March 15, the day of the temple examination.

Before dawn, more than 200 tributes who had been nominated for the apricot list by the examination gathered outside the noon gate, anxiously waiting to enter. Although since the reopening of the imperial examination in this dynasty, as long as the examination can be nominated for the apricot list, the palace examination will not be dethroned, but the ranking of the top three jinshi is almost a lifelong decision. Therefore, at the moment, some of the people are muttering to themselves, some are leaning their backs and stomping their feet gently, and some are whispering with their fellow villagers, all hoping that Neizhong can finish things sooner and let them in.

I don't know how long it took, but suddenly there was a loud whip sound inside. The Gongshi, who were originally a little restless, suddenly quieted down, and after a while, the officials of Honglu Temple hurriedly came over to count the number of people, and then led them inside.

Along the Jinshui Bridge through the Fengtian Gate, it is the Fengtian Temple Danqi. At this moment, hundreds of civil and military officials stood left and right along the royal road, and everyone seemed to be motionless as if they were clay carvings and wood sculptures. Luo Xu, who was almost at the end of the tribute team, had no time to look around quietly because there was no one else behind him, but his father, Luo Mingyuan, the Duke of Weiguo, was the most senior in the military attache sequence, and he didn't see anyone when he arrived at the throne.

The deacon held up the imperial case with the inscription on it and came down the stairs on the left side of the Danqi, placed it in the center of the royal road, and then led the tribute priests to perform five bows and three prostrations. After a group of people got up and stood in the east and west, the deacon officially retreated to Danqidong. After the salute was completed, the emperor retreated first, followed by the civil and military officials, and the military academies on both sides set up test tables in the square, and the officials of the Ministry of Rites issued test questions, and the tributes made a salute, so that they could sit down one by one.

After this toss, Luo Xu already felt that his feet were stiff. Although it is a warm spring season and the weather is sunny and windless, it is also a tiring thing to sit in this open field from morning to evening. Glancing unhurriedly at the questions of this current affairs exam, he couldn't help but have a flash in his eyes, and immediately held his chin and pondered.

On the other side, after the emperor withdrew from the Fengtian Palace, he went up to the heavenly street from the left gate of Yuntai, and as soon as he entered the Qianqing Gate, the emperor waved his hand and retreated from the others who accompanied him, and walked briskly along the steps into the Qianqing Palace. Sitting down in the Dongnuan Pavilion, he flipped through a few books of music, and gradually thought about the current affairs this time.

"Since the way of the world in the past, don't focus on the political cultivation of internal governance and the meritorious deeds of external governance...... The cultivation of internal governance must precede the reward and punishment, and the merit of external promotion must be based on the selection of generals and training. And if the lord is meritorious, he will wait for the meritorious and then the knight, then there will be goodness in the world. If the punishment is to be punished, it will be punished after the guilty, and then there will be evil in the world...... One county uses soldiers, and it is not a good strategy to take it from a hundred counties. There are tens of millions of husbands, there must be a master, but the wisdom and foolishness are confused, and the same kind is taboo, how can they know their masters, and pull out the army? The people of one side have soldiers and farmers, but they are not indigenous, and farmers do not know martial arts, how can they be brave and drive the guards between them......"

The test questions were drafted by him himself, sprinkled with hundreds of words, but in fact, the central meaning is nothing more than four. How to reward and punish, how to train troops, how to choose generals, and how to defend the border. He asked Qu Yong to secretly take time to read all the exam papers, although most of them were swept away, but there were a few people who were quite eye-catching. Now I specially chose such a topic, just to see how many scholars have the mind to be prepared for danger in times of peace in the world that has been peaceful for a long time, and what new ideas can be thought of in addition to repeating the old tune.

Just as he was thinking about it, someone outside the world reported: "Your Majesty, the master of ceremonies, Gonggong Qu is here." ”

"Come in!"

Suddenly, Qu Yong, who was wearing a round-necked shirt, entered the house. After saluting, he reported bluntly: "Your Majesty, it has already set off early in the morning. ”

"Good." The emperor nodded slightly, then leaned back, and then said lightly, "The last time Luo Xu's scroll was approved by Du Weifang, the head of the Hanlin Academy, he is a square person, and what he hates the most is that the children of the eunuchs occupy a high position, so it is enough to put people outside the two hundred places, instead of deposing Luo Xu, it is enough to see that he has already recognized him." Only Luo Mingyuan found an opportunity to write to me, saying that his son was just like this in literary affairs, so that I would spare him from trying to make a fool of himself. It can be seen that the so-called knowing son Mo Ruo's father is actually not without exceptions. ”

"After all, Wei Guogong has been away for many years, and although the prince is the eldest son, in fact, for him, he is not much better than a stranger, so he is wrong." Qu Yong bent down respectfully, and then said, "This time, the scroll reader is led by Song Gelao, and it is much easier to pick out his volume when the emperor reads the scroll. If you really have any insight, it will not be in vain for the emperor's hard work. ”

