The palace gate opened wide, and people filed out of the Xiaohuang Gate, announcing an order to the tributes waiting outside to enter the Xiyuan. Zhu Pingan and other tributes who wanted to read lined up under the guidance of the Xiaohuang Gate, and were divided into two rows. They were both excited and excited.
Nervous people filed in, not even daring to take a breath.
Xiyuan is like a fairyland, except that once entering Xiyuan, Zhu Pingan almost mistakenly thought that he had arrived at Penglai Wonderland. The first thing he saw was the Golden Sea in Xiyuan. This place Zhu Pingan has been famous for a long time in modern times. It includes Beihai, Zhonghai
It is divided into three parts: the Central China Sea and the South China Sea. Yes, the Central Sea and the South China Sea are collectively called the Central China Sea and the South China Sea.
At this moment, the golden sea is rippling with blue waves and mist, shrouding the islands in the golden sea and the towering peaks on the other side in the mist. From time to time, there are cranes chirping, exotic flowers and grasses are everywhere on the shore, and the palace in the distance is looming. At first glance, it looks like
Like a paradise on earth.
Under the guidance of the Xiaohuang Gate, Zhu Ping'an and other tributes passed through the Jin'ao Yudong Bridge between Zhonghai and Beihai and entered the hinterland of Xiyuan.
The emperor's personal army's armor is fully equipped to guard the main roads in Xiyuan. According to the armor style, it is roughly divided into Jinwu Guard, Yulin Guard, Fujun Guard and Huben Guard. They are scattered throughout Xiyuan to protect the safety of Xiyuan Palace.
After entering the hinterland of Xiyuan, Xiaohuangmen did not take Zhu Pingan and others directly to the examination room for the palace examination. Instead, they took Zhu Pingan and others to a slightly low palace. There was a plaque on the palace with four words on it.
A big character, "Zhenkun Daodian".
At first, Zhu Ping'an and others were still wondering what Xiao Huangmen was doing leading everyone here, but they soon understood.
Shower and change clothes!
Although this hall is low, it is large enough. There are several separate bathtubs filled with hot steam, covered with curtains, and all the residents filed in to bathe and change clothes.
This bathing has two purposes. Bathing and changing clothes are to show respect to the emperor. Emperor Jiajing is at the critical moment of cultivating immortality and elixirs, so he cannot be disturbed by ordinary people like Zhu Ping'an. In addition, bathing and changing clothes also have the meaning of inspecting the imperial examination. You
Go in and take a bath without any hesitation. We will search your clothes and belongings outside. All contraband items should be temporarily left in the Zhenkun Taoist Hall. We will return them after you finish the test.
After bathing and changing clothes, Zhu Pingan found that the pen and inkstone he carried had been temporarily left in the palace. As for the ginseng that Li Shu asked Baozi's maid to bring, it was kept because it was not a contraband and belonged to the food category. Zhu Pingan was allowed to take it with him.
Palace examination.
After bathing and changing clothes, Xiaohuangmen took Zhu Ping'an and others and headed south again. Near the south gate of Xiyuan, there was a row of straight huts. In front of the straight huts, there were more than ten officials wearing official robes standing there.
They were probably officials from the Ministry of Rites and Honglu Temple.
Xiaohuang gatekeeper Zhu Ping'an and others led them to these officials of the Ministry of Rites, whispered to the officials at the front, and left waving their fly whisks.
The rest was the matter of the Ministry of Rites, including roll call, emphasizing discipline, and mobilization, which took about half an hour. Then Zhu Ping'an and others followed the officials of the Ministry of Rites to the Taisu Hall, the examination room for this palace examination.
Taisu Hall is located on the north side of Xiyuan, near Beihai.
When Zhu Ping'an and others, accompanied by officials from the Ministry of Rites and Honglu Temple, arrived at Taisu Hall, the rising sun had already risen in the east. Officials from the Ministry of Rites and Honglu Temple took the tributes to the open space in front of the palace and stood in awe to wait for the edict.
"Xuan Jiajing Xinhai Enke Gongshi came to see you." The announcement of the decree continued to be heard in the palace.
Soon, officials from the Ministry of Rites and Honglu Temple led Zhu Ping'an and others into the Taisu Hall along with the inner guards who announced the decree.
