Gonggong Chen replied: "The sealing officer has made a mark in advance. ”

"Isn't this cheating?" The Emperor frowned.

Gonggong Chen smiled and said: "It's an old habit of officialdom." After all, if you don't have real talent and real learning, you won't be able to get into the top 10 of the exam. ”

"The old habits of officialdom...... Right? The emperor paused, and suddenly showed a sly smile: "Go and pass Master Shen here." ”

Gonggong Chen's eyes were dazzled, and he looked at it carefully, and he always felt that the emperor was smiling like a person, and he couldn't remember who it was for a while.

"Your Majesty, Shen Butang is reading the papers." He reminded.

"I can't delay a quarter of an hour." The emperor added: "The reason is that the prince and his son climbed up the tree and refused to come down, so they asked him to persuade him." ”

……

"Ahh Eiga let out a big sneeze.

Huai'an told him very experienced: "If you sneeze twice in a row, someone must be scolding you, and eighty percent of them are your father." ”

Except for the prince and his father, who dares to scold the prince......

Rong He rubbed his nose: "It makes sense." ”

They don't have to go to class today, because the Wenhua Hall is occupied by the examiners to mark the papers, and the playwright makes jasmine milk tea for them, and the two stay in the East Palace to study and do their homework, chatting while doing it, but it is also comfortable.

"Actually, with your current level, you are enough to participate in the county exam." Rong He assessed: "After taking the exam three or five times, it is not a problem to get a child." ”

Huai'an rolled his eyes: "Thank you." ”

Rong He said with a smile: "Aren't you going to study in Guozijian next year, you can be exempted from the children's test when you enter the prison, and you can directly participate in the autumn festival, how good." ”

At the mention of this, Huai'an complained: "What's good, I heard that Guozijian's food is not delicious, and if it is not delicious, don't complain, twelve times a year, the results are accumulated, and you can only be promoted to the hall level if you accumulate eight points." ”

Thinking that he would be sent to the "purgatory on earth" next year, Huai'an's eyes had no light.

"Hey, you're talking about the old yellow calendar." Rong He said: "I specially inquired for you, and today's Guozijian is not what it used to be. The flood of donated prisons and the uneven source of students are all tacitly aware of this point, and there are no requirements for shadow supervisors and donation prisons in their studies. ”

Huai'an's eyes lit up: "And this is still the case?" But that's not what I saw when I went to Guozijian. ”

Rong He said: "What you see are all the prisoners who have been promoted to the rate hall, most of them are people who have failed to be elected in the capital society, these people themselves are elites, others like the shadow prison, the donation prison, and even the tribute eunuchs elected by the local government, most of them have no real talent and real learning, and they usually report a sick leave and bereavement leave, they can wander outside, and they don't need to sit in prison on time at all, they are all for the sake of gangsters, and go to the local place to make up for a petty official." ”

Huai'an took a sip of the hot jasmine milk green at hand, pillowed his arm, and spread it on the chair: "It's a good day, I like to live a good life." ”

Thinking about it, I felt inappropriate: "The Guozijian is rotten like this, and it should be rectified." ”

Rong He slapped his thigh: "So, I've calculated it, and when you graduate, I will propose to my father that the country be rectified." Reform should not hurt one's own people. ”

Huai'an sat up straight: "You are really my half-brother!" ”

"That must!"

The two talked about the excitement and drank a cup of milk tea. was "pushing the cup and changing the lamp", and the emperor sent a decree to tell them to go to the Wenhua Palace.

The two of them were confused, and the officials of Wenhua Hall were reading the papers, what should they do?

When I came to the Wenhua Palace, I realized that the holy driver was here, and the scroll reader was kneeling on one side to read the volume, and after reading one copy, he changed to a book reader and continued to read the next one.

Huai'an was one step behind the crown prince before entering the door, and the two entered the hall one after the other and saluted the emperor.

The emperor said: "This is the first ceremony since I ascended the throne, the prince stood up and listened to it together." ”

"Yes."

Huai'an followed Rong He to the emperor and stood still. The Emperor raised his hand and motioned for the reader to continue.

After reading the three test papers, according to common sense, the emperor will not change the ranking of the first assistant's ruling, and the so-called marking is mostly a formality, after all, even if the top ten test papers are equal, the level will never be low, and this face still has to be given.

But the emperor wanted to refute his face today, and after reading the three test papers, Zheng Qian left the class and announced: "Back to Your Majesty, the first three have been recited, and Your Majesty Fu Qi is a holy judge." ”

The emperor said: "There are only three test papers, how can I cut them?" ”

Everyone was stunned, and said in their hearts, why don't they play cards according to common sense, aren't they dissatisfied with the top three in their ruling?

