Although the palace test is sealed, it is not transcribed, that is, there is no distinction between the red scroll and the ink scroll, and calligraphy is very important.

The palace examination of the Ming Dynasty only tests one policy, and there is only one article, and the number of words is not as small as the four books and the five classics, and the number of words in the article needs to reach 1,000 words or even 2,000 words.

The scoring rule is a bunch of palace examination examiners, according to the quality of an article, divided into five grades, the first class is represented by "○", whoever gets more ○, who has a higher ranking.

At the end, there are ten excellent papers, which will be presented to the emperor.

The top three in the first class and the top seven in the second class are hand-picked by the emperor.

Zhang Zhou knew that if he could pass the selection of the palace examination examiner and become the last ten papers to be submitted to the emperor for reading, and the emperor knew his words, then the probability of selecting him as the first three people, or even the champion, would be very high.

It is expected that he has won the Jiangnan Township Test Xie Yuan and the Hui Yuan, and it is not an exaggeration to give him a champion to achieve a good reputation.

Doing so many things for the emperor and the Ming Dynasty, isn't it too much to give a champion?

What Zhu Youzhu said earlier was actually a bit of a hint to him, as long as I can find your scroll, I will definitely promote you to Dingjia and send you to the Hanlin Academy.

This is actually very important.

In history, because the examination of the twelfth year of Hongzhi involved the question case, so that after the end of the palace examination of this subject, no Shu Jishi was selected, and only the three people in the first class entered the Hanlin Academy as usual, as if Zhu Youzhu and the ministers of the court were also prepared in this way.

Probably that's why the emperor said that.

……

……

The meeting in the inner court ends.

Zhang Zhou went to the East Palace under the guidance of Xiao Jing, this time Zhu Youzhi remembered that he had a son, because the father and son were about to complete a performance about the "divine right of the monarch", and there were some details that Zhang Zhou probably needed to explain.

Zhu Youzhi went to tell his son that the two of us were going to cheat, which would affect his father's tall and mighty image in his son's heart.

“…… Mr. Zhang, when you talk to the prince later, remember to be tactful, the prince is young and has a straightforward personality, if you say it too bluntly, I am afraid that he will not accept it. ”

Xiao Jing was still reminding on the road.

Zhang Zhoudao: "That means that you don't tell the prince the truth?" ”

"You can do it."

Xiao Jing is also very helpless, this Zhang Banxian shows such a good side in front of the emperor, is he deliberately pretending to be confused at this time?

Didn't Your Majesty just want the crown prince to be kept in the dark?

When he was about to arrive at the Wenhua Palace, Xiao Jingcai remembered something and said, "Today, there is a day, Mr. Zhang may have to wait for a while." ”

"It's fine. I'm not in a hurry to get out of the palace. ”

Zhang Zhou followed Xiao Jing to the small hall first, and waited for more than half an hour, and when he was bored, Gao Feng came over to inform him, saying that the speaker had gone to lunch and could go to see the prince.

……

……

Inside the Mandarin Palace.

Zhu Houzhao yawned again and again, and he didn't mention much interest when he saw Zhang Zhou.

"Coming?" Zhu Houzhao didn't treat Zhang Zhou as a rare guest, he looked like he was very familiar with each other, and he didn't need to see the posture outside.

Zhang Zhoudao: "The minister has something to explain to the prince, and he will leave after speaking." ”

Zhu Houzhao nodded and pointed to the small bench on the side: "Sit!" ”

Don't give a chair to sit on, give a small bench......

Zhang Zhou was about to sit down, thinking of something wrong, just pressed it with his hand, and the small bench was directly torn apart, while he himself was fine.

"You!"

Zhu Houzhao is obviously a bear child who wants to play tricks on Zhang Zhou, but Zhang Zhou sees through it.

Zhang Zhou said coldly: "Prince, this is not fun. ”

"Phew!" Zhu Houzhao took a sip, "You can really pinch and calculate, you can dodge it......"

Xiao Jing hurriedly came over and reminded: "Oh, prince, what are you going to do?" Why don't you hurry up and move a chair for Mr. Zhang? ”

After listening to Xiao Jing's words, Liu Jin went to bring a chair to Zhang Zhou, and reached out to help Zhang Zhou, for fear that the hospitality would not be good.

"You all stand down, Mr. Zhang has something to say to the prince, and outsiders are not allowed to listen." Xiao Jing was afraid that the details of praying for rain would be known to outsiders, so he hurriedly drove the people from the East Palace away.

In this way, Zhang Zhoucai made it clear that Zhu Youzhi was going to take Zhu Houzhao to pray for rain.

……

……

"Out of the palace? Okay, okay, what day? Four more days? Why am I going these three days? ”

As soon as Zhu Houzhao heard that he was going to leave the palace, he didn't care what he was going to do, as long as he could go out of the palace to play, it seemed that he had to be free.

Zhang Zhou felt it.

This is the return of the tiger to the mountain.

"The minister is only responsible for informing you of what will happen in four days, what does the prince want to do in the past three days." Zhang Zhou said coldly.

