Outside the vertical arch hall.

The officials present today are not much less than the Great Imperial Conference, all the officials in Lin'an, regardless of their rank, as long as they are qualified to enter the palace, basically came, and even a group of idle nobles who rarely show up on weekdays also appeared.

Two days ago, four groups under the age of 13 decided on candidates, and today is the last group of candidates between the ages of 14 and 16.

Most people believe that the four most promising people are all in this group, and to some extent, whoever wins, Bacheng can be determined as the prince.

As for King Zhong himself, he is the prince, but the fuse of this matter is the questioning of him by hundreds of officials, so it is equivalent to him defending the title.

In the main hall, it is arranged like an examination room, because the official throne is in the north, so the examiner's seat and the candidate's seat are opposite to each other.

The chief examiner in the east is naturally Uncle Xie Fang, and then he is left and right Dong Huai and Cheng Yuanfeng as deputy examiners, and Ma Guangzu, Yang Dong, and Ye Mengding are the examiners, and Wu Yan, Ding Daquan, and Hong Tianxi are the invigilators.

Opposite them, there was a row of five desks, and four teenagers stood behind, their expressions could not hide their nervousness and excitement, after all, few men could refuse the temptation of the throne.

Zhao Menghao, fourteen years old, slightly chubby, looks a little inconspicuous, is easily overlooked in people's field of vision, and he is also considered the most unpromising.

Zhao Mengxi, fourteen years old, is tall and taller than his peers, handsome in appearance, and smart in his eyes, but there is a faint trace of worry between his eyebrows and eyes.

Zhao Heyun, sixteen years old, is a beautiful son in Yushu, with sharp eyes and modest manners, but he feels a little frivolous.

Zhao Mengguan, eh, that is, Wei Guansun, through Yan Guifei working the pillow, got the nod of Zhao Guan's family, passed to a clan at a magical speed, successfully changed his surname to Zhao, and reached the semifinals......

He is dressed in royal blue today, wearing a Dongpo scarf, polite and steady, no matter who he can show a suitable smile.

As for Zhao Mengqi, the loyal king, it was late at the last moment, his gait was relaxed, like a leisurely walk, wearing a crane fur, and a wooden hairpin was inserted in a bun on his head.

This look, like idle clouds and wild cranes, floats out of the dust.

It's just that on today's occasion, are you serious about coming to such a body?

The crane is also called the 'Taoist fairy clothes', which is similar to a cloak, but it has wide sleeves and a belt that is usually not used, so it is worn open.

People with temperament wear it on their bodies, and they are naturally fairy-style and free-spirited.

However, Zhao Mengqi is thin and thin, and he is not tall, although this crane is quite fit, but when he wears it, he can't hold it up very much, and he feels a little weird no matter how he looks at it.

What's more, competing for storage positions is the most utilitarian, you make a detached appearance from the red dust, is it to fight or not?

When Zhao Guanjia saw Zhao Mengqi like this, he couldn't help but hold his forehead with his hand.

"Official, but you have a head wind?" Dong Songchen looked concerned.

Zhao Guanjia was speechless and waved his hand.

Among the hundreds of officials, there are those who are stunned, surprised, disdainful, and snickering......

At all kinds of eyes, Zhao Mengqi was unconscious, and Shi Shiran walked towards the remaining empty case.

When passing by 'Zhao Mengguan', he deliberately stopped, "Cousin Wei, no, I forgot that you changed your surname, well, Cousin Wei Zhao don't come?" ”

The corners of Zhao Mengguan's mouth twitched, thinking that he couldn't lose his temper at this time, he could only try to show a relaxed appearance, and his voice trembled slightly, "With King Lao Zhong's memory, everything is fine below." ”

Zhao Mengqi's hand gave a big surprise to the hundred officials, and some people remembered the original identity of 'Zhao Mengguan', and also remembered the grievances of the cousins in the Rongwang Mansion, and they had all kinds of thoughts for a while.

On the examiner's seat, Ye Mengding frowned slightly, because he was also a foreign surname, so he laughed at Zhao Mengqi for this, and he was slightly displeased in his heart.

Yang Dong noticed it and persuaded softly, "Don't worry about the town, Your Highness didn't mean to." ”

"I know." Ye Mengding bowed slightly, "I'm just a little unaccustomed, I heard that His Highness has changed a lot before, but now that I saw it, it was still unexpected." ”

Yang Dong was even more relieved, "The change is a bit big, but it's always a good thing, and the lack of life still needs to be guided by you and me." ”

"That's what Yuan Ji said, but I hope His Highness can get through this level smoothly." Ye Mengding took a deep breath and prepared to support the students later.

Zhao Mengqi walked to a few cases and stood up like the other four.

After Dong Songchen next to the throne was ready, he rang the bronze bill, "From this time on, without the permission of the official family, the bystanders are not allowed to speak out, and they must not interfere with the trial election, otherwise they will be expelled from the palace, and the five clan disciples will be seated, and the trial will begin!" ”

The hall was quieter, and the five candidates were sitting behind the desk, which was empty.

Uncle Xie Fang spoke loudly, "The king, ordered by the sky, the prince, is also the king, if it is chosen by the ministers, it is more than that, there is history as a mirror, where someone is a minister to establish a king, it is the beginning of the troubled times, the omen of the country, such retrograde, my ministers of the Great Song Dynasty must not do it, today we are gathered here, not to choose, but to try." ”

The meaning of this passage is that we know that the following election is wrong and resolutely opposed, and today we are not choosing, but testing!

"What is a test? For the Ming monarch, there should be four essentials, reasonableness, tolerance, benevolence, self-denial, today the title of the test, in order to fully display the character, knowledge, self-cultivation, wisdom of the five clan disciples, and finally by our emperor holy judgment. ”

The implication is that it is the mule that pulls the horse out and slips.

We just pick up the candidates cleanly, let them show themselves without concealment, what the length and depth can be seen by everyone at a glance, then you can see whether it is suitable to be the emperor, and finally emphasized that people are not chosen by us, and in the end it is the official family who decides.

Of course, after the test, the ministers all know in their hearts which one is suitable and which is not, and if the official family makes a wrong choice, the courtiers are of course obliged to persuade the official family to return to the right path.

You see, this is Wenchen, not only to do things, but also to speak beautifully.

Zhao Mengqi, who was sitting there pretending to have a serious face, after pondering Prime Minister Xie's words, shouted in his heart that he had learned!

After Uncle Xie finished speaking, he bowed to Zhao Guan's family, and then sat back in his position.

Next is Ma Guangzu on behalf of the questioner to speak, "who is suitable for the king, non-human ministers can also discuss, today's test questions, only from the way of the gentleman, the six arts of the gentleman, classified questions, after the candidates answer the questions, by the three or more ministers to vote, according to the number of votes to determine the ranking, and finally the six arts are all completed, the rankings are added, and the small number is better." ”

He said it is relatively brief, although the method is also flawed, but it is also effective, in fact, the previous four groups have been successfully implemented, but the test method is different, and the ranking method is still the same.

Although it is only more than three votes, they are all registered votes, and under the attention of the public and the emperor, even if there is partiality, it can't be done too much, plus the total number of voters has more than 60 people, and under the pull of each other, a certain degree of fairness can be obtained.

Moreover, the support of the minister is also a condition that the prince needs to have.