Chapter 913 1002 War Begins

In the main hall of the Imperial Examination Hall in Beijing, officials including the chief examiner, co-examiner, supervisor, examiner, supplier, examinee paper collector, sealer, transcriber, examinee reading, examinee paper receiver and inspector gathered here, all wanting to witness the appearance of the members of this year's joint examination.

Of course, it is said to be filling in the list, but in fact it is just a draft list.

When filling in the draft list, the relevant examiners also have to proofread the blank and transcribed test papers, and "check the numbers" of the "red papers" to be admitted and the "black papers" of the candidates, and those with wrong numbers will be discarded.

This is actually very cruel, because if the transcriber makes a mistake, even if the candidate's answer paper is indeed admitted, he will fail the exam.

Of course, the transcription is not done by one person, but there are three checks before it is sent to the examiner's examination room, so the probability of error is also very small.

In other words, in the hundred years since the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, there has never been such a mistake.

"Li Duojian, from Xianyou County, Xinghua Prefecture, Fujian, ranked 74th in the joint examination."

As the information of another candidate appeared, the inspectors and other officials began to check the red and black papers, and compared the filled-in examination numbers, which was also meticulous.

"These are probably the top three."

At this time, Wang Xilie spoke.

All the checked examination papers were put in order, because there was a procedure for filling out the yellow list at the end.

Whether it was the palace examination list or the joint examination list, they were all written on yellow paper, but the palace examination list was called the "gold list", which was also the origin of the idiom "gold list title".

And the joint examination list was a simple yellow list, but the official name was called "A list".

The joint examination list was called the A list, and the provincial examination list was the B list. The candidates for the palace examination must be named on these two lists, so the Jinshi was also called the two-list Jinshi.

The two lists are the A and B lists of the provincial and joint examinations.

However, for the candidates, the list of candidates is of course more important, because the palace examination does not screen people. If you are on the list of candidates, you will definitely pass the palace examination, but the ranking is different.

Therefore, their names are on the list of the first class, which means that they have become officials and become a member of the ruling class of this empire.

"Li Sancai, a native of Tongzhou, Shuntian Prefecture, ranked 73rd in the list of candidates."

When a candidate's information appeared, Wei Guangde was slightly stunned, and felt that the name sounded familiar.

"There is a chance to enter the second class, Li Sancai, I don't know how talented he is."

Wei Guangde did not speak, but the deputy examiner Wang Xilie commented on his name.

Wei Guangde smiled slightly and said casually: 'Perhaps his father believed in Taoism, and the three talents selected from the Taiji two yin and yang three talents four images five elements six ways seven stars eight trigrams nine palaces ten directions may not necessarily mean three points of talent. '

"Haha, that's right. Speaking of which, the former emperor was a devout Taoist, and the people followed suit.

Even now, the Taoist temples in the capital are still prosperous."

Wang Xilie said.

He was a person who did not believe in gods and Buddhas, so he naturally couldn't stand these things, and at this time he couldn't help but praise and criticize.

"Taizu worshipped Buddha, Chengzu believed in Taoism, as for you and me, it depends on each person."

Wei Guangde said casually, but soon realized something, turned his head and looked at Wang Xilie and said: "Speaking of which, brother Zizhong is like me, not very concerned about religion."

"Zi Bu Yu Gu Ji Chao Shen, I don't know what's good about believing in those."

Wang Xilie said.

"Tongzhou, Li Sancai"

Wei Guangde smiled and then whispered a sentence.

But he tried his best to remember where he had seen this name.

Perhaps, it's not the person he met in this life, but he must have seen this name in the previous life.

Wei Guangde could only think so. He had long discovered that his memory was good mainly in this life. The things he had seen in the previous life were still vague in his memory. He did not remember the past and present lives clearly like some time travelers.

But even so, he could not help but pay more attention to Li Sancai.

Since he had memories in the later life, it means that this person should be a famous figure in the future.

In fact, Li Sancai was indeed a famous figure in the late Ming Dynasty and a person who stirred up the court.

Later generations had mixed opinions on Li Sancai, but many of them still had strong personal emotions.

The controversy over Li Sancai was actually mainly due to party disputes. Those who praised Li Sancai were naturally the famous and notorious Donglin Party in the late Ming Dynasty, while those who belittled him were the Qi, Zhejiang, Chu Party and other parties other than Donglin.

It can be seen that Li Sancai was essentially a standard Donglin Party member, and he had a great influence in the party.

However, Li Sancai's political achievements were not without.

In the second year of Wanli, he passed the imperial examination and was initially appointed as the head of the Ministry of Revenue. In the eleventh year of Wanli, he was promoted to the Langzhong of the Ministry of Revenue.

Later, when Wei Yunzhen was reprimanded by the emperor for discussing the court and going against the wishes of the assistant ministers, Li Sancai disobeyed the order and defended him, and was demoted to the Dongchang Procurator.

After being demoted from the capital, he served as the Langzhong of the Ministry of Rites in Nanjing, the Assistant of Shandong, the Councillor of Henan, the Councillor of Nanjing Tongzheng, and the Shaoqing of Dali.

