Chapter 179 178 Facing the Imperial Examination

Today, Emperor Jiajing was interrupted from practicing because of the new scholars surrounding the yamen of the Ministry of Rites. At this time, he did not meditate as usual, but looked at the two provincial examinations of Wei Guangde from the Hanlin Academy in front of the desk. The paper will be tested this time.

After a long while, Emperor Jiajing threw the paper aside and closed his eyes slightly in silence.

Huang Jin, who was waiting on the side, did not dare to pack up the papers. He could only stay with a low eyebrow, waiting for Emperor Jiajing to finish thinking.

I don't know how long it took, but it was completely dark outside the window. The little eunuch brought in a few more candles to light up the already dark palace again.

I don't know how much time passed, but Emperor Jiajing slowly opened his eyes, and what caught his eyes were still those papers from Wei Guangde.

Turning his head slightly, Emperor Jiajing said: "Huang Jin, have you read Wei Guangde's paper?"

"yes."

Upon hearing the emperor's question, Huang Jin immediately lowered his head and answered.

"What's your comment?"

Emperor Jiajing continued to ask.

"The level of eight-part essay is average, I have some insight, and I can come up with some effective solutions when encountering problems."

Huang Jin replied.

"Yes, the imperial court is now overwhelmed with the skyrocketing expenditures on suppressing Japanese invaders in the south. Yan Song also mentioned last time that Hu Zongxian has repeatedly written to request the training of new troops to suppress Japanese invaders. Recruiting troops also costs a lot of money. "

Emperor Jiajing said leisurely.

"Yes, I have indeed seen Governor Hu's memorial, but the cabinet instructions have no money and cannot be implemented."

Huang Jin then continued: "However, Governor Hu proposed to levy one and two cents per acre of land in the south as military pay for the suppression of Japanese invaders. He also suggested levying an additional commercial tax to spend on suppressing Japanese invaders. The opinions of the cabinet and the six ministries were not unanimous, so Mr. Yan Ge convened a meeting Several discussions on this matter ended in vain.”

"Wei Guangde's paper should have been written in August last year. It mentioned that tax collection in the south could be considered to suppress Japanese pirates. It seems to be earlier than Hu Zongxian's."

Emperor Jiajing said calmly.

"Perhaps this matter has been discussed in the southern official circles before. Wei Guangde is from a guard family, so it is not surprising that he has heard about it, and it makes sense to write it down in the paper."

Huang Jin expressed his understanding and at the same time secretly glanced at Emperor Jiajing.

"You will go on duty later and tell the cabinet to handle a few things as soon as possible.

First, regarding the suppression of Japanese aggression and tax increase, we must outline the terms as soon as possible. This matter cannot be delayed.

Secondly, Wei Guangde mentioned in the paper that Japan has always been dissatisfied with the kingship. Envoys from neighboring countries came when Taizu founded the country, but they were missing. Let me ask the Ministry of Rites to investigate. I want to know what is going on. "

At this point, Emperor Jiajing paused for a moment. Huang Jin thought that the emperor's instructions had been finished, and immediately bowed to accept them. However, before he straightened up, he heard Emperor Jiajing speak again: "Kang Siqian, who has been promoted to editor of the Hanlin Academy. Promoted schools for the deputy envoy of the Henan Prosecution Department.

Tomorrow's Jinshi Rong'en Banquet was ordered to be hosted by Zhu Xizhong, the Duke of Chengguo. The examiners, honorary ministers, university ministers, Du Yushi, and Jinyiwei sat on the right. After that, you come down and tell him, give me a good look at this Wei Guangde. "

"According to the order."

Huang Jin answered respectfully after listening to Emperor Jiajing's decree.

At this time, Wei Guangde was supported by Zhang Ji, staggered out of the restaurant, and got into Li San's carriage.

It was so late that it was difficult to find another carriage. Lao Kan, Xia Kefan and Zhang Ke were all helped onto the carriage, which could only allow the four Jinshis to squeeze in.

Li San carefully drove the carriage back to the Jiujiang Guild Hall, and was greeted by the shopkeeper. He already knew the news that Wei Guangde had become the test passer of Jinke Hall, and together with Lao Kan, who was ranked 77th in the second class, these two were likely to stay in the future. Those who are officials in the capital are naturally very diligent.

How did the Jiujiang Guild Hall come about? It was not established under the call of Jiujiang officials who were officials in Beijing, and together with businessmen, they raised funds to facilitate the connection between fellow villagers in the capital and their hometowns.

Wei Guangde and Lao Kan stayed in the capital and became officials, and they will naturally take care of them in the future.

Seeing that Wei Guangde was still a little unsteady when he got out of the car, the shopkeeper hurriedly called the strong waiter to help Wei Guangde, and arranged for three people to help Lao Kan, Xia Kefan and Zhang Ke back to their rooms.

"Zhang Ji, Lao Qiang, I have ordered the hot water to be boiled and will be sent to your master's room immediately. Do you need me to find someone to help your master take a bath?"

The shopkeeper stopped Zhang Ji and Lao Kan's entourage and asked.

