My Portable Ming Dynasty

Chapter 380 I Was an Examiner in the Ming Dynasty
After Zhang Juzheng finished speaking, everyone present could only agree.

Zhang Juzheng was right; it was indeed inappropriate to paralyze the Censorate at such a crucial time.

But who is this person?
Hai Rui was a Vice Censor-in-Chief who made significant contributions during his tenure as Governor of Yingtian, and was actually eligible for a promotion.

Above that is the Vice Censor-in-Chief.

If Wang Ting is dismissed from office, the position of Right Vice Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate will also be vacant, and the Vice Censor-in-Chief can then take over the Censorate.

It's fair to say that Zhang Juzheng's suggestion was hard to refuse.

The head of the Censorate needs to be recommended by the emperor.

However, given the Emperor's current situation and the divisions within the cabinet, it would be difficult for the court to put forward a suitable candidate.

After Wang Ting resigns, the Censorate will be in a state of having no Grand Censor for a long time.

To maintain the stability of the Censorate, a highly respected and authoritative Vice Censor-in-Chief is needed.

The appointment of a deputy censor-in-chief no longer requires the formal procedure of court recommendation.

Hai Rui was renowned throughout the land, personally recognized by the late emperor as the "Divine Sword of the Ming Dynasty," and he was absolutely capable of commanding respect.

However, a person like Hai Rui was bound to clash with Gao Gongqi.

Hai Rui was upright and incorruptible. If Gao Gong wanted to interfere in the Censorate, he would inevitably have to confront Hai Rui head-on.

The Censorate itself also has the responsibility of supervising all officials. If Gao Gong were to replace the Vice Censor-in-Chief with Hai Rui, who is intolerant of any wrongdoing, he would also face pressure from the Censorate if he were to engage in any further political maneuvering.

Gao Gong was the Grand Secretary and had served as the Minister of Personnel for many years, wielding enormous influence within the Ministry of Personnel.

Without Hai Rui, Gao Gong could have recommended his own person to take over the Censorate once Wang Ting resigned.

Then Zhang Juzheng was the one who was passive.

Therefore, before Gao Gong returned to the cabinet, Zhang Juzheng handed the Censorate over to Hai Rui.

Hai Rui was not aligned with any political faction, which actually benefited Zhang Juzheng.

High, it is high!

The three cabinet ministers present were all shrewd individuals. It can only be said that Zhang Juzheng's political acumen was too keen, thus offering a proposal that no one could refuse, and planting a time bomb for Gao Gong.
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[The memorial impeaching Wang Ting by Su Ze has been passed.]

Wang Ting, the Left Censor-in-Chief, was dismissed from his post by the emperor for mishandling the official seal.

[The Longqing Emperor, mindful of the veteran official's status, preserved his privileges and allowed Wang Ting to return to his hometown.]

Zhang Juzheng immediately recommended Hai Rui, the governor of Yingtian, as vice censor-in-chief, and the Longqing Emperor approved his memorial.

Hai Rui returned to the capital and took charge of the Censorate as Vice Censor-in-Chief.

The dynasty's fate remains unchanged.

[Prestige Value +500]

[Remaining Prestige: 1270]

Zhang Juzheng reacted so quickly?
Should we immediately propose that Hai Rui be appointed as the Vice Censor-in-Chief?
With Hai Rui in charge of the Censorate, was it a blessing or a curse?

Su Ze didn't know either.

Hai Rui's political stance was very clear. Could he get along peacefully with Gao Gong?

Su Ze shook his head.

Politicians and honest officials are two different species.

In the original timeline, after Zhang Juzheng came to power, he did not give Hai Rui a prominent position.

In fact, the reason is very simple.

Politicians need to weigh interests, they will use tactics before achieving their goals, and some political maneuvering is also necessary to achieve some long-term political objectives.

Politics itself is dirty.

Therefore, since ancient times, Chinese civilization has always held the attitude that "you can be bad, but you can't be incompetent."

But an honest official is different.

Hai Rui was intolerant of even the slightest injustice.

The simplest disagreement has emerged.

If Gao Gong wanted to control the court, he would inevitably have to interfere in the Censorate.

In Hai Rui's view, the prime minister's interference in the Censorate was undermining the Ming Dynasty's supervisory system, and he would definitely oppose it.

Zhang Juzheng was truly a brilliant strategist!
Bringing Hai Rui to the court added further uncertainty to the political landscape.

In this way, neither Gao Gong nor Zhang Juzheng could control the Censorate.

It can only be said that Gao Gong was fortunate to have a political opponent like Zhang Juzheng.

Well, as a disciple, Su Ze has already helped Gao Gong. Now it's up to Gao Gong to decide what to do next.
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On the eighteenth day of the first month, the emperor officially issued an edict dismissing Wang Ting, the Left Censor-in-Chief, for failing to properly safeguard the official seal.

Immediately afterwards, the emperor sent eunuchs to Gao Gong's residence to express his condolences and to invite Gao Gong back to the cabinet.

However, at the same time, the Longqing Emperor also sent an imperial edict to Nanjing.