In the twenty-seventh year of Wanli, he was in charge of the grain transport as the Right Assistant Censor-in-Chief and the governor of Fengyang Prefecture. During this period, he repeatedly submitted memorials to explain the harm of mining taxes and reduced the mining tax envoys. For his meritorious service in managing the Huaihe River, he was promoted to the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue.

In the thirty-eighth year of Wanli, some court officials wanted to bring Li Sancai into the cabinet, and thus slanderous remarks about him were everywhere.

The Donglin Party tried their best to defend him, which led to party disputes.

In the thirty-ninth year of Wanli, he retired and returned home. In the forty-third year of Wanli, he was impeached by the censor and demoted to a commoner.

In the first year of Tianqi, the imperial court wanted to appoint him because of the lack of people to manage Liaodong, but it was shelved due to endless arguments among the courtiers.

In the third year of the Apocalypse, he was finally appointed as the Minister of Household Affairs in Nanjing. He died before taking office at the age of seventy-one.

It should also be noted that Li Sancai's ancestral home is Rencunli, Lintong County, Shaanxi Province, and he lives in Zhangjiawan, Tongzhou, Shuntian Prefecture. It can be seen that his family is still very wealthy, otherwise it would be difficult to move to the vicinity of Gyeonggi, or in Tongzhou.

Therefore, many people in later generations believed that he was seriously corrupt when he was in charge of water transportation, which is actually not surprising.

It can be said that Li Sancai's family is likely to be a member of the profit-making group of water transportation.

At the same time, he became a representative figure of the Donglin Party and also played a pioneering role in fighting against the mining tax of the late Emperor Wanli.

At that time, the most arrogant among the mining supervisors and tax envoys was Chen Zeng. He was deeply favored by Emperor Wanli and no one dared to touch him.

At this time, Li Sancai was in charge of Fengyang and Huaiyang, which was the area where Chen Zeng collected taxes. He used a trick to remove Chen Zeng's right-hand assistant Cheng Shouxun, which suppressed Chen Zeng's arrogance and "win the hearts of the people by reducing taxes and supervising taxes." This won the support of many courtiers.

In addition, the only political achievement that Li Sancai could achieve was the control of the Huaihe River.

When he was in charge of Fengyang, Li Sancai managed the Huaihe River, which often flooded in his jurisdiction, and the effect was said to be very good.

If Wei Guangde knew this, he might become interested in him.

To put it simply, Li Sancai is very capable but not honest.

Of course, Wei Guangde doesn't really care about being incorruptible, because he himself is not considered incorruptible.

He accepted all the property that was given to him by officials and disciples below, even those far away in the south of the Yangtze River. Yu Dayou, who used to have a smooth life, learned bad things, and every year a lot of ice and charcoal gifts were sent to his house.

What Wei Guangde likes to use is still capable. Others are just trivial matters, as long as they don't make people angry.

Making money within the rules, Wei Guangde naturally has no ability to reverse this situation.

Perhaps, people in later generations yearn for an officialdom that is loyal, upright, and honest. They think that the so-called high salary to support integrity can promote such a trend and give the officialdom a new look. But in fact, these are just fantasies.

No country or system can solve the problem of integrity. The only difference is whether you know it or not.

Most of the unspoken rules of the Ming Dynasty's officialdom were still within an acceptable range. As long as there were no external threats, they could actually continue to operate.

After the draft list was completed, Wei Guangde and Wang Xilie personally checked the papers of the top ten candidates.

After the review is correct, Wang Xilie will personally "fill in the list."

In two days, all the work was completed and a copy of the list was sent to the palace. The official list was hung outside the Beijing Gongyuan for candidates to see.

At this point, the first meeting hosted by Wei Guangde is over.

Back and forth, everyone was imprisoned in Gongyuan for nearly a month, and they were also very suffocated.

After the examination, everyone immediately dispersed and returned home.

Speaking of which, the emperor of the Ming Dynasty appointed examiners very suddenly.

Once selected, an edict was issued immediately. After receiving the edict, the eunuchs would be "escorted" to Gongyuan as soon as possible. After being brought in, many officials had no time to arrange their family affairs.

When Wei Guangde came out of the Gongyuan, the mansion's sedan chair had already been waiting outside the Gongyuan.

After all, there are traces to follow. The yellow list has been issued, so naturally my master will come out.

"Brother Zizhong, let's say goodbye."

When I came out of the Gongyuan with Wang Xilie, Wang Xilie always looked down upon this pavilion that was much smaller than him, perhaps because of the lack of contact.

After this month of contact, it seems that I have also discovered many advantages of Wei Guangde, that is, delegating power.

He will only hold on to what he knows, and let go of what he doesn't understand, while he watches from the side.

From the beginning when Wei Guangde went to the Tribute Academy, because he was not very familiar with the rules of the examination, most of the arrangements were made by Wang Xilie.

After I became familiar with the rules, I gradually took over.

