After Zhang Yuan sent off the surname Zheng Yang and returned to the courtyard, Shang Zhouzuo walked down the steps of the West Chamber and asked, "Jie Zi, what is the matter with this surname Zheng Yang?" "Fang Cai Shang Zhou Zuo has been hiding in the study, unwilling to meet Zheng Yang's surname.

Zhang Yuan said: "Then Zheng Qianhu wanted to give me the courtyard of Dashi Yongfang, but I have declined." ”

Shang Zhouzuo shook his head and said: "King Fu has already taken up the domain, and the Zheng family still does not give up - if you live in the house that Zheng Yang gave you, then the entire Donglin will regard you as an enemy, and the prince has been decided, and the parties of Zhejiang, Chu, Qi, and Xuan do not dare to openly support King Fu." ”

Zhang Yuan smiled and said: "Don't worry, big brother, how can I not know how to be greedy for that cheapness." ”

Shang Zhouzuo also laughed, knowing that his worries were superfluous, his sister-in-law's quick-witted mind and steady action were rarely matched, but he still reminded him: "Yao Zongwen has the closest relationship with the Zheng family, you have to pay attention." ”

……

The second time of the ceremony is the Qionglin banquet set up by the Ministry of Rites for the new science and technology Jinshi, the Qionglin banquet is also called the Enrong banquet, which began in the Qujiang banquet of the Tang Dynasty, the Song Dynasty is called the Wenxi banquet, the Qionglin banquet was held in Zhongshu Province during the Hongwu period, and later the Zhongshu Province was withdrawn, the Qionglin banquet was changed to be held in the Ministry of Rites, and all the examiners of the examination and the palace examination had to participate, this year because of two major cases of fraud in the imperial examination, Zhou Yingqiu and another official of the Ministry of Rites have been imprisoned, and the officials of Zhejiang and Xuanzhu are still attacking Wu Daonan, the president of the examination, Wu Daonan accidentally took Shen Tonghe as the yuan, This is indeed a stain, so today said that the Qionglin banquet Wu Daonan did not come, the first auxiliary Fang Congzhe presided over the banquet, the palace attendants sent out the palace flowers and small silk cards, more than 300 new science and technology scholars and more than 100 examiners are hairpins Dai Enrong card, the champion of the grace card is more special, it is made of silver - the Qionglin banquet of the Ministry of Rites is very lively, the hairpins wear the red robe of the new science and technology scholars are full of red light, worship the room master, worship the examiner, entertain and socialize, laughter, Fang Congzhe specially invited Zhang Lianfang, Zhang Dai, Zhang Yuan's uncle and nephew to talk together, Zhang Lianfang is a famous scholar in Zhejiang, Fang Congzhe has seen Zhang Lianfang several times, and Fang Congzhe and Zhang Rulin also have a little friendship, then smiled and said to Zhang Lianfang: "Brother Baosheng, your two nephews are above you in the palace test rankings, what do you have to say?" ”

Zhang Daidian ranked 156th in the top 3 in the test, Zhang Lianfang was the 239th in the top 3, Zhang Yuan needless to say, the champion - Zhang Lianfang said: "Doesn't the old man in the pavilion hear that the ranking of the palace test is also like accumulating salary, and the latecomers are on top." ”

Fang Congzhe smiled and praised: "Shanyin Zhang's family, one branch and three jinshi, four generations and two champions, the glory of the family, unprecedented." With a smile, he looked at Zhang Yuan, and said slowly: "Champion Lang, Wanyan Tingce is hard." ”

Zhang Yuan bowed down and said, "The elder of the pavilion has worked hard to read the papers. ”

Hearing this, Fang Congzhe couldn't help laughing and said, "It's really hard, my old eyes are dizzy." Question: "Is there enough basis for Zhuang Yuanlang's 'glacial theory'?" ”

Zhang Yuan said: "Elder Yuge, there is a basis for the theory of the 300-year round of glacial river, and the astronomical chronicles and the five elements chronicles of the 23rd history have records about climate change and disasters, that is, the climate change in the past 30 years is enough to illustrate the problem. ”

Fang Congzhe said: "You are reading historical books and dabbling in Western studies, and the glacier theory you put forward is really a blockbuster." There seemed to be a mockery in the words.

