Tang Dynasty, my wife Wu Zetian

Chapter 62: Xu Jin's Comments on the Imperial Examination Papers
Di Renjie was thinking anxiously.

Did the emperor transfer him to Beijing just for the imperial examination?

Yes, Yan Liben told him last time that the emperor wanted to support the commoners and fight against the aristocratic families, so he wanted to reform the imperial examination system to recruit more talents for the court.

The aristocratic families controlled the government, power was passed down from generation to generation, incompetent people usurped high positions, lived off the fat of the land, and hollowed out the foundation of the Tang Dynasty.

"Di Renjie, Di Renjie, you always boast about supporting the country and doing something for the people. Now, before you even have a firm seat as Shaoqing, you're already obsessed with wealth and fame, and you're calculating your own gains and losses. Aren't you ashamed?"

Di Renjie took a deep breath and made a decision in his mind.

Having said that, he didn't speak immediately.

He had personally experienced the pros and cons of the imperial examination system and could best feel its flaws.

However, how to make the saints understand this deeply and how to help them solve this problem require careful consideration.

A name suddenly popped up in his mind.

Gao Youdao.

In the third year of Yonghui, the year of Renzi, Di Renjie went to Beijing to take the exam and stayed at the Sitong Inn in Pingkangfang, where he met several like-minded candidates.

The most talented person among them is Gao Youdao.

However, Gao Youdao was arrogant and insisted on taking the imperial examination. He refused to pay homage to the powerful and influential, and even offended people he should not have offended.

It’s a pity that I failed the exam in the end.

He wanted to tell the emperor about Gao Youdao, but when the words reached his lips, he was startled and thought to himself, "Gao Youdao and I are friends. If I speak up for him, will the emperor think I am using my power for personal gain?"

"Even if the Saint doesn't care, if this matter becomes a big deal in the future, the officials from the aristocratic families will definitely use my relationship with Gao Youdao to make a fuss, which will affect His Majesty's goal of reforming the imperial examination system."

Di Renjie thought about it and soon came up with a better idea.

"Your Majesty, I have thought it over. I don't remember much about the imperial examination, but there is one person who left a deep impression on me."

Li Zhi looked up and asked, "Who?"

Di Renjie said, "Bai Xiaojie."

……

There are many plum gardens in the inner courtyard of the imperial palace. In a garden west of Penglai Palace, the plum blossoms bloom most beautifully, defying the snow and frost with a faint fragrance and sparse shadows.

This garden was carefully cultivated and repaired by Empress Wu Zetian when she was the Consort. There are five different varieties of plum blossoms in the garden.

Early that morning, Li Zhi woke up in Penglai Palace.

Since it was the morning, after breakfast, he strolled in the plum garden with Xu Jin and Princess Yi Yang.

After walking around for a while, we came to a "Plum Viewing Pavilion" where we took a rest and tasted fresh fruits and vegetables.

Soon, Wang Fusheng came over from the path and said to Li Zhi, "Everyone, everything about Bai Xiaojie has been thoroughly investigated."

As he spoke, he handed over a booklet.

Li Zhi took it and looked through it, frowning and becoming angrier the more he read.

In the third year of Yonghui, the year of Renzi, there were more than a thousand candidates for the imperial examination. The number of candidates taking the Jinshi examination was three times that of the Mingjing examination.

However, only 25 people were admitted to the "Jinshi" category, while 58 people were admitted to the "Mingjing" category.

At thirty, one is old enough to become a Mingjing, and at fifty, one is unlikely to become a Jinshi. This refers to the difficulty of the Jinshi examination.

The Jinshi examination questions cover a wide range and place more emphasis on the examinee's thinking and insight abilities.

Unlike the Mingjing exam, you only need to memorize some classics, history, and miscellaneous books to have a chance of passing.

Therefore, the Jinshi examination is very difficult. Correspondingly, those who pass the Jinshi examination will gain great honor and their promotion speed will be much faster than that of the Mingjing examination.

Even with Di Renjie's ability, he was deterred from taking the Jinshi examination and instead took the Mingjing examination. This is enough to show the difficulty of the Jinshi examination.

Bai Xiaojie, however, was the top scorer in the Jinshi examination.

There were only eight top-ranking candidates at that time, and he was one of them. He was granted the position of county magistrate in Xiazhou.

Now he has been transferred to the Shangzhou provincial government and serves as a military officer of the Ministry of Revenue, a position one level higher than Di Renjie's previous position as a military officer of the Ministry of Justice.

Di Renjie was recommended by Yan Liben again, but his promotion speed was still not as fast as Bai Xiaojie.

From this we can see that this person is either very capable or has a strong background.

Bai Xiaojie is obviously the latter.

His father, Bai Haide, served as a member of the Ministry of Revenue and was a disciple of Chu Suiliang.

After reading it, Li Zhi said in a deep voice, "Go and bring Bai Xiaojie's exam paper over for me to see."

Wang Fusheng took the order and left.

The examination papers of all candidates were sealed in the files of the Ministry of Personnel, and no one had the right to view them except the emperor and the prime ministers of the three provinces.

Wang Fusheng had the emperor's oral order, so he could pass through without any hindrance.

After he got the test papers, he did not report to Li Zhi immediately, but waited near the archives of the Ministry of Personnel and observed coldly.

Before long, a clerk rushed out from the archives and hurried along the corridor.

Wang Fusheng waved his hand, and four eunuchs rushed forward and captured the man.

He was a clerk in the archives of the Ministry of Personnel.

Wang Fusheng knew that this person was reporting to the officials of the noble families, so he didn't bother to torture him. He ordered: "Hand him over to Minister Xu and let him handle it."

The two eunuchs received the order and took the clerk away.

