Zhu Houcong walked around the examination room and then returned to the Fengtian Hall. He sat on the dragon chair for a while, yawned a few times out of boredom, and finally drove back to the harem surrounded by a group of eunuchs and guards.

As soon as the emperor left, all the civil and military officials left one after another and went back to the official offices to do their work. After all, the palace examination took a whole day, so they couldn't stand here all day. After completing the formalities, they would naturally leave, leaving only

Some invigilators stared.

At this moment, in the east pavilion of Zuoshun Gate, thirteen reviewers headed by Yang Tinghe gathered here. They included: the four elders of the cabinet (Yang Tinghe, Liang Chu, Mao Ji, Jiang Mian), the Minister of Civil Affairs Wang Qiong,

Mao Cheng, the Minister of Rites, Yang Tan, the Minister of Hubu, Wang Xian, the Minister of War, Zhang Zilin, the Minister of Punishments, Li Hao, the Minister of Works, Wang Jing, the imperial censor of the left capital of the Imperial Court, Zhang Lun, the imperial censor of the right capital, and Shi Yun, the academician of the Imperial Academy.

The thirteen people present here are all important figures at the center of the court, responsible for the marking work of the palace examination, so at this time Duhou is preparing to mark the examination papers in the East Pavilion. The reason why it is called grading rather than grading is because there is only one examiner for the palace examination.

Even for the current emperor, everyone else is a "foil" and only has the right to review the papers. The emperor is the one who ultimately evaluates the ranking.

Yang Tinghe is the chief reviewer, so he is sitting in the first place at this time, followed by Liang Chu, Mao Ji and Jiang Mian. The fifth is Wang Qiong, the Minister of History, and the sixth is Mao Cheng, the Minister of Rites.

The Ministry of History is responsible for the assessment, promotion, and appointment of officials, so it has the greatest power among the six departments, and the Minister of History also has the highest status. Of course, the Ministry of Rites is not weak either. The Minister of Rites is the springboard for joining the cabinet, so in terms of status alone, the Minister of Rites

He and the Minister of Civil Affairs can fight against each other in separate courts.

Wang Qiong, the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, was about sixty years old. He had a wide mouth, a high nose, and slightly inverted triangular eyes. He looked very murderous. At this time, he stroked his beard and said with a smile: "Who do you think the number one scholar in this department will go to?"

Wang Qiong was still the Minister of the Ministry of War the year before last. After King Ning's rebellion, Lu Wan, who was the Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs at that time, was captured for having an affair with King Ning and was demoted to Jinghai Guards in Fujian Province. Wang Qiong was promoted to Minister of the Ministry of History.

Wang Xian, the left minister of the Ministry of War, took over the post of Minister of the Ministry of War.

Wang Qiong was a very talented person. He made a lot of contributions when he was the Minister of the Ministry of War. He was highly regarded by Zhengde. He was named the Crown Prince, Grand Master and Young Master, and was favored for a while. However, Wang Qiong was tactful and flexible, and was good at making friends with powerful people.

The two sycophants Jiang Bin and Qian Ning were also respectful in front of them, so they got the opportunity to display their talents. The suggestions he submitted to the emperor were approved as soon as they were submitted. He was able to perform many meritorious services in the Ministry of War with the help of Jiang.

The power of Bin et al.

Because of this, Wang Qiong was disliked by the Qingliu officials in the court. For example, Shi Yuan, a scholar of the Hanlin Academy, despised Wang Qiong's character. As the saying goes, an honest person will not be rewarded, but as a scholar, how can he sacrifice himself for the sake of his future?

To please the sycophant?

It just so happens that most of the thirteen grading officials present are Qingliu officials, including the four elders of the cabinet. The difference is whether they have bad tempers or mild tempers. Liang Chu, the second assistant, is a moderate in Qingliu, while Shi Yun is a Qingliu one.

Representative of bad temper.

Therefore, at this time, Wang Qiong asked who would be the top scholar in Jinke, but no one answered. For a while, the atmosphere was quite awkward. Fortunately, Wang Qiong's former subordinate Wang Xian still gave him face and quickly smoothed things over: "There is still someone in Jinke.

There are many talented people, such as Xu Jin from Shangrao, Yang Weicong from Hebei, Lu Zhu from Zhejiang, and Fei Maozhong from Qianshan. They are all talented at the moment, and the number one scholar is expected to be among these people."

As soon as he finished speaking, Shi Yue snorted coldly: "Xu Jin can't do that!"

Just as Shi Yue despised Wang Qiong's sophistication, Wang Qiong also looked down on Shi Yue's pedantry. After hearing this, he immediately asked: "Why can't Xu Jin do it? In terms of talent, this son has won five yuan in a row, which is unprecedented; in terms of military strategy, this

His performance in quelling the rebellion of King Ning was remarkable. Such a talented person with both civil and military skills is rare to see in a hundred years, and he has a great appearance. How can he not be the number one scholar?"

Shi Yuan said coldly: "This guy has no integrity, is opportunistic, and flattering. He is the same as someone else!"

