60 060 Imperial Examination

◎Cheating? It is impossible for me, Old Kang, to do this!◎

When Mo Yu entered the Southern Study to accompany the brothers to study, it was the 20th day of the third lunar month, the third day of Master Kang's southern tour back to Beijing. After accompanying his father and son, he also accompanied several grandchildren, so it was basically a seamless connection.

And once he entered the Southern Study, because he got up early and went to bed late, not only did he have to study, but he also had to occasionally act as an "assistant teacher", so his days were very fulfilling, and time passed quickly. It wasn't long before it was the fourth lunar month, and it was time for the results of this palace examination to be announced.

Mo Yu's luck was very good. After he traveled through last year, it was just after the Chinese New Year, and he caught up with this excitement. This is because according to the rule of the imperial examination every three years, there happened to be a spring examination this year. Master Kang returned from a trip to Jiangnan. The time for the palace examination was just right. After the examination was completed, the results were announced in April. There were more than 100 new Jinshi, including the top three.

The top scholar of this year was Wang Shidan, a 59-year-old Jiangnan talent from Baoying, Yangzhou.

According to the calculation that he was enlightened at the age of five, this Lord Wang has studied hard for 54 years. His talent is really impeccable, but his age is... really a bit old.

Although there are many "white-haired students" in all dynasties, and there are also jokes like "Fan Jinzhongju", but in fact, it is rare to get this result in the end, no matter what age, it can be said to be very powerful.

But maybe it was because the candidates in recent years were all mature candidates, Master Kang was not very happy after finishing this palace examination. Maybe he felt that Old Wang, the champion, was too old, and he didn't know how many years he could live...

What was even more depressing was that the runner-up Zhao Jin and the third place Qian Mingshi were not too young.

There were really not many young talents like him.

Why?

Those candidates were very good when Lin Ruhai was the third place, so why were they all like this this time?

Because he was not very happy, Master Kang simply didn't stay in the house to eat by himself. He went out and walked all the way to the South Study to have lunch with his younger sons, older grandsons, and their new companions, the "magical" Lin family baby.

In view of the average age and looks of the top three, Master Kang was impressed by their talents and regretted that they were not perfect. As he walked, he couldn't help thinking that there seemed to be a few young people who were good at studying. In addition to Lin Ruhai, the former top scholar, there seemed to be quite a few before that...

Oh, didn't the Jia family in Beijing have two people who were good at studying?

I just can't remember their names.

Master Kang couldn't help but whispered as he thought about it. The eunuch Dai Quan who was serving beside him hurriedly added with a smile: "Your Highness, are you talking about the former prince Jia Jing of the Ningguo Mansion? He was a Jinshi in the Yimao Imperial Examination. He was about 30 years old at that time."

Master Kang nodded and said, "It seems that there was such a person. He seemed to be good-looking. Although he didn't rank among the top three, he was talented. Why didn't he succeed later? Is there any news?"

Dai Quan smiled awkwardly, "Because Jia Jing had just passed the imperial examination, his father, the Duke of Ning, passed away. He went home to worry about his mother for three years, and his mother, the wife of the Duke of Ning, also passed away. He worried about his mother for another three years, and then his grandmother, the wife of the Duke of Ning, also passed away..."

Master Kang frowned slightly and said, "Why is this man so unlucky? He has been worried about his mother for nearly ten years? And he didn't get married?"

Dai Quan said, "It's Jia Jingjue. A son should be like this, there is no snatch..."

Master Kang sighed, "He is indeed a filial son, but what happened later? Did he recover?"

Dai Quan shook his head and smiled bitterly, "No."

Master Kang was surprised, "Why? Did someone in his family die again?"

Dai Quan smiled and said, "Your Highness, you hit the nail on the head. Originally, it was said that so many people in the family died, so how could anyone else die? It's just that Jia Jing is indeed unlucky. So Ding You... He had to endure many worries, and when he was about to be re-elected, his first wife gave birth to a little girl. It was supposed to be a happy event, but his first wife was old and in poor health, and she died before she was out of the confinement period after giving birth to the child... After four deaths in a row, Jia Jing saw through the world and went directly to Xuanzhen Temple outside the city to practice Buddhism. "

After listening to this, Master Kang couldn't help but sigh, and sighed that this man was really unlucky. But after sighing, he thought of someone again: "Didn't they say there is someone in their family who is good at studying?"

