Prime Minister

Chapter 296 Episode Two

In March and April in Bianjing, the scenery is mostly drizzle.

The rain is beating on the royal boat sailing on the Bianhe River, and the scenery on both sides of the Bianhezhou Bridge from the cabin is also a bit hazy.

The green willows are giving out new leaves, the weeping willows are dipping down on the river bank, the streets are congested, pedestrians are shoulder-to-shoulder, and there are also beautifully dressed singers standing on the state bridge with oil-paper umbrellas.

Zhang Yue and others sat in the cabin, watched the spring scenery of Bianshui, and went to the Taiping Xingguo Temple.

When the boat crosses the state bridge, the towering pagoda of Xingguo Temple can be seen in the distance. People standing on the bow of the boat need to look up to see the whole picture.

Different from the iron tower of Kaibao Temple, the Buddhist pagoda of Xingguo Temple is built of green bricks, which is tens of feet high.

Taiping Xingguo Temple is to the west of Daxiangguo Temple and northeast of Bianhe Majunya Bridge. During the Taiping Xingguo period, Emperor Taizong of Song Dynasty bestowed the title with the year name, so it was named Taiping Xingguo Temple.Together with Tianqing Temple, Kaibao Temple and Daxiangguo Temple, it is called the Four Emperor Temples in Bianjing.

When the Shi family was introduced in the Eastern Han Dynasty, Mo Teng and Zhu Fa came to China on a white horse, and Emperor Han Ming entertained them to live in Honglu Temple.Later, Baima Temple was built to take the meaning of Honglu Temple.

Later it was called Dojo, Jialan, and it was commonly called Temple in the Tang Dynasty.In the Song Dynasty, the big ones were called temples, and the small ones were called courtyards.

When Su Xun and his son went to Beijing to take the exam, they lived in the bathroom of Daxingguo Temple.

It was only last month that Su Xun bought a mansion near Yiqiu Gate, and his family moved there, one mile away from Daxingguo Temple.

When the boat arrives at the pier, Zhang Yue sheds his boat and lands.

All the Jinshi of the same year were waiting on the shore and called him the No. [-] Scholar, and everyone braved the rain to watch.

There are seven Zou Jinwu guards Yijia waiting on the shore.

The No. [-] Scholar was given to Zou, which was grace from Cai Qi when he was named No. [-] Scholar by Song Zhenzong.

The Jinwu Guard is the emperor's guard who travels to clear the road and guides the guards of honor. As for the system of the seven zodiacs, only the emperor can use it.

At that time, Song Zhenzong saw that the idle people in the capital could also come and go by horse. Jinshi with rich families had a very extravagant entry and exit period collection, with several tall horses driving.As for the No. [-] scholar Cai Qi, his family was poor and unable to buy clothes.

Therefore, Emperor Zhenzong of the Song Dynasty stipulated that all Jinshi's past collection offices only need to double control the horse's head, and the system cannot be exceeded.

As for the number one scholar, the imperial guard of honor was given to the emperor to use, and it became a custom.

When Zhang Yue got into the carriage and went from the wharf to Taiping Xingguo Temple with the Jinshi, everyone was vying to see each other. Many people climbed the house to look down, and the common people were all envious. After the guard of honor, walk in a strong manner.

Although Zhang Yue was sitting on the carriage, he still helped Che Xuan to get up again and again, and bowed down to salute the people who were vying for a look by the road.

Going all the way to Taiping Xingguo Temple, Zhang Yue got off in front of the temple.

When the monks of Daping Xingguo Temple saw the guard of honor of the emperor and the mighty chariots and horses, they had already joined the temple to welcome them.

Zhang Yue led the Jinshi to enter the temple after thanking the monks at the gate of the temple.

Taiping Xingguo Temple is outside the right gate of Da Nei. It is not far from Fengfu, Yushitai, and Shangshu Province. Although it is prosperous, it is not noisy.It was really a wise move for Su Xun to choose this place to prepare for the exam instead of going to stay in the complicated mansion.

In the drizzle, Zhang Yue stepped into Taiping Xingguo Temple.Different from the Daxiangguo Temple, the Taiping Xingguo Temple is large in scale, and it is located in the busy city at the foot of the emperor, but there is no noise at all. It is really an excellent treasure temple and a clean residence.

The abbot led the way and introduced the scenery in the temple to Zhang Yue. Zhang Yue stopped at an ancient cypress in front of the temple, but saw that the tree was old and the trunk was covered with moss.

Abbot Heshi said: "It is said that it was planted by Dayu himself, thousands of years ago."

