But because of this, the imperial examination has always been difficult. Countless people can go all the way to palace examination, and even fewer can be the top scholar after palace examination. Therefore, being the number one scholar is one of the four happy events in life.
Tang Mengjiao wrote "After Graduation", which can be interpreted as the excitement ofno. 1 What sentence? In the spring breeze, this proud horse runs at the speed of two beats. I visited all the sights of Chang 'an gracefully in one day. ? Become a famous sentence that has been passed down through the ages.
But being the first does not mean that you can directly enter the officialdom. In fact, the results of the imperial examination are also ranked, and the first place is the champion. In the Tang dynasty, only the first one was named the champion, and nothing else was called the champion. In the Song Dynasty, the names of Scholar No.2 and Flower Exploration appeared. Mainly because the imperial examination system just rose in the Tang Dynasty, and the imperial examination system was not perfect.
One consequence of the imperfect system is that the imperial examination is dominated by aristocratic families. Therefore, in the middle and late Tang Dynasty, the imperial examinations at that time were dominated by aristocratic families, and it was difficult for children from poor families to have a good future, and even the phenomenon of buying the champion appeared.
At that time, the official position was awarded directly after the examination of the champion. Because there was no complete system at that time, the official position awarded to each champion was different. On the whole, he is a civilian of lower rank. For example, Zhang Jiuling, the prime minister of the Tang Dynasty, was awarded the proofreader on the Nine Grades after winning the first prize. He, a famous poet, won four first prizes and a doctorate, and so on.
During the Song Dynasty, the imperial examination system was further improved and relatively mature. Moreover, there has been a ranking of top scholar, second place and flower detective. But the top scholar at that time was not the same as the official position awarded later, and everyone's situation was different.
For example, the famous poor prime minister in the early years of the Northern Song Dynasty was named "Cheng" when he won the top prize, and then he was promoted step by step. Twelve years later, he became prime minister. His experience is quite inspiring, which should be looked up to by ancient poor students.
However, in the Song Dynasty, although there was no customization for the champion and his position, the imperial examination began to form an indissoluble bond with imperial academy. Hanlin originated in the period of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, and Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty chose a polite courtier to live in Hanlin to draft imperial edicts. As a result, the Imperial Academy has become an important institution for drafting confidential imperial edicts and an ideal place for scholars from all over the world to enter.
With the development of the Hanlin Academy, the Hanlin bachelor not only participated in drafting the secret imperial edict system, but also gradually participated in political affairs and began to carve up the power of the prime minister. Even later, Bachelor Hanlin was promoted to Prime Minister. The development of the Song Dynasty has reached this point. Since the Song Dynasty, some top scholars have been employed by the Hanlin Academy.
By the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the relationship between imperial examinations and imperial academy had been inseparable. There was a custom in the Ming Dynasty, that is, no scholar, no academician or no academician.
It can be seen from this sentence that the Hanlin Academy has become a very important way for Jinshi to lead senior officials. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the top three first-class students included the champion, the runner-up and the flower explorer. They went straight to imperial academy and became officials. Among them, the number one scholar is compiled by the Hanlin Academy with six categories, and the number two and the flower exploration are compiled by the Hanlin Academy with seven categories.
Although it seems that the official position is not very big, what many people don't know is that the officials in imperial academy are the closest to the emperor, and their promotion is often much easier than other officials, while the teachers in imperial academy are often from imperial academy.
For example, Weng Tonghe, who won the first prize in 1856, was directly awarded the editor of the Hanlin Academy. Two years later, he became an assistant examiner and studied politics in Shaanxi. Later, he held a high position and became Emperor Tongzhi and Guangxu.
Imperial academy is so important that scholars all over the world flock to it. In order to better select talents, the imperial court established the Jishi Shu system. Jishi Shu is a young and talented student. He was selected from the imperial examinations in the second and third grades and entered imperial academy. Other senior two and senior three students need to take other exams to be awarded certain official positions, and most of them can't be officials in Beijing.
Therefore, becoming Jishi Shu is also the dream of many students. Jishi Shu usually studied in imperial academy for three years. After three years, he was assessed. Those with excellent grades can stay in imperial academy directly, just like Jinshi and others. Other Jishi Shu left imperial academy to work in other departments or to be local officials.
In history, there are not a few people who grew up as court ministers through Jishi Shu. For example, Zhang, a famous cabinet official in the Ming Dynasty, was born in, and Zeng Guofan in the Qing Dynasty ranked in the top three in the imperial examination. He was a scholar, and was later elected as Jishi Shu, then Cai Yuanpei and so on.
Of course, it is also because there are so many talents in the academy. Therefore, students who enter the academy through the imperial examination have the highest starting point, but when they enter the officialdom, it is another way. The proportion of them who really grew up to be top scholars is really not very high, not only in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, but also since the Tang Dynasty, there are not many top scholars who really made achievements in politics, culture or other aspects.