Chapter Three Hundred and Twenty-Three The Palace Exam to Look at the Face
Eight years before Chenghua, the palace examination was held in early March, either on the first or third day of March. It was too close to the general examination, which made it very difficult for the candidates and the officials of the Ministry of Rites.
In the eighth year of Chenghua's reign, because there was a funeral for the deceased former prince, the palace examination was postponed for half a month and was not held until March 15th. As a result, everyone found that it was more comfortable at this time and the weather was warm. From then on
, the palace examination is customarily scheduled for March 15th.
Half a month is neither long nor short. For Fang Yingwu, who is busy in the world, time flies very quickly. After the banquet and seeing some old friends from the same year, it was mid-March in a blink of an eye.
So Fang Yingwu temporarily put aside all the miscellaneous matters and concentrated on waiting for the palace examination, the end of the imperial examination road.
The imperial examination was held on March 15th. Of course, the preparations could not have started until the 15th, but the previous procedures of selecting the examiner, drafting the title, setting the title, and printing the title had little to do with Fang Yingwu.
In the third level of the imperial examination, the patterns of the provincial examination and the joint examination are basically the same, but the palace examination is different. In name, the palace examination is for the emperor to select scholars based on his strategy, and the emperor personally presides over the examination, while a group of ministers who assist in selecting scholars can only be called examiners.
You cannot call them graders, let alone examiners.
There is only one condition for being selected as a record reader, and it must be a minister in power. If you don't have a high status, you can't even think about it. That is, the ministers of the cabinet and the six ministries, the Metropolitan Inspectorate, the General Affairs Department, the official of Dali Temple, and the ministers of Zhanshifu and Hanlin Academy.
Shangguan, a total of fourteen people were selected.
For example, in the lineup of examiners for the 17th year of Chenghua Palace Examination, Liu Ji and Liu Mianmian, the bachelor of Wenyuan Pavilion, were of course on the list, and he was also one of the three people with the greatest say.
If Fang Yingwu officially marries the young lady of the Liu family at this time, Liu Mianhua will probably invite her to avoid suspicion. But at the moment, the two families are not married. The relationship between father-in-law and son-in-law has not yet become legally binding, so Liu Mianhua can continue shamelessly.
Participate in reading papers.
Without further ado, on March 15th, when the sky was dark, Fang Yingwu and other three hundred Jinke Chinese-style candidates gathered outside the left gate of Chang'an. Under the shouts of officials from the Ministry of Rites, the prospective Jinshi were ordered according to their rankings.
When arranging the team, Hui Yuan Fang Ying Wu is naturally the first one.
At dawn, officials from the Ministry of Rites guided the team along the Imperial Street, entered the imperial city from Chengtian Gate, and then passed through Duanmen and Meridian Gate in succession, officially entering the palace.
These would-be scholars entered the palace for the first time. Along the way, they saw the majestic red brick and gold-tiled palaces, and the majestic gatehouses they passed through continuously. The royal style rushed towards them. All this was simply something the novices had never seen in their lives, and they were very impressed.
I was so nervous that I didn't dare to say anything out loud.
But Fang Yingwu, who was at the head of the queue, couldn't get nervous. He had visited the Forbidden City several times in his previous life to visit archaeological sites. He had already been shocked. At this time, he just looked around with interest, comparing the five features of the palace in his mind.
The differences and changes before and after a hundred years. When I was interested, I even chatted with the officials from the Ministry of Rites who led the way.
Seeing it in the eyes of others, he couldn't help but admire him, and secretly sighed: "This kid has a very calm mind, he is definitely not a thing in the pool!"
After passing the Meridian Gate, you can see the Fengtian Gate from a distance. Going inside is the core of the palace. There are east and west corner gates on the left and right of the Fengtian Gate. Most people can only pass through here.
After waiting for a moment at the south of Jinshui Bridge, the team was led across the bridge, passed through the east corner gate, and arrived at the square outside Fengtian Hall.
