As time goes by, in the spring of the 11th year of Xuanhe in the Song Dynasty, the Song army finally launched an army from Youzhou to attack the Liao Kingdom in the north. The banner they used was to avenge a hundred years of revenge and save the world, but they regarded the Liao Kingdom as a villain who was harming the world. .
In order to win this battle, the Song Dynasty used all the strength of the country to move. The main elites of the Northern Army and the Western Army alone numbered a full 230,000. In addition, there were troops from all over the country. The young and strong soldiers selected from the Imperial Army expanded the number of the Northern Expedition army to nearly half a million.
There were also more civilians transporting various materials and weapons to the north in an endless stream. In this way, the statement of millions of people in the Northern Expedition to Liao Kingdom mentioned in the declaration of war by the Song Dynasty court was not an exaggeration. Exaggerated.
After the people of the world learned about the figures from various channels, they were all very excited and believed that the Song Dynasty would win this battle. After all, the Liao Kingdom today is no longer what it used to be. Facing the all-out Northern Expedition of the Song Dynasty's millions of heavenly troops, it was bound to be defeated, and the fall of the Liao Kingdom was only a matter of time.
Under such a good situation, those people who bought national bonds were naturally even more happy. Many people began to worry about the war ahead, and only calculated how much profit they could get from it after the war was won.
However, all of this is just a topic that people outside the capital are talking about recently. Since February 13th, the attention of the people in Bianjing has long been diverted from the war ahead and has all fallen on the new imperial examination. . Yes, this year’s spring finally started on this day of the Northern Expedition. Candidates from all over the country gathered in Tokyo, and in the early morning of that day, they wore uniform clothes, lined up neatly, and entered the examination room to take part. That exam can change oneself and even the fate of many people.
Although the current culture of the Song Dynasty, which was aristocratic and military, has been greatly changed due to Sun Tu's various measures, the culture and education still remain, especially for the people in the capital, who are happy to follow and discuss every imperial examination. During this period, I am keen to comment on those candidates who are famous or have achieved good results.
In several large gambling houses, many handicaps have been opened in the past two days, and the odds of winning the top prize for famous local talents have been released, attracting countless gamblers to donate their money. It’s really a fun event for everyone to participate in.
However, all this seems to have little to do with the candidate Cai Qi, who can only live in a remote Taoist temple in the west of the city. When he walked into the examination room with the crowd, he seemed so inconspicuous. In fact, in his own heart, he didn't have much hope for this examination. After all, in terms of knowledge and articles, he was far behind those candidates who came out of the poor ten years ago.
In fact, Cai Qi, an examinee from Jiangnan Road, a small county in Zhuji, Shaoxing Prefecture, is not a serious scholar. He is just an ordinary person who was born as a small official in a household and has been reading for a while. It was just because of the previous incident in Hangzhou that thousands of Jiangnan candidates were deprived of the qualifications to take the imperial examination for the next ten years. Therefore, people like him were selected from the shortest and the tallest to pass the imperial examination, and were qualified to come to Tokyo to participate in the imperial examination. .
Of course, this has also been Cai Qi’s wish all along. I just didn’t expect that my wish for many years would actually come true today.
He actually came to Tokyo as a candidate and entered the examination room. Even though his life in the capital was miserable, he was happy with it.
But when he entered the examination room, sat in a separate room, and saw the stack of title papers in his hand, Cai Qi still felt bursts of nervousness and excitement. After a while, he calmed down, and then carefully read the questions above. Come.
To be honest, with his attainments in poetry and articles and his understanding of the classics of saints, it would be difficult for him to produce any good articles in such a formal examination, and he had already been prepared to fail the imperial examination. However, when he saw the content of the test questions, he was stunned—
The above did not ask him to borrow objects to express his aspirations and compose poems, nor did it ask him to borrow classics to compose poems to explain his understanding of certain principles. Instead, he chose two very straightforward topics: one is about historical dynasties. The second aspect of the theory of gains and losses is to give some advice to the current imperial court and how it can strengthen the country and enrich the people.
There wasn't any nonsense, there were just the most real and straightforward topics that only a person could understand. This made Cai Qi's spirit suddenly perk up. You must know that he is in the county government. Although he is only a small clerk in the household, he still has some opinions on the pros and cons of some measures in the court, and he can calmly write a good article.
What surprised him even more was that the test question clearly stated that he could use ancient poems to compose, but at the same time, he was encouraged to express his views in the most straightforward words. And this is what Cai Qi is good at. Because he is not very knowledgeable, and he needs to have a clear explanation of many official affairs in the yamen, so he really uses daily spoken language to describe, and he has long been used to this. Writing composition.
