prosperous age

In the Imperial Examination of the Renxu Division, Yan Song's name was not included among the examiners, how could this be possible.

At this moment, Wei Guangde's brain is calculating rapidly, thinking about the meaning.

But at the next moment, he felt that his hand was empty, and Yin Shizhen had snatched the note.

"How could it be possible without Yan Song?"

Wei Guangde looked up, and saw Yin Shizhen flipping the note from front to back, as if he wanted to see the person's name from the corner on the back, and he couldn't stop murmuring.

After a while, Yin Shizhen finally calmed down, the main reason was not that he and Wei Guangde were dazzled at the same time, so this time there really was no chief assistant Yan Songyan among the examiners.

What Wei Guangde didn't know was that the news spread like wind to all the yamen in the capital, and many people didn't believe the news the first time they heard it.

The meaning behind this is too obvious. This seems to be a precursor to Yan Song's loss of power. It seems that there was no news before.

When did Yan Song hate Emperor Jiajing?
no one knows.

Many people immediately sent their clerks to confirm the list of reading officers. In fact, they no longer need to check, because after the decree was issued, there were angels in the palace to notify the people on the decree, and they were also nominally supervisors. The officials on the list can only temporarily live in the government office and are not allowed to go home.

"Father, Your Majesty, this is a harbinger of action."

After Yan Shifan heard the news, he hurried into the cabinet Yan Song's duty room, sent out the clerk, and stood guard outside. There were only his father and son in the room.

"As long as His Majesty doesn't know about the tricks you're doing behind your back, our family will be fine."

Yan Song sat on the seat in a daze, answering Yan Shifan's words.

He had thought of such a day countless times, but when the signal came out, he felt that he still couldn't calm down in his heart. Even though he was already in his 80s, he was supposed to be used to the cruelty of the world, but he still couldn't be open-minded. .

"Of course His Majesty will not know."

Yan Shifan also knew that he seemed to be half a step too late, his father had just obtained grace from His Majesty to spare him Ding worry, but he didn't expect that it would take only half a year.
It's impossible to say that you don't panic at all, but Yan Shifan still pretended to be calm at this time and said: "Father, before coming here, the son has already let people release the news, saying that it is the grace that the father is asking for because he is unwell, so don't participate in this." Second reading."

Hearing this, Yan Song raised his eyes to look at Yan Shifan, and nodded slightly.

Believe it or not, there is at least one reason not to.

"In a while, or later, I'm afraid many people will come to see Dad."

Yan Shifan said again.

"I know."

Of course, Yan Song and his son knew who would come. They were the officials of the strict party that the outside world said. They should be very flustered at this time.

The reason why they voted under Yan Song's sect was not because he was favored and had great power, which could provide them with convenience and support in the officialdom.

Once Yan Song falls, there is no doubt that they will encounter the counterattack of the former opponents. Without the protection of Yan Ge, they really have no confidence to resist the past.

"After all, there will be such a day."

Yan Song just spoke lightly.

"Okay, everyone, don't think about it too much. Mr. Yan Ge is not in good health. After all, he is so old. It is normal to ask the father for a favor."

In King Yu's mansion, King Yu sat on the top seat and said with a smile.

There was a rumor just now that the reason why there is no Yan Ge as the examiner of the palace examination this time is because Yan Ge is old and feels that this job is too much for him, so he voluntarily resigned.

"Ha ha."

Yin Shizhen and others sitting below were all smiling, and didn't say much.

What is going on, although everyone has doubts in their hearts, but after all, no one dares to go to the cabinet or Xiyuan to ask.

However, the rumors came out to explain the matter so quickly, and everyone always felt that it was unusual.

"This time in the imperial examination, who do you think is most likely to win the champion?"

King Yu changed the subject at this time.

Every year of the examination, the focus of attention in the capital is naturally who can win the Huiyuan, and who will win the champion in the end.

It's not just that everyone in the officialdom is talking about it, even the people are flocking to it and are enthusiastic about it.

It’s not that the common people are really interested in the number one scholar. After all, they belong to someone else’s family. The reason they care is because of the gambling houses in the streets and alleys of the capital. Attract people's attention.

It doesn’t take much. People and gamblers are naturally willing to try their luck when it comes to gambling on the title of the champion. A few taels, dozens of taels, or even hundreds of taels of silver are not too much for others, and a few or dozens of copper coins are not too much for others. Less, it's a lot of fun.

Although the income of the people in the capital city cannot be said to be the highest in other places in the Ming Dynasty, it is still relatively high.

