Chapter 172 171 Announcement, Good News
"Open the sealed envelope."
The Jiajing Emperor said this, which also showed that he did not seem to have any objection to the rankings arranged by the examiners.
However, since ancient times, the imperial power has been supreme. Whether the rankings will be adjusted after the sealed envelope is opened is uncertain.
There are many factors that the emperor needs to consider when selecting scholars.
Today is March 17th, and tomorrow is March 18th. The grand ceremony of announcing the names of the candidates will be held, so today we have to fill in the yellow list and seal it, and complete all the procedures that need to be completed.
As the sealed envelope was opened, the name of the first paper was revealed, Zhu Dashou.
Then the second name came out, it was Tao Dalin, and then the third Chen Xi.
It was not until the eighth paper was opened that the name of Jin Da, the champion of this year, appeared in front of everyone.
Although Yan Song was dissatisfied with Jin Da, he did not dare to suppress Jin Da's ranking, so he could only suppress it appropriately.
Under normal circumstances, Emperor Jiajing had no intention of adjusting the rankings before, so Jin Da, as the champion, would be ranked fifth in the second class and would miss the top three in the first class.
Then he continued to open the sealed envelope at the back, and the four names of Bao Chengyin, Liu Xingsu, Chai Xiang, and Wei Guangde appeared in front of everyone.
It was the same as the rules of the imperial examination. Even Yan Song could hardly deliberately suppress the rankings of some people, and naturally it was difficult to raise the rankings of some people.
Jin Da, no matter how dissatisfied Yan Song was, he could not suppress him to the top three.
Wei Guangde, no matter how hard he pushed, he could not push him to the second class, everything had rules.
There was only one way to break the rules, and one person could do it, that was the emperor.
Yan Song played a little trick in this submission of the test paper, suppressing Jin Da to the lowest level and raising Wei Guangde to the top four of the third class. Although this also raised Wei Guangde's ranking by more than 100 people, it was not considered a violation of the rules.
Next, it depends on what the attitude of Emperor Jiajing is, which is very important for Yan Song's attitude towards Wei Guangde in the future.
Emperor Jiajing looked at the twelve papers on the table, and without wasting any time, he directly wrote his comments on the first and second papers with the red pen on the table. This was also Emperor Jiajing's habit.
Writing down his own opinions showed that he had read the papers.
But after writing down two papers, Emperor Jiajing did not write comments on the third paper of Chen Xi, but picked up the eighth paper and put it in the third position.
As a minister who had followed Emperor Jiajing for many years, he naturally understood what he meant. The eunuch Huang Jin who was accompanying him immediately stepped forward and moved the other papers back, and the chief minister Yan Song just narrowed his eyes slightly, and then returned to normal.
Emperor Jiajing wrote his comments on Jin Da's paper in one go, and then put down the red pen.
At this moment, the top three of this year's palace examination were determined.
Zhu Dashou was the champion, Tao Dalin was the runner-up, and Jin Da was the third place.
Emperor Jiajing looked at the papers at the back again. The emperor had the final say on the ranking of the palace examination, but the ranking represented by the papers on display reflected the will of the civil servants.
Emperor Jiajing finally picked up the last paper, flipped through it casually, and said, "It's pretty standard."
Still standard?
What does this mean?
Although Emperor Jiajing spoke in a low voice, the hall was so quiet that a pin drop could be heard, so the eunuchs and fourteen examiners who served him could hear it clearly.
Then he saw Emperor Jiajing put the paper in his hand in the fourth place, ranking after Jinda.
This ranking adjustment was a bit big, directly from the third place to the second place, or the first place in the second place, in the position of "Chuanlu".
Including Yan Song, all the examiners couldn't help but open their eyes and take another look at the paper on the imperial desk. No one said a word, but their eyes drifted to Yan Song's side.
At this time, almost all the examiners were speculating that perhaps Emperor Jiajing had given Yan Song some hints before, so this happened.
After all, Xu Jie also chose Yan Song's method at that time, handing Wei Guangde's paper to them alone, asking them to read it first and give a grade.
Although Wei Guangde's paper was generally scored high, he was dragged down by his ranking in the imperial examination and could only stay in the top three.
Moreover, none of the tribute scholars who were able to make it to the palace examination were rookies and weak chickens. They were all very capable. The true level of Wei Guangde's paper was not outstanding among the three hundred people, and the ranking in the imperial examination was still very objective.
Among the examiners, only Wu Peng and Lei Li had a little sweat on their foreheads, but who could blame them for this?
After reading the papers, they found the papers with ten top grades, two middle grades and two middle grades. At that time, they thought it was a relative of Yan Ge Lao, and they never thought it would be the emperor's.
However, in Yan Song's view, Emperor Jiajing's performance was a real hammer.
The amount of elixirs that Emperor Jiajing takes every day is increasing, and they are definitely not good.
