The First Gongsheng of Ming Dynasty

Chapter 209
Although the palace examination is sealed, it is not transcribed, that is, there is no distinction between Zhujuan and Mojuan. Calligraphy is very important.

The imperial examination of the Ming Dynasty only had one policy question, and only one article. The number of words was not as small as that of the Four Books and the Five Classics.

The marking rules are a bunch of palace examination marking officers. According to the quality of an article, it is divided into five grades. The first grade is represented by "○". Whoever gets more ○ will have a higher ranking.

In the end, ten excellent papers will be presented to the emperor.

The top three in the first class and the top seven in the second class are hand-picked by the emperor.

Zhang Zhou knew that if he could pass the selection of the examiner in the palace examination and become the last ten papers submitted to the emperor for reading, and the emperor knew his characters, then the probability of him being selected as the top three, or even the number one scholar, would be very high. .

It is expected that he has won the Jie Yuan of the Jiangnan Township Examination and the Hui Yuan of the General Examination, and it is not an exaggeration to give him a number one scholar to achieve a good reputation.

To do so many things for the emperor and Daming, it is not an exaggeration to give a number one scholar, right?

What Zhu Youtang said earlier actually hinted at him, as long as I can find your papers, I will definitely promote you to Ding Jia and send you to the Imperial Academy.

This is actually very important.

In history, the 12th year of Hongzhi's general examination was involved in the case of the vend, so that after the end of the palace examination of this subject, no concubine was selected, and only the first three were admitted to the Imperial Academy as usual. It seems that this time Zhu Youtang He and the ministers of the DPRK and China also prepared in the same way.

Probably because of this, the emperor would say so.

……

……

The inner court meeting is over.

Zhang Zhou went to the East Palace under the guidance of Xiao Jing. This time, Zhu Youtang remembered that he had a son, because the father and son were about to complete a performance about the "divine power of the king". For some details, Zhang Zhou might be needed. Go and explain.

Zhu Youtang went to tell his son himself that the two of us were going to cheat, which would affect his image of a tall and mighty father in his son's heart.

"...Mr. Zhang, when you talk to the prince later, remember to be more tactful. The prince is young and has a straightforward personality. If you speak too bluntly, he might not be able to accept it."

Xiao Jing was still reminded on the road.

Zhang Zhoudao: "Does that mean that the prince will not be told the truth?"

"You can do it."

Xiao Jing is also very helpless, this Zhang Banxian has shown such a capable side in front of the emperor, is he deliberately pretending to be confused at this time?

Doesn't His Majesty just want the prince to be kept in the dark?

When he was about to arrive at the Wenhua Palace, Xiao Jing remembered something and said: "Today there will be a talk, Mr. Zhang may have to wait for a while."

"It's okay. I'm not in a hurry to leave the palace."

Zhang Zhou followed Xiao Jing to the small hall first, and waited for more than half an hour, when he was bored, Gao Feng came to inform him that the lecturer had already gone to lunch, and he could go see the prince.

……

……

Inside the Wenhua Hall.

Zhu Houzhao yawned again and again, but he was not very interested in seeing Zhang Zhou.

"Come here?" Zhu Houzhao didn't regard Zhang Zhou as a rare visitor, and acted as if we both knew each other very well and didn't need to meet outsiders.

Zhang Zhoudao: "I have something to explain to the prince, and then leave."

Zhu Houzhao nodded and pointed to the small bench beside him: "Sit!"

Instead of a chair, give me a small bench...

Just as Zhang Zhou was about to sit down, he thought something was wrong, but he just pressed his hand, and the small bench fell apart, but he himself was fine.

"You!"

Zhu Houzhao was obviously a brat and wanted to play tricks on Zhang Zhou, but Zhang Zhou saw it through.

Zhang Zhou said coldly: "Prince, this is not fun."

"Bah!" Zhu Houzhao spat, "You are really good at pinching and counting, you can dodge this..."

Xiao Jing quickly came over and reminded: "Oh, prince, what are you doing? Why don't you hurry up and move a chair for Mr. Zhang?"

After listening to Xiao Jing's words, Liu Jin went to fetch a chair for Zhang Zhou, and even reached out to help Zhang Zhou, for fear that the hospitality would not be good.

"You all step back, Mr. Zhang has something to say to the prince, outsiders are not allowed to listen." Xiao Jing was afraid that the details of going to pray for rain would be known to outsiders, so he hurriedly drove away the people from the East Palace.

In this way, Zhang Zhou explained that Zhu Youtang wanted to take Zhu Houzhao to pray for rain.

……

……

"Going out of the palace? Okay, okay, what day? Another four days? Why should I go for these three days?"

When Zhu Houzhao heard that he was going out of the palace, he didn't care what he was doing, as long as he could go out of the palace to play, he seemed to be free.

Zhang Zhou thought so.

This is going back to the mountain.

"I'm only responsible for informing you of what's going to happen in four days. What does the prince want to do in these three days?" Zhang Zhou said coldly.

