I

When the newspaper debate was fierce, this year's examination was successfully concluded.

A total of twelve women went to the Ministry of Rites to receive their examination tickets. But there were only five people who actually took the exam, and the rest went home with their admission tickets.

Under the test list, some are happy and some are sad.

There are also some guys, with obviously different focus, kept looking at the list of scholars, asking back and forth: "Is there a woman who won the tribute?"

Gongshi is a candidate who is admitted by the general examination, and can only be called this before the palace examination.

Since the list only includes names, places of origin and graduate schools, it is impossible to tell which one is a woman, so many people are concerned about this matter.

"well!"

Qi Biaojia looked at the list several times, and turned to her daughter and daughter-in-law-to-be: "It's great that you can take part in the exam. Don't be sad even if you fail."

"Father, you don't need to be comforted," Qi Deqiong forced a smile, "There are so many candidates in each province, and the mid-term exam is not easy. My daughter has already expected this. No matter what, the second brother won the tribute, so today should be celebrated."

Although Qi Bansun passed the exam, he was dejected: "There are indeed so many talented people in the world. I thought I would be in the top list, but I didn't expect to be in the bottom list."

When the whole family came to Nanjing, everyone was full of confidence, but only Qi Bansun passed the exam with great difficulty.

There were a few candidates standing there in a daze, and some people started to complain while standing there.

"Your Majesty treats scholars so poorly, why can you only take the exam once? If you have an unworldly talent and you happen to get sick during the exam, wouldn't your life be ruined?"

"Yes, even if you can't take the exam for life, at least you should be allowed to take the exam three times."

"Don't say it three times, you can take the test twice!"

"..."

In fact, the imperial examinations in the Ming Dynasty also set an age limit for a while, but gradually it disappeared. Zhang Cong, who deprived Confucius of the title of king, was a Jinshi only when his hair was gray.

But now Zhao Han stipulated that a candidate can only take the general examination once!

The entire educational system is as follows:

Three years of elementary school, to participate in the county graduation examination, but the county examination is presided over by officials at the prefectural level. Those who pass the examination will be awarded a primary school graduation certificate; those who fail the examination will be awarded a primary school graduation certificate. Those who are among the best will be admitted to secondary school for free. Those who have obtained the diploma are eligible to attend middle school at their own expense. Primary school can be repeated indefinitely until you get your diploma.

Three-year middle school (soon to become a four-year system), and participate in the provincial graduation examination. The situation is the same as in elementary school, and there are also graduation certificates and study certificates. Those who are among the best get admission to university for free. With a secondary school diploma, you can go to university at your own expense. However, the middle school graduation examination can be taken up to three times.

When it comes to university, no matter it is the university graduation exam or the next general exam, everyone has only one chance.

If you say that you are sick and uncomfortable, you can apply for a postponement of the exam before you get the admission ticket, but you are not allowed to change it as long as you get the admission ticket.

This may seem a little unreasonable, but it doesn't really matter.

Because those who are eligible to receive the examination admission card can directly become officials even if they don't take the exam. You have a college diploma in your hand, it's just that when you become an official, you start at a low level, and you can still climb up if you are really capable.

Like Qi Biaojia's daughter and prospective daughter-in-law, although they failed this time, as long as they are willing to be officials, they can also get a low-level official.

Universities in various provinces enroll a lot of students every year, but the graduation exam is really difficult. Officials from the Ministry of Rites personally preside over the exams. If you want to get a university diploma, the difficulty is no different from that of the Jinshi exam. The passing rate of the university’s graduation exam is less than 50%—as the number of college students increases, this passing rate will continue to decline.

While talking, Yan Ruoqi, Yan Yuan and Tang Zhen, three friends squeezed out from the crowd.

Qi Biaojia's family immediately cupped their hands and said, "Congratulations, both of you!"

"Congratulations, congratulations!"

Yan Yuan was second in the examination, Tang Zhen was thirty-fifth in the examination, and Yan Ruoqi was not qualified for the imperial examination.

Liu Shuying was also watching the list with them, and she couldn't help asking curiously: "Little brother Yan is only second, what is the origin of this famous Huiyuan?"

