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Although Zhao Junchen had only met Li Chunchen once, whose name was somewhat similar to his own, he was deeply impressed. [Full text reading] During this palace examination, Zhao Junchen also paid the most attention to him!
Originally, before the apricot list was announced, Li Chunchen was just an unknown person. However, after the apricot list was announced, he became a blockbuster and ranked fourth on the apricot list, second only to Zhou Suwen, Zhao Shancai, and Zeng Wei. .
If we take into account that Zeng Wei had already obtained the test questions in advance before the start of the examination because he had taken refuge with Zhao Junchen, so he was well prepared; and Zhou Suwen was the grandson of the first assistant Zhou Shangjing, so he received a lot of care during the review process. , Li Chunchen's true knowledge and talent are probably second only to Zhao Shancai among undergraduate candidates. Even Zhou Suwen, known as the "child prodigy", may not be able to surpass him.
However, Zhao Junchen was deeply impressed by Li Chunchen, not because of his intellectual talent, but because of his ambition and various advantages that were enough to realize his ambition!
On that day, the apricot list had just been announced. This Li Chunchen was just a Gongsheng student who had just become famous. He immediately found Xiao Wenxuan, who had failed the list. Taking advantage of Xiao Wenxuan's low mood, he wanted to recruit Xiao Wenxuan as a staff member! Such actions, in addition to showing that this person has far-sightedness and is unwilling to stay dormant, he was able to see Xiao Wenxuan's ability potential at that time, which is enough to show that this person's vision is extraordinary - it can be said that if Zhao Junchen did not appear in time, . Xiao Wenxuan is now afraid that he has been subdued by Li Chunchen for his own use - this is one of Li Chunchen's advantages!
Later, when Li Chunchen was talking to Xiao Wenxuan. It also showed insights and vision that were different from ordinary people, and after Zhao Junchen appeared. Only through some trivial details, Zhao Junchen's true identity was discovered, which can further prove this person's outstanding mind and strong insight - this is the second advantage of Li Chunchen!
A person like this has remained unknown before the examination. He obviously deliberately restrained his sharp edge, which is enough to illustrate this person's fortitude and forbearance - this is the third advantage of Li Chunchen!
All the above are rare advantages, and Zhao Junchen only met Li Chunchen once, but he found them all in Li Chunchen. It is more sufficient to illustrate Li Chunchen’s excellence.
Zhao Junchen admired such a rare talent and naturally planned to recruit him. Unfortunately, like Zhao Shancai, Li Chunchen stayed away from Zhao Junchen's recruitment. But unlike Zhao Shancai, Zhao Shancai The reason why he refused Zhao Junchen's solicitation was because he wanted to assist the crown prince Zhu Heyu. However, Li Chunchen's rejection of Zhao Junchen's solicitation seemed to be because he did not want to be imprinted with a certain faction on himself.
However. In the officialdom, there is the most right and wrong. Without a faction as a backer, it is not only impossible to stay away from factional fighting. On the contrary, he will be regarded as a soft persimmon by the major factions and suppressed immediately. It is impossible for a smart person like Li Chunchen not to know this. And he still did this, which only shows that he has a way to stand out from the major factions in the court in the shortest possible time!
But what exactly was Li Chunchen’s method? Although Zhao Junchen had a general guess in his mind, he didn't know what the specifics were. But not sure.
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"If the prediction is correct, today's palace examination is the opportunity for Li Chunchen to show off his talents in the plan, right? He can only make a blockbuster success in the palace examination like I did, and win the favor of Emperor Deqing. From then on, he will be blessed by the Holy Family. Only then can we stand out from the major factions in the court in the shortest time..." Thinking like this, Zhao Junchen looked at Li Chunchen thoughtfully, and thought to himself: "The answer to everything should lie in today's strategy. I’m asking.”
At this time, according to the process of the palace examination, Emperor Deqing was giving lectures to the candidates. The content was nothing more than educating the candidates to be loyal to the emperor, patriotic, and not arrogant or impetuous. Although most of it was nonsense, it must be said at this time.
