prosperous age

Chapter 472 Chapter 471
Wei Guangde didn't go back to the courtyard directly, but was reminded by Li Fangyi, thinking of today's palace exam, the gambling house might be closed in these two days.

He turned around, went out the side door of the palace, and found his coachman Li San.

"Go back and find Zhang Ji, and ask him to take 1000 taels of silver and go out to the gambling house. He is the champion of the palace examination in this department. Let him bet on Xu Shixing, and make separate bets. Don't bet in one gambling house."

Wei Guangde quickly instructed Li San.

King Yu knew that betting on the No. [-] Scholar had to be placed separately in several gambling houses in the capital, not because he was afraid that the boss of the gambling shop would dare to cheat.

If you dare to eat money from Prince Yu's Mansion, you don't want to live.

However, betting separately and winning the bet will not cause too much loss to the casino.

Earn money easily, so why bother.

Because Wang Xijue won Huiyuan, everyone in the capital seems to be optimistic about him winning the first prize again this time. From what Zhang Juzheng said, it seems that if you buy Wang Xijue, you will pay [-] out of [-], and if you buy Xu Shixing, you will pay [-] out of [-]. Courtiers and other tribute students who ranked top in the examination.

Their odds are higher, but the probability of winning the No. [-] pick is naturally lower.

As for the others, they may all be considered dark horses, but the gambling house did not offer a handicap. After all, there are 300 Gongsheng students, and it is impossible for the gambling house to offer all of them to gamble.

However, there is a gossip that if you have a fancy dark horse, you can talk to the gambler, that is, bet against each other.

Of course, Wei Guangde would not buy a dark horse, but unlike the World Cup and the major European football leagues in later generations, the sports lottery center also launched a lot of games.

Wei Guangde also learned how to buy lottery tickets at that time. If you buy winners or losers according to the comparison of power, you will often lose money. Even if you win the bet, you don’t have much money.

But buying lottery tickets to gamble is okay as a pastime. After all, nine out of ten bets lose, even if it is a charity donation, if you keep losing too much, you will lose interest.

When Wei Guangde arrived in the Ming Dynasty, that is, when he and his classmates got together in the same year, he was forced to play a few games, and he didn't have much interest in those activities.

It's just that when I met Li Fang just now and saw those gambling tickets, my heart was itchy again, so I asked Zhang Ji to participate.

The focus is on participation, not just to make some money.

In Wei Guangde's eyes, Xu Shixing's probability was slightly higher, and Wang Xijue's probability was also high, but obviously not as high as Xu Shixing's.

After giving his orders, Wei Guangde strolled back to Prince Yu's mansion. When he entered the house, only Tang Ruji was left in the room, and Zhang Juzheng was not there.

Yin Shizhen was still in charge of the affairs of the palace, so it was not surprising that he was not in the house, but it was a little strange that Zhang Juzheng was not there.

Wei Guangde smiled at Tang Ruji, then returned to his seat and sat down, and saw Zhang Juzheng coming in before he picked up the book.

"Shan Loan, where did you go?"

When he came in and saw Wei Guangde sitting there, Zhang Juzheng smiled and said, "I didn't see you when I went to the latrine, and I was still wondering if you went somewhere to do something good."

"Ha ha."

Wei Guangde smiled, there was no outsider in the room, so he immediately told about meeting Li Fang.

"You go out and tell people to buy Xu Shixing, and bet on him being the champion?"

Zhang Juzheng asked curiously.

"Yeah, didn't you mention Xu Shixing's rumors yesterday, it's so interesting, take a gamble on his high school and see how lucky you are."

Wei Guangde laughed.

They are all scholars, and everyone knows what habits they have.

Don't look at the mouthful, but when it comes to gambling, Wei Guangde is sensitive to the fact that Zhang Juzheng and Tang Ruji are obviously moved, and his eyes shine.

"I just said it casually yesterday, and I remembered it when you mentioned it today. I haven't asked anyone to buy it yet."

Zhang Juzheng stood still, thought for a while, and said, he was about to turn around, and Tang Ruji, who was on the other side, also stood up at this time, and said: "Go with me, I didn't buy it, it's not a reminder from Shandai Forget about it."

Immediately, Wei Guangde saw the two of them leaving in a hurry.

What the hell, this is the scholar of the Ming Dynasty, and this is the official of the Ming Dynasty.

But when I thought about how I often played money with my classmates and friends when I was taking the imperial examination, I felt relieved. I guess it was a habit developed at that time.

Wei Guangde muttered a few words in his heart, and then began to read the book seriously.

In the afternoon, after leaving Prince Yu's Mansion, Wei Guangde went to the Jiujiang Guild Hall first. Duan Mengxian hadn't come back yet, so he should wait until the sun goes down to hand in the test paper.

In any case, the palace examination is the last hurdle of the imperial examination. The ranking in the palace examination is really important. Whether it can be promoted from the top three to the top two is the last chance, and no one will take it lightly.

