Changfeng pays tribute, which means that he is about to be promoted to Jinshi. Because the palace test of the Ming Dynasty does not eliminate the tributes. Even if he is the penultimate in the palace examination, he is also from the top three and the same jinshi.

In the days of waiting for the palace examination, it is needless to say that Changfeng studied hard night and night.

On the day of the palace test, a group of tributes gathered outside the Fengtian Gate according to the ranking of the apricot list. Chang Feng naturally came last.

Subsequently, the ceremonial priest of the Ministry of Rites led 249 tributes to the Fengtian Temple. According to the odd and double of the ranking, the tributes are listed on the east and west sides of the Danqi, facing the north.

The civil and military officials of the imperial court were dressed in court clothes and stood in the middle of the two rows of tributes.

The celebrant seal Liu Jin named on behalf of the Son of Heaven. After determining the people, the three salute officials of Honglu Temple invited the emperor to sit in the hall.

Emperor Zhengde entered the Fengtian Hall in a crown robe. The twelve Han generals of the former Guangting shook the "silent whip".

The Silent Whip was not exclusive to the Qing Dynasty. may have too many Qing court dramas in later generations, which led to misunderstanding in the world.

In fact, as early as the time of Tang Taizong, there was already a quiet whip ceremony. The Song, Yuan, and Ming dynasties followed it.

The quiet whip, as the name suggests, "sound to make a sound, to show silence".

It's like the leaders of later generations are going to talk nonsense in a meeting. A sycophant picked up the microphone and reminded everyone: "Please be quiet, everyone applauds and welcomes important instructions from a certain leader." ”

Hundreds of civil and military officials and tributes paid three bows and nine bows to Emperor Zhengde.

The palace examination is only a test of strategy. The question was written by the emperor himself. The questions of the general examination may be leaked, but the temple examination will not.

Emperor Zhengde decreed: "Issue policy questions." ”

A group of eunuchs placed 249 exam questions on the table.

Among the 249 exam questions, one was drawn up by Emperor Zhengde in the Qianqing Palace two minutes ago. The remaining 248 copies were all copied by eunuchs.

The examination questions written by the emperor himself will be stamped with the seal of the emperor's treasure of Fengtian.

The Ming Emperor had seventeen jade seals, such as the Emperor's Treasure of Fengtian, the Emperor's Treasure, the Emperor's Letter's Treasure, and the Emperor's Treasure.

Among them, the emperor's treasure of Fengtian is the most noble. Because this seal is the seal of the Tang Dynasty, it was passed on to the Song Dynasty, Jing Kang was robbed by Jin, and it was seized when Mongolia destroyed Jin. Yuan Shi was listed as one of the jade seals of the Yuan Emperor.

At the beginning of Hongwu, Xu Dafa reached a tacit understanding with Emperor Yuan Shun. Emperor Yuan Shun can take all his courtiers and treasures "Northern Hunting". The Ming army did not intervene. It belongs to the Ming Dynasty version of the peaceful liberation of Beiping.

But Xu Da only asked Emperor Yuan Shun to leave the emperor's treasure of Fengtian and not to take it away. Because it represents the orthodoxy of the Chinese dynasty.

The Ming Emperor would only use this treasure when he issued an edict at an important state ceremony.

The palace examination is also one of the important ceremonies of the Ming Dynasty, known as the "National Talent Ceremony".

To get back to the point, the examination questions written by the emperor himself are sealed with the seal of the emperor's Fengtian treasure. The remaining 248 transcripts were none.

If you think about it, you will know that the test question written by the emperor himself is an important souvenir. Generally, this exam question will be given the first place on the apricot list.

But it's weird. Today's emperor's handwriting was not placed on the first place on the apricot list, but was given to Chang Feng, who sat on the far right of the last row.

The celebrant Wei Bin personally put the emperor's handwriting in Chang Feng's hand, and he lowered his voice and said, "Master Chang, take the test well." The emperor is looking forward to you. ”

Chang Feng didn't answer, just nodded slightly.

Liu Jin, the master of ceremonies, sang loudly: "Zhengde's three-year palace exam, the exam is open!" ”

Candidates and deacons began to get busy.

