Youwei, the heir of the Red Chamber

The palace test is coming.

Jia Lian and all the tribute students entered through the Chaoyang Gate early in the morning and went to Taiyu Palace for the palace examination.

In front of the Hall of Supreme Harmony in Taiyu Palace, a guard of honor had already been raised by everyone.The imperial guards on both sides stood upright and lined up on both sides.All the tribute students are dressed in brocade clothes and jade belts, and they are full of heroism.Even the sons of poor families, now that they have been selected as tribute students, they don't need those relatives from rich families to help them.

Jia Lian was dressed in a dark blue robe, with a white jade belt around his waist, and a crystal jade stone, exuding a soft luster.Although this body is not very dazzling, it is superior in temperament, stable and dignified.But because he is the youngest, he naturally won the eyes of all the civil and military ministers.

Xu Ru looked among the officials, and saw his grandson at the first sight, and felt complacent, thinking that this grandson really has a good face.

The civil and military ministers are naturally vague about the relationship between Jia Lian and Xu Ru, and they don't know much about it.However, such a young talent is naturally appreciated by everyone.Those who have daughters waiting in their boudoirs have made up their minds.Of course, some of them knew about the marriage between the Jia family and the Wang family.But people have not yet passed the door, everything is unknown.

"The emperor is here—" came the high-pitched and long voice of the Chief Eunuch.

All civil and military officials and Gongsheng students knelt on the ground and shouted in unison: "Long live my emperor, long live, long live."

Only a deep voice said: "The family of all the gentlemen is free from courtesy."

"Long live my emperor thank you."

The emperor glanced down the steps, and at a glance, it was dark.Facing the chief executive at the side, he asked, "Who is Jia Lian?"

Chief Manager Li De squinted his triangular eyes, looked down, his eyes lit up, pointed to one of the dark blue figures and said: "Your Majesty, the one in the first row wearing the dark blue brocade is Jia Huiyuan."

The emperor narrowed his phoenix eyes and nodded slightly, "It's really extraordinary to be Huiyuan at such a young age."

The head manager kept the bottom line in his heart, and he had to make some calculations later.

The auspicious time has come, and all the tribute students will be present at the Hall of Supreme Harmony.Jia Lian is No.1, so he is in the first position.

The emperor had already written down the test questions.As the chief examiner of this year, Xu Ru personally unsealed the examination questions in the main hall and announced the theme of this year's scientific examination palace examination.

Xu Ru opened the sealed imperial box and took out the silk cloth inside.There are only two words on the bright yellow silk cloth - "Rou Ran".

"Rou Ran?" All the ministers and Gongsheng were stunned.This is just a foreign name, how to write?

Seeing the reaction of the people, the emperor said seriously: "Rouran borders our dynasty, and the border issue has repeatedly failed. Since you want to be the pillars of the country, you will use this topic as the subject of Rouran to express your opinions. I will choose the best one .”

"Follow the holy order." Everyone replied in unison.

The palace examination usually lasted for three hours. The emperor would not guard the Hall of Supreme Harmony in person, but just showed his face to let the examinees see Tian Yan, and then led a few ministers to the Imperial Study Room to discuss matters.

Xu Ru worriedly looked at Jia Lian who was sitting upright with a pen in his hand, "I don't know if this kid can do it?" Even the ministers in the court may not be able to do it. This kid is just a fledgling, I am afraid that his vision is not enough.Thinking of this, he shook his head and followed the emperor out of the Hall of Supreme Harmony.

It's just that Xu Ru was worrying in vain this time.

At this time, Jia Lian just looked at the exam questions and felt that the world was unpredictable.When the new emperor came to the throne, the internal affairs were unstable and the frontiers were in turmoil.When King Kang Ping led the army to pacify the frontier, he accompanied the new emperor to deal with the government affairs. Just in time for the palace examination, the new emperor feared that the first imperial examination would fail to show his majesty, so he asked himself to write the questions on his behalf. That's it.What I came out that day was the foreign aggression of that day - the Qiang nationality.But no one can give a satisfactory answer.At that time, I deeply felt that there was no talent in the country, and suggested that the new emperor reform the imperial examination system and change the eight-part essay to current affairs and people's livelihood.It's a pity that this policy was not promulgated in the future, and the Kangping Palace touched it.

