Manchu traitor, how can you let me be the emperor of the ages

Chapter 173 Li Gan: I'm going to ruin this marriage!
Li Gan nodded, what he said was indeed reasonable.

However, this is not the main focus of his attention, because the name Wang Hua... reminds Li Gan of a celebrity.

This can't be the No. [-] scholar, Wang Yangming's father, right?
"By the way, where exactly is that Wang Hua from?" Although Li Qian was extremely shocked in his heart, he still pretended nothing happened.

"I heard it's a big family from the Yue Kingdom, where is Juzhang, Yuyao..."

Zheng Guan shook his head: "This person's writing is indeed very good, and I am definitely not as good as it. There are still many great candidates who want to take the exam, Cui Yuanhan, Zhang Xiaoxiang, Liu Gongquan..."

Li Gan's eyes are getting brighter and brighter. I didn't know much about it before. I didn't expect that there are so many big bulls in Juren?

"It's all mine..."

"What's wrong? Brother Li?" When he came back to his senses, what Li Qian saw was Zheng Guan's puzzled face.

Realizing that he might have lost his composure, Li Gan smiled and said, "I just thought, no matter how many great candidates there are, with Brother Zheng's talent and learning, there must be no problem if he passes the exam?"

Zheng Guan smiled wryly and shook his head: "The world is so big, there are so many wonders, we ordinary people sometimes just make up for others and serve as stepping stones."

Li Qian was a little speechless, and said to himself that I am an ordinary family, nothing special, but the house is a little bigger.

But you are a person from the Zheng family in Xingyang, and you have a nephew who is an official servant, what is so common about you? ?
"Brother Zheng, are you kidding me?" Li Gan looked at him with a smile: "Brother Zheng can win the top prize, and this knowledge will definitely be fine if you pass the test."

"In terms of knowledge, I am naturally self-confident, but I heard that this test is not easy."

Zheng Guan shook his head: "Brother Li, haven't you heard of it before? If you don't vote for some high-ranking official, you don't want to be a Jinshi..."

Li Gan's eyes narrowed slightly, and he asked with a smile: "This is really strange, aren't these candidates all disciples of the Son of Heaven?"

"Even if you get a Jinshi in the end, you just need to recognize the seat master and room master, and now there is still a matter of early delivery."

"That's natural."

Zheng Guan sighed, and said helplessly: "It stands to reason, even if Brother Li, you didn't want to take the exam this year, you should have heard of it."

"If you want to pass this exam, the best ones are those who are well-connected, who can enter the back door of several adults in the court in advance, and pass the essays to them. When the adults are familiar with your writing style, they can recognize it in the plethora of exam papers. Your test paper, then you can be taken."

"This is the 'Xingjuan'."

"In addition to the 'examination paper', you can also agree with the adults to add a sentence to the article. When the examiner sees this sentence, he will know that this is your paper, and he will naturally take it. Generally speaking, the latter one is more expensive than the former one.”

Li Gan nodded with a serious face, he had known this kind of atmosphere for a long time.

"However, although the price is huge, there are still many people rushing to it, and go to the back door of those people every day to find opportunities to exploit." Zheng Guan looked angry, obviously looking down on that kind of person.

Li Gan frowned slightly: "Brother Zheng, I remember that the main examiners of the imperial court's annual general examination are randomly selected. How can those people identify them so accurately?"

Zheng Guan sneered, and took a sip of tea: "Brother Li, you are so naive. You said it was randomly selected, but they all come in rotation according to the year. The examiners of the examination can only be left and right. One of the left and right servants is in charge, and these four people will naturally take turns, one person at a time."

He explained: "The last time when Mu Zong was in the 22nd year of the Wuchen Department, Qin Xiang had just taken over the phase, and the first three people had taken turns again. Naturally, he was the chief examiner, and the people on the apricot list of that department were also They are all his disciples."

