March 15th is the day of the Imperial Examination.
The imperial examination was the last level among the three-level imperial examinations in the Ming Dynasty. The emperor personally went to Fengtian Palace to give the examination questions. Therefore, the administrative level of the imperial examination officials participating in the imperial examination was very high. Most of the imperial examination examiners were Jiuqing (Six Ministers and Ducha)
The Imperial Envoy of the Imperial Palace, the Minister of Dali Temple, and the General Affairs Envoy) were all important ministers. The examiners for this palace examination were led by Liu Ji, the Grand Scholar of the Jinshen Palace, the Crown Prince, and Wang Shu, the Prince's Grand Protector and Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs.
After the palace examination, officials were awarded directly. Those who ranked first were awarded editors (from the sixth rank), those who came second in the rankings were awarded editors (seventh rank), those who were selected from the second and third grades were all Hanlin officials, and the others served as censors.
They were responsible for admonishing officials and officials inside and outside the palace, and the lowest level could also be the magistrate of a county.
Li Jie got up early that day. He passed the imperial examination and finally came to an end. Although he may not be the top candidate, he should be in the top 10 even if he is worse, so he feels quite relaxed.
After breakfast, Li Jie and Lin Lan went out together, took the examination box and got on the carriage to Daming Gate.
The rising sun is rising, and the warm winter sun shines on the palace palace, shining golden, as if it has covered the entire palace with a sacred coat.
The Daming Gate is the main entrance to the Imperial City. A couplet written in Jin by the great scholar of the Hongwu Dynasty reads "The sun and the moon illuminate the sky, and the mountains and rivers make the emperor live." On both sides, behind the Daming Gate is the Imperial City, where the emperor resides.
When Li Jie and the two arrived at the Daming Gate, the palace gate had not yet opened. Other tributes arrived one after another. During the palace examination, there was no inspection like the previous provincial examination and the general examination, because there were no inspections under the eyes of the important ministers at that time.
Who dares to cheat? Besides, there is only one policy question in the imperial examination, so there is no way to cheat.
At this moment, everyone in front of the door looked happy and relaxed, because there has never been a precedent for dismissal in the imperial examination. Being able to stand here means that one has already set foot on the official career. Basically, the ranking will not be much different from the previous examination.
difference.
Because the policy questions in the imperial examination require more than 1,000 words, and the marking time is only two days, the marking is quite rough. The examiner selects the top candidates from the strategy papers, and the chief minister of the cabinet personally comments, and the rest are evaluated by other
The minister who reads the paper will review it, and the one with the highest grade will be ranked first, and the one with the second grade will be ranked second. Then the chief assistant will judge the first grade as second grade, and the second grade as third grade according to the grades assigned by the grade reader. The key points of countermeasures for candidates of first grade are
Enter the Wenhua Hall and read it to the emperor, who will make the final decision on the ranking.
The surrounding scholars who knew Li Jie paid tribute to him one after another when they saw him. Many of the scholars saw Li Jie for the first time, and their eyes were focused on him.
"Seeing is worth hearing a hundred times. I didn't expect Huiyuan Lang to be so young!"
"There is no such thing as a fourteen-year-old Huiyuan in our dynasty. Even if he does not win the top spot this time, he is unprecedented and probably no one will come after him."
"I have read his articles for the general examination, and his writing skills are not inferior to those of literary giants."
"I heard news from Mr. Xu Ge's house that his three policy questions in this meeting are the most amazing. Mr. Ge commented that he is a true scholar of the country, a pillar of the imperial court, and a leader in the future!"
Liu Yu heard the comments around him, and when he thought about what he had done that day, these words struck his heart, reminding him that he was just a clown. The more he thought about it, the drier his face became, and he soon started to sweat.
It was raining like rain. When people around him asked him what was wrong, he replied with a bitter expression: "It's nothing. Maybe he caught a cold yesterday. It's nothing serious."
Li Jie accepted the gazes and comments around him calmly. After a while, the Daming Gate opened wide. According to the guidance of the Honglu Temple officials, Li Jie was at the top, followed by the other four Five Classics leaders, and the rest were ranked according to the examination.
Followed by.
boom!
