The new rules and content of the palace examination made the new scholars participating in this examination a little confused, but those who were born in Yenching University, because they had already been exposed to the ancient Greek culture mentioned by Chongzhen, had some clues faster than others.

According to the previous practice of the imperial examination, the candidates who passed the examination had already determined that they had the qualifications of Jinshi, while the palace examination was just a formality to determine the ranking of the top three.

Although on the day of the palace exam, everyone entered the palace at dawn, and the whole day's exam was finished at dusk. However, generally speaking, new students who have passed the entrance examination have already relaxed their spirits after learning that they have been selected, so it is difficult for them to perform better when participating in the temple examination than when they are taking the examination.

Therefore, the past palace examination was just to write a strategy of more than 2,000 words. Except for a very small number of people who performed well on the spot, most of the Jinshi rankings were basically arranged according to the results of the examination. As for the power of the emperor, it is mainly to determine the ranking of the top five.

But this palace examination was beyond the expectations of these new scholars, especially the emergence of the test paper scoring method, which made them have to raise the tension in their hearts again. The little bit of caution that was originally dissatisfied with the emperor's change of the palace test now has no time to take care of it.

There were nearly 300 examination papers, and the time spent on reviewing the papers was also three days. And Chongzhen also checked all the test papers one by one, and he had a preliminary impression of this year's Jinshi. After looking through all the test papers and the names of Jinshi, Zhu Youzhen only confirmed one thing, that is, none of the names here were those he had heard of.

After reviewing the papers, Zhu Youzhen said to Zhou Yanru and Sun Yuanhua: "Take Saturday as the first place, and the others will post it according to the ranking of this list." Well, all Jinshi from Yenching University are noted on the list.

The articles of Jinshi from the top one to the top ten will be published in the Daming Times from tomorrow. If someone doubts it, the unsuccessful candidate can be allowed to check his or her results, and only his or her own results are allowed. ”

Before Zhou Yanru could react, Sun Yuanhua, who was holding the list, was already worried and said: "But Your Majesty, Saturday's article on Saturday doesn't seem to be as good as the second and third places." In addition, Yenching University is on the list, and the second to ninth places are all from Yenching University, will it cause more controversy if it is posted like this? ”

Zhu Youzhen smiled and said: "If you don't indicate it, won't anyone with a heart check it?" As long as we have a clear conscience, why worry about the normal doubts of ordinary people?

What we have to worry about is whether there are people who have stirred up the emotions of the candidates who have failed to make the list, trying to find an excuse to attack the prestige of the imperial court. Of course, I will arrange for the Jinyi Guard to pay attention to this point to prevent anyone from causing trouble.

At any time, the court must act above board, and don't hide it, as if it has done something wrong, wouldn't that make people more suspicious?

As for the top scorer, it is not because of how good his articles are, but because he is the only one among the top five who is not from Yenching University. Wouldn't it be great to choose him as the champion so that he could share some of the jealousy of others for Yenching University? ”

As Chongzhen said, after Chongzhen's three-year list of Jinshi was posted, it did attract the attention of public opinion in the capital. In addition to the doubts of some unsuccessful candidates about this examination, there are also many candidates who keep the name of Yenching University in mind. The southern scholars, who were originally disdainful of Yenching University, finally began to care about the teaching of Yenching University.

The doubts of the unsuccessful candidates for this examination suddenly disappeared a lot after the imperial court opened up the service of checking the examination papers. And some well-intentioned people who wanted to incite the candidates, after being interviewed by Jinyiwei, either gave up their remarks immediately, or left Beijing ahead of schedule and returned home.

What worried Zhou Yanru and Sun Yuanhua did not happen in the end. Of course, in addition to Chongzhen's proper arrangement, which suppressed the questioning voice at the first time and expelled some unstable elements from Beijing, another incident that happened at this time also attracted the attention of the people in the capital, so that the public opinion questioning this examination quickly ebbed.

The reason why the new incident that came to the capital was able to attract the attention of the people in the capital very quickly was because it seemed to be very entertaining in opera, so it was talked about by the people.

So what exactly is this? The popular version is that it is said that in the Horqin steppe, there was an extremely beautiful Mongolian princess. The emperor captured the princess's relatives when he went on an expedition last year, and accidentally heard about the princess's beauty from the captives, so he sent people to the Horqin tribe to propose marriage.

In order to save her relatives, the Mongolian princess agreed to the proposal of the envoy sent by the emperor, and rushed all the way to the Ming Kingdom. Along the way, in order to avoid the interception of the Houjin Kingdom, the princess and her party also went around a big circle, passed through many difficulties, and finally arrived at the Guangning Pass.

