The Prosperous Era of Longwan

The system of Chuanlu began in the Song Dynasty. Shen Kuo's "Mengxi Bi Tan" records: "On the day when Jinshi was singing in Jiying Hall, the emperor came to the pavilion and the prime minister entered the first, first and third papers. After reading, he opened the papers and looked at his name, then he called someone , and this pavilion door inherits it and passes it on to you."

It's just that it's the Ming Dynasty now, and Zhu Yuanzhang has already established all the procedures for passing it on, and future generations can just follow it.

When Ding Chouyin passed away in March of the 35th year of Jiajing, Wei Guangde, Lao Kan and others had already waited outside the Daming Gate. Naturally, those who were with him were his contemporaries.

Because the palace examination gold list has not yet been made public, naturally the order of their positions is still based on the examination results. Huiyuan Jinda naturally stands on the left side of the first row, and so on.

He was already familiar with Wei Guangde in the same year before and after him, so there was no doubt that he could not find his place, so he quickly stood at the back of the queue.

When the time came, the officials of the Ministry of Rites led them through the side gate of Daming Gate, walked through the long corridor to the foot of Chengtian Gate, and were inspected by Jinwu guards as usual, and then released.

Along the way, Wei Guangde felt that today's atmosphere seemed much more solemn than that during the palace examination. When passing Chengtian Gate, Wei Guangde inadvertently glanced at the palace wall outside Chengtian Gate, and did not know that the yellow list would be posted on it. where.

After everyone walked through the Fengtian Gate and entered the square in front of the Fengtian Hall, under the guidance of the officials of the Ministry of Rites, they all stood in front of the Dan Emperor and waited for the announcement.

At this time, the interior and exterior of Fengtian Hall had already been arranged in accordance with the emperor's etiquette. Officials in court uniforms were already standing up and down the steps outside the hall. Han generals holding various ceremonial weapons were also standing around the square in front of the hall and on both sides of the steps in front of the hall. , the captain of the Imperial Guard in Jinyi made the whole ceremony look grand and solemn.

As the officials of Honglu Temple presented their invitations to be promoted to the palace, Emperor Jiajing moved from Huagai Palace to Fengtian Palace. At this time, the entire square was filled with elegant music from the eaves on both sides of Fengtian Palace and the musicians playing on both sides of Fengtian Gate. happy.

The music comes from the front and rear, giving Wei Guangde the feeling of traveling back to later generations to enjoy surround sound.

"Pah, pah, pah"

Amidst the clear sound of the whip, Emperor Jiajing sat on the supreme throne.

With the chorus of "Bow" from the front, many ministers and new scholars inside and outside the palace all knelt down in unison, and then there was another "Get up", and everyone stood up one after another, and then there was another "Bow".

All the ministers and scholars bowed five times and kowtowed three times to Emperor Jiajing who was sitting on the throne. Wei Guangde could only follow suit mechanically.

After the ceremony, Wei Guangde secretly raised his head and looked around again. There was nothing interesting to see. The new scholars around him all bowed their heads in a respectful manner. Then he looked at the Fengtian Palace. Emperor Jiajing was sitting on the throne. He seemed to be doing some ceremony inside. , perhaps it is to arrange for the ministers to come out to announce their names, that is, to report everyone's ranking.

Not long after, I vaguely saw someone in the main hall handing over something, and then placing it somewhere. Then finally, someone in the main hall came out to kneel down, picked up something from the thing, and then turned around to open it. It looked like it should be an imperial edict. something.

By this time, Wei Guangde knew that the ceremony in the palace was probably over and it was time to announce the name of the number one scholar. He quickly lowered his head and stopped daring to peek.

At this time, the sound of elegant music that was still floating had already stopped, and there was only a faint sound coming from the Fengtian Palace in the distance.

"In the 35th year of Jiajing period, the Bingchen Academy of Science and Technology tried to test the world's tributes. The first A was awarded the title of Jinshi, the second A was awarded the Jinshi background, and the third A was awarded the same Jinshi background."

Wei Guangde knew that it was the "Zhigao", which was the imperial edict conferring the status of Jinshi on them.

At this time, all His Highness's fellow scholars were waiting with their hearts in their throats for the announcement of the final list.

For those who are ranked lower in the imperial examination, who would not want to worry about the chance that the examiner's eyesight might slip to the front?

What's more, Emperor Jiajing has made a lot of changes in reading papers, especially the top three papers that the emperor didn't pay attention to before. Emperor Jiajing has to take four copies to read. Who doesn't want to be the lucky one.

"First place in the palace examination. All major ribbons."

Amid the expectations of many new scholars, the sound of singing came from far away from the front of the hall.

