The Tribute Courtyard is the examination room of the Beijing Division, the place where the scholars are opened, and people from all over the country come here to take the exam, as if they are paying tribute to the emperor in general, so it is called the Tribute Academy.

The establishment of the Tribute Courtyard began in the Tang Dynasty, the Jingshi Tribute Courtyard was built in the thirteenth year of Yongle in the Ming Dynasty (1415), it was originally the Yamen of the Yuan Dynasty Rite Department, sitting in the north and facing south, and the gate was five.

Further in, there are two gates and five wings, Longmen, Mingyuan Building, Zhigong Hall, Inner Dragon Gate, Jukui Hall, Huijing Hall, Eighteen Rooms and other places.

The layout of the building is rigorous, the wall is high and towering, the environment is gloomy, the public hall and the government office are tall and strict, but the examination shed is very simple, arranged according to the thousand-character text, it is said that there are more than 9,000 rooms, looking at it from a distance, it is similar to the low kennel.

There are watchtowers at the four corners of the Gongyuan, which mainly play the role of monitoring and preventing the disadvantages of internal and external cooperation.

Zhang You and Zhu Yijun dressed up as little eunuchs and followed Cao Aijin, the steward of the Qianqing Palace wearing a red python robe, and swaggered into the gate - long live the lord's mouth, specially asked him to come over to have a look, and the brocade guards guarding the door naturally did not dare to stop him, a royal celebrity.

After entering the gate, it is the "Tiankai Wenyun" archway, and then there are two gates, the dragon gate, and then the Mingyuan Building, the building is a triple eaves, the cross-shaped roof of the mountain, the four corners of the downstairs each open the coupon door, to the public hall seven, there are things on the side of the big library, the east and west are equipped with a wooden grid, for the east and west literary field, across the gap between the wooden gates, you can see rows of pigeon cages neatly arranged in the distance, it is noon, the sun is good, many candidates who are tired of doing the question stand outside to bask in the sun, see a person wearing a red python robe, have looked here, The guards scolded a few times, but to no avail.

Don't look at Zhu Yijun as the emperor, but like Zhang You, the first time he came to the Gongyuan, the two of them lowered their heads and looked around, only to feel that everything was fresh.

"This locust tree is really majestic, like a sleeping dragon." When I was about to arrive at Mingyuan Tower, I saw a stout locust tree in the east of the road, and the crown of the tree was obliquely covered to the east of the road, which was quite imposing, Zhang You guessed that it must be the famous "Wenchang Huai", but he deliberately did not break it.

Zhu Yijun really found an opportunity to perform, and chuckled: "Don't you know Wen Changhuai?" It's a shame that you're still a great talent who has only crowned the north and south. ”

Zhang You smiled secretly and pretended to be surprised: "This is the place where the legend Chinese light shoots bullfighting?" Your Majesty is really powerful, Weichen didn't guess that this is Wen Changhuai. ”

This kind of sycophant Zhu Yijun is obviously very useful, and he lowered his voice and opened the conversation: "There are many legends about the Gongyuan, do you know why the carp alley we passed through is called this?" ”

Zhang You shook his head, this time he really didn't know.

"It is said that during the Yongle period, there was a candidate from Henan, because the family was poor, and he could only walk into Beijing step by step, but it was still too late, and the inns were all overcrowded, fortunately he met a good person, an old man in Liyu Hutong took him in, of course, it was not called Liyu Hutong at that time.

In the first three days of spring, there was a sudden downpour, a thunderstorm, and the clouds suddenly shook their heads and shook their tails to burst out of a golden white carp, which happened to fall in the alley where the candidates lived in Henan, and the thunder rose again, and the carp rose into the air and flew straight towards the dragon gate of the Gongyuan, so the old man told the candidates, this is the carp jumping over the dragon gate, you designated the high school this time......"

"And then?" Zhang You interjected and asked appropriately, not showing the slightest impatience because he guessed the ending, which was exactly the performance of a person who was fascinated by listening.

The audience was curious, and the speaker was naturally interested, Zhu Yijun smiled slightly: "Later, the man from Henan was really high school, and he was also a grateful person, and he gave back to the old man." As a result, since then, every time there is an exam, the candidates are willing to go to the alley to live, just to please a good fortune, and the alley has been changed to 'carp alley'. ”

As they spoke, the three of them had already passed through Wen Changhuai and came to the Zhigong Hall, just as a green-robed official came out with a stack of rolls, and when he raised his eyes and saw the three of them, he was stunned for a moment, and asked: "Grandpa Cao, why did your old man come in person, long live can't wait, right?" ”

Cao Aijin raised his head slightly, and said: "Long live Lord is indeed a little anxious to wait, and specially asked our family to come over to have a look, what about Lord Yu?" Everything is okay, right? ”

"It's normal, everything is normal, and a few people who have been found to cheat have been flailed to the public." The green-robed official said, and then said, "Father-in-law, wait for a while, and let the officials go in and say goodbye, and let the adults come out to greet ......."

"No need, it's time to review the papers, our family is just ordered to take a look, don't bother. This is the selected volume, right? Give it to us, you can also be busy with your own going! ”

The green-robed official didn't dare to slack off, nodding his head while handing over the scroll he was holding to Cao Aijin, and said a few more polite words, turned around and hurried back.

Cao Aijin handed the volume to Zhang You, and at the same time smiled apologetically, and then stepped into the court.

Zhu Yijun also wanted to follow in, but Zhang You pulled him out, turned around in amazement, Zhang You rushed to the row of buildings next to him, he immediately reacted, whispered to Cao Aijin, and walked over there with Zhang You.

The president, vice president, examiner, invigilator and other officials' public halls are also here, and there are also roll call halls, garrison halls, surveillance halls, as well as places such as printing and lettering, transcription, receiving rolls, and sealing, and there are cards written on the forehead of the door, but it is also clear at a glance, and there is no need to find someone to inquire.

Both of them were dressed in the clothes of Fengyu, and they turned from Mifeng and other places to the president's office, and there was a busy scene everywhere along the way. From time to time, someone asked about the identities of the two, and the sentence "Follow the edict of Gonggong Cao of the Qianqing Palace to come and check" and sent it away, without causing any trouble.

Of course, the two of them are also smart, and they don't enter when they see acquaintances, otherwise, I'm afraid it won't go so smoothly.

"Ahead is where Yu Ge's old office is, right? Anyway, I didn't see anything wrong, and I got the roll, so let's go back and save trouble. ”

Zhang You persuaded, it's not that he suddenly changed his mind, he didn't want Zhu Yijun to be recognized, but Zhu Yijun was really smart, he could only come with fate, and he couldn't have the slightest intention, otherwise he would definitely see through his thoughts.

This is good, there is a suitable move to prevent him from entering the court, and he will definitely not be able to suspect that Zhang You has another purpose.

"Don't go back first, go and see Yu Youding, it's okay to be recognized by him, and he doesn't dare to talk nonsense." Zhu Yijun hesitated slightly, strode towards the president's room, Zhang You smiled secretly, and hurriedly stepped to follow.

The room was quiet, only two soldiers stood guard at the door, and when they heard that they had come by order, they hurriedly got out of the way.

The people inside had already greeted the movement when they heard the movement, not only Yu Youding, but also several officials in green robes and scarlet robes, both sides looked at each other and were stunned at the same time.