No war in the Northern Song Dynasty

Chapter 39 The Counterattack Begins (Please recommend and read)
On the second day of the second month, people are busy picking vegetables.

At that time, there was no so-called Dragon Raising its Head Day, but February 2nd was the time when grass grew and warblers flew, so the people in Bianjing would go out of the city to pick wild vegetables to celebrate the festival.

In the imperial palace, the emperor would also give wild vegetable banquets to important officials. This was also a festival to encourage farming.

As an important festival after the New Year, the young scholars in Bianjing City, who never missed any lively activities, did not get involved.

Because three days later is the day of the Ministry of Rites examination.

Of course, one has to pray for help before dying. Even a person like Yang Zong, who was arrogant because of his talent, canceled the banquet in Dengke Building and hid in the house to study.

Wang Anshi was also studying at home, but he was always hung over by a lingering worry.

A few days ago, the Censorate really took action.

Song Qi, the former supervisor of the Imperial College, was indeed impeached by several censors because of his knowledge of the Imperial College's disadvantages and the corruption in the Imperial College examinations during his tenure.

The emperor, who had always been lenient towards his ministers, was also furious.

Originally, Song Qi had been expelled from the court because of the case of the Four Friends of Tianzhang and was appointed as the magistrate of Shouzhou (Fengtai County, Anhui Province).

It was normal for a high-ranking official in the imperial court to be expelled from Bianliang and appointed as a prefect because of his mistakes.

But there is a difference between the prefect and the governor.

Shouzhou is a state not far from Bianjing and located in a prosperous area, so it is considered a preferential treatment.

But this time the emperor was angry and directly transferred Song Qi to Huizhou (Huizhou, Guangdong) and removed him from his position in Tianzhang Pavilion. This was obviously a severe punishment.

Although the political consensus of not killing scholars and officials had been formed during the Renzong period, if you were either demoted or on the way to being demoted, and eventually died in a foreign land, it would be no different from murder.

After the Wudai Poetry Case, Su Shi was demoted all the way to Hainan and was ultimately unable to return to Bianliang.

In addition to Song Qi's punishment, several students who had qualified for the Ministry of Rites examination had their qualifications suspended because of this case and were not allowed to take part in this year's Ministry of Rites examination.

Su Ze's name is among them.

After Wang Anshi got the news, he went to Su Ze's courtyard.

However, he learned from the neighbors that Su Ze had sold the courtyard, and Wang Anshi had not found Su Ze's new residence.

Could it be that Su Ze was disheartened by this incident and left Bianjing?
Wang Anshi couldn't find Su Ze, so he had to return home to review his studies.

Before entering the officialdom, Wang Anshi witnessed its cruelty from a distance, which shocked him greatly.

Perhaps in the eyes of those high-ranking figures, talent is not important at all, but power is the most important thing to them.

Wang Anshi thought of Su Ze's words to persuade him to join the government and change the officialdom, so he put these distracting thoughts out of his mind and secretly made up his mind that he must pass the Ministry of Rites examination this time!

At Lu Yijian's house, Lu Gongbi was packing clothes for his father.

This year, the emperor issued another decree, ordering Lu Yijian to be in charge of the imperial examination, that is, to be the chief examiner of this Ministry of Rites examination.

Hanlin scholar Ouyang Xiu served as the deputy examiner of this imperial examination.

As the chief examinee, Lu Yijian would enter the examination hall of the Ministry of Rites in advance and lock the hall to set questions. He would not leave until all the examination papers were graded, so Lu Gongbi helped him pack his bags.

It was naturally a great honor to be able to preside over the imperial examinations. Although all Jinshi in the Song Dynasty were called disciples of the emperor, the ministers who presided over the imperial examinations were still respected as teachers.

There is a saying among people that "a prime minister who does not know about the imperial examination is not worthy of being a prime minister." This is because by presiding over an imperial examination, one can recruit a group of new Jinshi, who are the future of the officialdom.

Historically, those prime ministers who were more powerful were all those who had been in charge of the imperial examinations many times and had a certain number of students and former officials, so that they could control the government from top to bottom.

Lu Yijian was relatively calm about his son's excitement.

He was already sixty-three years old, his body was old and his eyesight was blurry. Being in charge of the imperial examinations was a tough job for him. Rather than cultivating his own students, he was more concerned with Fan Zhongyan in the northwest.

In the first month, Fan Zhongyan rushed to Bian Jing, and the government opened the Tianzhang Pavilion to make a report.

I thought the government was going to use Fan Zhongyan.

However, after his reply, Fan Zhongyan was not retained in Bian Jing as prime minister, but soon returned to the northwest.

His subordinate Wang Gongchen and his son Lu Gongbi both thought that the emperor was dissatisfied with Fan Zhongyan's memorial and sent him back to the northwest.

But Lu Yijian didn't think so.

Although Western Xia won two battles, its national strength has shown signs of decline. Fan Zhongyan has been building fortresses and castles in the northwest these days, appointing a new generation of generals such as the Zhong family in the northwest, and recruiting northwest foreign soldiers, and has already established a firm foothold.

There were already rumors of peace talks in the northwest in the court. At such a critical juncture, even if the emperor wanted to reuse Fan Zhongyan, he would keep him in the northwest.

What made Lu Yijian uneasy was that the content of the Tianzhang Pavilion's report this time had not been released at all.

The cabinet convened to discuss state affairs. In addition to the emperor and his ministers, ministers would also come forward to announce their own political blueprints.

But what did Fan Zhongyan say to the emperor when he was making his memorial in Tianzhang Pavilion? What was the emperor's attitude towards the content of Fan Zhongyan's memorial?

Lu Yijian was already well-connected and had bribed eunuchs in the palace, but he was unable to find out any of the content of this memorial.

This made Lu Yijian very anxious.

In addition, the matter of enthroning the crown prince was aborted because of the evil book case, and Lu Yijian, who supported the queen, was also hit hard.

But there was no one to confide in about this anxiety, so Lu Yijian asked his son:

"During the days when the courtyard is locked up, you must behave yourself at home and don't cause any trouble."

Lu Gongbi naturally agreed without hesitation. He personally carried the luggage to the gate of the prime minister's residence and helped Lu Yijian get on the carriage to the Imperial Examination Hall.

After his father left, Lü Gongbi relaxed and immediately said to his attendants:

"Hurry up and invite the young masters to the palace for a feast!"

"Also, ask Feng Shiyuan to send over a few jars of aged Shoumei wine!"
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On February 5th, the Ministry of Rites examination officially began.

Wang Anshi and Zeng Gong were both queuing up, waiting for physical inspection to enter the Imperial Examination Hall.

No one dares to neglect this important exam that affects their future.

Although Wang Anshi knew that Su Ze could no longer take part in this Ministry of Rites examination, he still couldn't help looking around, and sure enough, he did not see Su Ze.

Wang Anshi did see Yang Zong, who nodded slightly in greeting.

Finally, it was Wang Anshi's turn. The soldiers carefully searched him to see if he had any cheating tools, and then let him enter the Imperial Examination Hall.

At this moment, Wang Anshi suddenly heard a deafening sound of drums.

Including him, all the scholars who were preparing to enter the Imperial Examination Hall looked back following the sound of drums.

Is this the direction of the imperial palace?
Not only the Imperial Examination Hall, but also the courts, provincial temples, and eunuchs around the imperial palace heard the drumbeats.

A few veteran officials remembered the origin of the drum sound.

The drum for reporting the incident sounded.

　It’s the second round, and more will be added starting next week!
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(End of this chapter)