However, due to the distance, no one, including Wei Guangde, could hear clearly. Many candidates with similar pronunciations and high rankings could not help but tremble.

But it doesn’t matter if they can’t hear it clearly the first time, because there will be people who will repeat it three times later.

As the officials of Honglu Temple sang the name of the first scholar, the captains in Jinyi outside the temple started the roll call neatly and powerfully: "The first one in the palace examination. The first place in the imperial examination. All major ribbons."

At this time, Zhu Dashou, who ranked second in the examination, was slightly surprised and suddenly became ecstatic. After bowing and saluting, he walked out of the Jinshi queue under the guidance of the officials of the Ministry of Rites, and came to the left side of the imperial road at the foot of the steps to kneel down and thank the emperor. Ron.

After the three waves of captains roared three times in a row, the captains immediately became silent again, because the second place and third overall pick in the first class will also have this honor, and their tasks have not yet been completed.

"Tao Dalin came first and second in the palace examination."

"Jinda ranked first and third in the palace examination."

Wei Guangde listened quietly to the names of the top three in the Jinshi queue, and finally heard Jinda's name in the ranking of Tanhualang. He inadvertently raised his head and glanced at the person who was supposed to be the number one scholar. At this moment, he had already knelt down. Behind Zhu Dashou.

There is no suspense about the first and third place. In fact, almost all the Jinshi before this knew that Jinda could not become the number one scholar. In fact, it was not possible. He only won the third place.

But that’s not something to envy. After all, the test results are displayed there. If your level is not as good as others, you can only accept it.

Then the biography continued, and at this time the names of the second and third place were announced one by one, and the rest of the Jinshi were also informed of their rankings.

However, when the official of Honglu Temple sang the first name, there was a little commotion in the entire Jinshi queue, which was really unexpected.

"First place in the second class of the palace examination. Wei Guangde."

"Second and second place in the imperial examination. Chen Xi."

The Chuanlu Ceremony was still going on according to the procedures, but Wei Guangde, who was staying in the Jinshi queue, felt as if thunder was going off above his head.

I actually rushed from 271st to fourth place?

Wei Guangde still can't believe that this is true, it really surprised him.

Although I don't know what other people think, Wei Guangde really never thought that he could rush to the second place, and even climb to the first place, Chuanlu.

If Wei Guangde still had a little luck mentality before the results of the general examination were released, he no longer had such thoughts after the results of the general examination were released.

In his opinion, being on the list was the result of his hard work visiting temples and temples both inside and outside the capital. It was really a blessing.

But now, my result in the palace examination is actually fourth place. Does that mean that if I had done a better job in planning the palace examination, it would be possible for me to step on Jinda and be promoted to the position of Tanhualang.

Wei Guangde was thinking wildly behind the Jinshi queue, feeling happy and regretful.

At this time, he just thought that his article was good and caught the eye of the reviewers, so his ranking was greatly improved.

Fortunately, at this time, the second-class and third-class Jinshi did not have to go out to thank him, they only had to stay where they were, so that he did not make a fool of himself because of his random thoughts.

It took a long time, but finally, the official of Honglu Temple sang the last name, "Third place in the palace examination, No. 203. Li Shihan."

The entire roll-call process is over. It takes a long time to read through the rankings of all 300 Jinshi.

As Danbi's great music "Qingping Chapter" played again under the performance of the musicians, the officials of the Ministry of Rites guided Jinke Jinshi to bow to Emperor Jiajing again to express gratitude.

As the Minister of Rites took over the yellow list from the officials of Honglu Temple and placed it respectfully on the cloud plate engraved with the auspicious dragon pattern, the four chamberlains gently lifted the cloud plate and walked out of Fengtian Hall. They had been standing in front of the hall for a long time. The official Luan held up the yellow cover that represented the emperor's supreme authority to clear the way. He came down from the steps and passed the Yunpan on the imperial road, passing through Fengtianmen, Meridian Gate and Chengtianmen. The yellow list will be posted in the outer palace of East Chang'an. On the wall, it was taken back by the cabinet three days later and placed in the Imperial College.

Huang Gai was in front, and Huang Bang was behind. At this time, the princes and ministers in the hall also lined up neatly to follow, and followed the list together with the Jinshi.

When Huang Bang passed by, Wei Guangde raised his head and glanced at the Fengtian Hall in the distance. Emperor Jiajing had already stood up and left his seat. It seemed that he couldn't wait to meet Xiyuan for a ritual ceremony.

The entire ceremony of the Chuanlu Ceremony may have delayed a lot of the Taoist master's cultivation time.

At this time, in the Jinshi queue, Wei Guangde had consciously stood to the right of Jinda. He was now the first in the second class, so he should be here.