The Rouran at this time is not the Qiang people back then.

A wry smile escaped from his thin lips.

Waving his sleeves and picking up the pen, he wrote vigorously on the paper.

"Rouran, aliens of foreign races, divide and rule, and gradually advance. This kind of courtesy is less righteous, defending is urgent and able to fight, relying on danger to strengthen oneself, the upper and lower are in harmony, and the people are happy. Although they attack, they cannot succeed. If the top is chaotic, the bottom is separated. You can do it. Between the lines, if the gap arises, there will be a gap, and the gap will come from the cultivation of virtue. Therefore, if the armored soldiers attack it, it is bound to overcome it. To overcome it..."

"Okay, really great!" In the imperial study, the emperor was holding an examination paper, the excitement in his eyes was obvious.

Xu Ru was also overjoyed. When he was reviewing the test papers, he was also extremely shocked when he saw this discussion.I didn't expect that yellow-haired kid in Ao's own family to have such insight.It's just that those in Jia's mansion started out as military generals, with such insight and knowledge, they naturally followed their grandfather who was a bachelor.Thinking of this, I feel even more proud.Now that my grandson is sensible and capable, he can be regarded as worthy of his ancestors.

"Teacher, I heard that Jia Lian is the grandson of the teacher?"

Xu Ru stroked his sleeves and bowed: "Your Majesty, he is the only grandson of my minister."

The emperor nodded, bent his lips and smiled, "As expected, he came from Xu Dashi's family. He is young and promising, and he will be the pillar of the country in the future."

Looking at the discussion on the paper again, he said with emotion: "The matter of Rouran has been suffering for a long time, and now the border is unstable, and the ministers of the court and China are also people who have nothing to trust. I wanted to choose a young talent among the Jinke , entrusted with an important task in the future, I didn’t expect that in this subject, there will be a lot of talented scholars, but none of them can express what I think. But this young man, although extremely knowledgeable, is still too young.”

When Xu Ru heard this, he understood the difficulty.It is impossible to hand over the matter of Rouran to Xiao'er. "Your Majesty, both Feng Tang and Wang Ziteng are military generals, they have been officials for many years, why..."

"Teacher, you used to be the teacher of the father, so you understand the father's thoughts best. Don't you know the usefulness of these two people?"

"This..." Xu Ru sighed, bowed and saluted, "I understand..."

The emperor picked out three of the ten test papers, put Jia Lian's one in his hand, and thought about it for a while.

"That's all..." The emperor sighed softly, and finally put Jia Lian's test paper on it.

next morning

The officials of the Ministry of Rites have already lined up the guard of honor outside the Hall of Supreme Harmony. The Department of Harmony of the Music Department has set up Zhonghe Shaole under the eaves of the Hall of Supreme Harmony, and Danbi Dale has set up both sides inside the Gate of Supreme Harmony.

The ranks of the eight princes are all above the Danbi, and the civil and military officials stand in the Danxi, wearing court clothes, and standing in order of rank.

Jia Lian and other tribute students wore official uniforms and crowns with three branches and nine leaves on their heads, and they stood behind the east and west shifts of civil and military officials according to their ranks.

At this time, all the tribute students were looking nervously and expectantly at the yellow case located in the east side of the Hall of Supreme Harmony.

Xu Ru, a cabinet scholar, held the yellow list and walked over solemnly, and put the yellow list on the yellow case.

It's too early, everything is in order.With the sound of ritual and music, the emperor has arrived.All the princes, civil and military officials, and tribute students all bowed three times and kowtowed nine times.

The emperor sat upright in the Hall of Supreme Harmony, looked at the talented people in front of him, looked solemn, and raised his hand to signal to the officials of the Honglu Temple in the Ministry of Rites.

The official of the Honglu Temple of the Ministry of Rites accepted the favor, held the yellow list and began to read: "On April 1th in the third year of Taiyuan, the tribute students from all over the world will be tested. He was born as a Jinshi. Today, according to the imperial order, No. [-] in the first class——Jia Lian of the Rongguo Mansion in Kyoto—”

Jia Lian came out in response, his face not showing any joy, and he knelt down on the imperial road calmly.

