The Red Chamber begins with a bastard

Chapter 533 Number One Scholar
On the afternoon of the tenth day of March, the results of the palace examination came out. Emperor Qiansheng went to the Wenhua Palace to review the results. Eight examiners, led by the chief minister of the cabinet, Li Biao, were waiting there, kneeling to welcome the arrival of Emperor Qiansheng.

Emperor Qiansheng walked into the Wenhua Palace, glanced at the people kneeling on the ground, and said with a pleasant face: "My dear ministers, you have worked hard these days. Please stand up!"

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Li Biao, Zhao Mingcheng and others stood up with panda eyes. They had been working overtime to mark exam papers for the past two days and had almost worked all night for two consecutive nights. These old men really tried their best and it was indeed very hard.

"This is the palace examination ranking list recommended by our ministers. Please take a look, Your Majesty." Li Biao carefully presented a list to Emperor Qiansheng.

Emperor Qiansheng took the list and glanced at it. His expression was calm, showing no emotion. He just said calmly, "Bring the test papers of the top 50 to me for my review."

Li Biao was slightly shocked and quickly ordered the clerk to bring the test papers of the first fifty candidates. At this time, the other examiners, including Zhao Mingcheng, felt a little uneasy.

Although according to convention, the final decision on the ranking of the palace examination lies in the hands of the emperor, but generally speaking, the emperor would not spend too much energy on it. He would most likely review the top ten papers symbolically. Even if the final ranking was changed, it would only be slight. Most of the time, it would not even be changed, to show respect and trust for the examiners and ministers. It was obviously very abnormal that Emperor Qiansheng asked to review the top 50 papers this time.

For a moment, all the examiners were a little nervous, secretly guessing what went wrong. Zhao Mingcheng frowned slightly. He was a close minister of the emperor, and he thought he knew Emperor Qiansheng quite well, but he found that he was becoming more and more unpredictable during this period.

The chief minister of the cabinet, Li Biao, took a furtive glance at Emperor Qiansheng, who was carefully reading the examination papers at the moment, and a strange look flashed across his eyes. As the saying goes, too much is as bad as too little. The Donglin faction is powerful and now almost omnipotent in the court. The emperor is wise, is he going to take action to punish them?

Emperor Qiansheng reviewed the examination papers at a speed that was sometimes fast and sometimes slow, but eventually it became faster and faster. In just one stick of incense, he had finished reviewing the fifty examination papers. He picked up the list again, picked up the red pen and scribbled a few strokes on it, then put it down and walked straight out of the hall, saying calmly, "Tomorrow we will hold the ceremony based on this list."

Li Biao and others knelt down immediately and said, "Your Majesty, we respectfully send you off."

When Emperor Qiansheng disappeared outside the palace gate, Li Biao and Zhao Mingcheng almost simultaneously rushed to the imperial desk. Other examiners also came up to watch. When everyone saw the list that had been modified by the emperor's pen, their expressions instantly changed.

I saw that the top scholar on the list was still Jia Huan, without any change, but the runner-up Zhang Pu dropped to fourth place. The original fourth place Liu Yi moved up one place to become the third place, and the original third place also rose to second place. This person was named Liu Tongsheng, from Jishui, Jiangxi.

Li Biao glanced at Zhao Mingcheng, whose expression changed, stroked his beard and smiled, "It seems that the emperor still prefers Jia Huan's article. It's a pity for Zhang Pu to miss the top three."

Zhao Mingcheng was in a heavy mood and even a little panicked. He thought he had read Emperor Qiansheng's pulse correctly and deliberately pushed Jia Huan to the first place and Zhang Pu to the second place. In this way, Emperor Qiansheng would suppress Jia Huan because he hated the old nobles, and Zhang Pu would naturally rise to the first place. However, Emperor Qiansheng did not play according to the routine at all. Not only did he not suppress Jia Huan, but he suppressed Zhang Pu instead.

Tsk tsk, the signal sent by Emperor Qiansheng couldn't be more obvious. Those present were all veterans in officialdom, so how could they not see that Emperor Qiansheng was putting a tight rein on the Donglin Party headed by Zhao Mingcheng?

