On the day of the palace examination, when the morning light was dim, three hundred tributes gathered in front of the palace gate.
Wearing brand-new robes, crowns and boots, these new tributes waited quietly with joyful expressions on their faces. Because the palace exam was only ranked second, unlike when the general exam was in uncertainty, everyone was very relaxed. When they met, they bowed their hands to each other, and there were many people around the outstanding person.
After the meeting, the three hundred tributes in this subject will be the same year in the same subject in the future. Naturally, they need to have more friendships, so that they can act cheaply in the future.
But Xue Tingxiang, the Huiyuan, was empty. With him as the center, a two-meter space was left. It was obvious that he was isolated. When he changed the previous meeting, everyone thought that he would interact with him. proud situation.
In less than a month, the treatment went from heaven to earth. In fact, he was also admitted as a tribute, which was naturally different from the past. Those who were in the same class in the same year, naturally also had the same teacher. After the previous visit to the seated teacher, these tributes also had some understanding of the situation in the court. Naturally, they knew that Xue Tingxiang now said that it is not an exaggeration to avoid people and ghosts.
Mao Badou and Li Datian wanted to be with Xue Tingxiang, but unfortunately Xue Tingxiang had explained to them before they came, and from now on they could meet each other without knowing each other. Even the two families chose another house and moved out of Jinger Hutong.
A guard of the Imperial Army guarding the gate of the palace came over and asked these new tributes to avoid it. Everyone was puzzled, and they saw a blue wool official sedan coming not far away.
After a while, the official sedan chair stopped not far away, and walked down a civil servant wearing a lark's tonic, a fourth-rank civil servant.
The arrival of this civil official kicked off, and then more and more official sedan chairs came. The official sedan stopped just to get off an official from above, and then hurriedly carried it to the back, just to make way for the people behind.
There are sedan chairs and horses, civil servants sit in sedan chairs, military officers ride horses, and the imperial court regulates.
The tribute students watched with admiration and admiration at these adults who wore official uniforms of different colors.
The vermilion official uniform should be worn by officials above the third rank.
There was a drum beat on the tower above the palace gate, and the officials stopped talking immediately. The palace gate opened wide, civil and military officials streamed in, and their backs disappeared into the deep palace gate hole.
There were low voices in the crowd, to the effect of saying what would happen to him one day, standing aside Xue Tingxiang sighed and smiled, for some reason there was a feeling of vicissitudes.
Another quarter of an hour passed, and two officials from the Ministry of Rites came out of the palace gate. The first is to preach the rules that should be paid attention to after entering the palace, and the other is to make the tribute students line up.
Xue Tingxiang was at the front, and the other 299 tributes were behind. With Xue Tingxiang as the head, the 300 Xinke tributes went to the palace gate.
When you leave the palace gate, you will see the Jinshui Bridge, which glows with golden light in the morning light, and the towering Taihe Gate. After passing through the Taihe Gate, there are three major halls of the outer court.
The place where they conducted the palace test this time was in the Hall of Preserving Harmony.
Because there were guards standing on both sides of the corridor along the road, these new tributes seemed very cautious, holding test baskets in their hands, all the way to the Hall of Preserving Harmony.
Many princes and ministers have long been waiting in front of the Hall of Preserving Harmony, and the new tributes stopped in front of Dan Ma. There was another wait, until the palace music blared loudly, and Emperor Jiacheng in bright yellow appeared above the alchemy.
Three kneels and nine kowtows, shouting long live, long live, long live, and then the new tributes are divided into two rows and enter the temple.
This is the moment that scholars all over the world look forward to the most. The Emperor Linxuan issued a policy, and the Gongshi Golden Palace was tested. From then on, it was unusual for a fish to leap into the Dragon Gate, and from then on, he was a disciple of the Emperor.
In the Hall of Preserving Harmony, there were already row after row of examination cases, somewhat similar to a kang table, with tables but no chairs. After each examination case, there was only a cushion wrapped in pale yellow flannel.
Although it was a palace exam, the Sage did not invigilate the exam. The invigilators were Xu Shoufu, the first assistant to the cabinet of the academician of the Hanlin Academy, Tan Liang, the minister of rites, and Yang Chonghua, the minister of the household.
This invigilator has a strong lineup, no less than Jiuqing's invigilator who would take the test before.
Xu Shoufu held the palace exam questions that he had received from Emperor Jiacheng before, and after opening the seal, the officials of the Ministry of Rites handed them out one by one, along with the palace exam papers.
