"Ahem, then let's continue with the marking."

Daizong finally got the ministers to stop arguing and began to read the second paper.

"Well, that's good. The government only collects and resells salt and iron. It has been changed to the government's exclusive collection. The right to resell salt is delegated to private salt merchants for marketing. This can not only reduce the number of officials responsible for handling, transporting, and selling salt and iron, but also streamline the organization and change the bureaucratic overstaffing.

This situation can also have the effect of competition among merchants, lowering salt prices, increasing sales, and increasing taxes. Well, this argument is very good, and it will be ranked first among the top two."

After reading a few papers, Daizong kept shaking his head, looking at his expression, as if he was not very satisfied. When he reached the eighth paper, his eyes suddenly lit up. He read aloud while reading the paper, and his loud voice sounded in the quiet hall.

Keep echoing.

In this fashion book, Zuo Pushe Du Hongjian Shi Shiran stood up, kowtowed to the emperor solemnly and said:

"Reporting to your Majesty, this is a test paper for a candidate from a well-known Zhu family in the Jianghuai area. The candidate was born into a wealthy merchant family. It is expected that he was located in a coastal salt field. He was influenced by the surrounding environment and the government was discussing the shortcomings of the salt trading system.

The argument is sound and well-founded, and is by no means a general statement. I think it should be classified as the first one."

When Du Hongjian finished speaking, the ministers nodded in agreement. It was obvious that Du Hongjian, a fat and lovely old man, still had great authority in the eyes of his colleagues.

"Oh, what Du Aiqing said is indeed reasonable. Well, let's rate his paper as the first and second place." Seeing that the ministers also nodded in agreement, Daizong happily made a smooth move.

The more than fifty papers that can be placed on the royal desk in front of the Emperor's Dragon Throne are undoubtedly the first-class and excellent papers selected from tens of thousands of candidates. The results of the discussion of more than a dozen highly respected examiners unanimously agreed without any dispute.

Try to be as fair and objective as possible, with almost no water at all.

As for the specific way to rank these fifty-odd papers, it depends on people's subjective emotions. If there is an examiner's fellow examiner's examination paper, as long as the examiner is willing, he will be a little bit more involved in the emperor's contract.

If you give a few words of praise to this candidate's paper when writing, the candidate's ranking will rise by a few places. If you are lucky, you may be able to jump up to a dozen places.

"Well, isn't this the paper of Silla Ambassador Piao Hao's nephew? It's not bad. The writing is generous, correct, and smooth, and it's a pleasure to read. Wait, and the content is also good, on the management and containment of northern tribal forces.

.Eh? If we want to stabilize the north, we must first unify the Korean Peninsula, and then conquer Japan, the island country on the sea, so as to stabilize China's Guanzhong."

"Last month ago, didn't Pu Hao just lead 50,000 Tang soldiers to support his homeland Silla? How is the recent war with Japan going?" Daizong seemed to have thought of something, and looked up from the desk to look at the ministers below.

, asked casually.

"Reporting to your majesty, according to the report of the urgent messenger from Babaili, our Tang Dynasty reinforcements arrived in Pyongyang, the capital of Silla, fifteen days ago to help the King of Silla stabilize the situation. The war in northern Korea has been temporarily stabilized. It is expected that the Japanese navy will be in Hokkaido

Our logistics and transportation supply lines will be cut off by our Shuilou fleet departing from Tianjin Port in one month. Within half a year, the Japanese pirates will surely withdraw, and the crisis in the client country Silla will be resolved."

The Minister of War stepped forward, responded quickly, and immediately reported to the emperor.

"Well, although the Japanese army can be driven out, our Tang army cannot always stay in the foreign land of Silla. If the army withdraws and Silla becomes weak, won't the Japanese army have to come back again? Once the Japanese army takes over Silla, it will inevitably

Taking Goryeo, the Japanese navy has always been capable and good at fighting. Our Tang Dynasty capital is located inland, and the soldiers are not good at water warfare. If the Japanese navy arrives in Yangzhou by ferry, goes up the Yangtze River, and then sends its troops southward, enters Hebei, and threatens Guanzhong, it will definitely

The crisis in Chang'an cannot but be said to be a major hidden danger."

The emperor sighed worriedly, touched his forehead, and felt that his head hurt. The Nanzhao tribe in the Lingnan region in the south, the Turks in the Mobei, and the Tubo in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau were all enough to trouble the emperor. Add Japan to the list, and the emperor deserved it.