Hai Rui, the former Vice Censor-in-Chief and Governor of Yingtian, was promoted to Vice Censor-in-Chief and immediately returned to the capital to assume his post.

Immediately afterwards, the Longqing Emperor appeared outside the Zuoshun Gate and saw officials of the third rank and above, as well as officials of the Censorate and the Imperial Academy, from a distance, thus proving his good health and dispelling suspicions that Gao Gong was "isolating China from the outside world".

Thus, the political storm triggered by the New Year's Day Grand Court Assembly finally came to an end.

Of course, this political storm has its aftershocks.

Because of Wang Ting's blank seal case, the Ministry of Personnel started with the memorials from the Censorate and found problems with the use of seals by five senior censors of the Censorate, and subsequently punished and transferred the five people to other places.

This can be seen as Gao Gong's response to the Censorate's underhanded tactics, which also broke the balance within the Censorate and made it impossible for the joint impeachment to take place again.

However, Gao Gong's adjustments to the Censorate ended there.

There was no other way; the successor was Hai Rui. Without the emperor's full support, if Gao Gong were to purge the Censorate now, it would be tantamount to declaring war on Hai Rui.

It can only be said that Zhang Juzheng's actions have brought the Censorate back to a state that is beyond everyone's control.

However, none of this has anything to do with Su Ze for the time being.

The imperial examinations are in February, and before that, Su Ze will be busy with the postal service in the capital.

The final plan was adopted, and four general post offices were set up in the capital city according to the directions of east, west, south, and north.

Each General Post Office has 10 branch post offices.

Each post office has its own postal code. Mail is sent and received through this number, and then the mail is sent to the corresponding post office, where the recipient picks it up.

Next came the issue of stamps.

In fact, Su Ze originally wanted to set different fees based on the length of the mileage.

However, after discussion, Su Ze ultimately abandoned this plan.

Unfortunately, the education rate of ordinary people in this era is too low. If postage is calculated based on mileage, it will not only cause trouble for the sender and recipient, but also cause mistakes for postal staff, increasing costs.

In any case, the current postal system is located between the two capitals, North and South.

Su Ze simply decided on a policy that all items, regardless of distance, would be issued with a single stamp.

In the original timeline, the world's first postage stamp was the Penny Black, issued by the British.

The Penny Black was also worth one penny, and it cost one penny to send a letter, regardless of distance. This was probably to accommodate the calculation abilities of ordinary people and postal workers at the time, and to simplify the work.

How to manufacture stamps also became a troublesome matter.

The first stamp of the Ming Dynasty was worth one copper coin, which was no small sum of money.

Anti-counterfeiting measures are also necessary.

In the end, it was Zhang Bi, the craftsman in charge of the newspaper printing workshop, and Tao Guan, the alchemist who served the crown prince, who provided Su Ze with a solution to this matter.

Zhang Bi found a very thick paper and designed a printing press for stamps that could print an embossed texture on the paper, which can be considered an anti-counterfeiting measure.

Tao Guan then obtained a new dye for Su Ze.

It turns out that after Su Ze discovered ammonia in the coking plant last time, Tao Guan also became fascinated with coking plants.

He discovered that the coking plant had a byproduct.

After coke reacts with the gas produced, it forms a black, viscous liquid, which is called coal tar by coking plant workers.

This coal tar has an unpleasant smell, and workers use it as lamp oil for outdoor lighting.

Tao Guan became interested in coal tar and began to try to separate substances from it.

During his experiments, Tao Guan discovered a special purple dye.

This is a substance extracted from coal tar, which reacts with vanadium oil to form a purple substance.

Tao Guan discovered that this dye was very bright and had a very good dyeing effect. Once it got on someone, it was very difficult to remove, and it would only fade when heated to a certain temperature.

Tao Guan then presented this purple dye to Su Ze.

Su Ze hadn't expected Tao Guan to come up with this. He instructed Tao Guan to present it to the Crown Prince and use the dye in the dyeing workshop, while he also began experimenting with making stamps.

As for the layout of the stamps.

Su Ze's final decision was based on the Chinese zodiac.

This year is the sixth year of the Longqing reign, which happens to be the Year of the Monkey (Ren Shen year).

Su Ze commissioned a lifelike monkey painting to serve as the world's first postage stamp.

Once the stamps were printed, Su Ze was very satisfied and immediately presented them to Li Yiyuan, the Commissioner of the Court of Judicial Review.

Li Yiyuan was very satisfied with Su Ze's efficiency; during Su Ze's tenure as Right Vice Minister, he had resolved the issues of the capital's post office and stamps.

Li Yiyuan and Su Ze jointly submitted a sample of the stamp to the cabinet, which, as expected, received continuous praise from the cabinet.

The Longqing Emperor was very satisfied, and that's how the world's first version of the Monkey stamp was decided.

He was busy like this until the end of the month, and the major government offices in the capital gradually resumed work. Su Ze finally managed to steal a moment to return to the newspaper office.

Shen Yiguan also came to the newspaper office as agreed.

"Brother Zilin, you'll be going to the examination hall in a few days, right?"

Both Shen Yiguan and Luo Wanhua's eyes were filled with envy.

