Traitors of the Manchu dynasty, why do you make me an emperor through the ages Chapter 244: The end of the palace exam, the ceremony of conferring an official
Chapter 244: The end of the palace exam, the ceremony of conferring an official
The day before the palace examination, candidates for the new mid-term examination were summoned to the Ministry of Etiquette. The Department of Ceremonies selected several officials to teach them the etiquette and related matters of the palace examination.
After all, this is an exam held in the palace, and His Majesty the Emperor will personally be present to invigilate the exam.
In addition, the prime minister and ministers went together.
If some stupid young people don't understand the rules and do something extraordinary in the palace examination, it will not be good for them, nor will it be good for the court.
The officials of the Ceremony Department coerced and threatened the candidates. If they failed to behave before the emperor, they would be doomed. Then they painted a pie and described the social beasts after the imperial examination... no, the life of a high-ranking Jinshi.
I have never seen a sinister official in the officialdom, how can people tolerate such methods, so after entering the palace today, these people are all trembling and walking on thin ice.
Stepping out with the left foot first was afraid of violating the unknown prohibition in the palace; stepping with the right foot first was afraid of disrupting the orderly formation for entering the palace; gasping for air and worrying about polluting the noble atmosphere in the palace...
As for behaviors such as farting, burping and blowing noses, they have long been excluded from the minds of candidates.
It is worth mentioning that they are generally not allowed to go to the toilet during the palace examination.
Therefore, since a few days ago, the candidates have been eating and drinking less. Yesterday, they had almost no food and only ate a little bit.
Although I am dizzy from hunger and my mouth is dry, as I said before, the main thing in the palace examination is to be steady.
As long as you don't make any big mistakes.
Candidates who entered the palace at dawn had to be searched outside the palace gate first. This time the examination was only for one day, so there was no need to bring any bedding or belongings.
The pen, ink, paper and inkstone for the examination and the meals for lunch were all provided by the court, so they did not need to bring anything.
The body search conducted by Huben Guards was to prevent these people from bringing in any weapons. Although everyone who participated in the interview had a clean family background, there was no guarantee that no one would commit a crime.
In order to avoid unnecessary accidents and to protect the precious bodies of His Majesty the Emperor and all of you from harm, this process must be carried out.
After the body search, the candidates continued to move forward and were called outside the Qianyang Gongbao Hall. They confirmed that there were no omissions before they were released...
At the same time, Li Qian also got up very early today.
The imperial examination was nominally administered by the emperor himself, but as the system developed over the years, the emperor's symbolic significance had long outweighed its actual role.
Li Qian seemed to be going to the palace to invigilate the exam, but in his own opinion, he was more like a mascot...
After tidying up his clothes under the service of the palace maid, Li Qian was now familiar with this corrupt life of being served.
After a hasty breakfast, Li Qian took a sedan chair to the Baohe Hall of Qianyang Palace and entered the back of the palace from the north gate.
Seeing His Majesty the Emperor's arrival, the official from the Ministry of Rites in charge of coordination immediately trotted to the front, so that the candidates could enter the main hall.
After entering the temple, they cannot sit down immediately and must follow the process step by step.
Li Qian was almost impatient waiting at the back of the palace. He refilled several cups of tea, and finally another official came to ask for instructions.
Your Majesty, the candidates in front have all entered. When will we go to the hall?
"Let's go!"
Li Qian put down the tea cup, waved his sleeves and walked forward.
The design of Baohe Hall is similar to that of most standard palaces in the palace, so although Li Qian has never been to this palace, he is familiar with walking around it.
After walking a few corners, he came to the main hall.
After walking a few steps quickly, I climbed the seven steps and sat on the emperor's throne.
As he walked, Li Qian looked down.
Different from the picture Li Qian imagined, the situation here is more complicated.
For some unknown reason, these candidates were a little reserved. They all stood behind the table with their heads bowed, and no one said a word.
And it was only now that Li Qian realized that the number of these people was greater than he imagined.
Eight hundred people were taking the exam together, and the candidates wearing round-collared black silk robes were all in one dark place. If nothing else, today would be the last time they would wear these clothes.
By tomorrow, they will no longer be able to lift people up.
Got promoted to Jinshi.
Although there are many candidates for the palace examination, fortunately the Ministry of Rites has sufficient experience. The positions of these candidates are arranged like a chessboard, with enough gaps in between. It looks dark at first glance, but when you look closely, it is clean and tidy, which makes people feel comfortable. .