Wang Qiong couldn't help being furious. Although Shi Yue didn't name him directly, he was clearly reflecting on himself and shouted in a deep voice: "Shi Yue, who do you think is the same?"

Shi Yue said without fear: "Whoever said it knows full well!"

Wang Qiong's triangular eyes widened, she suddenly stood up, rolled up her sleeves and was about to step forward to Hai Bian Shi Yue, who also stood up and prepared to fight!

Don’t be surprised, this is the tradition of civil servants in the Ming Dynasty. It is common for officials to criticize each other when they have political disagreements. When they are anxious, even the emperor will respond to them, and they will even start a fight. For example, during the Hongzhi period, Li Dongyang, the chief minister of the cabinet, was in charge of Emperor Hongzhi.

In front of him, he took the weapons of the golden melon warriors in front of the palace and chased Shouning Hou Zhang Heling. Unfortunately, he was old and frail, so he could not be hit, but was kicked by Shouning Hou.

At this time, Wang Qiong stood up and wanted to fight. Jiang Mian, the cabinet scholar next to him, quickly stopped him and said: "Jinxi (Wang Qiong's nickname), don't be impulsive. If you have something to say, let's talk!"

Yang Tinghe shouted in a deep voice: "Sit down, you are all important ministers of the imperial court, how can you be so rude? It is really an insult to politeness!"

Yang Tinghe was the chief minister of the cabinet, and his prestige had become even greater since the new emperor ascended the throne. Wang Qiong could only sit down angrily when he spoke out. As a result, an "all-military exercise" between civil servants was suppressed by Yang Tinghe.

The reason why a leader is a leader is because he has enough talent, charisma and prestige to make people around him unite around him and follow his lead. Today Yang Tinghe is the leader of the courtiers, and that's for sure!

…

As time went by, and it was getting closer to noon, some candidates who answered the questions quickly had already handed in their papers and left.

The examination paper processing process of the palace examination is different from that of the general examination. It does not require re-copying and proofreading. It just seals the name and sends it to the East Pavilion immediately for the marking officer to review and score. Therefore, if the marking officer recognizes the candidate's handwriting, it is easy to cheat.

If necessary, the official responsible for collecting examinations can also secretly tell the examinee's name to the marking officer. This is the so-called taking advantage of loopholes in the rules.

Some people may ask, why did the rankings in the Imperial Examination not change much compared to those in the National Examination?

It turns out that after the results of the palace examination come out, the results of the general examination will also be referred to. For example, if the candidates who are in the top of the top three in the general examination, if they do very well in the palace examination, they can be promoted to the bottom of the second class. It is impossible to go further. Similarly, if

It turned out that he was in the forefront of the second class, and with excellent results in the palace examination, he could also rush to the third class. Therefore, the overall ranking in the palace examination will not change much.

As the exam progressed, nearly two-thirds of the candidates had already handed in their papers and left. Xu Jin also finished answering the questions and checked them carefully again before raising his hand to hand in the papers. Immediately, an official from the Ministry of Rites came forward and sealed the papers in front of him.

OK, put it in a special box and submit it to the East Pavilion for review by the marking officer.

Xu Jin handed in the papers and left the imperial city along the way he came. He found that Fei Maozhong, Wei Yang, and Huang Dacan were already waiting outside Chengtian Gate.

"How did Ziqian do in the exam?" Fei Maozhong looked happy, obviously he performed well.

Xu Jin smiled and said: "Not bad!"

Huang Dacan, an honest man, said very honestly: "I have little experience in the military field, so I'm afraid I won't have the chance to enter the second class. But Zi Qian is good at managing affairs and has led the army in war. He must be the top pick!"

Xu Jin asked himself that he had indeed answered the policy question very well. Putting aside other factors, he probably would have won the top prize. However, Yang Tinghe was the chief marking officer, so it would be great if he could be in the top ten, and he didn't even think about getting the top prize.

Senior Brother Wei Yang was obviously not in a high mood, he sighed and said: "Finally the exam is over, let's go, let's go have a few drinks, I'll treat you!"

Xu Jin and the other three looked at each other and nodded.

The four of them found a restaurant in Mingshifang. After this meal, Senior Brother Wei Yang was very drunk.

…

It was late at night, but the East Pavilion at Zuoshun Gate of the Imperial City was still brightly lit, and thirteen marking officials were working overtime to review the imperial examination papers.

Although the results will be released only the day after tomorrow, and there is still one day left tomorrow, there are only more than 300 papers, and thirteen people will review them. As long as they stay up for a while, they can finish the review tonight. If you finish the work early and go to bed early, you can sleep in tomorrow.

At about midnight, all the more than 300 papers were finally marked, and the seals were opened and preliminary rankings began.

The method of grading the imperial examination is as follows. Thirteen grading officers cross-score and use five marks: "○", "△", "\\", "1", and "×" to grade, with "○" indicating excellence.

, the one with the most "○" will be the best volume, and then from all the volumes, ten books with the most "○" will be selected and presented to the emperor. The first, second, and third place in the imperial batch will be the number one, second, and third overall.
Chapter completed!