The imperial court issued an edict to postpone the meeting in mid-November to the autumn period in winter.
The emperor issued a decree and appointed Tong Zhongshu's subordinate Ping Zhangshi, Pei Mian, the Minister of Rites, as the chief examiner, and Yan Zhenqing, the minister of the Ministry of Rites, as the fellow examiner. He also appointed a group of examiners from among the courtiers who were good at literature.
This group of examiners has arrived in Chang'an to prepare for this autumn competition.
Candidates will take the exam in the Gongyuan of the Ministry of Rites.
This time the imperial examination was unusual. On the basis of the original examination of the Ministry of Rites, the emperor also had to conduct a front-end strategy for the candidates.
Moreover, the imperial court promised that as long as the countermeasures were passed, official positions could be awarded on the spot.
This was very rare in the imperial examinations of the Tang Dynasty. You must know that the status of Jinshi in the Tang Dynasty is only a qualification for being an official. During the Tianbao period, there were many Jinshi who passed the examination but were not awarded the official.
The rites examination will be held in November, and the prelude to the palace will be held when the emperor returns to Luan Chang'an in December. As soon as these news came out, all the candidates were gearing up, waiting to perform well in this autumn visit.
When the news that Wang Wei was pardoned by the emperor reached Chang'an City, the players once again gathered at the Longyou Guild Hall, which was lively until midnight.
Shan Tao drank a few cups of Shazhou Shao that Longyou brought over, and walked towards his house with his head feeling dizzy.
The consequence of drinking alcohol in the game is memory loss the next day, which is the same as in the real world.
However, drinking in the game will not cause physical damage, and many players choose to drink in the game.
Shan Tao's house is located near the gate of Anyifang. He used his savings to buy this small house. Although it is not big, it is more expensive than many official officials in Chang'an.
You must know that living in Chang'an is not easy. If it were not for the war, the housing prices in Chang'an would be a figure that even low-level officials would feel desperate.
Shan Tao walked towards his house in a daze. Just when he reached the gate of Anyi Square, he suddenly heard the rapid sound of a gong.
By this time, Shan Tao had mostly sobered up from his wine. He raised his head and saw the sound of the gong on the gate of the square. This was the warning from the bad guy guarding the gate of Anyi Square.
Shan Tao quickly clenched his sword and walked towards the gate of Anyifang. Two bad guys in light armor came up. When they saw Shan Tao, they immediately held their weapons and saluted:
"Single patrol envoy!"
Shan Tao is the street patrol envoy of Jingzhao Yin. His jurisdiction covers the three blocks including Anyifang, and his position is equivalent to the police chief of the three districts of Chang'an.
Seeing their boss, these two delinquents showed excited expressions.
Shan Tao knew these two subordinates and asked: "Why do we need to sound the gong as a warning?"
One of the bad guys immediately said: "Street Patrol Officer, my subordinates saw a black figure riding a horse across the street, so I rang the gong."
Shan Tao frowned, Chang'an had to enforce the curfew.
Although the curfew in some districts is now in name only, the curfew order is still strictly enforced on the main roads connecting various districts, namely Zhuque Street and several horizontal and vertical streets.
Violating the curfew and running wildly through the streets at night, if caught by the patrolman or Jinwu enforcing the curfew, it is a serious crime that will lead to exile.
Even after warning the pursuing soldiers, if they continue to run away, the soldiers enforcing the curfew can shoot them directly.
Could it be an official on a mission?
It's impossible. If you are an official on a mission and have to walk along the streets at night, you must also wear an official uniform or a government uniform.
At the same time, the pass must be hung on a torch so that it will not be taken away by the patrolman or Jinwu enforcing the curfew.
For example, Shan Tao has a command flag issued by Jing Zhaoyin. Holding the command flag while walking at night will prevent him from being shot by soldiers on duty.
From the descriptions of these two bad guys, they don't look like officials performing official duties.
Shan Tao frowned and said, "Which direction did that person go?"
"Heading towards Jinggongfang in the east."
"Go to Gongsi and bring the horse over. I will chase that guy myself!"
Shan Tao was still drunk, and he just wanted to win. Two of his subordinates took out three horses from the public stable in Fanglifang, Anyi. Shan Tao stepped over the horses and headed directly towards Jinggongfang.
After chasing for a while, Shan Tao heard the sound of horse hooves ahead.
Sure enough, what the two bad guys said was right. There were indeed people running wildly on the streets at night.
Shan Tao waved his riding whip, sped up again, and finally saw a black horse pacing not far from the gate of Jinggongfang.
If it weren't for the quietness of the street and the lights on the gate of Jinggongfang, it would be really difficult to find this dark horse in the night.
Shan Tao stepped forward, held the reins of the black horse with his hand, and touched the saddle with his hand. He could still feel the residual warmth on the saddle.
It seems that this guy who wanders the streets at night has not gone far yet!
At this time, the two bad guys finally caught up.
The two quickly dismounted and ran to Shan Tao's side.
"Street Patroller!"
"Wen San, hold the horse, and Dong Qi, go to the gate of Jinggongfang and ask if you have seen any suspicious figures."
