The flowing banquet in the Gao Mansion was nothing more than spending some money, which didn't matter to Gao Pingshi at all. He had more important things to do, but he didn't have time to eat and play with these neighbors whom he didn't know at all.
Early the next morning, most of the new scholars, who were almost all hungover, climbed out of bed with great perseverance. Although the celebrations are over, there are still some official steps that must be taken.
The new scholars held their heads that were so heavy that they felt almost cracked, and took magical steps that were either heavy or vain. They went to Honglu Temple to learn the basic etiquette of being an official, and at the same time accepted the court uniforms, crowns, and Jinshi gifts given by the emperor. Well, these things can basically be regarded as uniforms and academic diplomas.
According to the etiquette we just learned, after receiving a favor from the emperor, the people below must express their gratitude. Of course, this trivial matter will certainly not trouble them. The top scholar, Gao Pragmatic, came to express his gratitude on behalf of all the new scholars. The thank you note is very well written. It uses gorgeous words and sincere remarks to express gratitude to His Majesty the Emperor. Finally, it expresses determination, saying that they and others will work hard for the Ming Dynasty and for the Emperor. This is basically what horse racing is like all your life. If you believe it, you will believe it. If you don't believe it, you will be pulled down.
After thanking the emperor, thank the teacher again, and then go to the Confucius Temple to perform the vegetable release ceremony. To put it simply, this means using rabbits as minced rice, jingjing as green beans, and jujubes as fruit, in order to express gratitude to the sage Master Kong.
Of course, in layman's terms, it is to serve Confucius with some food and wine to express his gratitude.
However, this set of etiquette is also extremely complicated, because not only Confucius is alone in the Confucius Temple, but there are also the Four Sages and Twelve Philosophers, as well as 62 sages in the East and West verandas.
In this way, in addition to kneeling down to worship the Holy Saint Confucius, we also have to kneel down in sequence to Fu Sheng Yanzi, Zong Sheng Zengzi, Shu Shengzi Sizi, and the sub-sage Mencius who was kicked out by brother Zhu Yuanzhang and invited back. Not counting, you still have to pray to the gods of the Twelve Eastern and Western Philosophers and the Sixty-Two Confucian Confucians. If you don’t pray until you have backache and leg cramps, it’s not complete. The key is that the etiquette when praying is different, and the order must not be wrong. If Gao Pragmatic's body is not at the age of the fastest metabolism, and he sobers up quickly enough, it is estimated that Gao Pragmatic is probably confused.
After paying homage to Confucius Temple, we finally reached the last step of erecting a monument with the names of Jinshi
This thing sounds a bit powerful, but in fact, it is just that the Ministry of Industry got a stone tablet with the names of all the undergraduates engraved on it and erected it in the forest of tablets in the Imperial College for future generations of students to look up to. This is also the legacy of most Jinshi scholars. Opportunity to become famous
The sixth number one scholar will definitely leave a name in history, so being pragmatic can be a bit indifferent, but it is a bit difficult for other Jinshi to leave a name in history. Therefore, although everyone is very tired, at this moment, they are all energetic and excited. When they came to the Imperial College next to the Confucius Temple, they found a piece that belonged to them at the end of the rows of inscription tablets.
This fine-grained, nearly white marble inscription stele is nearly one foot high with its base. Decorated with a cirrus pattern, the stele is engraved with six large seal characters: "Inscription of the Jinshi's Inscription".
The front is divided into two parts. The upper part is the emperor's edict, which states the motivation and purpose of the imperial court's opening of subjects to recruit scholars. A series of praiseworthy words are indispensable, but they are actually what he read when he was passed on that day. The lower part is the list of 303 Jinshi students who have undergraduate degrees. The names and birthplaces of each Jinshi were neatly engraved on it according to their rankings. Although the monument was large enough, due to the large number of people, the carvings were still densely packed. Most of the Jinshi's eyes were not very good, and they gathered around the monument. When I asked for my name, some people almost put their faces on it.
Gao Jingshi, Xiao Liangyou, Wang Tingzhuan, Zhang Taizheng and others did not join in the fun, after all, their names were relatively high up. At this time, Gu Xiancheng stretched out his hand and pointed to the side, and suddenly smiled and said, "What is that person covered with yellow cloth over here?"
"Hahahaha, this, I have to ask Zhuangyuan Lang to open it with his own hands and see." Amid a burst of loud laughter, Wei Xuezeng, Minister of Industry, walked from the side and appeared in front of everyone.
