In 1404 AD, in the inn outside the Nanjing Gongyuan, there came a sneaky middle-aged man, who was the chief examiner of the imperial examination that year, and after he entered the inn, he directly found a candidate named Liu Ziqin. The chief examiner said to Liu Ziqin: "You will meet yuan in high school this time, I am willing to help you again, so that you can even get three yuan!" Unexpectedly, Liu Ziqin said to the chief examiner with great disdain: "Thank you for the teacher's care, the students can still pass the examination with their true talents!" After the examiner listened, he shook his head, thinking that Liu Ziqin was a piece of decaying wood, so he decided to give up. This chief examiner, named Xie Jin, a native of Ji'an, Jiangxi, was one of the "three talents" of the Ming Dynasty. The candidate, Liu Ziqin, is also a native of Ji'an, Jiangxi, and the two are fellow villagers.
There is a saying called "Ming Dynasty Jiangxi multi-talented", in the Ming Dynasty, Jiangxi produced a lot of great talents. After Zhu Yuanzhang ascended the throne, the first imperial examination was named Wu Bozong, a native of Jiangxi. After Emperor Jianwen ascended the throne, the first imperial examination was named Hu Guang, who was also from Jiangxi. After Zhu Di ascended the throne, the leader of the first imperial examination was named Zeng Tang, who was also from Jiangxi. During the Yongle period of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Di appointed 7 cabinet ministers, 5 of whom were from Jiangxi. It can be seen that Jiangxi Caizi made a splash in the early years of the Ming Dynasty, especially during the Zhu Di period.
Since Zhu Di defeated Emperor Jianwen and ascended the throne, he has always attached great importance to cultivating talents. In the second year of Yongle, Zhu Di appointed the cabinet minister Xie Jin as the chief examiner and opened a branch to take the ranks. People from all over the country rushed to Nanjing, and in the cold window of ten years, they all hoped to be able to embark on the road of career through the spring of the imperial examination. Among the people, the candidate Liu Ziqin attracted the attention of Jin, who was the first place in the township examination in Jiangxi Province, and the first place in the examination. Most importantly, Liu Ziqin is a fellow of Xie Jin.
Ancient imperial examinations, according to the timeline, can be divided into four stages. The first is the children's test, which is called Xiucai after the examination. The second is the township examination, which is called lifting people after the examination, and the first name of the township examination is Xie Yuan. The third is the hui examination, which is the so-called entrance examination in Beijing, after the examination is called Gongshi, the first is called Huiyuan. The fourth is the temple test, and those who pass the temple test are called "jinshi", and the first place in the temple test is called "Yuan". If a candidate wins the first place in the township examination, the meeting examination, and the temple examination, it is called "Lianzhong Sanyuan", which is enough to achieve a good name.
Liu Ziqin has been intelligent and talented since childhood, and is known as a "prodigy". In the first year of Yongle, in the Jiangxi Township Examination, Liu Ziqin bravely won the "Xieyuan", and the next year, when he entered Beijing to catch the examination, Liu Ziqin won the first place in the examination and won the "Huiyuan". The chief examiner Xie Jin had read Liu Ziqin's examination papers and was very appreciative of Liu Ziqin's talent. As a fellow countryman, Xie Jin wanted to help Liu Ziqin again, as long as Liu Ziqin could pass the middle school entrance examination, he would "even get three yuan".
According to the "Wanli Ye Harvest" compiled by Shen Defu, a scholar during the Ming Dynasty' Wanli Dynasty, Xie Jin changed into civilian clothes and quietly came to the inn to find Liu Ziqin and explained his intentions to Liu Ziqin. Unexpectedly, Liu Ziqin was very upright, and he refused to cheat. Because Liu Ziqin believes that with his true ability, he can also pass the examination. After Xie Jin listened, he was very helpless, he felt that it was a mistake to win Liu Ziqin over, so Xie Jin found another fellow countryman, this person was named Zeng Tang.
Zeng Di is also from Jiangxi, this person is from a humble background, but his memory is very good. It is said that after reading a book, he was able to write it down in a very short time. He debated with people, dictated 20,000 words without typing a draft, and Zeng Tang did well in the examination. Xie Jin found Zeng Tang and told Zeng Tang the title of the temple examination, and Zeng Tang made sufficient preparations.
The title of the temple examination at that time was personally drafted by Zhu Di, and only Zhu Di and Xie Jin knew. Moreover, the temple examination questions are somewhat unpopular, and they are about the aspect of liturgical music, and the space for such topics to play is very small, focusing on citations and evidence. Zhu Di personally presided over the temple examination, and Liu Ziqin did not make sufficient preparations for such a topic, and the answer was slightly flawed. And Zeng Di had already made a "Tianma Haiqing Song", which made Zhu Di admire. After the reading of the papers, Zhu Di hand-picked Zeng Tang as a champion. Liu Ziqin only took the 15th place, ranking twelfth in the second division.
Liu Ziqin failed to pass the examination, although regrettably, his insistence on not cheating has also become a good story. Liu Ziqin was a clean and upright official and never embezzled or accepted bribes. One day, Liu Ziqin, a Shuji of the Hanlin Courtyard, drank some wine with his friends during a lunch break, and when he returned, he slept directly on the floor of Wenyuan Pavilion. Zhu Di had many eyes and ears, and after hearing about this, he summoned Liu Ziqin and demoted him to the Ministry of Works as an errand runner. Liu Ziqin was also very happy, took off the official palace himself, changed into the clothes of the errand-running official, and went to the Ministry of Works to report. After a while, Zhu Di heard that Liu Ziqin had really gone to the Ministry of Works, and he quickly asked Liu Ziqin to call liu Ziqin back and said to him: "You are not ashamed!" He also asked Liu Ziqin to go back to the Hanlin Courtyard.
Although Liu Ziqin was only a small person in the history of the Ming Dynasty, from the only records, this person had a straight personality and disdained to do speculative drilling. The great talent Xie Jin was good at speculation, and Xie Jin was eventually imprisoned by Zhu Di for marrying the crown prince Zhu Gaozi and died at the hands of Jin Yiwei, while Liu Ziqin died well.
Note: This article mainly refers to the "Wanli Wild Harvest", which is a history of the wild.