Chapter 174 Li Gan: I want to spoil this marriage!
Li Qian nodded, what he said did make sense.
However, that was not the main focus of his attention, because the name Wang Hua... reminded Li Qian of a famous person.
Isn't this the father of Wang Yangming, the No. 1 pick?
"By the way, where is that Wang Hua from?" Although Li Qian was extremely shocked, he still pretended that nothing happened.
"I heard they are from a wealthy family in the Yue Kingdom, Juzhang, somewhere in Yuyao..."
Zheng Guan shook his head: "This person's articles are indeed very powerful. I am definitely not as good as me. There are many powerful candidates who want to take the exam, Cui Yuanhan, Zhang Xiaoxiang, Liu Gongquan..."
Li Qian's eyes were getting brighter and brighter. He didn't know much about it before, but he didn't expect that there were so many great people in Juren?
"It's all mine..."
"What's wrong? Brother Li?" When he came back to his senses, what appeared in front of Li Qian was Zheng Guan's confused face.
Realizing that he might have lost his composure, Li Qian smiled and said, "I thought, no matter how many powerful people there are, with Brother Zheng's talent and learning, there will definitely be no problem after passing the national examination?"
Zheng Guan smiled bitterly and shook his head: "The world is so big and full of wonders. We ordinary people sometimes just make up for others and act as stepping stones."
Li Qian was a little speechless, thinking that my family is from an ordinary family, nothing special, it's just that the house is a little bigger.
But you are a person from the Zheng family in Xingyang, and you have a nephew who became a minister, so what is so ordinary about you?
"Brother Zheng, are you kidding me?" Li Qian looked at him with a smile: "Brother Zheng can win the first prize in the Jingjing Examination. This knowledge will be no problem if you pass the examination."
"Academically speaking, I am confident and confident, but I heard that this exam is not easy."
Zheng Guan shook his head: "Brother Li, haven't you heard of it before? If you don't join a high official, don't even think about becoming a Jinshi..."
Li Qian's eyes narrowed slightly and he asked with a smile: "This is really strange. Aren't these candidates all disciples of the emperor?"
"Even if you win the Jinshi in the end, you just have to recognize the master, the room master. Now there is still the matter of early delivery."
"That's natural."
Zheng Guan sighed and said helplessly: "It stands to reason that even if Brother Li doesn't want to take the exam this year, you should have heard of it."
"To pass this exam, the best one is the one who has the connections. You can enter the back door of several adults in the court in advance and hand your articles to them. When the adults are familiar with your writing style, they can recognize it in the numerous examination papers. Your paper, then you can be taken."
"This is the 'Xingjuan'."
"In addition to 'writing papers', you can also agree on a sentence with adults, and add it to the article when the time comes. When the examiner sees this sentence, he will know that this is your paper, and he will naturally take it, but generally Generally speaking, the latter one is more expensive than the former one."
Li Qian nodded with a heavy face. He had known about this trend for a long time.
"However, even though the price is huge, there are still many people who are eager to do it. They go to those people's back doors every day to look for opportunities to make money." Zheng Guan looked angrily, obviously looking down on that kind of people.
Li Qian frowned slightly: "Brother Zheng, I remember that the imperial examinations are randomly determined every year. How can those people identify them so accurately?"
Zheng Guan sneered, picked up the tea and took a sip: "Brother Li, you are too naive. You said it was determined randomly, but it all rotates according to the year. The examiner can only be the left and right prime ministers. One of the left and right servants will be responsible for the shot, and the four of them will naturally take turns, one at a time."
He explained: "Last time during the Wuchen Examination in the 22nd year of Mu Zong's reign, Prime Minister Qin had just taken over the position, and the three people in front of him had all taken their turn again. Naturally, he was the examiner, and the one on the apricot list for that subject was Everyone is considered his disciple."
During the autumn period of the provincial examination, the results were released with the fragrance of osmanthus seeds, so the final examination list also had an elegant name: Guibang. However, when the examination results were released in the spring, it was when the apricot blossoms were blooming, so it was called apricot list. These are all extremely elegant, which shows that the literati Still holding on to the final bottom line.
But when it came to the final results of the imperial examination, the literati were impatient and could no longer care about these nonsense.
Just use the name "Golden List" to sum up everything.
Gui, apricot, and gold, three words that are so inconsistent? They probably represent the three psychological stages of literati...
Zheng Guan did not know these psychological activities of Li Qian. He continued to explain: "Now that Qin Xiang has also had a turn, it is natural to start again. Among the other three, He Shen has had a turn, and Yan Song and Cai Jing have both had a turn. three times."
