Forbidden City, Ministry of Rites.

Since learning the news that the imperial court was going to build the 'Meritorious Pavilion', Li Chunfang became more and more eager to go further.

After reading a large number of classics and previous years' test questions, Li Chunfang finally came up with the questions of this Enke exam.

"A gentleman enters virtue and cultivates his profession, is faithful, so he enters virtue, and his rhetoric establishes his sincerity, so he lives in the industry, and the heavens and the earth are born, and there is no way to benefit them, and the metaphysical one is called the way ......"

At this moment, Li Chunfang looked at the exam questions that were written on the recital, and the whole person couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, and the fatigue accumulated over the past few days was also swept away at this moment.

"Well, now you should be able to sit back and relax, now that the exam questions have been released, without further ado, I have to go and meet Your Majesty in person!"

After making up his mind, he saw Li Chunfang call the guards, and after a few words of advice, he embarked on the road to the Qianqing Palace.

Although it is not the first time that Li Chunfang has taken the test questions of the imperial examination, he is still a little apprehensive in his heart.

After all, the whole thing is related to his future career, and whether he can go further in the future depends on this time!

With such a mood, Li Chunfang soon came to the Qianqing Palace.

Taking advantage of the gap between guiding the eunuch to go in to report, Li Chunfang roughly recalled all the test questions in his mind, and after making sure that there was no mistake, he put his mind at ease and waited with peace of mind.

After a while, I saw the guide eunuch walking quietly and came to Li Chunfang's face, leaned down, and said respectfully: "Lord Shangshu, you can go in, Your Majesty is waiting for you inside!" ”

When Li Chunfang heard this, he suddenly came back to his senses, and the guide led the eunuch to arch his hand to express his gratitude: "Well, I'm tired of my father-in-law!" ”

When the guide eunuch heard Li Chunfang's words, his face was full of humility, he lowered his head and returned the salute to Li Chunfang: "Where, Lord Shangshu is polite, this is our family's responsibility!" ”

After that, Li Chunfang did not hesitate at all, and stepped on the stairs of the Qianqing Palace with a steady pace.

……

After entering the Qianqing Palace, I saw Li Chunfang kneeling on the ground with a 'plop', looking at Jiajing who was sitting on the dragon chair at the moment, and said respectfully: "Weichen knocks to see Your Majesty, long live my emperor, long live, long live!" ”

Hearing this, Jiajing glanced over Li Chunfang's body, waved his hand, and commanded: "Well, get up!" ”

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

After getting Jiajing's answer, I saw Li Chunfang slowly getting up from the ground.

As soon as Li Chunfang got up from the ground, he heard Jiajing's voice ringing in his ears: "Aiqing came here this time, is it for the exam questions?" ”

"Your Majesty is really like a god, I can't hide it, Wechen has already come up with the questions of this Enke exam!"

After Li Chunfang finished speaking, he carefully took out the recital with the exam questions written on it from his sleeve and held it high above his head.

Seeing this situation, Lu Fang, who was waiting beside Jiajing, immediately stepped forward, took the song from Li Chunfang's hand, and respectfully handed it over to Jiajing.

"Your Majesty!"

"Hmm."

After Jiajing responded, he took the note from Lu Fang's hand, and then browsed the content on it with great concentration.

"A gentleman enters virtue and cultivates his profession, is faithful, so he enters virtue, and his rhetoric establishes his sincerity, so he lives in the industry, and the heavens and the earth are born, and there is no way to benefit them, and the metaphysical one is called the way ......"

"In addition to this, there are also strategies on how to prevent the Tatars from rising again, and to remove the border troubles once and for all, well, yes, yes!"

After browsing all the topics in the recital, I saw Jiajing put it aside and looked at Li Chunfang's eyes, full of approval.

When Li Chunfang heard this, his face was full of humility, he immediately lowered his head, and said respectfully: "Your Majesty's words are serious, all of this should be attributed to Your Majesty's wise leadership, besides, Your Majesty is talented and wise, and this bit of intelligence of Weichen is not worth mentioning compared with Your Majesty!" ”

"Wechen has great respect for Your Majesty, and in Wechen's heart, there is only one sun, Your Majesty......"

When Jiajing heard Li Chunfang's words, he couldn't help but have black lines on his face, and immediately waved his hand, and then said, "Okay, let's stop here!" ”

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

After that, I saw Jiajing withdraw his gaze from Li Chunfang's body, gently rubbed the dragon head carved on the dragon chair with his hand, and after a moment of silence, he asked: "I don't know how Aiqing thinks of this Enke exam?" ”

As soon as Jiajing's words fell, Li Chunfang reacted violently - this is the emperor taking the school himself!

