March 17.

On the second day of the palace examination and the day before the palace examination was released, the intense marking work was still in progress, and Zhu Youzhu was in the Qianqing Palace, checking a batch of binoculars brought in by Xiao Jing.

"Your Majesty, these telescopes have been built and are of high quality, and Mr. Zhang has also equipped them with several new binoculars, which can be adjusted in a variety of ways to see more clearly."

Xiao Jing said, handing the binoculars to Zhu Youji.

Zhu Youzhu looked at it in front of him, and then inquired about the method of adjustment, and said in surprise: "How is this done?" ”

Xiao Jing said: "It is said that there are gears inside, which drive the telescopic caliber and so on, and the slave and maid don't understand it very well." ”

For those new things, it would be good for Xiao Jing to remember a name, let alone figure out the principle, he was also thinking, if I can figure it out, then what is the matter with Zhang Bingkuan?

"It's good, it's clear."

Zhu Youzhu took it in his hand and looked out of the hall, with a smile on his face.

Xiao Jing said again: "Your Majesty, Mr. Zhang also gave some things......

"Bonus?"

"Yes." Xiao Jing said, "This is called soap, which is similar to honey locusts, which can be used for bathing, washing hands, cleansing faces, etc., and specially brought it to His Majesty to try." ”

Zhu Youzhi glanced at Dai Yi next to him, Dai Yi was very familiar and hurriedly asked someone to bring a basin of water, and then Dai Yi personally took it and presented it to Zhu Youji.

Zhu Youzhu picked up the soap and washed it according to what Xiao Jing said.

"Well, it feels like it cleanses the dirt off your hands and has a refreshing floral scent." After Zhu Youzhu ran out, he was naturally very satisfied.

Xiao Jing smiled and said: "Your Majesty, Mr. Zhang said that this is just a trial production, and for the time being, you can only take ten squares in as a tribute." ”

"Go and send a few parties to the Empress Dowager, and let her old man try this good thing first."

Zhu Youzhu didn't think about it, and first said that he would send it to the Empress Dowager Zhou.

Dai Yi and Xiao Jing were also surprised by this.

I thought to myself, Your Majesty, you used to have good things, didn't you give them to the queen, the crown prince and the princess first?

Zhu Youzhu said: "The Empress Dowager usually likes to be clean the most, and those who practice Buddhism all emphasize purifying their bodies in order to purify their hearts, and Bingkuan is really heartfelt." ”

A few eunuchs roughly understood the emperor's intention to do this, but no matter how they sounded, it seemed that they were forcibly explaining why they had to give it to the Empress Dowager Zhou first.

And they listened awkwardly...... Speaking of "purification" in front of the eunuchs, don't you know, Your Majesty, that this word has other meanings?

"Is that a bribe?" Zhu Youzhu suddenly said with a smile.

"Huh?" Xiao Jing looked confused, and then smiled, "Your Majesty, isn't this Mr. Zhang's kindness?" How can it be a bribe? ”

Zhu Youzhu continued to smile, looked in the direction of the Wenhua Palace, and said, "Now that the palace examination papers are underway, there should be results this afternoon, he gave a gift in advance, so that I can take care of him, right?" Yes! I appreciate it. ”

"I have never had so many expectations for the results of the palace examination as this time, as if the people close to me are also taking the palace examination, but I can control his fate, I have mixed feelings."

And say it's not a bribe?

Dai Yi comforted: "Your Majesty, with Mr. Zhang's talent and learning, he will definitely not fall behind. ”

Zhu Youzhu said: "But if his scroll is not among the ten, it will be difficult for me to promote him to the champion or the top armor." In this way, Xiao Jing, you go over and keep an eye on it, and send it back as soon as there is news. ”

"Yes."

Xiao Jing took the order.

I'm also thinking about it.

I'm a eunuch in Dongchang, I don't have much knowledge, and I'm not qualified to read the papers, what can I do when I go to Wenhua Palace?

Will those palace exam examiners give me face?

……

……

Xiao Jing went to Wenhua Palace, naturally it was useless.

The reading of the paper has also come to an end, and although the papers are in a state of confusion, in fact, the handwriting of some candidates can still be recognized by the examiner.

It's like......

Does Xie Qian know his brother Xie Di's words? Wang Shouren went to ask Li Dongyang for teaching questions several times, and many people also knew his words......

