Chapter 171: The Competition Begins
Chapter 171: The Competition Begins
“Exactly.” Li Dongyang replied upon hearing Emperor Hongzhi’s words.
The moment Li Dongyang heard Wang Shouren’s name, he perked up. He had always held Wang Shouren in high regard. During his spare time from official duties, he often invited Wang Hua’s son to the pavilion at the Wang Family Residence for tea and casual conversation.
This peculiar young man, though a bit lacking in social graces, was truly a talent with great potential.
Li Dongyang even felt regretful. If Wang Shouren had not married a woman from the Zhu family in Zhejiang, he had an unmarried granddaughter who might have been a good match…
Now, hearing the three characters of Wang Shouren’s name, he smiled and said, “Indeed, this is the son of Junior Supervisor of the Household Wang Hua. Wang Hua was the top candidate in the Chenghua 17th year imperial examination, first becoming the Top Candidate of the Imperial Examination, and then the Zhuangyuan. It became a widely praised story for a time.”
Emperor Hongzhi nodded. “I see.”
After saying this, he lowered his head to look at the policy essay.
At first glance, he was immediately captivated.
Whether someone was truly capable could often be discerned just from the main idea of their writing.
Wang Shouren’s opening did not boast lofty ideals or cite classics. Instead, it focused on a single issue… funds and grain supplies…
Since Mi Lu’s rebellion had been going on for so long, it seemed impossible to quash it immediately.
This was a very practical point.
Since they were resolved to carry out a prolonged campaign, ensuring a stable supply of funds and grain for the Guizhou army had become an urgent matter.
The imperial court had rushed to suppress the rebellion without considering long-term plans, so many problems had emerged. Since the rebellion could not be quelled quickly, they had to change strategies—move from swift suppression to gradual suppression. They needed to secure the grain supply routes for the various garrisons in Guizhou. As the saying goes, armies march on their stomachs. The imperial court had to provide for the army’s needs in a timely manner.
Moreover, he raised a very sharp issue: if the army ran short on grain, to ensure military supplies, they would inevitably demand that local officials requisition grain. Once local officials levied grain from the people, it would surely stir public discontent. Thus, not only would it be hard to crush the rebels, but the rebellion might even grow worse.
The policy essay bluntly pointed out that in Yunnan-Guizhou, Han Chinese and native people had long lived together. The court’s goal in suppressing the rebellion was not just to defeat the rebels but to win over the people’s hearts.
What was most interesting about Wang Shouren was that he actually calculated the funds and grain needed. He not only roughly estimated the future requirements for the army but also offered advice at the end. He believed that transporting grain from the Capital would take too long and be too costly—distant water cannot quench a nearby fire. Thus, it would be better to urgently requisition supplies from the Sichuan Administration Commission…
Hah…
After reading this policy essay, Emperor Hongzhi did not know whether to laugh or cry.
Wang Shouren’s understanding of Horse Administration far surpassed that of other Tribute Scholars. Only after ascending the throne did Emperor Hongzhi realize that war was essentially a matter of spending silver, and provisions were the foundation of everything. The grand strategies that Scholars loved to talk about were often just wishful thinking.
This essay, even compared to the policy questions of the Minister of War, would not fall short.
Emperor Hongzhi could not help but sigh, “Wang Hua has raised a fine son.”
Hearing this, Li Dongyang was overjoyed. He genuinely liked the young Wang Shouren. Moreover, the Li and Wang families had always been close. Li Dongyang could not resist saying, “Could it be that the Wang family will produce a father and son who are both Zhuangyuan?”
A father and son both achieving Zhuangyuan would become a legendary tale for the ages. Throughout the Great Ming dynasty, there had been families with seven Metropolitan Graduates, but a father and son both as Zhuangyuan was even rarer.
Emperor Hongzhi knew this was Li Dongyang’s hint—why not help make this beautiful story happen?
Of course, the premise for this “beautiful story” was that Wang Shouren’s policy essay was top-notch. Based on the grading so far, Wang Shouren indeed had a very good chance.
But Emperor Hongzhi remained noncommittal. “Not necessarily.”
He uttered these four words lightly and continued reviewing papers.
Deep down, he still held some hope. Though he admired Wang Shouren and was very satisfied with Minister Wang’s son’s answers—it could be said the Emperor was pleased.
But… he still looked forward to seeing the other exam papers. Most importantly, he wanted to know if that fellow Fang Jifan could continue his legendary performances from the Provincial Examination and Metropolitan Examination.
He wondered how his prized disciples would answer.
Finally, Emperor Hongzhi came across Tang Yin’s paper.
He smiled instinctively.
He read the paper.
The writing style and ideas in this policy essay were both excellent, but… hmm… why did it seem familiar?
Establish a Mountain Brigade to fight strength with strength…
Wasn’t this the idea Fang Jifan proposed last time?
However… this was understandable. Tang Yin was Fang Jifan’s disciple, so Fang Jifan must have discussed Guizhou’s military affairs with him. Thus, it was not surprising that Tang Yin and the others followed their Mentor’s thinking.
But…
Emperor Hongzhi shook his head, feeling disappointed.
