Rule the Ming Dynasty Alone

Xu Hong swallowed and felt a little excited at this time.

Generally speaking, as long as the emperor is not too lazy, a small biography will be held before the biography ceremony, that is, the emperor will interview the top ten candidates.

This time he did well in the palace examination and was fortunate enough to be one of the candidates called by Xiao Chuanlu. Everything that happened that day was still vivid in his mind.

A few days ago, it was also a sunny day. Ten of them were led into Xiyuan by the eunuch.

The performance rankings this time are surprising. The traditional strong imperial examination provinces did not perform satisfactorily in the joint examination and palace examination, but now three of the ten most outstanding people are from Guangdong.

In addition to himself and Zhang Sui, the other one was Liu Cunye from Dongguan County, Guangzhou Prefecture.

Liu Cunye was actually quite famous in Guangdong. He passed the Guangzhou Academy Examination with excellent results when he was young. In the 19th year of Chenghua, he took the Guangdong Provincial Examination and got second place.

As a 23-year-old who ranked second in the Guangdong Provincial Examination and was the chief economic officer of "Shang Shu", such excellent results were unanimously favored by everyone. Some fortune tellers even claimed that Liu Cunye had the potential to be the top scholar.

Xu Hong was several years younger than Liu Cunye. Seeing such a dazzling Liu Cunye, he could only look up. However, after later contact and understanding of some things, I discovered that Liu Cunye lacked the ability to be independent and was not as good as myself in terms of dealing with people.

Take the rural examination high school as an example. It is said that students must go to the capital immediately to participate in the next year's examination, and win the title of Jinshi in the examination.

Liu Cunye made a shocking move. Because his mother was worried that he would encounter danger on his first trip, he voluntarily gave up the good opportunity to pursue the victory and did not go to the capital to participate in next year's examination.

Three years later, in the 23rd year of Chenghua, Liu Cunye finally prepared everything to come to the capital to participate in the first examination in his life. However, he left too late and missed the examination time again.

If it were anyone else, with his talent and infatuation to study the Four Books and Five Classics, he would have been on the gold list early, but because of his indecisive character, he missed two opportunities to take the exam in vain.

Fortunately, two years later, the Enke Examination was held in the second year of Hongzhi, which brought new opportunities to Liu Cunye.

Liu Cunye learned the lesson from the last time this time, left Guangzhou early and rushed to the capital, successfully participated in the joint examination, and achieved good results in the palace examination.

It's just a pity that Liu Cunye is already thirty years old, but he missed the best golden age period to enter the Hanlin Academy.

fishing?

It’s really fishing!

We guessed it right!

…

Xu Hong came to the edge of Taiye Pond, where ten fishing positions had been prepared. Unexpectedly, they guessed the content of the test correctly, and couldn't help but feel excited.

"My mother has taught me not to fish on the river since childhood, so the students dare not obey. Please tell your Majesty the reason for my father-in-law!" Liu Cunye suddenly stood up and refused seriously.

Qian Fu burst into laughter immediately and looked at Liu Cunye with mocking eyes: "I think you are deliberately making excuses for yourself because you are afraid of losing too ugly!"

Xu Hong gave a bitter look and looked at this fellow countryman with complicated eyes.

Although he seemed to be escaping from this competition, he knew that this was not an excuse, but the real reason for Liu Cunye's refusal.

Generally speaking, when their children from Guangdong go north to the capital to take the exam, their first choice is to take the water route, beyond Meiling, via the Gan River, and along the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal.

Just because Liu Cunye's mother said that it was dangerous to take a boat, Liu Cunye almost went to Beijing by land. This was also the reason why he missed the examination time when he went to Beijing for the first time.

That's why Liu Cunye was the only Guangdong tribute scholar who didn't practice fishing earlier. Now he makes this statement, presumably because of his mother's explanation.

"Your Majesty has said it! Filial piety is commendable, so just stay by the side!" The emperor did not embarrass himself about this matter, but arranged for Liu Cunye to watch from the side.

The news about Wu Jinshi and Wu Sheng has long been spread, so the bait provided now is only a small amount.

Xu Hong went fishing with eight other people. Although he had practiced at Dongsheng Inn, his fishing skills were mediocre after all, and he only caught two small fish in half an hour.

Fortunately, there were a few people behind him who were worse at fishing than him.

In fact, everyone has been immersed in the Four Books and Five Classics since childhood. It is impossible for anyone to waste time on fishing, so few people can actually fish.

"Fishing is all about meditation!" The person who caught the most fish was Qian Fu, who was born near the Songjiang River. He caught a total of five fish this time, and he looked very proud.

Jin Gui and others had relatively little harvest, and seemed very depressed, but they knew that they had no chance of winning the top prize. If ranked by catch, then the top prize belongs to Qian Fu.

