After the last test of the imperial examination, the Gongshi can relax. Next, the examiners will be busy.
Although the imperial examination is nominally conducted by the emperor, Zhao Zhen is obviously too busy to review all the papers of 300 people, and he has to rely on the help of the ministers below.
The grading ministers for this palace examination, also known as the examiners, are led by Han Zhang, a bachelor of Longtuge, with Wen Yanchang and Xu Mu as deputy ministers. There are also three ministers of the Ministry of Rites, the Ministry of Officials, and the Ministry of Industry, as well as Hanlin bachelors.
The imperial minister, Zhan Shifu, and Dr. Taichang made a total of ten important ministers.
The examination lasted from March 15th to March 18th. During this period, Zhao Zhen came in person several times to visit the examiners and gave them wine, fruits and cold food.
The ministers all felt that the emperor attached great importance to this palace examination, and ministers such as Han Zhang and Xu Mu were even more worried, and the grading process was extremely slow.
I hurriedly hurriedly and slowly, and finally on the night of March 18th, I read through 300 examination papers.
According to the rules, the test paper must be approved by six of the ten paper readers, that is, the test paper with six circles on the top of the paper can be shortlisted into the top ten and submitted to the emperor for review.
As of now, there are only nine examination papers with six circles on the headers, and there is still one last place to be determined.
There are a total of five articles that are eligible to participate in the competition for the last spot, all with five circles on the header. Each of these five articles has the support of the paper reader.
The examiners are all elders in the officialdom, so naturally it is impossible to argue with each other. However, although their tone is kind, their attitude is unyielding.
At this point, it’s up to the chief of the ten paper readers to make a decision.
Han Zhang said solemnly: "Since everyone can't make up their minds, let's remove the name of the lake."
None of the reviewers had objections.
After a while, the five papers after removing the name of the lake were presented on the paper one by one. When the examiners saw the names of these five candidates, they all felt a little impressed and couldn't help but sigh. Sure enough, there are no empty ones despite the great reputation.
However, one name quickly attracted the attention of all the readers.
"What! Youyang Weichen, why is his article here?"
Some of the examiners were quite surprised. Wei Chen, whose literary reputation was well-known in the world, had won consecutive victories in consecutive trials, and had five yuan in hand, was the favorite to be number one this time. Now he was reduced to competing for the final top ten spots.
, it’s really incredible.
Tian Dongsheng, the Minister of Rites, picked up Wei Chen's article and glanced at it, then looked at Han Zhang's face, and suddenly realized it.
This article is truly pharaoh-like, with every word written in precious stone. When read, it has the sonorous sound of gold and stone. This article, let alone the imperial examination, is one of the rare masterpieces throughout the ages.
However, although the article was well written, it sat on the side of the Emperor Zhao Zhen and sang praises of Zhao Zhen's benevolent policies. No wonder Han Zhang and others disliked it.
You must know that Zhao Zhen was having a heated argument with Han Zhang, Wen Yanchang, and Xu Mu, the three Longtuge bachelors, in order to establish a heir. The bachelors could not persuade Zhao Zhen, and Zhao Zhen also used these ministers
There is no way, the two sides are in a stalemate.
Under such a background, Wei Chen's article fell into the hands of the examiners led by three bachelors. How could it be easily passed?
Sure enough, Wen Yanchang, the second assistant, snorted coldly and said: "This article is just to flatter the emperor and has no scholarly character. If he were an official, he would be a sycophant. This person can never be among the top ten, so he will take it lightly."
Let’s take third place!”
Xu Mu also said with a face full of hatred: "This Wei Chen's talent is actually the number one talent, but he is actually a flatterer. What a pity, what a pity!"
Seeing that the two bachelors said this, Han Zhang had no intention of objecting, and the rest of the people in the hall were a little nervous. This is a battle between the bachelors and the officials, and they do not want to get involved easily.
Seeing that Wei Chen's paper was about to be classified into the third class, Lu Zongdai, the minister of the Ministry of Works, coughed lightly and reminded: "Everyone, if I remember correctly, this Wei Chen is a member of the Hui Yuan Examination Committee. During the palace examination, he always
No matter how well Huiyuan's articles are written, they must be submitted to the emperor for review."