"Your Majesty is very true." Zheng Qian's face was not different, he bowed, and instructed the examiner: "Continue." ”

The Sacred Heart was unfathomable, and the fourth reader had no choice but to go out and continue to read the book until the tenth.

"Your Majesty," Zheng Qian said tentatively, "Your Majesty? ”

The emperor was obviously distracted, and when he came back to his senses, he asked the prince beside him, "What is the purpose of this problem?" ”

Rong He said: "Back to my father, the title of the palace exam is "The Way of External and Internal Security", and I asked Zhu Gongsheng, how to make the displaced people return to their hometowns to work in agriculture without losing their own business? How to implement the method of salt hoarding? How to resist the foreign race so that they will no longer snoop and raise the light of my two ancestors? ”

The emperor nodded, and then asked, "What exactly did you talk about in this test paper just now?" ”

Rong He was dumbfounded, on this critical occasion, he really didn't get distracted, but most of the ten test papers presented were full of flowers, and the words were empty, and he really wanted to repeat the content, unless he memorized it in full.

"Huai'an, what do you say?" The Emperor asked again.

Huai'an didn't think twice: "Back to Your Majesty, the minister has a bad memory, so he didn't remember." ”

He didn't understand what the Sacred Heart was, and he didn't know who he would offend if he opened his mouth easily, but he only knew that he couldn't shake his wit at this time, and he was to blame for everything.

The emperor nodded, he didn't directly criticize this article, it was nothing, and it was enough to give the examiner face.

"Your Majesty, do you want to continue reading?" Zheng Qian asked.

"Yes." The Emperor said.

Zheng Jin was about to speak, but was interrupted by his father, and the examiner had already left the class with the eleventh test paper, and just like that, he had read seventeen copies all the time.

The emperor was a little impatient, and said directly: "Take the loose scroll to me, and I will read the scroll myself." ”

The eyes of the examiners in the hall almost fell out, and they wanted to persuade but didn't dare to persuade them, so they had to do as they were told.

When the emperor spoke, he was not ashamed, and when more than 400 vague test papers were brought to the imperial case, he couldn't help but blacken his eyes, and said in his heart, why don't you stop me at this time......

But the big words have already been spoken, so I have to bite the bullet and read them one by one. The only thing left in the hall was the "whoosh" sound of the emperor flipping through the paper.

The marking officials looked at each other, what was he looking at at this speed?

When it was lunch time, the emperor had already flipped through half of the books at a speed that was difficult for ordinary people to achieve, and he really picked out four or five test papers from them, and he became more and more courageous, and he was not hungry at all, but the two boys behind him were still growing their bodies, so he allowed the eunuch to pass the meal in, ate it as quickly as possible, and picked up the test papers.

I don't know if I saw 300 or 400 copies, the emperor's eyes were a little dazzled, and he finally chose the most desirable one among the test papers.

Very few people expect the fledgling new Kegong students to really come up with any policies for governing the country, and even if there is, it is difficult to summarize it in two or three thousand words, so as long as the intention is strict and to the point, the grammar is upright, there is the meaning of the ancient sages, and everyone's style, you can get a good ranking. But this time, the emperor really hopes to find a talent who has the courage to give advice and can pinpoint the disadvantages of the times.

The emperor took out the test paper and handed it to the prince: "The prince has a look, and I have read the content of the article and told it to Zhuqing." ”

"Yes." Rong He took the test paper and read it carefully, the full text was less than 3,000 words, he read it for a full quarter of an hour, and then said cautiously: "He said that in response to the problem of displaced people, we should raise the price of grain, clear the land in the world, and curb the annexation of the powerful and powerful; To deal with foreign snooping, you should first manage your finances, pay attention to the generals, and then fight a decisive battle; In view of the salt law, it is advisable to restore the ancestral system, the general power is in the top, and the cloth is beneficial to the bottom, implement the heavy money law to buy surplus salt, and widely solicit merchants to transport grain in exchange for salt, so that the price of grain rises, and the imperial court can also collect salt tax to reduce taxes for the people. ”

Although Rong He is greedy for fun, after all, he is a famous teacher and a Confucian who feeds him with a bowl, and his skills are actually not bad.

There was silence in the hall, oh, except for Yuan Ge Lao - it was another day of tears for the progress of the prince.

Yuan Ge Lao set up the atmosphere, and everyone had to praise the prince's intelligence, and by the way, praise the emperor's unique vision and amazing marking speed.

In fact, the emperor asked Shen Yu to make a mark on the test paper he was optimistic about long before he read the papers, and Shen Yu hurriedly excused himself, isn't this cheating? Besides, the test papers he was assigned were only a part, so how could he judge in vain.