The fragrance of osmanthus was released in the autumn of the township examination, so the final list of candidates also had an elegant name: Guibang, but when the apricot blossoms were released in the spring of the provincial examination, it was called the apricot list. These are extremely elegant, which shows that the literati Still guarding the bottom line.

But when it came to the final palace examination and the release of the rankings, the literati were already impatient and could no longer care about these long-winded words.

The name of "Golden List" directly sums up everything.

Osmanthus, apricot, and gold, how incongruous are the three words?It probably also represents the three psychological stages of literati...

Zheng Guan didn't know about these mental activities of Li Gan, so he continued to explain: "Qin Prime Minister has also had his turn now, so naturally he should start again. Among the other three, He Shen has had his turn once, and both Yan Song and Cai Jing have had their turn. three times."

He said helplessly: "If they are just people who are proficient in this way, they must not know the relationship. They only know that Prime Minister Qin cannot be the chief examiner continuously, so this time the examiner may be given to the adults who come less often."

"But anyone who has studied it a little will know that the other Cai Jing has the longest seniority. He was a Jinshi in the Bingxu Division of Emperor Yingzong for 15 years, and he took up the position of Pushe earlier than the other two."

"According to the rules and conventions, he should be the chief examiner this time."

"Among the four candidates, only Mr. Cai Jing and Cai have the best reputation, so this time there are many candidates who have not been here in previous years, and they are all preparing to come to the capital to take the exam."

Li Gan was very surprised when he heard this, and couldn't help but put down his teacup: "Cai Jing, that green... old man who is proficient in the law, actually has a better reputation than the other three?"

"That's natural." Although Zheng Guan was curious about why Li Qian used such a prefix, he lowered his voice and explained: "This is not my family's opinion, but the consensus of all people."

"Among the other three, He Shen and his lord are desperate for money. If you don't give enough bright gold and silver, it's really hard to win, so his reputation is also the worst."

"Yan Song and Yan Xiang are a little bit better, but not much better. This person's favorite is not gold and silver, but all kinds of literary games, calligraphy and paintings, and it is best to send them through his son. But this Wenwan, calligraphy and painting, and rare antiques should be more elegant, so Yan Xiang is more attractive to people."

Li Qian nodded slightly. These two people are of the same nature, they both want money desperately, so there is a difference between them?Just because one is "vulgar greed" and the other is "elegant greed"?
I really don't know what the people who commented on this thought.

Zheng Guan continued to explain: "As for Qin Hui and Prime Minister Qin, he doesn't like money or anything else, but he has very strict requirements on his students."

"When he was not the right prime minister, he once served as an examiner for the provincial examination. At that time, he asked his disciples to obey him unconditionally and do things for him wholeheartedly. At the same time, he, Prime Minister Qin, would also guarantee that person's official career."

"This has been criticized by others. Everyone who takes the imperial examination comes for their own ambitions. Who wants to just be a puppet for others, a marionette?"

Speaking of this, he shook his head and was a little puzzled: "But that's it, there are still many people rushing to it, it's really incomprehensible."

Li Qian said with a smile, "A man of noble character like Brother Zheng came here for his ambition and for his family and country."

"But there are still some people who take the imperial examination just to get promoted and make a fortune. For those people, this Qin Fan is the best choice."

Zheng Guan sighed: "Maybe so, but for me, the best one is this Cai Jing, Mr. Cai."

"He also doesn't ask for money, he just likes some natural stones, even if he doesn't have them, it doesn't matter. Moreover, although Cai Jing also has restrictions on his disciples, his restrictions are much lighter than those of Qin Xiang."

"In addition, there are many people who say that getting along with Mr. Cai is like a spring breeze, and being his disciple is like making friends with friends, without the pressure of facing the master..."

Li Qian nodded slightly, Cai Jing might have this style: "Then if Brother Zheng goes to find Cai Jing and finds a way through the door, wouldn't it be easy to become a Jinshi this time?"

