The light rain on Tianjie is as moist as butter. According to the map, the geographical location of the capital is closer to the south, so at this time, the autumn rain has also begun to fall continuously.
But such weather is very unpleasant for candidates who are about to enter the examination room, because when it rains, those scholars will become sentimental and have no extra inspiration to write those magnificent articles.
There were four subjects in Dachu's imperial examination, namely arithmetic, literary talent, political theory, and law.
Among them, the first three together are not as important as the last law.
Because most of the scholars after passing the imperial examination have to go out to work as parents and officials in various places, it is not enough if they are not familiar with the laws of Dachu.
The exams for these subjects take a total of five days, and all the students are asked to enter a separate room, where they have to eat, drink, and sleep during the exam.
Today's Dachu is pretty good about this matter. It spent a lot of money to build an examination room specifically for candidates. The room inside is not too big, but it is reasonably arranged. There is no shortage of tables, chairs, beds and so on. You know, in
During the previous dynasty, the examination room looked almost like a doghouse.
After the exam begins, the examiner will send the test papers to the scholars all at once, and they only need to complete the answers and hand in the papers within five days.
In fact, for these candidates, the five-day examination time is nothing, and it passes in the blink of an eye. What is really difficult is the half-month-long wait for the results to be released after the examination.
…
"Hey! Lao Feng, look at this candidate's test paper. He answered very well."
This voice came from the yamen of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, which was responsible for grading the examination papers for the candidates. The speakers were two official wailang, who were in charge of grading the examination papers.
"Well, it's really good. Let me see if his name is on the list."
The middle-aged man named Lao Feng took the test paper and read it carefully. Then he picked up a piece of yellow cloth with names written on it from the side and checked it to match the names of the candidates on the test paper.
He looked carefully twice before and after, but still could not find the candidate's name.
"It's a pity that he doesn't have his name. As long as he gives a gift of one hundred taels, I can give him a good ranking."
"What? No?"
"yes!"
Old Feng's tone was full of helplessness.
"Why don't you show the test paper to the Master? Don't you think that 10% of the quota does not require the name on the gift list?"
"Old Qi, you don't know something! This year, 90% of the places have been sold in name, just like in previous years, but in fact, 95% of the places have been sold. Everyone who is powerful in the court has come to raise a flag.
If the pole flags are divided into dividends, of course it will not satisfy the appetites of the ministers and ministers above."
Lao Feng said with helpless words written on his face to the man next to him who was about the same age as him.
In fact, junior members like them don't get any dividends. At most they only get a few dozen taels of hard-earned money, but they do almost all the work related to exams.
"Isn't there still half a percent left? As long as we put in some effort to hand it over, maybe he will have a chance."
Old Feng first looked around and made sure that everyone else was doing his own work and no one was paying attention to them, then he put his mouth to the old Qi's ear and whispered softly.
"Have you forgotten that the top five have already been selected? In other words, there are no more places available for scholars to compete for this year!"
Lao Qi's face suddenly turned ugly. He was trying to block the way for scholars all over the world!
"Is it difficult to imagine that those people above are not afraid of the Emperor?"
"Afraid!?"
Old Feng's tone was a little strange.
"In this capital, as long as no official of the third rank or above is involved in this matter, if they gather their strength together, even the emperor will give them three points.
face!"
After finishing speaking, Lao Feng realized that he seemed to have said something wrong, so he immediately changed his words.
"By the way, this includes Grand Master Lu Xiangrui, but Grand Master is the only one who didn't participate in it. Even Su Xiang had a share in the rest!"
"Oh, forget it, let's not get involved in the games played by the big shots."
As he spoke, Lao Qi threw the test paper that he judged to be pretty good into the pile of failed test papers next to him...
Not long after, the old Qi who spoke before couldn't help laughing.
"Old Feng, look, look, what kind of idiot is this? He wrote a five-character quatrain in the literary subject. Let me read it to you!"
Then, Lao Qi shook his head while reading.
"The stone on the left is bigger, the stone on the right is bigger. To say who is the biggest, both are not small!"
Show me, Lao Feng snatched the test paper from his hand and left him laughing until he almost died.
Qian Dabao!
Such a name is clearly written on the candidate's name on the examination paper.
Later, Lao Feng picked up the gift money list and wanted to see if the name of the person who Lao Qi called a fool was on it.
But this name actually ranked sixth, just behind the five young masters in the capital.
And on that piece of yellow cloth, there was a crazy number written behind the name Qian Dabao.
Eight million taels! His family bought this ranking for him with eight million taels of silver.
"Old Qi, stop laughing, you're still laughing your ass off, I don't know who is the idiot!"
After seeing the name clearly, he had no choice but to interrupt Qi Baihe, who was still laughing, and prepared to tell him this cruel fact.
"I said, Feng Yonglin, what's wrong with you? You're not usually like this! Isn't this poem funny enough? Hahaha!"
"You're still laughing your ass off. I think you're the one who's funny. I was ranked sixth among others! Just behind those young men in the capital!"
"How can this be!"
