In the end, Qi Ziming couldn't help but smile bitterly and lowered his voice and said, "Brother Xuanling, don't you know these things yet?" Now the imperial court is controlled by the gate valve family, even if His Majesty forcibly opens the department, but a total of two hundred places, the East Palace and the prince set a part, the top of the more than ten gate valve families are divided into a few, the court and the central government trust a few, the family has a huge fortune to buy a few, like us from other small families, in the local may be regarded as a head and face, we also have some fame in our hometown, but in the entire Great Sui, or even in the capital, what is it? ”

At this, he sighed, raised his head and drank the wine in his glass, and then said, "Alas! Even if the imperial court wants to find a few talented people as foils to block the mouths of the world's scholars, there are also a lot of famous people in Beijing who have already worshiped in the names of the nobles in Beijing to choose from, such as Xu Jingzong, who is very arrogant these days and claims to be in the top three, so it will not be our turn. ”

Another scholar on the wine table, his body was a little thin, his eyes were cold, maybe he had drunk too much, and there was depression in his chest that he couldn't develop, so he spoke extremely boldly and sneered: "That's right, I also think that Brother Xuanling is too naïve, Brother Ziming is right, I think this imperial examination should not be taken again in the future, lest we have to waste so much money for travel expenses, what bullshit will try, but those gate valve families have changed a better way to let their own family become officials, even if they are not from a gate valve family, It's just that they pick a dog for themselves! ”

Ziming's face darkened, but then he was slightly afraid, and advised: "Brother Yunqi's voice is quieter, if you let the secret agents of the Houguan Mansion hear it, don't talk about whether you and I can be officials, I'm afraid that even my life will stay in the capital." ”

That Yunqi brother's surname is Wei, a person near the capital, and he is also famous in Beijing, but he has a completely different personality from Xu Jingzong, because he doesn't pay attention to what he says, and he speaks harshly, no high-ranking officials and nobles are willing to recruit him as a staff member or guest secretary, so he has been a little lonely, at this time, listening to his friend's worried words, he couldn't help laughing and said: "How can those secret agents in the Houguan Mansion look down on you and me, these little people?" If they are really good, why don't they stare at the exam and make the exam fairer? ”

Fang Qiao shook his head, sighed and said, "It's strange to say, it seems that the people from the Hou Guan's Mansion are not used for the supervision and protection of this examination. ”

Wei Yun waved his finger and said, "You don't see that the people who move are the palace attendants and Dawei guards, which shows that His Majesty the Emperor suspects that the Houguan Mansion is colluding with those noble gate lords." ”

Fang Qiao glanced at the two friends he had met in the past month, hesitated slightly, and said, "I think that with Qin Anhou in charge of supervising this matter, there should be a chance for our humble scholars." ”

The two friends beside him naturally knew that Fang Qiao was pulled out by Qin Anhou in his clothes, and couldn't help but laugh in unison: "Although he is open to let you take the exam, he may not be able to help us get ahead, after all, although he is powerful, he has no foundation in Dasui, how can he compete head-on with all the gate valve families." ”

The three of them laughed a few more words, and the wine gradually rose, and they couldn't help but start to scold in a low voice that the gate valve family controlled almost all the official positions in the imperial court, and sighed in their hearts that if they want to make the imperial examination fair, so that the poor scholars can really have the opportunity to become officials and serve the imperial court, I am afraid that the problem of the gate valve family controlling the government must be solved first.

……

……

In autumn, it rains a lot in the capital.

Autumn rain is rarely a drizzle; It doesn't look like cow hair, it doesn't look like pine leaves, it doesn't look like beads, it's mostly a downpour, and after each autumn rain, the weather gets cooler and cooler.

The rain fell like bullets and fell to the ground with a ticking sound, driving away all the heat and dust, bringing a cool world.

The rain had stopped, and there was still some moisture in the air, and the birds were flying low: the music on the awning had stopped, and only a few raindrops had fallen from it from time to time, and the roar of the gods was heard in the air, and the thunder rang again and again, but for a long time it did not stop.

But the terrible thunder did not affect people's emotions, and today more people came out for a walk than before. Because today is the day of the release of the first scientific expedition of the Great Sui.

If you want to go to the vermilion wall to see the list, you have to cross the bridge, at this time the vermilion wall has been surrounded by candidates wearing long robes, crowded with people, and they are nervously looking for their names on the big yellow paper.

The so-called 'the temple test determines the superiority, and the test will try to stay'. At the extreme, the last place in the examination is the same as the first place. To distinguish between the superior and the inferior, it is still decided at the temple examination. said so, but for Xu Jingzong, he still cares very much about the ranking of the test, and even in his opinion, he must be in the top three in the test, and it is best to get the first place.

Early in the morning, Xu Jingzong took a carriage to the Yamen of the Ministry of Rites, and the closer he got to the Yamen of the Ministry of Rites, the more pedestrians there were on the street. When I arrived at the trial list outside the yamen of the Ministry of Rites, it was already crowded with people.

