In August of the 18th year of Hongzhi's reign, the Enke examination began.
The sky is dim and bright, and there are already a sea of people in front of the Gongyuan, waiting for the opening of the hospital. Everyone is carrying a small basket with food and pen and ink in it. Other than that, all are prohibited items. Once found, the exam will be cancelled. You are allowed to take the exam again. If you are found to have a note or something like a book, your registration will be cancelled, and you will not be allowed to take the exam again for life.
When every candidate enters, three examination rooms are inspected at the same time and supervise each other. Therefore, it is basically impossible to muddle through. Therefore, every candidate who is qualified to take the examination has some serious problems in the eight-part essay to obtain a scholar. Really good stuff, a real choice among ten thousand.
It's a pity that they didn't know how many people were going to be disappointed this time. His Majesty the Emperor just turned his lips and turned the original eight-legged article into a topic on the Southwest Policy, including government affairs, military affairs, and civil affairs, completely disrupting the examination. Rhythm.
When each candidate was admitted to the hospital by roll call, everyone took their seats and waited in the examination room for the examiner's final speech and then the questions. Enke was just like a real college entrance examination. If you get through it, you will reach the sky in one step. If you can't get through it, you will reach the sky in one step. Just come back in three years.
Regardless of just sitting in a shed thinking about, solving, and solving problems, the real horror is yet to come. There are also people with a bad mentality or poor health who died in Gongyuan.
Zhu Houzhao's seat is in the middle, in the crowd, and not in a conspicuous position. Xu Qiong is the examiner, not the patrol officer, so it is basically impossible to find him. The chief and deputy examiners are of similar rank, so naturally they will not degrade themselves. It was impossible for other people to see him during the inspection tour, so Zhu Houzhao took part in an ancient imperial examination very comfortably, which felt very fresh and fun.
Liu Jin and Zhang Zhong naturally don't have to worry about anything happening to His Majesty in the Gongyuan, unless someone is crazy. After the Gongyuan exam starts, even a bird, let alone an assassin, cannot fly in. There will be crossbowmen on all sides. There are also people from the Wucheng Army and Horses Division, officers from the Jingzhao Mansion, and the Forbidden Army. Do you want to assassinate one of them?
Not long after, a filing officer came out holding a vertical sign, and the gong-beating officer beside him shouted: "Put the questions away, let's start the test."
Suddenly, all the candidates' eyes were focused on the source of the sound. They saw the examiners wrapped in red silk walking past the candidates' booth. The question was written on the sign.
"Why Anxi?"
When the test questions came out, everyone was confused. What about the promised stereotypes and the beautiful articles? What the hell is An Xinan? Full of passion, being showered from head to toe by a basin of cold water made my heart feel cold. The fun was yet to come. This question was just one of them, and there were two more. In other words, they had to solve it within three days. Answer this question.
The troubles faced by native people in the southwest have been around for a long time. No one thought that Xu Qiong would ask such a question. Isn't this the style of Xu Shangshu's question? Damn it, there is nothing I can do. This question is considered abolished, but I can’t hand in a blank paper. I still have to write something anyway.
Some people are happy and some are sad. Those who are worried are naturally the scholars Yang Shen refers to. Those who are happy are naturally those scholars who have read thousands of books and traveled thousands of miles and are truly talented scholars.
Zhu Houzhao is naturally among the latter.
Of course, there was another person who he never thought would be in the same examination hall as him, and that was Yan Song, who was ruined in later generations.
Yan Shoufu, who was in power during the Jiajing Dynasty, said that a traitor must have his own merits. His excellence lies in the fact that he is a politician. Politicians have no bottom line, and politicians have no bottom line. There is a bottom line. At that time, the government was already full of cliques. Jiajing needed the emergence of this politician, who could be used to check and balance several forces, but politicians could not do that.
Sometimes, a politician's vision is vicious. They can often see situations that others cannot see. This person failed because of greed and ambition. In the end, it can be seen from his later years that Jiajing only deposed him instead of killing him. , obviously did not want to kill him, if he really hated him, given Jiajing's surly character, Yan Song would never have lived to be over eighty years old.
Yan Song saw this topic, thought about it briefly, and wrote quickly. Regardless of whether he was really well-intentioned or not, his calm attitude alone was enough to shame most of the scholars present.
"In the south of Anxi, its people come first and want to do..."
However, when Liu Zizhang saw this question, he was dumbfounded at first. He wanted to go to the southwest to become an official. He had just traveled for three years and learned about the living conditions of the people in Yunnan and Guizhou, the extravagant and domineering chieftains, and the mountains and rivers. However, I just wanted to wait for the opportunity after high school to go to the Southwest.
But is it really his actions that moved God? Enke came up with this idea for the test question. Naturally, he would not have thought that that day he met the emperor of the day, and that the world was touched by his and his friends' unspoken words, so this question was asked.
Liu Zizhang suddenly felt that the time had come to show off his talents. Perhaps, his wish could finally be realized, so when he wrote, he just followed his heart, and the thoughts in his heart appeared on the paper.
After Zhu Houzhao's initial freshness wore off, he became a little impatient. He really couldn't live a life with no one around to take care of him. But this idea was his own. It was like an Internet famous saying he heard in his previous life. He made an appointment by himself. I had to finish the fight with tears in my eyes.
So he was eager to complete the exam. He only slightly changed the policy essay he had written on the policy of returning home from the soil and refining his handwriting. He waited for noon to end the exam early. Today was the third day. He I have to go back to discuss politics with the three cabinet elders Liu and Li Xie.
