prosperous age

Wei Guangde entered the Tribute Academy and assisted Li Chunfang, the second assistant, in presiding over the current subject examination, but the government will not be suspended temporarily because of this.

Gao Yi and Wei Guangde jointly signed the memorial to please change the name of the prince's ceremonial palace, which was quickly approved by Emperor Longqing, and the east corridor of the Wenhua Hall was chosen to face the west side hall.

Just as Chen Yiqin and Wei Guangde worried, in February, Xuanfu and Datong handed in battle reports one after another, and the IDA Ministry once again gathered troops to provoke border quarrels.

The chief assistant of the cabinet, Xu Jie, a university scholar, spent another nine years with the first-rank salary in the calendar, and he resigned from Chen.

Nine years are full again, my heart is happy and my praise remains the same, and the Ministry of officials proposes to hear about the grace that should be given. "

At the same time, the Ministry of Rites invited Sheng Jia to offer sacrifices to Xiannong.

Sacrifice to Xiannong is one of the auspicious rites in the Ming Dynasty. It is usually held every spring before farming begins to encourage farming and pray for a good harvest.

Xiannong refers to the god of agriculture who taught the people how to cultivate in legends. It has different references, sometimes it is Shennong, and sometimes it is Houji.

In the first year of Hongwu, Emperor Taizu of the Ming Dynasty, the emperor personally offered sacrifices to Xiannong every spring and February. After the sacrifice ceremony, the emperor personally plowed and cleared the fields, which became a custom.

However, this activity was severely damaged during the Jiajing Dynasty, because the Emperor Jiajing was not willing to participate in such things that would affect his cultivation, and most of them chose nobles to act on their behalf.

Last year, it was the emperor's trip, so Emperor Longqing followed the previous practice and asked Duke Cheng Zhu Xizhong to act on his behalf.

But this year, of course, it can no longer continue like this, so Gao Yi hoped that Emperor Longqing would go there in person, and he still attached a note on Gonggeng and Tianyi with the memorandum.

Therefore, the beginning of the year is the busiest time for the Ministry of Rites. Not to mention the triennial general examination and palace examination, from the winter solstice onwards, the Ministry of Rites prepares one after another.

The plan made by Wei Guangde's previous arrangements was also reported soon after the handover, that is, the Tianshou Mountain Spring Festival.

Every year, the emperor will visit Tianshou Mountain at the end of February to visit several emperor's tombs, which is called Mid-Autumn Festival among the people.

When the emperor travels, he will naturally not take it lightly and simply. Not only will he arrange a large army around in advance, but also because the time will be delayed for more than ten days, so many things must be carefully planned in advance.

However, these things have nothing to do with Wei Guangde at all. Right now, he and Li Chunfang are presiding over the order of the examination room, and then looking at the examination papers sent by the examiners in each room.

Wei Guangde thought to himself that he would not be able to write a good article that would shock the world. There are limited things to learn from later generations, and he can use very little of it, but he still has the ability to appreciate it.

Li Chunfang doesn't care whether the number one scholar is worthy or not, but his knowledge must be very high, otherwise he may be singled out for Emperor Jiajing's imperial examination.

The two of them had no selfish intentions this time, and everything went well in selecting the test papers with their cooperation.

In fact, as Wei Guangde had heard before, although it was his first time presiding over such an exam, the ranks of the candidates were roughly determined during the first round, and there would only be a small number of candidates in the second and third rounds. Modify, adjust.

But now, before him and Li Chunfang are the examination papers that were reviewed and pre-selected by the teachers in each room. He and Mr. Li Ge have initially drawn up the rankings, which is commonly known as the "draft list".

"Old Li Ge, let's see if the officials of the Ministry of Rites have been summoned to come here to check the ink scroll?"

This is the last time to fill in the list. Although the draft list is completed, it is still necessary to "check the numbers" between the "Zhu Juan" to be admitted and the "Ink Juan" of the candidates, and discard those with incorrect numbers.

In fact, the papers that the examiners see are the transcribed ink scrolls, not the ink scrolls written in the exam.

However, in order to prevent fraud, it is necessary to check with Zhujuan and Mojuan before filling in the list.

Li Chunfang raised her hand and waved, motioning to the left and right to go down and call for someone.

Soon, all the officials in the tribute courtyard arrived, and they all nodded after reading the straw list and Zhu Juan.

"Then bring up the ink scrolls."

Li Chunfang ordered.

Immediately, a small official came in carrying a series of numbered boxes and placed them under the hall.

"Shan Loan, it's up to you to arrange the next thing."

Li Chunfang spoke to Wei Guangde.

"Yes."

Wei Guangde bowed and said, and then picked up the draft list, starting from the last one, but what he read out was the number of the test booth.

Today, Emperor Kelongqing will try to select 320 people, so the first one is naturally the 3 people who will take the test.

As the serial number was read out, the little official corresponding to the box quickly searched in the box, quickly found the corresponding ink scroll, and then held the ink scroll and sent it to the table in front of Li Chunfang.

The little official next to him also presented the scrolls, Li Chunfang looked down for a while, then nodded, the scrolls and ink scrolls were quickly transferred to Wei Guangde's desk, and then other officials.

