After Chen Daxiang handed over to Uncle Xie Fang and Xu Qingsou, he waved to the clerk to hand over the Jintang County examination paper.
Regardless of the fact that the Jintang County Examination has not yet been finalized, he complained to the evildoers first and characterized the Jintang County Petty Officer Examination as cheating.
In fact, Chen Dafang knew that Zhao Ping had already offended Uncle Xie Fang and Xu Qingsou, and they were eager to accuse Zhao Ping.
The reason why he dared to do this was precisely because of Uncle Xie Fang's instruction.
The three of them had already come to a conclusion, and today they were just going through the process.
After all, Uncle Xie Fang is the prime minister and Xu Qingsou is the governor (deputy prime minister) participating in politics, so the conclusion can already be decided.
A middle-aged man with a white face and no beard suddenly stood in front of everyone, and said in a neutral voice: "The official family is here!"
Uncle Xie Fang and the others couldn't help but be shocked. Why did they go to court again instead of just saying that the official was ill today?
Uncle Xie Fang took a look and found out that this person was Dong Songchen, the personal eunuch of the official family. It seemed to be true.
Dozens of civil and military ministers hurriedly turned around and bowed their hands in front of them: "Welcome to the official family!"
A man in his forties with a serious expression, three long beards, and yellow clothes appeared in front of everyone. He was indeed an official.
His complexion was slightly yellow and his expression was not very energetic. It was obvious that he had not completely improved.
Lizong sat on the dragon chair, and after the emperor and his ministers had greeted each other, Chen Dafang had no choice but to hand over the Jintang County examination papers.
Lizong looked at it and asked in a deep voice, "Where is Tingzhi?"
Dong Huai responded and said, "I'm here!"
Lizong handed him the test paper and looked at it: "You are the Minister of Rites. You should make a decision on what the test questions are."
Dong Huai took the test questions and quickly became immersed in them. The time of a stick of incense passed.
He was calm at first, then surprised, then frowned, and finally answered: "To inform the officials, this question is divided into a written test and an oral test. There are four questions in the written test and three questions in the oral test. The first two questions in the written test and the two questions in the oral test are easy, and the rest are more complicated. Disaster."
When Lizong heard that the examination was divided into an oral examination and a written examination, he immediately became interested and asked: "What is the written examination and what is the oral examination?"
"The written test is to answer questions on the test paper, and the oral test is to answer questions orally. Although the oral test is to answer questions orally, it is also recorded and confirmed by the examinee." Dong Huai replied.
As he answered, he thought to himself, this Zhao Ping is indeed a fool. Doesn't this pose a problem to the Ministry of Rites?
Since ancient times, there have been only written examinations, never oral examinations, and what should I do if the records are wrong? He couldn't help but think.
Of course Lizong didn't know what he was thinking, nor did he have this purpose.
"Dong Qing, do you think this question is suitable for the junior official examination?" Lizong asked. He was not fully recovered yet and wanted to leave the court as soon as possible.
"Of course it is suitable for the junior official examination." Dong Huai had to answer.
"How difficult is this compared with the exams for candidates and Jinshi?" Lizong did not let him go.
"The difficulty is higher than that of recruiting candidates, and interview questions are more suitable for junior officials." Dong Huai had an idea and decided not to introduce interviews into the imperial examination, and only limit it to junior officials.
He didn't say that he might not be able to answer some questions.
Lizong nodded and continued to ask: "Is this suitable for the Sichuan small province test?"
It turns out that this is the case, Dong Huai finally understood. It seems that the government does not want to introduce interviews into the imperial examination. It is not only troublesome, but also more likely to cause problems.
Dong Huai bowed again and gave this exam a qualitative report: "It is a small provincial exam suitable for junior officials."
Seeing Lizong and Dong Huai singing harmoniously, Uncle Xie Fang became anxious and gave Chen Dafang a look.
Chen Dafang gritted his teeth and came out to report: "In the official examination, the examination for the minor officials was unfair. Cheng Liang, who was admitted first, is from Changyuan County. Zhao Ping is from Changyuan County, Changyuan County."