Zheng Guan shook his head helplessly: "Brother Li, your thinking is too simple."

"Then Song Qiaonian is related to Cai Jing by marriage. I offended Song Qiaonian at the Luming Banquet that day and asked him to walk away. How could Cai Jing let me go?"

"That's why I said, I'm afraid there is no hope for the current branch of Chunwei."

Li Gan also frowned deeply.

What made him feel uncomfortable was not only Zheng Guan, but also thousands of other candidates.

You have to be screened by these bastards after taking the exam?
In this way, aren't all the people selected are smooth and flattering people?

What about the few people that Zheng Guan mentioned before?
For example, Bao Zheng, with his character, would he go to Cai Jing's place to make connections?If you can't get it, wouldn't you let such a talent go in vain? ?

My big black face, is it just gone?
Li Gan took a deep breath, calmed down a little, and looked at Zheng Guan puzzled: "Could it be that you can't live this spring without pleasing the examiner?"

"If it's an unknown person with a well-written article, then it's fine."

Zheng Guan replied helplessly: "But if they are a bit famous, these people will usually recruit them in advance. If you don't agree, it will be troublesome."

"It's not like there were no such people in previous years, but generally as long as you have a strong bone, you will be suppressed by the examiners back then, and you can only fail the rankings, and then go back in despair..."

Li Qian leaned back on the chair, and felt a toothache after hearing it.

In fact, he also had a premonition about such a thing, but when this kind of thing really happened before his eyes, Li Qian was still a little shocked.

He knew that such things had happened in his previous life, and the talk of suppression was no joke.

If you are not allowed to win, even if you have amazing abilities and talents, you will not win.

Tang Xianzu, a famous dramatist and writer, is the great talent who wrote "The Peony Pavilion" and "The Story of Nanke". He was already famous all over the world when he was young.

Zhang Juzheng, the first assistant at that time, wanted to find a few talented and famous people to sing and set off in order to make his sons Jinshi. Tang Xianzu was one of the people he chose.

It's just that Tang Xianzu did not succumb to the power of the chief assistant, and firmly rejected the matter.

In this way, although the fame and integrity are preserved, the price is also very serious.

In those years when Zhang Juzheng was in power, no one dared to win Tang Xianzu. He kept losing the ranking, while Shen Maoxue, who succumbed to Zhang Juzheng at that time, won the first prize in high school. This is the gap.

The so-called talents and fame still have to succumb to power.

Seeing that Li Qian was lost in thought, Zheng Guan also sighed softly: "Brother Li, either I don't hope at all this time, and offend these people, the test is useless."

"I think it's better to go back early."

Li Qian came back to his senses, forced a smile and said, "No matter what, Brother Zheng should give it a try."

"Your Zheng family has a great career, and you have face in the court, but it's just a place on the apricot list. I think they won't make things difficult for you."

Zheng Guan sighed: "Who knows? The Zheng family's signboard also depends on when it is. It used to be easy to use when there were people in the court. Now...it's not like that anymore."

He shook his head lightly: "The Zheng family doesn't speak enough these days, and some people in the family have made up their minds. I have an old brother who wants to give his granddaughter to be a concubine..."

Li Qian was still a little puzzled that the Zheng family would do the same.

Out of politeness, he didn't ask what was going on, but Zheng Guan seemed to be getting more and more angry as he talked, and couldn't help but patted the table and said: "It's just ruining the reputation, how can our daughter of the Zheng family do it for others?" What about my concubine? Really... I don’t know what to say!"

At the end, his face was still a little red.

Li Gan's curiosity was completely aroused, and he couldn't help asking: "Which minister in the court do you want to marry?"

Zheng Guan said with a complex expression: "Duke Tang, Li Yuan."

"what?"

Li Gan was startled, and subconsciously squeezed his sleeves tightly: "It turned out to be this old... old... old Duke?"

Feeling Zheng Guan's surprised eyes, he hastily changed his words: "Is he a bit too old?"

