The Southern and Northern Examination List Case was a major case that occurred during the Ming Dynasty.
In the metropolitan examination held in the second month of the thirtieth year of Hongwu, all fifty-one successful candidates were Southerners, without a single Northerner among them. This sparked enormous turmoil and ultimately led to separate southern and northern lists.
Cao Mao had something of a headache.
From the standpoint of selecting talent, there naturally should have been no regional distinctions. Whoever excelled passed; whoever did not could get lost.
But the imperial examination was not purely about selecting talent. This was politics, a policy for winning the hearts of the realm's literati... Besides, regional disparities really did exist. Never mind Sha Province or Ping Province-just take Bing Province and Yu Province. Could their standards of scholarship possibly be the same??
Even among the great clans, their areas of emphasis differed.
Of course, even frontier great clans could produce towering scholars like Ma Rong, and even the Xiongnu could produce a towering academic master like Jin Midi.
But this was not common. Overall, the literati of the Central Plains were simply stronger than those of other regions.
In the Ming Dynasty, no Northerners had passed. Now, no Southerners had passed.
As the ruler of a unified dynasty, he could not select literati solely from the Central Plains. The Central Plains were not the only territory under Great Wei's rule.
This would clearly cause serious trouble.
Wan Yu continued, "Your Majesty, there may indeed be people stirring things up, but arresting all of them will not do. The realm was divided for many years and has only just been unified. If we act too forcefully, we will alienate the scholars."
"Besides, the imperial examination has only just been established. If there is already unrest