This arrangement is also to prevent cheating, so that no one can see the writing at the next table.
But there is also a disadvantage to sitting like this, that is, the Baohe Hall cannot accommodate the full 800 candidates for the intermediate examination.
The long queue reached the square outside the temple.
The seating arrangements for the palace examination are also based on rankings, which means that those with the highest rankings in the examination can sit in the palace examination.
As for the second half of the rankings, they can only sit outside the hall and take the exam in the open air.
If there is any wind or rain... Haha, then just wish yourself good luck, as long as you don't get the exam paper dirty.
The imperial examination only has the name of the lake, but there is no transcription or other procedures, which means that the paper that the examiners read is the original version you have written now.
If you really turn your paper into a black painted face, you will definitely suffer the consequences in the end.
Li Qian looked away from the candidates at the far end and looked at the candidates at the front.
Zheng Guan and Yan Zhenqing were standing in front, lowering their heads like all the candidates and not looking up.
In addition to Li Qian, His Majesty the Emperor, there are also Qin Hui, Cai Jing and several ministers above, who are extremely powerful.
Even if some candidates occasionally moved their gaze upwards slightly, after catching a glimpse of the corners of a few adults' crimson robes, they all retracted their gazes as if they were electrocuted.
Li Qian retracted his gaze from the candidates, and when he looked forward again, he found that many ministers were looking vaguely at Zhuge Liang at the front.
"Your Majesty, do you want to start now?"
Qin Hui was the first to notice His Majesty the Emperor's gaze and turned his head to ask for instructions.
"Um."
Li Qian nodded lightly.
Immediately, the officials below continued to follow the procedures and directed the candidates to start the complicated "praise and worship" etiquette.
This is also to express respect for His Majesty the Emperor. Thank you for giving me the papers.
After paying homage, the officials began to "scatter papers" and "issue questions."
From top to bottom, almost everyone had to participate. Even ministers like Qin Hui were not exempted and had to hand out a few symbolic papers.
The emperor has come to invigilate the exam in person. No matter how noble you are, you still have to do something, right?
Even after all the papers were handed out, the candidates saluted under the guidance of officials from the Ministry of Rites and thanked His Majesty the Emperor and all the adults again.
After all this is done, the candidates can finally sit back in their seats and start answering questions.
Li Qian looked at them with interest at first, wanting to see how these top students solved the problems.
But after just watching it for a while, he felt bored.
These people are all crouching down and writing, and no one even raises their head. What's the point of this?
Li Qian turned around and looked at Qin Hui and others, and found that these people were worse off than him. He still had a place to sit, but these people didn't even have a place and could only stand in the hall.
But this is normal. According to the configuration of the imperial court, Li Qian is the "invigilator" for today's imperial examination, and they are all "deputy invigilators".
We have all come to invigilate the exam, how can we still let you sit down? There are 800 people, can you sit in front and see through?
Of course, this article does not target the emperor.
Li Qian just sat there bored, watching the ministers walking around from time to time to observe the candidates.
Li Qian knew that they were definitely not fulfilling their duties and taking the initiative to monitor the candidates not to cheat.
This is because almost no one cheats in the palace examination. First of all, it is extremely difficult to cheat. When everyone is busy doing the questions, if you just raise your head slightly, you will immediately attract the attention of the patrol censor.
In addition, the cost of cheating is also very high. The emperor personally supervises the examination. If you are caught cheating, it will be the crime of deceiving the emperor and you will die...
Moreover, the Imperial Examination is about policy questions, not those rigid questions on the Four Books and Five Classics. There is no way to bring cheat sheets and other things.
Considering the difficulty of cheating, cost and other issues, it is basically impossible for anyone to cheat here.
Li Qian's eyes flashed with confusion. Since no one is here to cheat, what are these ministers doing here?
Pretending? Pretending? Can't save face, can't stand still? Or is it just that your feet are numb after standing for a long time?
Or is this not the case, and do they have any special purpose?
With this mentality, Li Qian also left his seat and walked down.
The ministers all noticed His Majesty the Emperor's actions, glanced at him, and then looked away as if nothing had happened.
The candidates were quiet as usual, with their heads lowered and working on the questions.
But anyone who has ever taken an exam knows that when the invigilator walks by, his attention is inevitably drawn to him and he looks at him out of the corner of his eye.
Li Qian walked between two rows of candidates and looked at each candidate, either frowning and thinking hard, or picking up a pen and typing the first draft on the draft paper...
As he walked by, many candidates subconsciously looked sideways out of the corner of their eyes.
