Misty Rain of the Old Times

That night, the palace was brightly lit. All the examiners and officials from the Ministry of Personnel's Examination and Reward Department gathered in the Imperial Study. They brought with them the best 600 examination papers selected from thousands of candidates. Emperor Shang Xuan would have the final say on who would be the successful candidates in this imperial examination.

Currently, the imperial examinations in Jing State are managed by the Ministry of Personnel. Other countries also have the Ministry of Rites in charge, but the situations in each country are different.

Before the imperial examination began, the court had roughly planned the number of talents to be admitted, which was around 500. The number of more or less depended on the situation. In any case, the best would be selected from the best.

The entire Jing Kingdom has a population of over 100 million. Even if only 1% of them are educated, it is still an extremely large number. The imperial examination is held every three years, and only 500 people are selected. They have to pass the exams one level at a time. It can no longer be described as thousands of troops crossing a single-plank bridge. The difficulty and cruelty of it can be imagined.

Of course, not all of these five hundred people were able to pass the imperial examination and become Jinshi. It is estimated that about two hundred of them could only obtain the title of Tong Jinshi, which is neither good nor bad, and is quite embarrassing. However, it is still better than failing.

Selecting 500 people from more than 600 best examination papers and awarding them the title of Jinshi was an extremely huge workload. Emperor Shang Xuan certainly couldn't have read them all one by one. Not only did he not have enough time, but he was also too old to afford the energy.

In fact, before coming, the department and examiners in charge of the imperial examination had already drafted a list, which was roughly finalized and could be announced tomorrow as long as Emperor Shang Xuan gave his approval.

The reason for such a process is, on the one hand, to reflect the emperor's uniqueness, and on the other hand, because some of the test papers are quite controversial, and no one below can convince anyone else, so the emperor has to make the final decision.

Before the start of this autumn examination, the talent selection for the imperial examination in the local areas would be reported to the capital for confirmation. Therefore, the emperor had a rough idea of ​​who had talent in those places. He was not blind.

After carefully reviewing the list drafted by various departments after discussion, many of the names had controversial comments behind them. So Emperor Shang Xuan asked people to find the test papers of the controversial people, ask for everyone's opinions, and discuss whether to keep them or eliminate them. The process was just like a vegetable market, with people arguing so hard that they were almost rolling up their sleeves to fight.

This is not just a simple list of admissions to the imperial examination. Many of the people on the list have intricate ties with various families and factions. If one person is eliminated on your side, there will be one more on others. To put it bluntly, it's just a struggle for interests.

We worked like this until late at night, eliminated more than a hundred people, and retained 498 people.

What they are discussing now is only the members who passed the imperial examination, and they will not directly determine the top three rankings. That will have to wait until after the palace examination to be determined.

However, the closer the name is on the list, the more likely it is to be the final result, and the possibility of change is very small, unless the candidate performs extremely poorly during the palace examination.

When the discussion was almost over, the already exhausted Emperor Shang Xuan drank a sip of warm ginseng soup and said, "My dear ministers, if there is no objection, let's finalize this imperial examination. The final list will be announced tomorrow."

Once these words were spoken, it was almost the final word.

However, at this moment, someone spoke up, "Your Majesty, we have no objection to most of the candidates on the list, but we think a few are inappropriate. I dare to make this suggestion. It was His Royal Highness the Crown Prince who added them despite the majority's opposition. I hope Your Majesty will consider it again and again."

The speaker was the Deputy Director of the Ministry of Personnel's Examination and Reward Department. He was qualified to say such things. The other examiners and graders did not refute him after he spoke, which was considered as tacit agreement.

The crown prince present did not say anything about this, with an attitude that his father had made the decision. He and Emperor Shang Xuan were of the same mind. This imperial examination was to pave the way for him. He was the one who was favored against all odds, and as expected, Emperor Shang Xuan also approved of him.

Putting down the teacup, Emperor Shang Xuan smiled and said, "If you think it's inappropriate, why didn't you mention it before?"

"Your Majesty, I proposed this discussion at the last moment because the controversy was so great," the Yuanwailang said righteously.

Nodding, Emperor Shang Xuan said, "Since that's the case, let's take out the test papers of the controversial people separately so that we can discuss it together."

Although it was said to be a discussion, in the end it was still him who had the final say. Since he was already on the list and was almost one of the final ones, he must have some merits. Once Emperor Shang Xuan made the decision, the others could only accept it with a pinch of their noses.

"Your Majesty, please take a look. There are five people in total. The content on the test paper is too... presumptuous. We think it is inappropriate. Your Highness the Crown Prince has your opinion. Please make the final decision, Your Majesty." The Yuanwailang was well prepared and presented the test paper immediately.

In fact, there were only one or two people who were controversial. The reason for submitting five test papers was just to confuse the public and avoid the suspicion of targeting someone specifically.