After thinking about this, Li Chunfang immediately raised her spirit and racked her brains to think about the meaning of Jiajing's words.

"Your Majesty asked me what I think of this Enke exam, and the origin of this Enke exam is because Your Majesty is happy with the dragon ......"

"No, since it's His Majesty's question, it definitely won't be so simple!"

Soon, Li Chunfang denied all her previous thoughts and fell into deep thought.

Time passed slowly, and Jiajing was not in a hurry, just supported his chin with one hand and waited quietly for Li Chunfang's answer.

After a long time, I saw Li Chunfang come back to her senses, and her face was full of determination.

Then, I saw him raise his head, look in the direction where Jiajing was, and said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, in Weichen's opinion, although this time the exam, although it is nominally called the Enke exam, is actually the same as the usual imperial examination!" ”

After Jiajing received this answer from Li Chunfang's mouth, a look of relief appeared on his face, and he nodded, motioning for Li Chunfang to continue.

Seeing this situation, Li Chunfang already had confidence in his heart, and then, after carefully considering his sentence, he continued: "Your Majesty, please forgive Weichen for his courage, in last year's palace examination, some candidates openly opposed the imperial court's policy of integrated grain payment for officials and gentry!" ”

"In addition, as far as Wei Chen knows, affected by this incident, this batch of candidates has not been reused, and they have all been sent to a corner of the place, and their careers are completely hopeless......"

When Li Chunfang said this, as if he had suddenly thought of something, he stopped talking and hurriedly explained: "Your Majesty...... Your Majesty, Wechen is not complaining about these people, Wechen also thinks that the court's handling is very appropriate! ”

"After all, openly opposing the policies of the imperial court at the palace examination......"

Jiajing took in the expression on Li Chunfang's face, waved his hand, and stopped Li Chunfang from continuing.

"Alright, no more talk, of course I know you don't mean that!"

After that, I saw Jiajing's words change sharply, and he continued to add: "As Aiqing said before, although this exam is nominally called the Enke Examination, it is actually the same as the imperial examination in previous years!" ”

"Therefore, everything has to be strictly followed by the process of the imperial examination, do you understand?"

When Li Chunfang heard Jiajing's words, she immediately looked awkward, leaned down, and said respectfully: "Obey, Your Majesty!" ”

Then, as if he suddenly remembered something, Jiajing followed up and added: "By the way, I suddenly remembered that this Enke exam, there are people from the clan to participate, I hope you can treat everyone equally, and don't have too much preferential treatment because of his identity, understand?" ”

"Yes, Your Majesty, Weichen understands!"

When Li Chunfang heard Jiajing's words, she immediately lowered her head and responded without thinking.

"By the way, Zhang Juzheng, the secretary of the Ministry of War, is responsible for serving as the same examiner for this Enke exam, what do you think, you might as well discuss it with him!"

"Thank you Your Majesty for reminding me, Weichen understands!"

Immediately, I saw Li Chunfang forcibly suppress the excitement in her heart, lowered her head, and responded respectfully.

"Alright, I still have things to deal with next, so let's do it first!"

"Obey, Your Majesty, Weichen will retire!"

When Li Chunfang heard this, after bowing to Jiajing, he left the Qianqing Palace.

After Li Chunfang walked out of the Qianqing Palace, he saw Jiajing turn around, look at Lu Fang who was waiting on the side, raise his eyebrows, and asked: "Lu Fang, in your opinion, how is this champion of mine?" ”

When Lu Fang heard Jiajing's words, after thinking about it for a long time, he responded: "Your Majesty, please forgive the slave and maid for being stupid, the slave and maid can't see it!" ”

Jiajing took in the expression on Lu Fang's face, and didn't mean to force it, just shook his head and said slowly: "Lu Fang, you, you!" ”

……

After walking out of the Qianqing Palace, I saw Li Chunfang's face full of joy.

In his opinion, doing a good job in the matter that the emperor explained to him may be an opportunity for him to go further.

Anyone with a discerning eye can see that the emperor intends to set an example for millions of clans and nobles in the Ming Dynasty.

And Zhu Shunxian, who passed the children's examination, the hospital examination, and the township examination, and successfully obtained the status of a lifter, is undoubtedly the most suitable candidate.

