Not surprisingly, Fan Jin's roll came down in a circle, except for Lu Tiaoyang, a first-class Yan Qing, and a fourth-class, the rest of the evaluations were second-class. Among the officials present to read the papers, Yan Qingqing is the kind of Geng Jie's minister, who does not sell Zhang Ju's face, and of course he will not sell face to Lu Tiaoyang, so he doesn't have to deal with anyone.

Geng Jie does not mean stupid, he is not attached to anyone, not Zhang Support, he is definitely against this kind of single-cell thinking, and his Hengwen has its own standards. Fan Jin's proposition is at odds with Yan Qing, and it is reasonable that the score is not high.

The original text is inconclusive, and it is most normal for individuals to have different standards and different scales, and to get different results for the same text. Fan Jin's policy actually made most of the ministers, Hanlin Cichen, and even Jiuqing reach a consensus on the standard of Hengwen, which is enough to be called a good story in the imperial examination of the Shangguo Dynasty.

At this time, Zhang Siwei's opinion is not important, one more and one less will not be able to change the fate of Fan Jin's volume. is destined not to be in the first-class volume, and it has nothing to do with the first class.

In fact, from a realistic point of view, whether Fan Jin's scroll is within the ten ink scrolls or not, it is not a good one. Although the president of the palace examination is the Son of Heaven, in fact, Wanli himself is still a student, and the 244 people in the middle school examination in terms of knowledge can basically crush him. Letting him be in charge of judging the papers is irresponsible to the candidates and will not play their due role. is based on the papers of the current candidates, Zhang Juzheng is responsible for judging the merits, and what the emperor does is nothing more than posthumous recognition and acting as a rubber stamp.

Fan Jin's second-class was written by Zhang Juzheng, so there is naturally no place in the first class. For the first-class candidates, Zhang Juzheng probably has a number, Xuancheng Shen Maoxue is a famous person in the southeast, full of economy, although the strategy is not as pragmatic as Fan Jin, but the article is gorgeous, talented, enough to be the champion. Even from the perspective of a father, Zhang Juzheng has to admit that his son is inferior to this person.

In addition to Shen Maoxue, Huguang Zeng Chaojie is Zhang Juzheng's big fellow villager, this time when Zhang Sixiu recruited a group of talented people to go north, this person had already left, and went on the road through the imperial court post station, and did not go with Zhang Sixiu. Even Zhang Juzheng knows his name, and it is enough to rank among the top ones. Shaanxi Song Xiyao, Lanxi Lu can teach, and Feng Mengzhen, a Xiushui monk famous for collecting Wang Xizhi's "Fast Snow and Clear Paste", .......

These are all famous scribes today, and their own talents are not bad, and their fame is even louder. Except for Song Xiyao, who is from Shaanxi, the rest are all Southeast celebrities, not comparable to Lingnan scholars like Fan Jin. With these people's papers as the best papers, no flaws can be found in terms of procedure or Shilin's discussions, which is enough to convince the public.

According to the rules of the palace examination, the examiner should select the ten papers with the highest score as the excellent papers and present them to the king, and read them on the spot, and the emperor will judge the merits and determine the ranking. At present, although the first-class list has already been decided, the procedure always has to be followed. According to the regulations, the paper should be read in front of the throne of the Wenhua Hall the day after the palace examination, but Zhang Juzheng wanted to read the paper in advance that night, and the emperor had no choice.

Zhang Juzheng is energetic, and he has tonic medicines such as ginseng soup and deer blood in the palace, so it is not important to stay awake for two or three nights. Wanli didn't sleep last night, and he had been strong during the day, but by night, he was actually a little tired. But when he thought of the pre-arranged game, it was finally time to close the net, and his spirits were also lifted. My heart was pounding, and I took a few breaths before I suppressed my excitement and tried to keep my tone calm:

"Mr. Zhang, you guys have worked so hard. In fact, you can determine the merits of the paper tomorrow, and you don't need to rush it now. ”

"Your Majesty, first select the first rank, and the ministers will stay up all night tonight, and the list of the second and third ranks will be determined, and the rankings will be announced as soon as possible. Although it is a great ceremony, the government must not be wasted. All the ministries and halls have important things to do, and the palace examination will be completed early, so you should return to the government office as soon as possible. ”

The emperor nodded, resisted the urge to yawn, took a deep breath and said, "Mr. Zhang is loyal to the country, and he is really the pillar of the country. Someone came, spread my will, and gave a night banquet in the East Pavilion to comfort the ministers. Mr. Guo Dynasty Pillar Stone, remember to take care of your body, do not overwork, so as not to overwork the body and make me feel uneasy. Come, sit. ”

"Thank you."

