After the Hanlin Academy banquet was over, Qin Dewei left with friends such as Zhao Zhenji, Xu Gu, and Xing Yifeng.
On the way, Zhao Zhenji couldn't help laughing and said: "Yuan Wei must have thought that he would be the best tonight. Who would have thought that the light of a firefly would dare to compete with the bright moon?"
Originally, apart from the already promoted Qin Dewei, Zhao Zhenji was regarded as a relatively top-notch figure in the new generation of Hanlin. However, Yuan Wei has recently stabilized Zhao Zhenji's limelight with his Qingci and Songs of Saints.
Zhao Zhenji originally followed the path of an orthodox Ci official, so of course he looked down on people like Yuan Wei, whose main job was to praise saints in Qingci.
Xu Gu, another fellow traveler, drank too much and said, "Even compared to meeting the Songsheng, Yuan Wei is far behind Qin Banqiao!"
Qin Dewei was speechless. He was not sure for a moment. Was Xu Gu a compliment?
Zhao Zhenji quickly smoothed things over and said: "You can't say that. Qingci and chanting saints are not Qin Banqiao's main business and original intention. They just follow the current situation. This is still significantly different from Yuan Wei!"
Qin Dewei scolded: "You have been around for six years, can you make some progress? Can't you see the intention behind Yuan Wei's limelight?
Behind him is the support of Zhejiang, especially the Ningshao Township Party! Yuan Wei intends to steal the limelight tonight, maybe it is the Ningshao Township Party testing me!"
Yan Song has been wooing the Zhejiang forces, just like he, Qin Dewei, has been wooing the Southern Zhili forces.
Tu Qiao, the censor of Zuodu, was the top boss of the Zhejiang forces, especially the Ningshao forces, and both Yuan Wei and Tu Qiao were from Ningbo.
So it's not that Qin Zhongtang is suspicious, there are too many twists and turns here, and there won't be too many ill-intentioned people.
As for why Qin Zhongtang did not deliberately win over Ning Shao's forces, the main reason was that he did not want to be too involved with the maritime smuggling group, lest he would be unable to get rid of him in the future.
After that, New Year's Day came, and the 19th year of Jiajing with constant political turmoil became history, and the Ming Dynasty entered the 20th year of Jiajing.
Many ministers who are tired of the frequent political struggles are praying that the Jiajing 20 Years will subside.
The Spring Festival was celebrated as usual, and the fifteenth day of the first lunar month was celebrated, and then the imperial machinery slowly restarted.
If there are no major events in February, many yamen can rest until February 2nd to celebrate the new year. But this year, there will be a talent promotion ceremony like this in February, and it is impossible for the yamen to rest until February.
Therefore, after the Lantern Festival, the imperial court began to work, and the first thing announced was some personnel changes.
He Ao, Zhan Shifu of Zhanshi Mansion, was transferred to Hecao Governor, Zhang Bangqi, the Minister of Rites of Nanjing, was transferred to Zhanshi Fu of Zhanshi Mansion, and Jiang Rubi, the Jijiujiu of the Imperial College, was transferred to Shao Zhanshi and Hanlin Bachelor.
Someone immediately analyzed the inside story behind these personnel appointments. Generally speaking, it was led by Mr. Yan Ge to reshuffle the Zhanshi Mansion in the East Palace.
The first appointment was a political exchange with Qin Zhongtang. Yan Gelao replaced Zhan Shi with the out-of-control Governor of Hecao.
As for the second appointment, it was probably because Mr. Yan Ge wanted to win over the Zhejiang Party. Zhang Bangqi was a minister from Zhejiang, and coincidentally he was from the same county as Tu Zongxian.
The third appointment is even more obvious. It must be that Mr. Yan Ge was trying to win over the Jiangxi fellows who were originally attached to Xia Yan. Jiang Rubi is from Jiangxi and is from the same county as Xia Yan.
Then there was new news: Jiang Rubi, a young official and Hanlin scholar, was appointed as the examiner for the Xinchou Science Examination in Jiajing in the 20th year.
Qin Zhongtang watched all this with a cold eye. Among the three personnel appointments, the political insider information of the first two was just like the rumors and speculation.
But it’s hard to say whether Jiang Rubi, the newly appointed Shao Zhanshi and Hanlin bachelor, and the examiner of the joint examination, was recruited by Yan Song or came to take the blame for Yan Song.
It had nothing to do with Qin Zhongtang anyway, so he was too lazy to meddle in his own business.
After these personnel appointments, the focus of the court's work was to make every effort to ensure the joint examination and the subsequent palace examination.
Under the imperial examination system, unless foreign enemies invaded the capital or the emperor died, there were few tasks more important than the emperor's selection of scholars.
Time flies by very quickly. On the ninth day of February, the first exam will begin.
