guangjian behind him.

After Ni Guangjian staggered after being dragged, he became furious and glared at Huo Ji. He stood in front of Huo Ji and refused to move no matter what was said.

The two men were pulling and tugging at each other and almost came to blows. Fortunately, the cabinet and the ceremonial officer Xu Wenbi stepped in to mediate and separated the two.

"Afterwards, the two of them appealed to the justice officer separately."

"Ni Tongzheng said that he was given the title of Minister of Rites. According to the "Etiquette and Ceremony", the ministers of the ministries and courts have the same rank, but the order of rank is based on the government office. The Minister of Rites should stand before the Censorate."

"Censor Huo said that although Ni Tongzhengshi was of the same rank as him, he was still in charge of Tongzheng affairs, and he wanted to rank him above him, so Tongzheng was placed above Duchayuan, which was not in accordance with the rules."

"It is difficult to distinguish between Duke Xu and the cabinet at the moment, so we will temporarily let the two of them stand on the left and right and wait for them to take turns."

After hearing this, Zhu Yijun was silent for a long time before he uttered, "No fighting in court meetings from now on."

Afterwards, he fined the two men one month's salary for misbehaving in front of the palace, which was considered a blow to each of them.

Logically speaking, what Huo Ji said makes more sense.

But as the one who instigated the Tongzhengsi to sit at the table for dinner, Zhu Yijun would naturally take sides.

Zhang Hong heard this and took note of it silently.

Then he looked at the time and reminded softly, "Your Majesty, it's almost time to rest."

Most of the Xu hour had passed, and it was time for the emperor to go to bed.

Zhu Yijun closed the memorial and put it aside, then rubbed his brows sleepily and said, "It's time to rest soon. Go get the new newspaper and the Donglin Journal." Zhang Hong had no choice but to obey the order, hoping that the emperor would finish his work and rest soon.

After Zhang Hong took a stack of newspapers and placed them on the table.

Zhu Yijun waved his hand and said, "Go and prepare, my dear companion. I will come to rest after I finish writing this."

The emperor needs to sleep, and there is a lot of preparation to do, not to mention that the emperor now has a selected concubine to serve in the Wanshou Palace.

Zhang Hong had no choice but to bow and say he was leaving.

Zhu Yijun waved his hand and said nothing more.

Zhang Hong bent over and slowly left the hall.

When he got outside the palace, he took a lantern from the young eunuch and went to the bedroom.

Just at this moment, several lanterns appeared from the direction of the bedroom.

When he got closer, Zhang Hong could see the person clearly and bowed quickly: "Selectwoman Li."

The other eunuchs and guards lagged behind half a step and followed suit in saluting.

Li Baiyang motioned for everyone to stand up and explained, "Your Majesty has been so busy, I specially cooked a bowl of soup for you."

After saying this, she moved aside slightly, revealing the soup in the hands of the maid behind her.

Zhang Hong was stunned: "Did the concubine do this herself?"

Li Baiyang nodded.

Zhang Hong saw this and said calmly: "Selecting concubines, follow the palace rules..."

Before she finished speaking, Consort Li nodded helplessly: "I know."

After that, she picked up the spoon, scooped a spoonful into her mouth and swallowed it.

Then he looked at Zhang Hong calmly: "Zhang Dayong, is it ok?"

Zhang Hong did not answer, but apologized and went forward to take a sip himself.

After a while, seeing that there was nothing wrong with her body, he apologized with a smile: "This is the palace rule. I am sorry for the offense. Please choose my concubine."

Lady Li did not make things difficult for him. She nodded and walked past the crowd into the Wanshou Palace.

Zhang Hong signaled with his eyes to his godson Zhang Cheng and bodyguard Jiang Keqian.

The latter two understood and hurriedly followed, taking the wooden tray from the palace maid attentively.

……

Zhu Yijun looked at the half bowl of soup left in front of him and looked at Li Baiyang in silence.

Although the cook does not steal and does not harvest the crops, I have never seen anyone drink so much as this.

Li Baiyang pursed his lips and said, "Your Majesty, my daughter has been through a lot all the way here. You and I have eaten a little bit, and now there is only this small bowl left."

Zhu Yijun corrected himself with a strange look on his face: "Since you have been appointed as a concubine, you should still be a vassal."