It's not the cyan censor's robe, nor the crimson robe of the officials, but a corner of the red robe...
The person wearing a yellow robe here... you will know who it is if you think about it.
Many candidates froze and their hands holding the pen tightened a little.
What's going on? The officials of the Ministry of Rites didn't say that His Majesty the Emperor would come down to see it? And by coincidence, they came directly to this place?
The candidates who were passed by were not happy about winning the big prize, but were extremely worried.
What should I do now? Should I put down my pen and give His Majesty a thumbs-up?
Would it be considered disrespectful if I didn't do it?
Just as heaven and man were fighting in the hearts of the candidates, Li Qian was already gone.
This made them feel disappointed, and at the same time, they couldn't help but feel worried about gains and losses...
Of course, Li Qian didn't know that these candidates were so worried. Along the way, he basically saw scenes of Xinxin students working hard on the questions.
There doesn't seem to be anything fishy about it.
Li Qian thought about it for a while but couldn't figure out the reason, so he stopped thinking about it and walked around again and went back to his seat.
The ministers originally thought it was over, but when Li Qian reached the first row at the front, he suddenly stopped.
The candidate on his left is none other than Zhuge Liang, the Huiyuan of this time.
This was not a sudden act by Li Qian, but something that had been carefully considered.
He stopped at Zhuge Liang's desk, lowered his head and watched him write on the paper.
And Zhuge Liang didn't react at all to the Emperor around him. He seemed to treat him as if he didn't exist and wrote his own.
Li Qian seemed to be attracted by the content above, standing still and looking fascinated.
Many ministers noticed this scene. They all looked slightly moved, but they only looked at it for a moment and then looked away.
There was a constant sound of paper and pen scraping in the examination room, and the sun gradually climbed into the center of the sky.
For the candidates, especially those with lower rankings, today is a very lucky day. It is neither windy nor rainy, and it is a clear and sunny day.
At noon, the candidates who had not eaten normally for several days were already empty. From time to time, there was a sound of cooing in the examination room. Those who didn't know better thought that there was a brood of quails and mother-in-law raised in the palace.
In fact, this is just the sound coming from the stomach of the candidates.
When the time came, officials from the Ministry of Rites began to lead people from Guanglu Temple into the venue and distribute food to the candidates.
The meal they had for lunch was also very particular, and it was called Hong Ling Cake.
In the past, this was a food specially given by the emperor to new scholars, but now there is nothing wrong with giving it to them. After this exam, these people will be Jinshi.
But don’t think that this red silk cake is a good thing.
Produced by Guanglu Temple, I cannot say that it is a must-have product, it can only be said that it is barely edible.
Red silk cake is a delicate delicacy, but what they make is a big cake wrapped in red cloth, which is dry, hard and cold.
And they also flattered them, saying that this was done for the consideration of the candidates, how important the palace examination is! If you make some stuffed snacks and soil the examination paper, you will not lose your reputation as a Jinshi, and you will regret it for the rest of your life. !
We make the pancakes so dry and hard just so that you can eat them cleanly. Even if any crumbs fall on the exam paper, you can just blow it open in one breath. It doesn't hurt at all.
It has to be said that although their excuses are somewhat reasonable, the complaints in the hearts of the Jinshi are indispensable.
Guanglu Temple also set a record and became one of the yamen least popular among newcomers to the officialdom.
After lunch, some candidates gradually finished writing the questions, transcribed them, and began to go to the examiner to hand in their papers.
At this time, they finally no longer have to worry about being misjudged for plagiarism or cheating by the examiners, and can look up and take a look a little more boldly.
Before leaving, many people wanted to take another look at the examiners who are in charge of the world and take a sneak peek at the legendary dragon face.
But to their disappointment, the seats above were already empty.
It seems that the elders have not come back since the meal...
Yes, the candidates ate dry pancakes, but Guanglu Temple never dared to let the emperor and ministers eat dry pancakes.
Of course they have better food.
But in order to prevent the aroma of the food from disturbing the candidates or irritating them, Li Qian and the others naturally did not eat in the examination room.
Even if you don't let them eat it, it's too much if you don't even let them smell it.
But the advantage of the people above is that they don't have to worry about the feelings of the people below. Moreover, there are more than a hundred officials in charge of the examination, so leaving less than ten of them will not cause any harm at all.
This palace examination lasted from dawn to dusk, and finally ended when the moonlight rose in the east and all the candidates left the venue.
Next comes a brief three-day marking period and a grand conferring ceremony.