Surrounded by Yi Jia's instigators, Zhang Yue and other Jinshi came to the Daqing Hall, with bell towers on the left and right in front of the hall.
The Baozhang of the Taishi Bureau was tested and carved every day, and every hour, he would hold the tooth card and play.
On weekdays, the emperor would fast and stay here during major ceremonies, and the emperor would also stay in this hall every year on the first day of the first lunar month.
In front of Daqing Hall, you can see the majestic Xuande Tower.
This is due south of the palace.
Xuande Tower has five doors, all of which are decorated with gold nails and red lacquer. The walls are made of bricks and stones, and are engraved with dragons, phoenixes and flying clouds.
As for the Xuande Building, it is even more carved and painted, with layers of eaves and eaves, and is covered with glazed tiles. The towers on both sides are in the shape of a curved ruler, all decorated with red balusters and colorful sills.
Now Tang Jie, the prefect of Kaifeng Prefecture, is on the royal road in the center of the gate tower of Xuande Tower, surrounded by officials from Kaifeng Prefecture on both sides. They are waiting for Huangbang and all the Jinshi.
Zhang Yue had already heard about Tang Jie.
Song Renzong once planned to grant Zhang Yaozuo, Zhang Guifei's uncle, a military envoy. This incident angered Bao Zheng. Officials from the Zhijian Yuan headed by Tang Jie objected and said no.
Song Renzong was very angry at first, but later came to discuss with Tang Jie. Now that the Jiedushi is a rough official (without real power), what do you have to fight for?
Tang Jie fought against him in the palace, and Taizu and Taizong also served as Jiedu envoys.
Song Renzong was speechless, but he still gave Zhang Yaozuo the post of Hui Envoy. Tang Zhi asked what this meant.
Song Renzong said, the prime minister (Wen Yanbo) also agreed to this matter, so you should stop talking about it.
Tang Jie impeached Wen Yanbo, saying that he had sent Shu brocade to curry favor with Concubine Zhang and asked him to dismiss him as prime minister.
Another imperial censor, Wu Kui, had planned to go to court for impeachment with Tang Jie, but when he saw that he also impeached Prime Minister Wen Yanbo, this would make the matter bigger. Wu Kui saw that the situation was not good and planned to stop.
Tang Jie simply impeached Wu Kui, saying that he was a waiter and not a good person.
Song Renzong had never seen a single-minded person, but he had never seen such a single-minded person, so he wanted to demote Tang Jie. Tang Jie said that I was not afraid of being demoted.
As a result, Wen Yanbo was dismissed as prime minister and Tang Jie was demoted.
But Song Renzong regretted it. Not only did he let Tang Jie come back, he also promoted him to the prefecture of Kaifeng Prefecture.
Facing Tang Jie, who "moved the world with his outspoken voice", I have to say that the Jinshi were still a little afraid.
At this moment, Tang Jie did not have a straight face. Officials on the side presented hairpins to Zhang Yue and other Jinshi.
I don’t particularly like hairpins. I feel a bit like Napoleon who liked to wear stockings. It was indeed fashionable at the time. Even the later emperor Song Huizong also particularly liked hairpins.
But Zhang Yue still couldn't accept it in his heart.
Not only was Zhang Yue such a straight man, Sima Guang also didn't want to wear a hairpin when he was promoted to Jinshi. However, the emperor gave it to him and Sima Guang wore it after much persuasion. Wang Anshi, who is also a good gay friend, does not object to hairpins even though he does not take a shower all day long. Otherwise, there would be no good story about the four-phase hairpins.
In short, Sima Guang is also an interesting person. When Bao Zheng toasted, Sima Guang stopped drinking at first and finally drank a glass reluctantly.
The emperor asked him to be a daily official, and Sima Guang declined several times, but finally accepted the post.
Seeing the hairpin, Zhang Yue refused and said, "I won't wear it."
Tang Jie said: "Is there any reason why the number one scholar in the Imperial Palace should not wear hairpins when he praises his officials?"
Wang Zhichen on the side said: "The number one scholar doesn't want to wear a hairpin, how can we dare to do it?"
Zhang Yue was silent for a while and said: "That's fine."
Finally, Zhang Yue's official hat was decorated with hairpins on the left and right sides, and the other Jinshi also wore hairpins.