Dong Huai's resentment towards Chen Dafang suddenly rose. He and the officials had finally limited this exam to the Sichuan junior official exam, and you have come to add trouble to the Ministry of Rites. But Chen Dafang is the censor, and it is his responsibility to hear rumors.
He calmly took out the papers of the top three candidates in the written examination and interview, and said to Chen Dafang: "Chen Yushi, look at the written examination and interview papers. I wonder how many answers you can answer?"
It's just a junior official exam, how difficult can it be?
Thinking of this, he took a look at the test questions and answer sheets.
Chen Dafang was relatively calm at first. After all, the first two questions of the written test were the most normal.
When he saw the third question of the written test, his brain suddenly entered a state of confusion.
Oh my gosh, we censors are naturally critical and create problems for others instead of solving them.
Dong Huai saw that he kept rubbing his forehead, but he didn't know what he was thinking. He asked coldly: "Chen Yushi, how many test questions can you answer?"
Chen Dafang thought that although the written test was difficult, the interview should be easy.
Wasn't that person named Cheng Liang ranked first because of his interview scores? Apparently Zhao Ping cheated on the interview paper.
He opened the interview paper and couldn't help but sneer when he saw the first and second questions.
But when he saw the third question, no matter how hard he thought about it, he couldn't think of how to answer it. He had never encountered these questions before and asked him how to answer it.
Chen Dafang saw Dong Huai's mocking look and suddenly had an idea. Since I couldn't answer, obviously these little officials couldn't answer.
He bowed his hands to Dong Huai and said, "Dong Shangshu, I would like to see the answers of the top three."
Dong Huai returned the courtesy and replied: "Chen Yushi, I can give you the answer sheet. Before giving it to you, how many questions can the Yushi answer?"
Chen Dafang swallowed hard and became a little angry, but this was raised by himself and he must answer.
He bit his lip and said with difficulty: "There are only two questions in the written examination and interview papers for the official, and the remaining three questions cannot be answered."
After he finished speaking, he couldn't help but cover his face with his sleeves. I am a high-ranking Jinshi, but I was stumped by this junior official's test questions.
The key thing is that this was not done in private, but in full view of the court, which made him feel like he wanted to die.
However, he was unwilling to give in. He stared at the test paper in Dong Huai's hand and said, "The official has already answered. Now you can look at the top three test papers."
Dong Huai knew that he would not give up until he reached the Yellow River, so he smiled coldly and said: "This is the written test and interview for the top three in Jintang County. Look at how they answered!"
Chen Dafang took the test papers from the three people and looked at them carefully one by one, not missing a single trace.
This is the only chance to overthrow Zhao Ping. If he finds any loopholes, with his ability to pick and choose, he will definitely overturn Zhao Ping to the ground.
But the more he read the test paper, the look on his face became more and more ugly. He didn't know where Zhao Ping found the person who could answer such difficult questions.
Especially the answers given by those who came first in the written test and interview were simply incredible.
Looking at everyone's puzzled looks, Chen Dafang suddenly thought, since I, a Jinshi, cannot answer some questions, how can you answer them?
He wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and gave the test paper and answer sheet to his colleague Wu Sui.
Wu Sui also wanted to know how difficult this test paper was, which actually embarrassed Chen Dafang.
When he took it and took a look, he couldn't help being surprised. He felt that his feelings were not much better than Chen Dafang.
He also wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and took the test paper and answer sheet to the censor Wu Yexun.
When Wu Yexun took a closer look, his expression changed greatly, and he gave the test paper and answer sheet to Wu Qian.
Wu Qian is fifty-seven years old, but he is in good spirits.
He is the political governor (deputy prime minister) and privy envoy (equivalent to the current chairman of the Military Commission). He was once the right prime minister, but he has been dismissed.
He took a closer look, smiled, and nodded to Dong Huai.
After reading it, he handed it over to Xu Qingsou, another governor who participated in politics.