Qi Baihe couldn't believe it and snatched the yellow cloth with names written all over it from Feng Yonglin's hand. He looked at it for thirty seconds before putting down the list in despair.
"A dead end! A dead end for the previous dynasty! If things continue like this, I, Da Chu, will follow in the footsteps of the previous dynasty!"
Although these words were fierce, he did not dare to raise his voice. If some interested people heard this, it was not clear whether Da Chu would die, but he would be on the road to death.
In the end, Qi Baihe is just a small fifth-grade member. Even if he wants to do something, it will be in vain. Who knows, he may lose his life because of what he said just now.
rice bowl!
Reluctantly, he put the test paper with "big rocks" written all over it into the small group of successful candidates...
At the same time, in the official office, in the independent office room of Shangshu Sun Liufang, left minister Zhou Mowu and right minister Zheng Liang were sorting out a large number of banknotes.
The denominations of these banknotes ranged from large to small. The smallest one was only a mere hundred taels, but the largest one was an astonishing one million taels.
"Master Sun, all the silver notes obtained from this transaction are here, totaling 32,567,800 taels of silver. Moreover, we have allocated the silver to each household in the capital according to its share.
After dividing it up, send someone to deliver the money!"
"Thirty-two, five hundred and sixty-seven thousand eight hundred taels!"
Sun Liufang repeated the number in his mouth.
"Don't you mean that there are still people who don't have enough to eat in our Dachu territory? But why can so much money be collected from just this small scientific research? It seems! It's us officials who are poor.
of!"
He took the banknote from Zhou Mowu, the left servant.
"It's so heavy! It's a pity that there are only two million taels in it.
For me."
As he said this, there was a hint of disappointment in his eyes.
"Sir, isn't it easy for you to want money? If they want to become an official, the only way is to take the scientific examination. As long as we hold on to the entrance and don't let go, don't we still have the final say on the price of the ranking!"
Zheng Liang, who was holding the dividend list in his hand, spoke with a somewhat sinister tone.
"That's right, Mr. Sun. Didn't you say a few days ago that the ban on those families who are engaged in farming and studying would be lifted? Those families who are crazy about becoming officials have accumulated wealth for hundreds of years. Let them use a small part of it to change their ranking.
It’s not too much!”
Then, Zhou Mowu also fanned the flames and said.
"You two are right. Then next year we will raise the price by 10%. As for those aristocratic families, if someone comes, don't blame us lions for talking loudly!"
As he said that, the three people in the room laughed heartily together, as if the money had fallen into their pockets.
After laughing, Sun Liufang said to Zheng Liang with great satisfaction.
"Show me the list!"
After taking the list, the first name on the top of the first page was Su Wang, with the words three million taels written behind him.
Next came down some princes, dukes, three imperial envoys, etc.
"Just because there is an extra word Cong after my Yipin, my dividend is reduced by one million taels. This is based on the premise that I can get an extra five hundred thousand taels as the official minister."
Sun Liufang looked at the names at the top of the list with first-grade official positions, and his eyes immediately turned red!
"Sooner or later, I will take off the word 'cong' from the top of my head!"
After he finished speaking, he played with the banknote in his hand with great interest and counted it carefully. Only when he was bored, did he hand the banknote back to Zhou Mowu.
"According to the dividends on the list, send the money to your lords' mansions!"
"yes!"
After Zhou Mowu nodded, he bowed out of the room with a stack of banknotes, which finally made Sun Liufang's office room quiet down.
…
In front of the Su Mansion, a clerk wearing an eighth-grade official uniform and holding a small black cloth bag was calling the door until a man who looked like a housekeeper opened the door and welcomed him in...
"Xiang Su, the total income from this transaction is 32,567,800 taels of silver! This is your share and the dividend list. Please take a look!"
The clerk handed over the little black cloth bag very respectfully! After Su Wang took it, he opened it and read it.
Ignoring the three million dollar bills, I took out the list and read it.
"I heard that this time, your Sun Liufang, Mr. Sun, sold all his rankings?"
The clerk lowered his head even more.
"Back to Prime Minister Su, Mr. Sun also hopes that everyone can get more dividends. Besides, it doesn't matter whether you have the 15% quota or not. It's of no real use to Da Chu, right?"
"The human heart is not enough for a snake to swallow an elephant!"
Su Wang shook his head and sighed, then threw the little black cloth bag back to the clerk.
"Can you please give me a message to Sun Liufang, saying that my Su family will no longer be involved in this matter, and there is no need to worry about the feelings of my Su family. In addition, for the sake of my colleagues who have been together for decades, I will give it to you.
Here’s a word of advice: There’s actually a limit to how much food a person can eat in his lifetime, and it’s time to leave after eating!”
"Yes, yes! I will bring the little one with me!"
The clerk glanced at the Prime Minister without knowing what was going on, then picked up the cloth bag from the ground and ran away. He had to hurry back and report the situation to the Minister.
Su Wang stood there with deep eyes and murmured to himself.
"I, Da Chu, am really about to reach such a terminally ill state..."