He said helplessly: "If you are just someone who is familiar with this, you will definitely not know the relationship. They only know that Prime Minister Qin cannot continue to serve as the examiner, so this time the examiner may be given to Mr. He, who is less frequent."
"But anyone who has done a little research knows that Cai Jing, the other one, has the longest seniority. He was a Jinshi in the Bingxu Section in the 15th year of Yingzong's reign, and he took up the position of Pushe earlier than the other two."
"According to the rules and conventions, it is him who should be the examiner this time."
"Among the four candidates, only Mr. Cai Jingcai has the best reputation, so this time many candidates who have not come in previous years are preparing to come to the capital to take the exam."
Li Qian was greatly surprised when he heard this and couldn't help but put down his tea cup: "Cai Jing, the green...old man who is proficient in the law, has a better reputation than the other three?"
"That's natural." Although Zheng Guan was curious about why Li Qian used such a prefix, he lowered his voice and explained: "This is not my family's opinion, but the consensus of all the people."
"Among the other three, Master Heshen is very demanding for money. If you don't give him enough gold and silver, it's really not easy to win, so he has the worst reputation."
"Xiang Yan Song is slightly better, but not much better. What he likes most is not gold and silver, but various literary toys, calligraphy and paintings, etc., and it is best to send them through his son. But this Wenwan, calligraphy, painting, and rare antiques should be more elegant, so Yan Xiang also attracts people to like them more."
Li Qian nodded lightly. These two people have the same nature. They both want money. How can they differentiate themselves? Just because one is "vulgar greed" and the other is "elegant greed"?
I really don’t know what the people who criticize this think.
Zheng Guan continued to explain: "As for Qin Hui and Qin Xiang, he doesn't like money or anything else, but he has very strict requirements for his disciples."
"Before, when he was not the right prime minister, he served as a provincial examination examiner. At that time, he required his disciples to obey him unconditionally and work for him wholeheartedly. At the same time, Prime Minister Qin would also guarantee that person's future as an official."
"This has always been criticized. Everyone takes the imperial examination for their own ambitions. Who wants to just be a puppet for others and a puppet on a string?"
At this point, he shook his head and felt a little puzzled: "But even so, there are still many people flocking to this, which is really confusing."
Li Qian smiled and said: "People with noble character like Brother Zheng come here for their ambitions and for their country."
"But there are still some people who take the imperial examination just to get promoted and make a fortune. For those people, this Qin is actually the best choice."
Zheng Guan sighed: "That may be the case, but for me, the best one is Cai Jing, Mr. Cai."
"He also doesn't ask for money. He just likes some natural and strange stones. Even if he doesn't have them, it doesn't matter. And although Cai Jing also has restraints on his disciples, his restraints are much lighter than those of Qin Xiang."
"In addition, many people say that interacting with Mr. Cai is like a breath of fresh air. Being his disciple is like interacting with a friend, without the pressure of facing the master..."
Li Qian nodded slightly, Cai Jing might have this style: "Then if Brother Zheng goes to find Cai Jing and finds a way, wouldn't it be easy to win the Jinshi this time?"
Zheng Guan shook his head helplessly: "Brother Li, you think too simply."
"Then Song Qiaonian is related by marriage to Cai Jing. I offended Song Qiaonian at the Luming Banquet that day and asked him to walk away. How could Cai Jing let me go?"
"That's why I said, I'm afraid there's no hope for Chunwei now."
Li Qian also frowned deeply.
What made him feel uncomfortable was not only Zheng Guan, but also thousands of other candidates.
You have to be screened by these bastards to take the general exam?
As a result, aren't all the people chosen to be smooth and flattering?
What about those people Zheng Guan mentioned before?
For example, Bao Zheng, given his character, would he go to Cai Jing to get a relationship? If he couldn't get it, wouldn't he let such a talent go in vain?
My big black face is just gone?
Li Qian took a deep breath, calmed down a little, and looked at Zheng Guan in confusion: "Is it possible that if I don't please the examiner, I won't be able to survive this spring?"
"If you are an unknown person and the article is good, then it will be fine."
Zheng Guan replied helplessly: "But if you are somewhat famous, these people will usually recruit you in advance. If you don't agree, you will be in trouble."
"It's not like there weren't people like this in previous years, but usually as long as they have a strong backbone, they will be suppressed by the examiners of that year, and they can only fail the exam, and then go back in disgrace..."
Li Qian leaned back on his chair and felt a toothache after hearing this.
He actually had a premonition of such a thing, but when it really happened in front of him, Li Qian was still a little shocked.
He knew that something like this happened in his previous life, and this idea of suppression was no joke.
