"Xinke Gongshi enters the city!"
The Honglu Temple official responsible for maintaining order sang loudly, then looked at Wei Chen and made a gesture of invitation to Wei Chen.
Wei Chen saluted slightly and stepped into the city gate first. Three hundred tribute soldiers followed Wei Chen and filed in.
A group of imperial guards on the left and right stood majestically, holding golden flags with bone flowers. Accompanied by the palace servants, three hundred tributes walked through the many palaces. After passing through a corridor, they arrived at the destination of the trip, Chongzheng Hall.
Under the guidance of the officials of Honglu Temple, the tributes entered the hall one by one and stood up, with Wei Chen in front and the other four priests behind.
Sandalwood was burning on the hall, and elegant and melodious palace music was heard from the left and right wings. The tributes looked at the magnificent and resplendent beams and painted buildings in the hall, and felt a little confused for a moment.
There were dozens of officials standing in front of Lord Dan, all of them were wearing red official robes and gold, silver and jade belts around their waists. Seeing this, Wei Chen couldn't help but secretly take a breath.
These people were not only ministers, but also ministers and bachelors. They stamped their feet and made the whole Zhou Dynasty tremble.
At this time, the throne in front of His Majesty Dan was still empty, and the emperor had not yet arrived. All the important ministers in the cabinet seemed more casual, talking to each other in low voices. When they heard the footsteps of the tributes entering the palace, they all turned their heads and looked over.
Dozens of majestic gazes swept over them. At this moment, many Xinke Gongshi held their breath nervously, feeling uneasy in their hearts.
Wei Chen lowered his head slightly and looked at the important ministers secretly. Although he did not dare to look around, he could still see the three officials in the front who were wearing python robes and jade belts around their waists.
The status of these three people is obviously higher. The ministers, Jiuqing and other important ministers standing around are like stars holding the moon.
Among the three, Wei Chen only recognized Xu Mu, who was standing on the far right.
Xu Mu is the examiner of the joint examination. Since Wei Chen won the Huiyuan, he naturally recognized Xu Mu as his master.
After the examination, Wei Chen went to Xu Mansion to pay his respects to his master as usual. However, what puzzled Wei Chen was that he did not see Xu Mu himself during this trip.
Later, it was Wang Wenqing who answered Wei Chen's doubts and told Wei Chen about the dirty things that happened when he tried to determine the rankings.
Only then did Wei Chen realize that if it weren't for the Hanlin Academy and other members of the Hanlin Academy to argue with each other, he might have been in vain long ago.
Although Wei Chen finally took Huiyuan, he naturally did not leave a good impression on Xu Mu. No wonder Mr. Xu Ge deliberately avoided seeing him.
Wei Chen was also quite helpless about this.
Xu Mu was a bachelor of Longtuge, and the power in the entire Zhou Dynasty was more than his own. It was an unreasonable disaster for him to offend such a powerful minister before he entered the officialdom.
Although Wei Chen did not know the remaining two among the three, since they were standing with Xu Mu, they were naturally the two remaining bachelors of Longtuge, and Wei Chen could guess their identities.
The one on the left who looks slightly younger is probably the second assistant Wen Yanchang, and the skinny old man in the middle is naturally the first assistant Han Zhang.
When everyone stood still, the music played loudly on both sides, accompanied by yellow bells, bells and chimes.
In the midst of this ritual music, Zhao Zhen, the emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty, made a grand appearance wearing a dragon robe. Everyone shouted long live and knelt three times and kowtowed nine times.
At this time, a sharp voice from Lord Dan was heard shouting: "Linxuan makes a plan——"
Then he saw Han Zhang, the chief assistant, walking up the stairs. The emperor personally picked up the cutting knife, unsealed the test questions on the yellow gum, and awarded Han Zhang.
Han Zhang took the test questions, turned to face everyone, and announced in a deep voice that the palace examination had begun.
Officials of Honglu Temple led the tributes to the left and right corridors of Chongzheng Hall and seated them at intervals.
Each table has the candidate's name on it. On the table are the pens, inks, paper and inkstones given by the emperor. They are all high-quality tributes. Candidates can take them away after finishing the exam. They are regarded as rewards from the emperor.