Zhang Ji shook his head hurriedly, "My master always washes himself, so don't cause any trouble to me."

Lao Kan's long follower also shook his head.

"Okay, I understand, you go take care of your master."

Watching the two men follow and help their master into the yard, the shopkeeper returned to the store.

After getting up early the next morning and washing up, Wei Guangde and Shi Shiran went to the front lobby to have breakfast.

The shopkeeper saw it and hurriedly greeted him, "Mr. Wei, if you want to eat, just say hello and I'll ask someone to bring it in right away."

"It's not that particular. I like to eat outside and in the bedroom. I really don't have this habit."

Wei Guangde waved his hand and planned to find an empty table in the lobby to sit down. He met many familiar people along the way, so naturally he greeted them again.

Wei Guangde didn't look down on anyone just because he had become Chuanlu, and bowed to them as usual.

"Guangde, Wei Chuanlu, here."

At this time, Mr. Zhu Shilong, who had failed the exam for the second time, was also having breakfast outside. When he saw Wei Guangde coming in, he waved and shouted.

He walked over and bowed his hands to them. Zhu Shilong, Shen Liangdong and others at the table all stood up and returned the greeting. Wei Guangde then pulled out a chair and sat down.

"I'm envious. I saw Wei Chuanlu's graceful appearance on Chang'an Street yesterday. I couldn't calm down for a long time."

Zhu Shilong joked.

When Wei Guangde and others came back yesterday, Zhu Shilong and his group of failed candidates were still out getting drunk, so they didn't see them.

"Following a horse's butt and eating ashes all the way, what kind of grace is there?"

Wei Guangde shook his head and smiled.

"First of all, I heard that you Jinshi went to the Yamen of the Ministry of Etiquette yesterday. What happened? Is it really a disaster relief thing in Shanxi?"

Shen Liangdong asked.

"Who did you listen to?"

Wei Guangde said curiously, this rumor is true.

"It doesn't matter who told you, is there such a thing?"

Shen Liangdong continued to ask.

"yes."

Regarding this matter, Wei Guangde naturally had nothing to hide, and it was not a shameful act. He immediately told Zhu Shilong and Shen Liangdong what happened yesterday, and soon the people at the two tables next to him also moved their chairs and sat down. Come and listen here.

Well, now the candidates have failed the examination, but they haven’t left yet. Most of them plan to wait a few more days. In fact, they are all for yesterday’s Royal Street to praise the officials, to see the style of the Jinke Scholars, so as to encourage themselves to continue. The road to imperial examination.

Today is March 19th. For Jinke Jinshi, they will continue to enjoy the honor of becoming a Jinshi, which is to participate in the Honor Banquet.

The Rong'en Banquet was held in the Ministry of Rites. It was a familiar path for the Rites Yamen and the Jinshi scholars of Jinke. They had a gathering here yesterday.

It's just that this time when they Jinshi entered the yamen of the Ministry of Rites again, people with sensitive minds noticed that although the low-level yamen officials of the Ministry of Rites smiled at them, they seemed to be unhappy with them.

In fact, the reason is very simple. They could have decorated the etiquette hall during the day to prepare for today's Rongen Banquet. However, because of their trouble, they had to clean it up all night long, not to mention that they almost lost their benefit. , naturally they are not pleased with this group of Jinshi.

Ron'en Banquet was not downgraded because of what happened yesterday, it was still extremely grand.

Early in the morning after Ron'en Banquet came back, Wei Guangde was invited to the front by the waiter. Also with him were Lao Kan, Xia Kefan and Zhang Ke, all members of the new Jinshi. Naturally, they were involved in the follow-up procedures of the palace examination.

At this time, the lobby of the Jiujiang Guild Hall had been cleaned up, and a young eunuch was waiting there accompanied by several school captains. He stood up when he saw Wei Guangde and others coming in, holding a green and yellow imperial edict in his hand.

After Wei Guangde and others bowed down, the young eunuch announced: "Heaven carries the emperor, and the edict says"

This imperial edict is also a routine matter. The royal family will reward new scholars on the day after the Rongan Banquet. However, the rewards are a bit out of the ordinary.

Wei Guangde and others accepted the order to thank them. This was just a formality. The imperial edict would not be handed over to them, but the rewards would be given to them and that would be it.

After giving the little eunuch who delivered the message a piece of silver and letting them drink tea, Wei Guangde was a little dazed looking at the reward in his hand.

Five pieces of paper, to be precise, they are five taels of silver notes, which is equivalent to the five taels of silver awarded by the emperor to each new scholar. However, this was during the Hongwu Dynasty. Until now, Wei Guangde does not know that these five notes can be used. How much money to exchange.

Wei Guangde's family also has a lot of these things. Every year when the military salary is allocated from above, there must be a large amount of these things.

Looking at the treasure banknote in my hand, it is still very new, and I can even smell the faint fragrance of ink. It is obviously a product that has just been printed.

"I have a day off today, and I will go to Honglu Temple to learn etiquette tomorrow."

At this time, Zhang Ke spoke.

"The No. 1 scholar has court clothes. Do we have hair? If not, I'll ask later where I can get two clothes done."

