Prime Minister

Chapter 281
The Water Pavilion behind Chongzheng Hall.

It is where the palace examination is arranged.

The editors are You Sijian Zhao Bian, Hanlin Bachelor Jia An, and Shi Yu Shizhi Miscellaneous Fan Shidao.

The palace examination arranger of the arrangement office needs to do two things. One is to be in charge of the arrangement of the font size of the examination papers.

There is another matter of grading candidates. This matter was originally handled by the arrangement officer alone, but after five years of Jingyou, it was jointly handled by the point inspector and the arrangement officer.

The arrangement officer and checker will arrange the rankings of 180 seven candidates selected from the 120 seven Jinshi imperial examination candidates, who will be ranked as third, fourth, and fifth ranks, and the remaining [-] will be sent to the preliminary examiners to be determined as first and second ranks.

Zhao Bian, Jia An, and Fan Shidao who acted as arrangers were all famous officials in the dynasty, and Jia An was born as the number one scholar.

The red candles were shining brightly in the composition office, and the three examiners first approved the type name of the composition as soon as they got the papers, and soon heard that the emperor came in person.

The three examiners all left the meeting in a hurry. They all knew that although the Son of Heaven had ruled for more than forty years, he still showed great interest in the matter of the scientific examination. a trip.

After comforting the three examiners, the emperor left.

Immediately afterwards, the eunuch from the Imperial Medicine Institute went to the Houshuige Arrangement Office to deliver an order for the three examiners to take the school examination. After speaking, two courtiers brought food tables, which were all wine and food bestowed by the emperor.

Seeing that the emperor attached so much importance to it, the three examiners did not dare to neglect, and immediately sealed the names of the 180 seven examination papers.

The sealed papers were selected by the editor from the beginning of the papers to determine the font size, and then sent to the transcription office for copying.Afterwards, the transcribed papers were handed over to the inspector and the editor for joint review.

The inspectors have the right to decide the grades, but the editors can only supervise. If they upgrade the papers without authorization, they will be punished by demoting them by one grade.

The next day, in the examination hall.

Several inspectors and editors worked together to finalize the examination papers.

The two spot inspectors are Sun Tan and Zheng Mu, among them Zheng Mu is a Hou official who is close to Chen Xiang and is called Mr. Binhai Fourth.

The five examiners first selected 120 papers and presented them to the junior officials, and then ranked the remaining [-] papers.

Before the exam, the emperor personally set the standards for the fifth grade papers.

The first-class knowledge is excellent, the rhetoric is pure, outstanding and unique, and unparalleled.

The second-class talents should be well-versed in learning, and the arts and sciences are thorough, and they can be regarded as high-level among the crowd.

The third-class art industry can be adopted, and the arts and sciences are good.

As for the fourth and fifth grades, there is no need to talk about them.

That is to say, several examiners must first select [-] papers. In other words, the first and second grade papers must be able to impress the examiners. As for the third grade papers, they cannot be wrong.

Several examiners just sat down, and the eunuch from the imperial medicine institute was about to serve tea when Yu Jia came to the examination institute in person.

The five examiners were taken aback, and this was the third time the emperor had visited in person.

In the past, although the emperor attached great importance to the imperial examination, he never paid so much attention to it.

The five examiners, with Jia An at the top, thanked the emperor, and the emperor comforted the examiners with gentle words, and then ordered the internal officials to come and give the examiners wine and food in person.

What can the examiners say to this time, the emperor is so kind, and the only way to repay the king's kindness is to focus on the examination school.

As for how to repay Jun En?That is a quarrel!
Competing for the rank of a paper, everyone should be angry and fight to make a noise, let the eunuchs and servants of the Royal Medicine Academy know, and then spread it to the ears of the emperor.

Zhao Yan glanced at the scrolls, and happened to see a scroll, which was titled 'The King Leads the People, One of the Four Seas'.

Zhao Yan looked up and saw that the other four officials were reviewing papers.He immediately picked up the paper named '笾'.

Zhao Bian re-read it again. In all fairness, this poem is mediocre, but Naihe Fuhe Lun is too exciting, so I recommend it. Naihe just quarreled with two prosecutors, and his face was red and his neck was thick. , so he said to Teacher Fan at the side: "What do you think of this volume?"

Fan Shidao glanced at Zhao Yan, and then said, "Wait a moment."

Zhao Bian held the paper and waited for Fan Shidao to finish the paper in his hand.

Seeing this, Fan Shidao thought, Zhao Si is really stubborn.

Fan Shidao thought of this and asked, "Sijian, what's the difference between this volume?"

Zhao Bian said: "I saw the names of the candidates in this paper when we edited it before, so in order to avoid suspicion, I would like to ask Zaduan to discuss the competition."

Master Fan said: "So that's the case, let me take a look."

Fan Shidao read the first sentence first, but when he saw that the king leads the people, one of the four seas, he suddenly woke up.

Fan Shidao couldn't help but pick up a pen and write a circle on the side about Wang Ba's theory.