As long as you are willing to work, you can still earn a few taels of silver a year. As long as you don’t waste money and have money to spend, you can always have some two or three taels of silver left over a year, which is thousands of copper coins. Naturally, the enthusiasm for betting is also high. high.

"It should be those two from Suzhou."

When Yin Shizhen heard Yu Wang asked who was most likely to win the title of champion, he immediately said with a smile.

King Yu is right to say that he is a good person, but there are two things that are more criticized, that is, lust and gambling.

Every time the capital has such a gamble, he will let people get involved, not as a banker himself, but let Gao Gong and his subordinates help analyze it, and then send people to the gambling house outside to place bets.

When Yu Wang asked about this at this time, needless to say, he would definitely ask someone to place a bet when he turned around.

Yin Shizhen didn't know whether this was considered a joy for the royal family and the people.

As for the two people in Suzhou Prefecture he mentioned, they naturally refer to the two who have the best results in this test and are also the most valued. Xu Shixing.

Wang Xijue won the title of Huiyuan, at least he won the first place in this competition for the champion, which is considered to be half a position ahead. However, among the scholars in the capital, there are not a few people who are optimistic about Xu Shixing. They are all dragons and phoenixes. The last person is still unpredictable.

Wang Xijue and Xu Shixing, these two names, Wei Guangde only had a little impression of Wang Xijue, they should be some famous people in the Ming Dynasty, the name Xu Shixing just felt a little familiar, but he really couldn't remember who won the champion title.

After Yin Shizhen answered the conversation and began to analyze the pros and cons of the two, and soon after Zhang Juzheng and Tang Ruji joined in, Wei Guangde sat quietly in his seat, put his left hand in his sleeve and began to count with his fingers.

The index finger is Wang Xijue, and the middle finger is Xu Shixing.

Wei Guangde thought in his heart, when he touched his index finger with his thumb, he silently counted and gestured with the word "Zhuangyuan", and his thumb began to move between the two fingers.

In fact, Taoism talks about counting with fingers, and in later generations of film and television works, those who have mastered the Tao stretch out their right hands and count with their fingers to know good or bad. In fact, the techniques in the play are all wrong.

According to Taoism, there are 28 joints in each hand, and there are 28 joints in both hands, representing [-] underground palaces.

The left hand is yin and the right hand is yang. Finger pinching, usually the thumb is used to pinch the remaining four fingers. The four fingers actually represent the ten heavenly stems and twelve earthly branches. to use.

Wei Guangde is not a member of the orthodox Taoist sect. He has seen and remembered these things from the Taoist books he bought, but he has never studied them deeply, let alone studied them carefully.

At this time, choose the simple method, at least you can confirm your position.

Soon, the thumb rests on the middle finger.

Xu Shixing?
According to Wei Guangde's pinch calculations, there is a high probability that Xu Shixing will be the No. [-] in the palace examination.

At this time, King Yu also noticed Wei Guangde who had been sitting there silently, so he smiled and said to him: "Shan Loan, what do you think, is it more likely that Wang Xijue or Xu Shixing will win the champion?"

Previously, Yin Shizheng and the others had stated their respective positions. Yin Shizheng and Tang Ruji liked Wang Xijue, while Zhang Juzheng was more optimistic about Xu Shixing.

In fact, for the sake of this test, there is no need to doubt the talents of the two, it just depends on who is luckier in the end.

As for Yu Youding, Qi Yuanzuo and others behind him, no one paid attention.

Therefore, their so-called positions are actually more judgments based on personal feelings.

Wei Guangde pinched his fingers and figured out that Xu Shixing won the first prize. It seemed that what he said, the total score was 2 to 2, which probably made King Yu depressed.

Wei Guangde did not participate in such a meeting in the 38th year of Jiajing, but only heard Gao Gong mention that Yu Wang lost 200 taels of silver in that bet anyway.

King Yu is indeed very democratic, and he can listen to the words of the people below.

"Your Highness, I like Xu Shixing."

Wei Guangde still uttered his answer loudly at this time, but visible to the naked eye, King Yu's complexion became a little dark.

In the previous situation, the balance in King Yu's heart had already tilted towards Wang Xijue, but now he asked himself, well, he didn't know who to bet on to win.

In Yu Wang's view, scholars should understand the affairs of scholars best.

Although he had failed to guess the champion several times before, King Yu was still very enthusiastic about this matter, and he still believed in the officials under him.

After all, they were the ones who were killed out of thousands of troops, and they were sent to him by his father, so they must be the ones he thinks have the ability.

So despite repeated defeats, he still chose to fight repeatedly, and even in order to make money, he doubled the money he bet on the champion every time.