They say they won’t let you win, even if you have amazing abilities and talents, you just can’t win.
The famous dramatist and writer Tang Xianzu was the talented man who wrote "The Peony Pavilion" and "Nan Ke Ji". He became famous all over the world when he was young.
Zhang Juzheng, the first assistant at that time, wanted to find a few talented and famous people to sing and accompany him in order to let his sons become Jinshi. Tang Xianzu was one of the people he chose.
However, Tang Xianzu did not succumb to the power of the chief minister and firmly refused the matter.
In this way, although the reputation is preserved, the price is also very serious.
In the later years when Zhang Juzheng was in power, no one dared to challenge Tang Xianzu, so he kept failing. However, Shen Maoxue, who had succumbed to Zhang Juzheng at the time, became the top scholar in high school. This was the gap.
The so-called talent, knowledge, and fame still have to be subordinated to power.
Seeing that Li Qian was deep in thought, Zheng Guan sighed softly: "Brother Li, maybe I don't give up hope at all this time. If I offend these people, the exam will be in vain."
"I think it's better to go back early."
Li Qian came back to his senses and said with a forced smile: "No matter what, Brother Zheng still has to give it a try."
"Your Zheng family has a great business and a good reputation in the court, but it's just a spot on the apricot list. I'm sure they won't make it too difficult for you."
Zheng Guan sighed: "Who knows? The Zheng family's signboard also depends on the time. It used to be easy to use when there were people in the court, but now... that's no longer the case."
He shook his head gently: "The Zheng family's words are not strong enough these days. Some people in the clan have made crooked ideas. I have an old brother who wants to give his granddaughter to someone else as a concubine..."
Li Qian was still a little puzzled that the Zheng family would be like this.
Out of politeness, he didn't ask what was going on, but Zheng Guan seemed to be getting angrier as he talked. He couldn't help but slap the table and said: "It's just ruining your reputation. How can our legitimate daughter of the Zheng family be allowed to do it for others?" Where is the concubine? I really… don’t know what to say!”
At the end of the sentence, his face was still a little red.
Li Qian's curiosity was completely aroused, and he couldn't help but ask: "Which minister of the DPRK does your Zheng family want to marry?"
Zheng Guan looked complicated and said: "Tang Guogong, Li Yuan."
"What?"
Li Qian was startled and subconsciously clenched his sleeves: "It's actually this old... old... old prince?"
Feeling Zheng Guan's surprised look, he hurriedly changed his words: "Is he a little too old?"
Zheng Guan looked away and sighed: "It's not him, it's the eldest son of his Duke's Palace, Li Jiancheng."
"But it is said that Tang Guogong is also very sincere. He promised my Zheng family that if a child is born between the two of them in the future, the child will be the grandson of the Duke's family."
"So even if I want to be a concubine, many people in the clan still agree."
Li Qian suddenly realized that Li Jiancheng's wife...the Zheng family...could it be Zheng Guanyin?
If Li Yuan used this in-law to establish a connection with the Zheng family in Xingyang... Li Qian would get a headache just thinking about it.
Despite what Zheng Guan said, the Zheng family was so miserable, but Li Qian would not believe this boy's Versailles.
The Zheng family had many civil and military personnel in the court, not to mention those Zheng family officials who had served before had a large network of contacts.
And these are all second, the Zheng family is not a simple family, they are a vassal state with a legitimate army and territory!
If Li Yuan gets such help...
Li Qian felt that the throne under his butt was a little empty.
Moreover, when the Zheng family in Xingyang married their legitimate daughter to Li Jiancheng, they may not have invested in it in advance and wanted Li Yuan to ascend to the throne.
If you think about it, you will know that if Li Yuan becomes emperor, Li Jiancheng will be the prince, and Li Jiancheng's son will have the opportunity to inherit the throne...
Li Qian frowned.
No, this matter must be disturbed by him.
Zheng Guan drank the tea in his cup as if it was a fine wine to soothe his sorrows.
"Oh, I talked too much today, which made Brother Li laugh."
Zheng Guan casually wiped the tea from his mouth with his sleeve, stood up and cupped his hands and said, "I gave Brother Li a meal today. If Brother Li has the time, he can ask me to get it back."
He returned to his free and easy manner: "I live in the Zheng Mansion in Qinrenfang. Brother Li can go there any day. I will take my leave today without further interruption."
Li Qian also smiled softly: "You and I have hit it off, and we feel like old friends at first sight, so naturally we talk freely. What's so funny about this? Forget it today, I will definitely bother Brother Zheng another day."
He also reported the old eunuch's foreign residence in the capital, and told Zheng Guan that if he met Bao Zheng or anyone in the future, he could go and find him.