Xiao Jing usually didn't see Zhang Zhou and the prince face to face, and when he heard this, he couldn't help but look at Zhang Zhou with a wry smile, as if to say, you still dare to speak.

Probably only when Zhang Zhou and Zhu Houzhao speak with this attitude can Zhu Houzhao be calmed.

Others...... I didn't dare to say that.

Zhu Houzhao said: "Pray for rain, what do you mean?" Isn't it the same as a dancing god? In my previous set of gourd doll clothes, I remember that there was a water baby, and I brought it with me when the time came. ”

Zhang Zhou glanced at Xiao Jing next to him.

Xiao Jing was still thinking, what do you think I'm doing? I don't know what a water baby means.

What Zhang Zhou actually wants to express is, fortunately you are here, otherwise I would not have ...... Why don't you go out first and wait, give me a cup of tea, and see how I smoke this kid!

Let you pray for the rain, it is for you to show the prince's demeanor, but as a result, you get a set of fancy clothes, and it is estimated that your father can make people beat you to the point of blooming.

"Prince, the matter of praying for rain involves the fortune of the country, and the people are still waiting for Your Majesty and the Prince to move the heavens and rain to alleviate the drought around the capital, if you have any irregular actions, it will be Your Majesty's face ......"

"Cut!"

Zhu Houzhao looked disdainful, why is he embarrassed?

The master is so big, nothing else has been lost, and it's embarrassing to play if it's okay!

Zhang Zhou added: "Your Majesty can't hold your face, and the prince will be miserable in the next month or two!" ”

"You...... You threaten Hongu? Zhu Houzhao widened.

Zhang Zhou said unhurriedly: "There is no threat, but the prince may be hit by the board, no less than twenty times, and his hand will be hit by the ring ruler, no less than ten times." will be grounded, no less than ten days, may not see His Majesty, the queen and the princess for a period of time in the future, and even the permanent attendants of the East Palace will be taken away some ......"

When Xiao Jing heard this, he hurriedly wanted to pull Zhang Zhou's clothes.

You Zhang is too bold to threaten the prince like this, aren't you afraid that he will suddenly ascend the throne one day and seek revenge from you?

Zhu Houzhao exhaled angrily: "Do you still want to say that if my father didn't plan to punish me like this, you would also suggest that my father punish me like this?" ”

Zhang Zhoudao: "The minister doesn't want to say that, but if the prince has to say this, then it should be so." If the prince really lost his honor when praying for rain, this would be considered light. This is exactly what I told the prince before, to compare your heart with your heart, if the prince displeases His Majesty, then the prince himself will not be too comfortable. ”

"Humph!"

Zhu Houzhao looked angry.

Just when Xiao Jing thought that Zhu Houzhao was about to reprimand Zhang Zhou, and even to use the majesty of the prince to oppress people, Zhu Houzhao changed his words: "Then when the palace is ready to pray for rain, what should I do?" ”

Zhang Zhoudao: "Whatever Your Majesty asks the prince to do, you will do it, in fact, as long as you stand behind Your Majesty and don't do any behavior, it can be regarded as your excellent completion of the task." ”

Zhu Houzhao asked with a smile: "After the prayer rain is over, when will it rain?" ”

"The prince's words, the minister doesn't quite understand." Zhang Zhoudao.

"Hehe, who are you fooling? My father took the palace to pray for rain, if you can't get the rain down, then what are you praying for? Is it that the father and the palace are praying for rain in front, and you are calling for wind and rain in the back, and then the rain is coming down? ”

Zhu Houzhao's little eyes were bright.

These words also shocked Xiao Jing.

didn't explain any details to the bear child, but this kid actually understood the most quintessential place?

Zhang Zhou pursed his lips and said in a very stiff tone: "If the minister lets it rain when it rains, and if it doesn't rain, it won't rain, then does the prince also want to say that the drought in various places in the past was also caused by the minister?" Is this the prince treating his ministers as the mother of thunder or the dragon king of the East China Sea? ”

"You...... What do you want to be, why do you want me to let you be? Forget it, just let me go then, but you have to tell my father, if I behave well, I must be reasonable, and let me learn some real skills from you, if I can really call the wind and rain, it will be amazing...... By the way, I'm going to learn how to split lightning, that's ...... awesome."

……

……

Zhang Zhou didn't talk too much nonsense with the bear child.

Zhu Houzhao finished eating at noon and continued to attend classes, and he had to go back to prepare for the palace exam, after all, there were no days left.

Said to prepare for the exam, but in fact, there is no direct meaning, the exam has been passed, what results can be obtained in the preparation for the exam in the past few days? It's useless to cramm.

Of course, Zhang Zhou knew the questions of the palace examination in the twelfth year of Hongzhi, but because of the butterfly effect of his existence, this kind of humanistic thing, he felt that there was not much need to study it, and the questions would be different in nine out of ten.

It's better to go home and concentrate on practicing calligraphy these days.

"Mr. Zhang, what can you do on the day when our family prays for rain?"

About to arrive at the gate of the palace, Xiao Jing couldn't help but ask respectfully.

