According to past practice, the palace examination should be held on the first day of March, but this year it was fourteen days later than usual.
Early in the morning of March 15th, all the students who passed the examination were neatly dressed and their identities were checked at the palace gate before entering the palace.
Someone poked Zhang Jin.
"Master Jin, do you think we will meet Mr. Si today?"
After entering the palace, one could not look around. Everyone lowered their heads and walked in following the footsteps of the people in front of them.
Zhang Jin also entered the palace for the first time. He originally wanted to take the opportunity to see what the palace looked like. When someone behind him asked, he immediately restrained himself. Even if he has never seen the world, he must not be embarrassed!
"Then you still need to ask!"
Zhang Jin was not sure whether he would meet Si Yiluo or not. There was only one policy question in the imperial examination. The questions were drawn up by the cabinet and handed over to Emperor Yao for a selection one day in advance.
In other words, today's imperial examination was held, and the questions were just decided yesterday.
In order to avoid suspicion, Si Yiluo did not go to the palace from yesterday to today to avoid being criticized.
There are advantages to Zhou Yu relying on Shen Anxing. He got the possible test questions in advance and told the questions to the people he had recruited overnight. As long as the imperial examination essays are good and he does some secret manipulation, there is still hope.
There are many individual tables and stools inside and outside the Wenhua Hall, which were used for rankings in the past. People with top rankings can enter the hall to take exams.
Zhang Jin separated from the others and entered the palace under the guidance of the chamberlain.
Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of a golden dress embroidered with dragon patterns, and then the high-pitched and long-drawn voice of the chamberlain rang out.
"kneel--"
More than three hundred people cheered and knelt together, and the waiter sang another long tune.
"Pay homage to the Holy One——"
There were neat sounds of worship inside and outside the temple.
"Long live my emperor! Long live!"
Zhou Rong stood beside Emperor Yao, Emperor Yao nodded, and Wei Heyan handed him the question.
"The topic of today's policy discussion is: The difficulty of training the barbarians in the southwestern region has been difficult since ancient times, and it cannot be fully conquered by the prosperity of the Han and Tang Dynasties... Scholars have been living together and thinking about their hometowns. They try to talk about it as much as possible, and do not make it general or taboo."
As soon as this question came out, I don’t know how many people were dumbfounded. Although there were questions related to governance in the past examination questions, most of them were about statecraft, and the questions were never as detailed as this...
The key is that many students in the field had huge dark circles under their eyes. They stayed up late and made outlines for the ten questions that were announced yesterday. They originally thought that they would get at least one out of the ten, and it might be a combination of two or three. one.
Unexpectedly, none of the prepared ones came out.
Wei Heyan walked around the examination room with Emperor Yao. He looked at the candidates scratching their heads and scratching their heads, and the corners of his lips curled up.
"He Yan, please stay..."
The imperial examination will be held for one day, and the papers can be submitted before sunset.
It was impossible for him to stay in the examination room all the time during this period. The examination was presided over by Zhou Rong and supervised by Wei Heyan, so there would be no mistakes.
Wei Heyan paused and respectfully sent Emperor Yao off.
The candidates were hunched over their desks and writing furiously. In addition to them, three examiners, Xie Yun, Li Wei and Yu Shibo, were also patrolling the examination room. This question was simply tailor-made for Li Wei. He had spent several years in the southwest. Everyone present It's all just talk on paper, only he can sum up some practical experience.
The three of them had just learned about the topic. Li Wei felt itchy in his hands, so he ordered his servant to prepare pen, ink, paper and inkstone. After grinding the ink himself, he dipped the pen in the ink and dropped it on the paper.
The sun hung brightly in the sky, causing many candidates to sweat. They entered the palace in the morning, got the examination questions, and had to finish writing the papers before leaving. It was still early.
The candidates did not dare to drink even a sip of water for fear that the tea would wet their papers. Zhou Rong sat in the hall, and Wei Heyan had someone move a chair to sit in the shade outside the courtyard. Si Hai made tea for him and brought him snacks.
There are people watching in the field, so he can just calm down the situation here.
In a daze, the day passed with ease.