Qin Dewei sent a group of relatives and friends to the examination room, including his brother-in-law Jiao Wenjie, Nanjing fellow Wang Fengyuan, Shen Kun and Wu Chengen from Huai'an Prefecture, He Liangjun from Songjiang Prefecture, Wang Yan from Suzhou Prefecture, Gui Youguang and so on.
After three exams, the results will be released at the end of February.
Qin Zhongtang, who has no desires and desires, is very calm. The list was released at night. Qin Zhongtang did not wait for the list. He ate when he needed to and slept when he needed to.
After dawn, when Qin Zhongtang got up, the test list was naturally placed in front of him.
Brother-in-law Jiao actually succeeded in the first examination, which made Qin Zhongtang completely unprepared. Originally, Brother-in-law Jiao should not have had such a blessing in history.
Wang Shizhen's father, Wang Yan, took the exam four times starting from the 11th year of Jiajing reign, and finally passed the exam this time. It was not easy.
Otherwise, with Wang Shizhen's talent, it is really possible that a human tragedy would occur in which his father's reputation would be overtaken by his son.
Another old friend, Shen Kun, who was in the same year as Zeng's father, passed the provincial examination this time, just like in history. In the original history, Shen Kun was the number one scholar in this subject.
In addition to relatives and friends, Qin Zhongtang also saw several historical celebrities on the list.
In other words, you can actually see historical celebrities in every subject list, which is also one of the greatest pleasures for time-travelers when flipping through the lists.
Among the Chinese style practitioners of the 20 years of Jiajing, the more famous ones include Gao Gong, the future chief minister, Yan Na, one of the four new generation Qingci prime ministers, and Yan Maoqing, one of the most famous party members of Yange Lao, the future Zhenbian
Famous minister Wang Chonggu and so on.
After reading the list, Qin Dewei asked Ma Er again, "Gui Youguang, where are Wu Chengen and others?"
Ma Er replied: "The two of them, together with He Liangjun and Wang Fengyuan, a total of four people, drank in the study outside last night until they were very drunk. They haven't woken up yet."
Qin Dewei shook his head. Most of these street boys couldn't even pass the provincial examination in the original history. In this time and space, they all rely on their own support to get to the capital examination venue. Failure to pass is normal!
Then Qin Dewei told Ma Er: "When they wake up, tell them that next time I will be the examiner, wait for the teacher, and then take the exam again! Otherwise, don't waste all your efforts!"
After that, Qin Zhongtang went to work as usual, but did not go home directly in the evening. Instead, he first visited the home of Mr. Zhang, the Minister of Rites.
Tonight was Teacher Zhang's day to take a bath. When he saw Qin Dewei, Teacher Zhang asked: "There have been no major events in the court recently, so why did you suddenly come to visit?"
There was no politeness to the teacher. Qin Dewei said directly: "The examination is over, and the court will prepare for the palace examination. Should the person responsible for organizing the examination and the etiquette department report to the emperor the candidates for the examiners and deacons?"
Teacher Zhang asked: "Then what do you think?"
Qin Dewei pointed at himself and said: "When you apply for the candidate for the registration officer, please submit it to me!"
In the junior year of the imperial examination, the general examination is followed by the palace examination, which determines the final ranking, and the examiner for the palace examination is the de facto examiner.
Because the nominal examiner of the imperial examination is the emperor, the minister who reviews the examination paper can only be called the paper reader and not the examiner.
According to the usual practice, the file readers are served by senior cabinet ministers, as well as senior officials from the six ministries, the Metropolitan Procuratorate, the General Affairs Department, Dali Temple, the Hanlin Academy, and the Zhanshi Mansion. Generally, there are more than dozens of people.
Teacher Zhang looked at Qin Dewei and said a little embarrassedly: "All cabinet bachelors will serve as examiners, but do you count as a cabinet bachelor?"
Qin Dewei shouted: "Is this Dongge Grand Bachelor fake? Teacher, just tell me my name. Anyway, the final decision is made by the Emperor!"
Teacher Zhang was right. The emperor would definitely notice Qin Dewei's eye-catching name. It's not a big deal to sign up. Whether it's accurate or not depends on the emperor's holy will.
Then when registering, the Ministry of Rites put Qin Dewei on the list of examiners. Emperor Jiajing approved it with the word "accurate" and did not make any deletions to the list.
When the list of file readers came out and Qin Zhongtang's name was prominently listed, everyone in the court thought that this was both unexpected and reasonable.
There are more than ten record-reading officers, and Qin Dewei is not ranked high in qualifications. He is actually a third-rank official and can only play a limited role, so there is no need to make a fuss.
In the eyes of others, to a large extent, Qin Dewei probably did it to satisfy his vanity.
Because the officials who can participate in the reading of the papers are the most important ministers. Participating in the reading of the papers is a status symbol in itself for the ministers. Of course, a vain person like Qin Dewei will not miss it.