In his view, it doesn't matter if you lose once or twice, as long as you have enough money to gamble, you can get it all back if you win once.

And he has exactly this capital.

Last time he bet on the champion, he bet 200 taels, this time he made up his mind to take out 500 taels of silver to bet, and he wanted to earn back his capital with interest.

King Yu hesitated, whether to bet on Wang Xijue or Xu Shixing.

"What's the reason?"

King Yu asked persistently.

Wei Guangde chuckled, "Your Highness, at this point, no matter whether it is Wang Xijue or Xu Shixing, they are actually capable of winning the first prize. As for who will have the last laugh, that is His Majesty's will."

"bet"

In the end, King Yu still didn't say anything, the bet was really what Emperor Jiajing wanted, although it wasn't a conjecture.

"Your Highness, do you know the origin of Xu Shixing?"

At this moment, Zhang Juzheng spoke suddenly.

He was a person who knew how to do things, and when he heard what Wei Guangde said, he became more optimistic about Xu Shixing in his heart. Naturally, the reason was that Xu Shixing really had an unusual experience.

King Yu was also interested when he heard this, "Tell me about it."

"There are two rumors in the market. One is that Xu Shixing's original surname is Shen. His ancestors were originally wealthy businessmen in Suzhou. His family was in decline and his parents died one after another. Therefore, he was adopted by his uncle Xu's family, so he changed his surname to Xu.

The second is that Xu Shixing was originally from a poor family, and his ancestor adopted him to a family surnamed Xu in order to let him survive.

The similarity between the two rumors is that Xu Shixing's surname is Shen, which should be correct. "

Zhang Juzheng said that he would keep his mouth shut here, after all, it would be bad to talk too much about matters involving other people's privacy, and it would give people the feeling of chewing people's tongues behind their backs.

Wei Guangde heard this rumor for the first time, and looked at Zhang Juzheng in surprise.

He has been worrying enough these past few days, how can he have time to inquire about the experiences of those who made the list this time.

"Xu Shixing, Shen Shixing"

Wei Guangde just muttered a few times in his mouth, and couldn't remember whether the name in his memory was Xu or Shen.

Well, he's been confused.

"Speaking of which, our Jiajing Dynasty is really true, haha"

Before King Yu could speak, Yin Shizhen laughed on the sidelines.

"what happened?"

Wei Guangde asked curiously, for a moment he didn't understand what Yin Shizhen meant.

"The matter of Mr. Lu Ge, when Mr. Lu Ge was admitted to the Jinshi, Li Ben was recorded in the Jinshi Enrollment Records, and the restored surname was not given until after the imperial examination.

But his surname was mistakenly recorded as Li in the map, but their family name is actually Lu.

It is not easy to change the map registration. It is the whole county, the government, the chief envoy, and the yellow book of the household department. Therefore, even if Mr. Lu Ge gets the honor of juren, he can only be registered as Li Ben. Palace examination, this is not the examination of Jinshi Guangyao's lintel, only to play, please change the map and restore the original surname. "

Yin Shi said with a smile.

"If you want to talk about this, I actually know that there is a person who also changed his surname."

Talking about gossip, Zhang Juzheng also became interested.

"Who is it?" King Yu asked curiously, "And why did you change your surname?"

Changing one's surname was not a trivial matter in ancient times. What is the saying of rangers, "If you don't change your name, you don't change your surname if you don't sit down."

At the end of "Historical Records: The Chronicles of the Five Emperors", the name system of the Five Emperors era is recorded.

"From the Yellow Emperor to Shun and Yu, they all had the same surname, but different country titles were set up to show their respective virtues. Therefore, the Yellow Emperor was named Youxiong, Emperor Zhuanxu was named Gaoyang, Emperor Ku was named Gaoxin, and Emperor Ku was named Gaoxin. Yao’s name was Tao Tang, Emperor Shun’s name was Yu Yu. Emperor Yu’s name was Empress Xia, and another family was separated, with the surname of Si. Qi was the ancestor of Shang, and his surname was Zi’s.

It can be seen from this that the surname is a representative of morality, and a person has a surname out of the expectation of human morality.

In the traditional concept, the birth of a child is not because the parents have the right to name the child, but for the moral inheritance of the family blood. inherited.

"Liu Xian, the battalion officer and governor of Nanjing, I heard that his surname is Gong, He Shandai is considered a fellow, and he should be from Nanchang Prefecture. When he was living in Sichuan, he was surnamed Liu and changed his surname to Liu, and he pretended to be Sichuan. Only then was he able to serve as an army, because of his high martial arts and strong martial arts, he was promoted step by step."

Zhang Juzheng said with a smile.