Qian Fu was born in a famous family. He claimed to be the ancestor of Wuyue Kingdom, King Wusu, Qian Liu. It was said that he could compose at the age of seven, and his poems were even famous in Jiangnan.

Unlike everyone who concentrates on studying the Four Books and Five Classics, Qian Fu is actually a game master. Not only is he good at poetry and prose, but he also likes to play Cuju. For this reason, he even composed a "Cuju Poem", one of which is quite interesting: "After playing Cuju for a few times, I feel weak and I hate to kill the beautiful young man from Chang'an!"

It's just that no matter how talented you are, it's not a good thing to be too playful. Qian Fu won the exam at the age of twenty-five. He failed in the national examination the following year, and now he is named on the Enke Gold List.

Qian Fu mentioned a total of five fish, threw them in front of Liu Jin and said proudly: "I have caught the most fish here, do you think I am the winner?"

"I'm afraid you have misunderstood! His Majesty asked you ten people to fish here just to let you experience the fun of this sport! How can a dignified young man be such a child's play? What the Zajia will talk about next is the real test question!" Liu Jin He glanced at the arrogant young man and explained calmly.

Although Xu Hong's results were relatively high, he couldn't help but secretly breathed a sigh of relief when he learned that Xiao Chuanlu was not ranked based on fishing. Just seeing Qian Fu's constipated expression made him feel extremely comfortable.

At this moment, I can only say that the emperor did a great job.

But then I thought about it, how could the wise and powerful emperor be such a childish person? This fishing is indeed an appetizer, and the real show is later.

Among the other nine people, the most excited one is Liu Cunye. He was originally destined to be ranked tenth, but he once again saw the hope of competing for the top spot.

In Tingchao Pavilion, Zhu Youtang was drinking tea and admiring the scenery, so he naturally saw the reactions of the ten people below.

Judging from the current feedback, although he answered the imperial exam questions well, he may not be the talent he is looking for, and a flash of disappointment flashed through his eyes.

"Your Majesty, why are your exam questions so weird? I can't understand the intention at all!" Han Youying asked in confusion as she became more and more feminine.

Zhu Youtang looked at the long-legged beauty in front of him and smiled slightly: "You are really brave. You are trying to figure out the holy will. You should accept the punishment according to the old rules!"

Han Youying bit her lower lip gently, her beautiful eyes full of resentment, and then silently knelt down in front of Zhu Youtang.

Zhu Youtang looked up at the sky and found that the sky was really blue. He couldn't help but clenched the chair handle with his hands, as if he wanted to freeze time at this moment.

At the edge of Taiye Pond, Liu Jin officially announced the test questions and said: "There are ten grass carp here! Now I ask you to find a good place for grass carp within one day, but you have to return this grass carp next year, and grass carp can be raised The fatter, the better!”

ah?

The ten people present couldn't help but look at each other in shock when they heard this question.

If they were just asked to find a good place for grass carp, Taiye Pond next to it would be an excellent place, but the difficulty is that the real fish must come back next year.

As expected, he is the smartest emperor in the world. The questions in the imperial examination that just passed have already made people pull out their hair, and now they are even secretly complaining.

Jin Gui thought of the question he was most concerned about and asked seriously: "Father-in-law, won't our competition have to last until next year to have a result?"

Upon hearing this, everyone looked at Liu Jin in confusion.

Say one thousand, say ten thousand, what they desire most now is the No. 1 pick, no matter how bad it is, they can be second or third overall.

"Of course not! We will send people to keep an eye on the ten of you. As long as you report back on how to settle this grass carp, His Majesty will give you the final result, but you still have to return the fish next year!" Liu Jin didn't know what Zhu Youtang was saying. What kind of medicine is being sold, but it must have a deep meaning.

this……

Xu Hong suddenly felt a mixture of joy and sorrow. He was naturally happy that they only needed to provide a method to deal with it, but he was worried that the fish would be returned next year.

Faintly, they felt that the emperor might have some ulterior motives in making such an assessment.

After they left, a woman who wanted to figure out the emperor's will was being punished. While crying, she finally shed tears of happiness.

The past is like smoke, and now the result of the No. 1 pick is about to be announced.

Xu Hong's thoughts returned from Xiao Chuanlu's memory, but he was looking at Xu Qiong, the Minister of Rites, who was about to announce the final result.

"Brother Xu, I heard that you and Miss Qian are getting married, but I haven't officially congratulated you yet!" Gao Kui knelt next to Xu Hong and suddenly winked.

Seeing that Gao Kui was still thinking about his marriage, Xu Hong couldn't help but said strangely: "Now the top pick is about to be announced, aren't you nervous?"

Different from the announcement of the joint examination, the results of the palace examination are announced starting from the number one scholar, and the higher the ranking, the lower the ranking. And if you want to be the most dazzling one today, your first name must be yourself.