After the meeting, the capital city once again staged the same situation that has not changed for thousands of years, with some happy and some sad. The ecstasy and the frustrated people intertwined with each other, creating scenes of tragedies and comedies in the world.
Originally it had nothing to do with Qin Dewei, but there were rumors in the official circles that Qin Zhongtang did nothing in this meeting, obviously because he was afraid of Yan Ge.
When this rumor reached Qin Zhongtang's ears, Qin Zhongtang felt very painful!
If you intervene forcefully, someone will always accuse you of making trouble for nothing; if you do nothing, you will be looked down upon and even suspected that you are no longer good. It is really difficult to be a powerful minister!
After the Chenghua Dynasty, unless there were special reasons, the palace examination date was basically set on March 15th.
On the day of the imperial examination, there was nothing to do with the examiner. All the examination papers were sealed and sent to Wenyuan Pavilion for preservation.
In order to prevent fraud, all the examiners stayed together at the Ministry of Rites that night and went to Wenyuan Pavilion to read the examination papers on March 16.
More than ten document readers, including the first assistant Zhai Luan, the great scholar Yan Song, and the six ministers set out from the Ministry of Rites, passed through Chang'an Youmen, Chengtianmen, Duanmen, Wumen, Zuoshunmen, and arrived at Wenyuan Pavilion.
Qin Dewei suddenly walked to the front a few steps ahead, then turned around and said to everyone: "Welcome to Wenyuan Pavilion! It's a pity that everyone has the heavy responsibility of recruiting talents, so I can't fulfill my friendship as a landlord!"
The rest of the crowd: "."
Do you mean that you are the master of Wenyuan Pavilion? As long as Mr. Yan Ge doesn't beat you, you can say whatever you want.
Then Qin Dewei took the lead and walked into the courtyard, and stood in front of the Spring Festival couplets that read "Spring is the first year of the year, and the moon is near the sky." He said to everyone: "I have already ordered that the central hall be cleared out, and it will be used as a place for marking!
"
Everyone finally understood that Qin Dewei joined the team of examiners not only for vanity, but also to forcibly gain a sense of presence!
The middle of the central hall of Wenyuan Pavilion was filled with about three hundred test papers. Everyone first walked around the test papers and bowed to the tablet of the most holy master of Dacheng before starting to prepare to mark the papers.
There have been so many imperial examinations, and many procedures have become routine.
For example, when reading papers for the Imperial Examination, the chief assistant generally does not participate in reading the papers directly, but is responsible for the overview and review. The ministers who read the papers other than the first assistant are arranged according to their rank and start reading the papers in sequence.
So today Chief Assistant Zhai Luan sat behind Dongshou Gongan and began to preside over the marking.
Under Zhai Luan, it must be Yan Song. Just as he was about to move and stand at the first position to read the scroll, a red shadow suddenly flashed and he took the first position ahead of him.
Everyone took a closer look and saw that the person who grabbed the first position was not Qin Dewei.
Mr. Yan Ge was immediately furious!
Usually you, Qin Dewei, just fight for power and gain, but you should still abide by the rules and etiquette on the surface!
He, Yan Song, is the number two person in terms of reputation. The number one spotter under the chief assistant Zhai Luan can only be Yan Song! This is absolutely unacceptable!
You Qin Dewei actually dare to grab the position. This is clearly a blatant disregard for dignity and a violation of court etiquette!
"Qin Dewei! Come out!" Yan Song shouted angrily.
Qin Dewei said in surprise: "This is my place, why should I go out?"
Old Yan Ge scolded: "Don't pretend to be stupid! The rankings are based on rank, so what qualifications do you have to stand at the top!"
Qin Dewei suddenly raised his hand, pointed at his chest and said: "You said that the seats should be arranged according to rank, but I am a super-rank earl, so my rank is naturally higher than yours!"
Only then did everyone realize that Qin Dewei's official servant Buzi was different. He was not a civil servant's bird, but a unicorn.
So what Qin Zhongtang is wearing today is actually Uncle Fengzhou’s official uniform?
It's also a trick to say that the military uniforms and civilian uniforms have the same style. They look like they are both wearing red robes and black gauze hats. There is not much difference, so no one noticed it just now.
Only the chest patch is different. On the chest of nobles with titles is a unicorn, which is neither a bird nor an animal.
Yan Song was so angry that he almost vomited blood. Is there something wrong with your Qin Dewei's brain? The Imperial Examination is the highest level examination for scholars. You, Qin Dewei, wore a military uniform and came here to read the papers?
Qin Dewei said to everyone again: "In short, I have the highest rank and deserve to sit in the first place!"
Among the people present, Zhai Luan, the chief assistant with the highest rank, was just a first-grade minor security officer, and Yan Song was only the crown prince's chief security officer, so he was naturally worse than a super-grade earl.