Wei Chen found his seat, lifted up his robe, sat down upright, with his back straight, then pushed his hair upwards with both hands, straightened his hair crown, straightened his robe, then put his hands on his knees, looking at Look straight ahead.
Wei Chen is not the only one, but all the other candidates are like this. They have learned these etiquette rules since elementary school, and every candidate can do it as naturally as eating and drinking.
In the Chongzheng Hall, except for the footsteps of the deacons distributing test papers, there was no sound at all. The three hundred candidates were silent.
Not long after, Wei Chen got the test questions.
"The wise kings of ancient times sought out the virtuous and listened to them, and chose the good and entrusted them to them... I have been here for thirty-nine years. I have made many mistakes in my righteousness and political affairs, and have caused many mistakes in the world. The past may not be saved, but the coming ones can still be saved. Also. Based on what I saw, my mother is hidden."
The test question contains hundreds of words, which is essentially one sentence: If there are any shortcomings in my governance over the years, you can feel free to speak out!
If this kind of question had not come from the hands of the emperor himself, even the first assistant Han Zhang would not dare to randomly come up with it.
This is the palace examination, this is the policy question.
What is mainly tested is the scholar's vision and knowledge, and the talent, learning and literary thinking are secondary.
Of course, when making suggestions and suggestions, grasping this "degree" is also very critical.
In other words, you must not only write the article deeply and thoroughly, but also know how to figure out the holy meaning. The emperor allows you to speak freely, but you cannot really speak frankly, otherwise it will be a tragedy.
Even primary school students understand this.
Of course, if you really want to spit on the emperor's face, it's not completely impossible, but you have to wait until you pass the palace examination, become a Jinshi, and become a serious admonisher.
Zhuang Jun had mentioned these taboos to Wei Chen many times before the exam, so Wei Chen naturally knew about them and would not violate them.
After reading the test questions, Wei Chen did not rush to write, but closed his eyes and meditated.
Although the palace examination generally does not exclude candidates and is considered the easiest test, Wei Chen is different. He has five yuan in his hand. In this palace examination, he is rushing to win six yuan in a row. Naturally, he will not slack off at all. On the contrary, it is more cautious than previous exams.
Different from the essays that are often written in daily life, the policy papers tested in the palace examination are often lengthy essays with thousands of words. If you want to stand out in the palace examination, you must think carefully about how to structure the article. Even if it takes an hour or two to come up with it, it is worth it. .
As long as you have the general structure in mind, writing the article will be smooth and smooth.
The coronal needle of the sun's corona moved slowly, and as the sun came out, the sky finally brightened.
Wei Chen thought for a long time in front of the eucalyptus, finally opened his eyes, dipped his pen in ink, and wrote quickly with confidence. In the blink of an eye, lines of small words dripping with ink appeared on the draft paper.
Writing so freely and without any stagnation is a rare sight even for a great talent like Wei Chen. This is the result of more than an hour of contemplation.
Wei Chen concentrated his attention on the article. It was not until the last stroke was finished that he noticed someone standing beside him. He didn't know when the other person came or how long he had been standing beside him.
Wei Chen lowered his head slightly and caught a glimpse of the hem of the other party's bright yellow robe. He was suddenly excited. He immediately shook his body and hurriedly got up from the stool and prostrated himself beside the eucalyptus.
Standing next to Wei Chen was naturally Zhao Zhen, the Emperor of Zhou Dynasty. Behind Zhao Zhen were Han Zhang and several other important ministers.
Seeing Wei Chen's panic, Zhao Zhen didn't say anything. He just smiled and motioned for Wei Chen to get up. Then he bent down and removed the paperweight on the gum, picked up the paper that Wei Chen had just finished and looked at it.
Wei Chen couldn't help but feel uneasy at this moment, wondering what this official would think of his article.
Not long after, Zhao Zhen suddenly looked around and said with a smile: "A good calligraphy."
Han Zhang and others nodded in agreement.
Wei Chen felt a little depressed when he heard this.
Although his calligraphy is pretty good, this article is what he is most proud of. Why does Zhao Zhen only comment on the calligraphy but not the text? Is it because his article does not suit his liking?