Zheng Guan withdrew his gaze and sighed: "It's not him, it's Li Jiancheng, the eldest son of his Duke's Mansion."

"However, it is said that Tang Guogong is also very sincere. He promised my Zheng family that if the two of them have a child in the future, they will definitely let that child be the grandson of the Duke's mansion."

"So even if you are a concubine, there are still many people in the clan who agree."

Li Gan immediately realized that Li Jiancheng's wife...the Zheng family...could it be Zheng Guanyin?
If Li Yuan used this in-law to get on line with the Zheng family in Xingyang... Li Qian would get dizzy thinking about it.

Don't look at Zheng Guan's mouth, the Zheng family is so miserable, but Li Gan will not believe this kid's Versailles.

The Zheng family has people in both Chinese and military in the court, not to mention that the Zheng family officials who have served before have a large network of contacts.

And these are all second, the Zheng family is not a simple family, they are a vassal state, with a legitimate army and territory!
If Li Yuan gets this kind of help...

Li Qian felt that the throne under his butt was a little bit vacant.

Moreover, the Zheng family in Xingyang married their prostitute daughter to Li Jiancheng, and they may not have invested in advance, and wanted Li Yuan to become a big man.

If you think about it, you will know that if Li Yuan became the emperor, Li Jiancheng would be the crown prince, and Li Jiancheng's son would have a chance to inherit the throne...

Li Gan frowned tightly.

No, this matter must be messed up for him.

Zheng Guan gulped down the tea in his cup, as if it was a fine wine to soothe his sorrows.

"Hey, I said too much today, I made Brother Li laugh."

Zheng Guan casually wiped away the tea from his mouth with his sleeve, stood up and cupped his hands, and said, "I missed brother Li's meal today, if brother Li has time someday, you can ask me to get it back."

He regained the ease and ease he had when he came here: "I live in Zheng's Mansion in Qinrenfang. Brother Li can go any day. Let's take my leave today and don't bother me much."

Li Gan also smiled lightly: "You and I hit it off, and when we saw each other, we naturally talked freely. What's so ridiculous about it? Let's forget about it today, and I will definitely bother Brother Zheng some other day."

He also reported the old eunuch's outer house in the capital, and told Zheng Guan that if he meets Bao Zheng in the future, he can go to him.

After parting from Zheng Guan, Li Qian was so preoccupied that he no longer had the mind to hang out outside, but went all the way back to the palace.

Today was supposed to go out to relax, and by the way celebrate the victory of the rumor battle some time ago.

Unexpectedly, after what Zheng Guan said, Li Gan realized that there was still a problem in front of him.

The first thing to bear the brunt is to try.

Now the exam is only a few months away, and the people who passed the exam make Li Qiang's mouth water. They are the pillars of the country.

Wang Hua, this is obviously a heavyweight, and he buys one and gets one free.

This son's name is Wang Shouren, also known as Wang Yangming, who is the last saint who completed "establishing morality, meritorious service, and establishing words".

Buy one Wang Hua and give one Wang Yangming away. There is no more profitable business than this in the world.

Needless to say, Bao Zheng, this black-faced brother, is an absolute fierce man. Li Qianzheng needs such a man to help him sweep away those messy ghosts and snakes.

Liu Gongquan, Yan Jin and Liu Gu are talking about him, Liu Gongquan and Yan Zhenqing are as famous, and he is also a man of integrity and integrity.

Zhang Xiaoxiang is also a person with integrity, ideals, and ambitions. In his previous life, he was a loyal minister in the Southern Song Dynasty and was framed by Qin Hui.

We all know that the more loyal a person is to Dasong, the worse he will end up in the end. This man was demoted several times in his life, more than died of illness at the age of 30.

But in the current big job, these people have a bright future...

Of course, the premise is that they can all pass the test.

But only in the test procedure, Li Gan didn't have much room to intervene.

