In the evening, Fan Xian returned to his courtyard, talked briefly with Wan'er about the meeting with the second prince during the day, and then welcomed another guest as he expected—the guest was Xin Qiwu, a close friend of the Crown Prince's East Palace. .
Sitting down to watch tea, looking at the names on the note in his hand, Fan Xian smiled slightly, knowing what the crown prince was going to do, but he didn't know why the other party came to him.
"Why did you show me this?" Fan Xian held the note in his hand, shook his head with a wry smile, and said, "Master Shaoqing, the lower officials can't interfere with the matter of the test."
A few months ago, during the negotiation process with Beiqi, the two of them were envoys and deputy envoys. They cooperated very well, and there was no conflict in their personalities. In addition, the two of them got drunk a few days ago. Now it's natural to get acquainted. Xin Qiwu took a sip from his teacup and explained softly, "You should know what these names are."
Of course, Fan Xian knew that the day after tomorrow would be the day when the exams would start. At this juncture, all the mansions were like little daughters-in-law and grooms constantly whispering songs in secret, and the threshold of the back door was almost trampled down. Guo Youzhi, the head of the Ministry of Rituals, never tires of trouble and dare not offend too many princes and nobles, so he simply asked for an order and hid in the palace. The other four fellow examiners and transferees had already regarded the Taixue of the Ministry of Rites as their own mansion, and did not dare to go back to the mansion at all.
But according to the energy of the East Palace, if the prince wants to promote some young talents he wants to cultivate in this imperial examination, there should be a way. Just talk about the president of the examination, Guo Youzhi, everyone knows that he is a firm supporter of the East Palace. Or, if you just pass a sentence, there should be no problem, how could you find yourself.
As if aware of his doubts, Xin Qiwu shook his head with a smile, and said, "Master Fan is so talented that the world admires him, but it seems that he is not very clear about many rules in Beijing. It follows the previous practice, and the changes are not too big. In order to prevent cheating, the papers of the students who take the test must be copied again to prevent the handwriting from being recognized by others. The most critical step is the step of obfuscating names."
Xin Qiwu continued: "The six names on the paper are all people I have met in person." He smiled and said: "A talented person."
…
…
Fan Xian always thought he was a very calm person, but when Xin Qiwu left, he sat quietly in the study, looking at the note in his hand, he was still a little angry. The day after tomorrow is the day of the examination, and he didn't know until today that besides the president, mentor, and promotion, among the officials of the examination, he also plays a very troublesome and important role.
In the previous conversation, Xin Qiwu told him that the imperial court had decreed that Fengzheng Fan Xian, the fifth rank of Taixue, would be the Juzhong Lang of this conference—Ju Zhong Lang, a rather strange position, was actually in charge of the conference. The officials who test the order hold considerable real power in their hands, and more importantly, after the scroll is sealed at night, in the long night before the scroll is revised, and before the officials of the Ministry of Rites and the Taixue teachers re-copy the scroll, the matter of obfuscating names, It was under the sole responsibility of Ju Zhonglang.
For those who want to play some tricks in this test, the first thing to deal with is the link of obfuscation. Even if the background behind those students has bribed the officials of the Ministry of Rites and even the examiners, if they do not falsify their names first, the examiners who mark the test papers will not be able to do it.
Originally, after so many years of imperial examinations, the officials of the Qing Dynasty had already become skilled workers in these fraudulent and self-serving transactions, and the distribution of various forces also had some formulas for reference, but because this time it was a well-known Fan Xian sat in the position of Ju Zhonglang for some inexplicable reason, so all parties in the DPRK and China could not help being somewhat uncertain, and no one knew what this little Fan Shixian would do.
That's why the crown prince let Xin Qiwu come to Fan's mansion in advance without hesitation. He thought that Fan Xian would not go against his will, and these days, the crown prince thought that the East Palace had also given Fan Xian enough rewards, so it should be It's time for Fan Xian to express his attitude.
Fan Xian glanced at the names of the six people on the note again, smiled, smashed the note into powder, and then slowly walked back to his bedroom, feeling a little more grateful for the second prince out of thin air in his heart, if the second prince It's really difficult to deal with such a move, and being caught in the middle.
But he still somewhat underestimated the complexity of the matter.
Lin Wan'er sat by the table and looked at him with a smile, then tapped on the table lightly, the sheets of white paper beside her fingers looked so clean that it was chilling. Fan Xian sighed, patted his forehead and said, "Don't tell me, it's the name of a person written on it."
Lin Wan'er giggled, stood up from the stool, walked to his side, took his arm, and praised: "Master is indeed a smart man."
Fan Xian smiled wryly and said, "I thought we could recuperate in the capital before going to Northern Qi, but who knew..." He finally couldn't help cursing in a low voice: "Who made me the middle man!"
