Jinyi champion

Chapter 449 A disciple of the Yang family?

The yamen of the Ministry of Rites.

Yang Tinghe personally came to inquire about etiquette, and mentioned that this year the emperor lacked the rites of Jitian and the worship of the ancestral temple.

Mao Cheng, Minister of the Ministry of Rites, handed over the list of candidates for the examination to Yang Tinghe for review. It was an informal request. After all, even if Yang Tinghe was the chief assistant of the court, he was not qualified to ask about the admission status of the examination. .

Now that the emperor is on a tour to the south, Liang Chu and Jiang Mian, the great scholars of the cabinet, are accompanying him on the expedition. Yang Tinghe is in charge of all affairs in the capital. As long as the matter does not involve the emperor's close ministers, he can make the decision.

Yang Tinghe looked at the long list, which not only listed the candidates' backgrounds, places of origin, rankings, and the five classics, but also marked some places with red pen.

Yang Tinghe took a cursory look and asked, "I wonder if there is anyone worthy of reuse?"

Mao Cheng said with a smile: "There are a few people who are already famous for their talents. For example, Yang Weicong, who ranked high in the examination, is a famous Confucian scholar in Shuntian Prefecture."

"Yang Weicong?"

Only then did Yang Tinghe notice the names on the list, but unfortunately he couldn't see any clues, so he thought for a while and asked, "But the Juren who is very close to Xiaoer Yongxiu?"

"Exactly."

Mao Cheng had nothing to shy away from.

Yang Tinghe was a little worried at first, he seemed to feel that admitting his son's friend as a Jinshi would attract criticism, but then his face was relieved, he probably felt that the court needs "one of our own" to support the situation, so there is no need to worry too much.

Even though his complexion changed so quickly that it was almost invisible, for an old official like Mao Cheng, the change of Yang Tinghe's expression could not escape his eyes.

Mao Cheng said again: "However, in this exam, most of the candidates from the southern region are among the best candidates, especially in Huguang, where the top five accounted for four seats. The first one in Nangong... is named Zhu Hao, who comes from the family of Anjun. At a young age of only fourteen years old, he has already won the first place in the provincial and general examinations, and has a high reputation among scholars."

"Ok?"

Yang Tinghe frowned.

A fourteen-year-old boy with a high reputation?
How is this defined?
Mao Cheng was obviously just looking for an excuse. Did he want to tell Yang Tinghe that he had never heard of Zhu Hao before the exam, and no one cared about Jie Yuan from Huguang?
It was only after the opening of the exam that I found out that a young boy was actually admitted as the member of the club?
Mao Cheng could only say that this Zhu Hao was well-known, which made it seem that there was no problem with the admission of this test.

"A military household in Anlu Land?"

Yang Tinghe squinted at Zhu Hao's profile.

In just a few words, it only said that Zhu Hao came from a military family, and did not even list Jin Yiwei's background.

Mao Cheng introduced: "It was born in the Zhu family of the Jinyiwei Qianhu family. His grandfather was Zhu Mingshan, a Jinyiwei Qianhu family who made great contributions to the suppression of the Lingnan rebellion. He fell from a horse and was bedridden for many years..."

Mao Cheng still had some understanding of the experience of thousands of households in Jinyiwei, especially now that the Zhu family had a Jinshi, which required detailed investigation. Mao Cheng, who had consulted the relevant files and prepared in advance, could naturally explain the specific situation to Yang Tinghe.

"The old man has heard about it. I heard that the late emperor asked his Zhu family to move to Anlu... It's been nearly thirty years now." Yang Ting said reassuringly.

Mao Cheng smiled and said, "This Huiyuan is the queen of Zhongliang."

Obviously Mao Cheng didn't know about Zhu Hao's father's experience, otherwise the phrase "After Loyalty and Goodness" would be more accurate.

Yang Tinghe suddenly pointed to the column of Zhu Hao's father and asked, "What happened to his father?"

"It should be deceased, but I don't know the specific circumstances." Mao Cheng told the story frankly.

"Ah."

Yang Tinghe nodded.

For the courtiers, there will be two experiences of having to rest and bathe at home when they become officials in the future, that is, the death of their father and the death of their mother. A time of [-] months plus the delay on the way back and forth is almost two and a half to three years. A period of time is regarded as mandatory rest, just like Yang Tinghe's two guards in the [-]th year of Hongzhi and the [-]th year of Zhengde. At that time, Liang Chu temporarily replaced the chief assistant.

Therefore, for ordinary Jinshi, one of the parents passed away before passing the Jinshi exam, which means that the opportunity for a long rest is lost. It is the same as the employer's consideration of whether female employees should take maternity leave in the future. People in this era especially mention parents. The question of whether it is still there is used as an alternative selection method.

Mao Cheng said: "Based on the comments of the two chief examiners on his test paper, this son has extraordinary knowledge in terms of classics, meanings and policy questions, has the theory of governing the country, and is quite talented, or because of his military background, he has a lot of experience in the art of war. For the sake of reading..."

He paused in the middle of the speech, Mao Cheng noticed that Yang Tinghe's complexion was unkind, and unconsciously swallowed back the words of praise.

The most taboo thing for civil servants in the Zhengde Dynasty is that today's emperor is a martial artist. If such a young talent with civility and military strategy really entered the court, he might have been adopted by the emperor for his own use early on. This is not a good sign.