Just before the sun set, some people started to hand in papers, and Xie Yun organized people to collect and seal the papers. There was only one day for marking the papers for the palace examination, and the rankings would be announced the day after tomorrow.
Grading will begin tonight.
Wei Heyan was responsible for the discipline of the examination room during the day, and Si Yiluo was responsible for the examination papers at night. The candidates for examination were Jinshi and officials selected from the court. In order to prevent them from seeking personal gain from public affairs, an examination paper must be reviewed by three people before the final ranking can be determined.
The task of grading is very heavy.
The officials who graded the papers stayed in the Wenhua Hall starting from dinner, and were not allowed to talk or discuss in private.
Of course, there was Si Yiluo sitting on the side with a golden sword, and he was surrounded by fierce and fierce guards in royal robes. They, the literati, did not dare to make any mistakes.
Wei Heyan did not leave the palace tonight, and asked his chamberlain to bring some food every once in a while.
For fear of soiling the examinee's papers, the officials who marked the papers did not dare to eat or drink, and most of the food delivered ended up in Si Yiluo's stomach.
Si Yiluo felt bored. She had never received such an easy job...
Some officials were muttering secretly, could it be said that the emperor pays special attention to this year's candidates?
I have never seen such treatment before...
Si Yiluo, who was so full that he felt uncomfortable after eating, stayed up until dawn when Wei Heyan came to take over. He first went for a walk outside to eat, and then walked back to the Yamen duty room to catch up on his sleep.
As usual, several breakfast dishes appeared at the door of the Yamen. She didn't even look at them and directly asked her subordinates to share them.
I slept until the afternoon, got up, washed my face, and went home full of energy.
"Er Qiao, you girl is becoming more and more charming!"
"Who gave you such a nice name?"
In the yard, she heard voices in the living room. Chang Jinchan pinched Er Qiao's cheeks that were still full of baby fat, "It seems that the food in Sifu is good. Compared with last time, Er Qiao's face is rounder again."
.When was the last time we met... It seems like it was only last month!"
Chang Jinchan's teasing tone made Er Qiao want to cry but didn't dare. Shen Moran took a sip of the hawthorn water brewed by Aunt Chen and said with a smile: "Okay, cousin, please stop making fun of Er Qiao..."
"Why are you here?"
Si Yiluo walked into the living room.
Shen Moran and Chang Jinchan were dressed up in gorgeous dresses. The hairpins on their heads were either gold or pearls. They looked pretty, but...
"Don't you two feel heavy?"
Chang Jinchan laughed, sat down on the chair and echoed: "Let me tell you, Mr. Si must also find it troublesome. Didn't the two of us go to the Prince Rong's Mansion for a banquet today? My cousin said that I have an out-of-control temper. If I don't
Wearing a few hairpins can't suppress my temperament..."
"Is there a party at this juncture?"
Zhou Rong had just presided over the imperial examination in the palace, and Princess Rong held a banquet in the palace. It seemed that Emperor Yao's attitude changed drastically.
Chang Jinchan echoed: "Isn't that right? Fortunately, my cousin-in-law had the foresight and we were not embarrassed. There were quite a few people going to the banquet today, even Mrs. Shen and Mrs. Boge also went."
"Master Si, take a look, do I look good in this outfit?"
Her dress today is a skirt with wide sleeves, and the layers of gauze look elegant and layered. The main color is pea green, which is consistent with her age.
Si Yiluo responded perfunctorily, looked at Shen Moran, and asked how the banquet was going.
"The eight-treasure duck cooked by Aunt Chen should be ready. Cousin, didn't you say you didn't have enough food at the banquet? Let Er Qiao take you to the kitchen to have a look."
Chang Jinchan was complaining just now that the dishes at the banquet were not good enough. When she reminded her, her stomach seemed to growl a few more times.
Er Qiao said: "Miss Chang, come with me. The eight-treasure duck made by Aunt Chen is so delicious. I can eat half of it at a time!"
Chang Jinchan pinched her face again.
"No wonder you gained weight!"
Er Qiao's face drooped, and she begged aggrievedly: "Miss Chang, can you not always dislike me..."
A woman's hearty laughter came from outside the house.