Zhang Zhou glanced at him: "Father-in-law Xiao, why are you also coaxing?" ”

Xiao Jing said: "Our family has never done this kind of thing, I don't know what to do, I need more guidance from you, we can't let our family be like the prince, standing there and not doing anything, right?" ”

Zhang Zhou could see that Xiao Jing was also very concerned about praying for rain this time.

"Since Gonggong Xiao asked, then I will give you an analysis, you see that the most important thing in this matter is not whether the rain can come down, but that the people know where the rain came from."

"Yes, yes."

"But there are always many people, and he doesn't know that there is such a thing, so someone needs to publicize it in advance and tell the people that His Majesty and the crown prince will go out of the city to pray for rain in person in order to alleviate the drought. If this rain really falls, we must find someone to publicize it as an ordinary person, so that others will know that this rain is because Your Majesty and the crown prince are the true sons of heaven and have been blessed by heaven, so they can exchange this rain for this rain. ”

"Ordinary people?"

"Grandpa Xiao, you need childcare to buy things, do you know what's going on?"

No matter how dull Xiao Jing is, he understands when he hears this.

This is to find someone to hide among the people, to be a "big trumpet" as the people, to drive the emotions of ordinary people, and let them know that all this is the credit of the emperor and the crown prince.

The task of this group of nurseries is to stir up emotions.

"Understood." Xiao Jing's face was earnest.

I feel teachable again.

Ordinary Wenchen would not mention this kind of idea to him, this is simply inciting public opinion and building momentum for the emperor and the crown prince, and it was used in the right place today, who knows if anyone is making trouble behind his back?

"Shallow view, I hope that Father-in-law Xiao doesn't mind my nonsense, if you want to say that I've been really busy recently, I won't bother much."

"Yes, you have to prepare for the temple exam."

"No, no, I've been researching something new recently, to see if I can make more money in business, and I have to take care of the mining business, I'm tired."

Xiao Jing was speechless at first, and then said with a smile: "You are a capable person who works hard." ”

……

……

The next day, at noon, the court was discussed.

When the emperor said that he was going to pray for rain in person, the ministers present were all puzzled, but it was just such a thing as praying for rain, did he really want the emperor to appear in person?

Xu Qiong, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, came out and said: "Your Majesty, if you want to pray for rain, you can ask the ministers to pray on behalf of the Son of Heaven in heaven and earth, Sheji, mountains and rivers, or you can ask the courtiers to worship in Yuezhen and Haidu, and Your Majesty only needs to fast and bathe, and there is really no need to go in person." ”

Xu Qiong, as the highest official in charge of the Ming Dynasty etiquette, did not want the emperor to go in person.

Zhu Youzhu said: "I personally ask for rain for the people, why not? I also want to take the crown prince with me, so that he can learn how to work for the well-being of the people, so that he can be open-minded and help the world. ”

Take the big reason out and bluff people.

At the same time, he told the minister that I did this for another purpose, which was to educate my son.

I ask you that this is a noble reason, right?

Hurry up and make arrangements, where is so much nonsense?

Xu Qiong said again: "Even if you pray for rain, you should choose a good day and an auspicious day, and hastily perform the sacrifice, for fear that it will make insufficient preparations, and please wait for the palace test to be completed before making arrangements." ”

Zhu Youzhu was very unhappy when he saw that he even went out to participate in a sacrificial event, but was opposed by the ministers.

He probably also understands that it seems that everything must be done in accordance with the rules of Wenchen, and he must be beneficial.

He didn't think anything of it before, but now that Zhang Zhou gave him secret guidance, after making a comparison, he felt that he was controlled by civil officials and was bored to be an emperor.

"On the morning of March 12, all of you went to pray for rain with me, and the Ministry of Rites and Taichang Temple made all arrangements and arrangements, and Jinyiwei and Jinwuwei coordinated the patrol matters. If you have to oppose even things that benefit the country and the people, don't you mean that I can't make decisions about everything? ”

Zhu Youzhu didn't bother to discuss with the minister.

I'm so excited, I was so excited yesterday that I didn't even sleep well, and I could still be hindered by your ministers' pretending plan?

……

……

The court meeting has just ended.

The main ministers don't have much opinion, and the emperor wants to pray for rain in person, so he can only say that he loves the people like a son, and there is nothing wrong with it.

Xu Qiong felt that the emperor seemed to have taken the wrong medicine.

He hurriedly went to the three cabinet members to inquire about the situation, and he even felt that the emperor's move was probably proposed by the three cabinet members, otherwise why didn't the cabinet have any objections to this today?

Xie Qian said: "Pray in the morning and pray in the evening, pray in person and pray on behalf of you, it's all prayer, why care about the situation?" ”

Xu Qiong frowned and said: "In the past, the sacrificial ceremony had to wait for the Ministry of Rites to play the regular rules. ”

Xie Qian smiled: "It may be that Your Majesty thinks that it is urgent to pray for rain this time...... If you don't pray, when the rain comes, but the court doesn't do anything, won't you be slandered by the world? So...... Prayer early is better than prayer late! ”

(End of chapter)