On April 20th, the day of the palace examination, the weather was clear. Two hundred people were waiting at Taihe Gate for the imperial edict. At noon, eunuchs and guards finally led them to the palace examination venue. When they arrived, they stood in their seats in turn. Then they heard the eunuch's voice, "The emperor has arrived!" The candidates and guards all knelt down to kowtow.
"Stand up." Wang Yu stood up as the voice sounded younger. Although he was sitting in the first row, he did not dare to look up at the emperor. The palace examination was presided over by the emperor himself, which reflected the emperor's attention to the students taking the exam. These people could be called disciples of the emperor and would only devote themselves to the emperor.
"Sit down, everyone is the pillar of our Dali. Please answer the questions carefully in today's palace examination."
After that, he asked the examiners to read out the test questions three times in total, and then he stopped reading them, regardless of whether they heard it or not. Wang Yu quickly copied the test questions onto paper, and then looked at them carefully. It was about the handling of the Dongyi people.
Wang Yu thought about it carefully. This issue is deeply rooted in the blood of every Chinese person, which is to include this small island in their own territory.
Of course, most people in this era were dismissive of this island. It was small, far away, poor, and separated by a sea, making it difficult to manage. Therefore, most people adopted a passive approach of attacking as soon as they arrived. They felt that it was unnecessary to arrange people to manage it, and it was a waste of manpower, money, and effort.
But Wang Yu didn't think so. No matter how difficult it was to manage, he would just have it his own first. He would just plant the flag of Dali on the island. Finally, Wang Yu wrote down how to attack and how to manage it very fluently, and he didn't notice that a bright yellow figure had been standing next to him for a long time.
As for whether he was in line with the mainstream or whether he could pass the exam, Wang Yu didn't care. At worst, he could go home and live a rich and leisurely life. He didn't care whether he could become an official or not. He had been able to pass the college exam and the palace exam for so many years, and the opportunity to experience it personally was worth it.
The palace examination only lasts one day, starting at Chenshi and ending at Youshi. When the exam stops, everyone has to put down their pens, regardless of whether they have finished writing or not.
The results of the palace examination would be announced on the third day, so they had to go back and wait for another day. Wang Yu and the others followed the guards out of the palace.
Chen Yanwen leaned against the carriage and asked, "Xiuzhi, during the palace examination just now, the emperor stood next to you for a long time. Weren't you nervous?"
Wang Yu looked sideways at him, thinking, "How dare this guy look up and look around? He's not afraid of being caught." "I didn't notice."
Chen Yanwen's scalp tingled at Wang Yu's incredulous look. He explained, "I was sitting a little behind you and caught a glimpse of you out of the corner of my eye. I didn't look at you straight in the eyes, nor did I look up. I just saw a bright yellow figure standing next to you."
He seemed to realize that he had done something very bold. He lowered his head and scratched his hair in embarrassment. He had wanted to ask them about their answers to the palace examination, but now he didn't want to ask anymore. He kept wondering if anyone had been discovered.
Wang Yu knew he was nervous and comforted him, "It's okay. No one asked you to leave during the palace examination. No one should have noticed."
After hearing this, Chen Yanwen felt a little relieved.
The next evening, the emperor held up the ten papers and said with a smile, "Teacher, why did you put Wang Yu's paper in there?"
Lan Yuanqing closed his eyes and replied helplessly: "Even if I don't let go, the emperor will find it. Isn't his answer the most consistent with your thoughts?"
"Haha, teacher agrees?"
"I agree that it's useless. This can't be rushed. We need to take our time."
"I know." However, the emperor and his teacher had always disagreed on this matter, and he was very happy to see his teacher relent. He asked again, "Teacher, are you willing to be the chief examiner this time? Are you looking for a good candidate to become your disciple?"
Speaking of this, Old Master Lan felt a little depressed. He had accepted three apprentices in his life. One was obsessed with business, one liked the world of martial arts, and one was the emperor, who was concerned about the calendar and people's livelihood.
"If I don't accept a disciple who can inherit my mantle, I will end up in the coffin with my things."
The emperor also knew the teacher's complaints, but the Lan family did not have any outstanding talents, otherwise the teacher would not have looked for apprentices outside. "So, who did the teacher take a fancy to this time?"
Lan Yuanqing nodded. The emperor didn't expect that the teacher really had it, and quickly asked who it was?
"Song Baiyan."
The emperor nodded upon hearing this. This man was indeed well-educated. If it weren't for Le'an, he would have wanted to appoint him as the top scholar. After all, his knowledge was really good, and he could also spread the story of being the top three scholars. Why not do it? Then he thought of Wang Yu and said that his knowledge was also very good.
"He looks a lot like the late emperor. It's not suitable." Mr. Lan said this without thinking. The emperor knew what he meant. Wang Yu was indeed very similar to his father in some ways. It was not suitable for him to be his disciple.
My father and my teacher are both teachers and friends. It took a lot of effort to invite Lan Yuanqing to be the Prince's tutor. They have many similar and different ideas. Their ways of dealing with many things are very contradictory, but they also appreciate each other. Just like my teacher said, some of my father's ideas are too advanced and shocking.
On the third day, two hundred people continued to wait for the results at the palace examination site. The emperor first asked Song Boyan to answer questions, and then asked Chen Yanwen to answer questions. In addition to asking some academic questions, there were also personal questions. Chen Yanwen answered them with sweat on his face.
After asking, the emperor asked the announcer to call out the names. This call out was also called the announcement of the names. The top three names in the first class, namely the top scholar, the second scholar and the third scholar, were announced first.
"The first place in the first class is Chen Yanwen." The official sang it three times in a row. Chen Yanwen really didn't expect it to be him. He only reacted after hearing it the third time and stepped forward to meet the emperor. The emperor awarded him the top scorer's robe.
"Song Boyan, second in the first class." Three more times.
"Wang Yu, third in the first class."
Wang Yu didn't expect that he would be ranked first. He was surprised for a moment and then stepped forward to take the third place uniform. Then he heard that Zhuang Zirui was ranked first in the second place.
The three in the first class were awarded the title of Jinshi, the sixty in the second class were awarded the title of Jinshi, the one hundred and thirty-seven in the third class were awarded the title of Tong Jinshi, and the three in the first class were directly granted official positions. The top scorer was awarded the title of editor of the sixth rank in the Hanlin Academy, and the second and third place winners were awarded the title of editor of the seventh rank in the Hanlin Academy.
Since ancient times, the Hanlin Academy has been a noble place, a place for training senior officials and a place for the emperor to reserve talents. It is also a place that all scholars yearn for, because most cabinet ministers come from the Hanlin Academy.
After the singing, the emperor left Chen Yanwen alone. Wang Yu and Song Boyan could only wait outside because their family needed to be paraded through the streets on horseback.
After about two cups of tea, Chen Yanwen came out. He was nervous but excited at the same time, so he came out with his hands and feet clumsy. Seeing him like this, Wang Yu thought it must be a good thing and felt relieved. Then he thought that it was a good thing that he had become the top scorer, so why should he worry about it.
Before they could even ask, they were taken by the eunuchs to change their clothes. The three of them wore red robes and flowery hats and went out through the main gate. This was the only time in their lives that they could go through this main gate.
Only the emperor could enter through the main gate of the palace. The empress could use it during her wedding, and the three people who ranked first in the palace examination could use it. From then on, officials had to enter through the side gate when attending court.
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