In Yan Song's opinion, Emperor Jiajing may have sensed something, so he began to prepare people for the crown prince.
He knew a lot about Wei Guangde.
He was born in a hereditary military household family, and then he became famous through the imperial examination.
The last time the Japanese pirates in Nanjing were wiped out by them, it was said that this kid personally went into battle and killed a Japanese pirate. He was brave and resourceful, and he was both civil and military.
At this moment, Yan Song had already thought about how to arrange Wei Guangde in the future. With his level, he probably wouldn't be outstanding in the imperial examination, and it would still be difficult for him to enter the Hanlin Academy.
Although Yan Song and his son can be said to be in control of the government and have a say in the six ministries, the Hanlin Academy has always been the base camp of the Qingliu. To be honest, his influence on this government office is not great.
Yan Song is considering how to arrange Wei Guangde, and other examiners are also considering how to treat this little guy who seems to be favored by the emperor.
In fact, in the heart of Emperor Jiajing, he just wants to give Wei Guangde a compensation.
In November, the rewards for the September suppression of the Japanese pirates were decided and sent to Nanjing.
Wei Guangde was not included in the list of rewards because he did not have a military position. The first-level military merit under his name was transferred to his cousin Wu Dong, which is in line with the convention that everyone has a share of the merit.
However, in the eyes of Emperor Jiajing, merits should be rewarded and faults should be punished. Since Wei Guangde could not get military merits, he should be compensated in the imperial examination.
Maybe there are other ideas, who knows!
He had intended to give him a chance to be a Gongshi before, but he didn't expect that his name was already on the list that was reported. So he could only give him a better ranking in the palace examination, which was also worthy of his loyalty.
"You decide the rest."
After looking at the results of this palace examination that he had decided, Emperor Jiajing nodded slightly with satisfaction and said.
After instructing the ministers, Emperor Jiajing said to Huang Jin: "Let the Shangbaojian and Zhizhifang cooperate, and stamp the imperial edict immediately after filling it out, so as not to delay tomorrow's ceremony."
"Yes, I will tell them when I go down."
Huang Jin immediately bowed and answered. Huang Jin is now the eunuch in charge of the East Factory of the Silijian. The Shangbaojian is naturally under his direct jurisdiction, but he is more concerned about the affairs of the palace. He has left the East Factory to Chen Hong.
At this time, the fourteen examiners also saluted Emperor Jiajing, then took the twelve test papers and left the room, and went to the next room to sort out the results of this palace examination and fill in the list.
Meanwhile, in Jiujiang Prefecture, everything was going on as usual in the Jiujiang Guard Command Office.
A few years ago, the Nanjing Ministry of War and the Five Military Governor's Office came and issued the rewards for the suppression of the Japanese pirates. At that time, the entire guard was delighted. The rewards were really unexpected.
Most of the guard commanders had not reached the stage of promotion, so naturally no one thought they could be promoted. And even if they were promoted, where could they be promoted to? Transferred to the Beijing Camp?
In this era, military officers still thought it was better to stay in the local area. If they went to the capital, they would have to bow and scrape all day long, which was really not a good place to go.
Because of their great contributions this time, although the rewards did not give them promotions, they were all promoted to one level of scattered ranks. The Jiujiang Guard Commander and the Commander-in-Chief were even awarded a bullfighting suit, while the other generals were awarded a Kirin suit.
Among those who were promoted, only Wu Zhankui was promoted to Commander-in-Chief, and Wei Meng was promoted from the fifth-rank guard pacification position to the thousand-household position of the rear army, with his rank raised by one level to the fifth-rank.
Wei Wencai, the captain of the Right Army, was also awarded a Kirin suit for his meritorious service in the war.
There was also some silver reward, but not much. Although the amount of gold and silver in circulation increased due to maritime trade, it was still very tight in the court, so the military officers were awarded 50 taels of silver, and the least was only 20 taels.
That little silver reward was really not cared about by these soldiers now, which was just the officers and soldiers below, who were all guys who had never seen money. The military officers were more concerned about getting the suit.
The suits awarded by the Ming Dynasty were still quite rare for military generals outside.
There were still many kinds of suits awarded in the Ming Dynasty, especially Emperor Jiajing, who liked to give people Taoist things the most, but there were mainly four kinds of official suits: python suit, flying fish suit, bullfighting suit and Kirin suit.
The python suit was the highest-level suit awarded in the Ming Dynasty. It was the noble clothing second only to the dragon robe worn by the emperor. It was the suit awarded by the eunuchs, prime ministers and other eunuchs in the Ming Dynasty.
"Ming History·Vehicle Records" records: "It is not easy for civil and military officials of the first rank to be granted a python robe."
Being granted a python robe is considered a great honor. Wearing a python robe means being in the highest position among officials, rich and noble.