Therefore, the chief assistant of the cabinet Li Biao, the chief academician of the Imperial College Qi Qin and other officials who were not from the Donglin faction were secretly delighted, while the officials from the Donglin faction felt sad.

At this moment, Zhao Mingcheng couldn't help but feel a little regretful and fearful. During this period, the Donglin faction had made great progress and helped the emperor win the power struggle with the emperor emeritus. Zhao Mingcheng began to feel a little proud. He thought he had figured out Emperor Qiansheng's temper, but he inadvertently committed a taboo. The so-called emperor's most taboo is that his subjects speculate on his intentions.

If an emperor is fully understood by his ministers, then wouldn't he become a puppet of his ministers?
Emperor Qiansheng had been a puppet of the emperor emeritus for six or seven years and had had enough of it. How could he tolerate Zhao Mingcheng's behavior? So instead of suppressing Jia Huan, he suppressed Zhang Pu.

Of course, Zhao Mingcheng and the Donglin Party were of great help to Emperor Qiansheng and were an important support for him to control the court, so only suppressing Zhang Pu by two ranks was a small warning. However, even so, it was enough to frighten Zhao Mingcheng.

…………

On March 11th, the eighth year of Qiansheng, the grand ceremony of announcing the names of the successful candidates was held.

Three hundred newly-minted Jinshi scholars put on their Jinshi robes and waited in front of the Zuoye Gate early in the morning. They were all excited and awaiting the arrival of the grand ceremony. This was the highlight of their lives, how could they not be excited?
Jia Huan, Liu Yi, Lu Xiangsheng and Huang Cong are all students of Diecui Academy. At this moment, they are mixed in with the 300 new scholars. They are wearing scholars' uniforms and scholars' hats. They are really well-dressed and elegant.

Old Huang had taken the imperial examination five times, and now he finally got what he wanted in his life. He seemed to be ten years younger, and said with a smile on his face: "Xiao Jia, you have obtained the title of Jinshi at the age of fourteen. There is no one like you in history. You are really a child prodigy. You are not much inferior to Gan Luo who became a prime minister at the age of twelve. You are really the envy of others!"

Lu Xiangsheng reminded: "Student Huang, please do not compare Ziming to Ganluo. This is very unlucky!"

Huang Cong then remembered that Gan Luo not only became a prime minister at the age of twelve, but also lost his head at the age of twelve. His old face turned red and he said embarrassedly: "Thanks to classmate Lu for reminding me, it is indeed unlucky, just ignore what I said."

Jia Huan smiled and said, "It doesn't matter. Although I am not as smart as Gan Luo, I am definitely more fortunate than him."

Everyone laughed when they heard this, and secretly admired Jia Huan's open-mindedness and optimism.

Lu Xiangsheng said expectantly, "I wonder who will be the top scorer this time. If it's Ziming again, it will be the first of the top six in history. This is the highest achievement for scholars of our generation to take the imperial examination." Liu Yi pondered and said, "Ziming is the top scorer in the joint examination, and it is safe to be in the top ten in the palace examination. But it is hard to say whether he can take the top spot. After all, the emperor's will is unpredictable."

Lu Xiangsheng and Huang Cong nodded in agreement. The final result of the palace examination was decided by the emperor, so it was not just about talent and knowledge, but also the emperor's personal preferences. For example, there was a precedent in the previous dynasty where a candidate missed the top spot because his name had an unlucky homonym and did not suit the emperor's taste.

At this time, the leading official from the Ministry of Rites finally appeared. Since the results of the palace examination had not yet been announced, the new scholars lined up according to their ranking in the examination and were led to the Fengtian Hall by the ceremonial officials.

Let’s talk about Jia Huan and others arriving outside the Fengtian Palace. Wow, they saw that all the civil and military officials of the court were present and lined up outside the palace. Flags were flying on all sides of the square, and palace guards were standing in rows. The scene was grand and the atmosphere was solemn. Although there were clearly thousands of people standing there, it was so quiet that the only sound was the wind blowing the flags.

The three hundred newly-appointed Jinshi candidates stood in designated positions as arranged by the ceremonial officers. Since Jia Huan ranked first in the examination, he stood at the front of the line. He could see Old Man Zheng standing behind the civil servants at a glance. He was only two or three meters away, so he was very close.