The regulations set by the Hongwu Dynasty. The main examination of the palace examination is the emperor, and the examination is the reading officer and the deacon officer.

Deacons are divided into the officer in charge of the papers, the officer who promotes the examiner, the examiner, the officer who receives the papers, the officer who inspects the papers, the officer who seals the papers, the officials who seal the papers, and the officers who supply the papers. Everyone has their own job.

Chang Feng opened the pen cartridge he brought.

During the examination, candidates will bring pens, ink cartridges, and food boxes.

For the palace test, you only need to bring your own pen and ink cartridges, and there are 12 pieces of straw paper and 12 pieces of paper in the box.

There is no need to carry a food box. When I went to the emperor's house to take the exam, the emperor always had to take care of the meal.

The strategy has to be answered for a whole day.

At noon, the sealing official said loudly: "Seal the scroll, Your Majesty will give you a luncheon." After luncheon, we continued to answer the questionnaire. ”

Chang Feng and a group of tributes and examiners came to the front of the court. Qianguangting had already set up a luncheon prepared by the stupid cook of Guanglu Temple.

The luncheon of the tributes was quite sumptuous.

There is a table for every five tributes. Each table has five plates of fruits, five plates of tea, one plate of dim sum, two soups, one urn of rice, four colors of vegetables, and five minutes of wine.

That's right, Gongshi is halfway through the exam, and you can drink at noon.

But no one dies and moves the bell. If you drink too much and a single ink dot is scattered and stains the roll, you will have to be at the bottom of the top three.

No one touches the seasonal fruits. In case you eat a bad stomach, you will run away in the next day and pull a trouser pocket. That's a shame.

As for the food from the examiners, it was much worse. Two steamed buns per person, a bowl of soup.

A quarter of an hour later, the crowd hastily ate it.

Liu Jin came to the front of the court: "After the luncheon, enter the hall, and start the exam!" ”

Chang Feng followed the tributes into the palace. Continue answering.

It wasn't until late afternoon that the officer shouted, "The hour is over." Roll up! ”

A group of tributes left the case one after another, bowing three times and bowing to the empty dragon chair.

Generally speaking, emperors who respected literati in previous dynasties, such as Emperor Hongzhi, would sit in the Fengtian Hall from early morning to evening during the palace examination.

Emperor Zhengde is a feather duster - he can't sit still. After sitting for half an hour, he moved to the leopard room to study martial arts with a group of righteous sons.

After receiving the roll, the tributes were not in a hurry to leave.

Liu Jin said in a loud voice: "There is an edict, give a dinner!" ”

The candidates also have a meal in the evening.

This meal was countless times more sumptuous than the one at noon. The person in charge of the dinner was changed from Korokuji Temple to the Ministry of Rites.

The reception specifications for 249 people were: one deer, two pigs, three sheep, twelve geese, 70 catties of pork, 30 buckets of Jiangnan tribute rice, 3 pieces of Jinhua ham, 100 eggs, 50 stacks of tofu, 20 bottles of oil and vinegar, 6 catties of sauce, 10 catties of salt, 50 catties of fine powder, 1 catty of pepper, 1 catty of pepper, 5 catties of sesame mushrooms, 6 catties of sesame oil, and 90 bottles of wine.

As soon as the dinner began, Liu Jin called Chang Feng outside the hall.

Everyone in the court was afraid of the emperor and did not dare to lose his honor in front of him. Chang Feng was different, when he followed Liu Jin out, he was still holding a rice cookie in his hand and nibbling on it.

Outside the hall, Liu Jin asked with a smile: "How did you do in the exam?" ”

Chang Feng said: "That's it." It should be ranked at the bottom of the top three. ”

Liu Jin sighed: "Alas. The top three can be! It's also the end of half of your life's wish. ”

Chang Feng said: "I should actually thank you." You only need to give a command to the people below, I am afraid that my exam paper will be ignited by candles like Yang Shen's when I take the exam. ”

Liu Jin waved his hand: "I have never had the heart to harm you." I'm begging you, don't be my enemy again, how about it? ”

"We're still the same as before, isn't it good to be like a family? The authority of the court, as long as you want, nod, I will share half of you! ”