The next best, the flying fish robe, is generally only available to officials of the second rank or above. Jinyiwei is actually not worthy of wearing flying fish robes. Most of the lieutenants wear blue cotton armor, and only military officers above the rank of Qianhu can be granted flying fish robes.
The bullfighting robe is the third-class granted robe after the flying fish robe, and is generally granted to officials of the third rank or above.
The last, the Qilin robe, was originally the official uniform of the duke, marquis, son-in-law, and earl in the Ming Dynasty. However, because the Qilin is a famous beast of benevolence and righteousness in ancient legends, the emperors of the Ming Dynasty also used the Qilin robe as a granted robe and awarded it to ministers of the fourth and fifth ranks.
It is worth mentioning that most of the Jinyiwei and guards who served the emperor were also granted Qilin robes.
Except for the round dragon robe among the dragon robes, most of the four kinds of clothing bestowed by the Ming Dynasty are difficult to identify. You can only distinguish which one it is by looking at the head and tail of the animal. This may be the source of the saying that the Jinyiwei wore flying fish clothing.
However, the festive atmosphere lasted until the end of the year and faded after the Spring Festival.
At noon, a speedboat in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River quickly approached the Jiujiang wharf under the acceleration of sails and paddles. Looking at the lanterns on the bow, you can tell that this is an official ship, a speedboat used by the Shuima Post to deliver official documents.
After the ship approached the Jiujiang wharf, a postman quickly got off the boat with a bamboo tube on his back, and made a simple handover in a small courtyard with the word "Post" hanging next to the wharf. Then a postman took the bamboo tube, jumped on the horse and rushed towards the city.
Not long after, the postman rode through the city gate, and the crisp sound of the mantle's bell penetrated the bustling hustle and bustle of the market. All the pedestrians on the street consciously stood on both sides of the road, and the postman still rode by.
Not long after, the postman arrived outside the magistrate's Yamen. The Yamen servant immediately greeted him. Knowing that it was an official document, he immediately led the postman into the magistrate's Yamen.
The prefect of Jiujiang was having lunch at the moment when he suddenly heard someone outside the door reporting that an urgent document had been delivered. He had no choice but to put down his chopsticks and let others continue eating before getting up and going out.
When he got outside, he asked the visitor, "What official document?" ’
"The examination results are released, good news, the official documents are sent directly to Jiujiang Prefecture."
The yamen servant quickly bowed and replied.
"Um?"
When the prefect of Jiujiang heard that the results of the examination were released, he was surprised at first, and then he was pleasantly surprised. The content of the official document was self-evident. There were candidates in Jiujiang Prefecture who passed the examination and became tribute scholars, and the results of the palace examination would be released later.
The prefect of Jiujiang served here for two terms, but never had the chance to be promoted. From his understanding, he was afraid that Jiujiang Prefecture had failed several times in succession in the imperial examination, which would affect his evaluation.
Now, news of the examination has been sent, indicating that Jiujiang Prefecture has finally produced talents for this examination.
After being busy, the prefect finally opened the bamboo tube and took out a sealed official document. After checking the seal as usual, he opened it and took out the official document written on yellow paper.
Good guy, open it and see that there are five pieces of paper inside, one of which is an official document, which is kept by the Yamen, and is used as a basis to modify the household registration information of Gongshi.
The prefect opened it and saw that four people's names appeared on it. This time, Jiujiang Prefecture passed four people's exams, which was more than those in the hometown exam last year.
A bright smile suddenly appeared on Jiujiang's prefect's face, and he carefully read the information on Juzi.
Lao Kan, Xia Kefan, Zhang Ke, Wei Guangde.
He still has memories of Lao Kan and Wei Guangde. Xia Kefan was from Ruichang in last year's exam. He was elected in the 28th year of Jiajing and ranked 212th in the general exam. Zhang Ke was from Hukou. He was elected in the 31st year of Jiajing and scored 212nd in the general exam. 221 people.
Wei Guangde is from Jiujiang Wei, so the magistrate will naturally have an impression of him. Ranking 271 is not bad. At least he is on the list. He is in the top three. He should be able to reach the position of prefect. It is unknown if he is lucky enough to be promoted to another rank.
Lao Kan is amazing, he can take 80 exams, and he is definitely a second-class Jinshi.
"Call the envoy and come over, right away."
The prefect immediately ordered that the good news about Gongshi should be sent out immediately, especially the good news about Zhang Ke and Xia Kefan, which should be transferred to their places of residence immediately. He would go to Lao's house and ask who to go to Jiujiang Wei. How about the edge?
The traffic in the Ming Dynasty was like this. After the palace examination in the capital was over, the results of the general examination finally arrived in Jiujiang Prefecture.
Although it is important to release the test results, it is different from the emergency military situation. Naturally, special communication channels such as express delivery shops are not needed, so we used Shui Ma Yi, but it was fast, and it was delivered in only ten days. Jiujiang Prefecture.