The soldiers of the Ming army guarding the pass originally did not trust that this Mongolian team that suddenly appeared was here to send off their relatives, and once wanted to attack. But at the critical moment, the princess appeared in front of the Ming army in full costume, and the princess's beauty shocked the Ming soldiers and prevented an unfortunate war.

"Of course not." Zhu Youzhen looked at the concubine in the harem in a hurry, and tried his best to deny it.

Zhou Yufeng didn't even lift her eyelids when she hugged her daughter, but replied softly: "Your Majesty, as the Son of Heaven, what do you want to do, who dares to blame you?" Why deny it so loudly, you see, you're about to scare the baby.

When the concubine talked about this, she just wanted to remind Your Majesty that Your Majesty wants to accept a few concubines into the palace, and it doesn't matter, but if there is a storm in the city, I am afraid it will damage Your Majesty's reputation. ”

Zhu Youzhen looked at the daughter in the queen's hand, and finally softened his attitude and said: "I really didn't send someone to propose to the Horqin Department and ask to marry the first beauty of Horqin." Think about it, how can the women on the grassland be compared with the Han women in the Guannei, the so-called No. 1 beauty in Horqin may not be as good as an ordinary Han girl in the Guannei..."

Tian Xiuying, who walked in from outside, happened to hear Chongzhen's explanation, and she immediately said mockingly: "Yes, how can a Mongolian woman who can't take a bath once a year compare to Sister Cui brought back by His Majesty?" ”

Zhu Youzhen's face turned red, and he finally couldn't explain it anymore. Whether it is in the Ming Dynasty or in the world hundreds of years later, in such a matter, it is not easy to convince a woman, and if you want to convince more than one woman, Zhu Youzhen feels that it is better to surrender as soon as possible.

After Chongzhen found an excuse to leave from Kunning Palace, Zhou Yufeng put away his smile and said to Tian Xiuying: "Next time, you can't be so rude to Your Majesty, if this spreads, it won't be a good thing for you." ”

Although Tian Xiuying honestly agreed, a trace of disapproval flashed in her eyes. She thinks that Zhou Yufeng is too weak in front of Chongzhen, so there are suddenly so many more women in the harem now.

However, it is precisely because of so many foreign women that the relationship between her and Zhou Yufeng has shown signs of improvement. Tian Xiuying quickly turned the topic to the question of how to take care of young children. Speaking of this, Zhou Yufeng's face suddenly softened.

After leaving Kunning Palace for a distance, Zhu Youzhen, who was walking all the way, finally slowed down, and he asked Lu Qi beside him, "What is going on?"

Haven't the investigators sent back the news? I just asked the Horqin Department to send that Hai Lanzhu, why did it become someone to marry her? What exactly are the defenders of Quang Ninh doing? Why is there such a story? ”

Lu Qi replied with a nervous face: "Back to Your Majesty, the investigators sent by the minister have not sent a message back, but it is said that the princess of the Horqin Department and the team escorting him have arrived at Shanhaiguan. It's less than half a month's journey from the capital, I wonder if Your Majesty has any special instructions for them? ”

Zhu Youzhen stopped and thought for a while, and then replied: "The weather is good now, let the Horqin people walk slowly along the way, it is best to wait for the heat of the capital to pass, and then let them arrive in the capital."

Whether the Ming Dynasty and the Horqin Department can become allies is still unknown. Even if we want to form an alliance with Horqin, it is not at the moment, because Houjin has not yet completely decayed.

So I don't want to make the city full of wind and rain before this, and in the end, everyone can't get off the stage. As for that Hai Lanzhu, find a garden near the Naval Officer School and let her settle down outside the city first..."

The announcement of the results of the examination and the arrival of Princess Horqin certainly distracted the attention of public opinion in the capital, but it also brought some trouble to Chongzhen.

In April of the third year of Chongzhen, it brought a lot of entertainment to the people of Gyeonggi for a while, and it can be regarded as filling the spiritual vacancy of some people after the imperial court banned the Qinglou gambling hall in the capital.

However, the moment of relaxation soon passed, and the Nanjing Township Examination from the south was suspected of fraud, causing thousands of scholars to march on the streets to demand justice from the imperial court, which immediately changed the atmosphere in the court.

For some officials, although the problem of the chaotic people in Shaanxi is not small, it is still not comparable with the possible cases of fraud in the township test center.

The presence of people in the place is nothing more than sores on the hands and feet, and although it is painful, it does not hinder anything. However, if there is a fraud case in the township test center, it is a patient between the chest and abdomen, and a bad one will involve the ministers of the court.

Whether it was an official who thought that there was no fraud, or an official who thought that there might be fraud, the only unanimous opinion was that the imperial court needed to send personnel to investigate the matter thoroughly in order to give justice to the scholars of the world.

Of course, who should be in charge of the thorough investigation has become the focus of contention among these officials.