The salute sounded, and Li Jie led a group of tributes through the Daming Gate and officially entered the imperial city. At this time, the palace was not called the Forbidden City. It was not until the Wanli Dynasty rebuilt the "Da Ming Huidian" that the palace was called the "Forbidden City". Palace Examination
Inspector Jin Wuwei was on both sides of the queue and guided Li Jie and the others forward, passing through Chengtianmen, Duanmen, and Meridian Gate, and arriving at Fengtianmen.
Fengtianmen is the main entrance to the courtyard of the three main halls of the outer dynasty. In the courtyard, the Jinshui River is as horizontal as a jade belt, winding through it. There are white marble railings standing on both sides of the Jinshui River. There are five Feihong Bridges in the middle section of the river, as if inlaid on the jade belt.
It is completely different from the narrow imperial street between the Duanmen and the Meridian Gate before. After entering the Meridian Gate, you will suddenly feel a sudden change in the space, and it will suddenly open up. In the majestic and majestic atmosphere, people can't help but direct their eyes to the three main hall buildings.
Fengtian Hall (today's Taihe Hall), Jinshen Hall (today's Zhonghe Hall), and Huagai Hall (today's Baohe Hall) are collectively known as the three main halls of the outer dynasties. This examination took place in Fengtian Hall, which was struck by lightning during the Jiajing period.
After reconstruction, it was changed to Huangji Hall, and during the Shunzhi period of the Qing Dynasty, it was changed to Taihe Hall.
Arriving in front of the Fengtian Hall, the ministers who will serve as the palace examination examiners have already arrived. Most of these officials are wearing crimson official robes (one to four ranks), and only a few are in blue robes (fifth to seventh ranks).
Li Jie noticed that the positions of these big guys were obviously divided into two factions. One faction was headed by the chief minister of the cabinet, Liu Ji, and the other faction was headed by the cabinet ministers Xu Pu and Liu Jian. They were clearly divided. Most of them were headed by Liu Ji.
The courtiers during the Xianzong period belonged to the old forces, while Xu Pu and Liu Jian were new forces added after Xiaozong removed Wan'an and Yin Zhi from the cabinet at the beginning of his accession to the throne.
Just looking at the current performance of the two factions, Li Jie thought that things were not calm in the court, and he did not even do the basic appearance. The two factions were bound to be in the same boat, and then he thought that the candidates for the first A were drafted and submitted by the chief minister of the cabinet.
, he is the Hui Yuan appointed by Xu Pu despite all opinions, and this time his position as the number one scholar may be in doubt.
The officials in front of Lord Dan heard the sound of footsteps and knew that it was the Xinke Gongshi who had arrived in front of the palace, so they turned around and looked at everyone.
Dozens of glances came over. The solemn atmosphere coupled with the status bonus of the big bosses made the scholars feel worried and did not dare to look at each other. Only Li Jie looked at him calmly. Xu Pu smiled when he saw this.
He nodded. Every year when tribute ministers come to Fengtian Temple, they have to undergo the baptism of the eyes of the big guys. Most of them are at a loss, and very few of them look at it with pleasure.
Liu Ji noticed Xu Pu looking down with a smile on his face, a satisfied expression on his face, snorted coldly, showing a bad look on his face, and secretly thought to himself, I will make you look good during the marking!
He turned to look at Lin Han. Lin Han was also assigned to serve as the examiner for the palace examination this time. Liu Ji looked at him meaningfully. Unfortunately, this Lin Han was different from his teacher Peng Hua. He was upright and unjust.
A, honest and self-sufficient, was a die-hard supporter of Xu Pu.
Lin Han noticed that the eyes of Chief Assistant Liu Ji were on him, and suddenly felt something bad. He was secretly worried about Li Jie's imperial examination. Fortunately, it was the emperor who finally decided the ranking. Liu Ji only needed to put Li Jie's test paper into the top three.
, Xu Shangshu will never turn a blind eye, and there will be room for maneuver when the time comes. He is still very confident in Li Jie's policy. As long as the emperor can see it, there is no need to worry.
The officials and scholars present all looked thoughtful. At this time, three cannon salutes were fired and the palace music sounded.