Chapter 78 Control the imperial examinations and get scholars

Although He Shen himself did not pass the imperial examination, he understood that the imperial examination is the right way for the country to become an official. The selection of officials by the emperor depends to a large extent on the imperial examination.Therefore, controlling the imperial examination is a shortcut to consolidate one's position in the court.On the one hand, the friendship between teachers and students is used to win over the court officials. On the other hand, there is a lot of tricks in it. Every year, the chief examiner is the target of candidates' fawning and bribery.In addition, cultural and educational undertakings are good deeds, which can give you a good reputation.

The imperial examination is a very important field of the country, and the Qing Dynasty has always attached great importance to the fairness of the imperial examination.The examiners of the imperial examinations have always been well-educated, and He Shen did not make his fortune through the imperial examinations, so it was difficult to intervene in this field for a while.He Shen first did a lot of cultural work, presided over the compilation of many official books such as "Siku Quanshu" and "Huangqing Founding Strategy", and served as the president of the National History Museum and other senior positions.Sufficient homework has been prepared to control the imperial examination.Since Heshen controlled the imperial examinations, some scholars' life-long futures have been delayed by Heshen, and they hate Heshen to the bone.

Heshen successively held official positions such as teaching scholars, scholars, and officials. Through these positions, Heshen can control the selection of officials, facilitate the placement of his relatives, friends, party members, and attack political opponents that are unfavorable to him. He also accepts bribes wantonly. Guangjin.Even the ranking of the examination results can be adjusted at will based on He Shen's personal wishes. Brothers Wu Shenglan and Wu Shengqin used to be Heshen's teachers. Although they are knowledgeable, they always fail in repeated trials.Later, with the help of He Shen, the two finally passed the exam smoothly and embarked on the road to promotion step by step.These two people have been obedient and loyal to He Shen since they got the benefits of He Shen.Therefore, He Shen also intends to support them.For some things that Heshen is inconvenient to directly control, he entrusts the two brothers to do them. Heshen can not only benefit from it, but also avoid people's eyes and ears.

One year, He Shen recommended Wu Shengqin to be the academic administrator of Zhili Prefecture and preside over the township examination.As soon as Wu Shengqin arrived in the local area, he publicly cheated and even accepted bribes at a clearly marked price.For a while, it was a mess.Naturally, Wu Shengqin didn't dare to hide the benefits he received, most of them were filial to He Shen. This time, Wu Shengqin publicly cheated in the township examination, and there was too much movement, which caused dissatisfaction among many poor candidates.They had hoped that Han Chuang would study hard for more than a dozen years and be able to pass the exam to gain fame, but they didn't want to lose their fame because of lack of money, so they hated He Shen and Wu Shengqin very much.A bold examinee was so angry after knowing the inside story, he posted a pair in front of the examination room door, mocking Wu Shengqin.The first couplet is how few eyes can know the writing; the second couplet is that you owe gold and safety and hope for fame, and the horizontal criticism is bullying the sky.This is a couplet with split characters. The Shaomu in the first couplet is just a provincial character, the owed money in the lower couplet is just a Qin, and the words kou and tian in the horizontal script are a Wu.Wu Shengqin's name was subtly embedded in it, secretly satirizing Wu Shengqin's ignorance, and the examiner only recognizes money but not people.Wu Shengqin was very frightened when he learned about it, and hurriedly dispatched several officials to guard it, strictly prohibiting candidates from posting any couplets and banners without permission.

He Shen has many eyeliners all over the country, and he soon found out about it.He taught Wu Shengqin a lesson: It's not that money cannot be collected, but you are too blatant.Zhili Xuezheng is already a fat job, why should he be full at once?If someone else sees the flaw, the matter will become a big mess, and it will be bad for everyone.This is the secret of Heshen's corruption and bribery for decades, which Heshen summed up during his long-term official career, and Wu Shengqin couldn't help being dissatisfied. There are countless things about He Shen's control of the imperial examination, and the means are endless.There is a famous Jinshi in Fuzhou named Zheng Guangce. His life is quite legendary. He was once retaliated by He Shen for opposing He Shen.

Zheng Guangce, originally named Tiance, was named Xianguang and Qionghe, also known as Su Nian.He was born in Min County, Fujian Province (now Fuzhou). His father passed away when he was young, and his family was poor. He and his younger brother Zheng Tianqu depended on each other for life, studied hard, and were teachers and friends to each other. In the forty-fourth year of Qianlong (1779), Zheng Guangce was successful in the Juren examination, and in the second year, he was a Jinshi and was a candidate for an official position. After that, Zheng Guangce continued to study poetry and books day and night, and never slacked off.He wrote articles for Qianlong during one of Qianlong's southern tours, which was appreciated by Qianlong and ordered him to take an examination in Zhejiang.