Xu Ru looked at Jia Lian, deeply moved.The bastard boy who was not polite and didn't want to study in the past is now finally the top student in high school, honoring his ancestors, and will become the pillar of the country in the future, and will serve the country loyally.

Afterwards, the officials of the Honglu Temple from the Ministry of Rites announced the rankings of the second best and third best one by one.Everyone shouted long live, followed the list.

Jia Lian walked in front of all the tribute students, with his back straight and his face calm.His eyes inadvertently glanced at the civil and military officials under Majesty Dan, and a familiar feeling emerged spontaneously. It was the feeling of being in a high position that had slowly recovered after a long time.Pointing the country, sitting on the world, this is just the first step.

Meeting an old friend in a foreign land, wedding night in the bridal chamber, and when nominated for the gold list

Study hard for ten years, and once selected, become the emperor's disciple. This is the biggest dream in the hearts of all scholars. Now these Gongsheng students who have studied hard for decades finally got their wish, and they are very happy.

The emperor ordered a Qionglin Banquet to be held in Qionglin Garden of Lingyuan Hall.

At the banquet, all the students were sitting upright. Although they couldn't hide the joy in their eyes, their faces were still calm and composed.

"All dear friends, you will be the heroes of the country in the future. You should do your best, be loyal to the country, and benefit the people. Only then can you live up to the way of a saint."

Everyone held up their wine glasses and wished from a distance, "I will live up to the holy hope if you obey the order."

Of course, the emperor would not stay at the end of this kind of banquet. After exchanging pleasantries, he got up and drove back to the palace, leaving only some ministers of the court and central government sitting in charge.

Jia Lian held the wine glass and took a sip.

The second place Xu Wencai walked over with a wine glass. This person is the eldest son of the Xu family in Longnan, and his skills come from a scholarly family. Now that he lost to Jia Lian, he felt aggrieved.

"Duke Zhuangyuan, I have admired you for a long time." There was no trace of reluctance on his delicate face.

Jia Lian raised his eyelids, raised his thin lips slightly, and raised his glass to each other, "It's serious."

Xu Wencai smiled lightly, sat down next to Jia Lian, and said with a smile: "The number one scholar won the first prize at such a young age. It is really extraordinary. Wencai is willing to become a good friend and talk about the friendship of classmates in the future.

If in the previous life, Jia Liangui was the son of the regent prince, he would be flattered by a lot of powerful people, so he would not care about such a person's hypocrisy and arrogance, but now when it comes to status, he is on par with this Xu Bangyan who comes from a noble family , It is also necessary to bother to socialize.

Jia Lian smiled warmly and said, "Jia is also willing to make friends. Please give me more advice in the future."

The two faced each other over the wine again.

This Qionglin banquet was originally a slightly more formal meeting between the civil servants and the new Jinshi. The civil servants secretly communicated with each other about the performance of the younger generation. Grinding is also a pillar of talent.Look at this year's No. [-] scholar, Jia Lian, who is not as good as the weaker champion, but has outstanding talent, has a sense of style, and coupled with the influence of Xu Ru, the future is bound to be limitless in the future.

Seeing that Xu Ru, who was the leader, looked like he was doing everything, they stepped forward to congratulate him one after another, praising this famous teacher who 'cultivated' the number one scholar in the new discipline.

Master Xu said with a cheerful smile: "Hehehe, this grandson has been smart since he was a child, and the old man can draw inferences from one example after a little bit of watching. Now it seems that he is really talented."

Everyone knew the grievances and grievances of the grandparents and grandchildren before, and they secretly responded in their hearts, but they said many nice things on their lips.

"As the old saying goes, talent is only one part, and acquired teaching is also very important. Only a scholar as talented as you can teach such an outstanding student. I really admire you."

"Master Han's words really win our hearts, the Grand Scholars are worthy of the title of Emperor Teacher."

"Indeed."

Ministers, you said something to each other, which made Master Xu laugh from ear to ear. He only felt that this grandson really had a face, and he felt that his rudeness in the past seemed not so hateful. After all, people are not sages and sages. No fault?

Everyone was just getting excited when they suddenly heard a high-pitched and long voice, "King Zhongshun has arrived——"