Xiao Jing had never seen Zhang Zhou and the prince face to face, after hearing this, he couldn't help but look at Zhang Zhou with a wry smile, as if he was saying, you still dare to speak.

Probably only when Zhang Zhou and Zhu Houzhao spoke with this attitude, could Zhu Houzhao be calmed down.

Others...don't dare to say that at all.

Zhu Houzhao said: "Pray for the rain, what do you mean? Is it the same as the dance god? I remember a water baby in my gourd baby's clothes earlier, bring it to me then."

Zhang Zhou glanced at Xiao Jing beside him.

Xiao Jing was still thinking, what are you looking at me for?I don't even know what water baby means.

What Zhang Zhou actually wanted to express was that it's a good thing you're here, otherwise I'd have to...or you, Eunuch Xiao, go out first and wait, give me a cup of tea, and see how I can beat this kid!

The reason to ask you to pray for the rain is to show you the demeanor of a prince, but if you put on a fancy dress, it is estimated that your father will be able to beat your ass until you bloom.

"Prince, praying for rain involves the fate of the country. The people are still waiting for His Majesty and the Crown Prince to move the heavens and send down a rain to alleviate the drought around the capital. If you have any irregular actions, you will lose your majesty's face... ..."

"cut!"

Zhu Houzhao looked disdainful, what's the matter with embarrassment?

The young master is so big, he hasn't lost anything else, so he can play with shame if he has nothing to do!

Zhang Zhou added: "Your Majesty can't bear it, the prince will be in trouble in the next month or two!"

"You...you are threatening Bengong?" Zhu Houzhao stared.

Zhang Zhou said calmly: "There is no threat, but the prince may be hit by a board, no less than twenty times, and his hand may be hit by a ruler, no less than ten times. He will be grounded for no less than ten days, maybe I won’t be able to see His Majesty, Empress, and Princess for some time to come, and even the regular servants of the Eastern Palace will be taken away..."

When Xiao Jing heard this, he hurriedly wanted to pull Zhang Zhou's clothes.

You, Mr. Zhang, are too courageous. You threatened the prince like this. Are you afraid that one day he will suddenly ascend the throne and seek revenge from you?
Zhu Houzhao said angrily: "Do you still want to say that if the father does not intend to punish me like this, you will also suggest that the father punish me like this?"

Zhang Zhoudao: "I don't want to say that, but if the prince insists on saying this, then it should be so. If the prince really loses his manners when praying for rain, it is considered light. This is exactly what I said to the prince before." If the crown prince displeases His Majesty, then the crown prince himself will not be too comfortable."

"Humph!"

Zhu Houzhao looked furious.

Just when Xiao Jing thought that Zhu Houzhao was going to reprimand Zhang Zhou, and even use the majesty of the prince to overwhelm others, Zhu Houzhao changed the subject: "Then what will I do when it's time to pray for the rain?"

Zhang Zhoudao: "You can do whatever His Majesty asks the prince to do. In fact, as long as you stand behind His Majesty and don't do anything, it is considered that you have completed the task excellently."

Zhu Houzhao asked with a smile: "After the rain prayer is over, when will it rain?"

"I don't quite understand what the prince said." Zhang Zhou said.

"Hey, who are you lying to? My father took me to pray for rain. If you can't get the rain off, what's the point of praying? Is it right that my father and me are praying for rain in front, and you are in the back?" Calling the wind and calling for the rain, and then the raindrops came down?"

Zhu Houzhao's small eyes lit up.

These words also startled Xiao Jing.

Without explaining any details to the brat, this kid actually understood the essence?
Zhang Zhou pursed his lips, and said in a very stiff tone: "If I let the old world rain, it will rain, and if it doesn't rain, it won't rain, then the prince also wants to say that the droughts in various places in the past were also caused by the minister? Should I be the Lord of Thunder and the Mother of Lightning, or the Dragon King of the East Sea?"

"You...what do you want to be, why do you want me to let you be? Forget it, let me go when the time comes, but you have to tell the father that if I behave well, I must be reasonable and let me go later. Learn some real skills from you, if you can really call wind and rain, it will be amazing... By the way, I want to learn the trick of splitting lightning, that is amazing..."

……

……

Zhang Zhou didn't talk too much nonsense with the brat.

After Zhu Houzhao had lunch, he still had to go to class, and he had to go back to prepare for the palace exam, after all, there were not a few days left.

It is said that I want to prepare for the exam, but it doesn't really mean anything too direct. I have passed the general exam. What results can I get from preparing for the exam these days?It's useless to hold Buddha's feet temporarily.

Of course, Zhang Zhou knew about the imperial examination questions in Hongzhi’s 12th year, but because of his butterfly effect, he felt that there was no need to study this kind of humanistic matter. There are nine out of ten questions that would be different. It's useless, it's more important to rely on real skills.

It's better to go home and concentrate on practicing calligraphy these days.

"Mr. Zhang, what do you think our family can do on the day of praying for rain?"

About to reach the gate of the palace, Xiao Jing couldn't help asking respectfully.

