March 17th.
On the second day of the palace examination marking and the day before the palace examination results were released, the intense marking work was still in progress, while Zhu Youtang was in the Qianqing Palace, checking a batch of telescopes brought in by Xiao Jing. .
"Your Majesty, these telescopes have been made and are of high quality. In addition, Mr. Zhang has also equipped with several new binoculars, which can be adjusted in a variety of ways, so that the binoculars can be seen more clearly. "
Xiao Jing said, handing the binoculars to Zhu Youtang.
Zhu Youtang looked at it in front of his eyes, then asked about the adjustment method, and said in surprise, "How is this done?"
Xiao Jing said, "It says there are The slave doesn’t quite understand the gears, the expansion and contraction of the caliber, etc.”
For those new things, it would be good if Xiao Jing could remember the names, let alone understand the principles. He was also thinking, if I If you can figure it out, then what's the matter with Zhang Bingkuan
"Very good, very clear."
Zhu Youtang held it in his hand and looked out of the hall with a smile on his face emerge.
Xiao Jing said again, "Your Majesty, Mr. Zhang also gave me some things as gifts."
"As gifts"
"Yes." Xiao Jing said, " This kind of soap is called soap, which is similar to soap locust. It can be used for bathing, washing hands, cleansing the face, etc. It is specially brought for His Majesty to try."
Zhu Youtang glanced at Dai Yi next to him and put it on. Dai Yi was very sensible and quickly asked someone to bring him a basin of water. Dai Yi personally took it and presented it to Zhu Youtang.
Zhu Youtang picked up the soap and washed it roughly as Xiao Jing said.
"Well, it feels like it can clean the dirt on your hands better, and it has a refreshing floral fragrance." After Zhu Youtang used it, he was naturally very satisfied.
Xiao Jing smiled and said, "Your Majesty, Mr. Zhang said that this is just a trial production. For the time being, we can only bring in Shifang as a tribute."
"Go and give it to the Empress Dowager. Go over here and let her try this good thing first."
Zhu Youtang didn't even think about it, so he first said that he would give it to Queen Mother Zhou.
Dai Yi and Xiao Jing were also surprised by this.
I thought, your majesty, when you had good things in the past, didn’t you always give them to the queen, prince and princess first?
Zhu Youtang said, “The empress dowager usually likes to be clean, and People who practice Buddhism emphasize that only by purifying the body can the mind be purified. Bingkuan is really thoughtful.”
The eunuchs then roughly understood the emperor’s intention, but no matter how they listened, they seemed to be forcefully explaining why. Give it to Queen Mother Zhou first.
And they felt awkward talking about "purification" in front of the eunuchs. Your Majesty, don't you know that this word has other meanings?
"Is this considered a bribe?" Zhu Youtang suddenly smiled and said.
"Ah" Xiao Jing looked confused, then smiled and said, "Your Majesty, isn't this Mr. Zhang's kindness? How could it be a bribe?"
Zhu Youtang continued to smile , looking in the direction of Wenhua Palace, said, "Now the palace examination is in progress, the results should be available this afternoon, heGive him a gift in advance and ask me to take care of him. I appreciate it. ”
“I have never had so many expectations for the results of the palace examination like this time. It’s like someone close to me is also taking the palace examination, but I can control his destiny. The mood is very complicated. "
He also said it was not a bribe
Dai Yi comforted him and said, "Your Majesty, with Mr. Zhang's talent and learning, he will definitely not fall behind others. "
Zhu Youtang said, "But if his test paper is not among those ten, it will be difficult for me to promote him to the number one scholar or Dingjia." In this way, Xiao Jing, go over and keep an eye on me, and send back any news. "
"Yes. "
Xiao Jing accepted the order.
I was also thinking about it in my heart.
I am a Dongchang eunuch with little knowledge and no qualifications to mark papers, so I went What can Wenhua Palace do?
Those palace examination examiners will give me no face
It is of course useless for Xiao Jing to go to Wenhua Palace.
The reading of the papers has come to an end. Although the names of the papers are unknown, the handwriting of some candidates can still be recognized by the examiner.
Just like
Of course, the fonts are all similar, and some of them cannot be completely determined, especially in this situation. In the multi-paper selection process, these examiners are all arrogant, and probably no one will engage in malpractice for personal gain.
Liu Jian, Li Dongyang and Xie Qian have high status as examiners in the palace examination. The top one is basically a paper, which is reviewed by them at the end.
