The first-class concubine of the Song Dynasty

Chapter 105
Pinmingju is a well-known tea house in Beijing.

The tea here is always good tea, and the guests here are all dignified people.

Status does not mean that having money means having status.

Sometimes if you have no status, no matter how rich you are, Pinmingju will not entertain you.

After dusk, Zhao Pu entered the Pinming House. Without saying a word, he was ordered into a private room by the servant inside, and Zhao Pu did not show the slightest surprise.

Because Pinmingju is Zhao Pu's property, and it is also the place where Zhao Pu collects information.

As the prime minister of the court, Zhao Pu naturally needs to know a lot of things, but he can't open a brothel like Murong Bo, because he doesn't bother to open a brothel, and thinks that the money earned from opening a brothel is dirty. Of course, the most important thing is that if someone If he finds out, his reputation will be ruined for the rest of his life.

But opening a teahouse is different, tea has always been an elegant thing, even if someone knows that Zhao Pu opened a teahouse, it will not have any influence on him.

Entering the private room, there is a middle-aged man in his 50s. The middle-aged man is a bit fat, but he feels very upright. His uprightness seems to make people ignore his figure after looking at him.

When the man saw Zhao Pu, he quickly smiled and said, "Brother Zhao is late today."

Zhao Pu smiled slightly: "Brother Shen has been waiting for a long time, the main reason is that I took a test of Gouzi's knowledge when I came here, so there is a delay."

"It's okay, please sit down."

The two used to drink tea and chat here, and Shen Yilun thought it was the same when Zhao Pu came to him today, so when Zhao Pu talked about assessing Zhao Chengxu's knowledge, Shen Yilun didn't think much about it.

After the two sat down, they ordered someone to add tea and some dried fruits.

The two first drank a sip of tea, appraised the tea, and peeled some dried fruits to eat. Only then did Zhao Pu look at Shen Yilun and ask: "Actually, I called Brother Shen today to discuss something."

Shen Yilun was slightly startled, the two of them drank tea together on weekdays, but they never talked about state affairs or things that were sensitive to the two of them, but Zhao Pu had already opened his mouth, so Shen Yilun naturally couldn't refuse, saying: "Zhao Pu What do you want to say?"

"Brother Shen knows that the imperial examination will start in a few days, but the imperial court has not yet selected the chief examiner."

Shen Yilun was taken aback, and said, "What does Brother Zhao mean?"

"I would like to ask Brother Shen to take on this important task."

"This……"

Shen Yilun hesitated, it's not that he didn't want to be the examiner, but he didn't understand why Zhao Pu suddenly asked him to be the chief examiner.

"The imperial examination is a way to select talents for the imperial court, but many people in the imperial court want to use this to seek students and strengthen their own faction. This is not a good thing for the imperial court; Brother Shen has never participated in the imperial court. Party disputes, after much deliberation, I think only Brother Shen is the most suitable."

Hearing this, Shen Yilun thought that Zhao Pu was thinking of the imperial court, and he was also a person who had the heart to serve the country, so he didn't hesitate anymore, and said: "Brother Zhao is planning for the country, how can I, Shen Yilun, stand still? It's just that there are many people in the court. They are all vying for the position of chief examiner, and I'm afraid I don't have enough qualifications."

"It doesn't matter, as long as Brother Shen agrees, everything will be left to me."

Zhao Pu intends to rely on this opportunity to build up his reputation, but he knows Shen Yilun very well. If he wants to win over, Shen Yilun will definitely not agree. After a spring test, he, Shen Yilun, must have many disciples, as long as those people become Shen Yilun's disciples first, then Zhao Pu will have a lot of opportunities to win over Shen Yilun in the future.

And Zhao Pu also knew the situation of the court very well, as long as he spoke, the emperor would definitely agree to his request.

Seeing that Zhao Pu said that, Shen Yilun didn't worry about it any more, and said with a smile: "Okay, okay, since that's the case, then just wait quietly, this tea is good!"

"Since Brother Shen thinks the tea is good, then drink more, and I will order someone to bring you some."

It was late at night when Shen Yilun left Pinmingju. The cold wind at this time was a bit heavy. As soon as he got into the carriage, he couldn't help sighing, as if he was talking to himself: "Brother Zhao, brother Zhao, Unexpectedly, you are already an extremely human minister, but you still want to seize power, and if you act like this, I am afraid that things will turn against each other!"

As he said that, Shen Yilun couldn't help sighing again, thinking that although he didn't participate in the factional disputes in the court, he was Zhao Kuangyin's hegemony aide after all, and his intelligence was comparable to that of Zhao Pu, how could Zhao Pu hide his thoughts from him ? ——
On the thirteenth day of the first lunar month, there are still two days before the Shangyuan Festival.

This morning, Zhao Kuangyin finally put the selection of the examiner on the agenda.

The imperial examination is a very troublesome thing. The chief examiner must be selected first, and then the officials who will write the questions will be selected from the Imperial Academy.

After everything had to be arranged in the examination room, the chief examiner was selected on the thirteenth day of the first month, which was too late for the entire court.

