In the sixth year of Zhenguan, May 10.

As soon as the sky in the east showed the white of the fish belly, and the sky was slightly bright, Wang Bo hurriedly got up to clean up, because this day was the day when the tributes entered the palace to participate in the palace examination.

Li Boran is the same, he got up very early today, because this is the first time in his life to go to Taiji Palace. It was also the first time he had the opportunity to meet the emperor of the Ninth Five-Year Supreme.

Of course, there are many people like the two of them, who are all candidates who are fortunate enough to participate in the palace examination this time, and they are all nervous and excited. Being able to communicate face-to-face with the Son of Heaven makes me so excited that I can't sleep when I think about it.

A total of 281 candidates participated in the palace examination this time, and when the sun just rose, they had already arrived at the gate of Taiji Palace on time and waited in line.

After participating in the examination organized by the Ministry of Rites, these two hundred and eighty-one of them were called Gongsheng.

Wang Bo and Li Boran are two people, one is the first place in the general examination, and the other is the second place, so they are fortunate to stand in front of all the candidates who participated in the palace examination.

The team was divided into three columns, Wang Bo was in the middle, and on the left and right were Li Boran and He Qiang, who won the third place.

Of course, this is not a casual line, it is all arranged by the people of the Ministry of Etiquette on the spot, and it is also arranged according to their ranking in the examination.

It is different from the children's examination, the township examination and the general examination. Candidates are not required to bring their own food and pen, ink, paper and inkstone for the palace examination, and will be prepared by the court.

The venue of the exam is arranged in the Tai Chi Hall.

On the one hand, the Taiji Hall is big enough, and on the other hand, it is also because the Taiji Hall is solemn enough, which can show that the emperor and the court attach importance to talents.

As soon as the palace door opened, the herald came out to deliver the message, and the examiner took the lead in the first step, followed by two hundred and eighty-one tribute students.

All the tributes are divided into three columns to enter the palace, when passing through the palace gate, they need to go through a body search, no need to wear wide clothes, but they need to hand over their palace test identity credentials, and the people who search and inspect them in detail, and then search their bodies, and then they can enter the palace gate. You need to wait to enter the palace gate first, and after all the candidates have entered the door, the herald will lead the way and go to the direction of the Taiji Palace.

The Taiji Hall is the main hall of the Imperial Palace, and it is the place where the Imperial Palace holds important ceremonies, and it is very splendid and majestic to build, and at the same time it is full of majesty.

The main hall bears the weight on the top of the eaves hall, sits down three layers of white marble steps, below is the courtyard paved with wide stone bricks, and the grandeur of the Taiji Hall can be faintly seen from south to north.

"When you enter the palace, you should walk with your head bowed."

In this era, it is a very high honor to enter the court and praise and worship the unknown, except for a few ministers, even if the six Shangshu enter the palace, you must walk briskly with your head down, because you can't let the emperor wait for you.

Although all the tributes are entering the palace for the first time, they know the basic etiquette very clearly, and if they delay the hour, it may not be as simple as being reprimanded, and it is even possible to kill the head.

Outside the Taiji Hall, three rows of desks were placed on each side of the empty square.

Behind the desk, there is a futon wrapped in cloth, and the test is answered in the hall for a while, and the candidates need to kneel on the futon to answer the questions, and this answer is a whole day.

There is a pen, ink, paper and inkstone on the desk, the paper is scratch paper, held with a paperweight, and there is a pen wash with water, and the water is used to grind ink. There are no meals for the day-long palace exams, and after getting up in the morning to eat, even if you are hungry at noon, you have to endure until the end of the afternoon exams before you can leave the palace.

The tributes stood still and waited patiently, and later, the fourteen palace examination examiners would come out to meet the candidates, and then the emperor Li Shimin would show up.

Before the start of the examination, the roll call is carried out, and all the tributes are based on the results of the examination of the Ministry of Rites, from front to back. Click on them in turn, and at the same time, the candidates will be tested twice based on the place of origin and physical characteristics recorded by the Ministry of Rites to prevent the occurrence of substitute examinations.

This is followed by the paper that is issued to answer the questions in the exam, that is, the answer sheet, which is called the "loose paper".

Candidates are required to write their names, places of origin and curriculum vitae of the three generations on the answer sheet to prevent the examiner from marking the answer sheet in advance.

At the end of the paper, the candidates have to stand at their desks and wait for the arrival of the marker.

At the end of the day, the sun rose over the eastern horizon, and the palace examination examiner came out under the leadership of the young master and the crown prince and the imperial historian Wei Zheng. They are lined up on both sides of the main hall.

Then, the eunuch moved out the dragon chair covered with yellow silk and placed it in the center, where Emperor Taizong would sit after he came out.

Although Emperor Taizong was the examiner and invigilator of the palace examination, he only appeared at the beginning of the examination, and did not stay here to wait for a whole day.

The real invigilator is still the official of the Ministry of Rites, but in this kind of place in the Imperial Palace. Even if the candidate wants to cheat, he doesn't have the courage to do so, and it's not necessary.

Since you're going to the point of cheating, you must not be able to hit the top three, since that's the case. It's just the difference between the Jinshi background and the same Jinshi background, if you cheat and get caught, then you will be directly deprived of your fame, assigned to the army, or even killed. If you don't cheat, even if you make up your articles, you will end up being a Jinshi.

The palace exam is basically the one that you don't have to worry about cheating. Every candidate is cautious, for fear of doing something wrong, in this case, just play normally, as for those crooked things, they don't even dare to think about it.

A group of scholars first visited the halls to try to read the papers, and at the moment of the hour, Emperor Taizong Li Shimin walked out in a thousand calls, and everyone knelt down to the ground.

Although they all know that the top of their heads is today, everyone wants to pay homage to Long Yan, but no one dares to raise their heads, because looking at the emperor is also a great sin, if you really want to investigate, it is possible to kill the head.

Li Boran and Wang Bo and others were at the front of the team, so they were the closest to Li Shimin, but it was not easy to look up and face the true face of the emperor. I can only sneak a look.

"All of you are the elite of my Datang scholars, and I hope you will behave well today. Let me take a good look at your learning. Li Shimin said a few words of encouragement and told everyone to get up.

Everyone stood up in thanks. Li Shimin announced the official start of the palace examination. Then Wei Zheng announced the test questions for Li Shimin's preparation for the palace examination.

Zhong Gongsheng returned to the table and began to analyze and answer according to the published test questions.

Li Shimin attaches great importance to the talent and moral character of officials, so the questions he asks are all about filial piety and the specific issues of governing local government affairs.

It looks simple, but it requires candidates to write something according to their own understanding, and it is impossible to just read from the book like other exams.

It is necessary to ponder the intention of Li Shimin's question, and then he can prescribe the right medicine.

(End of chapter)