Zhang Yuan said respectfully: "How dare the students grandstand, they are really worried about the national disaster, and the proposal of the glacier is to let the government and the opposition, the monarchs and ministers have a long-term vigilance against this natural disaster, and take early rescue and prevention, instead of holding a fluke and treating the big problem as a minor disease of sores and ringworm." ”

Fang Congzhe pondered for a moment and asked: "The famine will last for thirty years, this is really appalling, I am afraid it will cause the people to be uneasy, Ming said that the internal officials and supervisors will engrave the new branch into the Shiting countermeasures, the old man has a suggestion, delete the glacier when engraving, what does Zhuang Yuanlang think?" ”

Zhang Yuan frowned slightly, if he obeyed the authority of the elder of the pavilion and agreed to delete and change, he would naturally make Fang Congzhe happy, and his career would be beneficial in the future, but Wanyan Tingce was the first step in his plan to save the country, Xiaohe was about to be pinched off before he showed his sharp corners, this will never work, he must withstand the pressure, and said: "Wanyan Tingce is made by the students with painstaking efforts, and Binghe said that it is not a whim, and the students do not want to delete it." ”

The other officials who were listening to Fang Congzhe and Zhang Yuan's words, as well as Zhang Lianfang and other Jinshi, all had slightly changed their faces, and Zhuang Yuanlang was full of youthful spirit, which was simply the face of the old man of the Fang Pavilion.

Fang Congzhe was not stunned, and said with a smile: "The youngest champion of this dynasty is upright, but the old man has lost his words." ”

Zhang Yuan said: "Fang Ge is very elegant, and he is really a model for students. ”

Fang Congzhe didn't say anything more, and went back to the table to drink.

Zhang Lianfang complained to Zhang Yuan in a low voice: "Jie Zi, why do you refuse Elder Fang Ge's suggestion in public, why don't you delete and change it." ”

Zhang Yuanxin said: "Uncle Baosheng, you still play with your calligraphy and painting antiques." He said: "Binghe said that it was the central point of the little nephew's palace to try countermeasures, and once it was deleted, it would become a useless word." ”

Zhang Lianfang shook his head, it was hard to say anything.

Zhang Yuan went to meet Zhang Heming, the master of the house, Xu Guangqi was also here, Zhang Heming was in a happy mood in the military department, and the champion of the current department came from his "Spring and Autumn" room, which was the glory of the house official, and said: "Zhang Yuan, if it weren't for Xu Zanshan's insistence this time, you are afraid that you will not be able to participate in the palace examination." ”

Xu Guangqi hurriedly said: "Lord Zhang has made the greatest contribution, if it is not recommended by the housing official, what can I do as a reading officer, as well as Liu Shangshu and Wu Ge Lao, they are all the champions of today's department." When he spoke, he looked at Zhang Yuan, and he was very relieved in his heart, it was not easy for him to persevere, and it was even more difficult for Zhang Yuan, Zhang Yuan made those shameless and despicable remarks disappear with the first place in the first class......

After the banquet in Qionglin, Zhang Yuan led the new branch to Honglu Temple to learn etiquette, there was a set of etiquette in the officialdom, and the Honglu Temple Qing personally taught, practiced for an afternoon, and went out of the imperial city in the evening to return to their residences.

March 20th, Honglu Temple gave the champion Zhang Yuan crown with a court dress and ten taels of silver five ingots, other Jinshi only silver no court clothes, the champion always enjoys extraordinary grace, in addition, the imperial court also ordered Shaoxing Mansion to build a champion workshop for Zhang Yuan to show glory.

