September 15th has no special meaning in terms of time. It is neither a festival nor the birthday of a certain saint.
The emergence of the imperial examination system has given this day a different color. For scholars, this day is the day when the carp leaps over the dragon's gate.
On September 15th, Wang Xu walked into the examination room and faced the last exam in his life.
He was very calm during the days of the exam. As Yangzhou Jieyuan, he was definitely a Jinshi. The difference was only in the ranking.
On the day I walked into the examination room, it was raining lightly and the wind was very strong.
Wang Xu held an oil umbrella and walked into the examination room together with thousands of candidates. It seemed that everything was over before he had time to think about anything.
Walking out of the examination room, Wang Xu felt relieved but also a little melancholy.
From the moment he came to the world of Confucianism, he has always regarded being named to the gold list as his top priority.
Now, the mountain of imperial examination has disappeared, and life is about to enter the second stage, which brings joy, confusion, and mixed emotions.
When he returned to his home, the teacher asked him how he did in the exam. Wang Xu replied that Jinshi was guaranteed, but it was still unclear how high he would be.
The teacher was very happy. He cooked a table of delicious dishes and had a drink with Wang Xu under the moonlight.
That night, the two of them drank happily. The teacher didn't mention the matter of asking him to work for the Sixth Prince. They just chatted about family matters and the atmosphere was harmonious.
After five days, we will try to release the results.
Wang Xu took the lead by ranking first in the general examination. However, there was the palace examination after the general examination, and the title of Jinshi must be obtained after the palace examination.
The top 100 people in the examination have the right to enter the Jinluan Hall and be tested by the emperor himself.
The emperor will select three people from among these one hundred people and give them the positions of No. 1, No. 2, and No. 3.
In this test, the emperor himself set the questions. Who gets the upper hand and who gets lower depends entirely on the emperor's wishes.
As Wang Xu ranked first in the examination, he might also be deposed in the palace examination, and he believed that the possibility of being deposed was extremely high.
This has nothing to do with knowledge, but with the distribution of benefits.
Wang Xu could not give up the benefits of giving up the emperor and choosing him as the number one scholar. Similarly, Zhu Dang also had his own candidate and could not do anything for him.
On October 20, one month after the joint examination ended, the palace examination began.
As the first place in the examination, Wang Xu led his students into the Golden Palace in front of everyone's attention.
In the Jinluan Hall, he saw the current emperor, cabinet ministers, six ministers, and the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty.
Today, I look very young. I am obviously in my forties, but I look like I am in my thirties.
Moreover, today's man looks ordinary. In terms of appearance, he is an ordinary person, but his temperament is outstanding.
On the other hand, the four princes who were standing among the courtiers and had already established government offices, each with outstanding talents, saw Wang Xu leading the candidates to the entrance. They were like the examiners sitting at a job fair, looking at them with the eyes of sizing up products. .
"This should be the third prince."
Wang Xu looked at a young man in the crowd who was wearing a python suit and many jade finger rings on his hands.
This man was in his twenties, slightly chubby, standing there with a smile, and the ministers around him were vaguely headed by him.
"This should be the fifth prince."
Wang Xu raised his head slightly and looked at another young man.
Compared with the third prince who backed the Zhu Party, the fifth prince who backed the Han Party wore plain clothes.
Except for the python suit that represents his identity, the fifth prince did not wear any accessories, and even his clothes were not as new as the third prince's. You could tell at a glance that they had been washed many times.
The dignified prince wore a python suit that had been washed. It was almost like a joke.
I really don’t know whether the fifth prince did this to win the heart of the minister from a poor family, or to show his frugality in front of the emperor.
After looking at the third and fifth princes, Wang Xu looked at the eighth and sixth princes.
The Eighth Prince is only a teenager this year, and is still a half-grown child. He is very easy to recognize when standing in the crowd.
The same goes for the Sixth Prince. His aura is very otherworldly, just like the Dixian who walked out of a painting. The python suit that represents power was forced on him to look like a Taoist robe.
Wang Xu glanced over and met the teacher's gaze, and smiled in return.
The teacher stood among the cabinet members and nodded imperceptibly. Then he looked at his nose, his nose and his mouth, and his mouth and his heart. His mind wandered and he didn't know what he was thinking.
"Take a seat..."
The emperor, who was sitting on the dragon throne, waved slightly to the candidates.
The most scholarly scholar in the Confucian world, the imperial power can only be ranked second. There is no need to kneel down when meeting the emperor, just clasp your fists and bend down to show respect.
"Thank you, Your Majesty!"
Everyone bowed to salute, and then sat behind the long table in the Jinluan Hall according to their respective rankings.