Without much hesitation, Cai Qi chose the second topic. From his perspective as a low-level official, he analyzed and explained some of the current inappropriate aspects of the Song Dynasty, and put forward some of his own suggestions. Maybe these things may not really be adopted by the court, or even allow him to pass the Jinshi examination, but having someone like him who can speak freely in the most familiar way, and who must be seen by high-ranking officials in the court, is enough to make him excited. .
In this way, Cai Qi wrote hurriedly in the examination room. From morning to night, he wrote nearly ten thousand words before he stopped writing and rubbed his wrists, feeling a sense of relief in his heart. At this moment, there was not much time left before the final hand-in. Without time to do more checks, he could only hand in the test paper, and then returned to his residence without thinking about anything else.
Five days later, when Cai Qi went to the imperial city to check his results in an uneasy mood, a servant from the Ministry of Etiquette went to the Taoist temple where he was staying first to make him pass the examination and will take part in the final exam on the second day of March this year. The good news of the palace examination spread.
When he saw that his name was indeed on the announced imperial list, Cai Qi couldn't believe his eyes. He, a small county clerk with mediocre knowledge and who has not even read all the classic books, actually passed the Jinshi examination
Although he cannot be called a Jinshi now, he must pass another palace examination to confirm his identity. But everyone knows that today's palace examination is no longer like the original one that will exclude a group of candidates who are behind. Instead, all candidates who participate in the palace examination can get the title of a Jinshi or a fellow Jinshi.
title, then the broad avenue of officialdom will also be opened for them.
Such good news really made Cai Qi feel dizzy and unreal. Even after a few days, he still felt like he was in a dream.
Until the official day arrived, he entered the palace along with dozens of equally excited candidates. He sat in front of the brand-new desks and saw the noble and important officials standing on the left and right, as well as the heroic and impressive figure at the top. When he became a man, he was convinced that he was indeed going to become the Jinshi that countless scholars dreamed of.
And this man who appeared in front of everyone was naturally the real person in power in the Song Dynasty today, the King of Yue, the Grand Master and the Grand Lieutenant Sun Tu. Even if he just glanced at him from a distance, Cai Qi felt frightened, as if the person standing in front of him was not a person, but an ancient divine sword that was unsheathed and blooming with brilliance, a statue that could make countless people worship. of ancient gods.
It wasn't until Sun Tu spoke slowly that he calmed down and listened carefully. After all, the next exam is the most important, and it will determine what kind of score he can get in this palace exam.
"Because His Majesty is ill today, I have ordered that I will write the questions and invigilate the exam on his behalf." Sun Tu's first words made the faces of everyone present change slightly, but neither the officials nor the candidates were interested at this moment. Dare to object.
Since the establishment of the imperial examination in the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the emperor has always been the examiner in the final imperial examination. This is not only to reflect the emperor's importance to the candidates and this examination system, but also to allow the emperor to understand these future candidates earlier. The character and ability of the ministers bring the relationship between the king and his ministers closer.
It can be said that no matter whether the emperors of various dynasties were wise or mediocre, no matter how busy they were at that time, as long as it was the time of the palace examination, there was always someone who would not fail to appear. Even Zhao Ji himself has never failed in more than ten imperial examinations in the past few decades.
But this year, he disappeared because of "illness" and was replaced by Sun Tu, the captain? In fact, many people have already vaguely guessed what this means. The emperor has really become a puppet, and what Sun Tu is doing now is to take away all these superficial powers from his hands one by one.
What will he do if he continues? No one dared to think about the answer to this question, and at the same time, no one dared to go against him. The fate of Li Gang and others was still fresh in people's minds, so all the officials could only respond in silence.
Sun Tu's eyes only glanced at the silent officials, and then said: "Today's palace examination will not test poetry, songs, or any beautiful articles. There is only one question this time, which is based on your own opinions. Discuss the changes that have taken place in the Song Dynasty over the past century, and how this Northern Expedition to the Liao Kingdom is different from the previous ones, and what are the odds of winning.
"You don't have to worry too much about the shortcomings. As long as you can say something meaningful and reasonable, Your Majesty will choose it. And if you can tell some more profound truths, or make everything about the Song Dynasty more clear, Furthermore, I promise you that I can also make special promotions for you. No matter what your current status is, you can directly enter the Sixth Department and other important yamen!"
Just this sentence caused many different reactions from the candidates...