Chapter 345: The Little Scholar in Disguise as a Man and the Amazing Emperor 2
Yelu Zongzheng looked along the way and was disappointed again and again.
Most people's articles are full of high-sounding words, but they rarely provide practical solutions.
Only when he passed by He Wenxin did the emperor, who was eager to find talents, stop for a moment.
He Wenxin also knew that His Majesty had noticed her, and her palms suddenly began to sweat and she felt nervous.
But he is very confident in his article.
The first question was about relief, and the second was about the people's hearts. The prime minister had vaguely mentioned these two questions to his father, so He Wenxin made full preparations before the palace examination.
Sure enough, Yelu Zongzheng stood beside him and watched for a long time, nodded slightly, took out a snack from the tray in the hand of the eunuch next to him, and placed it on He Wenxin's table.
He Wenxin was ecstatic.
The palace examination lasted for several hours. These refreshments were prepared to relieve the hunger of the tribute scholars and were originally distributed by the eunuchs.
But if the emperor valued someone's article, he would personally distribute tea and snacks out of his love for talent, which undoubtedly represented affirmation and honor to the tribute scholar.
Many people at the table suddenly lost interest and frequently cast envious or jealous glances at He Wenxin.
Yelu Zongzheng continued walking forward and finally came to Cha Jiu's side.
His eyes were first attracted by the elegant handwriting, and then when he saw the content, he was amazed and could not take his eyes away.
Cha Jiu's articles do not have too many beautiful words, but are concise and to the point, making people read them with great pleasure and be deeply immersed in them, unable to pause for a moment.
So, no matter how long Cha Jiu wrote, Yelu Zongzheng would stand beside her and watch, savoring every word, unable to stop the admiration in his eyes.
He even forgot to give refreshments.
But no one questioned his love for Cha Jiu's articles.
He Wenxin watched from behind, her teeth grinding against each other, and the pen in her hand was almost broken by her.
Cha Jiu wrote for two hours without stopping until his hands felt sore from holding the pen.
A piece of refreshment was placed next to her hand.
Then comes the second block.
Then comes the third piece.
As if he was afraid of starving her.
Cha Jiu looked to the side and realized that the person distributing tea and snacks to her was not the eunuch, but Yelu Zongzhen, who was wearing a bright yellow dragon robe.
Yelu Zongzhen's appearance is different from the delicate and handsome appearance of men in the Central Plains.
His facial features are deep, his eyes are wild, and his every move is full of domineering spirit, which makes people unable to help but be convinced.
He gives people a feeling.
Born to be an emperor.
Cha Jiu only dared to take a quick glance, then lowered his head, not daring to offend the emperor.
Yelu Zongzheng didn't take it seriously.
His entire attention was focused on this policy article, and he even couldn't wait for the palace examination to be over before he began to question Cha Jiu.
"On the issue of relief, most court officials proposed to appoint full-time officials. Why did you propose the 'She Cang Theory' to cut redundant officials and delegate power to the local gentry?"
Cha Jiu stood up from his chair, bowed, and then lowered his head and replied, "The relief is not implemented properly because of the officials themselves. The more officials there are, the more corruption there is. With each level of deduction, there is very little relief left for the people."
When these words came out, everyone was shocked.
To accuse the inspectors of corruption is to indirectly accuse Your Majesty of making mistakes in selecting the right people and of flaws in the court system.
How dare He Yanyang speak so arrogantly in public?
For a moment, there was complete silence in the Jiying Hall, and everyone held their breath, waiting for Yelu Zongzheng to get angry.
The countermeasure that He Wenxin himself wrote was to add more officials, which is also the view of most people in the court today.
At this time, he looked at Cha Jiu with a schadenfreude, waiting for Yelu Zongzheng to get angry and order his men to drag her out of the palace and execute her.
However, Yelu Zongzheng said calmly: "Continue."
Cha Jiu secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
In fact, she was also observing Yelu Zongzheng's attitude.
Fortunately, he was indeed an emperor who valued talents and was generous.
Cha Jiu continued, "Not only are many of the officials sent by the imperial court corrupt, but they also don't know much about the local grain procurement situation. In the end, they can only purchase grain through local gentry. So the gentry deduct money at one level, and the officials deduct money at several levels above them. In this way, the relief money is bound to be in deficit."
"So instead of adding more officials to manage granaries, it would be better to let local gentry accept the emperor's order and set up community granaries in their localities to store grain during good harvests and release it during disaster years. Without officials withholding grain, the people might be able to get something."
After hearing this, Yelu Zongzheng's brows gradually relaxed, and he was very happy. He reached out and placed the small teapot on the tray on Cha Jiu's table.
This is because we are afraid that she might choke on her snacks.
Faced with such a holy favor, Cha Jiu maintained a neither humble nor arrogant attitude and only expressed his gratitude respectfully.
This attitude made Yelu Zongzheng like her even more and he put those slanderous rumors behind him.
What's wrong with lust?
What's wrong with being eccentric?
It is normal for people of extraordinary talent to be a little arrogant and like beautiful women.
Thinking of this, Yelu Zongzheng no longer had any prejudice against Cha Jiu. He smiled and patted her shoulder, asking her to stand up and return to her seat to continue answering.
Not only was Cha Jiu not punished for his offensive remarks, but he also won the favor of His Majesty. Even though the palace examination had not yet ended, everyone knew the result.
He Wenxin was extremely disappointed.
Sure enough, after the palace examination, Yelu Zongzheng was so fascinated by Cha Jiu's essay that he appointed her as the top scorer on the spot, and appointed her as a compiler in the Hanlin Academy, and she also served by the emperor's side to read with him.
As for He Wenxin, his articles were originally quite admirable, but Cha Jiu completely trampled on the idea of adding more officials, which instantly reversed the situation and turned his extra points into deductions, and in the end he only got a second-class Jinshi degree.
He Jinfu and his wife prepared a wedding banquet at home early to celebrate their son's success in the imperial examination.
As a result, they sent people to the palace to inquire, only to find out that He Wenxin not only did not win the top prize, but did not even get into the top three.
He Wenxin came back with her head down and was very upset. She saw He Jinfu sitting in the main seat with a dark face and not saying a word. She felt even more uncomfortable and ashamed.
"Dad, I'm sorry."
He Jinfu snorted coldly: "The Prime Minister revealed the direction of the test questions to us half a month ago, but now you can't even get into the first class. Where can I put my old face?"
He Wenxin looked down at her toes, her self-esteem severely hurt and she was in great pain.
Mrs. He felt sorry for her son and advised him, "It's just an imperial examination. Not to mention that he has passed the imperial examination, even if he has no official title, he can still rely on your and the prime minister's protection, right?"
He Jinfu scolded: "You should do your best to fight for what you want, and you should do whatever it takes. Relying on others for protection is a cowardly thing to do. Think about it, I came to Beijing from a famine-stricken land with nothing, but now I am the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue and have a rich family. I didn't rely on others, but on my own character and brains."
He Jinfu felt no shame at all when he said this.
In his view, He's father's kindness was stupidity.
It was smart of him to use this kindness to his advantage.
He Wenxin quickly responded.
Seeing that his son was obedient, He Jinfu felt relieved. He picked up the hot tea, wiped off the foam, and asked casually, "Who is the number one scholar?"
He Wenxin clenched his fists suddenly and found it difficult to utter the name.
"…It's He Yanyang."
He Jinfu dropped the teacup in his hand, his face filled with shock.
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