First of all, Zhu Shunxian is a side branch of the Huiwang Mansion, and no one can doubt the identity of the clan, and secondly, Zhu Shunxian's family is poor, and his parents also need to make a living by farming and raising silkworms, so that people can have a more sense of substitution.

The example of counterattacking all the way from the bottom has been welcomed by the vast majority of people since ancient times.

After all, this may be one of the few solaces in a numb, boring life.

"Well, it seems that my image in His Majesty's mind is still very reliable, otherwise, Your Majesty would not have entrusted this matter to me!"

Thinking of this, Li Chunfang unconsciously clenched her fists, her face full of excitement that she couldn't hide.

After all, leaving something like this to someone else to do is also the same effect, and there is no need for him, the chief examiner, to come out personally.

In Li Chunfang's view, the reason why the emperor left this matter to himself should be based on two considerations.

On the one hand, it is out of trust in himself, and on the other hand, he wants to take this opportunity to test himself and see how well he can do things.

Based on Li Chunfang's understanding of the emperor, the emperor preferred those officials who were capable and practical.

Because of this, Zhang Juzheng, who has always been known for his pragmatism, was able to be so reused, and at the age of thirty-six, he entered the cabinet.

At the age of thirty-six, it is when a person is in the prime of life, and many people's careers may have just begun, and Zhang Juzheng at this time has become one of the most powerful people in the Ming Empire.

Although Li Chunfang's Ministry of Rites was much higher in status than Zhang Juzheng's Ministry of War, Li Chunfang did not join the cabinet and could not directly participate in the formulation of national policies, so it was inevitable that Zhang Juzheng was shorter.

When facing Zhang Juzheng, he still had to stop respectfully and call Zhang Juzheng an elder.

And what made Li Chunfang feel the most resentful was that it was clear that he and Zhang Juzheng were both Jinshi in Jiajing for 26 years, and he, the champion, fell behind Zhang Juzheng, the ninth Jinshi in the second class.

"Don't think about it so much, the key is to do the things that Your Majesty has explained, there will always be a chance!"

After comforting himself like this, I saw Li Chunfang retract his gaze and march in the direction where the Ministry of Rites was located.

……

As night fell, Zhang Juzheng's mansion in the capital.

At the moment, inside the hall.

Looking at Li Chunfang, who was sipping tea in a cup not far away, Zhang Juzheng's face was full of doubts that could not be concealed.

After receiving the slave's report, Zhang Juzheng didn't care about anything else, and immediately rushed over from the study in a hurry.

Although he and Li Chunfang are both Jinshi in Jiajing for 26 years, they can call each other "Brother Nian", but on weekdays, Zhang Juzheng and Li Chunfang do not have much deep friendship, at most they can only be classified in the category of gentlemen's friendship is as light as water.

Therefore, in Zhang Juzheng's view, Li Chunfang's sudden visit in person must be something important.

Seeing Zhang Juzheng coming, Li Chunfang hurriedly got up from the seat, leaned down, arched his hand to Zhang Juzheng, and said respectfully: "I take the liberty to visit, and I hope that Zhang Ge Lao will not blame him!" ”

When Zhang Juzheng heard Li Chunfang's words, an expression of sincere fear suddenly appeared on his face.

After that, I saw Zhang Juzheng walking quickly in front of Li Chunfang, personally helping him up, and then said: "Brother Zishi doesn't have to be like this, we are all Jinshi in Jiajing for twenty-six years, and we can be called "Brother Nian" with each other!" ”

When Zhang Juzheng said this, he paused for a moment, and then added with a smile: "What's more, you, the champion Lang, came to visit in person, but it made the humble house shine!" ”

Then, I saw Zhang Juzheng withdraw his gaze from Li Chunfang's body, and commanded quite kindly: "Sit!" ”

When Li Chunfang heard this, she didn't excuse herself, and sat down straight in her seat.

Subsequently, I saw Zhang Juzheng sitting in the main seat, pulling Li Chunfang to talk about interesting things when he was studying in the past.

The distance between the two sides was also unconsciously shortened in the process of greeting and reminiscing.

Seeing that the time was ripe, Zhang Juzheng looked in the direction where Li Chunfang was and asked the reason for the visit: "Anyway, Brother Zishi suddenly came to visit, is there anything important?" ”

When Li Chunfang heard Zhang Juzheng's words, she had no intention of concealing it, and even told the reason for the incident.

"And it came to pass that it was not long ago that ......" (end of chapter)