This is also the current situation between civil and military officials. Civilian officials are generally lower in rank than military attachés.
It doesn't really matter to others. Anyway, the place belongs to Mr. Yan Ge by default. Whether Qin Dewei robs it or not has nothing to do with others. As long as Mr. Yan Ge doesn't beat you, you, Qin Dewei, can be wherever you like.
Then I heard Qin Dewei say to Yan Song: "Don't you recognize my Ming Dynasty's rank system?"
Mr. Yan Ge thought for a while, and the period for reading papers for the palace exam is two days. Anyway, today is just a day of reading papers, and there is no ranking! You, Qin Dewei, occupied the first place today, and it is of no practical use!
Then Mr. Yan Ge swallowed his anger, came to the position under Qin Dewei, and said harshly: "You are waiting to be impeached! If you dare to read the papers in military uniform, you will be despised by scholars all over the world!"
Later, Mr. Yan Ge did not read the scroll, but took a pen and wrote the secret in front of everyone, blatantly impeaching Qin Dewei, and then asked the people of Zhongshushe to throw the secret into Renshou Palace.
The examiners no longer paid attention to the game between Mr. Yan Ge and Qin Zhongtang, and began to read the test papers.
When the sun is about to set and everyone has to leave the palace, most of the articles will be read.
It's too late today, I just have to wait to come back tomorrow to decide the ranking.
We were going to stay at the Ministry of Etiquette tonight. As soon as the readers came to Zuoshun Gate, they saw a eunuch standing inside the door, saying to everyone: "The Emperor has a message for Qin Dewei!"
Then he said to Qin Dewei: "The emperor has decreed that you, Qin Dewei, should not wear the honorary uniform when reading the papers!"
When everyone heard this, they understood that this was Yan Song's attempt to snitch. Emperor Jiajing always paid attention to etiquette, and he couldn't bear to see Qin Dewei dressing in such a haphazard manner. It was not normal to wear Wu Xun robes in the palace examination papers!
It seems that Qin Dewei will feel good today at most, and will be back to his original shape tomorrow, where he should be.
Some people murmured that Qin Dewei was too ungrateful. Even if he wanted to wear Qilin Buzi's count uniform to feel comfortable, he could wait until tomorrow to wear it!
Tomorrow is the time to determine the rankings. It is very critical. The ministers who are higher in position have more say!
Therefore, Qin Dewei should keep a low profile today, and then make a sudden attack tomorrow to put on his noble official uniform and seize the top position in the name of having the highest rank. This is the correct approach for a smart person.
As a result, Qin Dewei wasted his honorable official uniform today, and it is of no use at all. As for you, Qin Dewei, who is a third-rank officer, you are completely at the bottom of the list when it comes to rank among the examiners.
There was nothing to say all night, and on the next day, all the examiners gathered in the front yard of the Ministry of Rites, preparing to leave for Wenyuan Pavilion to continue the work of examining papers for the palace examination.
When Qin Dewei appeared, everyone subconsciously looked at the clothes he was wearing.
It's just that the Dahongpao is useless. Everyone here is a Dahongpao. The key is to look at the chest patch.
When Qin Dewei came closer, everyone discovered without looking carefully that the breast patch on Qin Dewei's chest was actually two cranes! These were first-grade breast patches!
Everyone didn't react for a moment. Isn't your Qin Dewei's civil service rank the third-grade left minister of the Ministry of War and the left minister of the Ministry of Industry? Why are you wearing the first-grade civil servant official uniform?
Qin Dewei patiently explained to everyone: "In addition to Fengzhou Bo, my honorary title is also Fengtian Yiwei's promotion of sincerity, Xuanli, Zhengwenchente and Guanglu doctor. This is a first-grade official.
So I also have a genuine official uniform for civil servants, but I don’t wear it very much on a daily basis, but for such a grand occasion as reading the imperial exam papers, I have to treat it with dignity, so I took it out and put it on today.”
The whole audience fell into silence for a long time. If Qin Dewei was not allowed to wear the Earl's military robe to cause trouble, he would make a genuine civil servant's robe?
The key is still legal!
To be honest, instead of seeing Qin Dewei wearing the uniform of a first-class civil servant, it would be better to see him wearing the uniform of an earl!
The streets of the capital are full of dukes, princes, and uncles, but who has ever seen a first-class civil servant? What does a first-class civil servant mean to a civil servant?
In the Ming Dynasty, civil servants generally had the title of Grand Master, Grand Tutor, or Grand Protector to receive the first rank. Living people basically did not receive this kind of treatment. Most of them were given posthumously to those at the level of Chief Assistant!
You, Qin Dewei, are actually wearing the right clothes to show off, and you are not afraid of losing your life!
I accidentally wrote a thousand words more. Please vote for me at the end of the month!!!!