在明清善书的科举果报故事中，善恶报应是世间的普遍规律，人的善恶左右着功名得失。重才轻德是科举制最大的弊端，善书作者积极参与科举改良的讨论，立足于善恶有报的信念，将科举制“以文取士”的选官准则替换为“以德取士”，从而在文学叙事中弥补了科举制的弊端，也为士子的教化开出一条新路。善书中的报应是由冥司和鬼神支配的，一套独立而精密的“冥间选士制度”决定了士子的考场命运。“冥间选士制度”可以分解为三种机制：首先是监督机制。冥间众神时刻不停的稽查凡间善恶，将考察到的情况层层上奏，并记录于善恶簿。高级神祇根据善恶簿的内容施予奖惩赏罚。其次是奖惩机制。前生和祖辈的德行支配着人今生的命运，这种命运被书写在阴籍上。冥神根据功过相抵的程度改写阴籍，或改注于其他阴籍，或增禄削籍，或改写天榜。阴籍一经改写，人的命运就发生变化，功名得失也不例外。最后是干预机制。冥神和鬼魂共同肩负起落实冥司裁决、干预科举考试的任务，让考试结果和阴籍注写的内容保持一致。鬼魂既听从冥司调遣，也能影响冥司裁决。鬼神干预考试又有索命与保命、指点墓葬、夺智与增智、预报科名、毁卷与完卷、透露考题、代笔答卷、提醒房师等八类特殊方式。监督机制、奖惩机制和干预机制共同构成“冥间选士制度”，考生能否登科，中第几名，都由这套制度决定。个人利用善恶报应的规律求福报、求功名的行为被称作“立命之学”。按照儒家的立命观，宿命客观存在，人们应当无视“禄命”的好坏，专心致志勤修“德命”。善书先抹去了宿命论的消极色彩，又利用宗教的力量，改变了“禄命”和“德命”的关系，认为个人按照儒家立命观的修行方法修炼“德命”，冥司必定会改善他的“禄命”。在善书的立命之学中，儒家文化和宗教文化呈现出水乳交融的状态。儒学方面，善书借用“格天”比拟人神感通的过程，汲取儒家人性论的养分证明人有行善的意愿、能力和自由，将“义利之辨”融入善恶报应，进而保留了儒家立命观的处世态度，鼓励人们行善时要有“不动念”的毅力，摒弃妄念、杂念，心中只留行善的正念，一心一意把眼前的善事做好，也要有“强为善”的决心，克服艰难险阻，誓死不二的把行善的习惯坚持下去。宗教方面，只有不计功利的纯善——阴骘，才有转移祸福，挽回定数的奇效。立命本质上是通过积累善功来改变宿命。基于明清时期流行的现世报思想，善书向读者保证，按照立命之学的要求行善，不出三年五载就能等来福报。善书作者很担心人们误读立命之学，行善的时候偷工减料，反复强调忠实按照立命之学的限制性条件积德行善，才有可能获得福报。通过立命之学，善书喊出了“命自我作，福自己求”的口号，将古人拉出了宿命论的泥沼。

In the imperial examinations retribution stories of Shan-Shu of the Ming and Qing dynasties, the retribution is the universal law of the world. The character of people determines the examination results. Focusing more on talent rather than virtue is the biggest disadvantage of the imperial examination system. Therefore, the authors of Shan-Shu actively participated in the discussion of the reform of the imperial examination system. Based on the belief of the retribution, they replaced the official selection criterion of the imperial examination system of selecting scholars by talent with selecting scholars by virtue, thus making up for the disadvantages of the imperial examination system in literary narration and opening a new way for the cultivation of scholars. The retribution in Shan-Shu is dominated by gods and spirits. A set of independent and precise system of selecting candidates in the underworld determines the fate of scholars. The system of selecting candidates in the underworld can be divided into three mechanisms: First, the supervision mechanism. The constant inspection of character by the gods is reported and recorded in the book of good and evil. The higher-ranking gods reward and punish according to the contents of the book of good and evil. The second is reward and punishment mechanism. The virtue of previous existence and forefathers determines the fate of this life, which is written in the YinJi. According to the extent of offset, the gods rewrite the YinJi in three ways. (1) Renoting on other YinJi. (2)increasing or decreasing fortunes. (3)rewriting the TianBang. As soon as the YinJi is rewritten, man’s destiny including examination results changes. Finally, the intervention mechanism. The gods and spirits jointly shoulder the task of implementing the gods ruling and interfering with the imperial examination so that the results of the examinations are consistent with the contents of the YinJi. Spirits not only obey the orders of gods, but also influence the rulings of gods. There are eight special ways to interfere with the examinations, including killing and protecting the life, recommending the tombs, retaking and increasing intelligence, forecasting the results of the examination, destroying and completing the paper, revealing the examination questions, answering the questions for others, reminding the house teacher and so on. The supervision mechanism, the reward and punishment mechanism and the intervention mechanism together constitutes the system of selecting candidates in the underworld. The examination results are actually decided by this system. The act that people use the law of retribution seeking returns or fame is called the Principle of Forming Destiny. According to Confucian conception of destiny, fate exists objectively, and people should ignore the material destiny and concentrate on moral destiny. Shan-Shu first corrected people’s misunderstanding of fatalism, and then made use of religion to change the relationship between material destiny and moral destiny. They believed that the gods would certainly improve one’s material destiny if individuals practice moral destiny according to the Confucian doctrine of destiny. The Confucian culture and religious culture showed a state of blending with each other in the Principle of Forming Destiny. In the aspect of Confucianism, Shan-Shu borrowed the concept of evoking a response from heaven with a mind of virtue and discipline to compare to the interaction of human beings and gods. It learned the essence of Confucian theory of human nature and proved that people had the will, ability and freedom to do good. It blended the argument of loyalty and gains with retribution. It also retained the attitude of life of Confucianism, encouraging people to do good with the absence of thought and be strong to do good. For Religion, only the pure virtue-Yin Chih, can change one’s destiny. The essence of the principle of forming destiny is to change destiny by accumulating good works. Based on the popular thought of the retribution in this life in the Ming and Qing dynasties, Shan-Shu assured if the readers were in accordance with the requirements of the principle of forming destiny, good deeds can be seen in less than three years and five years. The authors of Shan-Shu were worried that people misread the principle of forming destiny, deceiving themselves as well as others when doing good. They repeatedly emphasized that faithfully doing good according to the restrictive conditions of the principle of forming destiny made it possible to get good results. With the help of the principle of forming destiny, Shan-Shu told people that fate is created by ourselves, and good fortune or bad fortune are also determined by ourselves. It pulled the ancients out of the quagmire of fatalism.