Fengtian Hall is one of the three main halls of the imperial palace. Only some major ceremonies can use this place, and the palace examination is one of them.
At this time, the emperor had already ascended his throne in the palace, and all the civil and military officials had finished bowing to the emperor. The salute officer then announced the Chinese style of lifting the emperor and came forward to worship.
Of course, the candidates do not need to enter the hall. They just go up to Danbi, and then, with Fang Yingwu as the leader, follow the greetings of the salute officer and complete the prescribed actions. Some of the more literary candidates are now facing the sacred hall, with tears in their eyes. , bursting into tears...
Then they took the exam in the alchemy outside the hall. The cases had already been laid out and each person's name was posted on them. When the three hundred candidates took their seats, the deacon officials handed out the questions.
Fang Yingwu got the title. When he opened his eyes and looked at it, he saw it read: "Emperor Zhi said: The couplet only mentions the picture of Pi, and studies the theory. If you want to trace the three generations of Yongxi and Yongxi, you must seek a conclusion."
The king of the three generations of the world must have disciplines and laws, and then he can govern. But the people who argue are that the governance of the three generations is based on Dao but not on law, so how can the law be useless?
The legislation of the sage king must have a name to show its reality, and then it can be spread far and wide. The argument is that the law of the Three Dynasties values the reality rather than the name. How can the name not be the first thing? Governance does not depend on the law, then the theory of benevolent government seems to be the decisive factor. The law If the name is not valued, then the name must be rectified. It seems roundabout, so where do we go from here..."
A question is filled with hundreds of words, and it is easy to read and criticize it. This question is simply an article. Is this a deliberate question or is it a deliberate show off?
Whether it was just a show off or not, Fang Yingwu couldn't care less. After reading the title, he thought about it and started writing furiously.
Anyway, the imperial examination does not eliminate people, nor does it pay attention to the rigid eight-legged format, so you don’t have to worry too much, just write it down in one breath based on your ideas. In the middle, pay attention to the sentences of parallel four and six, and then some short paragraphs that use the past to satirize the present. Just worry about the country and the people and it will be settled!
Although Fang Yingwu's academic skills were mediocre, he excelled in his broad thinking. At this time, his writing was fluent and did not add any points. In the eyes of the supervising officials, he was naturally rated as a quick thinker.
After writing three to four thousand words, Fang Yingwu felt that it was almost done, so he ended it, then got up and walked down Danchi to hand in the paper.
The examiner was here at the East Point Gate. Fang Yingwu handed in the papers and walked out of the East Point Gate. Even if he left the examination room, the following procedures had nothing to do with him.
At this time, more than a dozen paper readers were in the East Pavilion in Zuoshunmen. All test papers had to be sent here first. In front of Fang Yingwu, the paper readers sealed the test papers, covered them with security guards, and then took them The test paper goes to the left and goes along the door.
Fang Yingwu looked at the collector's back and was stunned for a moment. This imperial examination was indeed extremely, very, very irregular, but he liked it!
Of course there are hidden rules in this... Yes, the test paper is indeed anonymized. In theory, after it is sent to Dongge, you can't tell whose test paper it is. But the examiner personally took Fang Yingwu When I send the test paper to Dongge, doesn’t he have a mouth? Doesn’t he use his mouth to tell others who the test paper belongs to?
Those who rank high in the imperial examination and those with connections will enjoy this kind of treatment. Don't be surprised. This is the rule of the palace examination. There is no point in complaining to the emperor.
The final rankings of the imperial examination are divided into first, second and third places. In theory, this is how it came about - after the imperial examination paper has been read by more than a dozen examiners, everyone will mark the ranking symbol.
The more first-class evaluations a test paper gets, the higher the ranking will be. If more than half of people give a test paper a fourth or fifth grade, then the test paper must be a top three.
In actual practice, the test papers are read and evaluated by Mr. Ge first, and then circulated to other readers. So you know... this is the legendary "setting the tone", saying that you can do it
You can do it even if you don't do it; if you say you can't do it, you can't do it.
