It was already late autumn, and the entire Forbidden City was shrouded in a light mist. The candidates who had been waiting for a long time were already looking forward to it impatiently.
Finally, the first roar of bells and drums sounded, the ground began to turn red, and the night began to turn red. The sound stirred people's hearts, like a golden door opening to the Forbidden City.
Today is the annual day for the announcement of exam results. After a whole year of working day and night, running around and being exhausted, the dust will finally come to an end at this moment.
Before the list is posted, a ceremony of announcing the results will be held in the Shangshu Province Hall, and those whose names are called out will be the successful candidates. Once a new candidate is successful, he or she will never forget the scene even after many years. And how many frustrated people will be sad and depressed, with their dreams shattered?
At dusk, outside the Shangshu Province, there was a bustle of carriages and horses.
Today was not a day off, and it was time for the civil and military officials to go to court. A purple silk sedan passed by, and a slender hand reached out impatiently and lifted a corner of the sedan curtain.
Lu Shuo frowned slightly, and his eyes swept forward, and he saw that the place he was looking at was the gate of the Shangshu Province. It turned out that today, the new imperial examination results were announced, and not only were there candidates waiting, but there were also groups of curious people in the city beating gongs and drums, waiting to welcome the new scholars with joy and vying to share their glory.
No wonder it's so noisy.
Seeing Lu Shuo's unhappy expression, the servant next to him trembled in his heart. Lu Shuo is very popular now. Everyone knows that he has all kinds of means and his power is incomparable.
He lowered his head and said, "Sir, these people are so arrogant and arrogant here. I will ask them to leave immediately."
Suddenly Lu Shuo remembered something, smiled playfully and said, "No need."
Then he lowered the curtain of the sedan chair, leaned his hands on the sandalwood table, closed his eyes and rested. Unconsciously, the past that he thought had faded away suddenly emerged in his mind.
That year, he won the top prize at the age of 18, which was unprecedented. He was so confident and full of energy.
Before going to court, many ministers gathered together to discuss the imperial examination.
Although the list has not yet been circulated, it is not difficult for those who are well-informed to know some inside information.
Apart from being concerned about the people on the imperial examination list, everyone's focus was on the winner.
If Emperor Qing had not added a palace examination five years ago, and since then the Jinshi no longer called the chief examiner "Master", but directly referred to him as the emperor's disciple, then the first place in this examination could have been called the top scholar.
In the past few years, the champion may not necessarily get the first place in the palace examination, but his literary talent and knowledge must at least be outstanding, so he can beat many talented people to win the first place. Therefore, how can we not be curious about the champion of each session?
This year is especially different from previous years.
When the name Xie Shu appeared, people couldn't help but talk about it.
"Xie Shu, is he from the Xie family?"
As soon as this was said, someone immediately denied it: "The son of the Xie family of Chen County who is taking the imperial examination this year is the grandson of old tutor Xie, named Xie Heng. This Xie Shu is just a humble man."
"A poor family? How could this be possible?" It's no wonder that others were surprised. In previous years, the first place in the imperial examinations was almost never from a poor family, except for special cases like Lu Shuo, who had excellent talent since childhood and later followed Jiang Hong and always had a good reputation.
Therefore, after hearing about the identity of this year's champion, even the ministers who did not care much about this matter were shocked.
At this time, Shangshu Ling Cui Han was surrounded by several important officials from the six ministries.
"I think there's something fishy about this. Xie Shu was not well-known in Jiangnan before. What a coincidence that he was accepted as a disciple by Jiang Hong, who was rejected and sent home last year. In just less than two years, he was able to win the championship in this competition?"
The person who spoke was the Minister of War Wang Kui. He was so sure because Lü Shuo became famous at a young age, but Xie Shu was not. Moreover, there was a process of presenting the list before the list was announced, and the Minister of Rites Zhu Han was the emperor's man. Xie Shu happened to have some background, so it made sense to choose him.
But even if they knew that this was Emperor Qing's order, could they directly question him? But if they just let it go, wouldn't they have to give in again and again in the future?
Therefore, after Wang Kui learned about this matter early in the morning, he waited for Cui Han to come and discuss it together.
However, Cui Han seemed to be lost in thought after hearing this and did not speak for a while.