It was a little more sophisticated than the previous test papers. It was a booklet made of several layers of white rice paper. It was more than a foot long, a little bit four inches wide, and opened on both sides, making a total of more than ten openings. The first page is for candidates to fill in their name, place of origin, age and the situation within three generations. Below the booklet is the text of the test paper, with a straight red line on it, the same as the general test.
There is only one question in the palace exam, the current affairs policy, which is the so-called golden palace shooting policy.
The writing of this policy theory has a standard format, for example, the beginning should be heard by the minister and the minister should be heard at the end, and the words of the minister should be cautious at the end. And when it comes to countermeasures, whenever the emperor is mentioned, it must be written in two spaces, and the line before the head up must be written from the beginning to the end, without spaces.
If the format is not right, your article will fall into the top three even if you write hype.
In response to this, the tributes are not helpless, that is, count the numbers next to each other and make a good draft. Of course, the draft must be typed in accordance with the norm, otherwise it is very likely that there will be too many words or missing words. It's time to raise your head, you can't raise your head, and the line is missing words from the beginning to the end. It's too late to regret it. .
Xue Tingxiang had taken the exam once in a dream, and naturally he knew it well.
He opened the yellow question paper placed on the test case, and there was a line written on it—
Ask about the government of the emperor and the heart of the emperor.
The Hall of Preserving Harmony was silent, except for the flipping of paper and the rustling of writing.
There was an empty dragon chair at the top, and several invigilators sat on both sides of it.
Many tributes have already started to do the questions, but Xue Tingxiang looked at the yellow question paper in front of him and didn't know what to think.
In fact, Xue Tingxiang didn't know what he was thinking. He seemed to think a lot, but he didn't seem to think about anything. Frame by frame flashed before his eyes, some in dreams and some in reality, which merged into colorful colors, which made him ecstatic.
"Elder Yang Ge, why do you think that Gong Shi sat there and started to stand still?" Zhao Liangyu, the official of Honglu Temple, asked Yang Chonghua. The two just sat in the same place, one on top and the other on the bottom, and it was very convenient to talk to each other.
Yang Chonghua raised his head and looked over, and immediately chuckled and said, "You probably haven't seen him before. He is the Xue Tingxiang who kept Wu Ge at home so far."
"It's actually him..." Zhao Liangyu murmured.
"As for why he didn't write questions, Mr. Wu Ge also asked him once when he was in the test. According to this, he was dull by nature, and he was nervous every time he got off the field, so he liked to play his belly first."
Yang Chonghua's tone was a little teasing, Zhao Liangyu smashed his mouth, not knowing what to say.
If it is really dull by nature, it will be fine, but this son has five yuan in his hand. If he can get the first prize in this palace test, he will be the second in six yuan, the second person in the world. This kind of person is stupid, don't be afraid to tell a joke.
It's really a joke, maybe it's a joke of Wu Ge. Zhao Liangyu understood, no more words, and turned to drink his own tea.
It was not until the candidates in the hall got up to go to the toilet to drink water that Xue Tingxiang began to write down information such as his name and place of origin. Then put down the pen, got up and went to the toilet to eat. The palace exam cannot help but take the exam from morning to night.
Not only can't help it, there is also a tea room for candidates to drink water, and palace cakes are distributed for eating. Xue Tingxiang ate the cake with tea in the tea room, and Fang Jing returned to the palace.
At this time, he has already figured out the crux of his heart. The reality is different from the dream. In the dream, he is a fledgling, and he can do anything. In reality, he has only one way to go.
Since there is only one way to go, and he still wants to hide his edge, it is naturally what Emperor Jiacheng thinks, and he can do whatever he likes.
Xue Tingxiang sat down cross-legged before the examination again, dipped a pen in ink, and wrote two lines on the manuscript paper—
"My minister to:
I have heard that when the emperor is in control of the universe, he must have the real governance of the manager, and then he can restrain the crowd, intricate and complicated, and even the rule of Han Wu; With the principle of Zhen Zhilong.
…
Today's big troubles lie in poverty, poor officials lead to robbery, poor people lead to robbery, and poor soldiers are incapable of fighting.
…
Chen heard:
The ruler of a man is one day, and God has the grace of nurturing, but he cannot take care of the world by himself, so the one who sends his responsibility is paid to the ruler of man. You have the right to rule, and you have to bear it. Therefore, the person who has gone through his affairs is Wu Tian of the Law. The position in which he is used is the position of the day and the sky; the position he is in charge of is the position of the day and the sky; the people under the governance are the people of the day and the sky; the city where the capital is located is the city of the day and the sky.
…
The minister did not know taboos, and acted in a strict manner. You are right. "