At this time, there were lanterns, examiners from the Eighteenth Room, and officials sent by the Ministry of Rites and the Inner Palace. They were sealing, receiving, supplying, reading, and transcribing officials. There were always 200 people standing at the side of the hall.
There was total silence, and everyone was tense and solemn.
An elderly eunuch came in quietly with a dull expression and a guard with a knife. Although he didn't make a sound, his presence was so strong that some examiners couldn't help but take a look. The guard immediately noticed him and swept him over coldly.
, causing the examiner to avoid it.
Hearing the chants of "Oath of incense", the three examiners led the examiners from the 18th room, lined up in the copper basin, washed their hands, and then bowed to the dragon tablets of "Long Live Long Live Long Live" and "Dacheng Holy Saint".
We knelt down three times and kowtowed nine times at the memorial tablet of "Senior Master", and together they chanted the incense and made an oath: "We will serve the country and the country in an impartial manner, and we will not be biased for personal gain, will not be entrusted with requests, and will not accept bribes - if we fail to do so, the gods will die together."
This is a rule that has been unchanging for hundreds of years. Everyone is familiar with it, but everyone is serious. Without it, there would be ghosts and gods in this world.
After the oath of alliance was completed, the examination papers were continuously delivered by high-level officials.
When all the papers were placed one by one in the spacious hall, each of the twenty-one people sat solemnly. The candidates taking the examination were either fish or dragons, and their fate was basically decided in the hands of these people.
The two doors were closed, waiting for the examiner to speak. The examiner Zhong Fanzhi nodded briefly, glanced around, and spoke in a deep voice.
"Everyone, although it is a cliché, I still want to say that the emperor attaches great importance to this imperial examination. The person sent here is Eunuch Zhao. I believe everyone knows him."
The clerk did not dare to move, but everyone nodded to see who it was. The three chief and deputy examiners, as well as the examiners of the eighteenth room, all knew who it was.
Eunuch Zhao, the chief eunuch who has some face in front of the emperor.
When he came over, he was obviously inspecting and supervising.
Although the emperor had paid great attention to the examinations in the past, this time even Eunuch Zhao was sent to lead the guards to inspect and supervise, and he obviously paid more attention to it than usual.
How can we prevent them from not being more careful?
"We are all masters of Giri, so I won't say much more. I just want to say one thing - all of you who are lucky enough to be examiners, no matter who you select, when I see you in the future, I will give you the courtesy of half a master."
"So, is it worth it if you continue to commit personal fraud? Not only will your personal fame, wealth and life be in vain, but it will also harm your family."
"The marking hasn't started yet. Think of your wife and your son."
After the examiner finished speaking, he turned to Eunuch Zhao and said, "Eunuch, do you have anything to say?"
Eunuch Zhao restrained his surprise and said: "Master Zhong's words are very clear. In fact, our family has always wondered why some examiners cheated?"
Eunuch Zhao's words resounded in the hall, with the sound of gold and stone. Everyone looked at each other, and then listened and said: "Although the court has rules, the examiner can only be elected for one term, and there is no reason for re-election."
"But even if you are appointed to three hundred people for one term, you will be appointed officials of the imperial court in the future. You will have to bow when you see them. There are many benefits in this. Needless to say, why do some people think of cheating for some money?"
The eunuch sounded surprised and really couldn't figure it out.
Yes, Dazheng hates cliques between teachers and students, and it is impossible for the students who are selected to be admitted to the exams to be able to disobey the teacher's orders for life, but the friendship between teachers and students cannot be avoided. The incestuous love between three hundred future officials, even if each of them contributes a little, will be gathered together.
What's the fortune?
You have already received the maximum benefit, but you still need some money?
After hearing this, Deputy Examiner Gai Jingsheng bowed his head solemnly, and Zhuang Rong said: "So, how can we dare to live up to the high expectations of the Holy One? We must be self-disciplined and cautious to select true talents for the country!"
Eunuch Zhao laughed sharply after hearing this: "Okay, our family is waiting to see the real talent you select!"
After saying that, he walked out and saw the examiner Zhong Fanzhi saying in a deep voice: "Let's mark the papers!"
There are 3,500 papers, and 300 of them must be selected. These are the candidates for Gongshi.
According to the rules of the Dazheng Examination, if more than half of the three chief and deputy examiners and the examiners from the 18th room have passed the circle, and no one thinks it is unacceptable, it will be considered as passing the preliminary examination.
The test takers for these papers are Gongshi, and if nothing unexpected happens, they will at least be awarded the title of "Third Class A Scholar" in the palace examination.
If all twenty-one examiners pass, they can enter the next round and compete for the qualification. In this way, there are usually only twenty or thirty papers for each examination.
But this year, there seems to be more of them than in previous years.
"Wonderful, wonderful!" A room examiner who had already been dazzled by several papers that had passed unanimously voted out in surprise and clapped his hands.
His reaction immediately attracted the attention of other examiners.
Today is different from the past. With the chief eunuch on hand to supervise, he still can't help but lose his composure. How good is this paper?
An examiner then took the paper and after reading only a few lines, he couldn't help but express his admiration. After reading it, he actually also praised it.
"It is so pure and elegant that it does not contain any fireworks. I never expected that I would encounter such articles in the general examination. I am ashamed to be the examiner!"
The three chief and deputy examiners were all attracted and looked at the paper one after another.
"This..." Although Zhong Fanzhi has read the content and feels that it is almost impeccable. Even a person who has been immersed in literature for many years can hardly change a word. However, he feels that the content written by the examinee is quite excessive, and there is nothing wrong with it.
I just think it's too much.
Zhong Fanzhi hesitated for a moment and asked deputy examiner Zhang Xiu: "What do you think?"
Zhang Xiu frowned: "This article is full of talent, but too vigorous. It seems that he is a young man. He may be guilty of God's wrath in the future. If not, I'm afraid he is a good prime minister."
Gai Jingsheng also commented: "It's true. When you read his articles, you always feel that his edge is too revealing. This is because he is too talented and needs to temper his temper..."
As he said that, the three of them looked at each other and couldn't help but smile bitterly.
And several examiners have already circled this paper.
Some people tried to identify whose article this was, but because they were all copied and sent to their hands, they could not tell who it was from the handwriting.
Among the examiners of the eighteen rooms, there are also people from the Three Kings, but because the Three Kings have not issued necessary tasks for this examination, the few people inside do not necessarily want to find out the so-called candidate Su
Zi Ji is here.
"The prince just said that if you let nature take its course, you can find Su Ziji's paper. Depending on the situation, you can make it fail."
"If you can't find it, don't worry about it."
"This paper is so outstanding. It's really Su Zi's. I'm afraid it's hard to fail. It's better to pretend to be deaf and dumb and just pretend not to know."
I have to say that the warning just now has some effect.
Seeing that everyone had different expressions, but no one objected, the examiner Zhong Fanzhi also thought to himself: "I have different opinions from everyone. I am a lover of talents, but this article is so good. If I block it, I'm afraid I will end up with someone else."
The bad reputation of being jealous of the wise and capable, that’s all. We all agree, why don’t I follow suit? It’s just this article that shows off my talent!”
"But even His Majesty will not just ignore Caixue just because of what he said from the bottom of his heart."
Thinking of this, Zhong Fanzhi also picked up his pen and drew a circle on the paper. He couldn't help but sigh: "I don't know whether he promoted him or harmed him."