He Shen was the Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs and the Minister of Military Affairs at the time. He followed Qianlong on the southern tour, and Qianlong ordered him to supervise the exam.When handing in the test papers, He Shen saw a small stepping table under Emperor Qianlong's throne, so he deliberately sat on it to collect the test papers.In this way, when the candidates below hand in the papers, it is not easy to stand and hand in the papers.Because Heshen was very close to Qianlong, he had to submit the test paper on his knees, which looked like kneeling to Heshen. Zheng Guangce was already a Jinshi at that time, so he was naturally proud.Seeing that Heshen took advantage of the emperor to exalt himself and insult scholars, he made an agreement with fellow Fujian famous scholar Lin Qiaoyin and others that when handing in the papers, he only bowed his hands and saluted instead of kneeling, and then angrily withdrew after handing in the papers.Seeing that Zheng Guangce refuted his face, He Shen held a grudge against him.So when marking the papers, they deliberately hid the examination papers of all Fujianese and did not check them at all. As a result, no one in Fujian passed the exam.

Zheng Guangce knew that as long as He Shen was an official in the court, he would never have a bright future, so he returned to his hometown in Fuzhou, studied poetry, books and articles assiduously. political reformer.It can be said that He Shen's arrogance and unreasonableness made him a historical celebrity. Zheng Guangce later also played an active role in quelling the Lin Shuangwen Uprising in Taiwan.In the fifty-first year of Qianlong (1786), during the Lin Shuangwen Uprising in Taiwan, Zheng Guangce presented the "Twelve Proposals" to suppress Lin Shuangwen's rebellion to the General's Mansion in Fujian.After reading Zheng Guangce's opinions, the general Fukang'an at the time adopted them all and won the final victory.Xu Si, Governor of Fujian Province, had been in Taiwan to deal with the aftermath. Before he left, Zheng Guangce submitted eight proposals in the "Taiwan Rehabilitation Matters Book": agreeing on the charter, discussing the dispersal of volunteers, discussing the increase in the number of troops, discussing the development of the farmland, discussing the delay of urban labor, and discussing strict piracy , Discuss the establishment of official villages, and discuss the appointment of officials.Fu Kang'an and Xu Si thought he was a genius and invited Zheng Guangce to Taiwan.Zheng Guangce refused to go because his mother was old.

Although Zheng Guangce's official career was not going well due to He Shen's suppression, his thoughts had far-reaching influence, and later generations spoke highly of him. Not only did He Shen conduct insider trading by manipulating the exam, thereby delaying the future of the scholars, he was even able to adjust the ranking of the exam at will. In the Chunwei Examination in the fifty-second year of Qianlong (1787), a scholar surnamed Shen ranked among the top ten.He Shen was the chief examiner, and seeing that the candidate had extraordinary literary talents, he must be a future pillar of talent, so he wanted to win him over.Unexpectedly, the examinee surnamed Shen has a straightforward temper, hates Heshen's way of being an official, and disdains to make friends with Heshen.Besides, he has already entered the top ten, so there should be no problem in participating in the palace examination. He Shen proposed to make friends with him at this time, which is self-evident, and he is even more disdainful in his heart.

As a result, He Shen became furious, and secretly made up his mind to deal with this person, otherwise, who would take himself seriously in the future?He Shen used his status as the chief examiner to find an excuse to make him lose his reputation, and unexplainably disqualified him from the imperial examination.From then on, everyone in the capital understood that He Shen manipulated the examination room, and the literati had to make friends with He Shen and bribe them heavily before the exam, so as not to embarrass He Shen.In this way, all the officials and students inside and outside the capital became Heshen's slaves and vassals, and no one dared to contradict him.