Within four years of entering officialdom, he went from being a newly appointed Jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examinations) to becoming a fellow examiner at the same gathering, which is absolutely worthy of being recorded in the annals of the Ming Dynasty.

It should be noted that, apart from the top three Jinshi (successful candidates in the highest imperial examinations), ordinary Shujishi (junior scholars) needed two years of selection within the academy before they could be officially appointed.

Moreover, as senior figures in the imperial examination system, the two were also very interested in this year's examination.

Su Ze understood their feelings; it was probably similar to the mindset of someone who had just entered university and was concerned about the next year's college entrance examination.

Su Ze was also a little uneasy.

Before he transmigrated, he had read many books about the imperial examinations, but they all taught people how to take the exams, and some of them only taught people how to pass the imperial examinations by the time they were finished!

There are no books that teach people how to be examiners!

Moreover, it seems that there were no famous people among the graduates of this cohort in history.

Su Ze guessed the reason. The chief examiner for this year was Zhang Juzheng. Many of the Jinshi (successful candidates in the highest imperial examinations) in this year's examinations were involved in the factional struggles during the Wanli Emperor's personal rule in the original timeline. They were tainted before they could take up high-ranking positions, and thus had no chance to turn their lives around.

"Brother Zilin, you specialize in the I Ching, right? Will you be assigned to the I Ching section this time?"

Su Ze nodded.

The imperial examination was a long process.

The imperial examination was held in three sessions, one session every three days. The first session was on the 9th, the second session was on the 12th, and the third session was on the 15th. Candidates entered the examination hall one day in advance and left on the 16th. During this period, they would stay in the examination hall.

But the examiners had a tough time, as they had to enter the examination hall the day before the imperial examination, which was the seventh day of the month.

The examiners' ordeal only begins after the candidates have finished the exam.

The candidates will finish the exam on the 15th, but the results of the provincial examination will be released before the end of the month.

Shen Yiguan said:
"I heard that this time, with Grand Secretary Zhang as the chief examiner, he will place even greater emphasis on policy essays."

Su Ze thought about it and realized that this seemed to be Zhang Juzheng's style.

Like the previous imperial examinations, the meeting was divided into three sessions.

In the first exam, candidates were required to write three essays from the Four Books and four essays from the Five Classics, which had to be written in the eight-legged essay style.

The second exam tested knowledge of "discourses," "imperial edicts," and "judgments."

"Discourse" can be simply understood as an argumentative essay. Although the questions are taken from the Four Books and Five Classics, there is no requirement to answer in the eight-legged essay style. You can express yourself freely.

"Imperial edicts and memorials" is a collective term for "edicts," "proclamations," and "memorials." It can be simply understood as official documents that require scholars to imitate the words and deeds of their superiors and write corresponding edicts, proclamations, and memorials. In other words, it is official document writing, and the main thing to look at is the format.

"Judgment" can be simply understood as comments made on documents submitted by subordinates, which examine the scholars' familiarity with legal provisions such as the "Great Ming Code".

The third round is the "Policy Questions". Each question in the "Policy Questions" begins with a "question", which means you are given a passage and then you have to answer the question or write down your understanding after reading it.

Because the grading tasks were tight, and the first exam, which consisted of essays based on the Four Books and Five Classics, had relatively good evaluation criteria, the Ming Dynasty's imperial examinations placed the most emphasis on the first exam most of the time.

The first exam determines the winners, the second exam eliminates unqualified candidates, and the third exam consists of policy questions as an additional question.

Therefore, the imperial examinations of the Ming and Qing dynasties were completely different from those of the Tang and Song dynasties.

Luo Wanhua said:
"A new approach? Could this lead to a repeat of the exam fraud scandal?"

Shen Yiguan also nodded and said:

"Yes, but I heard that Grand Secretary Zhang specifically consulted His Majesty, and the topic of this policy question was personally set by His Majesty. Grand Secretary Zhang's collected works have been selling like hotcakes lately!"

The "Examination Question Selling Case" refers to a corruption case in the imperial examinations during the twelfth year of the Hongzhi reign (1494).

In this case, the examiner posed a tricky question, and only a few candidates were able to answer it correctly.

Later, the chief examiner used policy questions to select candidates, which aroused dissatisfaction among many candidates. In the end, the chief examiner was imprisoned, and the results of this imperial examination were invalidated.

There is also a famous person in the case of selling exam questions, namely Tang Bohu, one of the Four Great Talents of Jiangnan. He was one of the few candidates who answered correctly, but was later banned from taking the imperial examinations and had no chance of becoming an official.

Su Ze probably also understood why the Longqing Emperor agreed to Zhang Juzheng's request to use the third round of policy questions to determine the rankings of the imperial examination.

The palace examination only tested policy questions.

The palace examination was essentially the emperor testing the students' ideas on governing the country, so the emperor would set the questions for the examination.

However, given the Emperor's situation this year, it's estimated that the palace examination will be merely a formality, so the policy questions in the provincial examination have been elevated to a higher level.

This was bad news for examiners like Su Ze.

Su Ze couldn't help but sigh, Zhang Juzheng really knew how to seize opportunities!
(End of this chapter)