Zhang Zhou glanced at him: "Eunuch Xiao, why are you also booing?"

Xiao Jingdao: "Our family has never done such a thing, I don't know what to do, I need your guidance, we can't let our family be like the prince, just stand there and do nothing, right?"

Zhang Zhou could see that Xiao Jing was also very concerned about praying for rain this time.

"Since Eunuch Xiao asked, let me analyze it for you. You see, the most important thing about this matter is not whether the rain can come down, but that the people know why the rain came."

"Yep."

"But there are always many people. He doesn't know that there is such a thing. Then someone needs to publicize in advance and tell the people that His Majesty and the prince will go out of the city to pray for rain in order to alleviate the drought. If the rain really falls, we must Find someone to spread the word as an ordinary person, and let others know that this rain is because His Majesty and the crown prince are the real sons of heaven, and they are blessed by the heavens, so this rain was exchanged."

"normal people?"

"Eunuch Xiao, you need babysitting for shopping, do you know what's going on?"

No matter how dull Xiao Jing is, he will understand when he hears this.

This is to find someone to hide among the common people, and act as a "big speaker" as a common people, so as to arouse the emotions of ordinary people and let them know that all this is the credit of the emperor and the prince.

The task of these nurseries is to stir up emotions.

"Understood." Xiao Jing looked earnest.

I feel taught again.

Ordinary civil servants would not give him such an idea. This is simply inciting public opinion and building up momentum for the emperor and the prince. It is used in an appropriate place today. Who knows if someone will make trouble behind his back?

"I hope that Eunuch Xiao doesn't mind my nonsense. If you want to say that I'm really busy recently, I won't bother you much."

"I know, you have to prepare for the imperial examination."

"No, no, I'm still researching something new recently, to see if I can make more money in business, and I have to take care of mining. I'm tired."

Xiao Jing was speechless at first, and then said with a smile: "You are a capable person who works hard."

……

……

The next day, there was a court meeting at the Meridian Gate.

When the emperor said that he was going to pray for rain in person, all the ministers present were puzzled. It was just a matter of praying for rain. Does the emperor really need to appear on the stage in person?
Xu Qiong, Shangshu of the Ministry of Rites, came out and said: "Your Majesty, if you want to pray for rain, you can ask your ministers to pray on behalf of the emperor to heaven, earth, society, mountains and rivers, and you can also order your courtiers to worship at Haidu in Yuezhen. Your majesty only needs to fast and take a bath." , there is really no need to go there in person.”

Xu Qiong, as the highest official in charge of the etiquette and law of the Ming Dynasty, did not want the emperor to go in person.

Zhu Youtang said: "I personally pray for rain for the people, why not? I will also take the prince there, let him learn how to benefit the people, so that he can be magnanimous and help the world."

Use the truth to bluff people.

At the same time, tell the minister that I have another purpose in doing this, which is to educate my son.

Let me ask you for a noble reason, right?

Hurry up and make arrangements, where is there so much nonsense?
Xu Qiong said again: "Even if you pray for rain, you should choose a good day and auspicious day, and perform the sacrifice in a hurry. I'm afraid it will make you insufficiently prepared. Please wait until the palace test is over before making arrangements."

Zhu Youtang was very upset when he saw that even going out to participate in a sacrificial activity was opposed by the civil servants.

He probably also understands that it seems that everything must be done in accordance with the rules of the civil servants, and he must be well-behaved.

He didn't think much of it before, but now Zhang Zhou is giving him secret advice. After making a comparison, he feels that being under the control of civil officials is boring to be an emperor.

"On the morning of March [-]th, your family will follow me to pray for the rain. The Ministry of Rites and Taichang Temple will make all the arrangements and arrangements, and the Jinyiwei and Jinwuwei will coordinate their tours. If your family is even good for the country and the people If you want to object, doesn’t it mean that I can’t decide everything?”

Zhu Youtang was too lazy to discuss with the minister.

I'm so excited, I was so excited that I didn't even sleep well yesterday, how can I be hindered by you ministers from my grand scheme of pretending to be coercive?
……

……

The court meeting has just ended.

The main ministers didn't have much opinion. The emperor wanted to pray for rain in person, so he could only say that he loved the people like a son, and there was nothing wrong with it.

Xu Qiong felt that the emperor seemed to have taken the wrong medicine.

He hurriedly went to the three members of the cabinet to inquire about the situation. He even felt that the emperor's move was probably suggested by the three members of the cabinet. Otherwise, why didn't the cabinet object to it today?
Xie Qiandao: "Pray in the morning and pray in the evening, and pray for your relatives. They are all prayers. Why care about the situation?"

Xu Qiong frowned and said: "In the past, sacrificial ceremonies had to wait for the Ministry of Rites to play the timing rules."

Xie Qian smiled and said: "Maybe your Majesty thinks that praying for rain is urgent... If you don't pray, the court will not do anything when the rain comes. Wouldn't it be slandered by the world? So... praying earlier is better than praying later powerful!"

(End of this chapter)