Like the ascension to the dynasty, Zhang Juzheng has an exclusive seat under the throne, and every day when he goes to the court, he sits and talks about politics. At this time, he was also sitting in his seat and reading the book for the Son of Heaven.

The evaluation of the ten test papers is about the same, and procedurally speaking, it is impossible to talk about who is high and who is low, and anyone has the potential to become the champion. But Zhang Juzheng read whose scroll first, which naturally means that he already thinks that this person is the top undergraduate in his heart.

Wanli actually didn't understand the words of the strategy, his knowledge was not enough to distinguish the quality of each volume, the more brilliant the rhetoric, the more elegant the diction, the more pressure he sounded. It was because when this Xuancheng Shen Maoxue test paper was read, Wanli didn't hear how good it was, or how good it was, but he took Jiajing as his goal, and he had the ability to grasp people's hearts. Looking at Zhang Jusheng's expression, you can know that he is interested in this article as the champion.

After reading the three or four ink scrolls, Wanli knew that the drama was coming, and suddenly asked: "Mr. Zhang, I don't know what my senior brother has done, but in these ten articles?" ”

"Your Majesty, the article of the little dog has not yet been read. It was wrongly loved by the ministries and chose it as an excellent volume, but its writing was clumsy and not enough to be on a par with all the talents, so it was put to the end. ”

"Mr. Zhang is too polite. Mr. Dacai Guochao does not think about being a second person, and the senior brother is a professor of Mr. Yes, his talent is naturally not bad. Come, I want to hear my brother's article. ”

"Obey." Zhang Juzheng looked at Zhang Maoxiu, who took out Zhang Sixiu's manuscript and read it aloud in front of the hall. Among the three auxiliary ministers, Lu Tiaoyang has the heaviest accent, although he has been in Beijing for many years, and his official dialect is good, but he also has the accent of his hometown, and he usually speaks less because of this factor. Although Zhang Siwei is a native of Shanxi, he speaks official and can't hear the taste of his hometown.

Zhang Sixiu's writing, compared with the previous ones, is not much different from Wanli, and he can't understand all of them. But the name Zhang Sixiu is far more important than the content of his article. After Wanli heard this, he nodded and said: "This article must be selected, according to me, it is better to be the champion." ”

"Your Majesty, no."

In Zhang Sixiu's ranking, Zhang Juzheng and Empress Dowager Li have already discussed, the position of champion will be given up, leaving a chance for people all over the world to read, as long as you study well, you will always have your own future to take. If you work hard, you can win the champion, and it is better not to burst this bubble. The whole palace test is actually a big drama, Zhang Juzheng is the screenwriter and the chief director, and everyone else is just actors. Unexpectedly, Wanli, who was an important supporting role, temporarily added a play, which made Zhang Juzheng a little surprised.

He can feel this grace like a sea saint, and he is happy that his relationship with His Majesty is still close, but the champion position is ...... It's still a bit excessive.

This time, he wanted to send a signal out and let the people below understand that some things were a foregone conclusion and irreversible. But Zaisuke is also a scholar, and he still has his own insistence on the Hengwen standard, and he does what he should do, and he does not want the rules while breaking the old rules, but hopes to create a new rule that is stricter and more stable. If you ignore the level of writing and determine the ownership of champions according to relationships, this is also a rule break, and it is not good for the operation of the whole country and the national situation you want to create.

Furthermore, this subject is almost the last subject before the Son of Heaven's pro-government, and the next subject is the first subject after the Son of Heaven's pro-government. These two imperial examinees have special identities, and the emperor will have a deeper impression of them, and in the future, they may be taken care of more, and they are more likely to become the henchmen of the Son of Heaven. is based on these two subjects, and Zhang Ju is ready to be the arm of the little emperor in the future. In terms of personnel rankings and positions, he has his own plans, and he neither wants nor wants the position of champion.

"Your Majesty, the talent of the child is not enough to compare with the talents, if it is the champion, I am afraid that the students in the world will be uneasy."

"Mr. works hard for state affairs, and works hard for food and clothing, why can't his children get a champion? What are the people below willing to think, Mr. don't care, I am in charge of Mr.! ”

When the young son of heaven said the word "master", he unconsciously raised the door. Perhaps being able to make decisions for his mentor and let himself experience the feeling of protecting his mentor is also a rare and rewarding thing for the little emperor.

