Gong Sheng walked out of the palace gate, and the rain was falling. Although he was given an umbrella, he could not withstand the strong wind and rain. However, he saw lanterns in some restaurants in the distance, so he rushed over to take shelter from the rain.
Yu Lu rushed downstairs and was fine. He only wet his coat. Seeing the bustle downstairs, he hurriedly called for a seat upstairs. Fortunately, he called quickly and got the second one at the end. He felt a little relieved and called for a towel.
When Fang Xi approached, Yu Lu looked at him and saw that his face was thoughtful, but not too obviously annoyed or depressed. He was somewhat relieved, feeling that since the two of them had received advice from their grandson in advance, no matter how bad they were, they should be fine.
Not much different.
"Come, sit down, wipe your face, I've already ordered the dishes." Yu Lu said, and the waiter had already served the dishes, which were four dishes, one soup and a pot of wine, so he raised his glass and said, "Have a glass of wine to warm yourself up."
Fang Xi raised a glass to drink together, her face flushed with blood, she glanced at Yu Lu, and suddenly asked: "How did you write this policy review?"
Yu Lu then smiled: "Just write it according to the instructions given by Grand Sun. There is nothing that cannot be said. I will just read it to you."
Even so, Yu Lu subconsciously lowered his voice and read a few paragraphs of his answer.
"... However, the benevolent government that I hope for in Your Majesty is not to completely change the world's customs, nor to restore the world's fields. It is also said to be in accordance with the times and circumstances, without losing the intention of the former king..."
Similar words are nothing more than Taisun's intention. Anyway, since I know how to write, it is very convenient to open my mind in this direction.
Yu Lu felt that with Fang Xi's talent and knowledge, as long as he wrote in this direction, he would still be able to write in this direction without losing the essence of the gold medal. After reading a few more sentences, he casually asked: "What about you?"
When he asked this question, his tone was very relaxed.
As a result, after waiting for a while but not getting Fang Xi's answer, Yu Lu paused and looked up at Fang Xi.
"you……"
Facing Yu Lu's questioning gaze, Fang Xi drank a gulp of wine and looked away without saying a word.
What else don’t you understand now?
Yu Lu was shocked and put down his wine glass: "You, could it be you?"
Fang Xi didn't refute, just "gu" again, drank a full glass, and breathed out a heavy breath of wine. Yu Lu immediately understood that it was exactly what he had guessed, and he almost wanted to slap him. This was a palace examination. What on earth would this boy do?
What do you think?
"Could it be that you wrote it in the words of Kuang Jie before?"
"Aren't you afraid of being punished by God?"
Fang Xi's face was filled with blood. She took another sip, and then she stopped suddenly and said, "Brother Yu, you should know me. How can I be ignorant of my intention to be an official?"
But this is not a matter of ignorance, but the imperial examinations, which are intended to attract talents who serve themselves, and it is impossible to attract crazy students.
Putting aside this, personally speaking, you must first obtain the qualifications to be an official before realizing your ambitions. If you are stuck at this step, even if you have ambitions, you will not be able to implement them. Isn’t it wasted?
Besides, what Taisun said that day made sense.
The two people's views are indeed too biased, with a scholarly attitude.
But when you are actually in power, there are too many things that need to be considered, and it cannot be done just by being bookish.
But Yu Lu looked over and saw that although Fang Xi was smiling, his face was serious. He immediately knew that Fang Xi had gone too far and could not change at this moment. The exam was over and it would be futile to talk about it now. He was immediately sullen.
Holding it in, he opened his mouth, but found that he had nothing to say.
By this time, it was too late to say anything, so I could only sigh heavily: "Alas..."
Imperial City·Grading Office
This was originally an official wing attached to the cabinet, but it was actually a large room created by opening up several rooms. It could accommodate hundreds of people at the same time without being too crowded.
It was temporarily converted into a marking office, and there were large cabinets inlaid with copper leaves all around. Inside were all confidential documents, but they were all locked.