There were already many officials in the Taisu Hall, dressed in crimson, cyan, and green official robes, embroidered with birds and animals, looking at the four hundred paying tributes with the eyes of younger generations.
"I pay my respects to Your Majesty, long live my emperor, long live long live"
Zhu Ping'an, along with the officials from the Ministry of Rites, Honglu Temple and all the tributes, paid a grand salute to Emperor Jiajing who was sitting on the dragon throne - five bows and three kowtows. This is the expressly stipulated salute for tributes to the emperor during the palace examination. To put it simply
That is to say, bend your hands five times and then kowtow to the ground three times.
"Get back on your feet." A rather majestic voice came from the main hall.
This was the voice of Emperor Jiajing. After hearing this, many Gongsheng students trembled with excitement. After being pushed a few times, they hurriedly stood up and stood respectfully in the hall.
When Zhu Ping'an got up, he took the opportunity to look at Emperor Jiajing. Emperor Jiajing was sitting on the dragon chair. He was a little thin, but his majestic aura was extremely strong. He was wearing a dragon robe, like a real dragon coiled on the dragon chair. It was impressive.
Don't dare to look directly.
"It's the year of Enke, and there are many auspicious signs. Don't disappoint me!" Emperor Jiajing said a few sacred precepts after the tributes were completed. To put it simply, this Enke is in compliance with God's will, and you too
You must be obedient to nature and the people, and don't let down my expectations.
After Emperor Jiajing finished speaking, he nodded to Huang Jin who was standing next to him. Then Huang Jin held an apricot-yellow cloth scroll in front of the imperial case in his hands, walked down the hall and handed it to a middle-aged official.
The official was the Minister of Honglu Temple. After receiving the apricot-yellow cloth inscription, the Minister of Honglu Temple knelt down and saluted Jiajing.
He, the Minister of Honglu Temple, is the examiner for this palace examination.
After receiving the test questions and saluting, he placed the test questions on the east side of the imperial desk in front of the cabinet members and others. Under the supervision of the cabinet members, he opened the test questions and placed them on the imperial desk.
After that, there was a burst of drum music and the sound of whips.
Zhu Ping'an once again followed everyone in the palace to salute Emperor Jiajing, who was sitting on the dragon throne. This time he kowtowed three times and bowed nine times.
After everyone bowed, Emperor Jiajing slowly left the Taisu Palace. He still had a furnace of good elixirs to refine, and he didn't have time to keep an eye on it. He could just leave the palace examination to his ministers, otherwise why would he give them so much salary?
.
After the emperor left, a group of ministers in the palace also left. Yan Song and more than ten officials stayed, but Xu Jie did not stay either. None of the examiners stayed this time, probably to avoid suspicion.
After the emperor left, officials from the Ministry of Rites and Honglu Temple divided Zhu Ping'an and others into two rows and sat on the east and west sides of the Taisu Hall according to their examination rankings. Those with odd examination rankings sat on the east side of the hall.
Those with even numbers sit on the west side of the main hall.
Tables and chairs have been placed on the east and west sides of the main hall for the imperial examinations. Zhu Pingan and Ouyang Zishi took the first place on the east and west sides, facing each other from a distance.
Zhu Pingan was very bad. After kneeling down and tossing so many times, Zhu Pingan, who was already exhausted and haggard, almost couldn't stand, and his haggard and tired state became even more serious. Ouyang Zishi, who had been paying attention to Zhu Pingan silently, saw Zhu Pingan
The shaky figure silently raised the corners of his mouth, "Why are you arguing with me?"
"It's the day of the palace examination. One breakfast, one lunch, and two tea rounds will be provided. The palace examination has its own rules. You should do your own thing and don't let down the expectations of the Holy Emperor!"
After all the tributes had finished sitting down, the officials from the Ministry of Rites gave a brief lecture and began to distribute the test papers for this palace examination.
After Zhu Pingan received the test paper, he slightly rubbed his tired and dizzy forehead, and slowly opened the test questions in his hand.
The test paper is made of snow-white rice paper, with extremely fine workmanship and a touch of sandalwood. The font of the test questions is excellent, and the test questions slowly appeared in Zhu Pingan's eyes. (To be continued.)