Xie Suzhi supported his head with his hands, the fringed steps on his temples swayed slightly, and his face was bright with jewels. Hearing this, he stretched out his fingers and said, "He became the laughing stock of poetry clubs that year, and I can't say that he would go back and try to be strong. Ben Gong remembers that he also took the test three years ago, but he failed the list. Later, the Marquis of Wu'an took him to pay homage to the great scholars in the Zhiwen Museum, but I didn't expect that he actually passed this year."
The maid smiled: "It's called kung fu pays off!"
Xie Suzhi snorted softly: "Ben Gong would rather he be stupid, if he is still a bad person, this kind of person will only harm the people when he becomes an official in the court."
Shen Miaoping and Xie Yuzhi were led into the hall by the maids, just when they heard these words, they could not help but pause, thinking that this noble concubine is quite upright.
The maid walked to Xie Suzhi gracefully, and bowed her knees to salute, "Your Majesty, Second Master and Uncle are here."
Xie Suzhi was too devoted to what he said just now, and he didn't pay attention for a while. Now that he came back to his senses, he saw that Xie Yuzhi had already arrived, and there was a handsome and extraordinary young man standing beside him. He couldn't help but take a few more glances.
"See the noble concubine, the maiden Wan'an."
Xie Yuzhi and Shen Miaoping were about to salute, but were stopped, Xie Suzhi pretended to be displeased and said, "We are all a family, and when you come to Zhifeng Palace, you still talk about polite politeness, even if you get married, you don't even call the eldest sister. Is it?"
Xie Yuzhi couldn't help but smile: "Where is the eldest sister, it's just that the courtesy cannot be ignored."
Xie Suzhi glanced at him angrily: "I don't know when you were so disciplined, sit down now."
After speaking, he shifted his gaze to Shen Miaoping, looked up and down carefully, and exclaimed in half-truth, "This is Jinke's Tanhua Lang, as expected, he is talented and has a good bearing, Ben Gong has been for so many years. I've never seen such a handsome character before, but Yuzhi has some vision."
Shen Miaoping helped Xie Yuzhi to sit down, she couldn't help laughing when she heard the words, cupped her hands and said, "My lord, the great Jin has been full of talents since the beginning of the dynasty, and his reputation is not worth mentioning. What's the matter?"
Xie Suzhi took his actions into his eyes, and could not help but nodded secretly, he stroked his cuffs with his hands, and thought for a while: "Speaking of which, you are going to take errands too, the Hanlin Academy is a noble place, but the trivial matters are complicated, you look like a wise man. Character, it's a pity not to be a seventh-rank petty official in that kind of place..."
The implication is to find an errand for him.
Xie Yuzhi smiled and glanced at Shen Miaoping, and said in a meaningful way, "The Hanlin Academy is calm and peaceful, but it is difficult to do anything."
The Hanlin Academy is a place where people from all over the world gather. If there is a chance, it will not be possible to enter the cabinet in the future, but unless it is a talented and brilliant person, if you enter that place, you can only use your years to get your qualifications.
Recalling the severe pain like an electric shock yesterday, Shen Miaoping covered her wrist subconsciously, and finally smiled at Xie Suyi and politely rejected in the surprised eyes of everyone, "The affairs of the world often come to fruition due to covenants, but are defeated by extravagance. Besides, no matter how high or low an official position is, they can contribute to the country and the people, Miao Ping is still young, and his talents are still shallow.
Xie Yuzhi didn't seem to expect him to say this, so he glanced at him in surprise, then reacted, and said to Xie Suzhi, "Don't be surprised, eldest sister, he has this temperament, and he is stupid in reading books on weekdays."
Xie Suzhi was not annoyed, on the contrary, there was some appreciation in his eyes when he heard the words: "Why do you need to be humble, there are more than 10,000 people participating in the imperial examination this year, and being able to pass the township examination and the palace examination is enough to prove that you are not mediocre. The elders, the affairs of the world are often made by tight contracts, and defeated by extravagance... Well said, being able to say this is far better than others."
Shen Miaoping raised her hand and thanked her, "Miao Ping is so wrong, Miao Ping doesn't dare to deserve it."
As soon as he finished speaking, he suddenly saw a large eunuch-like person hurriedly entering the hall, walked to Xie Suzhi's side and said in a low voice with an anxious expression: "Ms. excellent."