Of course, the fonts are all similar, and some are not completely certain, especially in the selection of so many volumes, these paper readers are all arrogant, and probably no one will cheat for personal gain for the palace examination.

Liu Jian, Li Dongyang and Xie Qian, as the highest-ranking officials in the palace examination papers, are basically a paper, and they are finally approved by them.

At their age, in two days, they have to read 300 articles, an article is at least 1,000 words or more, and it is a long article without even punctuation, just like reading 300 chapters in two days, many times it is really impossible to read through, only to see whether the basic argument is tenable, and then to look at the calligraphy, and then to see the idea in it, and so on...... Others will follow the crowd.

Others think it's good, there are many circles on it, and I draw circles.

There are many triangles on it, so I draw triangles.

Laziness naturally has the practice of being lazy, after all, this is not a test, the examiner needs to make a detailed comment on the article, the marking is said to be three days, in fact, the day of the exam is not counted, before the release of the list on the coming day, there are only 16 or 17 days, and the results of the examination are submitted to the emperor before dark in the afternoon of the seventeenth, so that the emperor can point the ranking of ten papers, and many times I really don't care about looking at it carefully.

"Father-in-law Xiao, it's almost the same, there are more than 200 papers that have been read by the fourteen examiners, and the rest are only a few people who have not read them, so they won't delay things. You can rest in peace first. ”

The eunuch from the celebrant supervisor's reading room came over to explain the situation to Xiao Jing, and spoke softly, for fear of disturbing the reading of the papers inside.

Xiao Jing was not so evasive, and said with a smile: "Our family is not in a hurry to leave, and after the reading is over, we will go with a few old scholars to present the papers." ”

……

……

The examination of the temple was finally completed when the sun was already setting in the west.

In addition to Liu Jian, Li Dongyang, and Xie Qian, the three of them are going to present the last ten papers, and there are also three bachelors and bachelors of the Hanlin Academy, Wang Wei, Li Jie and Jiao Fang, who will go.

Inside the Qianqing Palace.

Six ministers who presented the examination papers stood in the palace, and each of the ten examination papers was presented to the emperor.

Zhu Youzhu didn't talk nonsense, he went up to see if Zhang Zhou's words appeared in it, and vaguely recognized them, and felt that one of them was very similar to Zhang Zhou's words, and then read a few sentences, it seemed to be very similar to Zhang Zhou's style of discussion, vaguely with some needles and disadvantages, and then look at the scores of the fourteen paper readers......

Zhu Youzhu frowned slightly.

Thirteen circles, that is, thirteen first-class, but there is a slash, that is, third-class.

Looking at these ten examination papers, among the 140 marks, there are only two slashes, and there are no scores below the slashes, and the remaining 138 marks are circles or triangles, which is equivalent to saying that they are first and second class.

Liu Jian said: "Your Majesty, these ten volumes were carefully selected, and those that were considered excellent by the readers of the papers were specially presented to Your Majesty for reading. ”

Zhu Youzhu looked a little unhappy because of the third-class score of the slash, and asked, "What kind of standard is that to determine their merits and disadvantages, and then present them to me?" ”

Liu Jian was very strange, why did the emperor ask this.

Liu Jian said: "The first class is the first, and the first class is the first; If the first class is flush, then look at the number of the second class, and the one above the second class number comes first; And so on. ”

The approximate meaning is to see who has more and who has less circles first, and the one with more circles wins.

And if there are the same number of circles, look at the number of triangles, then look at the diagonal line, and then look at the vertical line.

Liu Jian said again: "In this palace examination, there is no fourteenth-first-class examination paper, and those who get the thirteenth-first grade paper are one, and those who get the twelfth and first grades are fourteen, and those who get the eleventh and eleventh grades are fourteen. ”

When Zhu Youzhu heard this, he felt a little better.

In other words, although Zhang Zhou won a third class, he was the only one who won thirteen laps, and according to the scoring criteria, Zhang Zhou was the champion.

However, the emperor looked at the four copies of the paper that had twelve circles, and the remaining two scores were all second-class triangles.

Zhu Youzhu was also thinking.

Who is this?

Won't you follow the crowd? If you have to draw a line for someone else's circle, it will seem that you can bear it? Or did you read the papers first and felt that it was not good, and the next thirteen examiners set things right in time?

Because when the palace examination was marked, the name was not kept by name, and the emperor did not know who was so ignorant.

