It's just that the Ministry of Rites has already determined the ranking, and showing it to the emperor is just to let him have a final look, and if there is no problem, it will be decided like this.
In the past, the emperor had no objection, but this time the Jinshi examination for the crown prince is considered to be half the chief examiner. He went to the palace and chatted with him for a while, saying that some examiners from the Ministry of Rites directly ordered according to the general list, and the emperor was a little unhappy .
So when Kong Jijiu delivered the paper and the list, the emperor looked at it carefully. First, he went through the list and found that Bai Shan, his son-in-law Bai Cheng, and Wei Yu were all there, so he went to look at the paper.
The emperor read it carefully, and read the thirty-six papers according to their rankings from beginning to end. Among them, four papers were to be selected. Because of Kong Jijiu and several doctors' examinations, the four papers that came with them were all famous. Unknown, but well-written test takers.
In order to read the paper, the emperor put aside all other political affairs, and all the officials who came to report the matter were called in by him to sit in a row with Kong Jijiu, and the paper he finished reading was passed on for them to read again.
After reading the thirty-six papers, their eyes would be dazzled, so the emperor called for a meal, and talked about the list with his lovers while eating.
The emperor hadn't read the test papers of these candidates, but he had seen the general list early in the morning.
Although he wanted to hand over the reform of the imperial examination system to the prince so that he could gain prestige, he didn't want to just muddle along now.
So during the meal, he asked Wei Zhi and the others for their opinions on a few papers.
Li Shangshu is not good at expressing opinions on this kind of thing, mainly because he is a military minister who is not good at talking about Confucian classics, but he can talk about current affairs policy, but...
He glanced at Liu Shangshu at the side. It was almost the end of the year, and after the new year, he had to calculate the appropriation of the Ministry of War. He decided not to cause trouble for Liu Shangshu this year, and only hoped that he would not cause trouble for him either.
So Li Shangshu ate with his head down and didn't express his opinion.
But Wei didn't know, even if his son took the Jinshi examination this year, he is not a person who recommends virtue and avoids relatives, so seeing that other people didn't say anything, he just commented on it, and he didn't say that the thirty Which of the two places is not good, but the two articles that were put in for selection are particularly good.
Thirty-six articles, from poems and prose to Confucian classics and current affairs policy, are all glued together. Poems and prose are clear at a glance, and Confucian classics are almost fixed answers. What he said is particularly good, so it is naturally current affairs policy.
Wei Zhi thought it was a pity that someone with such talents failed the ranking.
The emperor thought so too, and just as he was about to speak, he heard someone say, "If you fail the Jinshi list, you can go to the Mingjing examination."
The emperor choked on his breath, and turned to look at the speaker.
Wei Zhi didn't get choked, but directly sprayed back, "Can this Jinshi list be the same as the Mingjing list? Why doesn't Mr. Han want to let his children take the Mingjing examination?"
Han Shangshu choked, and said, "I didn't say that, but a doctor from the Imperial College."
Kong Jijiu was sitting watching the fire from the other side, when the fire suddenly burned himself, he simply asked Han Shangshu directly, "Which doctor said that?"
Han Shangshu stopped talking, but he could whisper to Kong Jijiu in private, making it look like a villain in front of everyone.
The emperor swallowed his choking breath, waved his hand and said, "Okay, let's pass this question first. Since the exam papers are out, we should focus on the exam papers."
He directly picked out two examination papers and said, "These two are lost."
Everyone took a look and found that one was Cheng Wenhai from Tangzhou, and the other was Nie Xiu from Luzhou. They were all students of the Imperial College. Everyone present except the emperor had read their records, and they thought it was good at the time.
Liu Shangshu simply turned his head and asked Kong Jijiu, "How are their grades in the Imperial College?"
"Since it can be in the top 20 of the general list, it is prestigious, and the results should not be bad."
Wei Zhi asked, "Are they homework done in school, or did they do it themselves?"
Kong Jijiu paused and then said: "There are all of them, but there are many others."
Wei Zhi snorted and said: "As the exam is approaching, the current affairs policy questions issued by the Imperial College are very comprehensive. I remember that Bai Shan's behavior booklet was selected from the homework he had done and submitted into a booklet. The two of them have intentions, and they have thought of another topic, and they are so close to the government, whether they really have insights or something else is unknown."
Although Kong Jijiu felt that the papers of the two of them were not well done, he did not allow others to maliciously speculate on his students without evidence, so he countered: "Master Wei thinks too badly about people's hearts, If you don’t have evidence, please be careful, if you have evidence, you can bring evidence to our Zijian to appeal.”
Seeing that the two lovers were about to quarrel, and they were the two with the best eloquence, the emperor hurriedly acted as a peacemaker, "Wei Qing is also worried about promoting talents, but Mr. Kong will forgive me."
He also told Wei: "Wei Qing speaks carefully, it is not easy to speak out without evidence."
Wei Zhi apologized at the right time, Kong Jijiu snorted, and this matter was temporarily exposed.
The emperor changed the topic again, "Take these two papers instead, and discuss the rankings with you."
Kong Jijiu saw that the two people selected by the emperor were both students of his Guozijian, so he simply picked another one from the remaining two candidate papers and said: "Your Majesty, I think this paper is also very good. , is comparable to these two copies."
The emperor glanced at it, and he was no longer on par with each other. Although he did a good job, he was still not close to these two copies.
Looking at the name, it is also unknown, but looking at the place of origin, it is a student from Yangzhou Prefecture School.
He can't be allowed to replace one of the two, and Kong Jijiu has said that they are equal, so how to choose
The emperor and Kong Jijiu looked at each other, and immediately understood what he meant. This old man asked him to pick another person from the established quota, and he could no longer be a member of the Imperial College.
emperor:…
Wei Zhi took a look at the paper, refreshed his mind, and suggested carefully, "Your Majesty, do you want to read Bai Cheng's paper again?"
emperor:…
Bai Cheng has been assigned to No. 32. His future father-in-law doesn't even think about moving forward, but you still think about falling behind
Seeing that the emperor didn't speak, Wei Zhi said more cautiously: "Your Majesty, Bai Cheng is still young and not as good as a weak crown. It's still too early for him to become an official. He won the Jinshi examination, so is he going to be released?"
That's out of the emperor's nose, and it's hard to control this person if he stirs up wind and rain outside.
The emperor began to ponder. He wasn't worried that Bai Cheng would have other thoughts after he was released, but he was a bit reluctant to refuse Shang Kong's sacrificial wine and Wei Zhi's scorching gaze.
Cheng Wenhai and Nie Xiu can occupy the top 20 on the general list, which shows the strength of foreign envoys. It is really not good if they are left alone, but if his son-in-law is added...
For the stability and unity of the court, the emperor closed his eyes, and still picked out Bai Cheng's paper and put it aside.