In the Purple Light Pavilion, the morning sun shines through the sky and spills into this splendid palace.

Three hundred brand-new test papers were sent to the side hall of the Ziguang Pavilion, and the approval of the palace examination was the prelude.

The examination system of the temple examination is different from that of the general examination, because there is only one topic and there are only 300 examination papers, it usually takes only one day to complete the examination work of the palace examination.

The examination papers of the temple examination are not "transcribed", but they are "obscured". Although theoretically, the examiner is able to identify the candidate by the candidate's handwriting, there will be a certain amount of error.

Thirteen graders sit around a patchwork table, and after each review paper, it is handed over to the grader on the right-hand side.

Similarly, the marking officer on the right will also hand over the examination paper to the marking officer on his right after reviewing and grading the examination paper, which is called "turning the table".

The examiner writes his surname on the top of the file to mark it, and adds five marks of "○", "△", "\\", "1", and "×" to score, with "○" being the best and "×" being the inferior, which is divided into five grades.

In order to prevent the censors from suppressing or cheating, it is allowed that the grading of the examiners is different, but it is not allowed to be too different.

For example, if "○" and "×" appear in the same paper, the examiner will pick up the paper, and if a certain examiner is found to have cracked down or cheated, the examiner will be severely punished.

It's just that there will be loopholes in any system, and when the later graders approve the papers, they will be careful to guard against major differences with the previous graders.

It is precisely because of this that the phenomenon of "no point in the circle, no point in the point, no point in the point" in the examination work of the palace examination, and everyone tacitly kept the differences within a controllable range.

Before reviewing the papers, Xu Jie led the readers to worship the sage of Confucius together, and made a generous speech in public, and then returned to the paper table and sat down.

Da Ming is extremely particular about the order of position. Xu Jie sat in the first place, Yuan Wei followed, followed by Wu Shan, the secretary of the ministry, and Yan Ne, the secretary of the household.

However, in this position arrangement, it is not simply according to the usual ranking of status and qualifications, but more emphasis on the identity of "word minister".

The fifth is Dong Fen, the left servant of the Ministry of Ministers, who has already hung the title of Shangshu of the Ministry of Industry, and now he is on duty in Xiyuan, so he is well-deserved.

The sixth place is Lin Haoran, the left waiter of the Ministry of Rites, his qualifications and status are naturally insufficient, thanks to the fact that he is the chief examiner of this examination, and the left waiter of the Ministry of Rites is the most orthodox minister, but he is directly ranked above others.

He was followed by Lei Li, the secretary of the Ministry of Industry, Yang Bo, the secretary of the Ministry of War, Huang Guangsheng, the secretary of the Criminal Department, Zhang Yongming, the imperial history of the Zuodu, Wang Daren, the bachelor, Zhang Shouzhi, the secretary of the Dali Temple, and Liu Tiqian, the political envoy of Zuotong.

But no matter what they felt in their hearts, Lin Haoran had already occupied a place in the court. Now Lin Haoran is in front of them because of his identity as the examiner, but according to the development of this situation, it is only a matter of time before he is really ranked above them.

Even Yang Bo, the secretary of the military department, has to pay attention to Lin Haoran, his ceiling is six books, but this junior is already bound to enter the cabinet to worship the prime minister.

"Lord Lin, your test paper!"

The proctor was Zhu Xiaoxi, the commander of Jinyiwei, and he took out the test paper from the wooden roll box, and the test paper of the palace examination was divided into ten parts, each with thirty volumes, and sent them to the ten paper readers present in turn, and smiled friendly at Lin Haoran.

"Commander Zhu, you're tired!"

Lin Haoran also smiled in return, stretched out his hand to take the test paper handed over.

Zhu Xiaoxi has a friendship with Lin Haoran, but it is not suitable to communicate here, so he nodded lightly, which is to distribute it to the Ministry of Industry.

Lin Haoran opened the test paper and prepared to review it.

He was in a good mood today, but when he opened the test paper, his brows couldn't help frowning, but he looked up at Xu Jie, who was sitting on the first seat with a smile, with hostility.

As today's Shengshang Jiajing is becoming more and more obsessed with cultivating mysteries, the questions of this year's palace examination are directly formulated by the cabinet, and the questions of this palace examination are from Xu Jie's hand.

A two-year-old Tanhualang in Jiajing, the topic should have a corresponding level, but the reality is not the case.

"On the gains and losses of the prosperous era under the rule of the Son of Heaven today!"