He felt strange when his daughter called herself that.

Although he knew that this was a characteristic of the times, people used all kinds of self-proclaimed names, such as old woman, I, me, and slave.

When he was reading Sanyuan Notes, he also saw concubines in the harem calling themselves Chongzhen's daughters.

But Zhu Yijun still felt a little guilty when he saw Li Baiyang's young face.

Li Baiyang didn't know what she was thinking. She showed a hint of joy when she heard the words and immediately changed her words: "I understand."

Zhu Yijun finally came to his senses and talked about business: "The imperial meal has its own rules. Can't you just make more next time?"

It is impossible to change the process. Without the supervision of the chef, he would not dare to drink it even if he tasted it along the way.

It’s better to do more and be more practical.

After saying that, Zhu Yijun scooped half a spoonful and took a small sip.

As soon as it entered his mouth, Zhu Yijun subconsciously stuck out his tongue.

cold.

He calmly put the bowl aside and said, "Let me finish my work first."

Li Xuanshi was knowledgeable and tactful: "Then I will take my leave first."

Even the two regents did not dare to step into the Wenhua Palace for court meetings. She naturally knew the benefits of not allowing the harem to interfere in government affairs.

If I accidentally see the emperor's memorial, I'm afraid I'll have to go to the cold palace tomorrow.

Zhu Yijun waved his hand and said, "It's not a matter of government. Since you are here, just wait for me. I am a little tired, so please give me a massage."

The memorials had all been taken away by the Imperial Household Department, so there was no trouble at all, so we could just keep them for casual chat. After all, we were roommates, so it was necessary for us to get to know each other better.

Upon hearing this, Lady Li responded softly.

She then walked behind the emperor, placed her slender fingers on his shoulders and began to massage.

He advised as usual: "Since it is not a political matter, Your Majesty might as well rest early."

Zhu Yijun stretched his neck and did not respond. Instead, he asked, "Have you studied the sutras at home?"

Li Xianshi nodded proudly: "I have learned a little."

In this context, directly answering that you have learned some is no longer modest at all.

Zhu Yijun didn't find it strange.

After all, Li Chunfang is a great scholar of the time, and this kind of person loves to educate his family members on the three views.

He handed Li Xuanshi a stack of newspapers and said, "There's a lot of debate going on in the capital right now. Have you heard about it?"

Li Baiyang took it and put it back on the table. While pressing the emperor's shoulder, she replied, "Your Majesty, I read every issue of the newspaper that Gu'an Bo brought to Lady Chen."

Zhu Yijun leaned back and asked curiously, "Oh? Then who do you think is more reasonable in the debate now?"

Li Xianshi thought for a moment and shook her head in embarrassment. "Your Majesty, although I have learned some classics, the debate between Master Li and Master Xue is really a bit abstruse. I can no longer understand it."

Zhu Yijun secretly sneered, thinking that he was a master.

Yes, before the imperial examination, the Donglin Journal changed its chief editor on the grounds that Gu Xiancheng was preparing for the imperial examination.

The one who was debating with Li Zhi now was Xue Yingqi, a great scholar at that time who had entered the Liangzhe Philosophy Temple.

When heavyweights come forward, things naturally become more and more profound.

It involves a lot of pre-knowledge, Confucian professional terms, heart, reason, intention, consciousness, knowledge, behavior, color, emptiness, desire, conscience, ontology, kung fu...

Even though the Xin Bao specifically translated it into vernacular Chinese, it still began to deviate from the level that ordinary people could understand.

This is inevitable, but it cannot be allowed to continue.

"After Master Li proposed his ontology, I thought he made sense. Conscience should be universal. Even if the progress and fairness he proposed are a bit narrow, my grandfather's ideal of benefiting the world and my cautious lifelong pursuit of peace are not both universal consciences?"

“This just proves that Master Li’s ontological foundation is enough to support the high platform of Confucianism with many schools of thought.”

"Um... Of course, this is just my humble opinion, Your Majesty, please just listen to it."

"But after Master Xue's death, I felt that what Master Xue said made some sense."

"Master Xue said that Master Li is using human principles to defeat the principles of heaven."