Li Chunchen, who was kneeling to listen to the instructions, was originally quite low-key, but under Zhao Junchen's gaze, he seemed to be aware of it, so he secretly raised his head and glanced at Zhao Junchen's position - now, although Zhao Junchen is not considered to be powerful, , but he was also one of the most powerful officials in the court, but when Li Chunchen looked at Zhao Junchen, there was no awe in his eyes. He just nodded slightly to Zhao Junchen to express his goodwill, then lowered his head and continued to listen to the lecture.
Seeing Li Chunchen like this, Zhao Junchen smiled slightly and didn't care. He just turned his head and looked at the other candidates for the imperial examination.
Kneeling at the forefront of the candidates were Zhou Suwen and Zhao Shancai.
At this time, Zhou Suwen's posture was very low, his expression was full of humility, and he looked like he was listening carefully. Although he was the most beloved grandson of the first assistant Zhou Shangjing and the first place in the undergraduate examination, he was missing at this time. There was a hint of arrogance in Zhao Junchen's eyes, and Zhao Junchen couldn't help but nod secretly, feeling that Zhou Shangjing had someone to succeed him.
As for Zhao Shancai next to Zhou Suwen, his expression was full of indifference and proper respect. Obviously, the fact that Zhou Suwen took away the top spot in this competition did not affect his mentality.
As for Zeng Wei, who was kneeling behind the two of them, his expression was slightly excited, as if he was excited to see Emperor Deqing. He looked loyal to the emperor. If such an appearance fell into the eyes of Emperor Deqing, he was afraid that it would have many consequences for him. However, after careful observation, Zhao Junchen found that Zeng Wei's eyes were still calm and calm at this time. It was obvious that the excitement in his expression was just a disguise, a strategy to win the favor of Emperor Deqing.
Now that Zeng Wei has joined Zhao Junchen, he can be regarded as Zhao Junchen's disciple from now on. So seeing Zeng Wei's performance, Zhao Junchen can't help but feel satisfied and relieved. Although he failed to recruit Zhao Shancai and Li Chunchen, he is still here In the first imperial examination, he finally found a talent who could be reused.
As for Li Chunchen next to Zeng Wei, apart from stealing a glance at Zhao Junchen just now, he was as low-key and restrained as ever.
but. Except for the four candidates kneeling at the front, most of the other candidates performed poorly. Including Liu Zimin, they may have met Emperor Deqing for the first time. Either because they were surrounded by ministers, or because they were worried about their performance in the upcoming palace examination, everyone looked trembling with fear, and many of them had their clothes soaked with sweat.
While Zhao Junchen was thinking and observing, Emperor Deqing's instructions finally came to an end.
Then, following the procedure of the palace examination, the eunuch Zhang De raised his voice and said: "Your Majesty has a decree. The minister who reads the papers has announced the question!"
Following Zhang De's call, the first assistant Zhou Shangjing came out. After saluting Emperor Deqing, he stood in front of the royal steps, faced the candidates for the imperial examination, took out the examination questions drawn by Emperor Deqing from his sleeves, and announced in a loud voice: "The Emperor Zhi said: I am only a human ruler, and I am ordered by heaven to do this. As the leader of the billions of trillions, I originally wanted to extend the dynasty to eternity, recreate the rule of Renxuan, and revive the Xiaozong. However, governing the country is not easy. We need to first stabilize the temples and govern the officials with integrity and loyalty, so that I and the ministers can work together as one. Only then can we make a difference...But today is not the past. People's minds change, and among the hundreds of officials I command, there are always evil people who are defeated. If you don't think about being loyal to the emperor and the people, I have tried to think about it. What strategy can be used to cure it?...Today's strategy When asked, I should state directly what you have seen and know. Prepare the description in the article. I will read it personally and do not be afraid to hide it."