At their age, they have to read 300 articles in two days, and each article is at least a thousand words long. A long article without punctuation marks is like reading 300 chapters in two days. Many times it is really impossible to read it all. I only look at whether the basic arguments are tenable, then look at the calligraphy, and then look at the intention. Wait, some people will follow the crowd.
If there are many circles on the top, I will draw circles.
If there are many triangles on the top, I will draw triangles. >Laziness naturally leads to laziness. After all, this is not a general examination. The examiner needs to make detailed comments on the articles. The marking time is said to be three days. In fact, the day of the examination does not count. There are only sixteen or seventeen days before the results are released on the arrival day. , we have to finish the examination and submit the results to the emperor before dark on the afternoon of the 17th, and ask the emperor to rank the ten papers. Many times, I really don’t bother to read them carefully.
“Eunuch Xiao, I’m done. Almost, there are more than 200 papers that all fourteen examiners have read, and only a few people have not read the rest, which will not delay things. You can rest assured and rest first. "
The eunuch from the Li Supervisor's study room came over to explain the situation to Xiao Jing, speaking softly, for fear of disturbing the marking inside.
Xiao Jing, on the other hand, was not so shy and smiled. "We are not in a hurry to leave. After the marking is over, we will go to submit the papers with a few old scholars.”
The examination papers were finally completed when the sun was setting in the west.
In addition to Liu Jian, Li Dongyang and Xie Qian who were going to submit the last ten papers, there was also the Hanlin Academy Three people, Wang Hao, Li Jie and Jiao Fang, the bachelor's degree scholar and the bachelor's lecturer, will go there. Originally, the minister of the Ministry of Rites would also go as usual, but Xu Qiong, the minister of the Ministry of Rites, was not the examiner this time. Mainly because of the previous ceremony. There was a rumor that there was a question asked during the ministry examination. Xu Qiong was trying to avoid suspicion.
In the Qianqing Palace,
Six ministers who submitted the examination papers were standing in the palace, and there were ten examination papers. Each of them was presented to the emperor.
Zhu Youtang didn't talk nonsense. He went up to see if Zhang Zhou's calligraphy appeared in it. After vaguely recognizing it, he felt that one of them was very similar to Zhang Zhou's calligraphy. After reading a few sentences, it seems that the style of discussion is very similar to Zhang Zhou's, with a vague tone of criticizing the current ills. Then I looked at the scores of the fourteen reviewers
Zhu Youtang frowned slightly.
p>Thirteen circles, that is, thirteen first-class, but there is a slash, which is third-class.
Looking at these ten examination papers, there are one hundred and forty. In the scoring, there are only two slashes, and there are no scores below the slash. The remaining 138 marks are circles or triangles, which are equivalent to first and second grades.
Liu Jiandao " Your Majesty, these ten papers were carefully selected and the papers that the readers considered to be excellent were specially presented to Your Majesty for your reading. ”
Zhu Youtang seemed a little unhappy because of the third-class score with a slash, and asked, “What criteria are used to determine their merits and then submit them to me?”
Liu Jian was very surprised, why did the emperor ask this?
Liu Jian said, "The first class should be given priority, and those with more first class should go first; if the first class is even, the number of the second class should be considered." , the one with the second highest number comes first; and so on. ”
The general meaning is that first look at who has more circles and who has fewer circles, and the one with more circles wins.
For the same number of circles, look at the number of triangles, then look at the diagonal lines, and then look at Vertical lines.
Liu Jian also said, "In this palace examination, there are no papers for the 14th and 1st grades. Those who get the 13th and 1st grades are graded as 1, and those who get the 12th grade are graded as 4 and 11." The first class is fourteen. ”
After hearing this, Zhu Youtang felt a little better.
In other words, although Zhang Zhou got a third class, those who got thirteen circles He alone, according to the scoring standards, Zhang Zhou is the top pick.
But when the emperor looked at the four papers that scored 12 circles, the remaining two scores were all second-class triangles. < /p>
Zhu Youtang is also thinking.
Who is this?
You don’t follow the crowd. If others draw a line around you, it will make you look like you. Neng Nai still said that you were the first to mark the papers, but I felt that it was not good. The thirteen examiners behind him promptly rectified the chaos
Because the names were not recorded during the marking of the palace examinations, and the emperor did not know who was so ignorant.
The emperor has to select ten papers.
Except for the top five, the remaining five papers are easier to decide.After the order, someone will then open the seal of the examination paper, announce the names, and then fill in the results.
Gold list.