After separating from Zheng Guan, Li Qian was so preoccupied that he no longer wanted to hang out outside, but returned all the way to the palace.
I originally went out to relax today and celebrate the victory in the rumor war some time ago.
Unexpectedly, after Zheng Guan said this, Li Qian realized that there was still a problem in front of him.
The first thing to bear the brunt of is knowing how to try.
Now there are less than a few months until the general examination, and those people who passed the examination make Li Qian drool. These are all the pillars of the country.
Wang Hua, this one is obviously a heavyweight, and he buys one and gets one free.
This man’s son is named Wang Shouren, also known as Wang Yangming. He is the last saint who has completed "establishing virtue, meritorious service and speech".
Buy a Wang Hua and get a Wang Yangming as a gift. There is no more profitable business in the world.
Needless to say, Bao Zheng, this black-faced brother, is absolutely fierce. Li Qian needs such a man to help him clean up the mess of monsters and monsters.
Liu Gongquan, Yan Jin and Liu Gu are talking about him. Liu Gongquan is as famous as Yan Zhenqing, and he is also a man of integrity and upright character.
Zhang Xiaoxiang is also a man of integrity, ideals and ambitions. In his previous life, he was a loyal minister of the Southern Song Dynasty and was framed by Qin Hui.
As we all know, the more loyal a person is to Dasong, the worse his end will be in the end. This man was demoted several times in his life and died of illness when he was in his thirties.
But in today's Daqian, these people all have a bright future...
Of course, the premise is that they can all pass the examination.
But only in the trial process, Li Qian had little room to intervene.
In this regard, Daqian's regulations are very clear.
The Ministry of Rites and the examiner jointly drafted several questions for the general examination, and then gave them to the emperor to determine one.
In other words, Li Qian can only choose from the existing results and cannot take the initiative to fill in the blanks.
The influence of his emperor on the examination can only be reflected here.
In addition, there was almost no reason for Li Qian to get involved in things like invigilating exams, grading papers, and determining rankings.
According to convention, those who pass the examination are called Gongshi. Gongshi can take the palace examination one month later. The palace examination generally does not exclude candidates. All Gongshi who take the examination can pass and are called Jinshi, or are awarded the title of "Jinshi". Born with Jinshi.
In other words, Li Qian could hardly change the candidates for Jinshi, because the results were already decided when they were sent to him.
In the political hall, Li Qian was half-lying on a couch, with his hands behind his head, staring at the sunshine outside the window.
The weather was already a bit chilly at the moment, and the wooden windows inlaid with brass plates were half-closed. The sunlight filtered through the molded window paper, casting a shadow on the ground.
The slightly cool breeze of early winter blows in, making people feel a little clearer.
According to the rules, the examiner this time will still be Cai Jing.
In other words, even if those people pass the examination, they and Cai Jing will still be labeled as disciples and masters, which Li Qian is not very accepting of.
These are all vegetables from my own garden, how can it be related to Cai Jing?
However, for the civil servants, the idea of disciple leader is also an unavoidable relationship. Even if there is no Cai Jing, they still have to have this relationship with other examiners.
If you really want to say so, Cai Jing is a suitable person. After all, this is the old cuckold king.
But the key is, how to get Cai Jing to take all these people?
Li Qian was wearing a smooth and soft yellow silk cotton coat. He was lying on a red-yellow soft couch, flipping pancakes over and over, but he had no idea in his mind.
"His Majesty?"
Lu Pheasant walked in with a bowl of steaming hot soup. He happened to see His Majesty the Emperor in such a condition and thought something had happened to him: "What's wrong with you? You didn't even close the window?"
She put the green jade plate and soup bowl in her hands on the low table next to the soft couch, wiped her bare hands with a white silk handkerchief, and walked towards the window.
"No need to turn it off, it'll be cooler if it's on." Li Qian stopped him.
He sat up, put his hands in his sleeves, and looked curiously at the bowl of soup that Lu Pheasant brought over. He looked like an old man at the entrance of the village: "Eshen, what is this?"
"This is Tremella honey tea."
Lu Pheasant walked over from behind, with a light smile on his pretty face: "Your Majesty, it is winter now, the weather is dry, and the discomfort in the lungs increases. Tremella fungus can moisturize the lungs, and honey can refresh the mind and nourish the body. "
Li Qian leaned on Lu Pheasant who was sitting over and nodded slightly.
Lu Pheasant chuckled and took the sapphire bowl, picked up the sapphire spoon, scooped up a spoonful and brought it to his mouth.
"Hmm...it tastes okay." Li Qian took a sip, nodded slightly to express his approval, and continued to press into Lu Pheasant's warm arms.