March 21 said, Zhang Yuan wrote on behalf of Bingchen Branch 348 Jinshi on the expression of gratitude, this said to hold a court ceremony, Honglu Temple set up a table in the east of the Huangji Gate, Jinyi Wei set up a halo book in front of the palace, the emperor was originally going to be present, but the Wanli Emperor can attend the ceremony has been very rare, how can he be expected to ascend to the palace - the Huangji Hall in the music, and the Shao music plays the meaning of leveling, the eunuch of the celebrant is whipped at the bottom of the steps, this whip is very distinctive, can not be performed without long-term training, the whip is made of crocodile skin, there is more than one zhang long, the eunuch insisted on the whip handle flying up and down whirling, "pop" sound, the sound is long and rhyme, such as Luan Feng chirping, resounding through the sky, very different - after the whip sounded three times, Honglu Temple officials led Zhang Yuan and Zhu Jinshi to the temple to line up, now according to the palace test ranking line, Zhang Yuan, Wen Zhenmeng, Qian Shi rose to the top three, the first place in the second class is He Fengsheng, the other members of the Han Society in the palace examination rankings are, Hong Chengchou second class 12th, Huang Zunsu second class 59th, Ruan Dacheng third class fifth, Ni Wulu third class nineteenth, Zhang Dai is the 156th in the top three, Xu Guanji is the 210th in the top three, Sun Jike is the last in the top three, and the first and last in Bingchen Kejinshi are all from the Han Society, which is really a strange thing - Zhang Yuan led all the Jinshi to the emperor's dragon chair throne and then stood up and flattened, praised the thanksgiving table, and Honglu Temple Qing held the table in the hall, praised the table, and finished the ceremony.

The next day, Zhang Yuan and then led the new branch of the Jinshi to Yanjing Guozijian to pay homage to the Confucius Temple, the release of the food ceremony, red tape, very grand, the ceremony, easy to crown clothes, this is called the release of brown, from now on is no longer the body of the commoner, is the official body, out of the horse, into the high sitting, the hall on the call, the step down Bainuo - the Tang Dynasty Jinshi to carve the stone inscription in the Big Wild Goose Pagoda, the Ming Dynasty Jinshi also to carve the stone monument, the public to recommend a good regular script of the new branch of the scholar to write the inscription, the Jinshi recommended the champion Zhang Yuan to write, Zhang Yuan knew that the calligraphy is not good, recommended Wen Zhenmeng, Wen Zhenmeng wrote in regular script and large characters:

"Fengtian carries the emperor's system: On March 15, the 44th year of Wanli, Bingchenke said that there were 348 people including Zhang Yuan, a tribute scholar in the world, and the first and second class were given to the Jinshi and the third class were given to the same Jinshi background, and the third class was given to the same Jinshi background, and it is hereby announced-"

Then write the names of the Jinshi, and after the inscription is engraved, it is stored in the Guozijian.

At this point, a series of ceremonies after the palace examination ended, the election of officials began, the previous look at the first two of the three seems to be little different, are all Jinshi, as soon as the election of the official award of this difference is shown, according to the "Ming Huidian", the champion awarded the Hanlin Academy to revis, from the six products, the list of eyes and Tanhua to the Hanlin Academy compilation, is the seventh grade, the second class Jinshi is awarded to the matter, the imperial history, the principal, the pedestrian these are the seven grades of Beijing officials, the third class of the Jinshi put foreign posts for the county, the official and the like from the seven officials, from the seven products to the sixth grade, often to ten years of officialdom experience, Zhang Yuan was directly taught by Bingchen to be revised from the Liupin Hanlin Academy, and this officialdom greatly surpassed his peers at the beginning - of course, before the official selection and conferment, there was also a Shuji examination of the Hanlin Academy, and the second and third Jinshi could participate, competing for twenty-four opportunities to enter the Hanlin Academy, and the first and third people directly entered the Hanlin Academy, except for the conferring officer, commonly known as the "heavenly immortals", and the selection from the second and third class scriptures to enter the Hanlin Academy as the Shuji Shi, called "halfway practice", because the Shuji had no quality, and the official should be conferred after three years of study in the Hanlin Academy. Since the second year of Yingzong Tianshun, non-Hanlin did not enter the cabinet, that is to say, only when he entered the Hanlin Academy could he become a cabinet assistant, so except for those old Jinshi who were over fifty years old, the rest of the Jinshi participated in the Hanlin Academy Hall election on March 24 - March 27, the results of the hall election were announced, Ni Yuanlu and Zhang Dai were on the list of 24 people, and four of the ten people in the Hanlin Society entered the Hanlin Academy, and the status of the first social league of the Ming Dynasty was established. The Songjiang framer who had already taken a boat to Jining was captured, sent back to Beijing in the starry night, and after the triage of the three divisions, the evidence of Zhou Yingqiu's perversion of the law and the framing of Zhang Yuan by Dong's father and son was conclusive, Dong Zuchang and three Dong family servants were convicted of murder, Dong Zuchang was the mastermind and beheaded; The three servants of the Dong family are thus meritorious, hanging; Wang Shoutai participated in the planning, with a hundred rods and three thousand miles; Zhou Yingqiu, hanging; Shen Tong and the army were Fushun, and Zhao Mingyang was scolded and dismissed from lifting people and showing off their talents, and they were not allowed to participate in the imperial examination for the rest of their lives; Dong Qichang was treated in the prison of the Criminal Department because of his old age and illness, and he was not sentenced -- the Ming Dynasty did not have a heavy punishment for the case of fraud in the imperial examination, and if Zhou Yingqiu had not been the main murderer and set fire to the Gongyuan this time, he would have been dismissed from his post at most if he had cut off the examination papers, and he would never have died, but once a person made a mistake, he could not stop, and he fell deeper and deeper, and finally perished.

