The Ming conquered west, absorbing the steppe tribes not with cavalry, but with Confucian schools. The was halved. For the first time, the game’s scorecard showed Ming as the number one Great Power.
He refused to sit for the exam. The Emperor, backed by a new faction of scholar-bureaucrats called the declared him a rebel. In a brutal, two-year campaign—fueled by the new +10% National Tax Modifier from the efficient new magistrates—the central army crushed the hereditary lords.
“I command ten thousand polearms,” he said. “I don’t need to quote Mencius.” Eu4 Examination System
It was then that the Grand Secretary, a man history remembers only as "The Reformer of Jiajing," proposed a radical shift. "Your Majesty," he whispered, prostrating himself on the cool marble, "the sword conquers provinces, but the brush governs them. If we do not reward the mind over the bloodline, the Mandate of Heaven will fall."
He did not send it. Instead, he cheated. He bribed an examiner. The Ming conquered west, absorbing the steppe tribes
When the system detected the corruption (the in-game “Examination Scandal” disaster ticker hit 100%), the event fired: “Corruption in the Ranks.”
When a flood destroyed the rice fields of Huguang, the local examiner-turned-governor didn't wait for the capital. He enacted the Tiao Tiao Liang tax reform, shifting the burden from the drowned fields to the silk merchants. The event pop-up read: “Local Talent Solves Crisis.” Options: [Gain 50 Administrative Power] or [Lose 1 Stability]. The Meritocracy chose power. He refused to sit for the exam
The Emperor, more interested in his alchemy pots than statecraft, waved his hand. "Do it."