At this moment, tables were laid out one after another, and they were piled with documents, about fifty copies per table. There were still a few empty, which were for the second and third trials.
A dozen people sat at the table and reviewed the papers quickly and carefully. Each person was responsible for one pile, but at the end, someone would review the papers.
Especially after experiencing the fraud case, everyone has tightened their nerves and dare not make any negligence.
Even if it doesn't harm your family, it would still be very uneconomical if you lose your official position or get demoted.
The sound of voices, the sound of flipping papers, and the sound of writing, although they were all very small, made the entire marking area seem too tense.
These examiners were grading papers extremely seriously and very quickly. After a while, they became dizzy and had to drink ginseng tea.
An examiner in his forties took several sips before he could catch his breath. He couldn't help but sigh: "In the past, the papers were published in one day, but now they are published in one and a half hours. It's too late!"
Otherwise, we wouldn't be so busy that we wouldn't even be able to eat.
Someone nearby reminded: "The emperor is pressing hard. He wants to get the ranking within an hour and a half, and his grandson is still waiting!"
As soon as these words came out, not only did the examiner, who was over 40 years old, shut up and did not dare to say anything anymore, the others looked at each other and speeded up, but also remained silent.
Grading is very hard work. Reading fifty papers in one day is already exhausting for these examiners. How about speeding up and reading them all within an hour and a half?
It's not like reading articles to juniors on weekdays. These are examination papers. Once something goes wrong and it's found out, the person in charge won't be able to live with it.
Therefore, no one dares to be careless. If you increase caution and increase speed, it will waste the energy of these examiners.
Only halfway through the reading, even the patient examiner became increasingly irritable.
One of them, an official in his thirties who looked very thin, even though he usually pays great attention to self-cultivation, was a little irritated at this moment. He dropped a scroll and couldn't help but secretly cursed: "You bastard, you are making such crazy remarks, don't do it."
It's said to be a tribute examination and a palace examination, which means to raise people, how did you pass it?"
He pulled his collar, took another sip of tea, calmed down, picked up another volume, and read it irritably, but after finishing it, he was thoughtful, suddenly paused, and read again what he had already read.
Read it again.
Gradually, the examiner became calmer. This article was just right for his taste, and most of his irritable mood dissipated.
"It's a good article!" The more the examiner read, the more he appreciated it. He felt that it was indeed a good article. When he finished reading it, he read it again. The more he read, the more he liked it.
"My lords, why don't you come and read this article!" The examiner stroked his beard and said with a smile.
When the other examiners saw this attitude, it was obvious that they had read a good article. For them, reading a good article was also a relief!
"Let me take a look." A person with somewhat irritable eyebrows took the paper over and read it carefully. He couldn't help but think deeply and sighed: "Good article! It is indeed a good article! This article is enough for the following.
Wine is at the forefront!"
This can be said to be at the forefront, but you can’t just say it casually. When others hear it, oh, this article is so good?
They circulated it one by one and couldn't help but look at each other.
“It’s good!”
Even if you think it’s not to your taste, you have to admit that this is indeed a good article and has everyone’s style!
The examiner looked at it and finished reading the papers one after another without commenting. He just looked at the sky and saw that it was already night, so he said: "After reading them all, just send them in!"
"The emperor and grandson are still waiting for us!"
side hall
It was already dark, candles were lit, and the smell of food had not completely dissipated, indicating that the Tian family father and son waiting here seemed to have just had dinner.
The eunuch brought the papers in on a gold tray one by one. There were not many, just the first twenty, and they were carefully placed according to their order.
Another eunuch brought the silver basin. The water in it was still warm. The emperor washed his hands, took the towel, wiped it, and threw it into it.
"This is the number one they chose. It's not bad. I chose this one in a hurry. It's a sign of your care!"
The emperor took the first volume, unfolded it and read it slowly, his expression was calm. Only by looking carefully, he could see that the corners of his mouth were slightly raised, and his breath was softer. Obviously, this was the first time he read this article.