"Xu is fourteen years old, was born in Anlu, and was ranked first in the general examination. It seems that the level of knowledge of the scholars of the Ming Dynasty does not depend on age."

When Yang Tinghe said this, his expression was serious, and his tone was rather displeased.

Mao Cheng heard Yang Tinghe's sarcasm in his words, and quickly changed the subject: "Peng Rushi, the fourth place in the test, is from Jiading, Sichuan."

"Oh?"

Yang Tinghe's attention was indeed attracted.

Yang Tinghe's ancestral home is Jiangxi, and he lived in Sichuan for generations. The only non-Huguang candidate in the top five middle schools of the examination is from Sichuan, which is equivalent to Yang Tinghe's fellow countryman, so he will naturally pay attention.

As for the matter of Zhu Hao's ranking in Huiyuan, it was put aside for the time being.

The results have already been announced, this is just a routine report, even if Yang Tinghe has a thorn in his heart, it can't change the result, if he really wants to suppress him, at worst, his ranking will be wiped out during the palace examination.

After exchanging the situation of many candidates, Mao Cheng took the opportunity to raise a question in his heart: "Jie Fu, you see that this time the [-]-year-old boy will be the subject of the test. I am afraid that it will attract controversy among scholars all over the world. I wonder if this has broken the tradition of ritual education in the Ming Dynasty. ...while waiting for the imperial examination..."

Yang Tinghe wanted to explain this issue to Mao Cheng, but the way Mao Cheng asked for instructions was clearly bluntly saying, should we suppress someone?

This is like blatantly declaring that we ministers have the right to decide who will be ranked as a Jinshi in the palace examination. Is this presumptuous to know?

"Let everything go with the flow, each according to his ability, if this son is really capable to rank first in the palace examination, can you still stop him?"

Yang Tinghe didn't want to get too entangled in such trivial matters.

If I say too much, it will make people think that I, Yang Ting, have a small belly and can't tolerate a young man from Huguang who ranks high in the imperial examination.

Even if you just talk to Mao Cheng now...

But people’s hearts are far away, and now Mao Cheng can’t talk nonsense. It’s hard to guarantee that he won’t spread the news of today’s conversation in the future. At that time, others will criticize Yang Tinghe for interfering in the selection of the emperor’s disciples. In this way, there is a problem: this year’s Jinshi Is it a student of the Son of Heaven, or a student of your Yang family?
Yang Tinghe has been able to get to where he is today, and he is very cautious in what he says and does, and it is impossible to keep people talking.

Mao Cheng nodded, as if he understood something, and didn't bother with these questions any more.

……

……

Fast forward to April.

According to the normal process, March [-]th is the day when the palace examination is held, but because the emperor is away, a group of Juren has become a tribute, and there is still a little distance from the Jinshi. I can stay in the capital, but my mentality is obviously different from when I participated in the examination.

As long as there were no major incidents in the family during the year, and I didn't suddenly get seriously ill or belch, even if the palace examination was delayed, it wouldn't change the progress of the Jinshi among them.

But the wait is always painful.

Huguang Anluzhou City.

Zhu Hao has been away from home for more than half a year. In addition to the time before Zhu Hao took the provincial examination, Zhu Hao has not been at home for nearly a year, and his family misses him very much.

According to the general situation, when the news of the examination is waiting at home, one must either fail the ranking and come back directly, or pass the examination and wait for the release of the ranking. Basically, there is no need to announce the good news separately for the examination.

After all, there will be accidents in the palace examination. Even if you win Huiyuan in the palace examination, can you guarantee that you will get a good ranking in the palace examination?It would be bad if there was a big oolong at that time.

Besides, Gongshi is only the front of Jinshi, and the examination of Gongshi does not mean that it is in the imperial ranks. Although Gongshi and Jinshi are only separated by the procedure of the palace examination, there is a clear gap in status, just like actual officials and reserve officials. , the treatment is significantly different.

But this year is different from previous years, there is only one general examination, and the palace examination has not been held for a long time, so no one cares about the general examination to announce the good news.

"It's already April, and there's not even a single letter. The last letter, or last month, said in Xiaohao's letter that he was about to enter the examination room..."

Communication between the capital and Anlu is very slow among the people, basically people send letters along the way. Two fellow villagers from the same township said that if something unexpected happened on the way, the letter would not be delivered until long ago.

This is also one of the important reasons why people like to get together in foreign lands these days. Only by getting close to fellow countrymen can we inquire about the situation in our hometown and have the opportunity to communicate with family letters, instead of hiring someone to deliver letters alone. The cost can be high.

"Ma'am, don't worry. Didn't you say that Mr. Tang is also in the capital? Are there people from Xingwang's Mansion? I heard that the current young prince of Xingwang's Mansion is still stranded in the capital and has not returned. The relationship between Master Hao and the young prince is not very good." Is it?" Aunt Li comforted her.

Zhu Niang sighed: "I want to know how Xiaohao did in the exam, I'm so worried..."

Aunt Li smiled and said: "Ma'am, the young master is only fourteen years old this year. It is already extraordinary to be able to pass the examination at such an age. If another Jinshi comes back from the examination, it may be the real Wenqu star who came to the world... Let's calm down. , let everything take its course."

(End of this chapter)