Except for the sound of breathing and writing, there was no other residual sound in the entire examination room. The entire examination room was filled with the tense atmosphere of the examination. Every scholar was sweating profusely. The sweat dripped on the paper. The test papers were spent and taken away. Drop it and rewrite it.
The sound of "bang bang" is a reminder that it is noon, but there is an intermission for some food and water.
Zhu Houzhao finally got through handing in the paper. It took others two hours to write the beginning, but it only took him half an hour to finish it, and he has been resting until now.
"Report, candidates No. 179 submit their papers."
Zhu Houzhao handed in the test papers and left the examination room early. It took him half an hour to do the three days, and there were two more games to come. He just had to make up the numbers and sneak in. All the test papers had their names blurred. , nothing can be seen except the number.
Only after the papers have been graded and examined by the chief and deputy examiners, and the rankings selected, can the paper be removed and mounted, and the origins and names of the officials known.
"Your Majesty..., the young master is really talented in literature. Others are still thinking hard about answering questions and making judgments. Those nerds are your opponents, young master. The young master will definitely be the leader of the high school in this class. I congratulate you first." Liu Jinyi When I saw him, I quickly came over to flatter him and surrounded him.
Zhu Houzhao waved indifferently, Liu Jin handed over the folding fan, and Zhu Houzhao said casually: "It's a small imperial examination, it's not easy to catch it, let's go, the old guys at home are waiting impatiently."
Of course Liu Jin knew that he was talking about those old guys, and naturally they were Liu Li, Xie Sangong and other ministers.
Zhang Zhong still had no sense of presence and followed them silently.
The second test paper handed in turned out to be Yan Song's. As expected, there were two brushes. He was worthy of being the traitor who brought disaster to the Jiajing Dynasty. He still had some ink in his chest. He also left the examination room early and disappeared.
The third person is Liu Zizhang. As for the fourth person, it is a dark and thin heroic young man. I don’t know who it is? However, this person has a rather calm demeanor, which you may have known when the list was unveiled.
By the way, Zhu Houzhao returned to the palace and disappeared for three days. No one knew where he went except the Queen Mother. He was smart. As soon as he returned to the palace, he went to the Queen Mother and the Queen Mother to pay their respects and comfort them. , I just went to the Yizheng Hall.
"Everyone, please get up, you have worked hard these days." Zhu Houzhao said calmly.
"I would like to thank Your Majesty for your kindness. I dare not say anything about the hard work. However, there are a few matters here that require His Majesty's decision." The Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, holding several memorials in hand, bowed and spoke.
Zhu Houzhao nodded, and Liu Jin went to get it and handed it to him with both hands.
"Yes." Zhu Houzhao picked up the ink pen and approved it personally.
"allow."
"Accurate." He approved it three times in a row.
The Minister of Civil Affairs breathed a sigh of relief and returned to class.
Liu Jian was out of work again. It seemed that there had been a backlog of memorials in the past three days. Zhu Houzhao thought helplessly that being an emperor was not easy.
"Your Majesty, the Empress Dowager, and the Empress Dowager think that your Majesty has chosen a good match for Xia Ru's daughter. Today, I am going to report to the emperor to marry him." Liu Jian said this without surprising anyone.
Then, behind him, Li Xie, the two pavilion elders, and the ministers from various ministries asked for their support and bowed to the ground.
I'm a big fork, what's going on?
When I get married, do I need a minister’s invitation? Didn’t I choose a good match myself?
Zhu Houzhao's ridiculous behavior when he was in the East Palace, all the maids who accompanied him, as long as they were young and beautiful, were not favored by him. I don't know if he had no heirs in history, whether this had anything to do with it.
The ministers have long had this intention, but at that time the late emperor was still in good health, and Zhu Houzhao was too young, so he has been entrusted until now. Now that he has ascended the throne, it is the right time to accept the throne. Therefore, several elders have After hearing what the Queen Mother said, I was immediately happy. As long as Your Majesty has a queen, then the Ming Dynasty will be truly stable.
"This, this, this matter, let me consider it." Zhu Houzhao was actually willing, but suddenly he couldn't accept it.
Xie Qian said: "Your Majesty, the Tian family has no private affairs. Your Majesty's wedding is related to the stability of the world. How can you take it lightly? Now that your Majesty has been in power for a long time, it is a top priority to have a queen. Only if your Majesty has a queen, can the court be stable. , Only then can the people be at peace, which is what the people and the court expect."
Zhu Houzhao thought speechlessly, when I get married, do I need to go through all the details? I haven't seen that Xia family yet. Do you know whether she is ugly or beautiful? No matter what, I have to see you again. I am not sweet if I am too strong-willed, do you understand?
Li Dongyang seemed to have read through His Majesty's thoughts, and bowed and said, "Your Majesty, that Xia family is young and beautiful, dignified and generous. She knows everything about music, chess, calligraphy and painting. She is also a talented woman who is well-known in the capital at home. She is definitely a good match for Your Majesty." As expected of the scheming and decisive Li Dongyang, he has a delicate mind.
As soon as he opened his mouth, the two pavilion elders understood.
When Zhu Houzhao saw that he had been seen through, he was not embarrassed at all. Instead, he felt happy and said with a slight frown on his face: "Since the Empress Dowager and the Empress Dowager have chosen me as my perfect match, I can't say anything else." That’s it.” Talented women, I just like talented women.
