CHAPTER XLIV

The scientific examination is the most important way for the Great Wei Dynasty to select officials, and it can be roughly divided into three links: the township examination, the general examination, and the imperial examination.

The township examination is generally conducted in autumn and is presided over by the county government offices in various places.

Since the first emperor of the Great Wei Dynasty established the country in the land of Sanchuan, after hundreds of years, it eventually developed into six counties, namely "Shangdang South County", "Hedong County", "Sanchuan County", "Song County", "Yingbei County" and "Nanyang County" from north to south.

Among them, "Shangdang South County" and "Yingbei County" border "Han" in the north and "Chu" in the south respectively, and have always been annexed and warned, so they can only be regarded as small counties, while the rest of the counties are all large counties, including the "Song County" newly established after the Emperor of the Great Wei conquered the Song Kingdom.

Because the size of these counties is different, the number of scholars recruited for each return to the township examination is also different, about 300 in small counties and about 500 in large counties, so that roughly calculated, the number of students in the examination is more than 2,600 every three years, which can be called a grand event in the Great Wei literary circle once every three years.

I have to say that it is a great honor to be the chief invigilator of these more than 2,600 candidates.

At least that's what Lord Luo Wenzhongluo thinks so.

Speaking of this matter, Luo Wenzhong sincerely wanted to sigh that the world is impermanent and unpredictable, because seven or eight days ago, his son Luo Rong also almost affected the entire Luo family because he inadvertently offended Zhao Hongrun, the eighth prince of Great Wei, but he didn't expect that seven or eight days later, the emperor of Great Wei appointed him to serve as the chief invigilator of this year's examination.

On March 26, the sixteenth year of Dawei Hongde, the first day of the trial opening of the department, Luo Wenzhong came to the headquarters of the Ministry of Officials early.

In order to celebrate this special day, Luo Wenzhong also changed into a brand-new official uniform.

When he stepped into the headquarters of the Ministry of Officials, he met officials from time to time, and those colleagues congratulated him.

In this regard, Luo Wenzhong was also very happy in his heart, after all, in the past scientific examinations, the left and right attendants of the Ministry of Officials served as the chief examiner, which round got him, if in the past, he was at best one of the sixteen invigilators, how could he have the honor and qualifications as the chief invigilator?

Sitting in the front hall of the Ministry of Officials Headquarters for a while, the sixteen officials who served as invigilators also came one after another, the rank of these officials is similar to Luo Wenzhong, all of them are Lang Zhong of the Ministry of Officials, and there are also a few directors in special cases, after all, although Lang Zhong is said to be a rank that is not up or down in the Ministry of Officials, but throughout the four divisions of the Ministry of Officials, there are only sixteen Lang Zhong. In addition, not all Langzhong officials have the opportunity to participate in the examination, and there are always one or two who don't know whether they are unlucky or lucky because they are busy with the government affairs at hand, so they miss the opportunity to appear in front of the students and are replaced by the chief officials under them.

After a few words of greeting with his colleagues, Luo Wenzhong, as the chief invigilator of this examination, had the obligation to understand the preparation of the examination.

In fact, the preparations for the exam have already been completed, and Luo Wenzhong is also very clear in his heart, he asked a few words, which is nothing more than to say a few words about the scene, and by the way, reveal his current identity, so that the rest of Lang Zhong and the principal can change their previous attitudes, and take him as the leader in this examination.

"Ladies and gentlemen, this time Luo is fortunate to be selected by His Majesty and appointed as the chief invigilator of this examination, and I feel a great responsibility. If there are any omissions during the period, I hope that your colleagues will help you to do a handful. ”

"Where, where."

"Lord Luo is serious."

"Where the responsibility is, Lord Luo can rest assured."

The officials in charge of the invigilator have expressed their attitudes, although they were equal in the past, but now that Luo Wenzhong was appointed by the Son of Heaven as the chief invigilator, it is natural to take him as the leader, even if there is more or less jealousy in their hearts, they will never show it, after all, they are all officials who have been in the officialdom for many years, and they have won the rhyme.

"Speaking of which, in this year's examination, His Majesty also appointed a prince to serve as a companion? Do you know about this? ”

An invigilator asked curiously.

Seeing that someone mentioned this matter, the officials of the Ministry of Officials also wondered a little in their hearts, after all, such a thing as the prince's escort has never happened in the examination over the years, and no one will believe it if there is nothing strange in it.

"Maybe it's because there have been many cases of fraud in the scientific examination over the years?"

A ministry official broke the truth in one go.

As soon as he said this, the atmosphere in the room became a little dull.

In the Ministry of Officials, how could they not know about the cheating in the scientific examination? To put it bluntly, perhaps more than half of them are more or less implicated, some for wealth, some for the consolidation of connections, and some for the care of relatives and students.

Also, after all, they are colleagues in the same ministry and government, and they don't look up and look down, so there is no need to make the ground like an enemy.

What's more, sometimes they can get the benefits of connections and money when they open the net, so why not?

"But I don't know which prince is the jurant." An official asked, confused.

"It should be His Royal Highness the Crown Prince of the East Palace."

"This is not necessarily, maybe it is His Royal Highness King Yong and King Xiang."

Since there was no way to probe the news in the palace, they could only guess out of thin air.