Immediately, Fan Shidao read it word by line with a pen, and commented one after another: "The Fu is excellent, and the theory is excellent, but unfortunately the poetry is not good enough."

After Fan Shidao finished speaking, he handed it to Jia An who was beside him and said, "Neihan, please take a look, it was recommended by Zhao Sijian."

Jia An was born as the No. [-] scholar. Not only is he a master of writing, but he is also known for his uprightness.

His expression was indifferent, which was in stark contrast to Fan Shidao's surprise, but he took the paper and read it, seeing that it was full of Fan Shidao's circles, he couldn't help but shook his head.

Jia An read a few sentences and gave a little surprise, then read it intently, and at the same time picked up a pen to make annotations.

Beside Sun Tan, Zheng Mu also looked over.Zheng Mu said: "I must have seen some good paper."

Sun Tan said: "It is no surprise that among the more than 180 Jinshi papers, there are good ones."

Zheng Mu said: "I only read one-fifth of the volume, how can I come to a conclusion so quickly?"

While talking, Jia An had finished reading and said: "Fu Gujia, Lun Youmiao, um..."

Jia An twitched for a moment and then said: "But poetry is mediocre... yes, Wang Jiefu has accepted students recently?"

What does this mean, Sun Tan and Zheng Mu couldn't help guessing.

After Fan Shidao and Zhao Bian finished talking, he said, "Zhao Sijian renounced the right to recommend. I thought this paper could be ranked first or second. I don't know what Mr. Jia means?"

Jia An cherished his words like gold and said: "Yes."

Two of the three editors recommended it, but it was up to two prosecutors to decide whether to enter the first or second class.

After reading it, Sun Tan realized that the palace examination article could have been written like this, but he said on the face: "I can't judge this article... I'd better ask Mr. Zheng to finish reading it."

Said Sun Tan handed over to Zheng Mu.There are some subtleties in the evaluation of officials. These people are all ministers in the court. The more they get to high positions, the more cautious they speak. If they don't understand the mystery and the background of the examinees, they won't speak up easily. However, criticism is easy to come by. .

Zheng Mu knew that this volume was "not criticized" by these few people, it was excellent, and he couldn't wait to read it.

But Zheng Mu has always been known as a true Confucian, and he will not be preconceived because of other people's opinions.

Even though Zheng Mu had been prepared in his heart, he was still shocked when he first saw it. From the great unification of the Spring and Autumn Period to the noble people of Mencius, the transitions were very skillful and there was no sense of splicing. From this we can see This candidate really has a solid foundation in Confucianism.

Zheng Mu thought that Wang Anshi, the government and the public, admired Mencius the most. No wonder Jia Gong would say that this son was a student of Wang Jiefu. Not only that, but this style of writing that is broad and not powerful, and that is not boring but not boring is very similar to Wang Jiefu.

Zheng Mu didn't think much about it, and when he saw the final theory, he couldn't help but be overwhelmed. The three paragraphs of discussion are one paragraph, and the final conclusion is the finishing touch.

Zheng Mu couldn't help wondering who the hell is writing such an article, I'm afraid this is the leader of the present department.

But Zheng Mu suppressed the idea of ​​asking, whether it is the number one scholar or not is not his decision. This is the unanimous opinion of the first examiner, the re-examiner, and the detailed examiner. In the end, the emperor makes the decision.

In the end, Zheng Mu's heart was overwhelmed, and he just said lightly on his face: "I have no objection."

Then Sun Tan added: "I have no objection either."

The five examiners reached a consensus without arguing a word.

In the end, Sun Tan wrote a comment on the volume, "Excellent knowledge, pure rhetoric, outstanding and unique, unparalleled".

Five examiners wrote down their names respectively, and unanimously recommended this paper as the first-class paper.

After all, put it together with another volume.

It needs to be known that only one-fifth of the examination papers are graded, and the first and second grades need to be discussed and combined with the third, fourth and fifth grades before they can be recommended, so very few can stand out from the crowd at the beginning.And these two volumes can be settled so quickly, it can be seen that it is really "excellent, unique and incomparable" as the commentary said, even if you read two hundred volumes, these two volumes can still be ranked first.

……

Zhang Yue asked Steward Wu to go to Wu's Mansion with gifts first, told himself that he had finished the exam, and then rested at Zhang Shi's house for a day.This day Mrs. Zhuang came to see Zhang Yue, and she wanted to talk about the rough post and how to deal with it.

But when Mrs. Zhuang saw Zhang Yue, she forgot her original errand, and she was full of praise for his appearance.

"With such a character and appearance, as well as such talent and learning, I used to say that your Zhang family is very lucky to be married to the prime minister's family. Now it seems that your Sanlang Lord's marriage with the emperor is also a good thing."

Zhang Shi laughed and said: "I didn't expect to be a son-in-law, besides, a son-in-law can't be an official. It's better for the Wu family."

Mrs. Zhuang said yes again and again, and then looked at Zhang Yue with a smile and praised for a long time.

Immediately, Mrs. Zhuang talked with Zhang Yue about visiting Wu's house in the past few days.

