"Your Majesty, Gu Bingqian, bows to the Emperor."
"Get up." Emperor Yonglong said lightly and dropped the red pen in his hand into the pen holder, clapped his hands and said, "Give me a seat."
"Thank you." Gu Bingqian sat down sideways with anxiety.
"Are Shen Qing, Ye Qing and Fang Qing all a little dissatisfied with my arbitrariness?" Emperor Yonglong looked relaxed.
"Everyone said that this question I asked was too biased and too profound. Well, of course I know, but I don't have such high standards. I don't expect this scientist to come up with any sophisticated answers like the Ministry of War or the Governor's Office of the Fifth Army, but I really want to see if any of the students here have some unusual ideas. Well, don’t just follow the rules and follow the rules step by step. If that’s the case, why do I need to take so much trouble?”
"Your Majesty has worked hard, and all the ministers and ministers in the court will understand." Gu Bingqian said quickly.
"Gu Qing, there is a saying in "Lu's Spring and Autumn Annals" that I very much agree with. Running water does not rot and door hinges do not become beetles. The same is true in this court. If all the ministers are so obedient, it will be like this yesterday, and it will be like this today, and it will be like this tomorrow. It's still the same. When asked about court affairs, it's all about the Guangyuan years and the Tianping years. So we should do the same, but now it's the Yonglong period, not the Guangyuan period, nor the Tianping period. In the former Song Dynasty, Linchuan Mr. Wang once said that there is no need to fear changes in nature, no compassion for people’s words, and no respect for ancestors. I really think this statement is a matter of opinion. Whether it is correct or appropriate depends on the time..."
Gu Bingqian felt he was sweating heavily on his back. The emperor's words today seemed to be very touching and very targeted. He had a vague feeling about whom he was targeting, but why did he choose to say these words?
In terms of closeness, he is not as good as Zhang Jingqiu, in terms of prestige, he is not as good as Qi Yongtai, and in terms of change, he is not as good as Qiao Yingjia. Gu Bingqian is still somewhat self-aware. Although his articles are good and his poems are famous all over the world, this emperor has never been fond of poetry. , just because you know how to perform during the test?
Gu Bingqian didn't believe that the emperor's trust could be so cheap. There were so many people who wanted to serve the emperor, but he still couldn't be ranked among them.
After doing some calculations, Gu Bingqian felt that he might be among these ministers who were similar in all aspects, but he was the one who was obedient.
Is it wrong to be obedient? The emperor's decree is an imperial edict. If you have different opinions, you must swallow them.
Noting that Gu Bingqian was thinking about Europe, Emperor Yonglong also looked more and more casual, a little pale and his face seemed to have faded a lot from the fatigue caused by lack of sleep, "Gu Qing, the difficulties facing the court are obvious to all, and we still need your love." I sincerely hope to select ministers who can advise me and help me solve my problems, instead of rotten scholars who only follow the old system and are helpless in the face of difficulties!"
Gu Bingqian was shocked and raised his gaze. Emperor Yonglong's gaze was particularly sharp. He stood up and kowtowed: "I will live up to the divine grace and die with all my devotion."
"Well, I know Gu Qing's loyalty is unparalleled, but the government is becoming increasingly difficult, and Gu Qing and all the ministers in the court need to work together to tide over the difficulties..."
When he came out of the palace, Gu Bingqian was still thinking carefully about the meaning of the emperor's words.
I am afraid that there will be another turmoil in the examination paper reading, but now Gu Bingqian no longer has the anxiety he had during the previous examination, and he feels particularly confident.
Gu Bingqian believed that he would not be the only one of these kind, otherwise the emperor would not have said just now that he and the ministers in the court should work together to achieve unity.
Who are these ministers? They can't be the ones in the cabinet, they can't be people like Xiao Daheng and Zheng Jizhi, right?
Gu Bingqian thought coldly in his heart, but Gu Bingqian became more and more relaxed. The more the emperor relied on him, the easier his life would be in the future. As for the ministers in the court, it would be good if they could see the situation accurately, but if they couldn't see the situation accurately, then...
It needs to be carefully considered.
*******
When Feng Ziying finished the exam and handed in the paper, it was already three o'clock in the afternoon. At this time, candidates came out one after another, complaining about the tricky and difficult questions in this palace exam.
As soon as Lian Guo Shi came out, he met Feng Ziying. The two of them only looked at each other and said nothing. Then Wu Zong, He Feng Sheng, Zheng Chongjian and others came out one after another. Lian Guo Shi and Feng Ziying didn't mention anything.
, so everyone understood it and never mentioned what happened that night again, as if it had never happened.
After all, students like Xu Xie, Han Jing, Luo Shangzhong, Cai Maode, and Song Tongyin did not benefit from this. If any one of them failed in the palace examination, it would be worse than those who fell to the bottom in the general examination.
Knowing this, I'm afraid it will be difficult to resolve the knot in my heart.
Once the palace examination is over, we only have to wait for the announcement of the results two days later.
Following the old practice of the Ming Dynasty, the papers will be read tomorrow and the papers will be read the day after tomorrow, and then on the third day the grand ceremony of passing on the emperor will be held in the Huagai Hall and the imperial list will be hung.
According to the usual practice, the reading of the papers is presided over by the Pavilion Elder. All the officials of the Liubu Hall, the Secretary of General Administration, and the chief official of the Dali Temple will participate in the reading of the papers. First, everyone will sort out the previous volume, which is about 120 to 130 volumes.
The volume is basically determined to be the second-grade, and then the remaining is the third-grade. Then the elders select twelve volumes from the second-grade and focus on the three volumes as the first-grade, and hand it over to the Holy Judge.
More than a dozen people screened 380 papers, which was much easier than the joint examination. Moreover, the officials in these halls were all battle-hardened, and all of them were Jinshi. He himself came from that era.