After chatting a few words, the chief invigilators of the subject examination went to the examination location of the subject examination one after another.

During this period, a few colleagues took advantage of people's inattention and secretly stuffed a few pieces of paper into Luo Wenzhong's hands.

Luo Wenzhong quietly put away the papers.

This scene may have been noticed by the rest of the officials, but they only pretended not to see it.

Because if you didn't guess wrong, the names written on those pieces of paper should be the names of the people, and the children of the high-class elites in the capital who participated in this examination were asked to take care of them secretly.

Of course, it can't be said that none of the children of the powerful have talent to learn, in fact, just like the scholars invited by the sixth prince Zhao Hongzhao to participate in his elegant poetry meeting, almost all of them are the sons and daughters of powerful families in the capital.

But then again, even if the children of the family are not unlearned, if you can ask the officials who are invigilators to take care of them a little, even if you pay some money for it, what can it be for those powerful people in the capital?

Spend money to buy peace of mind.

Take Luo Wenzhong as an example, his son Luo Rong is also going to participate in this exam this year, and he must not ventilate to his colleagues and ask them to take care of him, even if his son Luo Rong is arrogant, he also has real talent and learning.

The location of the examination is the Confucius Temple belonging to the Ministry of Officials in the Great Liang of Chendu, which was originally a temple specially set up by the Ministry of Officials for the children of the officials of the six departments of the province to enter the school, but all the children of the officials are eligible to enter the school, which is equivalent to the palace school and the sect school specially opened for some children.

However, during the examination, the Confucius Temple will be temporarily suspended and serve as an examination place for the scientific examination presided over by the Ministry of Officials.

In addition to a chief examiner and 16 invigilators, there are more than a dozen Ling Shi, more than 20 directors, and hundreds of soldiers borrowed from Dali Temple, Yin Lingfu, Chengmen Governor's Mansion and other government offices, responsible for maintaining order in the entire examination room.

And Luo Wenzhong, these invigilators, are actually the last to enter, after all, those miscellaneous matters, it is not their turn to be busy, and the directors and officials under their own hands will deal with it.

They came to the main hall of the Confucius Temple, because it was still early, they temporarily rested in the main hall for a while, and once they arrived at the time, they officially started this year's scientific examination, and the students outside the temple entered the examination room one after another.

But what made them a little stunned was that at this time, in the Confucius Temple, there was already a rich and well-dressed man, but they didn't know who it was, because this person had a somewhat ridiculous mask on his face, covering his face.

But the guard behind him, that's amazing. I saw that the ten guards were all wearing ink-colored armor and carrying waist knives, and their eyes were fierce and mighty.

"Your Excellency?" Luo Wenzhong frowned and asked.

As soon as the words fell, I saw that the rich and noble prince raised his hand and showed a golden token, which was exactly the same as the token that the great eunuch Tong Xian in the palace showed in Youzhi Palace, the imperial decree of the Son of Heaven.

Seeing this, the sixteen invigilators in this line still didn't understand, and they all knelt on the ground towards the golden order.

There is no doubt that the person in front of him must be the prince sent by the Son of Heaven this time, but I don't know which one it is.

"Get up." The rich man waved his hand lightly, and looked at Luo Wenzhong with a smile in his eyes.

may have noticed the look in front of him looking at him, Luo Wenzhong was a little puzzled, and bowed his hand and said, "Dare to ask Your Highness?" ”

"Hehehe......"

The rich and noble prince chuckled twice, raised his hand and slowly took off the mask on his face, and said with a smile: "Luo Wenzhong, don't you recognize His Royal Highness?" ”

Seeing the other party slowly take off his mask and reveal his true face, Luo Wenzhong's complexion suddenly changed greatly.

"Zhao ...... Zhao Hongrun?! Is it the Eighth Prince, Zhao Hongrun?"

Luo Wenzhong was shocked to find that the prince in front of him who was sent by the Emperor of Great Wei to accompany the superintendent of the examination turned out to be Zhao Hongrun, the eighth prince who he designed to frame a while ago and make him be imprisoned in the Zongfu and punished.

Looking up at the guards behind the Eighth Highness, Luo Wenzhong secretly gasped again, because he saw Shen Yu and Lu Mu, the two sect guards, glaring at him viciously.

"This ...... How so? Why is it him?!'

Luo Wenzhong's heart was in turmoil, because as far as he knew, the eighth prince in front of him, Zhao Hongrun, should not be valued by the emperor of Great Wei, and belonged to a dispensable prince, and it was precisely for this reason that Luo Wenzhong dared to frame him and make him fall into the punishment of the sect.

In his opinion, this kind of insignificant prince would stay overnight in the boudoir of Miss Su in the Water Pavilion, once the sect knew about such immorality, how could it be spared? Even if it is a year and a half, it is not impossible.

Unexpectedly, in just seven or eight days, this Eighth Highness escaped from the cage of the Zongfu and became the prince of the accompanying prison for this examination.

It's just, it's unbelievable!

In the puzzled eyes of the other sixteen invigilators, Zhao Hongrun slowly stood up, slowly paced in front of Luo Wenzhong, who had an ugly face, and smiled at him in a low voice.

"I took care of you last time, let's play the second game, Lord Luo."

『……』

Luo Wenzhong's face was gloomy and silent.