In the Tang Dynasty, people went to pick flowers and wear them, in the Ming Dynasty, the number one scholar wore hairpins, and in the Song Dynasty, everyone wanted to wear hairpins.
There are three horse-mounting stones standing under the Xuande Gate. Three sacred horses are led by the imperial guards and stand beside the horse-mounting stone.
"Please get on the horse, Duke Zhuangyuan!" Tang Jie said with his hands raised.
Zhang Yue thanked him. He occasionally did horse riding. He practiced shooting in the shooting garden on weekdays, so he couldn't be said to be a weak scholar.
Zhang Yue immediately got on his horse. After seeing others wearing flowers, he secretly took off the two hairpins on his hat and rode out of Xuandemen.
Tang Jie was stunned when he saw this. By the time it was too late to stop him, he watched and said, "This champion is also a stubborn person."
The seven Jinwu guards led the way, and Yijia encouraged them to follow.
The Imperial Street in Bianjing leads directly from Xuande Gate to Nanxun Gate. Among the Jinshi, the Jinshi should first thank the emperor and then the saint. Therefore, after leaving Xuande Gate, they should walk along the Imperial Street to the Imperial College next to Nanxun Gate to pay homage to the late saint.
This road is also the origin of Yujie Kuaiguan.
At this moment, the Imperial Street was crowded with countless people, vying to see the champion.
The poem says, Who wouldn’t look at the gods with the rolling curtains in the pavilion in front of Twelfth Street?
The Wu family's driver was returning home from Zuoyemen.
Passing by the Royal Street, the road was blocked by the Imperial Guards, making it impossible to advance or retreat.
Now in the carriage, Li Taijun's face was almost green with anger. Facing his two daughters-in-law, Mrs. Fan, Mrs. Wang had a bad look on her face.
Just now on the high platform.
When Queen Cao asked Zhang Yue if he had ever been married, no one came forward to answer. Li Taijun originally pointed at Ouyang Xiu's wife Xue from Baoshan to come forward, but the other party actually said nothing.
Finally, on the high platform, it was settled.
After the roll call, these officials and women chatted on the high platform.
Li Taijun also heard a lot of gossip. First, his in-law, Fan Zhen, wanted to depose Zhang Yue in the provincial examination, and then another in-law, Anshi, tried hard to prevent Zhang Yue from winning the first prize.
Li Taijun deeply lamented that the Wu family was so virtuous and capable that they got into such two good marriages.
Seeing Li Taijun's furious expression, it was no big deal for the Wang family. She was usually not favored anyway, but it was different for the Fan family.
Fan was uneasy, and Li Taijun said to her: "Now there are many things at home, so you don't have to work so hard. You gave Shi Qi the housekeeper's key and let her work hard for a while. Otherwise, how can she run a house when she gets married."
"And your cousin, the water transportation errand that I asked for last time has also been stopped. There have been a lot of mistakes recently, and the officials may not be able to deal with it strictly. I'm afraid you won't be able to get a good deal if your cousin goes. I'm thinking I can arrange the errand of sending winter clothes to Xixia, and tell your cousin later."
Fan's body was trembling. He was just a cousin. He had only been in charge of the family for less than a month, so he just gave it to him. How would the servants in the family view him? Will you still obey her in the future?
The Seventeenth Mother had always been on good terms with Mrs. Fan, and she couldn't bear to say: "Mom, my sister-in-law will be hosting the wedding ceremony this month. Everyone in the family agreed, and she also gave the money to renovate the pavilion in the mansion. It's hard for my daughter to convince everyone." , let alone be as good as my sister-in-law."
When Mrs. Fan heard this, she glanced at Qi Niang gratefully.
Li Taijun said warmly: "I just want you to practice more so that you can have a firm mind when you take charge of the business in the future."
"Mother, in fact, Mr. Zhang Sanlang is not from a high-ranking family. He doesn't have to keep so many servants to serve him, so he doesn't have much housework to take care of. Today I heard the Empress and Mrs. Yan talk about the story of the champion from a poor family in this dynasty. If you are here Someone on the high platform said that Mr. Zhang Sanlang had already been engaged to our Wu family, and he might have embarrassed the Queen."