Lao Kan said with a smile.

"Go together."

Wei Guangde said.

The royal family bestows uniforms on Jinshi. Only the number one scholar can wear a court uniform with a crown and belt, and other Jinshi can only make their own.

As for the Jinshi uniforms they are wearing now, I'm sorry, they have to be sent back to the Imperial College before the super exam. They are not a reward, they are just loaned to them for a few days to pay homage to their late master Confucius and perform the ceremony of releasing vegetables.

In Honglu Temple, officials from Honglu Temple were instructed on court etiquette. For most Jinshi scholars in Jinke, mainly those in the top three, most of the etiquette they learned at this time may not be used, but they are still very serious. While studying, who knows what will happen in the future.

Three days later, on behalf of the 300 new scholars, the top scholars in the new department came to express their gratitude.

Don't underestimate this gratitude ceremony. According to the requirements of the "Daming Huidian", which is the tone set by Zhu Yuanzhang, it is still extremely grand.

On this day, all civil and military personnel in Beijing must wear court uniforms and salute according to normal etiquette.

The official of Honglu Temple introduced the number one scholar and all the Jinshi to join the class in order. However, at this time, only the first and third students had official positions. The first number one scholar was awarded the Hanlin Academy editor, the second and third best were awarded the Hanlin Academy editor. As for Wei Guangde and his group The person doesn't have a position yet, and he has to wait until all the rituals are completed and take the super exam to determine his final destination.

Everyone bowed to the emperor four times. The number one scholar led all the scholars to come forward to express their gratitude to the emperor. Then, the officials of the Ministry of Rites knelt down to declare the order. After the announcement, the number one scholar and all the scholars bowed four times. After completing the above rituals, the emperor blew his whip. After setting off, the ceremony of expressing gratitude is over.

The next day, Zhu Dashou, the number one scholar, led all the new scholars to the Imperial Academy to "visit the temple of the ancestors and perform the ceremony of releasing vegetables."

"The first teacher" refers to Confucius. "Visiting the temple of the first teacher and performing the ritual of offering food" is intended to remind the top scholar and other Jinshi that in their future official careers, they must use Confucianism as a way to assist the emperor and the government.

The term "visiting the first teacher" is actually easy to understand. It means to pay homage to Confucius. After all, scholars all admit that they are Confucius' disciples. The ritual of offering food is actually not complicated. It means to offer sacrifices. Simply put, it is to offer sacrifices to worship the statue of Confucius.

Wei Guangde and his team followed the requirements of the "Da Ming Hui Dian". In front of the first teacher's seat, there were a variety of offerings. Fish, plums, and chestnuts were placed in a row; hazelnuts, water chestnuts, water chestnuts, and venison were placed in a row; celery, pickles, rabbit meat, fish meat, etc. were placed in a row; spleen and pig meat were placed in a row, etc. Next to the bamboo baskets and bowls, there must be a sheep on the left and a pig on the right, and a cow in the middle. The four companions and ten philosophers also had meat and vegetables. It was also specially stipulated that three live rabbits and three bottles of wine should be used.

Well, in fact, the Ministry of Rites prepared everything and laid out the offerings, and the new Jinshi just had to worship.

After this procedure, the entire ceremony of the palace examination was completed.

The reason why the ceremony of announcing the results of the palace examination, the imperial street praising officials to the Rongen Banquet, the submission of a letter of thanks and the "visiting the temple of the first teacher and performing the ceremony of releasing vegetables" after the palace examination is a complete process is that they all started from the palace examination, but they were tasks that all Jinshi had to do after the palace examination, and none of them could be missing.

On the second day, Wei Guangde, Lao Kan and others folded the Jinshi clothes they took off and sent them to the Imperial College. For these Jinshi, all the ceremonies were completed, and the next step was to face the last obstacle that would determine their future destiny, the super examination.

The super examination was the most important examination to determine the destination of the second and third Jinshi. Among them, those who ranked top would naturally enter the Hanlin Academy as Shujishi. Although there was no official position, it was also the position that every Jinshi dreamed of.

Shujishi, who is under the jurisdiction of Hanlin Academy, is selected from Jinshi who are good at literature and calligraphy. Those who rank high among the Jinshi in the imperial examination and have potential are granted the status of Shujishi, so that they can study in Hanlin Academy first and then be granted various official positions.

Like the palace examination, most of the super examinations are just a formality, and the final ranking will not be much different from the palace examination.

For Wei Guangde, the status of Chuanlu seems to guarantee that he can successfully become a Shujishi.

But at this time, Wei Guangde already knew how he got the title of Chuanlu. He was selected by Emperor Jiajing, otherwise his best ranking would only be the fourth in the top three.

As for the source of the news, it was naturally the Yan family.

Yan Song had spent a lot of effort to push Wei Guangde from the bottom of the top three to the top three, so that Wei Guangde's paper had the opportunity to be seen by the emperor and was lucky enough to be selected. Naturally, the Yan family would not do a good thing without leaving a name.

Well, after knowing the whole story, Wei Guangde was a little worried about whether this Shujishi was stable.