In this regard, Daqian's regulations are very clear.

The Ministry of Rites and the chief examiner jointly drafted several questions for the general examination, and then handed it over to the emperor to designate one.

In other words, Li Gan can only choose among the existing results, and cannot actively fill in the blanks.

The influence of his emperor on the examination can only be reflected here.

In addition, what kind of invigilation, what marking, what ranking... Li Gan has almost no reason to intervene.

According to the usual practice, those who pass the examination are called Gongshi, and Gongshi can take part in the palace examination one month later. Generally, candidates are not dismissed from the palace examination. All Gongshi who take the exam can pass, called Jinshi, or awarded He was born with Jinshi.

In other words, Li Qian could hardly change the candidates for Jinshi, because when the result was sent to him, it had already been decided.

In the political affairs hall, Li Gan was half lying on the rug, with his hands behind his head, staring at the sunlight outside the window.

At this moment, the weather is already a bit chilly, the wooden windows inlaid with brass sheets are half-closed, and the sun shines through the blurred window paper, casting a shadow on the ground.

The slightly cool wind blowing in in the early winter makes people sober up a little.

According to the rules, Cai Jing is the chief examiner for this test.

In other words, even if those people passed the examination, they and Cai Jing would still be labeled as disciples and seat masters, which Li Gan didn't quite accept.

These are all vegetables from my own garden, how can I have a relationship with Cai Jing?
However, for the civil servants, the theory of the master of the disciples is also an inescapable relationship. Even if there is no Cai Jing, they will have this relationship with other examiners.

If you really want to say that, Cai Jing is a suitable person again, after all, this is the old green hat king.

But the point is, how to get Cai Jing to take all these people?

Li Gan was wearing a smooth and soft yellow silk padded jacket, lying on the red-yellow soft couch tossing and turning pancakes, but he just had no idea.

"His Majesty?"

Lu Pheasant came in with a bowl of steaming steaming soup. He happened to see His Majesty in such a state, and thought something was wrong with him: "What's wrong with you? You didn't close the window?"

She put the green jade plate and soup bowl in her hands on the low table beside the soft couch, wiped her bare hands with a white silk handkerchief, and walked towards the window.

"No need to turn it off, it's cooler to turn it on." Li Gan stopped it.

He sat up, put his hands in his sleeves, and looked curiously at the bowl of soup that Lu Zhi brought over. He looked like a little old man at the entrance of the village: "Ejin, what is this?"

"This is tremella honey tea."

Lu Pheasant walked slowly from behind, with a light smile on her pretty face: "Your Majesty, it's winter now, the weather is dry, and the discomfort in the lungs is increasing. Tremella nourishes the lungs, and honey can refresh the mind and nourish the body. "

Li Gan leaned on Lu Zhi who was sitting over, and nodded slightly.

Lu Zhi smiled lightly and took the sapphire bowl, picked up the sapphire spoon, scooped up a spoonful and brought it to his mouth.

"Hmm... the taste is not bad." Li Qian took a sip, nodded slightly to express his approval, and continued to hug Lu Zhi's warm arms.

"Ah~" Lu Zhi cried out coquettishly, being squeezed, almost spilling the soup.

She carefully adjusted her sitting posture to make Li Gan more comfortable, then scooped up a spoonful and put it into his mouth: "Your Majesty, please slow down."

While drinking, Li Gan asked, "Ejin, I have encountered a problem recently, and I want to ask you what you think."

"The concubine knows everything." Lu Zhiyu held the soup in his hand, and while feeding Li Qian the soup, he replied in a gentle voice.

Li Gan frowned, and selectively said a part of what he heard today about Chunwei and those Jinshi.

"What do you think I should do so that Cai Jing can win all these people?"

"It doesn't need a high ranking, as long as they can pass Chunwei, the ranking in the palace examination will be determined by me, so naturally I won't treat them badly."

