I'm taking the imperial examinations in Liaozhai

The real imperial palace was much more grand than Ji Zihe's fake examination room in the underworld. After a series of complicated etiquettes, nearly two hundred examinees came from outside the palace to the palace, and finally entered the Hall of Yonghe with joyful hearts.

The Hall of Eternal Harmony is the examination room for this palace examination. Although the candidates are not allowed to look up and look casually due to etiquette, since they are here, no one is allowed to sneak a few glances, as long as they are not noticed.After seeing the majestic and majestic palace, all the examinees were very excited. Even if they sat in the examination room, they couldn't calm down for a long time.

Ji Zihe was also infected by this atmosphere, and couldn't help becoming nervous.

The emperor is a very serious and responsible emperor, this is his first time presiding over the palace examination, so naturally he attaches great importance to it.Not only was the memorial moved to the Hall of Supreme Harmony for corrections for the invigilation, but even the exam questions were written by him himself.He has not published the exam questions for fear of being leaked out. It was not until this morning that he wrote the exam questions with the imperial pen and sent someone to hurry up and print them.

Although it is said that the palace examination lasts for one day, it takes a lot of effort to complete all kinds of cumbersome etiquette. By the time the examinees sit in their seats, it is not too early.

When the examinees touched the test questions, the ink on the roll was still wet, absolutely "fresh".

People like Ji Zihe were like this. They were extremely nervous before the exam, but when they touched the paper, they immediately calmed down and quickly immersed themselves in the questions, which aroused the amazement of the emperor above.

Don't look at the emperor sitting on the stage looking like an old god, but he is not much more relaxed than the candidates below.His Majesty the Emperor is still very young now, and even most of the examinees below him are much older than him. Although he has always shown a calm appearance on weekdays, he still has a young heart.

He was holding the memorial in his hand, and seemed to be reading it, but if he looked carefully, he would find that he was looking at the memorial, and he was obviously using it to observe the candidates below.But the examinees didn't realize that no one dared to raise their heads to look at the face of the sky in an upright manner. They only glanced out of the corner of their eyes and quickly looked away. What could they see?They could only vaguely think that the emperor was really looking at the memorial and not staring at him. This perception made many people relax a lot.

Regarding the imperial examination, there was a famous saying in the previous dynasty, "fifty young scholars".It means that if you can be admitted to Jinshi at the age of 50, you are considered young.Of course, this sentence is a bit general, but it also reflects the difficulty of the imperial examination.

The imperial examination is not easy. Many people are still taking the exam after decades, and the imperial examination was suspended for so long a few years ago.It is conceivable that the average age of candidates in the palace examination at this moment is definitely more old than young.

There are not many young candidates in the palace, and every emperor will pay more attention to them. Of course, as long as they are good-looking, he will pay more attention.

As the saying goes, one emperor has one courtier, and there are too many veterans in the court. From time to time, they will rely on themselves as veterans of the two dynasties to make a show, so that the emperor always feels constrained in doing things.This time the imperial examination, the emperor must select some of them as his confidantes to train well, there is no doubt about it.

After the test results came out, the eight generations of ancestors of those who were on the list were thoroughly checked by the emperor's shadow army. The emperor basically knew about these people's temperament and temperament, and he also had a preliminary idea in his heart. determine the future of these people.

The reason why the emperor sat in the Hall of Eternal Harmony was to see these people on the spot.

If he becomes his confidant, the emperor may see them often in the future. Although every official is not required to be beautiful, at least he must make himself pleasing to the eye. His Majesty will take care of all those who are not pleasing to the eye. cross out.Those who are too old should also be crossed out. Even if they are too old, they will not have a long official career and will retire in a few years. How can such a person be a confidant?As for those young people who are young, pleasing to the eye, and have good dispositions, they can be used after a few years of experience.

Thinking about it this way, the emperor couldn't help looking more at the few people he "fancy", and the rankings were second. The most important thing is that he hoped that there would be no disappointing things in their palace examination articles.

Ji Zihe is the No.1 in the examination, so the location of the palace examination is arranged closest to the emperor.As long as the emperor raised his eyes, he would be the first to see him, and he couldn't help but pay more attention to him.

From his fidgeting when he first came to the palace, to his confidence when he touched the test paper, the change was very rapid.Because of the previous investigation results of the Shadow Army, the emperor still had a pretty good impression of him.The young man is like a man of action, I am optimistic about you.

However, Ji Zihe didn't know the emperor's mind at all. When he first came to the hall, he was so nervous that he didn't even lift his head, and he didn't even know what the emperor looked like.When he was not nervous, he was busy with the questions, so how could he have time to look at the emperor.

Ji Zihe wrote the article in a hurry for the palace test in the underworld before, but this time is different, he has enough time.So he worked hard on the draft, revising it over and over again tirelessly, and only started to copy it when there was nowhere to change it.

By the time he finished writing, it was already dark.Candles were lit in the main hall, and many candidates had already handed in their papers and left.It was neither too early nor too late for Ji Zihe to hand in the papers, and he could leave the examination room after handing in the papers, which meant that his career in the imperial examination was basically over, and he would never need to take the exam again.