"Generally speaking, what is called ontology and conscience must first exist in the innate, just as in the appearance of an object, taking away what the understanding thinks about the object, such as the entity, the innate feeling of hot and cold, this is the so-called heavenly principle."

"Then it is combined with human nature, taking what belongs to the senses, seeing, hearing, and knowing."

"Looking at the direct sunlight, touching the hot stone, how can you see the cause and effect?"

“So, there is innate talent and acquired talent, and now there is the essence of conscience, which is prevalent in the world.”

"Although Master Xue's accusation that Master Li was confusing cause and effect and was a demon who deceived everyone was a bit too much, I still think that what Master Xue said seems to make some sense."

Zhu Yijun listened quietly to the feelings of passers-by and sighed silently.

This is the disadvantage of academic debates that reach a high level; ordinary people can no longer understand it.

I just think both sides have a point.

As a person of the daily life school, Li Zhi abstracted the ontology among all living beings and created universal values.

After Xue Yingqi finished his debate, he went straight to the root of their differences - epistemology.

Since you, Li Zhi, have abstracted the ontology into the world and the times, you have confused the relationship between the Way of Heaven and the Way of Man, and have lost your precise positioning.

When the sun shines on a stone, and the stone feels hot when touched, this is all seen by people, but who can see the causal relationship between the two?
Isn't this what humans, as the subject, gain by comprehending the Way of Heaven?
Otherwise, even if you talk a thousand and ten thousand things, how can you understand the cause and effect relationship between all things?

Therefore, Xue Yingqi believed that there was natural law first, and then human comprehension. Human cognitive ability itself should be innate and do not need to be cultivated, just like the ability to feel cold and hot.

Instead of being like Li Zhi, who was influenced by the outside world and passively understood the essence of conscience.

That person is no longer worthy of being called a human being; he is no different from a monkey.

“I can still understand it here.”

"Then Master Li and Master Xue began to discuss the relationship between heavenly principles and human morality, and my mind became a mess."

Li Baiyang puffed up his cheeks and moved the air in his cheeks back and forth between his left and right faces in a somewhat awkward manner.

When Zhu Yijun saw that she had finished speaking, he grabbed her hand and told her not to press it anymore: "That's why Wang Shizhen wanted to hold a literary gathering to entertain guests and answer questions for you and me."

The latter part is indeed too profound.

That is why we have to organize and translate the Confucian jargon carefully before we can continue to promote it.

Li Xianshi was stunned: "Leader Wang is also going to participate in the debate?"

Zhu Yijun nodded: "Not only Wang Shizhen, but also the two direct disciples of Yangming, the three teachers and seven witnesses, and the direct descendants of the Kong family are all coming to join in the fun."

Li Xianshi hesitated for a moment and couldn't help asking, "Your Majesty, is my grandfather here?"

Zhu Yijun laughed: "He is a disciple of the Taizhou School, taught by Wang Gen himself, so naturally he is here to support Li Zhi."

Immediately, he looked at Li Baiyang and smiled slyly: "How about it, do you want to join in the fun?"

Li Baiyang groaned, rubbing the corner of his clothes and mumbling, "No... no, Your Majesty was just reprimanded by the Queen Mother Li last time."

Zhu Yijun shook his head: "No, this time it was Wang Shizhen who invited me, so I will go openly."

After that, he didn't care whether Li Baiyang agreed or not, and said on his own initiative: "Okay, it's settled."

"Grind the ink for me. I also need to prepare the visiting cards for the literary association."

Only then did Li Baiyang understand what the emperor was talking about that was not political affairs. It turned out that he wanted to leave the palace to join in the fun.

While she was grinding ink for the emperor, she asked in confusion, "Why do I need to ask His Majesty for a visiting card?"

Zhu Yijun picked up the pen and shook his head: "It's not that he asked me for a visiting card, but such a grand event must have an opening that will go down in history. By the way, I should also take care of you, a spectator who doesn't study Confucianism."

After saying that, he spread out a piece of paper and slowly began to write.

Li Baiyang was grinding ink and looking at it curiously.

A few neat large characters appeared on the paper: "A Review of Literature on Debate".

Below is a subheading with the emperor's unique style - "Pure Reason and Practical Reason: The Origin of Dissenting Opinions of Various Schools"

(End of this chapter)