Optimus One Pillar of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 84 Palace Exam

On March 26th, the [-]th year of Jiajing in the Ming Dynasty, the palace examination was held as scheduled.Early in the morning, the rooster had just started crowing, and Gao Yi, who got up early and was about to go to the Imperial Academy, knocked on the door one by one, waking up Wang Daoqiu and the others who were going to participate in today's palace examination.

It was still the fourth watch, and the sky outside was the darkest time before dawn. The moonlight was dim and about to disappear in the sky.Being woken up by Gaoyi knocking on the door, Wang Daoqiu woke up in a daze, got dressed, and went to the well to wash up with cold water to clear his mind.

Having made himself look like a human being, Wang Daoqiu, together with Yin Zhengmao and others, rushed to the venue of this palace examination, Xiyuan, the current residence of the old Taoist and Ming Emperor Jiajing.

According to the consistent rules of the Ming Dynasty, the palace examination should be held in Jinsheng Hall in the Forbidden City.But the old Taoist Emperor Jiajing hated the Forbidden City. He liked to live in Xiyuan and devote himself to cultivating immortality while becoming his emperor.

Since Emperor Jiajing doesn't like to go to the Forbidden City, the location of the imperial examination can only be followed by the leader and placed in Xiyuan.After all, leaders hold the power to interpret the rules.

When Wang Daoqiu, Yin Zhengmao, Yuan Hongyu, and Zhang Juzheng rushed to Xiyuan together, there was already a long queue here.As soon as the four of them arrived, they went to the back of the queue obediently.

But when they just stood still, a "Brother Nian" in front of them who they didn't recognize turned around and bowed to them, and asked: "Brother Nian, where did you get on the exam?"

What place did you get in the exam?We don't know each other, and we ask about test scores as soon as we meet. Isn't Brother Nian's curiosity too strong?Wang Daoqiu and the others were a little dissatisfied with Brother Nian's impoliteness. As the "boss" among Wang Daoqiu and the four of them, Yin Zhengmao responded to Brother Nian's question in a bad tone: "This Nian Brother, just wait in line and don’t ask other people’s business!”

Yin Zhengmao's tone and face were both very rude, which made Brother Nian very embarrassed.So the old brother hurriedly cupped his hands and explained: "Brother Nian, you misunderstood me. I am not a little brother, but I am a talkative woman. It's just that I wait in the queue according to the ranking of the exam. I don't ask how many senior brothers have the rankings of the exam. That little brother, I don’t know if I should stand in front of these younger brothers!"

"Ha ha ha ha"

"Ha ha ha ha"

"Ha ha ha ha"

After hearing the other party's explanation, Wang Daoqiu, Yuan Hongyu, and Zhang Juzheng all snickered while suppressing their voices.But Yin Zhengmao was extremely embarrassed at this moment. The reason why Yin Zhengmao was extremely embarrassed was not only because he misunderstood others, but more importantly, his score in the test was 299th.

The 26th year of the Jiajing Examination of the Ming Dynasty, in terms of the number of admissions over the years, is relatively large. In the past, only 299 or [-] people were admitted in the general examination. This year, [-] people were admitted, which is probably more than the previous ones. Thirty or forty people.But even so, Yin Zhengmao's [-]th place is still the third from the bottom, the authentic last one!Just Yin Zhengmao's ranking means that he will stand at the end of the team.So now Yin Zhengmao looks embarrassed.

Laughing at Yin Zhengmao's embarrassment, Wang Daoqiu, Yuan Hongyu, and Zhang Juzheng walked to the front of the team.Wang Daoqiu is Huiyuan, so there is no need to ask where he is, he can just stand first. However, Zhang Juzheng is No. 11, and Yuan Hongyu is No. [-]. They have to ask others where they want to stand.

After Wang Daoqiu and the other three left, Brother Nian, who had just asked them about their four rankings, saw that Yin Zhengmao was still standing there. He didn't know whether he should stand in front of Yin Zhengmao or behind Yin Zhengmao.So the young brother bowed his hands in a dilemma, and asked Yin Zhengmao again: "This young brother, what will you try?"

Mudd, you still ask!Lao Zhi is so consciously standing behind you, can't you guess that Lao Zhi will try for ranking?Since Brother Nian had the confidence just now to ask himself about the ranking of several people in the competition instead of consciously standing behind him, Yin Zhengmao thought that Brother Nian's ranking in the competition should not be at the bottom of the crane, so Yin Zhengmao consciously stood behind him.

But now when people asked Yin Zhengmao about his place in the examination, he still had a look of embarrassment on his face. His whole face clearly said: "Brother Nian, if you don't tell me, I won't know where I should stand! Brother Nian, please You, just tell me!"

This Nian brother is a bit stubborn and his mind is a bit dull, but he has done nothing wrong.Upon closer inspection, it was Yin Zhengmao who caused trouble for others.

So facing the embarrassment on Brother Nian's face, Yin Zhengmao had no choice but to put on his old face, turned his head to one side, and said shamelessly: "I will try 299 this time."

"Oh, it turns out that Brother Nian is 299! I am 245, so I will stand in front of Brother Nian."

Hearing that Yin Zhengmao will try 299, but with his 245, he finally doesn't have to stand last.That brother Nian happily put aside these words for Yin Zhengmao, then turned around happily, and stood in front of Yin Zhengmao with peace of mind.

That young brother doesn't have to stand last, he feels very happy.At this time, facing the back of this young brother, Yin Zhengmao's heart was pierced.Mad, boy, can you chat?