However, they saw Zhu Dashou, Tao Dalin and Jinda in front of them being led to a side hall. When they came out of it, they all had put on new clothes. At this time, Zhu Dashou had already put on the No. 1 Scholar uniform. , wearing an Erliang court crown on his head, a Feiluo court dress, a plain silver belt around his waist, and a pair of medicinal jade pendants hanging on his waist, he looked really majestic.

There are also hairpins on the hat. The branches and leaves are all silver, decorated with green feathers, and there is a small gold medal hanging on it. Wei Guangde is not sure whether it is made of pure gold or gilded with silver. He has to take it off and weigh it to know, but it is above The three words "Rong En Banquet" are extremely eye-catching.

When the three of them rode on a white horse again, Wei Guangde felt sour in his heart again.

If he had been more attentive and serious during the imperial examination, maybe he would have been able to ride a white horse through the Imperial Street and boast of being an official.

Sighing in his heart, Wei Guangde could only walk behind them. He could not go through the middle door, so he could only go out through the side door.

But when he was feeling sorry for himself, countless pairs of envious and jealous eyes were looking at him behind him.

Although there was no horse riding, after all, Wei Guangde was walking in the first row, and the others could only follow him and eat dust, and it was not easy to show their face.

After leaving the palace gate, the princes and ministers naturally stopped following them to praise their official status. They only politely bowed their hands to these new disciples of the emperor.

The drumming ceremony guard who had been waiting here for a long time saw the new Jinshi coming out, and immediately began to play and beat with his hands and lips, creating a solemn and festive atmosphere.

The Yamen servants played gongs in front of them to clear the way, and the officials of the Ministry of Rites followed closely behind Huang Bang. Zhu Dashou and other three first-class Jinshi also followed on horseback, leading Wei Guangde and others on foot to Chang'an Street.

At this time, both sides of Chang'an Street were already crowded with people. In ancient China, entertainment activities for the common people were relatively lacking. The imperial street bragging event held every three years in the capital has naturally become an important entertainment activity for the common people in the capital.

As Wei Guangde walked, he looked at both sides of the street and felt that most of the people in the capital had come to watch the excitement. The entire street was packed with people, and there was no gap in sight.

The gong was sounded in front to clear the way, and people like him lined up neatly and followed the team. Wei Guangde suddenly had a feeling, which was not a very glorious feeling.

Wei Guangde knew that the main purpose of praising officials in the imperial street was to motivate students to be self-motivated, encourage them to study actively and take part in the imperial examination, so that students could see the glory of the number one scholar.

It is indeed glorious to ride on a tall horse, but as a second- and third-class Jinshi, Wei Guangde feels like he is being watched. What should he do if he feels a little ashamed?

Walking through the royal streets of the imperial city, accepting the congratulations of all the people, they were indeed dazzling at the moment, but the more Wei Guangde walked, the more uncomfortable he felt.

The team of officials came to the left gate of Chang'an, where a gorgeously decorated colorful booth had been temporarily built. After the Yamen separated the crowd, the officials from the Ministry of Rites entered with the imperial list and posted it in the colorful booth for all the people to see.

The big officials, Tao Dalin and other first-class Jinshi were looking at the imperial list of Jinshi, and they were extremely excited.

When Wei Guangde was in a tangled mood, on one side of the street, Wei Guangde's long follower Zhang Ji and the coachman and bodyguard Li San had already seen Wei Guangde following Sanding Jia.

Li San had never read a book, so naturally he didn't understand much about this. He just knew that his young master was going to become an official. In fact, at the end of last month, he had already confirmed that he would become an official, but he didn't know what kind of official he would be.

At this moment, Li San felt very honored to see so many adults taking the young master out to parade on the street. Although he was not walking on the street, his young master was inside.

Zhang Ji has read books. Although he didn't understand this before, during this period of time in the capital, he came into contact with other bookboys and followers who were responsible for the imperial examination. He already knew that the position where the young master stood was among the top two. What does it mean that famous people can stand?

"hiss"

Zhang Ji couldn't help but take a breath of cold air.

He knew the results of his young master in the joint examination. He ranked more than 200. How could he be ranked among the top two at once?

Next to them, the entourage of Lao Kan and Zhang Ke were also stunned as they looked at the team of boasting officials walking on the street. Wei Guangde's position was really eye-catching.

The eyes of those people on the street were naturally attracted to the Sanding Armor riding on the horse. As servants, they naturally looked for their young master in the crowd behind them, and then they inevitably saw the young and excessive Chuanlu.

Wei Guangde thought that the people on the streets around him were watching their jokes, just like playing monkeys, but he completely failed to consider that in fact, people only focused on the No. 1 pick. In fact, even the No. 2 pick and No. 3 pick could attract less traffic. not much.