"I can take care of three factories and one guard for you. Even if you want to lead the troops, I will divide half of the army of the world's guards. ”

Chang Feng smiled bitterly: "It's not that I want to be your enemy. You're the enemy of the world! ”

Liu Jin's face changed: "So, you still don't want to reconcile with me?" ”

Chang Feng's words were ambiguous: "If you are a virtuous eunuch, I am willing to be your right-hand man." If you are a traitor, I can only be your enemy. ”

Liu Jin sneered: "What is virtuous, what is rape." Who can tell? ”

"Like the old minister of Huai'en, if you ask the emperor to bow to the civil officials, is that virtuous?"

"I think that like Wang Zhi, suppressing civil officials for Xianzong and subordinating the power of the subjects to the imperial power is virtuous!"

Chang Feng-for-tat: "At least the old minister Huaien did not embezzle bribes, did not commit lawlessness, did not frame him, and did not kill people!" ”

"Listen to me. You have the ambition of Wang Zhi, but you do not have the talent of Wang Zhi. If you continue like this, you won't be able to be Wang Zhi, you will become Wang Zhen! ”

Liu Jin shook his head: "Don't speculate for more than half a sentence. Well, you go back. ”

After the dinner, Chang Feng and the tributes went back to their respective homes, needless to say.

Under the leadership of Wang Wei, the reader began to get busy. After an all-night and an upset, at noon the next day, the officials rated the first, second and third grades, and ranked the first, second and third grades.

The nominal temple exam is the Son of Heaven's questions, and the Son of Heaven marks the papers. In fact, how can the Son of Heaven have the time to read two or three hundred exam papers.

The ranking is determined by the examiner. But the emperor will randomly check the exam papers and make some fine-tuning in the ranking. But there is no distinction between the first and third papers. In other words, the champion, the leader, and the tanhua are still the emperor's dictatorship.

Chang Feng's ranking was listed as the fifth from the bottom of the top three by Wang Wei and others.

There's no way to try it, or just take the palace test. It is a showdown between the top problem-solvers of the Ming Dynasty. Chang Feng made up for the bottom of the apricot list before that, which was not only due to luck, but also to play extraordinarily.

Inside the Mandarin Palace. Emperor Zhengde began to look at the rankings.

He first set the first champion and the first champion of the first class and the first place as Lu Zheng. The second place in the first class is Jing Yang. The third place in the first class is Dai Dabin.

Looking down at the list of the top two, he found that there were no names of the two people he focused on in the second class. One is the usual wind, and the other is burnt yellow.

A moment later, in the last column of the top three list, he saw Chang Feng fifth from the bottom, and Jiao Huang from the bottom first.

Because the rolls in the burnt yellow are really unreadable. The handwriting is sloppy, and it doesn't make sense.

Wang Wei was a little skeptical: how was this person tried to pay tribute?

The examiners, the cabinet, and the six ministries and nine secretaries are all waiting for the emperor's final ranking decision.

Emperor Zhengde spoke: "Chang Feng's ranking is too low. I think his article is really good. It is really inappropriate to be listed at the bottom of the top three. According to me, let's be promoted to the tenth of the second class! ”

The tenth in the second grade, to put it bluntly, is the thirteenth place in the national unified examination.

Since the beginning of the Chenghua Dynasty, there has been an unwritten rule. If you want to enter the cabinet, you must have been a gentleman. And if you want to be a Jishi, you generally have to get the top ten of the second class in the palace examination.

Of course, there are also cases, such as looking like Jin Dong, with the aura of an old cadre, and his treasure is solemn. Even if he is not in the top 10 of the second class, Tern can be selected as a Gujis.

There was no objection from the ministers. Only Jiao Fang stood up: "Your Majesty, it seems inappropriate." The examiner ranked him as one hundred and thirty-two in the third grade, but you promoted him to the tenth in the second grade. The ranking is too bad. If it is spread out, I am afraid that some people will gossip and talk about the emperor's nepotism. ”

Emperor Zhengde looked at Jiao Fang with a smile: "If you don't appoint others, can't you only neglect others?" That's right, I just want to promote my uncle, who dares to gossip? ”

"I not only want to lift Chang Feng to the second grade, but also to lift your eldest son Jiao Huangzhong to the first rank of the second grade!"

