At night, the Yangxin Pavilion in the imperial city was brightly lit. Li Ao was sitting on the main seat at the moment, holding a large answer sheet in his hand and reading it carefully.
In the Yangxin Pavilion, there are many officials in red robes sitting stiffly at the moment, with many papers placed in front of them.
Prime Minister Feng and Prime Minister Tan were also among them, talking in detail with several elders from the Ministry of Rites.
Despite this, all the officials still looked at Li Ao involuntarily.
After the palace examination yesterday, many officials from the Ministry of Rites and the Gongyuan were summoned. After a day of judging the papers, the review has only been completed now.
Li Ao had just arrived. After sitting down, he took out a paper from his arms and looked at it.
Everyone knew that the paper was Song Mu's paper.
The officials present did not know how magical that paper was, but at this moment, no one dared to explore the contents of the policy answer paper.
Li Ao, who was sitting in the main seat, occasionally frowned, as if he saw something that surprised him. But after a moment, his brows slowly relaxed, and he even nodded unconsciously.
Li Ao's actions also made all the officials feel pricked in their hearts. They were also eager to know what was written on the paper.
After a moment, Li Ao reluctantly put down the paper in his hand, and then took a deep breath. Everyone raised their eyes and looked at Li Ao.
Li Ao also looked at everyone present and asked lightly.
"My dear friends, how is the verdict?"
At that moment, an official from the Ministry of Rites stood up and presented a document. The document contained the list of papers for this palace examination, which had been reviewed by the elders and prime ministers.
It's just that the top ten in the palace examination are now written side by side and not in order, and Song Mu's name is among them.
"Your Majesty, there are a total of 137 Gongshi Jinshis who have passed the imperial examination this time. The rankings of all new Jinshis have also been completed. However, your Majesty still needs to decide on the top ten."
The official said in a deep voice, and Li Ao cheered up and nodded to take it, and carefully read through the nine papers presented to him. But after a moment, Li Ao sighed.
"These papers seem so boring now."
Li Ao just felt a little sigh. After reading the policy answer sheets written by Song Mu, he looked at these papers again and found them to be too unsightly. His mind was filled with the policy content written by Song Mu.
Shipping? Sea power? Can these things that Song Mu said really help Wen Dynasty get out of trouble?
The surge of energy may prove this, but will everything really be like that?
Li Ao was so lost in his thoughts that he forgot to make a decision on the roster in his hand.
After coming back to his senses, Li Ao was a little uninterested. He just glanced at the crowd and said in a deep voice.
"My dear friends, what if I choose Song Mu to be the number one scholar?"
Upon hearing this, all the officials in the field had different expressions at this moment. Some expressed their approval, while others thought for a while, and some even sighed slightly.
At that moment, Prime Minister Feng took a step forward and spoke to Li Ao with a calm expression.
"What your Majesty said has certainly been considered, but we have not read the volume of Song Huiyuan, so..."
Li Ao also frowned slightly at the moment, but immediately said with determination.
"On that day when the imperial examination was held, you all saw Song Mu's article causing stars and visions to rise to the sky. I think you all know what this article is like."
"As for the contents of this volume..."
Li Ao paused for a moment, then said in a deep voice.
"When the time is right, I will tell you all about it."
Everyone was surprised when they heard it. Their objection to whether Song Mu became the number one scholar was actually based on this content. However, after hearing what Li Ao said, he didn't want anyone else to see the content. .
But do you still want Song Mu to be the top pick?
They were curious about what the content was, and felt that such a decision might be inappropriate.
Feng Xiang thought about it and was about to speak, but Tan Xiang next to him spoke.
"Your Majesty naturally has some thoughts. We have also seen the power of Song Huiyuan's articles and have no objection to it."
The adults around him looked shocked when Tan Xiang came to such a conclusion. But at this moment, Tan Xiang said again.
"But Your Majesty, there are military reports from the Western and Eastern Border troops today. It is said that there was unrest in the Demon Kingdom on the day of the imperial examination. I guess it may be related to this article."
Li Ao nodded. He had been dealing with such matters during the day, and he had already determined that this was a trouble caused by Song Mu's influence on his luck.
It's just that now the two demon kingdoms are not as angry as before, and the situation is calm, which makes Li Ao worried.
Tan Xiang saw Li Ao's calm expression and immediately added.