When Fang Jifan first suggested establishing a Mountain Brigade, he had hesitated. He felt Fang Jifan’s words made some sense, but upon further thought, they seemed unreliable.
In the end, he had issued an Imperial Edict, bypassing the Grand Secretariat.
The reason for bypassing the Grand Secretariat was simple: Emperor Hongzhi thought Fang Jifan was unreliable. Using the court’s name for this would seem too frivolous.
He had tried it with an experimental mindset.
But now, it seemed the Mountain Brigade had not been very effective. Although last month, Wang Shi reported that the Mountain Brigade had been established and was achieving good results, Emperor Hongzhi knew these were just formalities.
Therefore… the Mountain Brigade, using native people’s expertise in fighting in forests and jungles to combat them, clearly… had not shown significant results. Instead, he heard that establishing the Mountain Brigade had wasted a lot of funds and grain.
Emperor Hongzhi felt the pinch of spending silver and mourned the loss for quite some time.
Now, Tang Yin’s essay…
Emperor Hongzhi sighed, his face showing disappointment. There was nothing new; it was just following old rules. A pity for such good writing talent.
With that, he set the paper aside.
As he continued reviewing, Emperor Hongzhi glanced over the policy essays of Fang Jifan’s other disciples. Ouyang Zhi and the others wrote similarly to Tang Yin. However, Emperor Hongzhi preferred Ouyang Zhi’s essay. He liked Ouyang Zhi’s straightforward and plain writing style, rather than essays with too much flair and ornate language, which he did not care for.
But Emperor Hongzhi was still disappointed.
Greatly disappointed.
Whether it was Tang Yin, Ouyang Zhi, Liu Wenshan, or Jiang Chen—these individuals whom Emperor Hongzhi had held high hopes for—all coincidentally answered based on Fang Jifan’s ideas.
There was no suspicion of cheating; though they coincided, their explanations varied. Besides, they were all disciples of the same teacher, from the same school, so having similar thinking was not strange.
However, Emperor Hongzhi was highly skeptical of the Mountain Brigade and the method of fighting strength with strength. Moreover, in reality, the Imperial Decree for the Mountain Brigade had been issued with minimal effect.
What a pity, truly a pity.
Emperor Hongzhi shook his head, feeling sorry for these disciples. As he spoke, he placed these papers behind Wang Shouren’s and about seven or eight other policy essays, and did not look at them again.
When he came to Xu Jing’s paper, it caught his eye. This policy essay, though not as insightful as Wang Shouren’s regarding current affairs, was still quite methodical. Most importantly, Xu Jing did not just copy others…
Emperor Hongzhi stared at the policy essay for a long time, then placed Xu Jing’s paper behind Wang Shouren’s and another person’s essay.
It was getting late.
Seeing that so many papers could not be finished in one day, Emperor Hongzhi stretched and showed deep fatigue on his face.
Seeing this, Liu Jian and the others stopped their grading. Liu Jian said, “If His Majesty is tired, we will take our leave today and return tomorrow.”
“Time to rest. I am weary, and you, my ministers, are also weary. You are older and must take care of your health.”
Emperor Hongzhi smiled, though deep in his eyes, there was unconcealed disappointment. Perhaps he had grown accustomed to Fang Jifan’s previous outstanding performances. Now, suddenly, Fang Jifan and his several disciples had all become mediocre, and he found it hard to adjust.
He paused, then continued, “Have some tea to refresh yourselves. My ministers have worked hard.”
After saying this, Emperor Hongzhi gave a look to a nearby Eunuch, who understood. In the nearby Tea Room, hot tea had already been prepared and was served directly to the Emperor and his ministers.
Li Dongyang felt quite anxious. Once the idea of the Wang father and son both becoming Zhuangyuan occurred to him, he could not shake it off. Throughout the day’s grading, aside from expressing admiration for Wang Shouren, His Majesty had not commented on other Tribute Scholars.
It seemed the Wang family was about to shine brightly this time.
He stroked his beard, a hint of joy on his face.
Emperor Hongzhi took a sip of tea and looked up. “This Wang Shouren was fourth in the Metropolitan Examination. His father assists the Crown Prince, correct?”
Li Dongyang did not speak, as he was quite close to the Wang family. Having praised them earlier, chiming in again would seem too biased.
Liu Jian replied, “Your Majesty, Wang Hua currently serves as the Junior Supervisor of the Household in the House of the Crown Prince.”
Emperor Hongzhi nodded. “Truly a family of talent.”
After making this noncommittal remark, he said no more.
However… he had roughly made up his mind. If the remaining policy essays tomorrow showed no outstanding points, then… he would have to make his final decision.
But for now, he could not reveal anything.
This was the Palace Examination.
The essence of the Palace Examination was for the Emperor to select the talents he deemed most suitable. This was crucial.
What kind of person would be most suitable?
This depended on both the Emperor’s nature and his judgment.
Emperor Hongzhi never doubted his own judgment; he had that confidence.
But this sudden remark made Liu Jian and the others exchange glances. They, too, had a good idea of what was coming.
What a pity. Originally, they thought Fang Jifan’s several disciples could compete… but now it seemed…