"My painstaking ...... I just feel that the DPRK and China are becoming more and more qualified, and they are not as vigorous as they were at the beginning of the dynasty. You look at the civil and military affairs in the court, one by one, they are conservative, they use the ancestral system to oppress people at every turn, and the position of the old decay is still in love, and corruption is rampant, and the Jinshi has been grinding for decades, and the sharpness has been polished, and the righteous man and gentleman have become corrupt villains, but the meaning of tempering has become bad! The emperor sneered as he spoke, but quickly put away the topic that was easy to make people angry, looked at Qu Yong and asked, "You are not here right now just to report that incident, right?" ”

never hesitated, and said in a low voice, "Yesterday, King Huai went out of the city to hunt, and happened to meet the third lady of the Yangning Hou Mansion and her party, Luo Xu, the prince of Weiguo, and Yang Jinzhou, the commander of Tiancewei, happened to be there, and after a few words on both sides, they left separately. ”

"Going out of town to shoot? It's not autumn and winter right now, what kind of hunting at the beginning of spring! The emperor shook his head angrily, and then laughed again, "The second is indecisive, he is too smart!" Maybe it's good to have him like this, so that others don't have to hide that thought! Yang Jinzhou had mentioned that he was going to Tongzhou before, but Luo Xu was going to take the palace test today, and he still had time to walk around yesterday? ”

Qu Yong's heart moved, and he wanted to report another matter as well, but in the end, he still maintained a posture of bowing his head and hanging his hands. Sure enough, the emperor was obviously not interested in such details, and ordered a few other things, and waved him to step down.

Coming out of the Qianqing Gate, he squinted his eyes and looked at the sky, and as soon as he looked down, he saw the imperial eunuch Xia coming over with a few little eunuchs on the other side, so he slowly greeted him. Both sides are people who have been immersed in the palace for many years, and after a few pleasantries, Eunuch Xia said: "Gonggong Qu, our family heard that the dog in the name of our family was sentenced to beheading the marquis?" Such a bastard, even if he was slashed, he would be clean, wouldn't it be harmful to keep that life? ”

Qu Yong didn't know that because of such a incident, many officials in the palace all attacked the eunuchs of Xia, and they had the idea of replacing them. Only he has been a colleague for many years, and he knows that this guy is inconspicuous, so he immediately said: "It is said that he is a prisoner, and he is in Jinyiwei, and it is difficult for others to make a fuss." If it is decided, people will have to go to Dali Temple, and in the end it will be troublesome. After this stubble, it will be over if you report your death. ”

"It's still Gonggong Qu who is smart!" Eunuch Xia suddenly came to a realization, and when he saw that several children and grandchildren behind him knew the opportunity to retreat far away, he lowered his voice and said, "These days, messy things have happened one after another, and our family has never let go of this heart." Our family relies on the old man to say a word, this is also the eldest age, can not withstand these tosses, if there is a chance, Gonggong Qu will say a word for our family in front of the emperor, so that our family will be decent and graceful. ”

After staring at Eunuch Xia for a long time, Qu Yong's face showed a rare smile: "Grandpa Xia, don't worry, although some people do things hidden, they don't have heavenly eyes, and there are countless open eyes, not that no one can see them." Those who have no ghosts in their hearts, the emperor will never let them be wronged easily. People are patient, but you might as well be patient. ”

This secret mind was suddenly broken, and Eunuch Xia was suddenly a little embarrassed, but he had to explain two sentences: "Isn't our family really unable to let go of it?" Others don't know, you know, our family received the great favor of the Korean prince in the early years, although people didn't want to explore from this line, but our family also wants people to take a reassuring pill...... With your words, our family can be relieved. So I went back to An'an to do things...... Hey, if the good people in this world are not rewarded, then it is unreasonable......"

The afternoon sun was excellent, so in the morning, he took care of the housework in the Water Mirror Hall, and after taking a nap, Chen Lan asked two stout and powerful mothers-in-law to carry Zhu to the courtyard to bask in the sun. After all, he hadn't seen the sun for several days, Zhu squinted and sat on the rattan chair, and unconsciously pulled out his right hand from under the thick blanket, trembling in the warm sun, and his spirit was much better. Unintentionally don't turn her head, she saw Chen Lan personally peeling small walnuts one by one on the side, and the little Chen Ting was blinking his eyes full of greed, and the heads of the sisters and brothers almost touched each other, it was indescribable harmony, for a while, she couldn't help but look at it.

It wasn't until Chen Lan put the peeled broken walnuts in two silver bowls, picked up one and gave it to the green calyx who was waiting on the side, and gave the other to Chen Ting, that Zhu suddenly came back to his senses, took a few sips, and drank half a cup of rose dew, feeling that the original bitter taste had turned into crispy and sweet, and then he smiled. At this moment, there was a commotion at the entrance hall, followed by Lai's mother running in in a hurry, with a smile on her face.

"Old lady, the Korean Duchess and Mrs. Runingbo are here together!"

Although Zhu's mood has been much better these days than before, there is no good news from Zheng's mother, she doesn't say anything, but she is always worried about it in her heart. At this time, when she heard that her only daughter had finally come to the door, she finally showed a very happy face, and even Mrs. Runingbo, a guest who was not to be seen, couldn't care less, and hurriedly glanced at Chen Lan.

Because Mrs. Xu has filial piety, Mrs. Ma is working hard to recuperate, Chen Lan has to be busy. When she only withdrew from the east room, she vaguely heard the Korean duchess in the room say something with a smile, and her heart jumped suddenly.

"Mother, in a blink of an eye, the three girls are so old, it's time to start choosing someone. Especially with the appearance of the three girls, there must be a good match of one class. ”