"Ah~" Lu Pheasant let out a sweet cry and was squeezed, almost spilling the soup.
She carefully adjusted her sitting position so that Li Qian could lean more comfortably, then scooped up a spoonful and put it into his mouth: "Your Majesty, please slow down."
Li Qian drank and asked: "Eshen, I have encountered a problem recently and I want to ask your opinion."
"I know everything I know," Lu Zhiyu replied warmly, holding the soup in hand and feeding Li Qian the soup.
Li Qian frowned and selectively talked about some of the things he heard today about Chunwei and those Jinshi.
"What do you think I should do so that Cai Jing can win all these people?"
"It doesn't require high rankings. As long as they can pass the Spring Festival, the rankings in the imperial examination will be determined by me, so I won't treat them badly."
Lu Pheasant was a little surprised: "How did your Majesty know that these people are capable and worthy of use?"
As soon as the words came out of her mouth, she exclaimed slightly: "I almost forgot, your Majesty knows many ministers very well."
"Does Your Majesty also know the details of these people?"
Li Qian smiled: "I just know a little bit."
"Your Majesty is too humble."
Lu Pheasant just put down the soup bowl and chuckled: "Your Majesty knows everything about things like a god. He even knows everything they do in private. If you only know a little bit, no one in the world will understand." Those people."
"Don't talk about this, think of a solution for me." The little old man Li Qian finally took out his hands from his sleeves and pinched Lu Pheasant's smooth and tender face with a smile.
I had just been blown by the cool breeze outside for a while, and it was obviously a bit cool, but there was no sign of dryness at all, and it was still as smooth as jade.
Lu Pheasant's pretty face blushed slightly: "Your Majesty, you think too highly of me. If you can't do anything about it, how can I do anything about it?"
"And Cai Jing must not let Cai Jing know about the people you want to promote, otherwise he will definitely interfere with them."
"good."
Li Qian nodded solemnly: "With the current situation, even if nothing happens, he may still find some trouble for me. If he still catches me, this old thief will definitely not let me go easily."
"Either use those people to threaten me, or directly depose those people."
Lu Pheasant also nodded, hugged Li Qian's arm, and said warmly: "Your Majesty, can't you change the examiner? Even if it is the practice of civil servants, it can't be changed, right?"
Li Qian sighed and shook his head: "It's difficult. First, breaking conventions will cause civil servants to subconsciously object."
"Secondly, no one can change it now."
"Originally, there were only four people qualified to serve as examiners, but Qin Hui was the examiner in the spring of the previous subject. Since the examiner of the joint examination cannot be re-elected, there are only three people left."
He said helplessly: "But He Shen and Yan Song are now providing disaster relief in Xingyang and Bianzhou!"
"Eshen, you might as well think about it. If I want to accomplish this, I must not only break the convention and cancel Cai Jing's examination, but also interrupt their disaster relief mission and call one of them back to Beijing."
"The resistance here is really too great."
Lu Pheasant also nodded heavily when he heard this: "The difficulty of this matter is how to let Cai Jing take those people without leaving any trace."
"But according to what His Majesty said, some of them are also proud. If Cai Jing takes a fancy to such people and fails to recruit them, but suppresses them instead, there is nothing we can do."
She thought for a moment and her beautiful eyes brightened: "Your Majesty, I remember, isn't there a deputy examiner in the examination? There is also an internal surveillance officer, a promotion officer..."
Li Qian frowned and pondered for a moment, then said, "This is an idea, but it's not very promising."
According to the practice in previous years, the deputy examiners are selected from the Hanlin Academy.
But then the Hanlin Academy gradually declined, and the deputy examiner was gradually selected from among the six ministers.
Cai Jing is a minister, so no matter who the deputy examiner is, he will probably give him some face.
As for internal surveillance officers, promotion officers, etc., although they are called to monitor whether the chief supervisor is seeking favoritism, in fact... do they dare to conduct surveillance?
These two positions have long been in vain.
"The deputy examiner cannot compare with the chief examiner in terms of voice or real power."
Li Qian shook his head gently: "I have to ask again who will be the deputy examiner this year."
The selection of deputy examiners is more Buddhist. There are a total of twelve ministers in six departments. There are more candidates than the chief examiner, and they are more chaotic.
I heard that in previous years everyone competed for jobs, and I don’t know who has greater hopes this year.
Lu Pheasant also nodded, kneaded Li Qian's muscles to relax, and said warmly: "No matter what, if your Majesty is still going to the capital for a stopover, you might as well observe those actions more."
“I don’t know how to solve it from above, what if I can find a solution from below?”