The students in the capital knew that He Shen's behavior was okay, but those students who came to Beijing for the exam from other places were wronged for no apparent reason.He Shen has always been merciless to those disobedient and ignorant scholars, he doesn't care where you come from. Shanxi Juren Xue Zaixi was expelled in this way.In the fifty-fourth year of Qianlong (1789), Xue Zaixi rushed to the capital to participate in the Enke examination of the Ministry of Rites.The scientific examination in the Qing Dynasty had to undergo a re-examination before the imperial examination.The results of the re-examination are divided into first, second, and third grades according to the merits of the results, and they are awarded official positions respectively.Xue Zaixi thinks he is very talented, and as expected, he entered the re-examination.Under normal circumstances, as long as there are no major mistakes, entering the re-examination means that you have already won the Jinshi, but the ranking will vary.When Xue Zaixi saw that he had entered the re-examination list, he was naturally very happy. When the news came back to Shanxi, his whole family rejoiced, and immediately began to prepare to welcome this Jinshi. Unexpectedly, something unexpected happened, and something happened on the eve of the re-examination. Xue Zaixi's name was removed from the re-examination list, and he lost the qualification for the re-examination. The second monk Xue Zaixi was puzzled by what had happened, so he asked people to inquire among relatives in the capital.The relative said to him: He Zhongtang is the chief examiner of this exam. You must have offended him if you were removed from the list. Others dare not change the list casually.Think carefully about where you have offended He Zhongtang, or where you disrespected him? If Xue Zaixi hadn't taken the exam, he wouldn't even know where the capital is.This time he came to the capital, he rarely even went out of the inn, let alone had conflicts with others.As for He Zhongtang, he had never even heard of it, so how could he offend him? When the relative heard this, he sneered disdainfully, and said to him: No wonder!Since you came to Beijing for the exam, why didn't you visit He Zhongtang to show your respect?Don't you offend him if you don't go to his house and give him benefits?You're new to the capital, maybe you don't know?This is notorious for taking money from Zhongtang for doing things.As long as he presides over the imperial examination, no matter how educated and capable you are, if you want to pass the exam, you must first send money to the dock, otherwise you will not be able to pass the exam.And those who pass the exam must obey him.Those who refuse to obey, unless you are famous all over the world and even the emperor knows, you will either be removed from the list or lose the ranking.The official circles in the capital are well known to everyone, but due to his power, no one dares to say it. Xue Zaixi only cares about reading sage books behind closed doors, how can he pay attention to things outside the window?I wanted to come to the capital and concentrate on preparing for the exam and getting fame, but I didn't know there was such a trick. Needless to say, you guessed it, this matter is indeed He Shen's trick.Seeing that everyone else came to give him money, He Shen showed respect to him, but Xue Zaixi was the only one who didn't give him face, so he deliberately refused to let him enter the palace examination.After He Shen drew up the re-examination list, he played Emperor Qianlong's approval.He Shen's comment on Xue Zaixi is: In terms of academic level alone, there is no major problem with Xue Zaixi's test paper, but the poems and essays are suspected of being crude and messy, please suspend the exam. It happened to be during the 80th birthday of Qianlong's mother, the Empress Dowager. Qianlong was in a good mood and didn't want to be too fussy about these details, so that scholars all over the world could benefit from the emperor's grace, so he replied: If there are no major problems, you can Garn forgives.Zhuo Heshen discussed carefully with the examiners. Now He Shen has the final say.He Shen still refused to let Xue Zaixi go, and after discussing with everyone, he played in name: Xue Zaixi's final paper does not match the middle paper, and he cannot escape the suspicion of fraud. Please record it and leave it for future review.It is very common that the retest does not match the middle paper. He Shen used this as an excuse to kill Xue Zaixi on purpose.Qianlong had no intention of continuing to entangle, so he agreed to He Shen's request. Xue Zaixi can be regarded as riding a roller coaster.Originally, the news that he had entered the re-examination had been sent back to his hometown in Shanxi, and his family was ready to welcome him with a high standard, but he didn't want to return home alone in the end.Xue Zaixi suffered a huge blow in his heart, but the student's stubborn temper came up. He didn't want to bow to He Shen, so he had to hide his strength and bide his time, thanking guests behind closed doors, studying hard at home every day, hoping that He Shen would fall from power one day.Only in this way can I see the sun through the clouds.He hated Heshen very much, even after studying every day, he would burn incense and kneel to the heavens, cursing Heshen's downfall soon, and he persisted in this way without interruption. Maybe Xue Zaixi's grievances really made God can't stand it anymore, or his sincerity moved God, no matter what, his curse came true.Ten years later, Emperor Qianlong passed away, and Heshen, who had power all over the world, was bestowed to death by Emperor Jiaqing.Xue Zaixi's sorrow and joy welled up in his heart, and he couldn't help bursting into tears. He knew that his chance to stand up had finally come!Xue Zaixi packed his luggage, collected all the money, and set off to the capital to appeal his grievances. Xue Zaixi has been waiting for the opportunity to meet Jiaqing in the capital.One day in the sixth year of Jiaqing (1801), Xue Zaixi got the news that Emperor Jiaqing went out for inspection.Xue Zaixi waited hard on the emperor's only way, and finally waited for Emperor Jiaqing.He risked his life to hold back his injustice and cried out his grievances.Jiaqing ordered Xue Zaixi to report the truth.With tears in his eyes, Xue Zaixi told Jiaqing that he was innocently dismissed by Heshen in the general examination more than ten years ago, and could not obtain fame. Emperor Jiaqing knew that He Shen had always done a lot of evil, and he had heard of this incident.So he decreed on the spot: Xue Zaixi's innocent expulsion in the general examination was not the original intention of the imperial examination, but He Shen deceived the imperial examination and handled it out of selfishness.I also know your grievances, and I can consider taking the exam on the spot. Therefore, Jiaqing set up a topic on the spot and asked Xue Zaixi to compose an impromptu poem.Xue Zaixi has been studying at home for many years, and he is quite talented in literature. After failing in the examination, he concentrated on studying and improving his knowledge.Immediately after the poem was written on the spot, Jiaqing listened to it and commented that the level of the poems was even better than before.Xue Zaixi was finally rehabilitated after being suppressed by Heshen for more than ten years. This is just a recorded example with a greater impact. I don’t know how many unrecorded ones are left. It can be said that it is difficult to calculate how many talented people’s fame He Shen killed during his time in power. incalculable.