It's really annoying.

"Isn't this Pu Shangxuan the crown prince of King Silla? He has been studying Chinese culture in the Imperial Academy of the Tang Dynasty for many years. After carefully reviewing his article, I found that his article is indeed good in all aspects, including conception and argumentation. Plus, we

It is necessary for the Tang Dynasty to strengthen its alliance with the vassal state of Silla, so let’s designate Pu Sangxuan, the crown prince of the King of Silla, as the first-class Tanhua.”

Soon after the emperor pondered for a moment, he came to a conclusion. With a stroke of his pen, he wrote a large number of bright red characters in vermilion ink on the front of the scroll.

"Your Majesty!" After Emperor Daizong gave his instructions, the ministers unanimously passed the resolution and immediately knelt down and shouted.

"Your Majesty, I think the article written by candidate Guo Nuan is good. I hope you can read it carefully."

Yan Zhenqing stood up again at this time and immediately said to the emperor.

"Uh, Guo Nuan? He is also in the ranks of Jinshi?" The emperor was stunned for a moment, but then smiled: "Haha, I'm so confused, I almost forgot about this son-in-law. I heard that Guo Xiaozi from King Fenyang's family was in Chang'an recently.

But it has caused a lot of sensational events."

"Well, indeed, one song, oh no, I was wrong, half of it, 'The dawn is cold outside the green poplar smoke, and the spring is stirring on the red apricot branches.' It is famous." At some point, Yuan Zai, who was not very open-minded, stood up again.

He came out, looked around at the ministers, and chanted loudly.

It is said that Yuan Zai's first wife was the daughter of Wang Zhongsi, the governor of Hexi Province. When Yuan Zai had not yet made his fortune, he was still a small official. His official promotion relied heavily on his father-in-law Wang Zhongsi, and Wang Zhongsi was at the beginning of the Anshi Rebellion.

, the An Lushan rebels broke through the Hexi Defense Area and almost lost their lives. Fortunately, Guo Ziyi led King Shuofang Qin's army to rescue and rescued Wang Zhongsi.

Of course, Yuan Zai had to say a nice word in front of the emperor about the son of his savior who had saved his father-in-law. Although he was not the examiner of this imperial examination, he had already heard about Guo Nuan's reputation for his excellent poetry and prose. At this time, he was interested in

The praise Guo Nuan said is truly worthy of the name.

"Well, I heard that I have composed another half of it recently. What is that about?" A young Minister of Household Affairs stood up with a look of admiration on his face. He thought for a while and then continued: "By the way, the sunset is infinitely beautiful, but it's almost dusk.

"Every time Guo Banshu comes out, it must be a masterpiece. It's wonderful, it's really wonderful."

The young Minister of Household Affairs had recently deducted more than 20,000 taels of money from the Ministry of Household Taxation, and Yuan Zai discovered his personal enrichment activities. Unluckily, he had the pigtail kidnapped, so he had no choice but to secretly pay Yuan Zai 30,000 taels.

It took a lot of money and three charming concubines to feed the hungry wolf Yuan Zai. Why don't you try to curry favor with Prime Minister Yuan Zai as soon as possible, otherwise the corruption will be revealed and the emperor will know about it?

Be careful, even my life may be lost.

"Well, "The Theory of Honesty and Honesty in Punishments and Rewards" is interesting and interesting. It doesn't have the usual flattering attitude of trying to figure out the examiner's intention in setting the questions. The calligraphy is unique and refreshing. This is something that has been popular in the Chang'an literary world in recent days.

The much-rumored thin gold body was Guo Nuan’s first creation, and it is truly extraordinary.”

Daizong's eyes immediately lit up when he saw it, he nodded repeatedly, twirled his beard and sighed, he was very optimistic about the article about Guo Nuan, his son-in-law.

"Well, since everyone says that Guo Nuan's articles and calligraphy are good, dear friends, how should we rank Guo Nuan's volume?"

"The top scholar!" Prince Li Shi, who had been silent all this time, suddenly stood up in the crowd of ministers and shouted loudly to Daizong.

"Your Majesty, Guo Nuan is worthy of his reputation as the number one scholar!" Everyone saw that the Crown Prince was very optimistic about Guo Nuan's article, and they immediately knelt down and agreed.

"Haha, the number one scholar is the number one scholar. Mr. Guo is good, so I will give him the title of number one scholar!" Daizong laughed loudly and immediately made the decision.

"The Emperor's Holy Ming!"
Chapter completed!