China's imperial examination system developed continuously from Sui and Tang Dynasties, and it was very mature in Ming Dynasty. From the beginning, there were only a few separate examinations, and later all kinds of imperial examinations appeared in the martial arts of the palace examination. These policies trained a large number of talents for ancient China. And this system has also become an important way of class mobility in ancient times. For people from poor backgrounds, through their own efforts and even the efforts of several generations, a scholar can be trained to take the exam in Beijing. If they can be admitted, they can worship their ancestors and become celebrities in ten miles and eight townships. This is divided by subject, and there are many ways to divide it.
Chen An's spring list is divided according to time. At that time, the exam was held in spring, so it was called the spring exam. Moreover, this exam is the selection of provinces, similar to our college entrance examination today. Its purpose is to select talents from all over the country and send them to the central government, so it needs to pass different levels of screening. And Chen An is equivalent to the current champion of the college entrance examination, but the champion of the college entrance examination at that time was definitely much better than the champion of the college entrance examination today. If the people at that time could win the top prize, they could be in power, and they could have jobs directly, so long as they didn't make any big mistakes in their lives, they could have enough to eat and wear. So, if you can make the spring list, you are a very powerful person.
However, although Chen An won the first place in the spring list, it only shows that his IQ is very high, but it can't show that his EQ is also very high. In the later events of candidates from North and South, it was normal, but he just wanted to show Zhu Yuanzhang something one-sided. After reading it, Zhu Yuanzhang directly saw the flaw and sentenced him to death, and it took dozens of days to win the top prize.