During the palace examination, it does not take much time for dozens of ministers to read two to three hundred test papers, not to mention that the papers of the students in this palace examination have nothing to read at all, and they only need to glance at them.
Two hours later, the scoring was over. After discussion, several ministers presented their opinions and rankings to the old emperor.
After the palace examination, the results of Feng Sijin, Jing Yan and Jiao Xiangdi were all improved. Feng Sijin ranked first in the second class, and Jing Yan and Jiao Xiangdi were also in the second class, but they were ranked lower.
Among the three people in the first class, except for Qi Mao, who was originally ranked second, he is still second, and those who were originally ranked first and third are not here. They are all thrown into the second class. This is because the emperor does not want to make it look too ugly, otherwise
According to their results in the palace examination, they are not even ranked among the top three.
At this time, it was already dark, and the students waiting in the side hall were tired and hungry. There were several plates of cakes and tea on the table, but no one dared to touch them.
Although the old emperor and the ministers had been busy all day, they had tea to drink at any time, and palace officials would bring them meals when the time came. No one dared to starve them. Even after a busy day, these people were in good spirits.
Only the fifth prince and Qin Jiyan were in worse condition. They had been kneeling since morning.
Qin Jiyan was okay, his back was still straight even after kneeling for a whole day, but his sweaty back silently told everyone that he was not relaxed at this time, but he was just unwilling to admit defeat or let his pride fall.
The fifth prince looked much worse. He was pampered by the little emperor and protected by the noble concubine. The fifth prince had not suffered so much. He was already swaying on his knees on the ground, moving his hands and feet from time to time.
Looking miserable.
The fifth prince is indeed in a miserable state now, but if he meets others, not only will they not sympathize with him, but they will look down on him.
There is a gap only when there is a comparison. The fifth prince and Qin Jiyan knelt down at the same time, and they knelt for the same length of time, but the fifth prince looked like he had been abused. Who were they doing it to?
Not to mention that the ministers looked down on the fifth prince who was weak and could not bear hardships, even the old emperor was not happy. If it were not for Qin Jiyan's comparison, others would have thought that he had abused his son.
In fact, the old emperor really abused his son. Which parents punished their sons by making them kneel on the cold ground for four or five hours?
Not to mention the fifth prince, even Qin Jiyan couldn't hold on. If it weren't for his inner strength to protect him, Qin Jiyan would have collapsed at this time, and he would never be any better than the fifth prince.
After the old emperor lost his seal, the rankings of the scientific examination officially came into effect. But just when the officials of the Ministry of Rites were about to read the rankings, the eunuch hurriedly stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, something bad has happened."
"Wait a minute." The old emperor had a bad premonition in his heart and hurriedly stopped the officials who were going out to read out the rankings. "Put it down first and go back and read it out later."
The officials of the Ministry of Rites quickly took back their feet and stepped aside. At this time, the old emperor asked: "What happened?" His tone was calm, but his trembling hands showed how nervous he was at this time.
Although the little eunuch's face turned pale with anxiety, his speech was very clear, and he explained all the causes and consequences clearly.
On the left and right, the examiners accidentally discovered that the scientific examination questions were leaked, and found some evidence along this line. However, these examinees did not cause trouble. They just wrote a petition and went to Shuntian Mansion to complain.
Everyone present knew how dark this year's scientific examination was, but when things started to happen, everyone was still shocked, "How could this happen?"
"The exam questions were leaked? How is this possible? Only Mr. Kang knows this year's exam questions. He moved into Gongyuan after learning the exam questions. How could the exam questions be leaked? Is there something wrong?"
"There has never been any leaking of questions in the annual scientific examination. Could it be that those examiners deliberately caused trouble?"
There are many ways to cheat in scientific examinations. Although leaking questions is safe, it is too risky. The examiner cherishes his reputation and will never leak questions. Dr. Kang is also a good person, so many people speak up for him.
"Didn't you say there is evidence? It's better to be cautious about this matter. The scientific examination is held once every three years, which is a major event for the scholars of Daqin. If the scientific examination questions are leaked, it will be unfair to the candidates and a group of incompetent people will be selected.
, it is also harmful to the country and the country."
…
No matter when, it is always like this in the court. A group of people are arguing back and forth, everyone has their own reasons, but the person involved is left aside by them.
The old emperor had a headache from their quarrel and roared: "Shut up!" Can the quarrel reveal the truth? Can the quarrel solve the problem?
Besides arguing, what else do these people do?
It was like the flow of water was cut off, and the quarrels stopped instantly. Some people even stopped as soon as they made a sound. The scene was indescribably funny.
The old emperor cast a cold sideways glance and said to Kang Da, who was kneeling in the palace: "Master Kang, what is going on? I want to know the truth." The only person who has the ability to leak the test questions is Master Kang.
At this time, he could not admit it even if he was killed. Master Kang said without thinking: "I, I don't know."
When such a big thing happened, it was not just a matter of ignorance that could be excused. The old emperor asked again: "Who else knows the scientific examination questions besides you?"
"No." Mr. Kang buried his head, not daring to look at anyone, let alone the emperor, for fear of revealing the fear in his heart.
I originally thought that the palace examination was over and this year's imperial examination would come to an end safely, but I didn't expect that something like this would happen at the last moment. It turned out that the sky network was in full swing and there were no omissions.
He didn't know what to ask, and he didn't need to think about it to know that he couldn't get anything out of Lord Kang's mouth. The old emperor turned to the eunuch who came in to report, "Who will take the lead in going to the Yamen to file a complaint?" He wanted to be an official in the court with such a character.
It's a joke. If you dare to take the lead in opposing the imperial court, you won't go far in the officialdom even if you get the top prize.
"A descendant of the Confucian family in Shandong." When the eunuch said this, he didn't even dare to express his anger.
Everyone knows that the disciples of the Confucius family in Shandong have extraordinary talents, but none of them have entered the court as officials. They only participated in the imperial examination to test their talents, and the court could not threaten them at all.
"Did the disciples of the Shandong Confucius family fail the examination?" The old emperor frowned and looked at Mr. Kang with sharp eyes.
It is a joke that all the disciples of the Confucius family in Shandong could fail the exam.
Master Kang said hurriedly: "No, the children of the Kong family are ranked tenth in the second class."
"It's not a direct lineage of the Confucius family, it's a collateral lineage." The eunuch hurriedly explained, "In addition to the young masters of the Kong family, Xianyin layman is also in the Yamen, saying that he is coming forward on behalf of the public officials. I hope the court will not embarrass the public officials."
Xian Yin was also a person who was unwilling to be an official, so the court could not threaten him with an official position.
Even the great scholars of the day have come forward to show that the fraud in scientific examinations cannot be suppressed, and it is impossible to be kind. No matter how hard the old emperor suppresses it, it will be useless.
However, as soon as the scientific examination fraud case came out, Xiangbei Juzi, who was imprisoned and had no household registration, also took the opportunity to "escape" and stumbled to Shuntian Mansion to sue the imperial examination for the imposter...
A message to readers: Two updates are here. I finally saved a day in advance, and I instantly felt relieved!