The red sun is already three feet high, and the golden censer is adding incense beasts one after another.
The sun had just risen over the mountain, and under the bright red morning glow, the sunlight shone through the gaps in the clouds, like countless giant dragons spewing golden waterfalls, dyeing the world golden. The Linhuai Marquis's Mansion in the early morning sunlight was even more magnificent, with hanging lanterns and colorful decorations, screens with phoenixes, bedding with lotus, incense burning, and the sound of stringed instruments coming out of the mansion, a prosperous and lively scene.
The maids in Linhuai Marquis's Mansion got ready early, changed into their newest clothes, put on the hairpins given by their masters, dressed up beautifully, and got busy.
Today is the sixtieth birthday of the old lady in the Marquis' Mansion. The maids and servants of Linhuai Marquis' Mansion got up early in the morning to sweep the yard and help the master wash up. Under the command of the steward, they tidied up the Marquis' Mansion and prepared the things needed for the birthday.
Zhu Ping'an got up and washed as usual, then changed into the new clothes that Baozi's maid brought him yesterday. He wore an ink-colored robe, white deerskin boots, and his hair was simply tied up. Although he had an ordinary appearance, he had a hint of nobility under the contrast of his clothes.
However, there is a big gap compared to Master Zheng.
Young Master Zheng stood with his hands behind his back at the gate of Zhu Ping'an's courtyard. He was wearing a moon-white satin robe embroidered with gold, with silver embroidered lotus leaf edging visible from inside the robe. He had a jade belt around his waist and held an ivory folding fan in his hand. He looked like a graceful young man cast from a flawless jade. Even if he was standing there quietly, he was still graceful and elegant, with unique charm, giving people a sense of nobility and elegance.
"Today is the old lady's birthday banquet, and there are countless distinguished guests. You are not good at writing, and you have nothing. Don't lose face for the Marquis's Mansion. When you leave later, I advise you to stay quietly in the corner, so as not to bring shame to your cousin Shu'er."
Master Zheng stood with his hands behind his back at the door of Zhu Ping'an's guest room. After finishing his speech, he left with his hands behind his back. His lonely back looked like a lonely master.
Well
You spent half a day posing in the early morning, blocking me at the door. Just to say this to me. Look at the way you walk and shake your legs. You must have cramps from posing for so long! Okay, just for your attitude. I give you 80 points for pretending. Zhu Ping'an couldn't help but smile as he watched Master Zheng leave with his legs shaken.
When Zhu Ping'an arrived at the front yard, he found that he had indeed been placed in a corner and no one paid any attention to him.
The marquis's mansion cleaned up several courtyards and used the front hall as a place to entertain guests. Dozens of tables were set up for the birthday banquet, but Zhu Ping'an's table was alone in the corner and could not be seen unless you looked carefully.
Early in the morning, the second master of the second house, who had been busy outside for ten days and a half, also came back to the Linhuai Marquis Mansion on time. As soon as he entered the door, he went straight to the old lady's yard to pay his respects to her.
The room where the old lady lives has a strong flavor of longevity. On the front wall, there is a picture of the birthday star full of festive and auspicious colors. In the picture, the old birthday star is smiling, with a raised head, one hand leaning on a cane, and the other holding a fairy peach. Of course, there are also many books hanging in the room with a big "longevity" pattern.
The room was covered with a red carpet and a table. In the middle of the table was a large incense burner with long incense sticks in it. The incense sticks were coiled into a big Chinese character "Shou". Next to the incense burner was a pair of candlesticks. Candles weighing several kilograms were stuck on them. The candles were also painted with golden Chinese characters for longevity and various auspicious patterns.
The old lady of the Marquis's Mansion sat in the room wearing a bright red birthday gown, with a maid from the Discipline Inspection Commission helping her comb her hair.
"Son pays his respects to mother." After the second master entered the old lady's room, he knelt down with a smile and paid his respects to the old lady.
