In the Song Dynasty, the rankings in the palace examinations fluctuated greatly. In the provincial examinations, the rankings could drop to the second or third place.
Those who finish last in the provincial examination may also be promoted to the top three.
There is no fixed number. Everything depends on the wishes of the emperor and the examiner. The final ranking is all possible. The provincial examination results are just a reference.
However, since I got second in the Zhang Yue Provincial Examination, there is no reason why I just want to get a top four or five, so everyone will think you are in Versailles.
Since I came in second place in the provincial examination, the palace examination is all about competing for the top spot, or even number one, and the second place has a great chance. Anyway, Zhang Yue thought to himself, since I came second in the provincial examination, there is no reason why I should not compete for first place in the palace examination.
It would be better if you think about these words more deeply in your heart. It would be better to shout a slogan like the national football team to guarantee three points and fight for one.
However, the first place in the palace examination is first class, the second and third place are first class, the fourth and fifth place are first class, the first class is first class, and then the second, third, fourth and fifth class are each first class. The higher the ranking, the difference of one place is huge.
Different places.
Seeing the fire fluttering in the night wind, Zhang Yue's expression gradually became serious.
In the past, princes used big shots to select those who were good at shooting.
Therefore, if you ask for a shot and miss it, then you will not complain about the one who is better than yourself, but instead seek others to win.
This is true, but if scholars don’t have the will to win or lose, why should they take the imperial examination?
The imperial examination is not about treating guests to a meal, it is about thousands of troops crossing a single-plank bridge.
As the sky gradually became brighter, more and more scholars came to Donghua Gate. In front of Donghua Gate were all the scholars in white robes. People who were familiar with each other talked to each other, and the sounds of banter kept coming and going.
When Zhang Yue thought of this, except for a brief nod to the acquaintances, everyone else acted like they would not let strangers in. So many candidates who wanted to get to know Zhang Yue did not dare to say hello to him.
At this time, except for the palace examination, everything is out of his sight. A little rudeness is nothing. He will explain it after the palace examination, or there may be no need to explain, especially after you have reached a certain position.
However, Zhang Yue's silence does not mean that others do not talk about him.
At the time, Zhang Yue's Provincial Examination's "Jin Zai Rong Fu" and its policy comments were published by hawkers along with Jiang Yan and Wang Kui's provincial examination articles. The hawkers sold them on the street, and each person's Fu was worth an article. It was also jokingly called "Three Wen Fu" by people at the time.
After the results of the provincial examination were released, the three examiners including Wang Gui and the detailed official Yu gave an evaluation.
Among the three, Wang Kui took first place in the first game, and Zhang Yue took first place in both the second and fourth games. However, in the third game, he almost finished last because of his criticism of current problems. Jiang Yan's third game was the best.
This is an official review, and after the article was sold to others by vendors, people in Bianjing received different reviews.
But I saw a scholar who said: "In terms of poetry and poetry, Wang Juncai deserves to be the first. Reading Wang Wenzhenggong's "You Things Mixed into Fu" feels like it."
Another person said: "This Fu is known as Fugue. When we were young, we all read his Fu as Que."
"Exactly, Wang Junmin's solution to the topic is also unique. It reminds me of a poem by Yi Gong who said, 'Great rituals must be simple, and the hills and hills are natural.' Another gentleman said, 'Great rituals must be simple, and the hills and hills are natural.' The latter is not as good as the former.
.Wang Junmin had such a sense of frustration when he solved the problem, which at first glance made him feel very energetic."
At this time, an experienced and serious scholar said: "I don't think so. Although Wang Junmin is more talented in writing in Fu, he is far inferior to Zhang Duzhi."
"Where do you start talking about this?"
The mature and prudent scholar said: "Ordinary people still pay more attention to diction when reading articles, and they don't care about the knowledge of instruments. I have read Zhang Duzhi's poem three times. When I read the poems and see the instruments, I can see that it is far better than Wang Junmin's.
."
