On May 13th of the seventh year of Jinghe, Emperor Jinghe appointed thirteen ministers as readers for the palace examination.
The so-called examiners, they were doing the work of examiners, but because the imperial examination was conducted by the emperor, they only assisted the emperor in marking the examination papers, so they did not have the title of examiner.
Listening to this, do you feel that the style of the examiner is not that high? As long as the scholar is good enough, Hanlin will be qualified? !
Haha, how is that possible! The imperial court stipulates that no one other than the minister in power is allowed to read the records.
Therefore, the officials who read the records, that is, the ministers who read the records, are mostly selected from the official officials of the cabinet, the Sixth Ministry, the Metropolitan Inspectorate, the General Affairs Department, the Dali Temple, the Hanlin Academy and other departments.
For example, this time, Emperor Jinghe chose the Crown Prince Taibao, the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, Zhu Zan, the Crown Prince Shaobao, the Minister of Criminal Affairs, Qin Ting, the Minister of Rites, He Benchu, the Minister of Hubu, An Suiyun, the left minister of the Ministry of War, the counselor, and the right minister of the Ministry of Industry. Zhang Ruogui, Tongzheng envoy Si Tongzheng envoy Luo Yongke, Duchayuan Zuodu censor Yang Dalen, Taichang Temple Shaoqing and Hanlin Academy bachelor Yan Qing, Dali Temple Qing Chen Shile, Hanlin Academy bachelor He Dengyun, University scholar Wen Weiben, And the academician Yang Shouqiang is the examiner.
To put it bluntly, there were a total of 432 candidates entering the palace examination this time, so they were divided into the hands of thirteen examination ministers. Each of them had to examine more than thirty examination papers. The workload was quite heavy.
No, the ministers who moved into the palace outer garden to wait after receiving the appointment also sighed among themselves.
“When the late emperor was still alive, few people got more than 300 points in the general examination. However, the number of ministers who read the test papers was usually more than 20, and the answer papers that fell into each person’s hands were no more than fifteen or sixteen… Now, this task But doubling it, I'm afraid it won't be easy!" He Dengyun, a bachelor of the Hanlin Academy, whispered.
Yang Dalun, the censor of Zuodu, smiled and shook his head: "Although it has doubled, the time limit for marking is three days, which is not bad."
Academician Yang Shouqiang sneered: "It's said to be three days, but you have to leave time for the emperor to appoint the first and third students. It shows that you can learn more than twenty papers every day."
They were talking to each other, and their faces were not very good-looking as they talked. Zhu Zan, the official minister, frowned and shouted: "The emperor's will is above. If you are dissatisfied, why don't you come to see the government together?" The Emperor is here to advise me, I wonder if the Emperor can provide us with more than a dozen colleagues to read the papers together!"
When everyone asked him to say this, they immediately lowered their heads angrily and talked about other things while laughing.
Everyone didn't dare to continue complaining, and they didn't want to be left alone, so when someone started to talk about the candidates for this palace examination, the conversation gradually became lively.
Not long after, someone mentioned the favorite candidate for the No. 1 pick.
"I didn't expect that the top prize this time might be won by a girl!" Zhang Ruogui, the right minister of the Ministry of Industry, sighed.
He doesn't have much thought about women's scientific examinations. After all, his family only has one grandson, but there are more than ten granddaughters. The eldest among them is only twelve or thirteen years old at the moment. If women's scientific examinations become a regular rule, it will be a big problem for his Zhang family. Speaking of which, it can't be said to be a good thing.
However, he has no objection, but that does not mean that others are happy to see this happen. For example, He Dengyun, a bachelor of the Hanlin Academy, is of the old school and is very disgusted with girls competing for official career with men.
"Some courtiers are unruly in their flattery and are not supporters of etiquette, justice and integrity. Shame on them!"
However, Yan Qing, who was also a bachelor of the Hanlin Academy, smiled and said, "Brother He is exaggerating. Every time the rankings are published, the answer sheets of those who are at the top are all posted. Could it be that Brother He has never seen it?!"