So I am very familiar with this type of paper.
As usual, people divided into two groups must exchange scores with each other to prevent favoritism and omissions.
Gu Bingqian noticed that Zhang Jingqiu, Qi Yongtai, Chai Ke, Qiao Yingjia and others were basically divided into several groups to mark the papers separately. He also consciously did not mark the marks with these people, so as to cover the entire scene as much as possible.
Soon Zhang Jingqiu's deep and powerful voice sounded: "Master Xiao, why was this paper deposed? In my opinion, even if this paper is not among the top thirty, at least it is in the top fifty, why is it not?
Put in second class?”
"This article is too entangled in details. I think there are some mistakes in arts and science..." Xiao Daheng is an old sly man. Seeing Zhang Jingqiu's question, he immediately attracted Qiao Yingjia's attention, so he changed his words: "Mr. Ge, why don't you ask me to
Comment.”
The entire East Pavilion fell silent. There were controversial situations in the grading, but it was rare to see such a tense atmosphere as in Jinke, especially since the examination had caused huge controversy.
The dispute between the two big bosses, Fang Congzhe, the cabinet minister, and Gu Bingqian, the left minister of the Ministry of Rites, led to the locking up of the courtyard, the removal of the thorns, and the heated discussions in the court, which had a very bad impact.
Ye Xianggao's face also darkened slightly. He was extremely disgusted with Xiao Daheng's behavior of blaming the blame. However, as the host of this grading, Chief Assistant Shen Guangyuan has always ignored this kind of dispute between the second and third places and will only be in the last place. Once the decision is made, he will be responsible for all other matters.
Ye Xianggao took the paper and read it briefly. There wasn't much that was surprising. It was just that when discussing the Japanese pirate invasion and Dongfan affairs in the East China Sea, there were some new ideas. However, there was nothing wrong with putting the second volume. But if you look at this paper In terms of novelty, it makes sense to barely include it at the end of a volume.
At this time, it is most inappropriate to hesitate. Ye Xianggao made a quick decision: "Master Zhang, this article is not outstanding. It has some new ideas, but compared with other articles, there is still a gap, so Master Xiao's move is not Nothing wrong."
"Oh? What about this volume? Let's ask the elder to review it." Zhang Jingqiu didn't give up and quickly took out another volume that was also dismissed as the second volume by Xiao Daheng.
Ye Xianggao took a deep breath, took the paper and read it. It should be said that this paper is similar to the previous paper, slightly new, but not substantive. However, Zhang Jingqiu's posture has made it clear that this time the marking may not be carried out peacefully. Went down.
Nodding, Ye Xianggao made a decisive decision: "Sir Zhang, it seems that everyone has quite different standards for marking papers in this palace examination. Lord Chief Assistant, in the opinion of the following officials, can we mark each other's papers and list the papers with differences separately? , and then evaluate them one by one?”
Everyone is a master at blaming others. Shen Yiguan also sneered in his heart, but he could not refuse and nodded: "I will follow your advice and read the non-controversial papers first, and then decide on the controversial ones."
Once such a divergent standard was determined, the progress was fast, but the number of such papers increased rapidly. By the time the marking was completed, the number of such papers had reached more than thirty, far exceeding previous expectations.
The focus finally turned to Shen Yiguan, who read them one by one with an expressionless face.
It should be said that these more than 30 volumes can be directly deposed and classified as second-class, about 20 volumes. This is undoubtedly Zhang Jingqiu and others' deliberate use of this method to exert pressure, but for Shen Yiguan, he does not care about such things. It's commonplace.
"Sir Zhang, I have read these volumes. Although the twenty volumes on the left often have new ideas, they are almost meaningless in general. They are all whimsical and not worth mentioning. They can be classified as second-class. These ten One volume can be viewed in detail, and it can be ranked in the first class, but the ranking should not exceed the top fifty."
Shen Yiyuan's attitude has basically been finalized. If the entanglement continues, both sides will suffer losses.
"Sir, Chief Assistant, among these eleven volumes, I have also read them, and there are differences among them. Among them, there are two or three volumes that Lord Gu recommended to me to read. I thought they should be between thirty and forty. ..." Qi Yongtai said calmly.
Shen Yiguan was slightly surprised. Qi Yongtai rarely interfered in this kind of matter, but why was it like this today? What's the difference between those in the 30s and those in the 50s?
After thinking for a while, Shen Guanyi selected three volumes.
The names of these volumes are all vague, but they are no longer transcribed. Shen Yiguan had previously thought that among the volumes, they were more insightful and meaningful, but the discussion was a little thin. One volume was particularly brilliant, but the diction was straightforward and simple. , not in line with the current trend.
"But these three volumes?"
Qi Yongtai took it and passed it by, nodding: "Master Chief Assistant Ming Jian."
Shen Guanyin didn't say much and nodded, "Then let's just follow Chengfeng's opinion. Do you have any other objections?"
Seeing that everyone was meaningless, he decided to make a decision.
Until the end of the evaluation, Shen Yiguan was still wondering what Qi Yongtai, who had never been famous, meant.
If he wanted to push these volumes into the first twelve volumes and submit them to the emperor, Shen Guangyuan would never let him succeed, which meant that he might be selected into the top three. These thirty or forty names did not matter. acceptable.
The only explanation is that Qi Yongtai might have seen the papers containing his disciples and wanted to get a good ranking for his disciples, but that doesn't matter.
Such small things happen in every subject. This is also a tacit secret among the elders of the Pavilion and the senior officials of Liubu Hall. However, the premise is that you must obtain the approval of most of the reviewers. Small adjustments are just for the next step. Shujishi is just making plans.
This incident, which was originally thought to be difficult to solve, ended here, which surprised all parties involved.