In the tenth year of Chongzhen, March 15th.

In the Forbidden City, in the majestic Jianji Hall, rows of tables and chairs have been placed. Behind each table, there is a tribute scholar who is sealing a book.

The so-called Gongshi refers to those who passed the imperial examination and passed the palace examination. If they don't make any serious mistakes, they will be awarded the title of Jinshi.

Unlike the National Examination, which lasts for three days, the Palace Examination can usually be completed in half a day. And this half day is not all used for writing, it also includes roll call, passing papers, praises, salutes and other etiquette, which is really used for writing.

The time is very short.

The question in the palace examination is a current affairs policy, which can also be called policy questions or bragging! In his previous life, Chongzhen liked officials who could brag most. Of course, the premise is that the bullshit cannot be blown, otherwise he will die miserably! However, it is written in the palace examination

When it comes to strategy, you can brag as much as you want, and it doesn't matter if you brag to the sky. After all, Gongshi is not an official with actual duties. He has no authority and does not bear any responsibility. Therefore, no matter how much he brags, the braggart will be blameless. If the bragging leads to Emperor Chongzhen

If you are happy, it will be much easier to get promoted and make a fortune in the future.

However, in this life, Zhu Youjian did not promote officials according to the promotion. No matter what the people below him said, he turned a deaf ear. Moreover, his standards for promoting and re-employing officials were very strange. Hong Chengchou, Sun Chuanting, Lu Xiangsheng, Li Zicheng, Sun Yingyuan, Huang Degong, Zhou Yuji, Zhang Xianzhong,

Li Jin, Niu Jinxing, Li Xin, Zheng Zhilong, and Shen Tingyang were all middle-level officials, new scholars, pirates and profiteers who were promoted by Zhu Youjian, and even people who were promoted from the bottom, all of them were able to do amazing things.

To be honest, these people are not good at horse skills, they are not good at boasting, and they come from all kinds of backgrounds. Some of them don’t even look good. They either look like robbers or traitors. How come they were killed by Zhu?

Was it discovered by Yu Jian's discerning eye?

What makes it even more difficult for everyone to understand is that in the imperial examination competition held in Chongzhen for four years, the essays of Niu Jinxing, the number one scholar, and Li Xin, the number two scholar, were really not very good. The fact that they were not poor has made people suspect that there was fraud in the exam, but they actually won the number one scholar.

, second place.

Because of this matter, the examiners who presided over the Chongzhen Four-Year Competition were almost drowned in the imperial censor's bullets. However, Niu Jinxing and Li Xin were stunned to reach high positions in just a few years.

Among them, Niu Jinxing became the head of Chongqing, and he also managed the Chongqing government that was abandoned due to the Anshe Rebellion to prosper. In the past few years, the money and food handed over by Chongqing exceeded 1.5 million, which was more than the money and food handed over by the entire province of Sichuan.

, an increase of 50%. Moreover, Chongqing is still very stable, and the industrial and commercial industries have not withered due to heavy taxes.

Li Xin, on the other hand, was sent to North Korea by Zhu Youjian to become a warlord. He worked there for several years, pulling the army from a few thousand people to more than 10,000 people, and also controlled thousands of new Korean troops. Although under the control of slave thieves and Japanese pirates,

Although he lost most of the territory in North Korea under the attack, he still gained Zhu Youjian's trust and firmly secured his position as the commander-in-chief of aiding North Korea. In fact, all Li Xin lost in North Korea was the territory of the Kingdom of North Korea, while keeping the

is the territory of the Ming Dynasty. Now the General Military Aid Department's ability to control parts of Chungcheong Province and Jeolla Province has been greatly increased, and it already has the power to replace North Korean officials who were unfavorable in the anti-slavery and Japanese wars.

With examples such as Niu Jinxing and Li Xin, the Gongshi who participated in Chongzhen's ten-year palace examination already know that Zhu Youjian didn't like frivolous bragging articles and had to write more pragmatically.

However, the questions Zhu Youjian asked this time were a bit off.

The topic Zhu Youjian prepared for the ten-year Chongzhen Palace Examination is: Since the early years of Chongzhen, there have been successive disasters and severe droughts, from the northwest to Zhongzhou, and from Zhongzhou to the north. Even though it has lasted ten years, it has not slowed down. As a result, the people have been struggling to survive, and thieves have

With the four outbreaks, the foundation of the country has been shaken, which is a catastrophe rarely seen in ancient times.