"However, the most important thing in selecting scholars is literary diction. How can we select scholars based on knowledge of tools?"
The scholar said: "I cannot agree with this statement. What is knowledge? It is a person's ambition, mind, ambition, temperament, and knowledge. Selecting officials through the imperial examination is to select officials to see whether they have the talent to serve as kings, and even in the future."
The talent of Zaifu."
"For a prime minister, he wants to rule the world, and to rule the world, he must convince the people. So, should he convince the people with his words, or with his weapons and knowledge?"
As soon as this statement came out, some people agreed, and some shook their heads.
At this time, a person said: "What if Wang Junmin wrote a poem in the palace examination that was better than Zhang Duzhi's knowledge of utensils?"
The other party smiled and said: "Words and talent can prevail, but knowledge of tools cannot. Just like a shepherd cannot look down at the heaven and earth like an eagle. Unless the shepherd can fly in the wind, it will never change."
At this time the palace door opened.
The rising sun shone slantly on the palace wall. Zhang Yue glanced at the sun on the eastern horizon. At this moment, all the scholars in the palace were bowing to each other.
Finally, Zhang Yue, Wang Kui, Jiang Yan, Wang Zhichen, and Huang Lu were the first to enter the palace gate.
Under the watchful eye of a group of guards, the number was handed over to the eunuch for review and then released.
After reaching this level, the guards will search Zhang Yue's belongings.
Among the group of several people, as the guards searched, the towels for wiping pens and inkstones were picked out, and any suspicious items were confiscated. If the scholar has any objections, he is allowed to leave the examination room and come back for the next palace examination.
Bar.
After the inspection, Zhang Yue and more than 400 white-robed scholars, accompanied by palace officials, lined up through the palaces. Guards on the left and right sides of the road were holding bone flowers and golden flags.
The golden sun was shining high, the flags were flying in the imperial city, and the sound of bells one after another penetrated the high walls and stirred in the layers of palace courtyards.
For many people, no matter how the imperial examination goes, coming here to see the magnificence of the imperial city is a life well spent.
Zhang Yue walked through the corridor to Chongzheng Hall.
The Chongzheng Hall was originally called the Wujiang Hall. Later, advocating literature and suppressing martial arts became the political correctness of the Song Dynasty, so it was renamed Chongzheng Hall.
All the candidates filed into the hall first and stood up one by one according to the instructions of the eunuchs of the Royal Medicine School.
Jiang Yan is in the front, while Zhang Yue and Wang Kui are in the second row, one on the left and one on the right with Jiang Yan in the middle row.
The rest of the Jinshi imperial examination candidates are arranged after the three, followed by the Ming Jing imperial examination candidates, and finally the various imperial examination candidates.
Sandalwood was burning in the hall, and sweet palace music came from the left and right rooms. Zhang Yue looked at the carved beams and painted pillars, colorful door decorations and undulating curtains in the hall, and for a moment he thought he was in a fairyland.
However, Zhang Yue just glanced at it, not daring to look further, and immediately lowered his head to look at the floor tiles.
The underground palace music of ding ding dong dong is still ringing in my ears.
Zhang Yue listened to this calm and elegant palace music, and thought of the poem "I have nine beds of orchids, and a hundred acres of cypress trees" in Li Sao, which fits this scene perfectly.
After a while the music stopped.
Zhang Yue's heart tightened, thinking that the emperor was coming, but in the end, all the scholars, under the guidance of the eunuchs of the Royal Medicine Academy, just bowed to the empty throne.
Zhang Yue thought that the emperor would come to Chongzheng Hall in person, but it was normal to think about it. The emperor had been in power for forty years and was now old and frail. He had been seriously ill not long ago. It must be very difficult for him to come to Chongzheng Hall in person.
However, Zhang Yue was still disappointed. He wanted to meet this official with a long-standing reputation for benevolence as soon as possible.
"flat!"
Then the scholars were led to the two corridors for examination.