But the emperor was resolute and refused to let him leave if he didn't agree, so he had no choice but to do so. The emperor just kept a hand, who knew that the test papers presented were all empty songs of merit and virtue, so he had to flip through it himself, looking for the marks left by Shen Yu.

Sure enough, the test paper selected by Shen Yu coincided with his own thoughts. If it weren't for the presence of everyone, he would have already applauded his wit.

The officials who read the file looked at the back of the emperor leaving, stunned for more than a quarter of an hour, and there were only three question marks in their minds: Who am I? Where am I? What am I doing?

Qiao Xiren, who ranked 350 in the examination, pointed out the champion, Shi Junyi, who ranked 243rd, for the list, and Li Ting, who ranked 86th, for Tanhua, and the top 10 in the second class also changed a lot. This is really something that has never been done since the founding of the country...... Accidents.

From now on, in front of the Jinshi in the third year of Yongli, no one should call himself a "protégé of the Son of Heaven", unworthy.

Chapter 148

As usual, the emperor summoned the top ten before the ceremony, and had a cordial, friendly and sincere conversation with them, so that these middle and lower tributes who "came and went" were grateful, and they all expressed their gratitude to repay the king's kindness.

Zheng Qian's face was the most unsightly, Shen could drip water, there was nothing abnormal at the moment, and when he returned home, he was furious and started a fever, and he fell ill after barely participating in the ceremony on March 18. Zheng Jin took leave to serve at home, and the six department officials were suddenly like a basin of loose sand, a hammer in the east and a stick in the west.

Almost at the same time, a collection of short stories appeared on the market called "The Appearance of the Constitutional Officials", which is said to have included the private affairs of the 62 officials of the Imperial History Observatory of the previous dynasty.

The book was unsigned, and I don't know where it was published, but it became popular in Beijing as soon as it was listed, and because the metaphor was too obvious, it was easy to sit in the right place, and became a joke among all ages in the capital after dinner.

The officials have withered all of a sudden, isn't the matter over? Who sold their "fierce material" to the market?

The emperor pretended to be furious, and once again proposed to investigate the "science and road", which was related to the face of the imperial court, and no one dared to refute it this time.

The government and the opposition were in an uproar, and the Metropolitan Procuratorate, which was lying down and was shot, was full of complaints, but no one really dared to make trouble on the cusp.

In this investigation, the six ministers suffered heavy blows, those who were not strong in business were sentenced to be weak and incompetent, the crown and belt were idle, and those who were too strong in business were judged to be frivolous and impetuous, or demoted or transferred, and more than half of the people who were given work were expelled from the central government. Because the "science copying" of the six departments is an indispensable part of the issuance of government decrees, the secretary of the ministry immediately wrote a letter, asking the Quanquan to select the speaker and fill the vacancy.

For a few days in a row, Zheng Ge Lao kept saying that he was sick, Shen Yu came to see him twice, and the emperor also sent the imperial doctor to the palace to diagnose the pulse, but he was really sick, Zheng Jin was sad every day, his beard was unshaven, and he had no energy to quarrel with Shen Yu.

"My father was not in the cabinet, and these people began to mess around, there was a shortage of officials in the six departments, and all the six departments had to be suspended. Let's try it, who is the scourge of the imperial court. ”

Shen Yu said lightly: "I hope the teacher recovers soon." ”

At this time, the maid came to the hall: "Shen Butang, master, please come in." ”

The two got up at the same time, but the maid said, "The master only asked Shen Butang to go in alone." ”

Zheng Jin's face sank, he didn't dare to say anything, and sat back on the official hat chair.

Shen Yu entered the inner courtyard with the maid and first gave a salute to his wife: "My wife is a lot haggard, and you have to take care of your body. ”

"I know that your husband and wife have a heart, I remember it." Mrs. Zheng led him into the inner room, and said: "In the past two years, I have been busy with official business, and there are fewer people, so when your teacher is well, bring Tinglan and the child over, and the teacher's mother will cook the sea bass soup by herself." ”

Shen Yu just smiled and said, "The student has a good mouth again." ”

Zheng Qian leaned on the two pillows stacked at the head of the bed, with a handkerchief on his forehead, his face was pale and his breath was unsteady.

Seeing the teacher's appearance, Shen Yu couldn't help but worry about it, putting aside political opinions, but in terms of the relationship between teachers and students, Zheng Qian's status in his heart was far better than that of his father.

In fact, teachers and students in officialdom are sometimes far better than father and son, the teacher can help you, but the father may not be able to help you, on the contrary, what the student can do, the son may not be able to do. Teachers and students are both prosperous and lossy, forming a close community.

What's more, Zheng Qian's cultivation of Shen Yu was never for his own use, but to sincerely cultivate a successor.

"Master, the teacher still hasn't gone away with a fever?" Shen Yu asked.