On the way, Qian Jin kept thinking about Su Wensheng's words in his mind.

Counting, this is the second time he has dealt with Su Wensheng. At the time of the autumn in Guangdong, Su Wensheng also participated in the imperial examination and invited him to a drink. Although they broke up unhappily in the end, they could vaguely hear Su Wensheng's intention to solicit. After the autumn, they never met again, and this Su Wensheng was also famous in Sun Mountain.

Unexpectedly, this time he swaggered to the capital to recruit talents. If it weren't for the support of the so-called noble man behind him, it is estimated that he would not have the courage and strength.

Moreover, the time to step on it is just the interface between the test and the palace test, and the price offered is also very attractive, maybe there are a few idiots who will be moved by him. If the palace examination is over, and all the new science and technology scholars go to the official department to order Mao, and then they are assigned to various places, who will still bird him?

As for what this noble man wants to do to recruit talents, he won't go on a tour of the mountains and rivers to open a poetry club, right? In addition to rebellion, Qian Jin really couldn't find any other plausible reason.

It is estimated that Su Wensheng already knew about his relationship with his grandfather, so he would make efforts three times and twice. There is a saying in the imperial court that "the north is the first assistant, and the south is the sky", and with these two towering trees, some thieves can't afford to turn up much wind and waves at all. If he went into the water by himself, his grandfather would have to suffer some constraints.

With these joints figured out, he took a deep breath of the cold air of the night. This is really "the house leak happened to rain overnight, and the boat was late and encountered a head wind". The Japanese in the coastal area have just emerged, and another noble man who does not know where to hide is ready to move. And at the moment, he is just a tribute student, even if he knows these hidden dangers, he can't do anything. You don't want to run out into the street and shout that someone is going to rebel, right?

Before he knew it, the courtyard was almost there, and looking at the flickering lights from the window, Qian Jin couldn't help but speed up his pace.

……

Half a month later, the palace test finally began, and the location was the palace in the imperial city.

The imperial city is centered on the axis of the capital, which can be roughly divided into two parts: the outer court and the inner court. The part of the Chengtian Gate is mainly based on the three major halls of Fengtian Palace, Huagai Hall and Jinshen Palace, which belong to the outer court area; The inner court is the main body of the third palace, the east and west six palaces and the imperial garden, which is mainly the living area of the emperor and his concubines. It is rumored that there are 9,999 palaces in the imperial city, and standing on the Jingshan of the imperial city, you can't see the situation in any of the palaces, which shows how exquisite its design is.

Early in the morning, Qian Jin and Liao Donglin came to Chengtianmen together. Looking at the boundless city wall in the distance and the majestic city tower, both of them were a little emotional.

Not surprisingly, after taking the palace exam, Qian Jin no longer has to have a headache with Baguwen. According to his previous plan, if he won the Jinshi this time, he would be ready to find a position as a county commander, and leave a few more workshops in the capital, so that there would be no delay at both ends. But don't underestimate this county order, in a small county, it is a person who has the final say. Of course, there can be no major cases in the jurisdiction, and taxes must be paid on time.

"Brother Qian, you and I have been able to get to this point, it's enough to blow him a pot." Liao Donglin quipped.

"Brother Liao, keep up the good work, take down the champion this time, I'm waiting to drink your good wine." Qian Jin sincerely blessed Liao Donglin, and the two of them participated in the Autumn Examination, the Hui Examination and the Palace Examination together, and this friendship was extraordinary. Moreover, Liao Donglin won the third place in the examination this time, and there is a great possibility of winning the top prize.

"Haha, each other ...... each other"

The two looked at each other and smiled, and then followed the tribute students into the imperial city from the east gate of Chengtian Gate.

As far as the eye can see, there is a wide staircase made of white marble, with ninety-nine floors, and countless dragon head stone pillars stand on both sides of the steps. At the end of the stairs stands a majestic wooden structure palace, with four large ridges on the top of the hall, and the four holy beasts of Vermilion Bird, Green Dragon, White Tiger and Xuanwu Flying in the corner of the eaves.

Presumably this is the Fengtian Palace, that is, the place where the emperor and hundreds of civil and military officials went to court.

After the search, the officials led the people to the temple. Compared with the Fengtian Temple, it is slightly less imposing, but the architectural style has changed more. More than 400 tables and stools have already been set up in the middle of the hall, and there are many brocade guards standing around them.

Qian Jin and Liao Donglin each found their seats according to the number plate and sat down. After about a quarter of an hour, all the tributes were seated, and the entire hall was silent.

At this time, more than a dozen officials wearing red-robed official uniforms rushed in from outside the hall. The first official was about 60 years old, wearing a red-robed official uniform of a crane complement, a seven-beam crown, and a jade belt around his waist. The knowledgeable whispered that this was Li Shoufu.

Qian Jin couldn't help but look at it carefully.

Li Shoufu is a little old man, the most conspicuous thing is his two figure-eight eyebrows, his face is already a little loose, and his beard is a little white and sparse, but his eyes are as sharp as eagle eyes.

is such a short old man, but he was able to set things right, knock down the eunuch Liu Xuan, and give a life-saving decoction to the terminally ill Chen Guo.