"Old Master Lu is right." Liu Tingxi, a Hanlin scholar, also agreed. He turned to look at Xu Mu and asked with a smile in his eyebrows: "Master Xu, you are the CEO who can test, and you will never put your own hands on it."
Have you forgotten all the Huiyuan you took out?"
It’s Liu Tingxi again!
Xu Mu couldn't help but curse in his heart, if Liu Tingxi hadn't interfered with it during the examination, Wei Chen would never have been able to get the title.
But Xu Mu also had to admit that although Liu Tingxi's words were thorny, they did make sense, not to mention the support of Lu Zongdai, Minister of Industry.
The two readers raised objections at the same time. Even Han Zhang, the chief reader, could not turn a blind eye.
Han Zhang glanced at Xu Mu with a slight dissatisfaction. Xu Mu's old face turned red. Ultimately, this matter was due to his incompetence. If Wei Chen had been stuck during the trial, he would not be in trouble today.
At this point, it was a foregone conclusion that Wei Chen's article would be recommended to the top ten, and no one could change it. Han Zhang simply followed the trend and said: "Now that there are established rules, let's submit this volume to the emperor for review."
The next day, inside Chui Gong Hall.
Zhao Zhen was perched high on the throne. Each of the ten scroll readers held a scroll and stood before His Majesty Dan. Starting from Han Zhang, they successively held scrolls to read in front of the throne.
The emperor did not read the articles in the palace examination himself, but the ministers read them to the emperor. This is also the origin of the name "Recorder".
In the first paper, Zhao Zhen heard Han Zhang read the sentence "Heaven's Prison is not far away, and the people's hearts can be known." He frowned and interrupted: "Are all the papers in this department have this kind of official tone?" In the past few years, in order to establish the heir apparent, Zhao Zhen has gone through all kinds of remonstrances, including bitter remonstrations, crying remonstrations, sarcastic remonstrations, and deadly remonstrances, all of which have made Zhao Zhen miserable. Therefore, when Zhao Zhen heard this kind of justice
The honest article makes me feel overwhelmed, and I don’t want to continue listening to it.
Of course Han Zhang understood what Zhao Zhen was thinking, but he still read this outspoken and admonishing article himself, just to try again and see if he could change Zhao Zhen's mind.
It's a pity that Han Zhang was disappointed in the end.
Han Zhang was also very helpless about this.
Generally speaking, the top ten candidates in the palace examination are selected by civil servants, and the specific ranking is determined by the emperor.
But after all, the imperial examination is for the emperor to select his disciples, and the civil servants only do it for him. If the emperor is extremely dissatisfied with the top ten, he can reject them all and go to the back to search and reject the papers himself.
Therefore, although Han Zhang could send his favorite admonishment to Zhao Zhen, he could not stop Zhao Zhen from ranking this article at the bottom.
This is the boundary between the power of civil officials and the emperor.
Han Zhang, Wen Yanchang, and Xu Mu read three articles in succession, all of which were sharp and daring. The result was as expected, and Zhao Zhen was all ranked at the bottom.
Zhao Zhen was dissatisfied and said: "Before entering the official career, you dare to boast and talk about state affairs. This is an unhealthy trend and must be strictly rectified!"
After saying that, Zhao Zhen looked at Lu Zongdai, Minister of Industry, and said slowly: "Lu Aiqing, you are a veteran of two dynasties. You have always been mature and prudent. The article you selected must be upright and peaceful. Why don't you read it and listen to it with me?"
"I obey the decree."
After Lu Zongdai paid his respects, he immediately came forward with the scroll in hand, and the article he was reading was written by Wei Chen.
After only listening to dozens of sentences, Zhao Zhen's brows widened. He had already read Wei Chen's article and remembered some of the content, but now he heard Lu Zongdai read it sonorously and powerfully, but it had a different charm.
I have long heard that really good articles not only look majestic, but also sound like gold and stone when read, with an endless aftertaste. Now Wei Chen's article made Zhao Zhen experience this feeling.
Unknowingly, Lu Zongdai had read the entire article, but Zhao Zhen was still unfinished. After thinking about it for a long time, Long Yan said happily: "He is truly a genius in this world, and he must be the leader of this department!"