After the servant had announced the names of six people in one breath, Wei Shu let him take a breath and asked how many people had been selected in this examination.
The servant replied, "A total of 263 people were taken."
Dayao's imperial examinations have always selected two to three hundred people. The current emperor has been on the throne for a short time, and it is time for him to train his own people. Therefore, the last exam, which was the one Mu Yunchuan took, selected more than 350 people, which was a little more than the previous few sessions.
There are nearly a hundred fewer people in this subject than in the previous one.
Although it is still within a reasonable range, it can be seen that there are quite a few candidates who were affected by the "toilet monster" in this imperial examination. Although it is a bit sad, it is still a great joy that everyone in Cuiwei is on the list.
Cui Fei's ranking was close to the red chair again, and he had no chance of getting into the second place.
However, Cui Fei himself was overjoyed - the truth that diligence leads to success while laziness leads to failure is something that any educated person understands. After wasting a few years, many people find it impossible to turn things around no matter how hard they try.
He had wasted so many years, and it was a pleasant surprise that he passed the provincial examination on his second try.
This was his first time taking the imperial examination, and he passed it on his first try!
And there is an old saying, 'It is rare to become a Jinshi at fifty.'
What does it mean? Even if you pass the imperial examination at the age of fifty, it would be considered a great achievement at a young age.
He is only in his early twenties and he is already on the list!
Therefore, although Cui Fei was the worst student in the academy, he was the most excited one. Not only were his eyes red, but he even staggered twice.
Seeing this, others quickly helped him sit down. Cui Feiren was dizzy for a long time before he finally woke up.
Fortunately, they were in Cuiwei, where no one laughed at him. Otherwise, if it were somewhere else, those who were at the top of the list like Mei Ruochu would not be in any trouble, but he, who was at the bottom of the list, would be in a very bad shape... He would definitely be criticized.
Lao Buyu's eyes were red with excitement. Not wanting his students to see it, he turned his back and said to Shen Cui, "I had guessed earlier that based on Pang Ci Fu's temperament, he would probably mess up their rankings. I didn't expect... I really didn't expect..."
Chen Cui was also a little surprised and excited, but after thinking about it, she guessed that this matter was closely related to the "toilet demon".
It's really ironic. If this 'toilet monster' hadn't played tricks, maybe it would have been just as Lao Buyu had expected, and not all the teenagers would have gotten their own rankings.
As those unexpected and exciting emotions brewed and fermented, Chen Cui only felt extremely happy in her heart!
Later, the person who brought the good news also came. Chen Cui had already prepared some wedding money and distributed it to the other party.
However, she had to keep a low profile for now, and the palace examination would be held on March 15th, so Chen Cui only gave the servants some gift money. Then they bought some dishes and, with Zhou as the chef and her helping her, they prepared a sumptuous feast.
Everyone in the academy used it together, so it was considered a simple celebration.
After the celebration, it’s time to review the lessons.
The palace examination only tests policy essays, so young men only need to prepare for this.
Lao Buyu has been teaching them up to now and there is really nothing more to teach them, so it is not necessary for him to accompany them anymore.
He went out early and came back late for several days and brought back two things.
One is a collection of palace examinations over the years published by the Ministry of Rites, which is used as review material for young people.
Everything here is genuine and has been hard to come by over the years.
To get it back now, it would definitely require not only connections but also a lot of money.
Chen Cui privately wanted to ask Lao Buyu how much money was spent, thinking that she should at least share the cost with Lao Buyu.
Lao Buyu refused to tell her, and just waved his hand and said, "Don't embarrass me by mentioning money, Dean. We charge the same money as students. Dean takes care of food and daily life, and is also responsible for wedding money, site selection and other matters. On the other hand, I have nothing to do except teaching and helping to get information. I have been eating and living in the academy for these years, so there is really no expense. I have also saved a lot of money, so let me spend money for the students, as a token of my appreciation."
"Master, what you said is not right. Just for 'teaching and educating people', the tuition is what you deserve."
Chen Cui said this, but she was not an outsider after all, so there was no need to be polite. Since Lao Buyu was determined to show his feelings in this matter, she did not ask any more questions.
At the back, the young men gathered together and began to watch the collection, so Lao Buyu gave the second thing to Chen Cui alone.
The second thing was a few Beijing tabloids.
This is purely for Chen Cui to entertain herself.
The results of the imperial examination had just been announced, and of course the news in the tabloids was all centered around this matter.
People like Mei Ruochu, Chen Aoshuang, Mu Erpang and Wei Xi, the top ten people on the examination list, were listed as key focus targets.
The newspaper not only listed their life stories in detail, but also marked "unmarried" at the end.
Chen Cui thought that it was fortunate that since coming to the capital, except for the few days at the post station when she attracted a little attention, she had been as low-key as possible afterwards. Or maybe it was Elder Shen who helped her, otherwise the academy would be packed with people at this moment, with countless people rushing to make friends with her or to form marriage plans with her.