……

……

The emperor had to select ten volumes.

In addition to the top five, the remaining five papers are relatively easy to decide, and after the order is settled, someone will then open the seal of the exam paper, announce the name, and then fill in the list.

Gold List.

There are five copies of the volume left, and there are only thirteen circles of Zhang Zhou left, and there are twelve circles and I don't know whose four copies are.

This is a matter of the first two and the first three people.

Don't look at the difference in rankings, but for such a palace test that does not choose Shu Jishi, the difference between winning and not winning the top is a world of earth.

"Fourth place in the second class, Tang Yin."

"Third place in the second class, Wang Shouren."

When Dai Yi read out the names of the seventh and sixth places, the emperor still paid some attention.

He has heard the names of Tang Yin and Wang Shouren.

Zhu Youzhi also admires Wang Hua very much, but there is one bad thing, that is, Wang Hua is a traditional civil official, and he is too close to Liu Jian and Li Dongyang, which can be said to be homogeneous.

Originally, Wang Shouren ranked seventh in the second class in this Jinshi, and Lin Ting ranked sixth in the second class.

The top five in orthodox history are: Sun Xu, Luo Qinzhong, Lu Dong, Zhang Wenyuan, and Hu Wenbi.

As a result, because of the appearance of Zhang Zhou, there was a butterfly effect, Lin Ting did not enter the top ten, Wang Shouren was also promoted to the third place in the second class, and Tang Yin squeezed into the fourth place in the second class.

Five servings remaining.

Zhu Youzhu didn't want to hide it, he picked up Zhang Zhou's copy and said: "I have read these ten articles, and I think this one can be the most satisfying, and he is also the first among the fourteen paper readers, so I will take it as the first in the first class." ”

While speaking, Dai Yi was about to take it.

Li Jie walked out and said: "Your Majesty, although there are thirteen first-class in this volume, there is also a third-class, the argument of the article may be slightly biased, please think twice." ”

It means that there is still something debatable about the promotion of this paper to the top prize.

Zhu Youzhu became angry when he heard it.

I was thinking about who was so ignorant and gave Zhang Zhou's paper a third-class rating, but you Li Jie came out and admitted it by himself, right?

Originally, I wanted to promote you to be a Hanlin Bachelor, but it looks like you can step aside! You don't even have the discerning eye to know talents, and you still want me to use you as a dish?

"I don't understand, why is there a third-class article for such a good article? Just because the arguments are biased? Governing the country with rites and music, first enriching the people first, starting from the water, carrying the boat, and the water will overturn the boat, is the righteousness of "Mencius", how is this biased? ”

Zhu Youji's face was not good.

Are you being unreasonable? Thirteen people think it's good, but one has to give the third class, and it can only be said that this person's level is not good, and he actually wants me to think that this article is not good?

If this article is not good, it should be thirteen fifth-class forks, not thirteen circles.

Li Jie was stunned.

What does this mean, Your Majesty? It's just a reminder that although this article has taken thirteen circles, there still seems to be a reader who thinks he is not particularly outstanding, I came out to point out, why did Your Majesty react so much?

Besides...... I didn't evaluate the third class.,I clearly remember that I played a circle in this volume.,And I especially appreciate this article.。

After being taught a lesson by the emperor, Li Jie knew each other very well and stood back in place.

"Ladies and gentlemen, do you have any other opinions?" Zhu Youzhu asked coldly.

Jiao Fang and Li Jie's side didn't seem to know much about this, and they didn't know why the emperor insisted so much, but the remaining four people, including the three cabinet members and Wang Wei, could probably guess the puzzle even if they didn't reveal the answer to the puzzle now.

Does this need to be asked?

The emperor insisted on using this scroll as the champion scroll, isn't it just because this is Zhang Zhou's?

In fact, of the four people present, three of them didn't understand for a while what was wrong with this article, because three of them couldn't recognize Zhang Zhou's handwriting, but one of them was an exception.

If the remaining three people also knew, maybe the score of this volume would still change.

……

……

"It's settled."

Zhu Youzhi doesn't talk nonsense.

Who I want to choose as the champion, that's my business, not to mention that Zhang Zhou took thirteen circles, even if he is only the worst of the ten, I want to promote him as the champion, you have no problem.

Who told you not to brush him off in the previous selection?

Since he has entered the top ten, he is basically the champion.

"Second place in the second class, Liu Long."

"The first place in the second class, Feng Xi."