Wang Fusheng checked the name of the examiner who had graded Bai Xiaojie's paper, and then took Bai Xiaojie's paper back to the Plum Blossom Viewing Pavilion to present it to Li Zhi. At this time, Xu Jin and Princess Yiyang had just returned from admiring the plum blossoms in the forest.

After Li Zhi finished reading, he said to Xu Jin who was walking over, "Chongrong, you are very smart. Please help me take a look at this exam paper."

Xu Jin took it and looked at it.

After reading it, her dark eyebrows curled up.

"Everyone, whose test paper is this?"

Li Zhi said, "Don't worry about who it belongs to, just tell me whether it's good or not."

Xu Jin pondered for a moment and said, "If it was written by a fifteen-year-old boy, it would be considered quite good. But if it was written by someone over fifteen..."

Li Zhi said: "How?"

Xu Jin said, "I'm afraid I haven't been studying hard enough."

Li Zhi said sternly, "This is the examination paper of a Jinshi who ranked first in the imperial examination in the third year of Yonghui."

Xu Jin was startled, covered her mouth, and asked, "How could that be?"

Li Zhi said: "See, this is the talent they selected for me!"

Turning to Wang Fusheng, he asked, "Have you checked who the examiner was who graded Bai Xiaojie's exam paper?"

Wang Fusheng said, "Your Majesty, I have checked. The examiner's name is Cui Wenhan. He has now been promoted to the position of Langzhong in the Ministry of Personnel and is also a student of Chu Suiliang."

Li Zhi took a deep breath.

He should have guessed long ago that Chu Suiliang had served as the Minister of Personnel for a long time, and the person in charge of the imperial examinations must have been his disciple.

Seeing that he was unhappy, Princess Yiyang peeled a grape, placed it next to his mouth, and said crisply, "Since that examiner is not a good person, father, just punish him. Why get angry with him?"

Compared with the honest and lively Princess Gao'an, Princess Yiyang was more mature and sensible.

Li Zhi's expression softened a bit, and he said, "Not only will I not investigate him, but I will also entrust him with an important task and let him serve as the chief examiner of this imperial examination."

Princess Yi Yang widened her eyes, looking puzzled.

Xu Jin, however, understood and said with a smile, "Are you trying to play hard to get and make him make a bigger mistake?"

Li Zhi's eyes flickered as he said, "He's just a bait at best. I want to see if I can use him to hook some big fish."

At this time, Xue Rengui also walked over along the flower-lined path and said with a bow, "Your Majesty, I have investigated something that is related to Bai Xiaojie."

Last November, Li Zhi asked Xue Rengui to form an intelligence organization based on the Qianniu Guard, named "Neiling Guard".

Now that it has been established for more than two months and has more than a hundred members, it can finally be put to use.

Li Zhi asked, "What news did you hear?"

Xue Rengui said, "During the imperial examination in the third year of the Yonghui reign, there was a man named Gao Youdao, who was quite talented. He once challenged Bai Xiaojie to a literary competition and won decisively. However, he later failed the exam because his finger was accidentally stepped on by a horse's hoof and he couldn't hold a pen."

Xu Jin was slightly startled and looked thoughtful.

Li Zhi tilted his head and asked, "Chongrong, do you know this person?"

Xu Jin said, "I have a good friend who often writes to me. She once mentioned Gao Youdao in a letter, saying that he was very talented and attached a poem by Gao Youdao that was very well written."

Li Zhi said, "Compared to Bai Xiaojie, how does Gao Youdao compare to Bai Xiaojie in literary talent?"

Xu Jin hesitated for a moment and said, "Like a teacher and a child."

Li Zhi shook his head and said, "In the end, the Master was not selected, and the child was given the chance to take the exam."

Xue Rengui asked, "Your Majesty, do you want to arrest Bai Xiaojie?"

Li Zhi raised his hand and said, "No, I suspect that Gao Youdao's hand injury from a horse hoof is also related to this person. Send someone to check on Gao Youdao and see what he is doing. Fu Sheng, go check Bai Xiaojie's ratings over the past few years. I want to take a look."

The two of them took their orders and left.

Li Zhi no longer had the heart to stroll around the garden, so he returned to Ganlu Palace and began to handle official business.

Half an hour later, Wang Fusheng brought over Bai Xiaojie's ratings. One was the best and two were good, so the ratings were actually "upper and lower".

Moreover, his test scores last year and the year before were even higher, both being “above average”.

From this we can see that not only the Ministry of Revenue has problems, but the Ministry of Personnel has even bigger problems.

Li Zhi ordered: "Issue an imperial decree to transfer Bai Xiaojie to the capital to serve as the head of the Ministry of Revenue."

Wang Fusheng agreed and said, "Yes."

Before dark in the afternoon, Xue Rengui also found out information about Gao Youdao.

Gao Youdao was from Huzhou in Jiangnan. He had been staying in Chang'an since he came there in the third year of Yonghui.

His right hand was disabled, so he used his left hand to hold the pen. Due to his difficult livelihood, he lived in a temple and made a living by selling songs.

Upon hearing this, Li Zhi asked in surprise, "Selling music?"

Xue Rengui said, "He writes poetry and songs for the singing girls in the art gallery. He has a good literary talent, and his poems are profound, graceful and sad, which makes them very popular with the singing girls."

Li Zhi was silent for a while, then sighed, "Such a talented person has fallen to this state. How sad and lamentable. What else does he do besides writing lyrics?"

Xue Rengui said, "This man often gets drunk in restaurants, and he's in a daze and listless. I'm afraid he's already lost hope in his career."

Li Zhi thought for a moment and said, "Xue Qing, go find him and try to cheer him up so that he can definitely take part in this year's imperial examination."

Xue Rengui bowed and said, "I accept your order."

(End of this chapter)