With five papers left, only Zhang Zhou with thirteen circles is left, and there are still twelve circles and four copies of who knows who.
This matter concerns the top two of the second class and the top three of the first class.
Although the rankings are not much different, for such a palace examination that does not select Shujishi, the difference between winning and not winning the Dingjia can be said to be huge.
"The fourth place in the second class, Tang Yin."
"The third place in the second class, Wang Shouren."
When Dai Yi ranked seventh and sixth When the name was read out, the emperor paid more or less attention.
He has heard the names of Tang Yin and Wang Shouren.
Zhu Youtang also admired Wang Hua very much, but one bad thing was that Wang Hua was a traditional civil servant, and he was too close to Liu Jian and Li Dongyang, and they could be said to be homogeneous. , if he had to choose a fourth person in the cabinet, he obviously didn't want to choose someone like Wang Hua.
Originally, Wang Shouren ranked seventh in the second class of Jinshi this year, and Lin Ting ranked sixth in the second class.
The top five players in the top two in orthodox history are Sun Xu, Luo Qinzhong, Lu Dong, Zhang Wenyuan and Hu Wenbi.
As a result, due to the emergence of Zhang Zhou, a butterfly effect occurred. Lin Ting did not enter the top ten, Wang Shouren was promoted to the third place in the second class, and Tang Yin squeezed into the fourth place in the second class.
Five copies remain.
Zhu Youtang didn’t want to hide it anymore. He picked up Zhang Zhou’s copy and said, “I have read these ten articles and think this one is the most satisfactory to me. Among the fourteen reviewers, he He is also ranked first, so let’s take him as the first one.”
As he spoke, Dai Yizheng was about to take it.
Li Jie came out and said, "Your Majesty, although there are thirteen first-class papers in this volume, there is one third-class one. The argument of the article may be slightly biased, so please think twice."
It means that there are still some issues worthy of discussion for this paper to be promoted as the number one scholar.
Zhu Youtang became angry when he heard it.
I was just wondering who was so ignorant that he gave Zhang Zhou’s paper a third grade, but you, Li Jie, came out and admitted it yourself
I originally wanted to promote him. You are a bachelor of the Hanlin Academy. It seems that you can stand aside. You don’t even have the discernment to recognize talents. You still want me to treat you as a dish?
"I don’t understand why such a good article is like this." There is a third class simply because the argument is biased towards governing the country with rituals and music. Putting enriching the people first, and starting from water will carry the boat and the water will overturn the boat. This is the righteousness of Mencius. How can this be biased?"
Zhu Youtang looked unhappy.
Do you think it’s reasonable to say that thirteen people think it’s good, but one of them insists on being given a third-class rating? I can only say that this person’s level is not good, and he actually wants me to think that this article is not good.
< p>If this article is not good, it should be thirteen fifth-grade crosses instead of thirteen circles.Li Jie was startled.
Your Majesty, what does this mean? It’s just a reminder. Although I will take this articleHe went through thirteen rounds, but it seems that some readers still think that he is not particularly outstanding. Let me come out and give you some advice on why His Majesty had such a big reaction
Besides, it was not me who rated the third grade. I clearly remember that I marked the circle in this paper, and I particularly appreciated this article.
After being taught a lesson by the emperor, Li Jie wisely stood back to his original position.
"Gentlemen, do you have any other opinions?" Zhu Youtang asked coldly.
Jiao Fang and Li Jie don’t seem to know much about this, and they don’t know why the emperor is so insistent. However, the remaining four people, including the three cabinet members and Wang Hao, are not aware of it now. Revealing the answer, they can probably figure out the puzzle too.
Is there any need to ask?
The reason why the emperor insists on using this paper as the number one scholar is because it belongs to Zhang Zhou
In fact, there were four people present , three people didn’t understand what was wrong with this article for a moment, because three of them couldn’t recognize Zhang Zhou’s handwriting, but one of them was an exception.
If the remaining three people also know about it, maybe the scoring of this paper will be changed.
"It's settled."
Zhu Youtang doesn't talk nonsense.
Who I want to choose as the number one scholar is my business. Not to mention Zhang Zhou got thirteen circles, even if he is the worst among the ten, I want to promote him as the number one scholar. You guys Nothing.
Who told you not to brush him off in the previous selection?
Since he has entered the top ten, he is basically destined to be the number one pick.
"The second place in the second class is Liu Long."
"The first place in the second class is Chuanlu, Fengxi."
With Zhang Zhou here, The butterfly effect changed again. The second place and third place finisher in this competition did not advance to the first place.
