Although he knew that his marriage with Ling'er was a matter of time, when he really heard the specific marriage date from Lao Taishan's mouth, Ning Xiu's body still trembled a little.

This is the first time, the first time in two lifetimes!

As the saying goes, the four joys of life are a long drought and a rainstorm, and a foreign country meets old acquaintances. The cave room spends candle night, when the gold list is inscribed.

If you can spend candles in the cave room after the title of the gold list, it is simply everyone's dream.

Ning Xiu's face was full of joy when he came out of Old Taishan's house.

This smile even lasted until he returned to the Huguang Guild Hall, and even Liu Weining looked at Ning Xiu suspiciously, and asked him brother, are you going to the Qinglou to be happy.

Of course, Ning Xiu quickly regained his composure.

There is less than a month left before the palace exam, and there is still some preparation.

Although the results of the palace examination will not affect his marriage with Ling'er, a better ranking test will always be beneficial to the election of officials.

The officialdom of the Ming Dynasty is a radish and a pit, and it is very difficult to enter those fat water yamen.

Iron striking also needs its own hardness, and it is important to have a background, but if the ranking is too low, it is difficult for others to speak.

The examination time is usually in late February or mid-March, and the latest is not more than mid-March.

Different from the determination of the examination period of the township examination and the meeting examination, the examination period of the palace examination is often determined temporarily.

First, you have to review the test papers, and when the examination is done can determine the time of the palace examination.

Second, the chief examiner of the palace examination is the Son of Heaven, and the time of the palace examination naturally depends on the meaning of the Son of Heaven.

The Son of Heaven is the co-master of the world, and he is busy with official business, so it is not easy to make up time.

But in any case, the time period of the temple examination is from the end of February to the middle of March, and there will be no major changes if there are no accidents.

As for the content and number of examinations in the temple examination, it is clearer and clearer.

The palace examination is only tested once a day, and only the strategy is tested.

This is simply a blessing for all candidates.

After all, there are three township examinations, and the consumption of physical strength is huge.

There is only one test in the palace examination, which fully appreciates the hard work of the candidates.

For Ning Xiu, he just needs to work steadily and wait until the palace test comes.

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In a blink of an eye, it was March 15, the day of the opening of the palace examination.

As soon as the sky was bright on this day, the new priests gathered outside the Forbidden City and waited for the officials of the Ministry of Rites to lead them into the palace to participate in the palace examination.

Many of them come from scholarly backgrounds and are not afraid of such a big scene. But there are also many people from poor backgrounds, and their faces have become as white as paper when they are about to enter the palace.

Ning Xiu and Liu Weining stood in the middle of the team, their faces indifferent.

For them, the goal has already been achieved, and all that remains is to complete the ritual.

It's not so cold in Beijing in March, but the morning is still a little cool.

All the tributes felt a little uncomfortable, hoping that they could enter the palace earlier, so that it would not be so cold to walk around.

Finally, the officials of the Ministry of Rites announced that all the tributes would enter the palace and go to the palace for the examination.

The imperial gate was wide open, and a group of scholars followed the officials of the Ministry of Rites to enter.

Their faces were more or less filled with joy, and the Forbidden City was too foreign to most of them. Suddenly seeing such a splendid place is naturally exciting.

The vermilion palace walls, the golden glazed tiles, and the arches and cornices all made their blood gush.

The dynasty is Tian Shelang, and the twilight is in the Tianzi Hall, and the Jun Yao Shun is on the top, and then the customs are pure.

It's their dream.

When I entered the palace, there were inner wardens on both sides of the road.

Some of the tributes were curious and inevitably looked at these eunuchs. They thought that the eunuchs were very different from them.

But after a closer look, I found that the eunuchs were not much different from them except that they had no beard, and I couldn't help but be a little disappointed.

The Forbidden City of the Ming Dynasty was very large and was also divided into the outer court and the inner palace.

The outer court is the place where the emperor comes to the court and deals with political affairs, and the inner palace is for the son of heaven to live and live.

Of course, this is only in name, and the specific implementation depends on the meaning of the Son of Heaven.

For example, when Emperor Jiajing, the master of the temple, was there, he simply moved out of the Forbidden City and lived in Xiyuan to seek immortals.

For example, Emperor Zhengde, the master of Wumiao, built a leopard room outside the Xihua Gate and lived in it without hesitation.

His Majesty, the emperor of this dynasty, is better than those two, although he lived some in the later period, but he also lived in the inner palace, and summoned some important ministers in the inner palace to inquire about political affairs.

Of course, the current Wanli Emperor is like a saint of heaven, and he is very diligent. All the ceremonies will be attended on time.

Of course, there is the role of Zhang Juzheng and Zhang Shoufu in supervising, but it is also inseparable from the young age of Xiao Tianzi.

In the later period, a large part of the reason why Wanli did not go to court was because he contracted a leg disease.

For a major event like holding a palace test, Emperor Wanli naturally wanted to come in person.

According to the words of Mr. Zhang, the first assistant, this is to fulfill the obligation of the Son of Heaven to take the judges.

The temple examination was held in the Mukden Hall in the Ming Dynasty.

Later, Emperor Jiajing changed the name of the main hall of the Forbidden City, and the Fengtian Hall became the Emperor's Palace, but the palace was still that palace, and the palace test was naturally in the Emperor's Palace.

The tributes marched along the root of the wall, but they did not even dare to raise their heads, for fear of seeing something that should not be seen and collide with the majesty of the heavenly family.

The Imperial Palace is the place where the Son of Heaven holds the Great Dynasty Meeting, and it is also the place where the grand ceremony is held, and it is a symbol of the outer court.

Compared with the halls of the inner palace, the distance to the Imperial Palace is much shorter.

Rao is like this, and all the tributes also walked with sore legs and weak feet, and their eyes were dizzy.

Most of them didn't eat in the morning, probably because they were afraid of eating too much and wanted to be complimentary.

The Forbidden City is not comparable to the Gongyuan, where do you suddenly want to go out of Gong?

They just hope that they can see His Majesty earlier, and then go out of the palace to eat and sleep after answering the questions.

Finally, the officials of the Ministry of Rites stopped, and the tributes subconsciously looked up.

I saw the magnificent Imperial Palace appear in front of them, and the splendor was suffocating.

At this time, His Majesty Dan of the Great Hall had already set up the examination table and chairs. Some Ministry of Rites officials are making final inspections.

What excited the scholars the most was that they saw His Majesty the Emperor!

Emperor Wanli, the Son of Heaven, was standing on the platform and nodding at them, wearing a bright yellow dragon robe and a winged crown.

This made the tributes clench their fists excitedly.

Although this can't be regarded as a real vision, just a glimpse of the sky from afar, it is enough for them.

On top of the platform were a number of important members of the imperial court.

Ning Xiu counted carefully, and there were seventeen people in total. He secretly said in his heart that this should be the reader of this palace exam.

Because the emperor is the chief examiner, the courtiers can only serve as the examiners.

The candidates for this paper reader are also very particular, generally the cabinet scholars and the officials of the six ministries, the general constitution of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, and the real power officials in the temples.

Therefore, these seventeen people are the core of the power core of the Ming Dynasty, gathered here and here, and the Son of Heaven stands in the middle, which is quite a bit of the taste of the stars holding the moon.

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