On the other hand, the Minister of Finance Gu Qian said in a long tone: "So, this person and the Minister of the Central Secretariat, Lord Lu, are from the same school, but it seems that he is just a fraud who has stolen the reputation."
Gu Qian, the Minister of Finance, is a senior official in the court and the father of Concubine Gu. Everyone knows that Gu Qian is always careful in his dealings and never regards himself as a relative of the emperor. Instead, he is impartial and therefore has a special status in the court.
There are not many people who can say such impolite words to Lu Shuo's face.
The people around couldn't help but laugh when they heard this, and secretly glanced at Lu Shuo's indifferent expression. These words must have annoyed Lu Shuo, and he also had a bad impression of Xie Shu.
Gu Qian sighed secretly at this time. He said this out of selfishness.
Although he did not support his youngest son Gu Zhong's idea of making the third prince the crown prince, Gu Zhong was his child after all. How could Gu Qian not know about the entanglement between his descendants and Xie Shu in Jiangnan?
Xie Shu must not be given an important position, and there must not be another Lu Shuo!
However, Gu Qian was well aware of the disputes between Lu Shuo and his master, and Lu Shuo would never say a word for his "junior brother". Now that Xie Shu has not yet entered the officialdom, he has already left a stigma in everyone's mind that his talent is not worth using. Even if he passes the imperial examination, it will be difficult for him to make further progress in his official career.
At this moment, he suddenly heard a casual voice from behind him: "Minister Gu, what you said is wrong. I saw Xie Shu in person in Wangchuan Tower that day. He is indeed a man of outstanding talent, a solemn and dignified person, and a refined and elegant manner. He is extraordinary and unconventional."
When he heard the words of the visitor, the corners of Gu Qian's old and sagging eyes trembled very slightly. He slowly turned around and saw that the person walking towards him was wearing a prince's uniform. It was Prince Yu, who was known as the "Taiping Idle Man".
When the examination results were posted that day, Xie Shu's name was the first to be read out. In less than a day, its name spread throughout Chang'an.
Afterwards, not only did people from the Ministry of Rites register a gold-plated letter for him to report his hometown, but many scholars in Chang'an were also asking around for news about him.
Since the imperial examination became popular, some people have started to compile a book called "Records of Imperial Examinations" to record the winners each year, and the first place winner of the imperial examination can get a page all to himself. Superstitious people in the folks worship this book devoutly, believing that it can help them to gain some talent.
After that, Xie Shu received countless invitations to banquets, such as the acquaintance banquet, the Wenxi banquet, the Shaowei banquet, etc. These banquets invited guests who were all successful candidates in the same imperial examination. Xie Shu could no longer stay indoors like before.
Because everyone knows that when a Jinshi passes the exam, one of their feet has already stepped into the gate of the Forbidden City. Even if there is a palace exam afterwards, it does not eliminate people, but only distinguishes the rankings. Therefore, as long as they are Jinshi of the same year, they will all be colleagues in the court this year.
As the champion of this year's imperial examination, Xie Shu was undoubtedly the most popular person. At every banquet, he was always urged to be the first to speak.
However, the situation of other poor disciples is completely different.
Although Xie Shu had expected this, seeing it with his own eyes gave him a different feeling.
Most of his fellow townsmen who came to the capital with him in the past have left the capital, including Zhang Enshi and Xu Shengkai.
Unfortunately, both of them failed the exam. When they parted, Xu Shengkai only said sadly that he would come back next year, but Zhang Enshi no longer planned to go to Beijing. He was now over 26 years old and knew that his talent and learning were not outstanding. Even if he took the exam again, he would not have the hope of becoming a Jinshi. It would be better for him to enter the local government as soon as possible before he turned 30 and shoulder the responsibility of the whole family.
And for those who stay, things may not be smooth sailing either.
The purpose of these banquets is not to celebrate the success of the new Jinshi, but more precisely, it is a political activity that requires the Jinshi to adapt to in advance. To a certain extent, it is related to the future career of the Jinshi. In this regard, the poor have no advantage.
Although the imperial examination meant that they had a say in front of the ruling class, it was still difficult to maintain this hard-earned say.
After all, at such banquets, interpersonal relationships and family background are very important. Children from wealthy families thrive, while those from poor families are often neglected.
And everyone knows what the quickest way to transform oneself is.
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