Please don't force me to be a god.

Prime Minister Cai looked coldly at the wailing civil officials.

If he had a choice, he would have wanted to be an honest official respected by thousands of people.

Unfortunately, his fate had been determined since he met An Taizu when he was young.

Although he was a literati and a civil servant in this life, he was actually no different from a private slave of the royal family.

Once he left the royal family, he was nothing.

The emperor needed a capable and loyal person to do the dirty things that the clean officials were unwilling to do.

Prime Minister Cai grew up with An Taizu since childhood, and he was capable and did not care about reputation. Naturally, he was the most suitable candidate.

Xu Wen's ranking was one of them.

These officials in front of them only thought about their own reputation, not the interests of the emperor.

A Jieyuan, in the eyes of the emperor, is nothing. Who does it matter if he gives it to him? Naturally, he should give it to the one who can help him the most.

Now the emperor's fertility problem is still in Zhang Tian's hands. How dare he make Zhang Tian embarrassed with these trivial matters?

If Zhang Tian didn't want Xu Wen to take the imperial examination, he could have asked the emperor to grant him an official position long ago. Why would he wait until now?

Since Xu Wen took the imperial examination, he had to do his best to show his favor.

If he only did seven or eight points out of 10 points, he would not only fail to win the gratitude of the superior, but would also attract resentment.

Only if he did 12 or even 15 points out of 10 points, could he send this favor to the heart of the superior.

There are many officials who understand these principles.

However, many people can't do it even if they see through it.

It's nothing else, they just don't want to give up their reputation.

So, he is the prime minister, and they are not.

As for the criticism of the world, how could Prime Minister Cai not know it?

He has been scolded as a traitor for decades, and no one in the world can do anything to him.

As long as the emperor sees his "efforts", why should he care about the criticism of the world?

On the contrary, the worse Xu Wen's level is, the happier Prime Minister Cai feels.

If even such a paper can be ranked as Jieyuan, it will make him more useful and show that the emperor has a great favor for Zhang Tian.

If a ranking is given casually, what is the value?

The civil servants wailed for a while, and seeing that the prime minister was unmoved, they had to put away their emotions and rank the remaining papers.

Then, Prime Minister Cai left the Imperial Academy with the list and went to the palace to meet the emperor.

Seeing that Xu Wen was ranked as Jieyuan, Emperor Anyou smiled and nodded, saying: "Not bad. You didn't disappoint me."

As for the rankings of others, Emperor Anyou didn't care much and didn't even bother to look at them.

Prime Minister Cai said: "Thank you for the compliment, Your Majesty. However, I'm afraid that the other examiners will have some objections."

"Well, I see. I authorize you to prepare in advance."

"As ordered."

As soon as Prime Minister Cai left, a large number of civil servants, including Minister Shi, immediately asked to go to the palace to meet the emperor overnight.

But how could Emperor Anyou make himself uncomfortable? He refused to see them.

There were a few stubborn civil servants who tried to force their way into the imperial study, but they were carried out by Zhuo Ping and his men.

The next morning.

Several lists of candidates were posted outside the Imperial Examination Hall.

And several yamen runners were assigned to continuously read out the names loudly so that the onlookers behind could hear them.

When the names of the successful candidates were read out, they would receive some wedding money from time to time.

On the other side, several yamen runners, carrying gongs, banged and shouted all the way, and walked towards the residences of the top three candidates.

Soon, they arrived outside the Zhang Mansion.

"Xianyang City, Xiangyang Prefecture, Xu Wen, Master Xu, has won the first place in the imperial examination. I am here to congratulate you!"

Every time he shouted, he would bang the gong.

I don't know how many people followed to watch the excitement along the way, blocking the streets and alleys in front of Zhang Mansion.

Someone who knew him immediately said, "This is the residence of Immortal Zhang. Xu Jieyuan is his disciple."

"No wonder. Immortal Zhang has boundless magic. His disciple must be the descendant of Wenquxing."

Xu Wen, the person involved, knew that he had done poorly in the exam, so he did not go to see the results like other scholars, but stayed at home uncomfortably.

Hearing this shout, he was stunned on the spot.

On the side of the yamen runner, a man came out from behind, tried to push through the crowd, and walked towards the gate of Zhang's house.

The yamen runner was immediately furious. Who is this guy?

How dare someone get ahead of us in this happy event?

Generally speaking, the person who delivers the good news, whether it is a yamen runner or an ordinary citizen, will always have to pay for the good news as long as he delivers it in the first place.

Even if the scholar has no money, after passing the imperial examination, he will ask for it casually, and there will be a lot of people willing to help pay and do this favor.

As an official messenger, the yamen runner still has the good news in his hand. How dare someone get ahead of them?

The yamen runner stretched out his hand, grabbed the man, and shouted: "According to the rules, Xu Jieyuan needs to receive the official good news as soon as possible, and then you can come to ask for good news.""Today is a great day, we won't beat you, if you know what's good for you, step back."

The man hurriedly bowed and said, "Sir, I am the official of Zhang's house. I just went to see the list and didn't have time to run back."

This person was Xu Jingye.

Xu Wen didn't dare to go out to see the list. He was so anxious that he went to grab a place early in the morning.

After the list was announced, he was shocked to hear that Xu Wen had actually won the first place in the imperial examination.

By the time he reacted, the yamen runner who announced the good news had gone far away.

When he wanted to catch up, it was too late.

The team announcing the good news of the first place was the largest, and the crowd watching was the largest. Xu Jingye was squeezed to the back and couldn't get into the house.

After finally arriving at Zhang's house, everyone stopped. Xu Jingye took great pains to squeeze from the back to the front.

Everyone was shocked: "Hiss... is it true?"

As the saying goes, the seventh-rank official in front of the prime minister's door.

This Immortal Zhang's status was much higher than Prime Minister Cai's. As the housekeeper of Zhang's house, countless officials had to be polite to him when they met him.

Xu Jingye didn't explain much. He took out the key, opened the door, pushed it open with difficulty, and then turned around and said, "Sir, please come in."

The yamen runner who announced the good news immediately put on a smile and said, "I'm sorry for offending you just now, housekeeper Xu."

"You are the people who announced the good news. It's Xu's fault for not welcoming you well. Please come in."

The yamen runner sang loudly and walked in.

Outside the living room, Xu Jingye took out the wedding money he had prepared in advance and distributed it to the yamen runners one by one.

They said some polite words of congratulations to each other and sent them out again.

The yamen runner left, but there were still many onlookers outside the door.

Many of them came to say congratulations and ask for some wedding money.

Xu Jingye called Tiedong, the old couple of the miscellaneous runners, and others, picked up a load of copper coins and scattered them in front of the gate for a long time.

After the money was scattered, the door was closed amid the congratulations of the crowd.

…………

Back to the living room.

Xu Wen was still in a daze, staring at the good news on the stage, his eyes were filled with both joy and worry.

Zhang Tian sat aside, drinking tea slowly, and said, "What are you thinking about? Zhong Liyuan is still not happy?"