"My father, your father." Lin Wan'er looked at him bitterly, "Although this position is not suitable for promotion, it is a crucial position. According to the usual practice in previous years, this group of students will enter the court as officials after the examination. When I see you in the future, I have to call out to you as a teacher. It's a very... "
Fan Xian said unhappily, "Is our two fathers who are not very close a little too enthusiastic? I'm only seventeen. Could it be that in the future, let a group of middle-aged pedantic academicians see me and salute?"
Lin Wan'er's worries were swept away, and she said with a smile: "Now you are very famous in the capital, and this time someone even recommended you as a teacher. If you were not dismissed by the palace because you were too young, you might have been a master for hundreds of years. The youngest examiner in the world."
Fan Xian said: "It's not a good thing, and now I regret the time when the Highness was drunk and crazy." However, there has never been any medicine for regret in the world. He carefully looked at the note handed over by his wife, and found that some of the names on it were relatively familiar. , are all relatively well-known students in Beijing, and some of the people he has come into contact with are indeed talented. Seeing this, Fan Xian felt a little more at ease.
"Since I'm Ju Zhonglang, why did they come to the mansion so blatantly?" Fan Xian sighed, "This note is the evidence of their fraud. It's too bold for them to send it to me."
"It's all old rules." Lin Wan'er lived in the palace for a long time, so she naturally knew about these things, and explained: "Although Ju Zhonglang was an important person in the past, his job title was too low, so no one paid much attention to it. Anyway, if anyone in the palace Wanting to cultivate some of his confidantes, the man in the middle had no choice but to pretend not to see, so he didn't dare to talk too much. It's just that this year it's your turn to take up the job. Those people are afraid of your means and background, but don't understand your temperament, so they will Just like treating the president, I come to greet you in advance, to show politeness and respect. Of course, those officials who think they can't curry favor with you will of course follow the usual practice and don't dare to harass you you."
"In this way, I just need to follow the rules of previous years." Fan Xian frowned slightly. He really didn't expect Qing's officialdom to be so corrupted. When he thought of those students who worked hard in suburban schools , I can't help but feel a little uncomfortable.
"Do whatever you want." Lin Wan'er was not an ordinary person, and said softly, "Even if none of these people sell their face, who would dare to do anything to you, Mr. Xiang?"
Fan Xian smiled wryly, thinking that you are the princess, of course you are not afraid of anyone, although the background behind him is not small, but your prince brother wants to use this to see his position. He turned to ask: "Who sent these names?" There were actually only three notes, not as many as he imagined.
Lin Wan'er smiled shyly with some embarrassment: "Actually, it's all my fault."
Fan Xian asked, "How do you say it?"
Lin Wan'er responded: "I entered the palace today and went to sit in Ningcai's palace. You know I used to play with her when I was young. This is one." She then said with a frown: "As for the other things There are two notes, one is sent by Mr. Yuan sent by my father, and the other is sent by Mr. Qin from the Privy Council."
Fan Xian shook his head. Naturally, Ning Cairen represented the eldest prince who was still far away in the western border. Since the prime minister sent himself to the position of Ju Zhonglang, there was absolutely no reason not to use his own son-in-law, but the Privy Council member Old Master Qin, although he has never met, but he knows that he is a veteran of the three dynasties, a super powerful figure in the military, and he has cultivated a few generals dishonestly.
"Forget it, it's a trivial matter. Since the whole country is full of crows, I naturally won't pretend to be a red-crowned crane." Fan Xian said flatly, destroying all these notes, gently holding his wife's shoulders, and walking to the front mansion .
※※※
On the ninth day of February, the day of the competition, scholars in the Qing Kingdom will sell all they have learned in the past ten years to the emperor's family. As for whether the emperor's family buys it or not, it depends on these few exams. Those scholars in long gowns were like swimming fish, either nervously or excitedly walking towards the place of the big test: the Erya Examination Institute of the Ministry of Rites.
Fan Xian had already met with the CEO, Guo Shangshu, the two supervisors, and the two supervisors the first night, and all the ministers nervously arranged the procedures, and then performed their duties on the second day.
A grand master's chair was placed by the side of the gate, and beside him were the yamen guards and officials sent by the Overwatch Council as usual. Fan Xian'an sat comfortably on the teacher's chair among the crowd, watching these students pass by in front of him with cold eyes.
The students who passed in front of him, no matter they were old or young, all respectfully saluted. Those who knew Fan Xian respected his reputation, and those who did not know Fan Xian respected his position. At the door, the tiger and wolf officials beside Fan Xian had already pulled back the curtain and began to search one by one to prevent the students from bringing prohibited items inside.
Fan Xian took a sip of tea, looked at these hard-working students carrying bedding and toilets, who looked like long-term laborers in the village, couldn't help shaking his head, and suddenly saw a student who had been checked and was about to be admitted to the hospital, rolled his eyes, and shouted :"etc!"