The court was very quiet. After Zhao Kuangyin finished speaking, he asked, "What do you think, who can take on this important task?"

The court officials looked at each other, and then an official came out and said: "Your Majesty, I think Lu Duoxun, a scholar of the Hanlin Academy, is very suitable for Mr. Lu. Mr. Lu is very knowledgeable and capable, and he will definitely be able to complete the relevant matters of this imperial examination."

After the official stood up and finished speaking, other officials also stood up to support Luderson. Obviously, Luderson had greeted them before that.

After these officials finished speaking, Zhao Kuangyin did not speak, but only looked at the ministers of His Royal Highness. At this time, Chen Chen, the deputy envoy of the Privy Council, said: "Your Majesty, my minister recommends Xue Juzheng, a political advisor, and Mr. Xue is the deputy prime minister for me. He is right about the imperial examination." However, with his abbot in mind, he will definitely be able to select usable talents for the Great Song Dynasty."

Chen Chen is Chen Shu's second uncle. He has great ambitions and wants to control the court through Chen Shu. However, his power is too low now. He is the deputy envoy in the Privy Council and must listen to King Wei. Although the Bitter Cold Society is available, it is not large-scale, so at this time he is attached to King Wei, and for future plans, he asked his third brother Chen Qing to be King Wei's counselor.In this way, he can control what King Wei will do, and he has another choice. If Chen Shu can't give birth to a prince, he can still rely on King Wei to achieve his goals.

In this way, King Wei asked him to recommend Xue Juzheng in the court, so he naturally had to spare no effort to stand up and help.

After Chen Chen said, other people on Wei Wang's side naturally stood up and seconded.

King Jin stood aside, acting very calm. Su Tongkan had expected all these situations, and he had no intention of competing for the position of chief examiner today, so he seemed calm and calm.

But after Wei Wang's people finished speaking, he could no longer be indifferent, he had to stand up and speak for Song Qi.

Originally, this matter should have been brought up by the people of King Jin in the court, but Su Tongkan said that in order to let the emperor relax his vigilance against him, he tried not to let the emperor know about his power distribution in the court. No, it is obviously impossible for other people to stand up and ask the chief examiner for him to be taken seriously, so only King Jin can speak in person.

Therefore, after the people of King Wei finished speaking, King Jin stood up and spoke.

"Brother Huang, my younger brother recommends Song Qi, a privy direct scholar."

Hearing King Jin speak, all the officials couldn't help being startled, even Zhao Kuangyin was taken aback, because he had no impression of Song Qi, a privy direct scholar, at all, and he even wanted to ask, is there such a person in my Great Song Dynasty?
But Zhao Kuangyin held back, and only asked: "Scholar Privy, are you afraid that it will be difficult for you to take on this important task?"

When Zhao Kuangyin said this, other officials who supported each other expressed their agreement.

"The Privy Scholars are lower than the Hanlin Bachelors, how can the examiner be the Privy Scholars?"

"That's right, the top three in the exam have the qualifications to enter the Imperial Academy. Could it be possible that the chief examiner is not as good as the examinee?"

All the ministers talked a lot, and in front of each other's interests, they didn't realize that Song Qi, a senior privy scholar, was recommended by King Jin.

King Jin stood at the voice of the main hall with a calm expression. When the courtiers were discussing a lot, he suddenly said: "Since you can't be the chief examiner, then you can be the deputy chief examiner. I still appreciate Song Qi's knowledge. Yes, he was a Jinshi 30 years ago."

As soon as King Jin said this, everyone felt a sense of loss. They argued so fiercely just now, and thought that King Jin would insist, but he suddenly lowered the requirements. In this way, can they still argue?

If you argue any more, you really don't take King Jin seriously.

King Jin has already forbeared, how can he be forbeared?Even if King Jin is really willing to forbear, is the Holy One willing?King Jin is the younger brother of the Holy Majesty, and to slap King Jin in the face is to slap the Holy Majesty in the face.

None of the officials who were arguing just now spoke up. Zhao Kuangyin was stunned for a moment and suddenly understood King Jin's intentions. He knew that he would not let his person be the examiner, so he chose the second best. Retreat, but it is impossible to refuse.

But Zhao Kuangyin didn't want to refuse at this time, because what King Jin said just now dispelled his idea of ​​refusing. Since Song Qi was already a Jinshi 30 years ago, she probably had some knowledge. She didn't enter the Imperial Academy, maybe it was just bad luck.

"Since Brother Wang admires Song Qi so much, let's appoint him as the deputy chief examiner." Zhao Kuangyin hesitated for a while when he said this. But after thinking about it, it's not right, Xue Juzheng is a political adviser, if no other officials are willing to compete for the chief examiner, then only Lu Duoxun can be the one, but Lu Duoxun is only in his 40s, with relatively low qualifications, and he Xue Juzheng's status is not as high as that of Xue Juzheng. How can Xue Juzheng, who is a political adviser, be a deputy to Lu Duoxun, a Hanlin scholar?
Just when Zhao Kuangyin was hesitating, Zhao Pu waved his sleeves slightly and stood up.

(End of this chapter)