Chapter 2052 Fall
However, the Ministry of Rites has already determined the rankings, and showing them to the emperor is just for him to take a final look. If there is no problem, it will be decided.
In the past, the emperor had no objection, but this time he was half the chief examiner for the Jinshi examination for the prince. He had come to the palace and talked to him for a while before, saying that some examiners from the Ministry of Rites directly ranked the candidates according to the general list, which made the emperor a little unhappy.
So when Kong Jijiu delivered the papers and the list, the emperor looked at them carefully. He first went through the list and found that Bai Shan, his son-in-law Bai Cheng, and Wei Yu were all there, and then he looked at the papers.
The emperor looked at it very carefully and read through the thirty-six papers from beginning to end according to the ranking. Among them, there were four papers to be selected. Because of the inspection by Kong Jijiu and several doctors, the four papers submitted were all from candidates who were relatively unknown but wrote well.
In order to read the papers, the emperor put aside other government affairs. He called in all the officials who came to report matters and asked them to sit in a row with Kong Jijiu. After he had finished reading the papers, he passed them on for them to read again.
After they finished reading the thirty-six papers, their eyes were dizzy, so the emperor called for dinner and talked about the list with his ministers while they ate.
The emperor had not read the papers of these candidates, but he had seen the general list early on.
Although he wanted to hand over the reform of the imperial examination system to the crown prince so that he could establish his authority, he did not want to muddle through now.
So during the meal, he asked Wei Zhi and others for their opinions on a few papers.
Minister Li couldn't express his opinion on this matter, mainly because as a Minister of War, he couldn't speak on classics. He could say something about current affairs, but...
He glanced at Minister Liu beside him. It was almost the end of the year, and after the New Year, the Ministry of War's appropriations would be calculated. He decided not to cause trouble for Minister Liu this year, and only hoped that he would not cause trouble for him.
So Minister Li lowered his head to eat and did not express any opinion.
But Wei Zhi couldn't do that. Even though his son was also taking the Jinshi examination this year, he was not the kind of person who would recommend talented people over relatives. So when he saw that no one else was willing to speak, he simply commented on it. He didn't say that any of the 32 places that had already been reserved were not good, but said that the two essays that were put in for selection were particularly good.
Thirty-six articles, from poetry and prose to classics and current affairs, are all stuck together. The poetry and prose are clear at a glance, and the classics are almost fixed answers. What he said particularly well is naturally the current affairs policy.
Wei Zhi thought it was a pity that such a talented person failed the exam.
The emperor thought so too. He was about to speak when someone said, "If you fail the Jinshi exam, you can take the Mingjing exam."
The emperor choked on his breath and turned to look at the person who spoke.
Wei Zhi didn't get choked up, but instead retorted, "How can the Jinshi list and the Mingjing list be the same? Why doesn't Lord Han want his own children to take the Mingjing exam?"
Han Shangshu choked and said, "I didn't say that. It was said by the doctor of the Imperial College."
Kong Jijiu was sitting on the other side of the river watching the fire, when the fire suddenly burned himself. He simply asked Han Shangshu, "Which doctor said that?"
Han Shangshu stopped talking. He could have talked to Kong Jijiu in private, but saying it in front of everyone would have made him seem like a villain.
The emperor swallowed the breath that had been choking him and waved his hand, saying, "Alright, let's get over this question for now. Since the exam paper has been issued, we should still focus on the exam paper."
He directly picked out two test papers and said, "These two are left behind."
Everyone took a look and found that one of them was Cheng Wenhai from Tangzhou and the other was Nie Xiu from Luzhou. They were all students of the Imperial College. Except for the emperor, everyone present had seen their papers and thought they were good.
Minister Liu simply turned around and asked Kong Jijiu, "How are their performance in the Imperial College?"
"Since you're in the top 20 on the general rankings, you're prestigious and your results should be pretty good."
Wei Zhize asked, "Are their scrolls the homework they did at school, or did they do it on their own?"
Kong Jijiu paused and said, "We have both, but we made more of them separately."
Wei Zhi snorted and said, "With the exam approaching, the Imperial College's current affairs policy questions are very comprehensive. I remember Bai Shan's application booklet was a selection of essays from his own homework. They were quite thoughtful, even coming up with their own topics, and they were so close to state affairs. Whether they truly have some insights or something else is unclear."
Although Kong Jijiu also felt that the two of them had done a poor job on the paper, he could not tolerate others making such malicious assumptions about his students without evidence, so he countered, "Master Wei, you have a very bad opinion of people. If you don't have evidence, please be careful with your words. If you do have evidence, you can bring it to our Imperial Academy to appeal."
Seeing that the two ministers were about to quarrel, and the two ministers with the best eloquence, the emperor quickly acted as a peacemaker, "Mr. Wei is also worried about selecting talented people. Mr. Kong, please forgive him."
He also said to Wei Zhidao: "Wei Qing, please be careful with your words. It is not good to speak without evidence."
Wei Zhi apologized at the right time, and Kong Jijiu snorted, and the matter was put aside for the time being.
The emperor changed the subject again, "Change these two papers and discuss the rankings."
Seeing that the two candidates chosen by the emperor were both students from his Imperial College, Kong Jijiu simply picked out another paper from the remaining two candidates and said, "Your Majesty, I think this paper is also very good and is on par with these two."
The emperor took a look and found that it was not comparable at all. Although it was well done, it was still a little bit inferior to the other two.
As soon as I saw his name, I could tell that he was also an unknown person. Judging from his hometown, he was a student from Yangzhou Prefecture School.
We can't let him replace one of the two, and Kong Jijiu said that they are equally good, so how do we choose?
The emperor and Kong Jijiu looked at each other and immediately understood what he meant. The old man wanted him to pick another person from the existing quota, and it could not be someone from the Imperial College.
emperor:……
Wei Zhi glanced at the paper, his spirits lifted, and he carefully suggested, "Your Majesty, would you like to take another look at Bai Cheng's paper?"
emperor:……
Bai Cheng has been ranked 32nd. His future father-in-law doesn't even think about moving forward, and you're actually thinking about falling behind?
Seeing that the emperor remained silent, Wei Zhi spoke more cautiously, "Your Majesty, Bai Cheng is still young, barely even twenty years old. It's too early for him to enter the government. If he passes the imperial examination, will he be sent out to a distant place?"
That would be out of the emperor's sight, and it would be difficult to control this person if he caused trouble outside.
The emperor fell into deep thought. He was not worried that Bai Cheng would have other thoughts after being exiled. He was just a little embarrassed to refuse the burning gazes of Kong Jijiu and Wei Zhi.
Cheng Wenhai and Nie Xiu were able to occupy the top 20 on the general list, which showed how much effort they put in. It would be bad if they were left alone, but if his son-in-law was included...
For the sake of stability and unity in the court, the emperor closed his eyes and picked out Bai Cheng's paper and put it aside.
See you at 9pm
(End of this chapter)
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