When Lin Haoran saw the exam questions of this palace examination, he suddenly had 10,000 grass niobium horses galloping past in his heart, and he couldn't wait to kill this kind-hearted licorice pavilion elder.

In the past palace examination questions, passing would be a paragraph of hundreds of words of the emperor's perception, but now it is a simple line of words. It's just that this question is about what kind of candidate's talent is learned, and it is clearly to find a master of sycophants.

The Lord of the Holy Wisdom today? Smelting the prosperous world?

Xu Jie, how much conscience does it take to say this kind of sycophancy, in order to please Jiajing, he can't even be blind? If it is really a prosperous age, it will not even be able to take out a mere 730,000, and the silver of Shuntianfu will be higher than the regular tax?

What made Lin Haoran most angry was that the selection of talents under this kind of assessment would only allow his 300 protégés to "remove the truth from the fake". Those who focus on the "loss" of Jiajing's rule will not get high scores, while those who sing the ode to Jiajing's prosperity will win high scores.

Lin Haoran worked hard to select 300 sharp-spirited candidates, in order to let these people help him promote reform, but Xu Jie played such a hand, so that the candidates who were good at sycophants ran to the front to grab a good position, so how could he lead this class of students?

Previously, he had been secretly happy to get three hundred Jinshi protégés, but Xu Jie played such a hand for him, but it directly disrupted his wishful thinking.

In this court, there is indeed a fight everywhere. But I have to admit that Xu Jie is the most insidious politician in the Ming Dynasty, and this hand is simply feeding him a handful of flies.

As if it was none of his business, Xu Jie didn't notice Lin Haoran's hostile gaze, and had already begun to review the test papers.

Cough!

It was at this moment that a coughing sound suddenly came.

Lin Haoran followed the prestige, but when he saw his father-in-law's stinky face, he had to accompany him with a smiling face, and he began to devote himself to this intense work.

Since these 300 were all his protégés, there was no obvious bias in his heart. Even for Meng Zhao and Wang Shiju, they will also treat them equally, and review every test paper fairly.

The reading volume of 300 test papers per person is not easy, and even if the people present are all experienced people who are familiar with the articles, many elderly officials will inevitably struggle.

Lin Haoran was full of energy, but he had enough time to observe others.

He found that Yuan Wei had obviously lost a lot of weight, his face was also full of unhealthy paleness, and the sound of coughing came from time to time. Lei Li next to him seemed to be affected by Yan Shifan's questioning, and the whole person seemed a little distracted, and even handed him a scroll in turn.

Lin Haoran stretched out his hand to take the test paper and handed it back quietly.

Lei Li woke up like a dream, smiled gratefully at Lin Haoran, and handed the reviewed test paper to Yang Bo's desk next to him.

Although Yang Bo gives people a strong feeling, he is also a genuine Jinshi background, and he is also meticulous in handling the matter of reviewing the examination papers of the palace, and he is concentrating on reviewing the examination papers at this moment.

Dong Fen seemed to have suddenly discovered a treasure, and said triumphantly: "Hehe...... With respect for sovereignty, the position of a judge, and the reward and punishment of letters, this article has the talent of the champion! ”

The review of the palace examination is not as strict as that of the township examination and the general examination, and once a certain examiner finds a good test paper, it can be shared in public.

As for the proctor Jin Yiwei, if it was Lu Bing, he would have a certain deterrent effect, but the current commander of Jin Yiwei, Zhu Xiaoxi, failed to win too much trust from the emperor.

Not to mention that the emperor does not attach importance to this palace examination, now his status is actually behind the cabinet ministers, and he is not even as good as the old chairman of the quasi-cabinet, so he naturally turns a blind eye.

Xu Jie not only did not stop it, but instead looked quite interested, and said to Dong Fen who directly asked for the test paper: "Yongjun, the old man takes a look!" ”

"Motosuke-sama, please review it!" Dong Fen's face was filled with a bright smile, and he respectfully presented the test paper to Xu Jie.

Wu Shan couldn't help frowning slightly at the actions of the two, but in the end he didn't choose to say anything.

Yuan Wei and Yan Ne saw it in their eyes, although they did not object, but they did not join in the fun.

Xu Jie looked at the test paper carefully, and nodded lightly: "Hehe...... Truly the best choice! As he spoke, he drew a "○" with a red pen on it, and then handed it to Yuan Wei next to him.

Dong Fen and Xu Jie were both so respected, Zhang Shouzhi, the secretary of Dali Temple, and Liu Tiqian, the political envoy of Zuo Tong, couldn't help but exchange glances, and continued to pretend to continue to review the file.