Dai Quan hurriedly smiled and said, "Your Majesty, you have a good memory. The Jia family has been blessed by the emperor for generations. They are indeed blessed and have produced many great people. There is indeed a second son of the Rongguo Mansion, named Jia Zhu, who is also good at studying. I heard that he entered school at the age of fourteen." When

Master Kang heard this, he became excited: "He was admitted to the imperial school at the age of fourteen ." Passed the exam to become a scholar? That's great. How old are you now? Did you pass the imperial examination? "

Dai Quan sighed and said, "Your Majesty, you don't know that Jia Zhu is also unlucky. Although he has good talent, he passed the exam at the age of fourteen. He originally planned to take the autumn exam, but he didn't expect to pass the first time. Before the second time, he died of illness..."

Ah, this...

is not just an ordinary bad luck, it makes Master Kang speechless after hearing it.

Dai Quan also thinks that it is really unlucky to mention the two Jias. Your Majesty is not very happy today. Now, isn't he even more unhappy?

We have to think of a way, otherwise, it will be bad if Your Majesty blames him.

Dai Quan was used to being favored by Master Kang. Seeing that no one was following him, and wanting to get a good reputation from the lady from the Jia family, he boldly said to Master Kang:

"Your Majesty, you don't have to feel sorry for them. Jia Zhu's sister is a lady who works for the Empress Defei. I heard from the Empress Defei last time that the girl is very outstanding in both appearance and character." Master Kang didn't

feel anything when he heard this. After all, he had never lacked beauties. He was too lazy to get involved with the one sent by the Jia family. He might end up in trouble. It would be better to let her stay with the Empress Defei.

Dai Quan couldn't understand why Master Kang didn't react enthusiastically to the news about Yuanchun, and even looked a little uninterested. He was a man who could appreciate others' feelings. When he saw that recommending Yuanchun didn't work, he immediately changed his mind and continued to recommend "talents".

Master, you don't like beauties, but you like talents, right?

Didn't you just lament that there were no "young talents"?

Then wouldn't it be a good time to recommend Jia Yuanchun's biological brother?

Thinking of this, Dai Quan hurriedly said, "Your Highness, you don't know that Yuanchun has a biological brother who is as smart and handsome as her brother Jiazhu. Although he is still young, he can already read, write, and compose poems."

Upon hearing this, Master Kang became interested.

Dai Quan continued to describe Jia Baoyu's situation with exaggeration. When he said that Jia Baoyu was "born with jade", Master Kang's patience finally ran out.

This damn eunuch, he talked for a long time, but what is he talking about? It's

so boring.

If there were other people with great learning in Ningguo Mansion or Rongguo Mansion, he would be a little interested. As for Jia Baoyu, isn't it the thing that the Jia family boasted about being "born from a jade"?

When this thing was born, it was already very noisy. He was not very happy at that time, but he didn't show it because of the face of the Jia family for so many years.

Dare to come this time?

What did the little kid from the Lin family say?

"Only a saint or a wise ruler is worthy of such a miracle from heaven." So is this kid preparing to be a saint or a wise ruler?

Forget it, it's better not to think about or see such a thing. He was afraid that he would not be able to resist throwing the jade ring in his hand into the face of this clown - do you really think that anyone is worthy of being associated with jade?

Forget it, this topic is really not worth talking about at all, let's go to eat.

Just when Master Kang was about to step into the door, he suddenly found that the top three were all from the south... He remembered that he heard some bad rumors on the way to the south, saying that there was a lot of cheating in the imperial examinations in Jiangnan...

But how could this be possible!

Such a serious matter, if there is any cheating, how can it be a disgrace, it is simply shaking the foundation of the country, and they must be dragged out and beheaded.

At this moment, Master Kang has not yet realized the seriousness of the problem. He only thinks that he should let the northern provinces, such as the direct-controlled provinces, work harder and cultivate talents to study hard and take the imperial examinations actively. In this way, they can compete with the talented people in the south of the Yangtze River in the next imperial examination, so as to avoid

the situation where all the candidates are from the south, and then they will cry out that "the imperial examination is unfair". It's not that he looks down on southerners or wants to favor northerners, but when he is in this position, he always wants to balance everything.

Master Kang was thinking about some measures to encourage the imperial examinations, and he never thought that the examination system he had always relied on had already had problems.

This is not surprising. After all,