"What should I be nervous about now? The number one scholar must be selected among the ten of you. As long as I can stay in the top two, I will be satisfied!" Gao Kui had a good attitude and expressed his disapproval.

Xu Hong turned to look at his companion Gao Kui seriously, but shook his head gently: "I will not be the number one scholar, nor will I be a first-class scholar, but I will probably be assigned to the Ministry of War!"

"Even if you are not a first-class Jinshi, you must have entered the Hanlin Academy as a Shujishi. How could you be assigned to the Ministry of War?" Gao Kui's eyes widened and he immediately questioned.

The reason why the number one, second and top candidates are talked about is not only that they got the best results in the examination, but also were able to enter the Hanlin Academy with the official positions of Hanlin Editor and Hanlin Editor.

If you cannot enter the Hanlin Academy directly, the best result is to enter the Hanlin Academy as a shujishi first, and then have the opportunity to officially become an Hanlin official after one year.

If Xu Hong, who participated in Xiaochuanlu, was eventually assigned to the sixth department, and it was still a military department with a relatively low salary, he would be far behind the first, first, and third Jinshi, and it would not be the normal treatment for candidates who participated in Xiaochuanlu.

Xu Hong did not explain, but looked at Xu Qiong, the Minister of Rites, who was holding a yellow book above: "It's begun, let's get ready to kowtow!"

"First place in the first class of the imperial examination - Liu Cunye!"

"Second place in the Imperial Examination - Qian Fu!"

"Third place in the first class of the imperial examination—Jin Gui!"

…

As soon as Xu Hong finished speaking, Xu Qiong, the Minister of Rites, had already read out loudly the first, third, and third jinshi.

"Liu Cunye, the first in the first class, is here to meet Gongsheng!"

"Qian Fu, the second in the first class, comes to Gongsheng for an audience!"

"Jin Gui, the third in the first class, comes to Gongsheng for an audience!"

…

An old eunuch standing on top shouted loudly like a repeater.

According to the normal procedure, only the first-, third-, and third-grade Jinshi are eligible to enter the Fengtian Hall to express their gratitude, while the rest of the Xinke Jinshi are still not eligible to enter the hall.

In fact, the vast majority of new scholars are destined to never enter the Fengtian Palace in their lifetime. After all, it is something that many people cannot do if they want to reach the level of a fourth-rank imperial official.

bingo?

Did I win?

Am I the top pick?

…

When Liu Cunye heard that he was in high school, he couldn't believe his ears. He looked at Fengtian Temple with great excitement, and his mind went blank at this time.

"Master Zhuangyuan, please follow me into the palace to thank you!" The official of Honglu Temple stepped forward and reminded him very gently.

Liu Cunye was completely dizzy, but he still maintained a respectful attitude, so he followed the officials of Honglu Temple into the temple like a marionette.

In addition to Liu Cunye, second place winner Qian Fu and Tanhua Jin Gui also followed him into the palace, and finally met the Lord of All Peoples - Hongzhi.

Even if it is the same thing, different people will have different feelings when they see it, and the emperor actually has the same reason.

In the eyes of the ministers, Zhu Youtang was a powerful emperor, in the eyes of the eunuchs he was not a majesty who tolerated aggression, but in the eyes of Liu Cunye, he was an emperor who must be loyal to wholeheartedly.

Zhu Youtang looked at the three people who walked into the hall. These three people were all sent to the Hanlin Academy by his own choice. He looked very plain and said: "Ping Shen!"

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Liu Cunye and the other three saluted politely.

Zhu Youtang only asked a few questions according to the procedure, and then raised his hands repeatedly, and the Honglu Temple officials led the three people to stand at the back of the official team.

The Chuanlu Ceremony continued, and Xu Qiong read out the names on the golden book one by one, finalizing the ranking of the new Jinshi, and at the same time announcing the fate of these newcomers in the officialdom.

Because the questions in the palace examination are quite tricky, some candidates even handed in blank papers directly, resulting in a big difference between the final ranking and the ranking in the general examination.

Xu Hong took the second place in the second class, Zhang Sui took the sixth place in the second class, Gao Kui ranked in the second class, and Hai Kuan and other three people got the third class and the same Jinshi.

After the promotion of the golden book was completed, everyone respectfully sent Emperor Hongzhi off to the throne, and then came the Royal Horse Kua Street Ceremony for Liu Cunye, the most famous scholar.

Xu Hong saw Liu Cunye and the other three people who had changed into the No. 1 Scholar uniform, and combined with the fact that the three of them chose to keep the fish in the bathtub, he vaguely felt that they might have good articles and answer sheets, but they were embarrassed to use them.

As for why they are first-class Jinshi, this answer may only be known by the current emperor.