Behind them, the censor of the Metropolitan Procuratorate and Captain Jinyi just casually stood on one side, but their eyes kept scanning back and forth on them.

Of course, the Censor of the Metropolitan Procuratorate and Captain Jinyi are not responsible for reading the papers, but they supervise them all the time, observing their eyes, speech and behavior, etc., and then write official documents according to their own judgments.

This kind of feeling made Wei Guangde feel very bad, but this is the rule.

Although, Wei Guangde felt that these rules had little effect.

The list of more than 300 people was determined one by one and filled in the first list. This is the result of their half a month's work.

Wang Jiaping. Li Changchun. Zhao Zhigao. Huang Fengxiang.

After working for a long time, Wei Guangde finally knew who the "Huiyuan" of Jinke would be, Huang Fengxiang.

After the errands were done, everyone was smiling, but it was hard to tell if the truth was true or not. At least Wei Guangde had a smile on his face at this time, as if he was very happy because he was serving the country, but in fact, he felt that his smile was Some fake.

Wei Guangde really didn't expect that the first time he presided over the test, he didn't even get a lot of people from his hometown.

Yes, Wei Guangde met all the people from Jiujiang Prefecture who came to Beijing to take the imperial examination before and after the Spring Festival, and he also met many fellow candidates from Jiangxi Province.

I counted it silently, and I found that more than 50 Jiangxi candidates were admitted in this exam. The results are actually not bad, but none of them are from Jiujiang. I don’t know what will happen if I pass it back to my hometown.

In fact, Jiujiang Prefecture can only be said to be average in the Jiangxi imperial examination, far inferior to Nanchang and Jihua, and even the name of Jiangxi's imperial examination province is mainly supported by these two places.

But at this time, Wei Guangde realized with hindsight, no wonder everyone said that the ancient imperial examinations had "joints", maybe it was just to prevent the situation he was encountering now.

Yes, Wei Guangde is a bit regretful at the moment, he didn't let the candidates from his hometown save a joint in advance.

If he had no experience, if he had known this situation earlier, he would have to make arrangements in advance for what he said, and no matter what he said, he would have to let someone from his hometown be on the list.

Looking at the piles of exam papers in those boxes, they were all failed students. He couldn't find the papers if he wanted to pick up the lost ones, because there were no "joints" before, and this was tantamount to finding a needle in a haystack.

Even if there is only one person on the list, it would be great, tsk tsk
It's unlucky for them to meet an inexperienced fellow examiner.

Wei Guangde muttered in his heart.

In fact, in the 44th year of Jiajing, he had hoped to enter the Gongyuan Academy and take part in that subject examination, but at that time he was busy flattering Emperor Jiajing, so he pushed this job out by himself.

Although he was satisfied with the result, Emperor Jiajing rewarded him for his hard work, but after all, he lost a chance to gain experience as an examiner.

Imperial Examination Fraud
When he returned to his rest room, Wei Guangde was still thinking about it.

In the past, when he read books, he only thought that the so-called "fraud in the imperial examination" was mostly due to money and connections. Now he understands that some examiners have to do some cheating things. In fact, the things they consider may not necessarily have money or other benefits. , but for the purpose of helping the old family and earning some prestige in their hometown.

As for Li Chunfang, you can tell from his smile that he must be prepared and he is very satisfied.

Li Chunfang presided over the meeting for the first time after joining the cabinet, but she did not miss the opportunity to participate in the past.

This may also be a tacit understanding between the emperor and the ministers.

No wonder everyone said that they had to participate in the main examination, because most of the officials who got this opportunity were those who had the opportunity to join the cabinet because of their simplicity in the emperor's heart.

Arranging for them to take the main exam is actually the emperor giving benefits in disguise.

It's just that Wei Guangde was inexperienced and didn't seize this opportunity.

In the early morning of February 28th, there was a huge crowd of people outside Shuntianfu Gongyuan. Countless candidates from all corners of the country came here together, and they all wanted to see the exam list with their own eyes.

In fact, everyone was in the same mood. The people on the list had already received the good news in the early morning, knowing that they were on the list.

Candidates who fail the rankings can come here, so they can naturally face the reality of failure calmly.

After the examination results were announced, the burdens on Wei Guangde and the others were also given away. Although he could not leave the Gongyuan for the time being, he could still learn about the outside news. After all, he was locked up for more than half a month, and he never wanted to know the current outside situation.

Emperor Longqing left Beijing at noon yesterday to go to the Tianshou Mountain Spring Festival. The cabinet ministers Xu Jie, Chen Yiqin and others accompanied him. The Minister of Rites Gao Yi and others also went, leaving the British Duke Zhang Rong and Zuodu Yushi Wang Tingju to guard the capital.

When Li Chunfang came out of the Gongyuan, he would naturally stay in the cabinet, and Wei Guangde would temporarily take over the seal of the Ministry of Rites when he returned to the Ministry of Rites tomorrow.

In fact, Wei Guangde had expected these things a long time ago, and he knew that the emperor would leave Beijing in one or two days.