Xu Jingzong heard that as early as the beginning of the fourth watch, some scholars came to sit and wait, waiting to see the results. In fact, there are quite a few such people, and they all want to be the first to see their names. More than 3,000 scholars looked at each other, plus people sent by various forces, relatives and friends of various scholars, and more people who watched the excitement, and the street more than 20 steps wide in front of the yamen of the Ministry of Rites was blocked by cars, horses and pedestrians.

"This ...... How to get in? Xu Jingzong frowned slightly.

"Xu Gongzi, wait a minute, let the villain come here!"

Behind Xu Jingzong, two East Palace guards with big shoulders and round waists stood up.

Both of them are veterans who have retired from the government army, and they both have the strength to squeeze through the crowd, just like a chariot running over the grassland, the wind and grass, and those who stand in front, whether it is a scholar or others, are all squeezed away.

After someone was pushed aside, he turned around and was about to reprimand angrily, but as soon as he saw the red uniforms worn by the two strong men, he immediately stopped talking. Although the clothing regulations of the Sui Dynasty were not as strict as those of the Song and Ming dynasties, the servants and guards who dared to wear red uniforms were generally princes and ministers, or top gate lords and nobles.

got off the horse, Xu Jingzong came all the way to the gold list unimpeded. Six golden lists are pasted on the wall, densely packed with names and origins, occupying most of the paper space.

The first thing that catches your eye is the first place in the Ministry of Rites - Li Xiyu.

Xu Jingzong knew that this person was a person from the side of the abolished prince, and his name in the capital was not smaller than him, and the most important thing was that the other party's family background was much better than him.

Although Xu Jingzong thought so in his heart, his face had become a little gloomy, and when he saw that the second and third places did not have his name, his face became extremely gloomy.

And that's just the beginning.

The top ten did not have his name, and his face turned iron-blue.

The first hundred did not have his name, and anger erupted in his eyes.

After reading the entire list and not discovering his name, the anger in Xu Jingzong's heart almost soared, if it weren't for his sanity, he would have scolded on the spot, but he was already on the verge of breaking out at this time, maybe only one fuse was missing.

Soon, the fuse appeared.

"Isn't that Xu Jingzong? Didn't he show everywhere that he was going to be in high school, and he was going to be in the top three? Why didn't I see his name. ”

"Yes! I didn't see it either, you see how arrogant he was two days ago. ”

"Some! is self-righteous, and I don't know how many pounds and taels I have. ”

"yes, I think he's an idiot who can't do anything about himself......"

Because of Xu Jingzong's personality, coupled with Wang Junlin's secret letting Shen Guang arrange someone to add fuel to the fire, Xu Jingzong's reputation has already spread, and everyone hears that this person is Xu Jingzong, no matter what kind of psychology it is, ridicule and ridicule continue one after another, and it is getting more and more intense.

These argumentative words clearly entered Xu Jingzong's ears, and for Xu Jingzong, who was conceited, it was tantamount to slapping him in the face again and again, which was a great shame and humiliation, which could be called adding fuel to the fire.

In addition, in this process, several scholars who were watching the list crowded over, one of them pretended to accidentally bump into him, and apologized to him, but Xu Jingzong ignored him, and the scholar ran to the side to look at his list, but no one noticed that at the moment when it was crowded just now, Xu Jingzong felt as if he had been pricked by a needle in the back of his neck, but the pain disappeared in a flash, and Xu Jingzong's mind was full of unbelievable anger and doubts about the fairness of the imperial examination, and he didn't take it to heart at all.

After four or five breaths, in front of everyone's eyes, Xu Jingzong suddenly looked up to the sky and shouted: "This is impossible, it is impossible for me Xu Jingzong not to go to high school, there must be someone who is playing favoritism and cheating......"

Poof! Before Xu Jingzong finished speaking, he spurted out a mouthful of blood and fainted directly, and his casual servants and guards hurriedly stepped forward in a panic and carried him away on his back to find someone to heal.

"Hahahaha...... The surname Xu couldn't accept the phenomenon, and vomited blood angrily. Someone said loudly, and everyone next to him echoed.

This scene was witnessed by hundreds of people at the scene, and what he said was also heard by thousands of people. Among them are Fang Qiao, Liu Ziming, and Wei Yunqi, who have just crossed the stone arch bridge.

There were still rain stains on the ground, and the moss between the stone bricks was particularly slippery, and as the three of them walked there, Liu Ziming almost slipped and fell, causing everyone to laugh. Liu Ziming laughed at himself, although he pretended to look as usual, how could he not be nervous in his heart.

Coming to the bottom of the Zhu Wall, the three of them finally squeezed into the crowd, starting from the left-hand side, I don't know how long they watched, and suddenly heard Liu Ziming's joyful exclamation: "Brother Wei, Brother Wei!" You've hit! You've hit! ”

Fang Qiao and Wei Yunqi listened to the sound and rushed to Liu Ziming's side, and sure enough, they saw Wei Yunqi's name written in the fifth row above their heads, and they couldn't help but be excited, Fang Qiao gently punched Wei Yunqi on the shoulder with a smile on his face to congratulate him.