After hearing the policy question announced by Chief Assistant Zhou Shangjing, while all the candidates knelt down to answer the question, Zhao Junchen couldn't help but smile and sighed secretly in his heart: "It is indeed like this."
Throughout the dynasties, the policies and questions of the palace examinations always faithfully reflected the governance thoughts and political concepts of the emperors of the past dynasties, and also reflected the major issues that the emperors were concerned about in different periods.
In recent times, there have been constant party disputes between North Korea and China, and things that were unexpected by Emperor Deqing happened from time to time. Emperor Deqing could not help but worry that the situation in North Korea and China was gradually getting out of his control.
In this way, Emperor Deqing would naturally take the opportunity of the palace examination questions to express his attitude to all parties in the government and the public, beat the various factions in the court, and brainstorm to see if he could find any good ideas from the candidates.
Emperor Deqing's examination question, if we put it down to the final analysis, put aside those high-sounding words, and sum it up in a vernacular, "The current situation in the imperial court is a bit unstable, and I am a little worried. You people can help me give me ideas on how to make things better." The officials in the DPRK and the Central Government no longer have any dissent, and become my puppets obediently, obeying my orders?"
This question is not difficult to say. You can fool it by quoting scriptures and writing down some ancient sages’ ideas about governing the country. If you have better literary talent and neater and more beautiful handwriting, you might be able to get a good score. But if you want to really say something meaningful and write something that makes people gasp in admiration, it is even more difficult. After all, there have been countless such articles from ancient times to the present, with all kinds of ideas and opinions. It has been expounded countless times by people both ancient and modern. It is extremely difficult to stand out when writing about it now.
Therefore, after hearing this policy question, most candidates looked confused, frowned, and did not know how to write.
However, all the candidates who had taken refuge in Zhao Junchen were all excited at this time.
Because, they have already prepared for this test question!
It's not that Zhao Junchen knew the test questions in advance. In fact, even Zhou Shangjing, who announced the test questions, had just learned about it. However, Zhao Junchen knew too much about Emperor Deqing's methods and style, so he was not sure about Emperor Deqing's questions this time. The scope had already made some guesses, and then he informed the palace examination candidates who had taken refuge in him of his guesses. As a result, Emperor Deqing's question was indeed not beyond Zhao Junchen's expectation.
"Although I didn't tell them how to answer this exam question specifically, I knew the question several days in advance and had so much preparation time. If they still can't answer it well, it only means that they are incompetent and will be ranked lower in the future palace exam. , I deserved it for not focusing on cultivation, you can’t blame me.”
While thinking secretly, Zhao Junchen subconsciously looked at Li Chunchen.
Emperor Deqing's temperament is not a secret, nor is the fact that the court has been troubled in recent days. Combining the two, it is not difficult to guess the scope of Emperor Deqing's questions.
Since Li Chunchen wanted to take advantage of this imperial examination to make a splash, he presumably guessed the question and had an answer in his mind. Moreover, this answer could easily please Emperor Deqing and be favored by Deqing. The emperor's reuse.
"Let me see what your answer is."
Zhao Junchen thought with interest as he watched Li Chunchen kneeling down to take the test questions slowly, then sitting down to write.
However. Although Zhao Junchen already attached great importance to Li Chunchen, what he didn't expect was. The answer Li Chunchen finally gave shocked Zhao Junchen!
In fact. More than just Zhao Junchen? As Li Chunchen wrote his answer at this moment, the entire officialdom was shocked!
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The palace examination will last for a whole day. Emperor Deqing and the officials in the court have countless important things to do, so naturally it is impossible to accompany the candidates all day.
In fact, after the candidates began to answer questions, Emperor Deqing only stayed for a while and then left.
Then, in addition to the grading ministers, all the officials also left one after another.
There is no benefit to Zhao Junchen from staying here. Nature also left.
Then, Zhao Junchen went to the Yamen of the Ministry of Revenue to handle some official duties, and then made an appointment with Zuo Lanshan, the minister of the Ministry of Industry, to discuss some matters. Seeing that it was getting late, he returned to the mansion.