After Shoufu and the other officials were seated, an official invited Emperor Renwu.

Although Qian Jin had seen the emperor once that night in Juyongguan, he did not look carefully because of the lack of light at night. Today, the emperor has been dressed in a yellow robe, and everyone is quiet, and it is even more difficult to look at it directly. After everyone saluted and shouted long live, Emperor Renwu sat down on the golden chair. The eunuch Cai Qian stood on one side of the golden chair, and the other officials sat down in turn under the golden chair.

This temple examination is only a test of strategy. After the exam papers were sent, Qian Jin was shocked to find that the exam question was actually The Wealth of Nations. If you think about it, it must be that after the exam, the examiner presented his answer sheet to His Majesty. It just so happened that His Majesty was also thinking hard about how to fill the treasury, so the two people who had only met once hit it off, and they had today's exam questions.

Thinking of this, Qian Jin couldn't help but smile bitterly. He has always scoffed at cheating in the imperial examination, but he didn't expect that he would cheat once today, and the accomplice of cheating is the current emperor. If this is spread, it is estimated that it will be unparalleled.

Of course, this roll still has to continue to be answered, and if you don't eat the meat delivered to the door, you will be stupid. So, Qian Jin enriched and detailed the framework of the policy theory he answered during the examination, and then added a few specific measures, and wrote more than 1,000 words in small letters.

Half an hour later, Qian Jin got up. Most of the surrounding Gong Shengduo are still meditating, and they have already written half of the answers. Seeing Qian Jin hand in the first paper, they cast envious glances one after another, which made Qian Jin a little embarrassed.

When the officers saw that someone had handed in the papers so quickly, they all looked at the money. Li Shoufu also glanced at Qian Jin, and at the same time asked for the list of tribute students from the official's hand, looked at it for a while, and then returned it quietly.

On the golden chair, although Emperor Renwu was sitting on his lap, the young man's heart was not calm enough, and after a while, he began to feel a little uncomfortable.

Qian Jin hurriedly avoided it. Just kidding, here are all the leftover spirits from the big waves of officialdom, and he doesn't want to be seen out. So he saluted the man on the golden chair and the other dignitaries, and then respectfully withdrew.

After leaving the Chengtian Gate, Qian Jin breathed a sigh of relief. What happened today is really incredible. I have long heard that His Majesty loves to mess around, but I didn't expect that I would mess around with him twice in less than two months.

Anyway, the palace test had a morning, and it was still early for Liao Donglin to come out, so Qian Jin went back to the courtyard alone. At noon, Liao Dong ran to the courtyard and asked for advice on how to answer the questions, but Qian Jin could only do something perfunctory. If it is known that he cheated in the future, Your Majesty will be fine, and he will probably be scolded by the world's scholars.

……

In the early morning of the next day, Qian Jin, Liao Donglin, and a tribute student named Mao Tengkai from Suzhou were invited to the Jinshen Hall again.

It is rumored that Emperor Renwu originally wanted to make Qian Jin the champion, but was opposed by some high-ranking officials. The reason is that it is too difficult to implement the two lines of revenue and expenditure proposed by Qian Jin, and the ratio of Qian Jin's answer to the battle is not very neat, and the ancient style is not strong.

Liao Donglin's strategy was based on the theme of mutual markets, emphasizing trade with the surrounding nomads, which could increase the revenue of the state treasury and reduce the unrest on the border. Officials thought that this suggestion was very operable, and the article written by Liao Donglin was also very neat, so there were people who promoted Liao Donglin as the champion.

The benevolent brother named Mao Tengkai is dignified and has the beauty of Pan An, and he was also elected as the champion by some senior officials.

Regarding the opinions of the officials, Li Shoufu was surprisingly silent.

This imperial examination is a means for Emperor Renwu to cultivate the team, and if he interferes in public, he will be suspected of falling in love with the power position. Emperor Renwu had no choice but to try another poem as a counterpoint, and he personally came up with the question, and the final word was made in a calm and leisurely manner.

After Qian Jin and the three of them arrived, they all bent down and stood and waited for Emperor Renwu to come up with the question.

In the main hall, Emperor Renwu got up and stomped two steps, and said, "The three Aiqing are all talented in governing the country. I will chant a few lines of poetry, and leave one for you to fill in, and whoever fills in the fastest will be the champion. How is it? ”

"Do as Your Majesty commands." Qian Jin and the three replied respectfully.

So Emperor Renwu pretended to ponder for a while, and then praised: "In the Qin period, the bright moon and the Han period, the Long March has not been returned; But make the dragon city fly in ,......。 The question is over, and this last sentence depends on who of the three Qing families fills in the best. ”

Qian Jin didn't think much about it, and he had already sung the sentence "Don't teach Hu Ma to do Yin Mountain" in his mouth. After the song, I remembered, isn't this the poem I perfunctory to the emperor when I was in Juyongguan?