Of course, even if most of the pavilion elders pick up their own people, they will also pay attention to their decency. They will not look too ugly. They will not necessarily help their people get the top pick, second place, third overall, and third dingjia. They will even deliberately do the opposite.
Show fairness and selflessness.
Unless it's a very unusual person, I have to name Zhang Juzheng every time I talk about this. I haven't seen anyone who is more ugly than him.
However, the examiners are ultimately the examiners, not the examiners. They cannot directly decide on the Three Tripods. This is the emperor's highest power.
But the emperor didn't have time to read all the 300 test papers carefully, so each time the examiner selected the top ten and submitted them to the imperial review, and then the emperor personally pointed out the top three in this small area. In other words, the test papers
If you can't get into the top ten, you'll have no chance with Sandingjia.
During the imperial examination in the 17th year of Chenghua, 300 test papers had been delivered to the East Pavilion. It was already late at night and early in the morning after all the officials who had read the papers completed their evaluations.
At this time, the lights were brightly lit in the East Pavilion, but two big bosses were facing each other with red faces and thick necks. The situation was in a stalemate. More than a dozen people nearby watched the excitement with great interest. What those two people were arguing about was to present
The last spot among the ten test papers given to the emperor.
The dozen or so people in the room are all core officials of the ruling class, either cabinet ministers or ministers. There are no outsiders, so everyone can relax regardless of dignity. Quarrel when it is time to quarrel, and make noise when it is time to make noises. For them, this is
It's a rare moment of recreation.
According to some unofficial records, the two men who faced each other were both cabinet ministers, both surnamed Liu, and were tentatively called Duke Jinshen and Duke Wenyuan. At that time, the two Dukes each held a volume and were constantly criticizing each other.
Jin Shengong: "You are so shameless, you are worthy of being called cotton! Who knows that those are the test papers of the east bed of your house? Are you really unwilling to avoid suspicion?"
Wen Yuan Gong: "Uncle Wen said carefully, this person is not my son-in-law right now! What's more, as the ancients said, when promoting a virtuous person, one should not avoid relatives. The good is the good, no need to say more!"
Jin Shengong: "Although both test papers have eight circles (note: first grade), it seems to be a tie. But in addition, the test paper in your hand has one more cross (note: fifth grade), which means
If you wait, lower your head!"
Wen Yuangong: "You are so ridiculous that everyone in the world is laughing. Who doesn't know that this cross was drawn by you to avenge your personal revenge? How can it be counted at this time? If you really want to avoid suspicion, you should erase the grades you drew!"
Jin Shengong waved the test paper in his hand and said: "I have the test paper in my hand. The name of the person is auspicious, and it is a great celebration!"
Duke Wen Yuan laughed three times and waved the test paper in his hand, "The person I recommend is handsome in appearance and outstanding in appearance, enough to attract the attention of the imperial court!"
I have seen the man in your hand, and it is an understatement to say that he is ugly. If I let such a person come out, I am afraid that everyone in the world will think that I have no one in my court! So don't show your embarrassment!"
At this point Jin Shengong was speechless. He really had nothing to say, so he had to retreat in defeat.
Afterwards, when Fang Yingwu heard about this, he couldn't laugh or cry immediately. He really didn't expect that when he was still relying on his reputation for the imperial examination, he was only able to squeeze into the final list of ten people because of his handsome appearance.
Appearance and name are the main considerations in ranking. It sounds like a joke, but in this era it is not a joke. If you do not consider the connections, Mr. Ge will often ask about the appearance when making a choice, and select only those with good looks to present.
After all, the top pick among these ten people is going to be the one who attracts attention from all over the world. His appearance must be worthy of the audience. A handsome man may not be the top pick, but most of the top picks are handsome men.
Therefore, Fang Yingwu's handsome appearance is also a reflection of his comprehensive strength. With his face, he managed to get into the royal list without any danger. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to come to Qidian to vote.
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