The Wu family did not make any demands on the marriage, but was willing to pay a large sum of money for paving the land for Zhang Yue and his later expenses, so that no one could be picky about the marriage.

Mrs. Zhuang is talking about paying the eaves red today.

According to the custom of Bianjing, after the two families exchange posts, the man puts eight flowers or eight silk decorations into a wine tank and the woman's family. Twenty-five fish and a pair of chopsticks were delivered in the original wine bottle.

Mrs. Zhuang came today and told Zhang Shi to prepare early. After Zhang Yue was admitted to the imperial examination, he would come to the door to formally propose marriage, so as not to be overwhelmed by hasty preparations.

Zhang Yue didn't have the patience to listen to such trivial matters, and handed them over to his brother.

Zhang Yue had a quick chat with Mrs. Zhuang and then left home. He still has an appointment with Zhang Heng today.

Zhang Shi asked Tang Jiu to drive Zhang Yue to Zhang Heng's home in a donkey cart.

This time when Zhang Yue arrived at Zhang Heng's home, he saw his servants busy packing things inside and out.

Zhang Yue couldn't help being surprised when he saw it, and hurried into the hall, but seeing Zhang Heng reading in casual clothes, his complexion was not very good.

Zhang Yue hurriedly asked Zhang Heng, "Master Zhai, what's wrong with you?"

Seeing Zhang Yuelai, Zhang Heng smiled and said, "Duzhi, you are finally here. If the palace examination is a few days later, you may not see me."

Zhang Yue asked: "After the provincial examination, isn't it still all right? Where is the head of the house in such a hurry?"

Zhang Heng put down the book, leaned back on the chair and said, "You are busy with the imperial examination these days, and I didn't send anyone to tell you. A few days ago, I wrote to the Son of Heaven, saying that now the third department does not know how much money to receive and there is no budget. When it is time to collect from the people, it is urgent and persecuted, and it is difficult to confess."

Zhang Yue was taken aback when he heard the words and said: "Master Zhai, are you saying that someone in the third department is on empty pay?"

Zhang Heng nodded and said, "Isn't this something understandable? I have been an official in the third division for two years, and I can't bear it anymore."

Zhang Yue said: "Why does the head of the house do this? Now he not only offended the officials of the third division, but also made the third division offend."

Zhang Yue thought that Cai Xiang was the envoy of the Third Secretary of Quan, and Zhang Heng had worked hard for him in the court because of Zhang Wangzhi's incident.

The two have been at odds for a long time, and now Cai Xiang has become Zhang Heng's immediate boss from Quanzhi Kaifeng Mansion to Quanli Third Division Envoy.Did Zhang Heng ask to go because of this?

But seeing Zhang Heng said: "The entanglement between me and Ji Xiang has long since passed. Everyone does not violate the river water. This time, the Shangshu has nothing to do with him, but he really doesn't like it, and he doesn't want to be in cahoots with these people. After Shangshu, we I knew that the three divisions would not tolerate me, so I have already asked the imperial court for the county, and the decree will come down soon."

Speaking of this, Zhang Heng said to Zhang Yue seriously: "Did you save it?"

Zhang Yue said: "Forget it, the head of the house has always taught us that the children of the Zhang family should be lonely ministers."

Zhang Heng said with a righteous face: "That's exactly the case. If you want to be a lone minister, you can't form a party for personal gain, work together with others, and go along with others. That's why I wrote a letter to expose this matter, and then I asked for a foreign appointment. Even if my official career is frustrated, I can't let Zhang Heng The reputation of the children of the family has been damaged."

At this point, some blood appeared on Zhang Heng's lonely face.

"Okay, let's not talk about these things. Since you are here today, you have the right to say goodbye to me. The decree is only in these two days. I am afraid that I will learn about you on the way, but it's okay. No matter where I am, I will do it for you You are happy, today you and I have a few drinks."

After finishing talking, the servant sifted wine for the two of them, and served some small dishes to accompany the wine.

The two sat down and talked and laughed, talking about the interesting things about studying in Nanfeng courtyard.

Zhang Heng changed the subject and said: "You are only 17 years old this year. With your talents, it is no problem to get into the first place in this subject. If you can win the number one scholar, you will be the youngest number one scholar in Song Dynasty."

Zhang Yue put a piece of fresh fish in his mouth and said, "How dare you expect extravagance about the number one scholar. The chief of the fast eats wine."

Zhang Heng drank a glass of wine, his face flushed a little, and he sighed: "That's right, the officials selected me as the number one scholar four years ago, and your second brother was selected as the fifth place two years ago. Entering a high school, I am afraid that many officials and scholars will criticize us, saying that our Zhang family is not alone. The official family will not appoint a Zhang family child as the number one scholar after four years."

Zhang Yue laughed and said, "I just want to be within the second class."

Zhang Heng said: "If you are second in the provincial test, you should be within the second class. It's really worthless."

Zhang Yue was silent for a while, and then said: "It doesn't matter what time you wait, as long as you can marry a wife."

Zhang Heng laughed loudly when he heard the words, "You, you."

(End of this chapter)