Well, Wang Xilie observed Wei Guangde's behavior in the later stage of the general examination, and felt that at least he was not as unbearable as he thought at the beginning, and he still had merits.

So now, although the relationship between the two is not so good that they can call each other brothers, they can finally stand together and discuss things calmly.

This may be the last thing the people who arranged it wanted to see, but it can actually happen.

"Lending well and walking slowly."

Seeing Wei Guangde's sedan approaching, Wang Xilie did not turn around and go to his own sedan, but stood aside, waiting for him to get on the sedan first.

But just when Wei Guangde was bending down to get on the sedan, a green-robed scholar hurried over from a distance.

"Mr. Wei Ge, Mr. Wei Ge, wait a minute."

When Wei Guangde heard the shouting, he stood in front of the sedan. When someone approached, he recognized the person. He was a person walking in the cabinet, or a clerk.

"What's the matter?"

When I saw someone coming in a hurry, I already guessed that there was an urgent matter with the cabinet, so I sent someone over as soon as possible.

"Mr. Ge, something happened over there in Liaodong. Sir Chief Assistant, please leave the Gongyuan and go back to the cabinet first to discuss how the court should respond."

The man from the middle school whispered in Wei Guangde's ear.

"Liaodong?"

Wei Guangde was stunned after hearing what he said, knowing that something big must have happened in Liaodong, and it didn't look good.

However, although the imperial court is preparing to use troops in Liaodong, that will only happen in the second half of the year. Is the war going to start now?

Noticing that Wang Xilie was still there, he said apologetically, "There is something going on in the court, so I will take my leave first."

So Wei Guangde quickly got into his sedan chair and ordered the bearers to carry him to the palace gate immediately.

Now he is too lazy to ask what happened in Liaodong, but he is still thinking about the worst outcome.

When it comes to military affairs, Wei Guangde usually makes the decision in the cabinet. Zhang Juzheng will express different opinions, but will not interfere easily.

In fact, even if he wants to intervene, the prerequisite is that the Ministry of War will listen.

You should know that cabinet ministers actually have no power to manage the minister.

As for Wang Xilie, he stood outside the Gongyuan and watched Wei Guangde leave in his sedan chair.

He more or less guessed that something was going on, and it was a big deal, so he quickly got into his sedan chair and asked the bearers to carry him home immediately.

It is too easy to find out about major events in Beijing.

Before, it was inconvenient to inquire in Gongyuan, but it was not impossible.

When it comes to restricting candidates' freedom, examiners don't have so many restrictions. In other words, in order to avoid suspicion, everyone voluntarily gave up some of the conveniences they could exercise.

After you come out, you can naturally contact your friends and ask what big things happened in the capital during this period.

In the previous conversation, Wang Xilie had only vaguely heard about Liaodong, so now he was also curious.

When the sedan arrived outside the palace gate, Wei Guangde got off the sedan and hurried through the palace gate to the cabinet.

After arriving at the cabinet, he was directly invited by Zhongshu to be the first assistant on duty.

"Uncle, what happened in Liaodong?"

After entering the check-in room, Wei Guangde didn't even have time to say a few words and asked directly.

"This is a report from the governor Zhang Xueyan, the censor Liu Tai, and the chief military officer Li Chengliang."

Zhang Juzheng stood up and asked Wei Guangde to sit down first, then took out three memorials from the desk and handed them to him.

"Just take a look and you'll understand. It's a bit troublesome."

Wei Guangde read the report from Governor Zhang Xueyan, and then frowned.

After quickly browsing Zhang Xueyan's memorial, Wei Guangde picked up Liu Tai's memorial. The content was similar to Governor Zhang's, but more precise.

After all, Liu Tai arrived in Changdian and saw the battlefield of that battle and the remaining dense mounds of soil.

"The Liaodong strategy is a plan set by the imperial court. Why did both Governor Zhang and Yushi Liu issue letters requesting a suspension at this time?"

Having said this, Wei Guangde reached out and picked up Li Chengliang's memorial and read it.

"The casualties of our army in this battle were too heavy. We lost nearly 6,000 soldiers and civilians. Governor Zhang may have thought of this idea because he expected that the border wall would continue to be built and he didn't know how many people would be killed or injured."

Zhang Juzheng said at this time.

"Wang Gao's movements were fast, accurate and ruthless. He caught us off guard."

Wei Guangde shook his head slightly, feeling that he had made a mistake.

But after all, he was not familiar with Wang Gao's character. Who knew he would launch a surprise attack on the Ming army so quickly and use tactics.

In fact, let alone Wei Guangde, even Zhang Xueyan and Li Chengliang, who had been in contact with Wang Gao, did not expect Wang Gao's decisiveness to take action now. They all thought that the war would not break out until the city was halfway through building the city.

"It seems that we can't wait any longer. We must follow Li Chengliang's suggestion and start early to get rid of Wang Gao."

Wei Guangde had already read the memorial and knew Li Chengliang's idea, which was to go to war directly. (End of chapter)