Feng Bao hurriedly said: "Master Zhang, the etiquette cannot be abolished, long live Chrysostom Yuyan, there is no easier reason." However, Your Majesty, Master Zhang's words are not unreasonable. No matter how much the master works for the country, it is also his own credit, we can't pay Xiangguo's credit in the exam, that is unfair to other students, and it may not be a good thing for the second son. According to the slave's opinion, let the second son be an example, not only can reward the master for his loyalty and courage, but the students below will not make too much trouble, I don't know what Your Majesty thinks? ”

"Is it just an example? In the talent of the senior brother, there may be something indebted. ”

Zhang Juzheng didn't wait for Wanli to continue, and hurriedly said: "Thank you!" Long live my emperor, long live, long live! ”

Shoufu took the lead in praising the saints, and the remaining readers hurriedly followed the mountain to shout long live, praising the grace of the saint like the sea and the blessing of all the people. The rest of the volume was read in the aftermath of the mountain shouting long live and celebrating the prosperity of the Ming Dynasty. The wisdom of the talents expounding their views on the unity of the government of the world echoed and dissipated in this majestic hall with the voice of long live.

When the last volume was read out, Wanli did not express his position, and several readers waited for a while, but the silence remained. Zhang Juzheng raised his head and looked at Wanli to signal his students to do something, but saw that the emperor seemed to be in some kind of deep thought or confusion, ignoring his gaze, Feng Bao whispered: "Long live, it's time to set a class." ”

"Slow. Sir, which of these papers is Hui Yuan Fanjin? ”

As mentioned above, it is useless to seal important volumes, and there will be special channels to clearly know that a certain volume was written by someone, which is a clear rule in the field, even the emperor knows this. Zhang Juzheng coughed and said, "Your Majesty, Fan Jin and Fan Huisi's scroll are not among the very good scrolls. The ministers jointly assessed that Fan Jin's paper should be second-class, not within the top ten. ”

"Oh, is that so? Then I want to hear how bad this Fan Jin's volume is. ”

"Your Majesty...... Fan Jin's paper has been jointly reviewed by all the paper readers, and it should not be included in the first class according to the regulations. If Banzai wants to listen, wait until the end of the imperial examination, and it is not too late for the minister to read and listen to Banzai during the lecture. ”

Wanli smiled, "What Mr. taught is very true. It's just that an ink scroll doesn't take much time, and it doesn't hurt to read it. After listening to this paper, I went to bed, and it doesn't hurt for you Aiqing to judge the paper again, what does Mr. think? In fact, Fan Jin also knew this letter after that, and I wrote down the text of the scroll and memorized it to my mother, which was also a sense of filial piety. ”

Feng Bao also said: "Master Zhang, the heavenly family has a heart of filial piety, and the courtiers should not stop it, so let's read it." ”

Zhang Juzheng nodded and said, "Since this is the case, the minister obeys the order." Turning around and signaling, Zhang Siwei turned around to look for the scroll, not thinking that Lu Tiaoyang had already pulled out Fan Jin's scroll from the more than 200 volumes next to him, and recited it aloud in his official dialect with a local accent. In the main hall, I recalled the old man's voice, although not high-pitched, but extremely calm and powerful: There is a political foundation in the world, and the sincerity of the people is important, and then the government is subordinate to its origin. The man of the world is also the instrument of the master......

Zhang Juzheng lowered his head, his face was unhappy and angry, and he secretly thought to himself: Yu Weng is a sincere gentleman, and he has no skills; Feng Pan is loyal and available, and he obeys his words. Among the six departments, although Yan Qing is not for his own use, it is difficult to speak alone, not to mention that the criminal department is not an indispensable department in his future plans. As for Fan Jin...... When you see the gift I give, you should know who his ranking comes from. In the eyes of the hundred officials, he is hand-picked by the Son of Heaven, and he will naturally no longer be embarrassed by Feng Pan on the road to speech, and it is also a reward for his loyalty and reliability. The Son of Heaven finally became the master himself, and pushed Fan Jin to this position with the authority of the Son of Heaven, which can be regarded as compensation for the repression of the Son of Heaven some time ago. Seeing that the emperor is getting older and is about to become pro-government, it is time to learn to take some ideas by himself and get over the addiction of being the master of his own house.

Now it seems that all aspects of the arrangement are not leaky, and everyone is happy. I am very satisfied with the results of this palace examination!