The Gongshi people can relax after finishing the last test of the imperial examination. Next, it's time for the examiners to get busy.
Although the imperial examination was nominally conducted by the emperor, Zhao Zhen had to review all the papers of 300 people. Zhao Zhen was obviously too busy to do it alone, and he had to rely on the help of the ministers below.
The grading ministers for this palace examination, also known as the examiners, are led by Han Zhang, a bachelor of Longtuge, with Wen Yanchang and Xu Mu as deputy ministers. Jijiu from the Imperial Academy, Zhan Shifu from Zhan Shifu, and Dr. Taichang, together, there were ten important ministers in total.
The examination lasted from March 15th to March 18th. During this period, Zhao Zhen came in person several times to visit the examiners and gave them wine, fruits and cold food.
The ministers all felt that the emperor attached great importance to this palace examination, and ministers such as Han Zhang and Xu Mu felt even more heavy in their hearts, and the grading process was extremely slow.
I hurriedly hurriedly and slowly, and finally on the night of March 18th, I read through 300 examination papers.
According to the rules, the test paper must be approved by six of the ten paper readers, that is, the test paper with six circles on the top of the paper can be shortlisted into the top ten and submitted to the emperor for review.
As of now, there are only nine examination papers with six circles on the headers, and there is still one final spot to be determined.
There are a total of five articles that are eligible to compete for the last spot, and they all have five circles on the header. Each of these five articles has the support of a reviewer.
The examiners were all elders in the officialdom, so naturally they couldn't argue with each other in a red-faced manner, but although their tone was kind, their attitude was unyielding.
At this point, it's up to the chief of the ten reading officers to make a decision.
Han Zhang said in a deep voice: "Since everyone can't make up their minds, let's remove the name of the lake."
None of the reviewers had objections.
After a while, the five papers after removing the name of the lake were presented on the paper one by one. When the examiners saw the names of these five candidates, they all felt a little impressed and couldn't help but sigh. Sure enough, there are no fake ones despite the great reputation.
However, one name quickly attracted the attention of all the readers.
"What! Youyang Weichen, how come his article is here?"
Some of the examiners were quite surprised. Wei Chen, whose literary reputation was well-known in the world, had won consecutive victories in consecutive trials, and with five yuan in hand, was the favorite to be number one this time. Now he was reduced to competing for the final top ten spots. , it’s really incredible.
Tian Dongsheng, the Minister of Rites, picked up Wei Chen's article and glanced at it, then looked at Han Zhang's face, and suddenly realized it.
This article is truly a pharaoh's, every word is precious, and when read, it has the sonorous sound of gold and stone. This kind of article, not to mention this palace examination, is also a rare masterpiece in the past and present.
However, although the article was well written, it sat on the side of the Emperor Zhao Zhen and sang praises of Zhao Zhen's benevolent policies. No wonder Han Zhang and others disliked it.
You know, Zhao Zhen was having a heated argument with three Longtuge bachelors, Han Zhang, Wen Yanchang, and Xu Mu, over the matter of establishing a heir. The bachelors could not persuade Zhao Zhen, and Zhao Zhen also used these ministers. There was no way, the two sides were in a stalemate.
Under such a background, Wei Chen's article fell into the hands of the examiners led by three bachelors. How could it be easily passed?
Sure enough, Wen Yanchang, the second assistant, snorted coldly and said: "This article is all about flattering the emperor and has no character as a scholar. If he were an official, he would be a sycophant. This person can never be among the top ten, so he will take it lightly." Let’s take third class!”
Xu Mu also said with a face full of hatred: "This Wei Chen's talent is actually the number one talent, but he is a flatterer, what a pity, what a pity!"
Seeing that the two bachelors said this, Han Zhang had no intention of objecting, and the rest of the people in the hall were a little worried. This is a battle between academicians and officials, and they don't want to get involved easily.
Seeing that Wei Chen's paper was about to be classified into the third class, Lu Zongdai, the minister of the Ministry of Industry, coughed lightly and reminded: "Everyone, if I remember correctly, this Wei Chen is a member of the Hui Yuan Examination Committee. During the palace examination, No matter how well Huiyuan's articles are written, they must be submitted to the emperor for inspection."
