After the policy test, the palace examination officially began.
The performances of the candidates varied.
Some were writing furiously, some were scratching their heads, and others were writing and stopping intermittently, with a look of deep bitterness and resentment on their faces.
When the exam was about to start at noon, lunch was delivered by the Guanglu Temple.
The examiners' lunch was very rich, including not only tea, snacks and fruits, but also wine, five side dishes, soup, rice and four side dishes.
The food for the examinees was quite simple, two steamed buns and a bowl of soup per person.
It’s not that the palace is stingy, but they are afraid that these poor students have never eaten good food, and if they suddenly eat good food, they will experience discomfort symptoms and affect their exams.
After lunch, the candidates continued to answer questions.
At dusk, the candidates finished their examinations, handed in their papers at the East Corner Gate and left.
After the examiner has sorted out the test papers of all candidates, he will send them to the sealing officer to be sealed (covering the names).
(The provincial and metropolitan examinations have one more step than the palace examinations. In order to prevent the examiners from recognizing the candidates' handwriting, a transcriber will be arranged to transcribe the candidates' papers with a red pen after the names are sealed. In the palace examination, because time is tight and the examiners are all people trusted by the emperor, there is one less step.)
There was a rule in the Ming Dynasty that the examination papers would be read on the second day after the palace examination, and the results would be announced on the third day.
Before the evening of the next day, the examiner divided the test papers into first, second and third grades, and handed the first grade papers to Chongzhen.
There are ten copies of the test paper, and each copy has neat handwriting and a clean surface.
Unfortunately, he saw Lu Gong's name again in these papers...
He simply put Lu Gong's paper at the end and picked up Wang Fuzhi's paper.
This thinker was indeed quite talented and managed to stand out from the palace examination.
He pretended to look through it and picked out another paper.
Then ask someone to deliver the second-class paper.
After reading, pick one out.
After the palace examination results are determined, there is another pile of tedious rituals and procedures.
at last.
Officials posted the yellow list recording the results of the palace examination outside the left gate of Chang'an for the world to see.
The place was already crowded with people watching the fun.
As soon as the official posted the yellow list, someone came forward and read out loudly: "First place in the first class, Wang Fuzhi!"
Wow!
There were exclamations from the crowd watching.
"Who is Wang Fuzhi?"
"I don't know. Go and ask around."
"When you ask around, ask him if he's married. My daughter is still waiting to be married."
"Have you eaten too much leftovers? And you still want to marry your daughter to the top scholar of the imperial court?"
"Is it not possible to even think about it?"
"Dreams contain everything, just think about it slowly!"
While the onlookers were arguing, the person reading the list read out again:
"Huang Zongxi, the second place in the first class!"
"The third place in the first class is Xia Ruobi!"
After reading out the names of the top three candidates, the person reading the list continues to read on.
Although his voice was very loud, everyone at the scene shifted their attention.
They tiptoed around to look for the umbrella-covered ceremonial procession from the Shuntian government office.
According to the requirements of the Ming Dynasty Code, after the list was announced, Shuntian Prefecture had to use official umbrellas and ceremonial escorts to escort the top scorer back home.
Shuntian prefect Wang Tingmei had been waiting here for a long time. He found Wang Fuzhi's name on the yellow list and quickly wrote down his hometown and temporary address.
In fact, Wang Fuzhi, Huang Zongxi, Xia Rubi and others were all watching in the crowd.
As a candidate, I am most concerned about my future.
After learning that he had won the top spot in the imperial examination, Wang Fuzhi immediately rode back on his horse. He wanted to get back to the inn before the Shuntian government office.
Huang Zongxi and Xia Rubi also rented a horse and galloped to the post station.
In less than half a day, the names of the three people were known throughout the capital.
"Boss, which room does the number one scholar live in?" The entrance of the inn where Wang Fuzhi lived was crowded with people.
"What do you want to do? The champion is resting and cannot be disturbed."
"I'm not here to find the top scholar, I'm here to find you."
"Looking for me? What's the matter?"
"Are you selling the top scholar's bed, eating bowls and chopsticks, and washing bucket? I want to buy them!"
The shopkeeper was obviously stunned: "Why buy these things?"
"Of course I am here to share in the good fortune. I hope I can also become the top scorer in the imperial examination in three years!"
Night fell amid the heated discussions of the people in the capital.
The day after the announcement of the results is the Enrong Banquet, also known as the Qionglin Banquet.
To put it simply, the emperor would invite these Jinshi to a dinner, but generally the emperor would not be present in person, but would appoint a minister to host the dinner on his behalf.
This task fell to Fan Jingwen.
Fan Jingwen is the next prime minister of the Ming Dynasty, and Chongzhen wants to give him as many opportunities as possible to become famous.
On the way to the banquet, the ceremonial team was beating gongs and drums in front, and a group of Jinshi followed behind, wearing hairpins with bronze plates with the Enrong Banquet logo on their chests.
The top scholar’s hairpin has the largest and most obvious flowers.
At the beginning of the Enrong Banquet, everyone was a little reserved, but as time went on, these literati and poets finally showed their true colors under the influence of alcohol.
When he was drunk, Wang Fuzhi suddenly wanted to go to the toilet.
He stood up and left the hall, and was led by the eunuch to a small courtyard.
After using the toilet, he followed the eunuch back.
After walking for a while, he suddenly felt something was wrong.
"Eunuch," Wang Fuzhi stopped and asked, "Isn't this the wrong way?"
The young eunuch asked without even turning his head: "What's wrong?"
"Although I'm a little tipsy, I'm not drunk! I didn't take this road when I came here, but the one behind me." Wang Fuzhi said, pointing behind him.
The young eunuch turned back helplessly: "This is indeed not the way to the banquet, but to another place."
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