"So Wei Chen believes that Song Huiyuan is a rare scholar in our literary dynasty for a hundred years, but he wants to keep it in jasper. He must not add fuel to the fire and make him stand out too much. Therefore, your Majesty, please think twice."
Li Ao was originally relieved, but when he heard Xiang Tan say this, he frowned slightly at this moment, but felt that there was two points of truth, and Xiang Tan also said immediately.
"Therefore, Wei Chen believes that Song Huiyuan may be selected as the top three in the palace examination. Song Huiyuan has a handsome appearance and elegant temperament. It is uncontroversial to want to be the most popular candidate."
However, no one had any objection at the moment. Only Feng Xiang thought about it for a moment after hearing these words. Although Li Ao wanted to move, he noticed Feng Qi's expression and said immediately.
"I see something strange about Mr. Feng? I wonder what you think?"
Feng Xiang raised his head, glanced at Li Ao, and said slightly.
"I think that a gentleman has no power."
After the words fell, Tan Xiang also looked at the other party with a slightly narrowed expression. Li Ao raised his eyebrows at this moment and stopped talking. He just carefully folded the answer sheet of Song Mu in front of him and put it into his sleeve.
There was silence in the place, and everyone was a little nervous.
"Let me think about this for a while and let you know before the results are released tomorrow."
Li Ao said this, which was considered to have brought the topic to a close. Now his eyes moved, and he spoke softly when he saw everyone.
"But when the results are released tomorrow, you all have to help me with another thing."
All the officials raised their heads and looked at Li Ao with puzzled expressions.
"The results of the palace examination are released, and the Poetry Sect's talent selection ceremony is coming. But this Song Mu must never go to the Poetry Sect."
With that said, Li Ao stood up and looked at everyone with deep eyes.
"Especially the Tao Poetry Sect."
After hearing this, everyone lowered their eyes slightly and immediately raised their hands in response.
The imperial examinations of the Wen Dynasty often produced hundreds of Jinshi and Jinshi. It was difficult for the imperial officials to digest these talents for a while, so the Shizong was asked to select some talents to enrich the inheritance of his sect.
This became the tacitly approved system of the imperial examination in the Wen Dynasty.
Seeing that they couldn't talk anymore, everyone was about to leave, but they heard Li Ao suddenly say.
"Since all of you are here today, I want to ask you something."
Saying this, Li Ao raised his head and scanned the people in front of him, and asked in a deep voice.
"I wonder if you, my dear friends, know the salt people of the Wen Dynasty?"
Everyone was stunned and looked at each other. Then Feng Qi took a step forward again and said in a deep voice.
"Your Majesty is talking about the people in the coastal areas of our Wen Dynasty who make a living by boiling salt?"
Li Ao nodded, seeming to be more interested now, and asked Feng Qi.
"Prime Minister Feng, do you know how these salt people live?"
Feng Qi looked up at Li Ao and said in a deep voice.
"Weichen's hometown is also by the sea, so he knows something about this matter. The so-called salt people are the people who boil seawater and sell it as salt."
"Following the old system, salt and iron are sold exclusively. All the salt people produce is collected by the government and cannot be sold privately. Therefore, the exploitation is very heavy. The people also say that there is a jar full of salt without a grain of rice. It is... unspeakably miserable."
"Moreover, the Yan people have no land or mulberry crops, so they often have no clothes on their bodies. No matter whether there is a disaster or a good year, they are always in hardship."
"Why do I never know about such a thing?"
Li Ao suddenly looked surprised, even a little cold, feeling that this was his fault, while Feng Xiang was silent for a moment and said slowly.
"Such matters have always been discussed between the government and the central government, and the Ministry of Revenue has taken good care of them. However, the world is uncertain now, and His Majesty is affected by troubles from all directions..."
Li Ao immediately patted the railing, but now his eyebrows were raised coldly.
"It's ridiculous. Although the war in all directions has not ended, it will not take food out of the mouths of the salt people!"
"If it weren't for what I saw in today's article, I would have neglected to see many people suffer for the rest of their lives!"
Everyone looked up and looked surprised at the moment, thinking that the articles they had seen did not seem to contain any examples about the salt people.
Could it be that the problem Song Mu wrote about was related to the Yan people?
Could that article be talking about the suffering of people’s livelihood?
…