He Dengyun was speechless and gave him a blow in the eyes.
"My lords, there is no need to argue. The palace examination will be held the day after tomorrow. We will know it by then. Why make a fuss now?" Yang Dalen, the censor of Zuodu, was not as aggressive as usual, but instead tried to smooth things over with a smile.
Probably because of this moment, the atmosphere of the discussion became stagnant twice. Everyone was no longer interested in continuing the chat. They simply found their seats and started reading while holding the books they had taken from the bookshelf.
The few people who had been talking enthusiastically fell silent. Zhu Zan, the Minister of the Ministry of official affairs, Qin Ting, the Minister of the Ministry of punishment, He Benchu, the Minister of the Ministry of rites, and An Suiyun, the Minister of the Ministry of household affairs, who had been mostly silent, looked at each other and strolled in in a tacit understanding. Went to the yard.
"This time, His Majesty intends to promote the imperial examination for women, but the girl has the chance to win, but she is much better than the husband. Seeing five wins in five games, I am afraid that the emperor has promised him the title of No. 1 Scholar in his heart." The colleague smiled and said, "Since the first and third rank are appointed by the emperor, we must abide by them."
Qin Ting, Shangshu of the Ministry of Punishment, nodded: "Since Guan Guan approved it before, why did he obstruct it in the palace examination?"
After he finished speaking, his voice changed: "The answers to the imperial examination are only anonymous but not transcribed, but I don't know if the handwriting is legible."
He Benchu, the Minister of Rites, listened to the two singing and couldn't help but twitching at the corner of his mouth: "The notes of this year's candidates are exactly the same."
Not exactly the same! Everything is written exactly as printed.
Thinking of this, he couldn't help but wonder, it seems that the candidates in the previous two or three years were not like this!
It seems that from unknown time, the slogan "[The handwriting of common people and civilians is the same, but there is no way to compare marks]" has been spread among students.
Because of this slogan, the Ministry of Rites issued regulations under the emperor's decree, requiring that the roll surface must be clean and the handwriting does not need to have personal characteristics.
If there are ink spots, wrinkles, etc. on the paper, or if the handwriting is not horizontal or vertical, it will be rejected and will not be transcribed; as long as the verification officer finds that there is an illegal inclusion, all the marking officers will sit together.
Because of this regulation, the first round of screening for all test papers is that under the watchful eyes of all examiners, all illegal test papers will be rejected first, and then all the papers will be signed for approval, and then the screening of content will begin.
Thinking of this, He Benchu, the Minister of Rites, couldn't help but sigh: "The notes of the girl who won five yuan in a row are so dull. I can pick up a printed book at random and it will be correct. Even if I gave her paper to the person before, The adults who graded her would probably not be able to recognize her!"
He remembered that this girl was well-known among the dandies of Kyoto and was a flamboyant woman. How could she be so cautious about taking the exam? !
But that's fine, it also helped him avoid accountability from several pavilion elders.
Thinking like this, he didn't know for a moment whether he should thank the person who suggested strengthening handwriting standards or thank this little girl for being upright.
…
"Sneeze! Sneeze!" As soon as she entered the pavilion in the garden, Sheng Yuan sneezed twice in a row.
"But you caught a cold?" Anyu asked quickly.
Sheng Yuan shook his head: "That's not the case, I feel like someone is whispering to me, even whispering twice!"
"Maybe two people are whispering about you in turn?" Lu Sheng, holding a book on the side, joked with a smile.
"Then I don't know!" Sheng Yuan shrugged, not caring.
But she didn't care, but Anyu and Lu Sheng didn't dare to underestimate her. They pushed her to the front yard, and they had to ask the doctor to check her pulse before talking about anything.
"???" Sheng Yuan, who had just come out of the house, was immediately stunned. She yelled with a face full of rejection, "Are you going to be so exaggerated?"