She glanced at the news about the teenagers and confirmed that the newspapers only slightly exaggerated their life stories, giving them evaluations such as "child prodigy" and "genius". Unlike some newspapers in later generations, they did not try to dig up some negative information about good people, so she did not pay any more attention to it.
What she was concerned about was the criticism and insults against the "toilet monster" in the newspapers.
Many candidates failed in this imperial examination. Their anger and resentment can be imagined. The culprit, the "toilet monster", naturally became the target of their venting.
The way intellectuals curse people is so wonderful, much better than ordinary people. They don't use dirty words or vulgar language, but can still devalue the person to the point of being worthless.
Shen Cui was so delighted by what she saw that when the servants went out to buy vegetables, she asked them to buy a few different ones as well.
After reading them all, Shen Cui even found a box to collect these tabloids and keep them for future use after he finished reading them.
…………
In early March, before the palace examination, there was a re-examination.
The re-examination was presided over by the Minister of Rites, also known as Shangshu Wang. The tribute scholars went to the Baohe Hall in the palace to participate.
At that time, Shangshu Wang would randomly draw a question and then give the candidate about a cup of tea to think about it. After thinking, the candidate would give an oral answer on the spot.
There is no ranking in this examination. It is just to ensure that the candidates have real talents and knowledge, so as not to let those with little talent and knowledge enter the imperial court and offend the emperor. After the examination was completed, officials from the Ministry of Rites had to teach the tribute students certain etiquette to prevent them from misbehaving in front of the emperor during the subsequent palace examination.
It is just a formality to take the exam, of course, there are some tricks involved.
Lao Buyu is a person who has been through this, and he shared his experience when he took the re-examination.
There was one scholar among his classmates that year who was ranked ahead of him and was also able to answer the questions fluently and very well.
But when the palace examination actually took place, Lao Buyu did not see that man again.
Obviously, that person was eliminated in this re-examination.
The reason is not difficult to guess. The man had a slight discrepancy in the length of his legs and walked with a slight limp. Maybe because I was wearing special shoes, the problem wasn't obvious. But it was still discovered by the sharp-eyed officials of the Ministry of Rites.
Therefore, this re-examination, which was just a formality, was actually an interview, which eliminated the tribute students who did not meet the "physical" requirement in the "book, words and physical judgment".
The young men in Cuiwei are all good-looking. Cui Fei, who is the least lacking in appearance, is only slightly strong now. There is really no need to worry about this.
In addition, they were acquainted with Minister Wang, and had already experienced a similar process at the Lu Ming Banquet after the provincial examination. So although they all attached great importance to this re-examination, they were not very nervous.
On the day of the re-examination, everyone in Cuiwei got up early.
The time for entering the palace for the re-examination was Chenshi, which was nine o'clock in the morning. They arrived at the palace gate an hour in advance and found that there were already quite a few tribute candidates waiting there.
When the time comes, officials from the Ministry of Rites and eunuchs will come to verify their identities and take them into the palace.
Before entering the palace, they also had to undergo a body search.
But these tribute students were already officials with one foot in their official careers, so there was no need for them to strip naked like in the previous imperial examinations. They only needed to let the eunuchs and soldiers feel them from head to toe to make sure they were not carrying any weapons.
It was only after listening to Lao Buyu's explanation of the process that Shen Cui stopped worrying about Mei Ruochu as she did before.
All the tribute students who could reach this stage were outstanding people, so not only did they not carry any so-called weapons, they even thought of replacing things like hairpins with blunt-headed ones made of wood or jade in advance.
So in just half an hour, these 260-plus people had successfully passed the body search and were allowed to enter the palace.
Without the need for palace servants to remind them, after crossing the palace gate, the tribute candidates spontaneously lined up in a long queue and followed the officials leading the way in silence.
Mu Erpang and his team were at a mid-range position in the team.
The architecture of the imperial palace is naturally unprecedentedly majestic and solemn, with towering palace walls, long alleys and bluestone-paved roads that are spotless.
Under the majestic building and silent atmosphere, many people's heartbeats unconsciously quickened.
Some of the tribute students were so absorbed in looking around that they slipped and fell. In addition, the people in front and behind them were also distracted, so they knocked down several people.
Fortunately, the officials from the Ministry of Rites were lenient and did not embarrass those people who behaved in such a rude manner. They even slowed down their pace and allowed them to calm down slowly.
After walking for about quarter of an hour, the tribute candidates arrived at Baohedian.
Minister Wang, who was plump and as kind as Maitreya Buddha, had already been waiting in the hall with other officials.
After all the tribute students stood still, they saluted him together.
Minister Wang waved his hand to exempt them from the formalities, then he glanced at the crowd with a smile, and seeing that many of them were trembling with nervousness, he turned his gaze to Mei Ruochu and Mu Erpang and pointed them forward, saying with a smile: "Then let's start with you."
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