The long table is not big, it is the kind of three-foot long table used for banquets in the Spring and Autumn Period.
There are writing brushes, rice paper, inkstones, and horizontal rulers on the table, all of which are used by candidates to answer questions.
"Everyone sitting here is my first-class scholar, and your knowledge is absolutely indispensable. However, good knowledge does not necessarily mean you can be an official. Today I will test you."
Emperor Wu stood up from the dragon chair, walked down the high platform, walked in front of everyone, and said: "My human race occupies the land of Jiuzhou. There are demon tribes in the north looking at me with eager eyes, and barbarians in the south like a snake in my throat.
Today, I will use this as a test question to test your resourcefulness. You will be given a quarter of an hour to write a piece of mediocre strategy. If you write well, you will be ranked number one, secondly ranked second, and third best. The rest of you don’t have to be discouraged.
You are all second-level Jinshi, and it is unknown whether you will become a marquis or prime minister in the future."
As soon as he said this, the eyes of all the candidates present flashed with passion.
People in ancient times were proud of being the number one scholar. For what reason? In addition to the reputation of the number one scholar, they also had the emperor's holy family.
As long as you win the first prize, it means that you are remembered by the emperor. If Jane is in the emperor's heart, are you still afraid that you will not have an official position in the future?
In modern times, Wang Xu once saw someone saying how miserable the number one scholar in ancient times was. There were very few who could become prime ministers, and most of them had high scores and low abilities.
In fact, this view is completely wrong.
In the five thousand years of China's history, there have been 592 or 504 Zhuangyuan scholars, among whom 67 have served as prime ministers or similar prime ministers. This is a one-in-nine chance.
Further down the list, there are more than 200 number one scholars who have held official positions above the third rank.
What is the concept of a third-grade official? In ancient times, it was the magistrate of the state, and the chief official of the six ministries. In modern times, it is a high-ranking official. Can this position be called a senior official, a big boss of the State Council? Can this position be said to be low?
The remaining more than 300 people, except for those who died on the way, are all officials of the fifth rank or above. There are many scholars in the world, and there are a few who can achieve the fifth rank.
Therefore, the gold content of the ancient number one scholar is beyond the imagination of ordinary people.
When the number one scholar returned home, the local prefects would always smile with them, because the number one scholar had a high starting point. He was a sixth-rank official when he entered the court, and he also entered the Hanlin Academy where it was easy to be promoted.
Often, the number one scholar who enters the Hanlin Academy can be promoted to the fifth rank after serving two terms. However, in the local area, it takes at least ten years for a seventh-rank county magistrate who is a Jinshi to reach the fifth rank.
Even if he was not sent to the magistrate's house, he would be transferred to the Sixth Department of the Hanlin Academy, and then transferred to the Wenyuan Pavilion University from the Sixth Department, and he would climb up the ranks at a steady pace.
If you win the first prize today, you will be a fifth-rank official in a few years. In less than ten years, you will be a third- or fourth-rank official. Promotion is like riding a rocket.
The prefect is accompanying you with a smile, he has a reason, because you are a potential stock, and if you can't offend, even the cabinet bosses are not willing to offend the top pick.
After all, everyone has a time to become an official, and there is no guarantee that if you embarrass him today, he will embarrass your descendants when he takes office in the future.
"Pingmance!"
Compared with everyone's expectations for the future of officialdom, Wang Xu was more concerned about this plain policy.
Why is it a strategy for leveling barbarians and not a strategy for leveling monsters?
The demon clan is causing a big problem, and the imperial court is wondering if it can't deal with it, so is it planning to pick on the weak ones first?
Since the beginning of the Nine Provinces of the human race, whether to go north or south has been the focus of debate among the top leaders of the human race.
One-on-one, the human race is no match for the demon clan. Qiang Qin and the tough guys have proven this. Even during the Qin and Han Dynasties, when the human race was unprecedentedly powerful, it could only be 50-50 against the demon clan.
To this day, there is a consensus among the scholars that only by conquering the barbarians and uniting with the dragon tribe can the human race have hope of the Northern Expedition.
Pingman Ce, it seems that the current emperor also supports the strategy of conquering the south first and then the north.
"The Holy One now intends to march south, sweep across the four seas, achieve unparalleled achievements, and complete the great deeds that the Qin and Han Dynasties have not completed. Perhaps this is my opportunity."
Wang Xu always believed that due to his background and position, the emperor would not choose him as the number one scholar.
Now, seeing this plain policy theory, Wang Xu suddenly realized that he might still have a chance, and he might not be unable to sit on the throne of the top scholar.