"You evil creature, you still know how to come home and greet us. Even if we are to greet us, we will be upset by you, this evil creature." When the old lady saw her second son coming in, she waved her hand to let the maid who was combing her hair behind her move aside, cursed her, and pretended to hit her second son with the jade ruyi.
"Mother, you have wronged me. I have been kneeling in several temples these days to recite sutras. The Zen master said that the 'Security and Longevity Sutra' is the most effective. I even recited it several times last night. I stopped and rushed back home in time for mother's birthday. If you beat me, mother will be relieved. I would rather be beaten by you every day."
The second master knew that the old lady was reluctant to really beat him, so he smiled and stretched his head over, looking like a man who was willing to be beaten even though he had been wronged.
"You are an adult, and you are not ashamed. If there were no guests coming today, I would have given you a good beating." The old lady could not help but laugh and scold her second son when she saw him like this.
"Why bother mother to do it? Once mother gives the order, I will do it myself. I guarantee you will be satisfied." The second master said with a smile.
"You are such a bad person. I will settle the score with you some other day." The old lady scolded with a smile.
"Always smile and be happy, always be content, have a round and smooth body. The son is here to wish his mother a happy birthday. I wish the old lady good fortune as vast as the East Sea, a bright future, longevity, eternal youth, and endless happiness."
The second master knelt on the ground, took the small silver pot from the maid's hand, poured a cup of tea, and smiled as he wished the old lady a happy birthday.
"Alright, alright, go ahead and help your brother in the front yard. Stop being so dishonest." The old lady took the teacup and took a sip.
"Son, I'm leaving." The second master said, then stood up and walked out.
Not long after the second master left, the second young lady of the Marquis' Mansion, led by Li Shu and other daughters of the Marquis' Mansion, as well as Fatty Zhou and the naughty little girl, came in. They came into the room in order of classes, and knelt down with laughter to wish the old lady a happy birthday.
When everyone in the Marquis' Mansion was kneeling down to wish the old lady a happy birthday, a young eunuch with a white face and no beard, escorted by a group of Jinyiwei, rode his horse again to Shuntian Examination Hall in the southeast of the capital and handed the sealed book bag to Xu Jie and other examiners.
After Xu Jie and others opened the intact seal in front of Xiao Huangmen, Xiao Huangmen took his leave and was escorted away by the Jinyiwei.
After Xu Jie and other examiners opened the seal, they found inside were the draft list and the test papers from previous lives that they had submitted for the emperor to review, as well as a note.
"What should we do if we are to send down talented people?"
There were only these six simple words on the piece of paper, nothing else. There was no instruction from Emperor Jiajing left on the draft, not even a single ink dot.
This is a codeword, and it is also the first technique of controlling people created by Jiajing. Emperor Jiajing's political means are very strong, and he is very good at playing the emperor's mind. This kind of paper codeword technique of controlling people is one of the representatives. The contents of these paper notes are diverse, and the words are extremely irregular, but they carry Jiajing's political trends. If you don't understand this, you may misunderstand the instructions of the leader, and it is not just as simple as doing something wrong. Being able to recognize and understand Jiajing's codewords is a compulsory course for officials in the court. Yan Song is a master of reading codewords, but it is said that the best at reading codewords is Yan Song's son Yan Shifan. It is said that Yan Song cannot understand many codewords, all thanks to Yan Shifan. Yan Song can understand Jiajing's mind and become the chief minister, and the advantages of codewords are indispensable.
How should we select talents? "降" means to select talents. The literal meaning of this sentence is, how should we select talents
Isn’t our imperial examination for selecting talents
Yan Maoqing and others looked at the note, pondering it over and over again, but were at a loss as to what the emperor meant.
Xu Jie looked at the note and smiled knowingly. I'm not bad at playing with code words.
These six words are not asking how to select talents, but asking how to rank the test paper of the demoted talents. In other words, what rank should the test paper of the demoted talents be ranked? Obviously, the emperor asked what rank the test paper with the demoted talents in the Qingci should be ranked.
Why do you ask
Isn't it clear what the emperor means? (To be continued.)