Li Taijun was overjoyed when he heard this, and then said: "Zhang Sanlang was engaged to us only after becoming a Jinshi. It doesn't matter how outsiders spread the news. I chose Zhang Sanlang because she was from a poor family and did not have the habits of a wealthy family. , the relatives at home are also simple, and they will definitely not treat you poorly in the future. I didn’t expect that he would become the number one scholar now."
Seventeenth Mother said: "My daughter, thank you very much for your meditation arrangement."
Li Taijun smiled and said to Seventeenth Niang: "Actually, when you get married, a good family background, good errand, and good looks are not as good as treating you well."
Li Taijun wanted to say more, but he saw a carriage stopped nearby. The visitor reported that it was Ouyang Xiu's wife, Mrs. Xue, who had seen the Wu family's carriage here and came to say hello after hearing the news.
It turns out that the Ouyang family's carriage was also blocked here.
Li Taijun nodded when he heard this.
The carriages and horses of the two families were parallel to each other in the street, and the two ladies were talking to each other through the curtains of the carriages.
Seventeenth Mother, Mrs. Fan guessed that she must be talking about Zhang Wu's marriage, so she couldn't stand to listen and got off the carriage. At this time, the sound of gongs and drums sounded, and the long queue of Jinshis marching through the streets to praise their officials happened to be not far from Xuandemen.
The Seventeenth Mother and Mrs. Fan were inevitably caught in the crowd, both wearing curtain hats.
Suddenly, I saw people standing on both sides of the imperial street, and the restaurants and shops facing the street were also full of people.
Many women in the boudoir also went out to see the scene of Jinshi praising officials and marching in the street. Along the upper floors of the official houses on the Imperial Street, the women also rolled up their curtains and put aside their reserve to watch the scene from a distance.
"Who is this year's top pick?"
"You'll know when you get here."
"If you are an old man in his seventies or eighties, he will be very unhappy."
The women talked all over the place.
Seventeenth Mother stood aside. Mrs. Fan pointed to the female relatives watching on the left and right and said with a smile: "There are quite a few people coming to see Mr. Zhang Sanlang."
Seventeenth Mother lowered her head slightly, and then said: "If I had known this, I wouldn't have helped you out in the future."
Mrs. Fan laughed and said, "Okay, it's my fault. We think it's coming soon."
He was talking about Fan's Wanqi Seventeenth Mother's arm, but people around her said: "Here he comes, he comes!"
"The Number One Scholar is here."
"What a handsome husband."
But when they heard the sound of trumpeting getting closer, the men and women on the street rushed forward and stood on tiptoes to watch, blocking Shi Qiniang and Fan from outside.
Seventeen Niang and Mrs. Fan maintained their own identities and would not crowd around with others, so they simply retreated to the side and whispered.
From a distance, I could only see a yellow umbrella cover approaching, with flags flying left and right. Others could not see it, but after seven Jinwu guards passed by on horseback, a young man in green robes, without a hairpin, rode on a big horse. This trip is coming...
Immediately, Seventeenth Mother's eyes were fixed on the other party.
Zhang Yue was riding on his horse, but he saw that the people on the street seemed to be in a mood that was beyond words at this moment. Many passers-by waved to him, and even the women from wealthy families who looked upstairs in the street threw down their hairpins on their temples.
Zhang Yue rode his horse and glanced back at Huang Lu, remembering that during the palace examination he also passed by Yu Street to see the favor of the woman on the street.
Now Huang Lu is also among the crowd of Jinshi, following behind him.
Walking from Yu Street, along the way, many relatives and friends of high school Jinshi came up to hold each other's hands and exchanged tearful words. Those high school Jinshi ignored the marching team and kowtowed in the street to thank them for their years of upbringing.
Zhang Yue was a little touched when he saw this and looked around in the crowd.
Unexpectedly, he saw a familiar figure under a shop. Zhang Yue immediately stopped his horse, jumped down, and ran straight into the crowd.
The Kaifeng Prefecture officials and the Imperial Guards who were clearing the way were stunned. What happened?
In front of everyone, what is the champion doing?
But when Zhang Yue walked up to a woman wearing a curtain hat in the crowd, he put the two royal hairpins in his pocket into her hand and said something.
"for you!"