"Old Master Lu is right." Hanlin Bachelor Liu Tingxi also agreed. He turned to look at Xu Mu and asked with a smile in his eyebrows: "Master Xu, you are a CEO who can test, and you will never put yourself in trouble with your own hands. Have you forgotten all the Huiyuan you took?"
It’s Liu Tingxi again!
Xu Mu couldn't help but curse in his heart. If Liu Tingxi hadn't interfered during the examination, Wei Chen would never have won the title.
But Xu Mu also had to admit that although Liu Tingxi's words were thorny, they did make sense, not to mention the support of Lu Zongdai, Minister of Industry.
The two readers raised objections at the same time. Even Han Zhang, the chief reader, could not turn a blind eye.
Han Zhang glanced at Xu Mu with slight dissatisfaction. Xu Mu's old face turned red. Ultimately, this matter was due to his incompetence. If he had blocked Wei Chen during the trial, he would not be in trouble today.
At this point, it was a foregone conclusion that Wei Chen's article would be recommended to the top ten, and no one could change it. Han Zhang simply followed the trend and said: "Since there are established rules, let's submit this volume to the emperor for review."
The next day, he went to Chui Gong Hall.
Zhao Zhengao was perched on the throne. Each of the ten scroll readers held a scroll and stood in front of His Majesty Dan. Starting from Han Zhang, they successively held scrolls in front of the throne to read the scroll.
The emperor did not read the articles in the palace examination himself, but the ministers read them to the emperor. This is also the origin of the name "Recorder".
In the first paper, Zhao Zhen heard Han Zhang read the sentence "Heavenly Prison is not far away, and the people's hearts can be known." He frowned and interrupted: "Are all the papers in this department have this kind of official tone?"
In the past few years, in order to establish the heir apparent, Zhao Zhen has gone through all kinds of remonstrances, such as bitter remonstrations, crying remonstrations, sarcastic remonstrations, and deadly remonstrances, all of which have made Zhao Zhen miserable. Therefore, when Zhao Zhen heard this kind of justice The straight-talking article makes me feel overwhelmed, and I don’t want to continue listening to it at all.
Of course Han Zhang understood Zhao Zhen's thoughts, but he still read this outspoken and admonishing article himself, just to try again and see if he could change Zhao Zhen's mind.
It's a pity that Han Zhang was disappointed in the end.
Han Zhang was also very helpless about this.
Generally speaking, the top ten in the palace examination are selected by civil servants, and the specific ranking is determined by the emperor.
But after all, the imperial examination is for the emperor to select his disciples, and the civil servants only do it for him. If the emperor is extremely dissatisfied with the top ten, he can reject them all and go to the back to search and remove the papers himself.
Therefore, although Han Zhang could send his favorite admonishment to Zhao Zhen, he could not stop Zhao Zhen from ranking this article at the bottom.
This is the dividing line between the power of civil officials and the emperor.
Han Zhang, Wen Yanchang, and Xu Mu read three articles in succession, all of which were sharp and bold. As expected, Zhao Zhen was all ranked at the bottom.
Zhao Zhen was dissatisfied and said: "You dare to boast and talk about state affairs before you enter the official career. This unhealthy trend must be strictly rectified!"
After finishing speaking, Zhao Zhen looked at Lu Zongdai, Minister of Industry, and said slowly: "Lu Aiqing, you are a veteran of two dynasties. You have always been mature and prudent. The article you selected must be upright and peaceful. Why don't you read it and listen to it?"
"I obey the decree."
After Lu Zongdai paid his respects, he immediately came forward with the scroll in his hand, and the article he read in his mouth was written by Wei Chen.
After only listening to a few dozen sentences, Zhao Zhen's brows widened. He had already read Wei Chen's article and remembered some of the content, but now he heard Lu Zongdai read it sonorously and powerfully, but it had a different charm.
I have long heard that truly good articles not only look majestic, but also sound like gold and stone when read, with an endless aftertaste. Now Wei Chen's article made Zhao Zhen experience this feeling.
Unknowingly, Lu Zongdai had read the entire article, but Zhao Zhen was still unfinished. After thinking about it for a long time, Long Yan said happily: "He is truly a genius in this world, and he must be the leader of this department!"