Yan Yuan replied: "Fang Zhongtong, the second son of Dr. Fang (Fang Yizhi) from the Physics Center of Qintian Academy. The eldest son of Dr. Fang's family also won the Jinshi three years ago, ranking ninth on the second list. I heard that now Has become a county magistrate."

"Oh, the family has a long history!" Qi Biaojia couldn't help but sigh with emotion.

A guy who looked like a businessman came over to ask about Yan Yuan's situation, "Your Excellency, is Yan Yayuan in person?"

Yan Yuan replied directly: "I'm already married."

"Excuse me." The merchant immediately apologized and left with a smile.

Tang Zhen muttered, "Why don't you come and ask me? I'm not married yet."

Shang Jinghui joked: "If Mr. Tang is not married, I can help as a matchmaker."

Tang Zhen waved her hand quickly: "No, I have a marriage contract, I was just joking."

While several people were talking, a scholar was surrounded by groups.

But Pu Jian, the third place in the test, was born in a Jiangsu salt worker's family. Strong physique, dark skin, unattractive appearance, but no marriage contract, just the perfect target for those middle-level businessmen.

"Pu Gongzi, my youngest daughter is only fourteen years old, and she is also educated and respected. She is still studying in a girls' school, so she can make a marriage contract first, and get married when the little girl graduates from high school."

"Pandonzi, my daughter is fifteen this year, and she will graduate from middle school in a few months. If you are interested, you can look at the portrait of my daughter first. Not to mention sinking fish and wild geese, she is as beautiful as a flower..."

"Hey, let me tell you Liu Si, your daughter has a big mole on her face, so why is she so beautiful? Regardless of her looks, she can't study well, and she was at the bottom of the exams in girls' schools. Pu Gongzi, my daughter is a talented woman .After you get married in the future, you and your husband will sing poems and have endless things to say, so you must be very affectionate."

"..."

Pu Jian was obviously at a loss. He was the son of a salt worker. He usually only knew how to study hard, and he went all the way to graduate from university at public expense.

Moreover, from elementary school to university, his grades are usually above average, which is not particularly eye-catching. It's just that he can perform exceptionally well in every key exam, and this time he got the third place in the general exam for no reason.

Pushed back, Pu Jian stammered: "I... I... accepted it with good intentions, and I am... next... I won't go... to be an official in a local... place. I... I... have already I have entered the Qintian Academy, and under Dr. Zai Zai Fang...studying...studying physics..."

The merchants looked at each other in blank dismay, they didn't expect to try for the third place, they stuttered. Moreover, he does not intend to be released as an official, and will stay in Qintianyuan in the future to study the physics of Nao Shizi.

This kind of person definitely has no future, and he will be a doctor of Qintianyuan who has no real power for the rest of his life.

In just ten seconds, the merchants surrounding Pu Jian disappeared so quickly without a trace.

Pu Jian didn't care about it either, he had to rush back to write his thesis, and he didn't even pay much attention to the palace exam. Anyway, he has already passed the postgraduate entrance examination, even if he doesn't take the imperial examination, as long as he graduates from the graduate school and passes the examination of Qintian Academy, he can enter Qintian Academy as a bachelor.

Jinling University has a special postgraduate dormitory.

Pu Jian graduated two years ago, and while waiting for the exam, he went to various salt farms to inspect. Fang Yizhi also helped him get a sum of money, a total of fifty taels of silver, and wrote a letter, hoping that the salt offices in various places would cooperate.

The thesis was proposed by Zhao Han.

At first, he felt that Fang Yizhi's academic report was too much nonsense to waste time, so Emperor Zhao taught him how to write a thesis.

In the past two years, Pu Jian has visited salt fields in Hebei, Shandong, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Fujian provinces. He has written a paper to analyze the differences in sea salt production in these five provinces. In the end, it was concluded that once the population boomed, the salt production of the Changlu Salt Field in Hebei would definitely exceed that of the Jianghuai Salt Field.

Moreover, the salt fields in Hebei and Shandong have a far greater advantage in drying salt than in the south.

Because there is more rainfall in the south, once it rains, there is no way to dry the salt, so the old method can only be used to fry the salt.