……

On the morning of March 28, Zhang Yuan and other ten Han Society Jinshi went to the canal wharf outside Chaoyang Gate to send those Han Society sons back to their hometowns, and the good Zhou Menong shouted: "Desolate, my generation has returned in despair, and it is really unfair that you ten of you have stayed in the capital in the spring breeze. ”

Wen Zhenmeng said with a smile: "You don't just look at Jie Zi and Zongzi Lian Jie, and look at me Wen Zhenmeng, I will try to fall eight times, but this time I will re-test the Chinese style in the Ministry of Rites, and I will have a year in the past twenty years." ”

Zhou Menong shook his head again and again and said: "Wen Bangyan is a young man, and I can afford it, if I am thirty-three years old this year, and I have fallen eight times, then this life is a waste." ”

Zhang Dai said with a smile: "Don't let Zhang Lao Jinshi, who broke his leg, hear this, Zhang Lao Jinshi is sixty-five years old this year, and he should be strong and strong, and when he listens to your deplorable words, he will spit on you in person." ”

Zhang Yuan said: "I don't know if the old gentleman's leg can be good, if it can't be good, only Zhishi will return to his hometown, and he will spend a lifetime in the house, but it is for Zhishi to return to his hometown, and his life will be full of ups and downs, and there will be no more than this." ”

Wang Binglin pulled Zhang Yuan aside and asked, "Jie Zi, do you have any letters for me to bring back?" ”

Zhang Yuan understood what Senior Brother Wang meant, a little ashamed, Mr. Wang's family treated him too well, Mr. Wang, Senior Brother Wang, Senior Sister Wang had no complaints about his mistaken marriage with Infant Sister, Infant Sister was two months younger than him, and she was nineteen years old this year, the gentry was beautiful, and there were very few unmarried people at the age of nineteen. Zhang Yuan took out the Wanyan Tingce that took three hours to rerecord yesterday and handed it to Wang Binglin: "Senior Brother Wang, bring this to Senior Sister Yingzi, but unfortunately Senior Sister Yingzi is not a man." The figure of the girl who cried bitterly in Fuzhu was as clear as yesterday - Wang Binglin sighed, he didn't know who to blame for Zhang Yuan and her little sister Yingzi, Zhang Yuan may not be decisive enough, but there is also a deep relationship between the little sister and the baby, the word love is the most difficult to understand, not black and white, so concise as saying one thing, and the father Wang Siren's attitude towards Zhang Yuan and the little sister Yingzi is also a little ambiguous - "Aunt Zhang, the villain couple is about to leave for home." ”

Last year, the boatman couple who followed Zhang Yuan thousands of miles to Beijing came to kowtow to Zhang Yuan, the shipwright couple stayed in Beijing for more than three months, and this time they were going back to their hometown, just taking Wang Binglin, Zhou Menong and others back, Shang Zhouzuo and Zhang Yuan bought a lot of gifts from Beijing and brought them back with the ship to give to Zhang Yuan - the boatman and his wife are the family members of the Huiji Shang family, and the boatman smiled at Zhang Yuan: "Miss Ran may have given birth at this time, giving birth to a white fat young master, and knowing that my aunt won the champion, it is really a double happiness." ”

(To be continued)