In the past two hundred years, European countries have embarked on a great voyage of navigation, from the Atlantic Ocean to the Indian Ocean, and from the Indian Ocean to the Southern Ocean. They have traveled thousands of miles to reach the country's frontier and expanded their boundless territory on the other side of the ocean. This is something that has never been recorded in previous history.

China has been undergoing disasters for many years, and the Western Ocean has emerged from the sea. This is actually a major change in more than 3,000 years. Is it lucky to be faced with such a change that has not happened in 3,000 years? Is it sad?

To be honest, this policy problem was extremely difficult for the native Chinese in the 17th century. To be able to discover unprecedented opportunities from the seemingly great changes of internal and external troubles is to open your eyes.

Instead of looking at the world, you are looking at the world with a telescope!

And such talents, of course, have to travel across the ocean to explore the world!

"Xuan Song, Grand Duke Jiangluo, Fang Yizhi of Tongcheng, and Ji Kun of Yangzhou come to see you!"

In the Wansheng Hall, summonses were heard, one after another, until they reached the ears of Grand Duke Luo, Fang Yizhi and Ji Kun who were outside the hall, waiting with excitement to be summoned by Zhu Youjian.

These three are now extraordinary, they are the first-class Jinshi in Chongzhen's ten-year imperial examination competition!

In other words, the top pick, the second pick, and the third overall pick!

Among them, Luo Dagong won the title of No. 1 Duke in the world and became the number one Duke in the ten years of Chongzhen.

Tongcheng Fang Yi Zhize won the second place among the three tripods with a policy and argument titled "The publication of Confucius's last chapter will bring about three thousand changes in the situation."

The third flower belongs to Ji Kun, a "cool official" and diplomat in his previous life. His strategy is "the barbarians can come, and I can also go far and close to attack to cope with the situation."

It has to be said that these three people have a unique way of looking at the world, especially Grand Duke Luo, who very keenly pointed out whether the situation has changed for the better or for the worse. The key lies in whether I, the emperor who leads the Ming Dynasty, can do it!

This is not a great Confucian. Who is a great Confucian?

The three great scholars entered the Wansheng Hall and bowed to Zhu Youjian who was sitting on the dragon throne. Then they heard Zhu Youjian say: "Give me a seat!"

Let's give each of the three people an embroidery piece first. The three of them will soon have to travel thousands of miles, so don't be tired if you can rest now.

The three of them thanked their seats and sat down politely.

"Do you understand Latin?" Zhu You asked.

Luo Dagong, the champion, said: "I know a little Latin."

"Oh?" Zhu Youjian asked, "Who did you learn it from?"

Luo Dagong said: "I learned it from the Westerners who preached in Songjiang area."

"Are you Catholic?"

Grand Duke Luo shook his head: "Isn't it true that Chen and Xu Wedding (Xu Guangqi) translated 7,000 Western books together, so I learned Latin."

The so-called "7,000 Western Books" refers to the "library apologetics movement", that is, the Jesuit missionaries relied on spreading Western scientific knowledge to preach in China. At that time, the number of Western books that arrived in China with the Jesuit missionaries was said to be 7,000!

In the southeastern coastal areas where there were many contacts with Western missionaries, many scholar-officials were attracted by the "Seven Thousand Books of the West" and became believers. There were also some who did not become Christians, but also learned Latin and helped translate for Jesuit missionaries.

these books.

Zhu Youjian laughed and said: "So you did well in the test of "Confucius' Legacy"?"

Grand Duke Luo smiled and said: "The highway between the East and the West is still open."

"Of course!" Zhu Youjian nodded, "Heavenly principles, immortality, and God are all the same. The difference is that Western religion claims revelation, while Confucianism emphasizes seeking the Tao. Since the Western Tao and our Tao are the same, you

Are you willing to go to the Western mainland to see their ways, and then bring back some of the beneficial ways?"

"I am willing." How dare Grand Duke Luo say that he is not willing?

This is a Western distribution!

Zhu Youjian nodded: "Okay! You can become the envoy to the United Provinces of the Netherlands!"

"I obey the decree!"

"Fang is second on the list, Ji Tanhua." Of course Zhu Youjian would not let Fang Yizhi and Ji Kun go. "You also go and become deputy envoys to the Netherlands. Our diplomacy in the West is based on the Netherlands.

center, but it cannot be limited to the Netherlands. So you have to travel more in Western countries and learn more. If you see any good things that are not available in China, buy them back as much as possible. Not only must you buy things, but you must also
Chapter completed!