Lu Zhi was a little surprised: "How does Your Majesty know that these people are capable and worthy of use?"

As soon as the words came out of her mouth, she exclaimed again: "I almost forgot, but Your Majesty knows many ministers very well."

"Does His Majesty know the details of these people?"

Li Gan smiled: "I just know a little bit."

"Your Majesty is too modest."

Just as Lu Zhi put down the soup bowl, he smiled lightly and said, "Your Majesty knows everything well. You can even know what they are doing in private. If you only know a little bit, no one in the world will understand." Those people."

"Don't talk about this, just think of a way for me." The little old man Li Qiang finally took out his hands in his sleeves, smiled and pinched Lu Zhi's smooth and tender face.

Just now it was blown by the cool wind outside for a while, it was obviously a little bit cold, but there was no sign of dryness, it was still as smooth as jade.

Lu Zhi's pretty face blushed slightly: "Your Majesty, you think too highly of my concubine's body, there is nothing you can do about it, so how can my concubine's body do it?"

"And those people you want to promote, you must not let Cai Jing know, otherwise he will definitely get in the way."

"good."

Li Gan nodded solemnly: "With the current situation, even if he is fine, he may find something for me. If he still catches the pigtails, this old thief will definitely not let go easily."

"Either hold those people to threaten me, or directly depose those people."

Lu Zhi also nodded, holding Li Qian's arm, and said warmly: "Your Majesty, can't you change the examiner? Even if it is the practice of civil servants, it can't be changed, right?"

Li Gan sighed and shook his head: "It's very difficult, one is to break the convention, and the civil servants will subconsciously object."

"Second, there is no one to change now."

"Originally there were only four people who were qualified to be the chief examiners, but Qin Hui was the chief examiner of the previous department, Chunwei. Since the chief examiners of the general examination cannot be re-elected, there are only three people left."

He said helplessly: "But He Shen and Yan Song are now in Xingyang and Bianzhou for disaster relief!"

"E Ji, you might as well think about it. If I want to accomplish this, I have to break the convention and cancel Cai Jing's main exam, and also interrupt their disaster relief errands and recall one of them back to Beijing."

"The resistance in this is too great."

Lu Zhi also nodded heavily when he heard the words: "The difficulty of this matter is to let Cai Jing take those people without a trace."

"But according to what His Majesty said, some of them are also proud. If Cai Jing takes a fancy to such a person and fails to recruit them, but instead suppresses them, there is no way."

She thought for a moment, her beautiful eyes brightened slightly: "Your Majesty, I remember, isn't there a deputy examiner in the general examination? There are also internal surveillance officers, promotion officers..."

Li Qian frowned and pondered for a moment, then said: "This is also an idea, but there is not much hope."

According to the practice in previous years, the deputy examiner is a minister selected from the Imperial Academy.

But then the Hanlin Academy gradually declined, and the deputy examiner gradually changed to choose from the six servants.

Cai Jing is a servant of Shangshu, no matter who the deputy examiner is, I am afraid he will give him some face.

As for the internal surveillance officers, transfer officers, etc., although they are called the supervisors to examine whether they are favoritism, but in fact... do they dare to supervise?
These two positions have long been useless.

"The deputy examiner can't compare with the chief examiner in terms of speech power or real power."

Li Gan shook his head slightly: "I have to ask again, who will be the deputy examiner this year."

The candidates for this deputy examiner are more Buddhist. There are twelve ministers in total in the six departments. There are more candidates than the chief examiner, and they are more chaotic and disorderly.

I heard that in previous years, everyone competed for jobs, and I don't know who has the best hope this year.

Lu Zhi also nodded, helped Li Qian to relax by kneading his muscles, and said in a warm voice: "No matter what, if your majesty is still going to the capital for a transit, you might as well observe those movements more."

"I don't know how to solve it from above, what if we can find a solution from below?"

Li Gan was startled, then nodded slowly.

This also seems to be the way to go.

(End of this chapter)