The palace examinations were held in the two corridors of the Chongzheng Hall. Seating in the palace examinations was spaced apart, and seats were set up sparsely to prevent scholars from "transmitting righteousness", that is, dictating or passing on texts was not allowed.
Each desk had the examinee's name on it. Zhang Yue had already seen his seat on the examination chart, so he walked to his seat and sat down.
Well, the mat is actually double-layered. This alone shows that the emperor is really kind.
Zhang Yue sat in the hall, with a low table in front of him, which was about to reach his waist after sitting down.
Zhang Yue lifted his robe, sat upright on his ankles, with his back straight, then raised his hands to push his hair upwards, straightened his hair crown, straightened his robe, and then calmly stood on his knees.
He took out pens, inkstones, ink ingots, inkstone pots, paperweights, etc. from the examination box and placed them on the examination form one by one.
After setting it up, Zhang Yue looked up and saw that there was a sundial with twelve o'clock as the dial in the courtyard of Chongzheng Hall. The needle on the sundial was pointing at a little more than 12 o'clock.
Seeing this, Zhang Yue put his hands on his knees and looked straight ahead. Zhang Yue was not the only one, but also the left and right lifts. These rules were taught since childhood, and each lift was like breathing.
Simple.
Except for the footsteps of the examiners and eunuchs patrolling the hall, there was no sound at all in the Chongzheng Hall. The hundreds of examinees were as silent as one person.
At this moment, in the Chongzheng Hall, Wang Feng, Fu Bian, and Lu Shizong, the justice officials responsible for the palace examination, held up the seals on Huang's case. After all the examiners checked, they immediately opened the seals and handed them out one by one.
Immediately, the officials filed out of the Chongzheng Hall holding examination papers, and then handed out the papers one by one on the candidates' desks.
Zhang Yue naturally glanced at the test questions first, but saw that the words written above were "The King Connects the Heaven, Earth and Man", "The Qingming Poems of Heaven and Virtue", and "The Theory of Water and Tao".
The source is written next to each question.
The source of Fu is Dong Zhongshu's "Spring and Autumn Fanlu". Wang Yiguansan, which connects the sky above and the earth below, manages people in the middle, and connects people in heaven, earth, and people.
But if you understand it, who else can be the king?
The origin of the poem
The theory "Water is more important to the Tao" comes from the Taoist scriptures, and the highest good is like water. Water is good for all things and does not compete with it. It is disliked by everyone, so it is more important than the Tao.
After Zhang Yue read the test questions, he had to say that the origins of the questions in the imperial examination were very complicated.
Neither Spring and Autumn Fanlu nor Tao Te Ching are from the orthodox Confucian Nine Classics.
Zhang Yue put down the test paper, closed his eyes and pondered how to lay the groundwork. He had to answer the three questions before dark, so he had both plenty of time and very little time.
If there is a spring of literary thoughts, it doesn't take much effort to wave it, but if you want to stand out in the palace examination, you must think carefully about how to structure and pave the way to break the situation. It doesn't take an hour or two, or even half a day to conceive.
As long as you think about it clearly in general, then you can break the bamboo trend in one go.
Wang Kui, who was sitting not far from Zhang Yue, looked at the three test questions on the test paper. The first two questions were exactly the same as what the eunuch of the Royal Medicine Academy said.
Wang Kui was relieved when he saw this.
In the past few days, he has been thinking hard at home. He has already composed these two poems and verses, and now he will just write them out.
Wang Kui suddenly felt confident and then thought again, as for the last one?
This strategy is not his strong point, but if he devotes all his efforts to focusing on this problem, he will surely improve a lot. In any case, the number one scholar has fallen into his hands.
Wang Kui couldn't help but feel arrogant. Hundreds of people in the palace could all watch from the sidelines to see how I won the first prize.
Wang Kui glanced at Zhang Yue who was not far away and thought, no matter how hard you try to win the top prize, it will all be in vain. It will only fulfill my satisfaction.
Thinking of this, Wang Kui did not write the first two lines immediately, but pondered the third line. After all, writing too quickly would make people suspicious.