Xu Qingsou looked at it and shook his head, then nodded again, and finally handed it over to Prime Minister Xie Fang Shu.
After Uncle Xie Fang read it, he was suddenly covered in cold sweat. He finally understood why the government listed this exam as a minor official exam.
Damn it, this is obviously an examination question for low-level officials, why should it be brought to the court for review.
The imperial court is responsible for solving major national affairs, not trivial matters. These trivial matters are solved by grassroots officials.
However, these questions are currently stumping Chen Dafang, who was born as a Jinshi. If this spreads out, won't it make the world laugh?
This problem must be solved, but how should it be solved?
Uncle Xie Fang rolled his eyes and reported to the officials: "Reporting to the officials, this examination in Jintang County is called the Small Provincial Examination. Since it is the Small Provincial Examination, the top three can be given to the same Jinshi. I wonder if that's okay?"
Lizong did not comment, but looked at Dong Huai and asked: "Dong Qing, you are the Minister of Rites, how should you solve this problem?"
Dong Huai sighed inwardly. This was the only solution at the moment.
He came out and reported: "The officials and ministers think this method is acceptable."
He thought to himself that as soon as this opening was opened, Sichuan would add three more Jinshi places.
Wu Qian came out to report to Lizong and said: "Report to the officials, Jintang County already has magistrate, county magistrate, and professor. Three of them can be promoted to chief secretary, county captain, and xuezheng."
Lizong thought for a moment, nodded and said, "Yes."
Wu Qian looked at Uncle Xie Fang, saluted Lizong again, and said: "The official family and the humble ministers have something to report. Zhao Ping helped eliminate the Hu people in Jiading, managed Jintang County in an orderly manner, and conquered Xi County. He rewarded Has it been decided yet?”
Wu Qian, the Privy Councilor, raised the issue of rewards several times, but was thwarted by Xie Fangshu's efforts.
Today, the small official examination papers have made the other party feel disheartened. If we don’t raise it now, when will we raise it?
Uncle Xie Fang tried to stop him when he opened his mouth, but this time Zhao Ping not only conquered Xi County, Jintang County was also managed in an orderly manner.
The key thing is that today, their department was disgraced by the examination papers of the other party, a small official, and there was no reason for their opposition.
Seeing the officials' questioning looks, he had no choice but to say unwillingly: "Wei Chen seconded the proposal."
As the prime minister, he had already agreed, and Xu Qingsou naturally followed.
In Jintang County, facing the doubts of Yun Wuya and his students, Zhao Ping decided to take a two-pronged approach.
On the one hand, it dealt with the censorship of the court, and on the other hand, it took the initiative to report it through newspapers.
Originally Zhao Ping didn't want to do this and was afraid of putting pressure on the court, but after thinking about it again and again, Zhao Ping made up his mind.
The imperial court could not control it, but the Song Dynasty China Newspaper could control it.
Sure enough, when the written test and interview questions and procedures were published by the Song Dynasty China Newspaper, it caused a sensation inside and outside the Song Dynasty.
Many literati, especially those in the officialdom, commented that it is no less difficult than the Fajie Test and is more practical.
Since then, Jintang County's reputation has spread both inside and outside the Song Dynasty, making people gradually forget about the past.
Half a month later, the court finally came to a conclusion about Chen Dafang's impeachment.
To the dismay of the protesting students, the imperial court not only did not punish Jintang County, but instead admitted that the Jintang County examination was a small provincial examination.
Isn't it? The top three in Jintang County were all awarded as Jinshi by the imperial court.
However, some people were disappointed, while others were surprised. The imperial court recognized Jintang County as a small provincial examination, and in the future, there may be three more places for Jinshi.
At first, these students tried their best to oppose Zhao Ping because Zhao Ping created an interview and because they had never experienced an interview.
Unexpectedly, Jintang County got a blessing in disguise and was awarded the same Jinshi for the top three results.
The scholars who made the list were happy, but so were the students who failed.