In addition, Pujian also discovered that the method of drying salt in the Ming Dynasty was first born in Haifeng (Wudi), Shandong, and did not come from the southern coast.

For the present paper, Pu Jian is to improve the method of drying salt at this time.

In fact, due to the government-supervised and commercial-run model, the salt-making technology has developed rapidly in recent years, and the sun-dried salt technology has become more and more mature and popular. However, Pu Jian, who has lived in the salt field since childhood, still feels that the salt workers are too hard.

The thesis has been written to the final stage, but it has not been put into practice, everything is his idea. Due to the high cost of improvement, no saltworks owner is willing to cooperate with the experiment.

This is a revolutionary improvement. The current sun-dried salt method is called soaking brine and sun-dried salt. It is necessary to spread ash or scrape soil to make brine. This step is very laborious and the output is not very high.

The invention of Pujian is the "beach drying method", which does not need to be soaked with brine, which greatly reduces the manpower and material resources required for making brine. While reducing costs, it can also increase salt production. Historically, this method of salt production was not popularized in Shandong until the Xianfeng period. Moreover, it is only popularized in Shandong, and has not been extended to saltworks across the country.

After finishing the thesis and waiting for the imperial examination, Pu Jian was a little bored, so he showed the thesis to the teacher Fang Yizhi to have a look.

Fang Yizhi also knew something about salt making. After reading it carefully, he was immediately shocked: "If this method can be promoted, it will definitely benefit the country and the people. Don't wait for the palace test, I will take you to the palace immediately to face the saint!"

Pu Jian stammered: "First... sir, the students are only... just fantasies. Although the method of beach...sun...was designed...planned, it has not been...experienced...verified. Is...is...whether ..."

"Don't deny it," Fang Yizhi listened very hard, and interrupted, "If there is no verification, then His Majesty Bingming will designate a salt field for you to verify."

When the two were waiting in the Forbidden City, some literati were already cheering and celebrating. They felt that they had won: there was not a single female tribute in the examination, and all the female candidates failed. This proves that women are not suitable for the imperial examination, let alone being an official. Women are inherently inferior to men in the imperial examination.

Zhao Han had already received the news, and he was neither sad nor happy about it.

It is already a breakthrough for women to take part in the imperial examination, and it is only a matter of time before they pass the examination.

However, the method of drying salt has improved, which made Zhao Han very happy, and ordered Fang Yizhi and his apprentice to be brought in immediately.

Zhao Han asked: "Can this law be implemented nationwide?"

"Hui...Hui Huihui...Report...Your Majesty..." Pu Jian was already stuttering, but when he saw the emperor getting more nervous, he couldn't speak anymore.

Fearing that the emperor would be impatient, Fang Yizhi hurriedly said, "Report to Your Majesty, this method can be promoted in Hebei and Shandong. Once successful, the salt production will definitely double. The Jianghuai Salt Field can also use this method, but due to the weather, it may Won't work as well as in the north. The less rain the salt pans get, the more useful this method of making salt will be!"

Zhao Han said to Pu Jian: "You don't need to take the imperial examination. You are the number one scholar in this subject. This paper is your imperial examination paper. You go to Changlu Salt Field immediately, and I will order the local officials to cooperate. If it fails, we will sum up the reasons and give you five years to do it. If it succeeds, then improve it slowly and leave you as a salt maker in Changlu Salt Field!"

The emperor is the biggest, and the emperor has the final say.

Candidates admitted by the general examination are 100% able to become Jinshi, and the palace examination is only for ranking.

Whoever Zhao Han wanted to be the number one scholar, as long as he didn't hand in a blank paper in the palace examination, he could be nominated directly as the number one scholar. That being the case, then Pu Jian does not need to take the palace examination, this paper is his palace examination article.

"Salt-making envoy" is not a serious official position, but Zhao Han's temporary invention, which can be understood as "ambassador for the improvement and promotion of salt-making technology".

In this way, some candidates may be dissatisfied, but who dares to say no?

Zhao Han did it purely on purpose, to show his emphasis on technology. With Pu Jian as an example, there will be more students in the future to study the technology that benefits the country and the people, instead of thinking about studying Confucian classics all day long.