When Xie Suzhi heard the words, he couldn't help but frown slightly: "Isn't it in the court? It's good, why did Your Majesty come here at this time?"
The eunuch said in a low voice: "Today, a group of scholars gathered outside the imperial city, and the crowd was excited, claiming that there were fraudsters in this imperial examination, and the ministers below also handed the emperor a certificate, saying that there were two township examinations in Huzhou and Jiangzhou. The examiner took bribes and betrayed the fame of the people. The examiners He Qigong and Wang Huan did not report the knowledge. They took bribes together. After the news spread, the people were angry and I begged the emperor to investigate them! This morning, the civil and military officials were arguing endlessly, and they did not come up with a charter for a long time. Come on, your Majesty is so angry that you go straight to the court."
Xie Suzhi was startled, and then slapped the table in anger: "These people are too bold, they dare to commit the death penalty of beheading, and they don't care about anything for the sake of gold and silver!"
Shen Miaoping listened clearly, and when she heard the words, her hand shook and the hot tea splashed onto her wrist. Xie Yuzhi took the tea cup and said with a frown, "What are you doing, your hands are all red."
Shen Miaoping felt dizzy for a moment, and then secretly calmed down again. Although the original body was mediocre in talent, it was compared with Jiang Hongyuan, the top scholar in the current division. Cheating. It was just before the palace exam that the examiner deliberately clinged to Gaozhi and verbally gave him a few words. The original body was always smooth, and the article was wrongly placed in the emperor's arms, so he was able to seal Tanhua Lang.
It was just a verbal call, and he didn't send gold or silver to the examiner, so it should be none of his business...
Shen Miaoping felt a little drum in her heart, and her expression became so obvious that even Xie Yuzhi could not help but look at him several times, squinting her eyes and saying suspiciously, "What's wrong with you, you look like you have done something wrong... Don't tell me this You also have one of them."
The latter sentence is obviously a joke. The top three in the first grade of the palace test were all done by the emperor himself. Didn't he see those officials who only dared to do something in the township test
Shen Miaoping could not be frightened now, when she heard the words, she came back to her senses and glanced at him secretly, "I am from Jinzhou, the fraud is in Huzhou and Jiangzhou, but it is 108,000 miles away, but I just heard that there was fraud. It's too shocking."
Xie Suzhi also frowned and scolded Xie Yuzhi lightly: "It's still like this, there's nothing to block, and I dare to say anything!"
After speaking, he got up and instructed the maid to wait, as if he was about to meet the emperor, Xie Yuzhi knew that he had made a blunder and secretly glanced at Shen Miaoping, but saw that he was still in a state of disbelief, and said to Xie Suzhi, "Eldest sister, since Your Majesty If we want to come, we don't want to disturb, why don't we leave first..."
"Hahaha, isn't this Erlang of the Xie family? It's rare to see you enter the palace once. It's all from your own family, so why bother?"
A vigorous voice suddenly sounded outside, and then a bright yellow figure appeared outside the temple gate. The visitor was about thirty years old, dressed in a dragon robe, not angry but majestic, with an extraordinary appearance, followed behind him. All the palace servants are the present His Majesty.
Seeing this, the servants of Zhifeng Hall immediately knelt down and Xie Suzhi went up to them and bowed their knees. Shen Miaoping was startled and quickly knelt down together with Xie Yuzhi.
"The concubine has seen the emperor."
"Wei Chen has seen the emperor."
The emperor walked quickly into the hall, personally helped Xie Suzhi up, took a seat with her, and signaled Xie Yuzhi and others to give their seats flat, and said with a smile: "Why do you need to be more polite, Concubine Ai, it's a coincidence that I'm here today, Xie Aiqing also entered the palace. Now, he took an idle job and didn't do anything all day, so it's rare for me to catch him."
Xie Yuzhi smiled: "Weichen should be damned."
This is the only sentence, and there is not much else to say.
Dajin has always valued literature over martial arts, which led to the different good and bad generals in the dynasty. It was rare to find one Xie Yuzhi, but he also died halfway. The emperor actually felt sorry for him, his eyes swept away, and suddenly found Shen Miaoping pretending to be an invisible man beside Xie Yuzhi. , felt inexplicably familiar, and could not help frowning.
