An autumn rain hit, and the much-anticipated Jinshi imperial examination finally ended, followed by a long and heart-wrenching five days of waiting.

Except for the first day of the exam, when the scholars indulged themselves in drinking and merrymaking in celebration of the completion of the exam, most of the scholars stayed in the inn for the other four days because of the continuous autumn rain, waiting for the final moment to come.

However, there are also many candidates who fail the test knowing that they have no hope of entering the Jinshi, but they relax and enjoy the mountains and rivers near the capital, and after having a good time, they go home.

Early in the morning of the fifth day, thousands of candidates were crowded near the left gate of the imperial city, and the gold list will be posted here.

However, Zuo Yemen is the first place to publish the list, and the candidates with anxious surnames want to know the list of gold lists as soon as possible.

Outside the left door, there was a crowd of black people, everyone stretched their necks, looked on tiptoe, and I don't know who shouted, "It's coming!" ”

I saw a team of cavalry escorting two officials out of the city gate, they were holding the golden list in their hands, this is the list of Jinshi admitted this year, thousands of scholars suddenly boiled like boiling water, they dodged to both sides, and then closed up, surrounding the Zhang Bang Tai.

An official stepped up to the high platform and announced loudly: "Zhenye has completed the 29th year of the Jinshi Imperial Examination, and now the list is officially released, and a total of 60 people have passed the examination, and the list is as follows. ”

The gold list was unfolded, and two officials hung it firmly on the platform, escorted by four soldiers on the left and right.

At the moment when the gold list unfolded, thousands of scholars below surged forward together, and everyone's eyes were staring at the names on the list with great hunger.

The gold list is divided into two parts, the upper part is the top ten of the first class, and the palace test will be carried out, and the emperor will determine the champion, the list eye and the flower, and the next part is the second class fifty, whether it is the first class or the second class are all jinshi, but the second class has no chance of the palace test.

The list is the name of the county plus the name, this is to prevent the candidates from having the same name, as soon as the gold list is announced, the crowd boils again, and the anxious shouts are endless, because everyone can't see it, in fact, the people standing in the first row can't see it clearly.

Zhang Bangguan waved his hand, he was about to announce, and the following suddenly fell silent, and Zhang Bangguan started to read from the first list.

"Zhao Bolun of Chenliu County, Ma Yingchu of Zaoyang County, Huangfu Weiming of Weiyang County, Cui Xuan of Qinghe County, Pei Zhi of Xie Liang County, Zhang Zhiqin of Ye County, Wu Hansheng of Dantu County, Yao Shun of Wannian County, Shen Qiwu of Jiangning County, and Zhang Qin of Jianyang County."

He continued to recite the second class: "He Yun of Luoyang County, Li Sinan of Pingjiang County..... Lin Qianjun of Wannian County, Lin Qianyi of Wannian County...... Guan Xianju of Weiyang County, Luo Xingshan of Ruyang County, Song Yanshou of Hongxian County ......"

Every time he pronounced a name, there was a shout of surprise and sighs one after another, and when he read Song Yanshou in Hongxian County, a person on the left screamed, "I'm hit!" ”

A man who was nearly forty years old cried and jumped up, fell to the ground softly, fainted, and his friend next to him shook him desperately, "Brother Song! Brother Song! ”

He woke up slowly, and suddenly like crazy, shouting, jumping and jumping, and ran out, "I'm hit!" Lady, I passed the exam! ”

Someone else sighed and explained: "Brother Song has been taking the exam for 19 years, he just got married when he took the exam in the first year, and his daughters got married at the beginning of this year, so he finally passed the exam, it's not easy!" ”

In fact, not only this Brother Song, but everyone who passed the exam burst into tears and was very excited, only one person out of 800 people was admitted, and it was the greatest blessing in life to be able to title the gold list.

．．．．．． Huangfu Weiming no longer lived in the East Palace at this time, but lived in an inn in Qinghuafang, and lived with his two brothers-in-law, the Qi brothers, who also participated in the imperial examination, but after the first subject, they knew that they had no hope, the elder brother Qi Pei Confucius 72 sages forgot the ten sages, and the younger brother Qi Sheng even Yuntai 28 generals only wrote half of it, and the back of the 72 sages of Confucius did not write a word at all, it is not that he doesn't know any of them, but there is no time, he spent more than three hours on the meditation scriptures.

Qi Pei is relatively stable, although he knows that he has no hope, but he still accompanies Weiming in the inn these days, and his younger brother Qi Sheng looks for flowers and willows all day long, and he doesn't know where he got so much money, and sometimes he doesn't even return at night.

Wei Ming didn't go to see the list in the morning, but waited in the inn, the autumn rain continued, which made people feel a little more melancholy, and the two sat at the table and drank.

"Weiming, you don't have to worry about anything, you will definitely be able to pass the exam, I think you are just a matter of ranking, unlike me, there is not even a little hope, it is true, you can't even pass the Gongju Exam, and you still want to come to the Jinshi, it's really wishful thinking."

Qi Pei sighed, drank all the wine in the cup, he glanced at Wei Ming, saw that he was silent in thought, and said with a smile: "The prince values you so much, you should think more about your future future, and you will face it soon, Wei Ming, do you plan to stay in Beijing or go to the place." ”

Wei Ming knew that he had no problem after the exam, he played very well, even better than when he was a Gong Jushi, now he only cares about whether he can enter the top ten, if he can enter the top ten, the prince said, he will give him a surprise, so this surprise is the champion, the list or the flower?