After returning to the mansion, Zhao Junchen had dinner and continued reading the unfinished "Travel Notes on Yangzhou" in the study.
However, Zhao Junchen had just turned two pages when he saw Xu Qingyan pushing the door open and entering. Report to Zhao Junchen: "Young Master, Zhang Xiu, the eunuch of Yangxin Palace, wants to see you."
Zhang Xiu was the apprentice of Zhang De, the eunuch of Emperor Deqing. It seemed that he wanted to see Zhao Junchen because of something important. But Zhao Junchen was not surprised, he just nodded and said: "Let him come in."
After a while, Zhang Xiu followed Xu Qingyan to the study. He smiled flatteringly at Zhao Junchen and said, "Our family has met Mr. Zhao. Mr. Zhao is safe."
Zhao Junchen smiled and said: "Eunuch Zhang Xiu. We are all from the same family and are familiar with each other. There is no need to be polite."
After Zhang Xiu nodded with a smile, he took out a roll of paper from his sleeve, which was densely filled with words. He handed it to Xu Qingyan who was aside, and said to Zhao Junchen: "Master Zhao, according to your instructions, about the man named Li Chunchen Our master has already tried his best to make a copy of the palace exam answer sheet and sent it to you as a gift."
Zhao Junchen took the scroll from Xu Qingyan's hand, opened it and read it carefully, nodded and said with a smile: "Thank you, father-in-law."
It turned out that Zhao Junchen was always inexplicably concerned about Li Chunchen's answer, so he asked the eunuch Zhang De to make a copy for him to review in advance.
After the palace examination, the examination papers are still on the second day. Before that, the candidates' answer sheets will be kept in the palace for one night. For Zhang De, the eunuch, it is not a big deal to take the opportunity to make a copy, so he does it. It was extremely neat, and now that it was just getting dark, someone had already sent it to Zhao Junchen.
However, Zhao Junchen just glanced at the scroll in his hand, and his expression changed slightly, as if the content on the scroll shocked him extremely.
Then, Zhao Junchen's expression quickly returned to normal. After chatting with Zhang Xiu for a few words, he gave Zhang Xiu some benefits and sent Xu Qingyan to send Zhang Xiu away.
After Zhang Xiu left, Zhao Junchen's expression gradually became solemn and his brows furrowed.
After Xu Qingyan sent Zhang Xiu away, he returned to the study and saw Zhao Junchen's appearance. He couldn't help but feel strange and asked: "Master, what happened?"
Zhao Junchen didn't answer. In fact, with Xu Qingyan's knowledge, he couldn't tell him clearly. He just pondered for a moment, handed Xu Qingyan the paper roll sent by Zhang Xiu, and ordered: "Send someone to secretly send this answer sheet." Give it to Chief Assistant Zhou Shangjing!"
To Zhou Shangjing?
Hearing Zhao Junchen's words, Xu Qingyan couldn't help but wonder. Zhao Junchen and Zhou Shangjing were the leaders of the two major factions in the court and were sometimes hostile. What kind of answer did Zhao Junchen need to discuss with Zhou Shangjing?
Out of curiosity, Xu Qingyan glanced at it subconsciously after taking the answer sheet.
But I saw it written on the answer sheet, "...Your Majesty wants to control the words and deeds of hundreds of officials and rectify the administration of officials. Only the secret system is feasible!..."
Just as Zhao Junchen said, Xu Qingyan couldn't understand this batch of answer sheets. He didn't know what the so-called "secret folding system" was, let alone what it meant. He just agreed and pressed Zhao Junchen's hand. I went to take care of my orders.
………
ps: Well, the first update today! There is one more update before dawn! (My novel "Regent Ming" will have more fresh content on the official WeChat platform, and there will also be a 100% lucky draw gift for everyone! Open WeChat now, click on the "+" sign on the upper right "Add Friend", search Follow the public account "qdread" and hurry up!) (To be continued...)
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