All the Jinshi quickly saluted and said, "I've seen the Ministry Hall."
Wei Xuezeng laughed and said, "My friends, please excuse me. The auspicious time has come. Let's quickly lay the foundation for your monument." Everyone lifted up the earth one by one to symbolically bury the base of the monument.
After all the etiquette procedures were completed, Wei Xuezeng showed a somewhat mysterious smile and said to Gao Pragmatically, "Master Zhuangyuan, please work with me to unveil this monument."
This was not a private meeting between Gao Jingshi and Wei Xuezeng at his own home. Gao Jingshi did not dare to make excuses and said politely, "It is better to obey my order than to be respectful, Wei Butang, please." Then he and Wei Xuezeng grabbed a corner of the yellow cloth with one hand. , amidst the noisy sound of firecrackers, they pulled down the curtain together to reveal the true face inside.
I saw a large stele that was exactly the same in style as the inscription stele, but made of white marble. On it were four-line pavilion-style red characters: "The legend of dragons and tigers sings the gold medal, and the gathering of wind and clouds wears the jade crown. For two hundred years, I am the true leader." "Writing elixirs for essays"
As soon as the word "I" comes out, everyone knows that this must be the inscription from Yubi himself.
Everyone hurriedly looked at the inscription on the lower left, and saw that it was engraved with "Imperial pen in the eighth year of Wanli, and the sixth number one scholar was awarded", and then there was a carved seal with the inscription "Wenhua Palace Imperial Treasure" engraved in small seals. The words seemed to be the private seal used by the emperor.
"I have been the leader for two hundred years, and I have written poems and elixirs for you." Everyone murmured silently. The shock on their expressions and the surging mood seemed to be even more exaggerated than Gao Qiang's pragmatism.
The emperor personally wrote a poem and erected a monument for the number one scholar. This is definitely an unprecedented grace in history. This honor is truly a great opportunity for a thousand years.
"The Number One Scholar, this is the greatest masterpiece of our dynasty."
Everyone was still immersed in shock. Wei Xuezeng also expressed his congratulations with emotion, and then said, "From now on, you will be my unparalleled role model for all generations of the Ming Dynasty."
Only then did all the new scholars come to their senses and came over to congratulate Gao Pragmatically.
Gao Pragmatic and Zhu Yijun have been together since childhood. Zhu Yijun has said to him many times such as "The monarch and his ministers will join hands to rejuvenate the Ming Dynasty", so it is indeed a bit exaggerated to say how flattered he is, but he is indeed Somewhat touching.
Especially for the sentence "I have been the real leader of literature for two hundred years, and I have written and written elixirs for literary works." Gao Pingshi felt that Zhu Yijun was so kind to him that he had nothing to say. Not only did he praise him as the real leader of literature in the Ming Dynasty for two hundred years, but he also He also used the sentence "I wrote the elixir for Wenqu" to confirm his reputation as a Wenqu star.
In ancient times, when making a monument, one would first use a red pen to write the words to be engraved on the stone, which was called "shudan". Zhu Yijun's poem means that such an eternal event is worthy of me personally writing elixirs for you.
How could such a favorable encounter exist in any dynasty?
Therefore, Gao Yingshi also bowed to the inscription and said, "Your Majesty, I am so grateful. How dare I dare to think that even if I am broken into pieces, I cannot repay Your Majesty for this great kindness?" As he spoke, tears had already burst into his eyes.
Well, in fact, although he was moved, it was not to this extent, but in full view of the public, this performance was definitely needed, and as a capable veteran actor, it was not difficult for him to " burst into tears" or something like that. Down him.
After being pretentious in front of the two steles, it was considered as a complete completion of the lengthy ceremony after becoming a Jinshi. The next step was to go to the Ministry of Civil Affairs to take the imperial examination and be assigned in three days.
Seeing the officials from various ministries who had been around them these days disappear like a tide, all the Jinshi felt empty in their hearts. They suddenly realized that their new aura had disappeared, and now they were just a group of ordinary Jinshi who had not been assigned work.
If you really want to talk about it, if any of these Beijing officials are not from the top two rankings, what do you have to be proud of?
So they tucked their tails between their legs one by one, stopped celebrating, and prepared to go back and have a good rest, participate in the selection in three days, and strive to get good grades so that their rankings in the allocation can be slightly higher.
However, Gao Pangshi, Xiao Liangyou and Wang Tingzhuan can relax a little as the three tripod armors.