With Zhang Zhou, the butterfly effect has changed again, and the list and tanhua of this meeting have not entered the first class.

"First and third place, Sun Xu."

"Second place in the first class, Lun Wenxu."

"First place, Zhang Zhou."

When Dai Yi finished reading this, a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth, he didn't bother to care who was the top spot, who was Tanhua, or who was the top two in the second class, as long as Zhang Zhouzhong was the champion, this is what the emperor wants to see, and it is also the result that they eunuchs expect.

Zhu Youzhu pretended to be surprised and said: "Is Bingkuan the champion?" That's the three-yuan and the first. ”

This time, even Li Jie and Jiao Fang, who didn't know what to do, suddenly realized.

No wonder.

His Majesty almost turned his face just now, probably annoyed by the third-class rating on Zhang Zhou's scroll.

Li Jie instantly had an ominous premonition in his heart, His Majesty almost made a big fuss at me just now, and he wouldn't think ...... That's the third class, right?

Ratings.

Isn't it a third-class? If someone deliberately wants to suppress Zhang Zhou, shouldn't he be given a fifth-class? At that time, it was estimated that he would not even be able to choose these ten papers?

But if it's thirteen first-class, there's a fifth-class...... That's too deliberate.

No matter how he thought about it, Li Jie felt as if he had been cheated.

But I don't know who I was pitted by.

Dai Yi asked: "Your Majesty, now that the palace examination has ended, will you post a list tomorrow?" ”

"Hmm." Zhu Yuzhu said, "Tomorrow, the Imperial Fengtian Hall and the Chinese military ministers will all go, and the ceremony will be held at that time. ”

"Yes, Your Majesty."

……

……

The marking of the palace examination ended in a calm mood.

After the six examiners came out of the Qianqing Palace, Xiao Jing led the way to the direction of the palace gate, because the time was already a little late, and even the three cabinet members did not need to go back to the cabinet to take a turn, they should also go back to rest.

When they left the palace gate, Xiao Jing also went back.

Liu Jian deliberately let Xie Qian leave first, and he left Li Dongyang behind.

"Binzhi, Zhang Bingkuan's third-class is your draw, right?" Liu Jian has a sharp mind.

In Liu Jian's view, judging from that article alone, no one should give Zhang Wednesday and others, even if some people feel biased, giving a second class is also heavenly, since it is for the third class, it must be deliberately suppressed.

And Li Dongyang is not the last person to read Zhang Zhou's papers, probably Li Dongyang wants to use a third class to remind the follow-up people to give a second or third class, and press down the results of this paper.

Li Dongyang didn't answer, just stared at Liu Jian.

It's like asking, how do you see that?

Liu Jian said: "I was the last to read this volume, and when I saw a third-class article, I thought that there might be something wrong with this article, but after reading it, I also seemed to understand that this was Zhang Bingkuan's volume." ”

Li Dongyang smiled bitterly and sighed: "I really can't hide anything from you." ”

His sharpness is vividly reflected in the article, he can not only win the first place in the examination, but also must have his extraordinary knowledge and insight, his words do not seem to be empty and contrived, perhaps he really has the ambition to rule the world with peace and security, and what he did before did not violate this original intention. If there is any reason that can give him a third class, it is ...... Someone wants to suppress this person's spirit. ”

Liu Jian's ability is not false.

When he found that a test-taking essay could be domineeringly exposed, he could also observe people from the article and analyze that this person might be Zhang Zhou.

Li Dongyang said: "Shouldn't his sharp spirit be suppressed?" ”

Liu Jian shook his head: "At that time, between the second class and the first class, I also hesitated for a long time, if Zhang Bingkuan hadn't done so many things before, I would press him and let him fall into the second class, first or second, it would be fine." But have you ever thought that no matter how much we press, His Majesty's trust in him will not diminish? On the contrary, it will be thought by His Majesty that we deliberately blame him? ”

Li Dongyang's face was heavy.

Now that I think about it, fortunately, Liu Jian didn't put a second class and forced Zhang Zhou to the fifth place.

If this is the case, I am afraid that the emperor will be angry on the spot just now.

Liu Jian said: "For him to be an official in the future, what is the difference between being the champion or the top two in the first class?" Instead, it's better to let him enter the museum, under the advice of our others, or let him pay attention. Binzhi, it's time to let go of prejudices! ”

(End of chapter)