"The third place in Yijia, Sun Xu."
"The second place in Yijia, Lun Wenxu."
"The first place in Yijia , Zhang Zhou."
When Dai Yi finished reading this, a smile appeared on his lips. He didn't bother to care who was ranked second and third, or who was ranked second. As long as Zhang Zhouzhong is the top scholar, this is what the emperor wants to see, and it is also the result that they, the eunuchs, expect.
Zhu Youtang pretended to be surprised and said, "Did Bingkuan win the first prize? That would be the third prize."
This time it was Li Jie who didn't know what was going on. He Jiao Fang also suddenly realized.
No wonder.
His Majesty almost fell out of favor just now. He was probably annoyed by the third-rate rating on Zhang Zhou’s paper.
Li Jie suddenly had an ominous premonition in his heart. Your Majesty was almost angry with me just now. He didn’t think that I was the one who rated the third grade.
He was the one who rated it.
Isn’t he just a third-class person? If someone wants to suppress Zhang Zhou, he shouldn’t be given a fifth-class one. Then he probably won’t even be able to choose these ten papers
But If there are thirteen first-class people and one is fifth-class, that would be too deliberate.
No matter how he thought about it, Li Jie felt as if he had been cheated.
But I can’t figure out who tricked me.
Dai Yi asked for instructions, "Your Majesty, now that the marking of the palace exams has ended, will the results be published tomorrow?"
"Yes." Zhu Youtang said, "Tomorrow, at midnight, I will be in Fengtian Palace. , all the civil and military ministers of the DPRK and China will go there, and the passing ceremony will be held. "
"Yes, Your Majesty."
The grading of the imperial examination ended without incident.
After the six marking officers came out of the Qianqing Palace, Xiao Jing led the way to the entrance of the palace. Because it was already late, even the three cabinet officials did not need to go back to the cabinet for duty, so they should go back. rest.
When they left the palace gate, Xiao Jing also went back.
Liu Jian deliberately asked Xie Qian to leave first, and he left Li Dongyang behind.
"Bin Zhi, it was you who rowed the third-class Zhang Bingkuan, right?" Liu Jian had a sharp mind.
In Liu Jian’s opinion, judging from that article alone, no one should give Zhang Zhou a first-class rating. Even if some people think it is biased, giving him a second-class rating is totally unacceptable. Since he is giving a third-class rating , must be suppressed intentionally.
And Li Dongyang was not the last person to read Zhang Zhou's paper. Probably Li Dongyang wanted to give a third grade to remind subsequent readers to give a second or third grade to the grade of this paper. Press down.
Li Dongyang did not answer, just stared at Liu Jian.
As if asking, how did you see it?
Liu Jiandao, "I was the last one to read this paper. When I saw a third-class title, I thought this article might have something to do with it." After reading it, I seemed to understand that this was Zhang Bingkuan's paper."
Li Dongyang smiled bitterly and sighed, "I can't hide anything from you."
"His vigor is clearly reflected in his articles. Not only can he win the first prize in the examination, he must also have extraordinary knowledge and insight. His words do not seem to be empty or artificial. Maybe they really have the ability to calm the people. The ambition to rule the world, and what he did before did not violate this original intention. The only reason for giving him a third rank is that someone wants to suppress this person's spirit."
Liu. Jian’s ability is not empty either.
When he found that an exam-oriented article could reveal his domineering attitude, he could also look at the person in the article and analyze that the person might be Zhang Zhou.
Li Dongyang said, "Shouldn't his energy be suppressed?"
Liu Jian shook his head, "At that time, he was between the second class and the first class. I also hesitated for a long time. If Zhang Bingkuan hadn't done it before, There are so many things, so I can suppress him and let him fall into the second or second place. But have you ever thought that no matter how we suppress him, His Majesty's trust in him will not be diminished but will be destroyed because of it. His Majesty believes that we deliberately blamed him."
Li Dongyang looked heavy.
Thinking about it now, it’s a good thing that Liu Jian didn’t give him a second place, forcing Zhang Zhou to fifth place.
If this is true, I am afraid that the emperor just nowWill get angry on the spot.
Liu Jiandao said, "For him to become an official in the future, whether he is the number one scholar or the top two scholar, it doesn't make any difference. Instead, it is better to let him enter the library. With some advice from us, he may be able to calm down." . Binzhi, it’s time to let go of your prejudices.” Please remember to bookmark the latest and fastest website for free reading without anti-theft