Zhang Yue and all Jinshi paid homage to the towering Xingguo Temple Pagoda at the back of the hall, and then went to the Eastern Tibetan Scripture Academy of Qijisuo.

On the snow-white courtyard wall are written poems written by the champions of the past dynasties.

Zhang Yue read them one by one, and happened to see the poem inscribed by Zhang Tangqing, the number one scholar in the first year of Jingyou.

But see the title wall that says, "I will be on the Dragon and Tiger List for the first time in one fell swoop, and I will be in the Phoenix Pond in ten years."

During the Southern and Northern Dynasties, the Ministry of Education of China was established in Jinyuan, and the pool in Jinyuan was called Fenghuang Pond.Therefore, Fenghuangchi can refer to Zhongshu Province or the prime minister.

I thought back to how high-spirited Zhang Tangqing was when he won the first prize, so he set up his ambition to go to Fenghuangchi for ten years here.

However, Zhang Tangqing died at the age of 28.

Some people who were jealous of him added two sentences to his poem, you see Yao Ye and Liang Gu, and the court officials don't know.

Yao Ye and Liang Gu were also champions, but unfortunately they also died of illness at a young age, before even the court officials arrived.

Zhang Yue read the poems written by Zhang Heng and Liu Hui again, and the abbot Taiping Xingguo immediately asked the monks to bring paper and pen.

"Please also write a poem on the petition."

Zhang Yuelue thought about it and wrote a poem of Zhongping's "Three thousand words of countermeasures of Danchi, titled five-color spring on the gold list".

The abbot and all the Jinshi all smiled and applauded after seeing it.

Zhang Yue wrote down the inscription 'Jiayou's Sixth Year in March Palace Examination No.1 Chapter Yue Title This'.

Because it was the first date set, all Jinshi discussed in the Institute, and first selected the "Tuan Si".

The group secretary is the person who organizes the banquet, selected by the number two in the same year, responsible for invitations, rectification, drafting, supervising inscriptions, hosts, guests, records, hosts, food, and wine Fruit, the matter of prison gate.

There are as many as five or 60 people in the regiment, and as few as three or 40 people.

This is also the time when all Jinshi get to know each other. They talk to each other in the scripture library. Don't look at a few words today, and when they meet each other as officials in the future, it will be as good as before.

The monks of Daxingguo Temple offered tea and fruits to the crowd.

There is a big table in the hall, and white paper is spread on it. Each Jinshi goes up to write down his name, hometown, three generations, foreign family, and whether he was an official before the first rank on the paper.

After writing, it will be compiled into a small record of the same year, and handed over to the bookstore for printing, one copy for each Jinshi.

Zhang Yue saw Sheng Yuan Jiangyan.

Jiang Yan was a little disappointed, his ranking dropped from Provincial Yuan to No. 19 in the palace examination.

But Shengyuan has a right. During the roll call in the palace examination, if three people have passed the roll call, if there is no name of Shengyuan, Shengyuan can call himself out loud.

This was the case when Wu Yu and Ouyang Xiu were Provincial Yuan. At this time, the emperor would promote Provincial Yuan to the top three.

However, when Fan Zhen was awarded the Provincial Yuan, he fell to the second best in the palace examination. At that time, he passed the top three in the roll call in front of the palace, and he didn't make a sound.The same is true for Shengyuan Jiangyan, who has been silent all the time, accepting the ranking given to him by the emperor, and not seeking promotion.

Zhang Yue took a high look at Jiang Yan, and asked him to take charge of the rectification. As for Huang Lu, Han Zhongyan and others also made their own arrangements.

Zhang Yuezheng was speaking with Tongnian, just as most of the people had finished writing their names on the inscription.

It happened to be the turn of the bottom two.

The last person at the bottom of the list, also the last one in the top five, was named Chen Tao. The third person in his family saw everyone and laughed at himself in the same year: "The champion is the third, and I am also the third. The number one picks the first list, and I shoulder the first list. They are equal."

Seeing Chen Tao's humorous words, everyone laughed when they heard the words.

One person laughed and said, "This is the No. [-] scholar, I admire it!"

Together with Chen Tao, he was the second-to-last person in the small list of titles. He thought it would be embarrassing to be at the bottom of all Jinshi with Chen Tao.

But seeing that Chen Tao could be so shameless, he also laughed at himself and wrote a poem: "Even if you raise your head, you can't see Zhang Yue, but you can still step on Chen San when you stretch your feet."

After he finished speaking, the man stamped his feet, and all the Jinshi in the Scripture Library burst out laughing.

As for Chen Tao, his face was flushed with anger.

Zhang Yue couldn't help laughing while leaning on the wall, thinking that it's interesting to have these two in the episode.

(End of this chapter)