Carefully flipping through the five exam papers presented, Emperor Shang Xuan remained expressionless, his true thoughts unnoticed. "Hmm? Is this the boy? I have some impression of him. Back then, it was a drawing of his that helped me live a few extra years. His calligraphy is truly remarkable. Rumor has it he's a master in both calligraphy and painting, but he's just not very public. He's also very close to that brat. Well, putting that brat aside, I have to say, what this boy said really hit the nail on the head. No wonder the people below wanted to eliminate him. I think Chen'er also knows that this kind of person could be of great use. If it weren't for Chen'er's insistence on speaking out, this boy's name might never have even reached my attention. Well, the other one is not bad either. He believes that a strong army is the foundation of a nation's prestige. The others are relatively conservative. Both are good..."

The old emperor's mind flashed, and he had already made up his mind. He smiled and said, "I have read the contents of the exam paper. It is true that some of them are taken for granted. But young people are good to have ideas, but they are still a little immature and need to be tempered. They are just boasting. After suffering setbacks, they will realize that many things are not so simple. Give them a chance to face reality. What do you think, my dear ministers?"

"It's all up to your Majesty to decide." The examiners and officials felt a sinking feeling in their hearts. Your Majesty's words should be taken in reverse order. The more he belittles us, the more optimistic we are. This is equivalent to "adding burden" to the young people.

After a brief pause, Emperor Shang Xuan picked up his pen, erased the two names in the middle and back of the draft list, and added them back to the top ten. He then gestured, "What do you think, my dear ministers?"

Without waiting for anyone to say anything, he put down his pen and said, "If there are no objections, we will announce the results tomorrow."

"The minister obeys the order"

With this, the number of Jinshi candidates for this imperial examination has been finalized. After the results are announced, the candidates on the list will enter the palace to face the emperor. After the palace examination, the top three rankings will be determined...

Countless people couldn't sleep that night, because this was the last night that would determine their fate. After tomorrow, they would either pass the imperial examination and enjoy glory, or leave the stage sadly and become obscure among the crowd. It was already a turning point in their lives.

"The taste of separation is really not very pleasant, even if it is only a temporary farewell, but this highlights the preciousness of the next meeting." On the way back, Chen Xuan felt secretly melancholy.

He used to think that he was a very open-minded person who could be heartless and not care about anything, but when he was really in the situation, he found that he was no different from ordinary people.

For some things, only after experiencing them personally did I realize that my previous thoughts were too taken for granted. It turns out this is what it feels like to like someone. I don’t want to be apart and I wish we could be together all the time. Of course, I guess this won’t affect future quarrels.

It was already late at night when Gao Jingming slowly returned to Xiaomingju. He did not sleep, but drank alone in the night, looking a little absent-minded.

"Axuan, did you have fun today? Why not have a drink with me?" Gao Jingming, who was already a little tipsy, raised his glass to greet him.

Chen Xuan walked over, sat down, poured himself a glass of wine, and jokingly said, "Young Master, are you really nervous? I thought you could accept any outcome calmly. Okay, I'll drink with you. Once you're drunk, you won't have any worries."

"A Xuan, what you said is right. After more than ten years of studying, how can I really not care? But now that things have come to this, we can only wait for the result," Gao Jingming said and shook his head after drinking a glass of wine.

Curling his lips, Chen Xuan said, "Seeing you look distracted, don't worry. Young Master knows the meaning of the word 'imperial examination' better than me, right? The imperial examination is certainly the best way to change your destiny and show what you have learned, but don't forget, the 'ju' in the word 'imperial examination' also means 'recommendation'. Don't worry, I have someone above me. Even if you fail, I can recommend you. It's much more convenient than climbing up step by step after passing the imperial examination. I'm not exaggerating, if you want to become the chief steward of the palace, it's just a matter of a word."

"A Xuan, I don't doubt what you said. With your cultivation level, even if you recommend me to be the prime minister, I guess the emperor will agree after considering it. But the problem is, why don't you become the chief eunuch? Also, can't you think of me a little bit?" Gao Jingming said with a helpless smile.

At this time, Gao Jingming was also convinced. He was obviously nervous, but as soon as A Xuan came back, he calmed down with just two words. Thinking carefully, it seemed that this had happened many times since he was a child. Whenever his emotions fluctuated greatly, A Xuan could magically calm him down.

"I still have to get married, so it doesn't matter if I'm not the chief eunuch," Chen Xuan shook his head immediately.

Gao Jingming smiled and said, "Marry three? You said at the beginning that you would put together a mahjong table. What is mahjong? I haven't seen any trace of it yet."

"It was just a joke back then, don't take it seriously. It's just mahjong, play it when you have time. It's a bit addictive. I was worried that it would affect your studies before, but I won't have so many concerns in the future," Chen Xuan said with a smile.

"We grew up together. I didn't know you had so many weird things. Come and drink. Let's get drunk today and talk about tomorrow. To be honest, Xuan, if I don't make the list tomorrow, I will go back to my brother-in-law."

Chen Xuan's mouth twitched, and he thought to himself, I knew it, you kid has already made preparations for both situations. It seems that he really took my words to heart. It is not as easy to pass the exam and get into the Golden Palace as it is to break into it!
But no matter how you look at it, Prince Qing doesn't look like he wants to rebel. What is he thinking?

...(End of chapter)