Those who can come to the palace for an examination, at worst, can get an official to do it, as long as they don't commit suicide in the palace, or write something disrespectful in the article, it is basically a certainty.So basically none of the candidates would worry about losing the election. Most of the candidates had the same attitude as Ji Zihe, feeling that the burden on them could finally be let go.As for the rankings, I have finished the exams, so there is no use in worrying, and I will worry about it when the rankings are announced.

The examinees relaxed, but the examiners couldn't relax.These examiners are all important ministers in the court and are very popular with the emperor, otherwise they would not have entrusted them with important tasks.

Regarding the emperor's trust, the examiners naturally did not dare to neglect.The imperial examination is a major event that benefits the country and the people, and absolutely nothing can go wrong.Candidates' papers were circulated among the examiners one by one, and the fate of all candidates was decided in just one night and one morning.They selected the ten best articles and presented them to the emperor.

After reading the ten papers, the emperor directly ranked them in order.These papers were still in a state of blurred names. After the emperor finished sorting the order, Eunuch Luo Xian opened the papers on the spot, copied the names, and presented them to the emperor.After the emperor checked, the roll call began.

Several old ministers frowned when they heard the name of the top three.

"Your Majesty, among the first class, there is no one who has reached the age of the weak crown. Is it a bit wrong?" Mr. Zhang, who has the largest official position and the oldest seniority, first raised an objection.

They have no objection to the candidate for the champion, anyway, they all know that it is the position of the son-in-law, and they will definitely not choose an older one.But what about the second place and Tanhua?Although young talents sound nice, the top three are all young people who have not yet reached the age of crowning. Will it make the world dissatisfied and cause criticism?

"What's wrong, see that these policy theories are all selected by my own relatives, what objection does Mr. Zhang have?" His Majesty said dissatisfied.

See, that's why he wanted his henchman.It was supposed to be a matter that he could decide in a single voice, but he had to be interrupted by someone.Every day clamoring about some loyal words is harsh, if you don't object for a while, it will show that you are not loyal enough.

"Returning to Your Majesty, I think that An Daye's articles are so exquisite that he can bear the title of No. [-] scholar. It's just that the candidates for the second place and third places need to be considered again. These two are too young and have uncertain temperaments. It is not a good thing to rank too high."

The emperor's complexion was very bad, "What does your lord think?"

Mr. Zhang stepped forward and took out a paper and put it on the top, "I dare you, Your Majesty, please see whether this article written by Wang Zongzhi of Xiping is above Ji Zihe's article, and can be named as the second place."

His Majesty the Emperor looked at Zhang Zongzhi's paper indifferently. The paper was acceptable, so he ranked fourth.But compared to the top three he chose, it was still a bit less interesting.The most important thing is that the age written on his paper is too big, he is almost 50 years old, what's the use of writing a good article.The imperial examination is just a starting point. If you want to enter the center of power, you still have to suffer.The older ones will be retired after a while, and they have no future.

The person who can speak is the elder of the two dynasties, the important minister who was pointed out to him by the first emperor.Although he has been a bit of a drifter these years, he is not a traitor, and his position is high, so the emperor can't dismiss all his words.

"can."

Mr. Zhang still wants to continue to advise, "Then the candidate for the flower..."

"Since Zongzhi is the second place, the former No. [-] Ji Zihe will be pushed back one place, let's be a Tanhua. And the original Tanhua Lang Ding Zaichang, also pushed back, let's be a Chuanhe." The emperor said. suddenly interrupted him.

"Your Majesty, Ji Zihe and Ding Zaichang are still young..."

"Okay, Mr. Zhang, what's the matter with being young, I'm not yet seventy or eighty, so can't I sit on the throne?" The emperor said impatiently.

All the examiners knelt down in shock, Master Zhang said in fear and fear, "Your Majesty has learned from you, this veteran has absolutely no intention of doing so."

"I know that Mr. Zhang is loyal, get up." The emperor looked at them coldly, "I choose talents who can be useful to the country, not age or seniority, as long as he is talented and capable, it doesn't matter if he is young Some people have been studying for a lifetime, and the articles they write are still nonsense. If officials are selected according to age, then the imperial examination will not be held."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

This time, no one dared to raise any objections, and the emperor was quite satisfied with the result.

In the past, the top three had to stay in Beijing and become noble officials in the Imperial Academy. After a few decades, they might be able to survive.Although it is difficult, Beijing officials are at the feet of the emperor, and they are more likely to succeed than external officials.But this batch of Jinshi is different. The situation is special. Except for the number one scholar, the emperor intends to release all of them to fill the vacancies of local officials.From this point of view, the advantage of Yijia is not too big, it is just a false name.

Of course, it is a false name for the emperor, but not for the candidates.

On the day of the Chuanlu Ceremony, when Ji Zihe heard the Chuanzhi officer sing his name, his mind went blank instantly.

Tan, Tanhua!

He actually got the third place in the first class!