"As you command!"
A bad guy named Wen San took over the reins, and Shan Tao held a torch and began to observe the traces on the ground, looking for the whereabouts of the horse's owner.
And the bad guy named Dong Qi quickly called over the bad guys guarding the gate of Jinggongfang.
The bad guy guarding Jinggongfang saluted quickly after seeing Shan Tao. Shan Tao immediately asked:
"Have you ever seen a suspicious person pass by Jinggongfang?"
The two bad guys guarding Jing Gongfang quickly shook their heads and said:
"Street patrolman, we two brothers have never seen any suspicious people passing by."
Shan Tao frowned. This black horse was not cheap. It was tall and strong. It was a high-quality Uighur horse.
Such a horse was abandoned on the street, and the bad guys guarding Jinggongfang did not see any suspicious people.
Shan Tao looked at Jinggongfang not far away, and said to several of his subordinates: "Let's go inside and take a look."
A group of people entered Jinggongfang. Jinggongfang was more boxy than Anyifang, and many blazing braziers could be seen in the square.
There are a large number of merchants from Persia in Jinggongfang. Now the Persians have been conquered by the black food. Some Persians who do not want to be ruled by the black food leave their homeland, and some of them come to Chang'an City.
These Persians gathered in Jinggongfang in Chang'an City, and every household would offer a brazier in the yard, because these Persians all believed in Zoroastrianism.
Zoroastrianism, also called Zoroastrianism, is an ancient sect that worships fire.
There is also a Zoroastrian Temple in Jinggongfang that occupies one-third of the square. This is also the largest Zoroastrian temple in the Tang Dynasty. It is a holy place in the hearts of Persians who believe in Zoroastrianism throughout the Tang Dynasty.
The Tang Dynasty was tolerant of these sects. As long as you did not violate the laws of the Tang Dynasty, the government would not interfere with these sects.
Even the upper echelons of these sects have some privileges in the eyes of the government and can cooperate when encountering problems.
Shan Tao and his men patrolled along the wall of Jinggongfang, and suddenly Wen San shouted:
"Street Patroller! There's something over here!"
Shan Tao quickly rushed over with a torch, only to see a strange thing on the ground in a small alley near the wall of Jinggongfang.
Standing at the entrance of the alley, Shan Tao smelled the strong smell of blood. He was shocked and rushed into the alley with a torch.
When the firelight covered the alley, Shan Tao finally saw clearly what was in front of him. This was——
A corpse!
Shan Tao quickly stepped forward and illuminated the body with a torch.
Four of his men rushed over, their faces turning pale.
Although they are bad people responsible for public security in the capital, they are just like urban management and patrol police. I have never seen anything like this.
What's more, the corpse looked so hideous that it made the youngest Wen San feel sick to his stomach.
Shan Tao immediately said: "Go to the alley and spit!"
Wen San immediately rushed to the entrance of the alley and vomited.
Shan Tao took a breath. The deceased in front of him was probably a woman in her teens or 20s. She was wearing a red Tang suit with makeup on her face.
However, the woman looked very miserable at this time, her clothes were almost torn to pieces, and her abdomen was covered in blood.
Shan Tao used his hands to remove the blood-colored ribbon covering the corpse's abdomen, revealing a huge hole. Only a piece of the corpse's abdomen was missing!
Shan Tao had killed enemies in battle, so he naturally understood that the missing part was the liver of the corpse!
Shan Tao took a breath again. Someone killed the woman and took her liver!
Damn it!
At this time, the remaining three bad guys couldn't bear it anymore and rushed to the entrance of the alley to vomit.
Even when An Lushan invaded Chang'an, all he could see were ordinary corpses.
An ordinary person would feel physically uncomfortable looking at such a disemboweled corpse.
Shan Tao stood up. This alley was a dead end, and the walls of the houses on both sides were very high, making it difficult to climb.
Shan Tao sat on the ground. From the time he chased the murderer until he caught up with the dark horse, the murderer only had half an hour to commit suicide.
Is it possible to sneak into Jinggongfang in half an hour, and then kill people, dump their bodies, and cut off their livers?
Shan Tao was completely sober from alcohol. He quickly opened the in-game chat software and asked his friends for help.
"Old Song, Song Ya, are you there?"
It was already this time. Shan Tao originally just tried to ask, but he didn't expect Song Ya to reply quickly.
"Here, what's wrong?"
Shan Tao immediately said: "Old Song, why aren't you asleep yet? I have a eucalyptus here!"
Song Ya replied: "Stay up late to dissect the corpse. Do you have eucalyptus over there? Aren't you in Chang'an?"
This Song Ya is a forensic player in Longyou, and now serves as the chief afternoon officer in the Criminal Division.
He and Shan Tao were friends who had known each other since they first joined the game. Both of them were vigorous and resolute people. Under Song Ya's guidance, Shan Tao briefly inspected the corpse.
When the inspection was completed, it was already dawn. Shan Tao raised his head and said with a heavy face: "Go to Jingzhao Mansion!"