No food and drinks were served, but someone made a pot of tea, and Wei Guangde sat and waited in the lobby of the guild hall.

Not long after, Lao Kan and the others also came, all wanting to inquire about the situation of the next Mengxian palace test.

Zhu Gun and Zhang Dao, who failed the exam, had already traveled to the capital under the leadership of Zhu Shilong, the eldest son of Zhu Shilong. They didn't stay in the guild hall even on the exam day of Duan Mengxian Hall.

Today I just participated in the palace examination, and the yellow list will not be posted until some days later, so the merchants in the capital did not come, and after the posting of the yellow list and the rankings, everyone will gather here again to celebrate with excitement. Fan.

"I heard that Uncle Zeng also passed the test?" Lao Kan asked while sitting beside Wei Guangde.

Wei Guangde nodded and said with a wry smile: "Meng Xian will meet Uncle Zeng in the same year as the same year."

The great uncle they talked about was naturally Zeng Fan, Zeng Xingwu's father.

Speaking of which, Zeng Xingwu and they were both in the same age, but his father became a junior in the officialdom, so I really don't know what to call him when we meet in the future.

"Hehehe"

Lao Kan said with a smile: "Wait for the appointment, if their father and son meet in the yamen, what should they say?"

"You ask me who I ask, haha."

Wei Guangde could only smile, he really didn't know what Zeng Xingwu's attitude would be when he saw his backward father.

Listening to what they said, Ouyang Yijing naturally knew what was going on. At this time, he interjected with a smile: "It is estimated that the Ministry of Officials will consider this relationship, and they should be assigned to different places. It is unlikely that they will meet each other."

Zeng Fan's grades are also the fate of the top three, and there is a high probability that he will be transferred to other places, but he may stay in the capital.

When Zeng Xingwu passed the local examinations, if he failed, he would be transferred back to the government office in the capital, and that would be the most troublesome time.

What Ouyang Yijing said made sense, but it was just these few years. After all, Zeng Xingwu was still three years away from passing the nine-year exam. After three years, as long as he did well in the exam, he must be promoted.

"If their father and son really meet in the capital, I think Mr. Zeng will resign from his post so as not to delay his son's future."

Then, Ouyang Yijing analyzed again.

It is obvious at a glance who is more promising, Laozi or son, as long as Zeng Fan is not an official fan, he must make way for his son.

Wei Guangde, Lao Kan and the others nodded slightly.

Ouyang Yijing was quite satisfied with the position in the criminal department that Wei Guangde had given him, so he followed Wei Guangde on weekdays and followed his every move, which made him very satisfied.

As for Ouyang Yijing, although Wei Guangde was much younger than him, but he was backed by Prince Yu's Mansion, and it was clear that he had a bright future in the future. On the way of the imperial examination, he and Lao Kan were both ahead of him by one subject, so he is also a junior.

After chatting for more than half an hour, I saw that the carriage from the guild hall was coming. Duan Mengxian was welcomed in by the shopkeeper as soon as he got off the carriage.

After a few gossips, they talked about Duan Mengxian's palace examination, and after listening to him roughly speaking and answering the questions, Wei Guangde and others knew that if Duan Mengxian wanted to rank in the top two, unless the sun came out from the west.

With a proper top three ranking, if you want to stay in Beijing, you have to depend on your luck in the imperial examination, but there is a high probability that you will go to the outside world.

After having dinner in the Jiujiang Guild Hall, everyone left and went home.

At this time, in the East Pavilion of the Forbidden City, the examination work of the examiners was also in full swing.

Of course, Duan Mengxian did not have the luck of Wei Guangde, he was favored by Emperor Jiajing at the beginning, and he was guessed by Yan Song, so he was selected in the final reading process, otherwise he would not even be qualified to let the emperor read the paper.

Of course, Duan Mengxian would not have such treatment, so he was left behind early on, and his ranking in the palace examination was basically determined by referring to the ranking of the general examination.

As for the situation where the general examination results are not good and there is no noble person to help, if you want to win a good ranking and a good background by relying solely on the palace examination answer sheet, it will only appear in the plot of the novel.

"Old Xu Ge, please."

Yuan Wei, who was sitting next to Xu Jie, turned the paper he had just read in front of Xu Jie, and said softly.

"well."

Xu Jie hurriedly took it, looked at the latest judgment, it was naturally decided by Yuan Wei, and Xu Jie had a general direction in his mind.

Immediately, after hastily reading the answer sheet in his hand, he picked up a pen and wrote his own judgment, which was exactly the same as Yuan Wei.

"I'm old and useless. These papers require you to work hard to select materials for the country."

Xu Jie smiled at Yuan Wei.

"Xu Ge is old and strong"

"I told Your Majesty before that this time you are the chief examiner of the palace examination. I am already in my sixties, and I am out of energy."

The two were talking in a low voice, and the work in hand was not delayed.