Jia Zheng was wearing the fifth-rank court robes, holding an ivory tablet in his hand, and standing straight like a stone statue. He probably noticed that Jia Huan was staring at him, and he felt a little uncomfortable. He couldn't help but glared at Jia Huan, as if to scold him: "You evil creature, be rude, be quiet!"

"Tsk, so hypocritical!" Jia Huan curled his lips secretly and looked away to the throne on the steps.

At this moment Emperor Qiansheng had not yet taken the throne, so the seat was still empty. It was not until the sun rose high and everyone was basking in the sun like steamed crabs that the sound of drums and music rang out from both sides of the Fengtian Hall. Emperor Qiansheng finally appeared in the imperial sedan chair, with ferocious beasts leading the way and armored soldiers advancing together. It was truly majestic and imposing.

Finally, the music stopped, and Emperor Qiansheng got off the imperial sedan chair and sat on the dragon throne on the steps. The imperial guards whipped their whips and shouted, "Take the seat, all officials kneel down and bow!"

The three hundred newly-appointed Jinshi scholars, along with the civil and military officials present, knelt down immediately and performed the ritual of three kneelings and nine kowtows.

After the ceremony, the ceremony of announcing the names of the successful candidates officially began. Li Biao, the Grand Secretary of the Cabinet, and others personally carried a golden list and carefully came to Emperor Dan and handed it to the official of the Honglu Temple.

The official of the Honglu Temple took the gold list and presented it on the imperial desk. The scholars knelt down again. After the ceremony, Emperor Qiansheng waved his hand and said, "Announce!"

The official of the Honglu Temple took over the golden list and called out the name loudly: "Jia Huan, the first place in the first class of the imperial examination in the eighth year of Qiansheng, is the winner and is awarded the title of No. 1 Scholar!"

The guards on both sides of the hall sang in unison: "Jia Huan is awarded the title of No. 1 in the imperial examination!"

"Jia Huan is awarded the title of top scholar!" The palace guards took over the throne, shouting in row after row, and the voices spread all the way to outside the Meridian Gate. They shouted three times in a row. Wow, what a show.

Jia Zheng was so excited that his beard was shaking and tears almost came out of his eyes. This evil creature was really good and got the top spot again. Haha, six yuan in total!
Jia Huan was also very excited at this time. He actually won the top spot. This was beyond his expectation. Emperor Qiansheng actually chose him as the top spot. It was really strange.

At this time, the official announcing the results sang loudly: "In the eighth year of Qiansheng's reign, Liu Tongsheng was ranked second in the first class of the special examination and was awarded the title of second place."

"In the eighth year of Qiansheng's reign, Liu Yi was ranked third in the first class of the imperial examination and was awarded the title of Tanhua."

"In the eighth year of Qiansheng, Zhang Pu, who ranked first in the second class of the imperial examination (i.e. fourth place), was granted the title of Jinshi."

The top three in the palace examination are called the first class, also known as the top three, and their names are called out three times to show honor and favor. From the fourth place onwards, they are called the second class, and the one hundredth place is called the third class, and their names are only called out once.

The announcing officer spent nearly half an hour finally reading out the names of the 300 new Jinshi candidates, and then shouted loudly: "The top three candidates, please come forward to express your gratitude!"

Jia Huan, Liu Tongsheng and Liu Yi stepped out and walked slowly towards the hall, climbed the stairs and came to the imperial throne. Jia Huan stood in the middle, at the head of the giant turtle, which was called "taking the lead". The runner-up Liu Tongsheng and the third place Liu Yi stood on both sides. They reached out their hands to take the gold list and then knelt down to express their gratitude.

After that, the three men carried the golden list down the steps and handed it to Zhang Pu, who ranked fourth. Therefore, the fourth place in the palace examination is also called "Chuanlu".

Zhang Pu took the golden list and handed it to the Minister of Rites, who then put the golden list into the Dragon Pavilion. The palace guards carried the Dragon Pavilion to the Ministry of Rites to post the list, and a group of new scholars accompanied him.

In ancient times, the much-talked-about "catching a son-in-law from under the list" took place at this stage. Of course, this was not popular in the Jin Dynasty, but there were still huge crowds of people who came to see the list, making it impossible to get through.

(End of this chapter)