Emperor Zhengde is indeed a bit faint in this regard. He regarded the fame of the court and the name of the country as a reward for his courtiers.

Jiao Fang is a villain, flattering, not only obedient to Liu Jinyan, but also obedient to Emperor Zhengde. Emperor Zhengde was very satisfied with his cabinet assistant. I have long wanted to give him a heavy reward.

When Jiao Fang heard this, how could she have any objections? He couldn't help himself with excitement, so he knelt down and kowtowed directly: "Thank the emperor for Longen!" ”

What level of his own son, Jiao Fang knows better than anyone else. Being able to win the first place in the second class of the palace test is simply that the ancestral tomb was blown up by lightning.

Jiao Huang's high school entrance examination shows talents and examinees, all of which are Jiao Fang's dots. When the test was marked, there was the help of Liu Jin's eunuchs.

He was still thinking that he couldn't move his hands and feet in the palace test, and with my son's talent, I was afraid that he could only get the first place in the top three.

Who would have thought that Emperor Zhengde appointed him as the first in the second class.

The ranking of the imperial examination is equivalent to the academic qualifications of later generations.

In later generations, officialdom promotion depends on academic qualifications. The Ming Dynasty was even more so. The ranking of the imperial examination determines your promotion ceiling.

The first of the second class has no ceiling. You can even sit in the position of the first assistant, under one person, above ten thousand.

Emperor Zhengde said: "Then it's decided." Jiao Huang mentioned the first in the second grade, the tenth in the second grade of Changfeng, and the rest of the people were postponed. ”

Chang Feng spent the whole day at home, waiting for the newspaper to come and deliver the good news.

He even had a feeling that Liu Xiaoyan had a difficult birth when she was a slave.

Liu Xiaoyan and Mrs. Nine accompanied him to wait for the newspaper, and they were also anxiously waiting.

Suddenly, a gong sounded.

Chang Feng hurriedly rushed to the gate, followed by Liu Xiaoyan and Mrs. Jiu.

The newspaper shouted: "But Shuntianfu often slaughters people, and often winds and often masters' homes?" ”

Chang Feng is too famous in the capital. As soon as the newspaper was smooth, he actually called out his nickname.

Chang Feng smiled: "I am." ”

The newspaper shouted: "Congratulations to Master Chang, congratulations to Master Chang." The tenth place in the second class of the three-year hall examination of high school Zhengde! ”

Chang Feng didn't seem to believe his ears: "You say, how many are there?" ”

The newspaper replied: "The tenth in the second class!" ”

Chang Feng was stunned.

Liu Xiaoyan and Mrs. Nine on the side began to roll up their sleeves.

Chang Ponu and Huang Yuan are both on errands in Yamen. When Chang Po Nu left home this morning, he repeatedly told his mother and his little mother that if the newspaper came, they must smoke his father's two big mouths, so as to prevent him from being confused by phlegm.

Don't wait for the two of them to do it. Chang Feng suddenly "snapped" himself and slapped himself in two big pockets, and then shouted: "Brute, what did you hit?" ”

The fixed forcing ceremony of the title of the Chang family's gold list is over.

Chang Feng smiled: "Xiaoyan, Jiu'er, I won't let you do it." ”

Chang Fengshen predicted that Liu Xiaoyan and Mrs. Nine would not be able to be rectified.

The two had no choice but to put down their palms that were already in the air.

The newspaper did not leave after reporting the rankings, but started to ask for rewards.

Chang Feng was quite atmospheric: "Xiao Yan, go and grab a handful of golden melon seeds given to me by the emperor and reward them to the newspaper!" ”

Liu Xiaoyan said: "Gotcha! Newspaper, you wait a moment! ”

The newspaper was so moved that he couldn't close his mouth. Ordinary Jinshi will also reward a silver ingot or silver bill, and when they encounter a person with an average family background, they can even only reward a few pieces of broken silver.

The newspaper said secretly: The butcher's family is still rich! Direct bounty melon seeds! Not to mention, the Changdu Governor of Jinyiwei is a great good man in the capital!

(End of chapter)