In fact, Xu Jie is only a few years older than Yuan Wei, and he joined the cabinet only a few years earlier than Yuan Wei, so they are similar.

But Xu Jie is very good at hiding himself, and he always smiles when he sees everyone, even if he is extremely upset with someone.

Everyone in the government and the public knew that he and Yan Song were at odds, but in front of Yan Song, he could still work well together. This is a typical politician.

In China's more than 2000 years, there were not many real politicians among those in power, and more politicians.

As I said before, in fact, when Gongsheng students hand in their papers, the examiners have already divided their papers into first, second, and third grades according to their test scores. If there is no new idea, you must quickly drop your own judgment.

The grading process is very fast, and it starts slowly when there are tribute students handing in the papers, instead of waiting for the exam papers to be collected.

After a night of intense examination, all the examiners went to Wenhua Hall with the finished examination papers together in the morning of the next day.

Not long after, Emperor Jiajing moved here, and the reading work officially began.

The scroll reader read out one volume each, and a total of twelve volumes were divided into three categories and placed on the imperial book case, waiting for Emperor Jiajing's final decision.

After finishing reading the test papers, Emperor Jiajing actually already had some calculations in his mind, and wrote down comments on the twelve test papers. This is also a habit left by Emperor Jiajing.

"Remove the seal."

Emperor Jiajing sat on the throne, looked at the scroll on the desk, and said calmly.

Soon, the seal on the test paper was opened, and Gong Sheng's name appeared in everyone's eyes.

Unsurprisingly, the first one was Wang Xijue, and the second was Xu Shixing.

Glancing at the question papers at the back, Emperor Jiajing didn't seem to have any plans to adjust his position, and his eyes fumbled back and forth between the first two test papers, as if to determine which test paper was more satisfactory.

Sitting back with his body leaning forward slightly, Emperor Jiajing closed his eyes and thought for a while. When he opened his eyes, his hands finally moved. He reached out to pick up Xu Shixing's test paper, and then put it in front of Wang Xijue's test paper.

"That's it, the rest of you look at the platoon."

He opened his mouth again, confirming the results of the imperial examination, but inadvertently, the positions of the number one scholar and the second place were changed.

"You have worked hard too."

Emperor Jiajing looked at the crowd and said, then turned to Huang Jin and said, "Give me a banquet."

The Wenhua Hall hosts a banquet to entertain the examiners, which is also a fixed ritual system, that is, to comfort the hard work of the examiners and to show the grace of the examiners at the same time.

The next day was the grand ceremony of passing on the family members. Wei Guangde stood in the square outside the Fengtian Hall with his crown and court uniform in order.

Looking at the miniature version of Fengtian Temple again, he no longer has much emotion.

Perhaps after the current officials retire, no one will know about this anymore, and when they pass through the Meridian Gate and Fengtian Gate and see the Fengtian Temple, they will still be awed by the grandeur of the hall.

"No. 1 in the Palace Examination, Xu Shixing."

"No. 2 Wang Xijue, No. [-] in the palace examination."

"No. 3, Yu Youding, No. [-] in the palace examination."

As the officials of Honglu Temple sang the top list, the top scholar, second place, and Tanhua in this subject were settled.

"800 taels of silver in hand."

Standing in the queue of officials, Wei Guangde felt elated.

This time betting on Xu Shixing's champion, he earned more than King Yu. As for Zhang Juzheng and Tang Ruji, they only bet 200 taels and 30 taels, so they couldn't compare with him.

Before that, Wei Guangde just pretended to be calm, especially when King Yu heard that they also bet, he was very concerned about their betting situation.

Knowing that it was a bet on Xu Shixing, if Wei Guangde hadn't said to go to the Jiujiang Guild Hall to ask about Duan Mengxian's palace examination, King Yu might have used this as an excuse to keep them down for a drink that night.

Afterwards, Wei Guangde had nothing to do with boasting officials on the imperial street and posting yellow lists. He went out of the palace gate, bowed his hands at the group of new scholars, and walked to the side. He met Yin Shixuan, Zhang Juzheng and others, and everyone went back to Prince Yu's mansion together. .

In Prince Yu's Mansion, it seems that Yin Shizhen didn't take a gamble, but even if he gambled, he would probably feel uncomfortable at the moment. After all, Wang Xijue, who he was optimistic about, didn't win the first prize, he was only the second place, and the bet was a loss.

As for the others, they have gained more or less.

Of course, Wei Guangde made the most money, followed by King Yu, and then Zhang Juzheng and Li Fang.

Yes, seeing Wei Guangde and the others betting, Li Fang couldn't hold back in the end, took a small gamble, and took out 100 taels of silver more than Zhang Juzheng.

"Let's go, give Yu Wang Daoxi, after betting so many subjects, I finally won once."

Yin Shizhen beckoned them to go out, and he still read.

Obviously, he does not support officials participating in gambling, especially the number one prize. This is a grand ceremony for the country's talents, and it should be solemn and solemn. How can it be tainted with money.

(End of this chapter)