I didn't expect that An Dahan would have the courage to come to Xuanfu to provoke him when he failed to find opportunities in Xuanfu one after another, and the key point was to succeed.

Yes, Ma Fang made a big mistake this time. He neglected his duties, which caused the Ming army to suffer heavy losses in Xuanfu in February.

On February [-]th, Alda invaded Chaigou Fort, Xinzhuang and other places, and the guard Han Shangzhong died in battle, and Tong Deng, the deputy commander, was only spared.

When Wei Guangde heard the news, his face became hot. What did he say in front of Chen Yiqin?

If a general cannot predict the enemy's opportunity, it means that he is incompetent and should be dismissed.

He really didn't expect Ma Fang to be negligent. You must know that Ma Fang was very cautious in the past.

The Ministry of War has not yet issued a punishment for this matter, and it is estimated that after the palace examination, a thorough understanding of the situation in Xuanfu will make a decision.

But after losing the battle, it is inevitable for Ma Fang to suffer.

It was already afternoon when Wei Guangde left the Gongyuan and returned home. He took a nice bath, and when he came out, he saw his wife Xu Jianglan bringing someone to bring her an official uniform.

"Husband, take a look, this is the flying fish suit sent by Eunuch Liu Dayong, the eunuch in the harem of your Tribute Academy, just try to see if it fits."

Xu Jianglan asked someone to present him with clothes, and then hurriedly helped Wei Guangde put on the clothes.

"How about it?"

Congratulations, this is the first time for Wei Guangde to be treated like this. After changing into a coquette, he walked around in front of Xu Jianglan.

Although his father once got a unicorn suit as a reward for his contribution to suppressing the Japanese, it was the first time for him to wear it.

There was no yellow mandarin jacket for the emperor's clothes in the Ming Dynasty. The highest level of clothes was the python suit, second only to the dragon robe worn by the emperor.

The python pattern is very similar to the dragon pattern, the only difference is that the dragon has five claws and the python has four claws, which are only awarded to eunuchs, cabinet ministers, ministers of the Ministry of war, princes, etc.

Boa robes are added to the body, representing prosperity and wealth, and jade belts are also required, and there are two types: sitting pythons and walking pythons.

In terms of dignity, sitting pythons are higher than walking pythons.

The second-class costume is the flying fish suit. The prototype of the flying fish is the ray in the "Shan Hai Jing". In the late Ming Dynasty, it evolved into a python-shaped flying fish. The image has a dragon head with two horns, and its fins have no wings. It retains the characteristic of a rolled fish tail.

Flying fish suits are generally rewarded to meritorious officials of the second rank or above, chief attendants of the Ouchi eunuchs, and Jin Yiwei.

However, not all Jinyiwei are eligible to wear flying fish suits, only the commanders of Jinyiwei, the emperor's personal school lieutenant and the guard of honor accompanying the emperor, these powerful confidantes of the emperor are eligible to wear them.

The third-class clothing is a bullfighting suit. The bullfighting bull is not an ordinary bull, but a legendary horned dragon. The bullfighting bull is like a dragon with sharp horns, a python-shaped fish tail, and two horns bent like ox horns.

Bullfighting uniforms can be awarded to officials of the third grade or above, generals who have made meritorious service in guarding the frontier, and people who have received special rewards. There are also examples of lecturers or celebrity families being awarded bullfighting uniforms, but these are exceptional and rare.

Bullfighting was originally a star in the sky, so the recipient thinks that he has received great glory.

And the fourth class, of course, is the unicorn suit that Old Wei got. It is different from the usual image. It has evolved into a dragon-headed moose body with scales on the body, a lion's tail painted on its tail, and cow's hoof-shaped feet.

The unicorn pattern was originally the supplementary pattern of the official uniform of the prince's son-in-law, but because the unicorn is a legendary beast of benevolence and righteousness, the emperor of the Ming Dynasty gave the unicorn clothing as a gift to the meritorious officials of the fourth and fifth ranks. The official position is not high, but because of its special position, it is also allowed to wear unicorn clothes.

In fact, these costumes look similar from a distance. The bullfighting and unicorn costumes are not in the image of an animal at all, but more like an animal.

It is said that Emperor Wanli once mistook the unicorn suit for the flying fish suit, and almost sent the official who wore the suit to prison for punishment, because he remembered that he had not given him the flying fish suit, and he was suspected of trespassing.

Fortunately, I called someone over and realized that I was wrong, so I gave up.

Wei Guangde showed off at home in the flying fish suit for a while, and then changed it under Wei's mother's scolding, and put on ordinary clothes.

"What's going on with this attack?"

Wei Guangde is a bit confused up to now, he doesn't know when he got this reward.

Wei's mother couldn't explain it clearly, so Xu Jianglan naturally understood better and said tactfully.

"The last time His Majesty rewarded the assistant ministers and the old lecturer was not promoted to the official position of the master. According to Eunuch Liu, the Long Live Lord only remembered this after seeing the master's resignation, and asked the inner court to make up for it."

"So it is."

Wei Guangde nodded. In the previous decree, there was only the conferment on the cabinet ministers. It turned out that His Majesty forgot at that time. (end of this chapter)