The two bigwigs have already expressed their stance like this, and the people below naturally know what to do.

It's not that everyone is afraid of these two, but they can't afford to argue with these two bigwigs in such a trivial matter, and who is chosen to be the champion has nothing to do with them.

The champion has nothing to do with other people, but it has a lot to do with Lin Haoran.

Everyone hopes that his subordinates are a group of capable ministers, not a group of mediocre people, he doesn't want to fall into the same predicament as Xu Jie, and few of the 300 protégés who presided over the 32nd year of Jiajing can be of great use.

When Dong Fen handed over the test paper, he quickly saw a test paper with a series of "○" written on it, and knew that this was the champion article that Dong Fen was talking about.

This is indeed a good sycophant, and the whole article is a celebration of today's prosperity.

It's just that the words and sentences of this article are not too outstanding, and they are also middle and upper class in similar articles. If you insist on saying that it is the scroll of champions, then it is talking nonsense with a clear conscience.

Although it has always been the first in the article, there is always a relatively fair standard, and there are already certain problems with this champion article praised by Dong Fen.

Lin Haoran is not a rookie who first entered the officialdom in the past, and knows that there are dirty deeds behind this test paper. After thinking about it for a while, he didn't choose to make a big deal out of it, but wrote "Lin △" on it

Except for Zhang Yongming, the imperial historian of Zuodu, and Zhang Shouzhi, the secretary of Dali Temple, who need to be distinguished by their names, the other eleven paper readers only need to write their surnames.

Soon, all 300 exams were reviewed.

The examination of the palace examination is obviously a little higher than before, and now it is only the time when dusk falls, but there is still enough time to select the best top ten test papers, and the emperor will decide the final ranking.

It is a coincidence that although there is no full circle of excellent test papers this time, there are exactly ten candidates with twelve "○" and one "△".

"Huh...... This is providential, we don't need to spend time on picking, the top ten are here! Xu Jie saw the consequences of this situation, but said with a smile.

Although Lin Haoran had objections to the method chosen this time, he knew that all this was handled according to the rules, but he could only silently accept this not too good selection result.

Even if the selected first-class and third-class jinshi were worse, he could only pinch his nose and admit it.

According to the previous practice, after selecting the top ten test papers, they also need to sort the top ten before handing them over to the emperor to make the final decision.

Although this ranking is not the final result, if it can be ranked first, its ranking will be correspondingly better, and even related to the final attribution of the champion.

Xu Jie saw that everyone had no objections, so he immediately made a decision and said: "Then let's open the seal first, and then discuss after reading the candidates' situation!" ”

Faced with Xu Jie's decision, everyone also looked at each other and nodded silently in agreement.

As the topic fell, several anxious examiners tore open the seals of the test papers one by one.

The names and origins of the ten test papers have been revealed, namely: Chen Jingbang, the capital of Huazhou, Fujian, Yi Zaiting, the Suzhou Mansion of Nanzhili, Chen Dong, the Nanchang Prefecture of Jiangxi, Song Nuo of the Hejian Prefecture of the North Zhili, Zhou Duo of the Suzhou Prefecture of the South Zhili, Xu Yuan of the Nanchang Prefecture of Jiangxi, Fan Yingqi, the Huzhou Prefecture of Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Tang Ximin, the Chizhou Mansion of the North Zhili, Li Zihua of Jiaxing, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Li Yidi, the Gaozhou Mansion of Guangdong.

If the test paper is in the name of the name, everyone is not sure which test paper belongs to whom, but now that the true face of Lushan has been revealed, they have been dyed with a little selfishness.

For example, Zhang Shouzhi, the secretary of Dali Temple, hopes that Song Nuo, the Hejian Mansion of Beizhili, will become the champion, while Huang Guangsheng, the secretary of the Criminal Department, hopes that Chen Jingbang, the capital of Huazhou, Fujian, and Lei Li, the secretary of the Ministry of Industry, hopes that Chen Dong, the Nanchang Mansion in Jiangxi, has already given rise to certain private thoughts.

Xu Jie saw all this in his eyes, but he put on a virtuous style, and said to the officials gently: "Everyone is discussing, should it be sorted like this?" ”

When the officials heard this, none of them wanted to stand up rashly, let alone express their truest thoughts in a hurry, so they all wanted to wait and see what happened.

Lin Haoran was about to stand up and speak, but Dong Fen took the lead and said: "It is said that the virtuous do not avoid relatives, and the old man recommends Fan Yingqi as the first alternative!" ”