The eunuch next to him reminded him in the emperor's ear, "He is Shen Miaoping, the scout agent of the present department. He married the second son of the Xie family yesterday. Your Majesty forgot that it was your order."
The emperor thought about it for a while and then remembered, but he was troubled by this morning's troubles, and when he heard the matter related to the imperial examination, his face became slightly gloomy, he looked at Shen Miaoping when he heard the words, and asked in a tone that could not be heard of joy or anger: " Are you Shen Miaoping? You have a dignified appearance, and it matches Xie Aiqing.”
Shen Miao looked very calm on the surface, she heard the words and stood up and cupped her hands, "Thanks for the praise, Your Majesty."
He intuitively felt that he was on the cusp of a storm, so he should shut up as soon as possible and say more and more mistakes, just hoping that the other party would ask a few questions.
However, the emperor did not seem to want to let him go, and continued to ask politely, "Where are you from?"
At this time, if it is Huzhou and Jiangzhou's eight achievements, it will be bad luck.
Shen Miaoping lowered her head and said very humbly, "Miaoping is from Jinzhou."
Xie Yuzhi felt that things didn't seem very good, and secretly gave Xie Suzhi a look, the latter signaled him to rest assured, then smiled and shook the emperor's arm and said: "Your Majesty, the state affairs are busy these days, it is rare for you to come and see the concubine. , why did you ask Miao Ping, and you don't care about your concubine?"
When the emperor heard that Shen Miaoping was from Jinzhou, his expression could not help softening a little, and he patted Xie Suzhi's hand in a soothing way: "The minister at the bottom said that there were frauds in this imperial examination, I am really sad, and now a large number of literati are still blocked. Outside the imperial city, those old officials can't come up with a formula, and Tanhualang happens to be here, but I would like to hear the opinions of the young people."
Having said this, Xie Suzhi could not stop her any longer. She thought to herself that the emperor would not treat Shen Miaoping with the face of the Duke of Changguo. Let go.
The emperor picked up the tea cup and took a sip, and said to Shen Miao calmly, like chatting, "Have you heard of the fraud that I just mentioned?"
Shen Miao frowned indiscernibly and only wished that she would become deaf: "I heard a little."
The emperor lowered his eyes and said: "Do you know why those literati outside are so excited and unwilling to disperse for a long time, the chief examiner's acceptance of bribes is only one of the reasons, and the more reason is that there are a total of 262 people in this autumn season. People, 70% of them are wealthy and prominent people in their families. I have ordered an investigation. The number of candidates involved is not more than ten, but it is still difficult to quell public anger. I remember that you also studied hard in Hanchuang. "
As soon as these words came out, the eyes of the whole room looked over, Shen Miao was silent, and she quickly thought about how to answer so as not to expose the fact that she was a fake.
In the past, the history teacher seems to have said that under the previous clan system, officials were generally held by the children of nobles. They could become officials without much effort, no matter how successful they were, but it was difficult for truly talented people to display their talents. After the implementation of the imperial examination system, it will undoubtedly provide a path for poor scholars. They can become officials through the imperial examination, which can not only consolidate and strengthen the imperial power, but also improve the cultural quality of officials, but it is still difficult to change the gap between the rich and the poor before they become famous.
Shen Miaoping spoke carefully and said, "There are often remarks among scholars, there are no poor families in the high grades, and no noble families in the low grades. Although these words are a bit absolute, they are not unreasonable. Although the imperial examinations are for the sake of justice, there is no age limit, but I have to say, There is still a gap between the children of the aristocratic clan and the people of the poor family."
Xie Suzhi's face changed slightly when he heard the words, and he was about to say something, but was held down by the emperor.
Shen Miaoping looked at the emperor's face and continued, "This disparity is not only in the rich and the poor, but also in the background, if a poor family's children want to enroll in school, it is only a small sum of money if they only say that they are handed over to Mr. Not to mention consumables such as pen, ink, paper and inkstone. In order to save money, they use branches to practice calligraphy on the ground. Sometimes a family may not be able to provide a scholar even if they spend all their furniture. This is one of the constraints; the second is that most of the people who can open private schools in the local area are low-ranking scholars, and there are few truly learned people, and the wealthy family has thousands of books, and they invite great scholars to teach each other. This is another disadvantage. One section; third, the number one scholar in the Imperial Examination Examination, only half of the essays…”
The atmosphere in the hall was stagnant, Shen Miaoping looked at Xie Yuzhi's worried gaze for a while, then looked away to look at the emperor again, stretched out two fingers and said, "...this article only accounts for half, the other half is fame."