Not to mention Yin Zhengmao's tragic queue life, after Wang Daoqiu separated from Yuan Hongyu and Zhang Juzheng, he went straight to the front of the queue.He first bowed his hands and saluted the elder brothers who were lining up here, and then stood at the front.At this time, the first few people standing in the queue were all "middle-aged old men" in their 40s and [-]s. They saw Wang Daoqiu, a boy with a little baby fat on his face.They didn't even ask and just stood in the first place. They were not happy at that time.

So next to Wang Daoqiu, a "middle-aged old man" who was in line behind Wang Daoqiu walked out of the queue.He came to Wang Daoqiu's side, first bowed his hands to Wang Daoqiu, and then said angrily: "Young man, you can pass the examination at a young age, which is considered a formidable young man. But why do you stand in front of me? Huh? I am..."

"I am Wang Daoqiu, Changxing County, Huzhou Prefecture, Zhejiang Province."

The middle-aged old man's tone was unkind and his face was full of anger. He was obviously looking for trouble.So Wang Daoqiu didn't bother to know his last name or where he was in the exam.So just when the middle-aged man was about to introduce himself, Wang Daoqiu interrupted him rudely and announced his identity.

Wang Daoqiu, this name was known in the township examination last year because he was the first person to be caught off the list since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, Xie Yuan, who was stripped naked at the gate of the Gongyuan, and everyone in the Ming Dynasty knew it.Later, he went to Beijing to take the exam, and after another disagreement, he sued Xia Yan, the first assistant at the time, to the imperial court, causing Xia Yan to change from the first assistant to the second assistant.

It can be said that the above two awesome things have already made the name "Wang Daoqiu" known to everyone among the scholars of the Ming Dynasty.Coupled with the fact that Shining, who ranked first in the trial list half a month ago, made the name "Wang Daoqiu" very popular among the new Gongsheng students of this year.

So Wang Daoqiu reported his name to the "middle-aged old man" who was standing there just now, ready to find trouble.As soon as he heard that the young man in front of him was "Wang Daoqiu", Jinke Huiyuanlang of the Ming Dynasty, he immediately withered. He politely offered his hand to Wang Daoqiu again, and then returned to his original position.

There was an episode of queuing. At this time, those people queuing behind Wang Daoqiu all knew that the young man standing at the front of the queue was the most popular star in the Ming Dynasty, Wang Daoqiu.So they started pointing and whispering at Wang Daoqiu behind Wang Daoqiu's back.

Enduring the embarrassment of being watched as a rare animal by others, Wang Daoqiu kept a calm expression on his face and stood upright, just waiting for the palace door to open.

The palace gate of Xiyuan did not keep Wang Daoqiu waiting for a long time. It was about a quarter of an hour after Wang Daoqiu started queuing!The palace gate of Xiyuan opened, and a group of small Huangmen filed out, announcing that the newly promoted Gongsheng students waiting outside could enter Xiyuan to participate in the palace examination.

All the tribute students knelt down to listen to the imperial decree, thanked them with their heads, got up, led by Wang Daoqiu, and entered the Xiyuan under the guidance of Xiaohuangmen.

After entering Xiyuan, Wang Daoqiu and his group of [-] tribute students were led by the small yellow gate to the entrance of a large house that looked a bit like a large house of an ordinary wealthy family, under the watchful eyes of the emperor's soldiers in bright armor.

As far as the specifications of this house are concerned, it is used for palace examinations. Is it worthy?Seeing the obvious low-grade of this house, Wang Daoqiu was complaining about Emperor Jiajing, did he take medicine indiscriminately again!At this moment, rows of little eunuchs, carrying buckets of steaming water, entered the big house.

Then the little Huangmen who had just brought Wang Daoqiu here told Wang Daoqiu and the others the purpose of bringing them here: to bathe and change clothes.

Then Wang Daoqiu and the other tribute students had no choice but to enter the big house, take off their clothes, and take a bath in the big pool behind the curtain.

After bathing, as soon as Wang Daoqiu came out, a young eunuch looked at Wang Daoqiu twice. Then he took out a bag of clothes from bags of clothes, handed it to Wang Daoqiu and said: "My lord, according to the imperial court, According to the rules, you can no longer wear your own clothes when you take part in the palace examination. This is the palace examination suit prepared for you by the palace, you can change it quickly!"

Wang Daoqiu understood clearly after taking the palace trial uniform handed over by the young eunuch.Ma De, Emperor Jiajing is really careful. Is he afraid that Jing Ke will assassinate the King of Qin?That's why the Gongsheng students had to take a bath and change their clothes before meeting him, and controlled all the original things on the Gongsheng students. They could only wear the absolutely safe clothes prepared by him to meet him.

Understanding Emperor Jiajing's pettiness, Wang Daoqiu took the clothes from the palace and tried them on. Without asking a word, he picked them up and put them on.

After all the Gongsheng students changed their clothes again, Xiao Huangmen took Wang Daoqiu and the others out of here, heading south.It's almost approaching the south gate of Xiyuan, where there is a row of value houses, which are officials' offices.

In a small square in front of the duty house, more than a dozen officials from the Ministry of Rites and Honglu Temple had already set up their postures, waiting there for Wang Daoqiu and the other newly promoted Gongsheng students.

When they came to the small square, the Gongsheng students were asked to stand in front of the officials of the Ministry of Rites and Honglu Temple in a row of 50 people and in six rows.Then there is the routine roll call, emphasizing the discipline of the exam, and the etiquette when meeting the emperor and all the important court officials later.

Officials from the Ministry of Rites and Honglu Temple chatted for nearly an hour, and then they asked all the tribute students to relieve themselves and prepare for the exam.

(End of this chapter)