He put down his wine glass and smiled slightly, "I think it should be the place, if I am lucky, I can do the county order of Weiyang County." ”

"Really?"

Qi Pei was pleasantly surprised, if Weiming could be the county magistrate of Weiyang County, would he be able to get rid of it?

Wei Ming seemed to understand Qi Pei's thoughts, he had no one in his hands, and of course the two brothers-in-law would be his right-hand men in the future, so he revealed a little, and he asked quietly: "Da Lang, what are you going to do when you go back?" ”

"What else can I do?"

Qi Pei smiled bitterly, "Of course, I can only go back to the county to teach, and I have to support my family!" ”

Wei Ming didn't want to say it now, but the words 'supporting his family' reminded him of something, and he frowned and asked, "What's going on with Erlang?" I see that he spends money like running water, where does he get so much money? ”

Qi Pei shook his head, "I don't know, we've been separated for a long time, and I don't know much about his situation, but he's just a small official, so he shouldn't have much money." ”

At this moment, there was a faint sound of gongs and drums outside, this was the official who reported the good news, Qi Pei immediately stood up and said nervously: "Weiming, here!" ”

Wei Ming waved his hand lightly, "Don't worry, stabilize your emotions." ”

Qi Pei sat down slowly, he glanced at Wei Ming with a little surprise, he felt that Wei Ming had changed a lot in the past few months, and he had become very urban, I don't know if this was something he had before, he didn't show it, or he only learned it in the East Palace in the past few months, in short, he felt that Wei Ming was a little strange.

Unexpectedly, the annunciation official arrived at the door, and he could still hold the wine glass without hurrying, this kind of calmness, I am afraid that he is the only one among the 50,000 scholars who can do it.

The sound of the gongs and drums grew louder and louder, and the annunciator was announcing his name aloud, but the shouts of the scholars were too loud to be heard, and then a dense number of footsteps sounded, and a large crowd of people came towards the door of his room.

"Only! Open the door! Someone outside shouted excitedly.

Qi Pei glanced at Wei Ming, Wei Ming nodded, signaling that he could go and open the door, Qi Pei took three steps and made two steps to open the door, only to see a large group of scholars standing outside, everyone was full of envy in their eyes, and in the middle was a good news officer in a soap coat.

The annunciation officer smiled and asked, "Which one is the emperor of Weiyang County?" ”

"I am!" Wei Ming walked up slowly, without a trace of expression on his face.

The annunciation officer glanced at him in surprise, and then announced loudly, "Weiyang County Huangfu Weiming, the third place in the first class in the examination, please enter the palace to participate in the palace examination!" ”

A fierce applause sounded outside, Qi Pei hurriedly took out a large handful of copper coins, stuffed them into the good news official and his entourage, and threw the money to the scholars.

Wei Ming finally had a smile on his face, yes, the third place in the first class, this is his true level of knowledge, although it is not the final ranking, but he is also very satisfied.

"Shall you leave now?"

"Please come with us now, the temple exam will be held tomorrow morning."

．．．．．． After nearly a month of quarantine, the chief examiner of the imperial examination, Guozi Priest Su Xun, finally returned to his house, he felt a little exhausted, and the imperial court gave him five days off, and he wanted to rest for a few days.

Tomorrow's palace examination has nothing to do with him, this is the custom, his duties have ended, and the ranking after the palace examination is determined by the emperor, according to the convention, he must be avoided, and he cannot affect the emperor's decision.

Su Xun is sixty years old this year, he is a thin old man, his appearance is not good, walking on the street, if you don't know him, no one would have thought that he is the highest official in charge of education in the Daning Dynasty, a scholar of Su University who is full of peach and plums.

Su Xun is upright and selfless, because he has too many protégés, and many of them are in high positions, so those who hate him dare not show it, and there are more people who respect him, even Emperor Huangfu Xuande also respects and trusts him very much, after all, such an upright and iron-faced official, that Huang Yanjing is needed.

In the past 20 years, Su Xun has presided over 12 Jinshi imperial examinations, and there has never been any accusation of injustice, nor has there been any case of fraud, which is what he is most proud of.

Su Xun's carriage slowly stopped in front of the mansion, and the eldest son Su Hanchang and the third son Su Hanlin greeted him together, followed by his wife Lu Shi and dozens of family members.

Su Xun was helped out of the carriage by the old housekeeper who went to pick him up, and Su Hanchang and Su Hanlin knelt down together to greet their father, "Father has worked hard." ”

"I'm used to it, it's nothing!"

Su Xun smiled and waved his hand, and nodded to his wife Lu Shi with a smile, "It should be your mother who works hard, I don't care about anything, in fact, I went on vacation." ”

The old man's humor made everyone laugh, everyone hurriedly helped him into the house, and walked to the door, Su Xun suddenly turned around and looked around, he felt a little wrong just now, and now he reacted.

"What about nine days? Why didn't she come to meet me. ”

Su Han is his most beloved granddaughter, if it was before, she should have been there to support him, why don't you see her today?

(To be continued)