"Every year, there are countless talents all over the country gathered in one place, and those who are famous among their peers will be passed on to the examiner's ears, leaving a good impression. If there are two people who are equally talented in writing, they will give priority to the one with the higher reputation. For example, in the current imperial examinations, there is Zhao Ying in Jizhou, Shi Chunyun in Linchuan, and Wang Shuqing in Lantian. These people are the gateways of noble families in the local area, and their connections are naturally much better than ordinary people, so they are quite famous among scholars. Sound, it's a little bit worse."
After Shen Miaoping finished speaking, she cupped her hands to the emperor and said, "Miaoping has never read the township exam list carefully, but I dare to guess that among the two hundred and sixty-two jurors, there must be the figures of these brothers, of course, Miaoping and It's not that these people have no real talents and real learning, but they will have more advantages when everyone has the same talents. Han Chuang's hard work for more than ten years is not a joke. There are a few more people who jumped into the dragon gate once, why the history books will feature the people who have no obvious background but finally become famous? It is because it is too rare and too few. If things go on like this, there will be grievances in the hearts of scholars, and the fraud in the imperial examination this time is only It's just an incentive."
After his remarks, the hall was silent for a long time, the thinking and logic of the ancients and modern people were very different, Shen Miaoping was a person from a thousand years later, he stood on the big picture, had the perspective of God, and looked at China for five thousand years. Much more transparent than these people.
Xie Yuzhi and Xie Suzhi fell into contemplation at the same time, the emperor glanced at the eunuch beside him: "How many people are on the roster that Tanhualang said just now?"
Immediately someone went to investigate, and after a while, someone came back to report: "Go back to Your Majesty, Zhao Ying, Shi Chunyun, Wang Shuqing and others are indeed on the list."
Hearing this, the emperor suddenly sighed, he leaned back in his chair and looked at Shen Miaoping, not knowing whether he was angry or happy: "You are very courageous, you dare to speak the truth, and you are not afraid that I will cut your head off."
Xie Yu immediately wanted to get up, but Xie Suzhi glared back.
Seeing that the emperor was not really angry, Shen Miaoping saluted peacefully and said, "Thunder, thunder, rain and dew are your kindness. If your majesty wants to chop off Miaoping's head, Miaoping will never complain."
The emperor said with a complicated expression: "No one has ever said such a thing to me, and what you said is reasonable, but I don't agree with the other two. The so-called master leads the door and cultivates in each person. The local private schools are indeed mostly scholars. , but wouldn't the poor scholars have no future without great Confucianism? I'm afraid it may not be."
Shen Miao said flatly, "Naturally there are promising people, but they are all amazing, brilliant, and similar, how many can they produce in a year?"
Ancient texts are difficult to understand, and ancient meanings are difficult to understand. A long paragraph has neither punctuation, nor fixed translation, so it has evolved into various theories.
Seeing that the emperor did not speak, Shen Miao just wanted to hurriedly fool him and pull him down: "Thousands of people, the same sentence in the scriptures and history books will breed thousands of understandings, why is the great Confucian in the world a great Confucian, because they understand every word. He has his own understanding and is unique, not to mention that everything has a set process. A gentleman who has stopped in the academy exam and a gentleman who has gone through the county entrance examination and the palace examination, which one does His Majesty think will be more experienced? some?"
In this way, the children of officials have an innate advantage, and the children of the poor are just a foil, and their innate deficiencies make them look in the dark in the examination room.
The latter paragraph was a bit too direct and Shen Miaoping did not say it, seeing that the emperor was still skeptical, he had no choice but to give an example: "Miaoping once read a story before that a student who was taking the test encountered heavy rain and had no choice but to do so. I stayed at a relative's house, but the rain didn't stop for three days, but that relative was a miser and didn't want him to eat and live for nothing, so he wrote a few words on a piece of paper - 'If it rains, you will stay for the rest of the day. I will not stay', dare to ask Your Majesty, what is the meaning of this sentence?"
The emperor thought for a while and said, "If it rains, I will leave you, but I will not leave in the sky."
Shen Miaoping smiled and shook her head: "Is there any other solution, Your Majesty?"