Chapter 174 173

The system of announcing the list of candidates began in the Song Dynasty. Shen Kuo's "Mengxi Bi Tan" records: "On the day when the Jinshi candidates were announced in the Jiying Hall, the emperor came to the hall, and the prime minister submitted the first and third place papers. After reading them, he opened the papers and looked at the names. If someone was named, the cabinet would announce the list of candidates."

It's just that now is the Ming Dynasty, and Zhu Yuanzhang has already set all the procedures for announcing the list of candidates, and future generations just need to follow them.

In the third month of the 35th year of Jiajing, at the time of Dingchouyin, Wei Guangde had already arrived outside the Daming Gate with Lao Kan and others, and they were naturally his classmates.

Because the palace examination gold list had not yet been made public, the order of their standing was still based on the results of the joint examination. Jin Da, the champion, stood on the left side of the first row, and so on.

Wei Guangde was already familiar with his classmates before and after him, so there was no such thing as not being able to find a place, and he quickly stood at the back of the queue.

As the time came, the officials of the Ministry of Rites, as before, led them through the side door of Daming Gate, walked through the long corridor to Chengtian Gate, and accepted the inspection of the Jinwu Guards as usual, and then let them go.

Along the way, Wei Guangde felt that the atmosphere today seemed to be more solemn than the palace examination. When passing Chengtian Gate, Wei Guangde also inadvertently glanced at the palace wall outside Chengtian Gate, and didn't know where the yellow list would be posted at that time.

After everyone walked through Fengtian Gate and entered the square in front of Fengtian Palace, they all stood in front of the Danbi under the guidance of the officials of the Ministry of Rites to wait for the announcement.

At this time, the inside and outside of Fengtian Palace had already been arranged according to the etiquette of the emperor. The steps outside the palace were already full of officials in court robes, and the square in front of the palace and the sides of the steps in front of the palace were also full of Han generals and Jinyiwei school lieutenants holding various ceremonial weapons, making the whole ceremony look grand and solemn.

As the officials of the Honglu Temple requested to go to the palace, Emperor Jiajing moved from the Huagai Palace to the Fengtian Palace. At this time, the entire square was filled with elegant music played by musicians from the eaves on both sides of the Fengtian Palace and the Fengtian Gate.

The music came from the front and back, making Wei Guangde feel like he was back in the future and enjoying surround sound.

"Pa, pa, pa"

With the crisp sound of the whip, Emperor Jiajing sat on the supreme throne.

With the chorus of "Bai" in front, many ministers and new scholars inside and outside the palace all knelt down, followed by another "Rise", and everyone stood up, followed by another "Bai".

All ministers and scholars performed the five bows and three kowtows to Emperor Jiajing on the throne, and Wei Guangde could only follow mechanically.

After the ceremony, Wei Guangde secretly looked up and looked around. There was nothing to see. The new scholars around him all bowed their heads in respect. Then he looked at the Fengtian Hall. Emperor Jiajing was sitting on the throne. It seemed that some ceremony was being performed inside. Perhaps he arranged for ministers to come out and announce the names of the people.

Soon, he vaguely saw someone in the hall handing over something, and then put it somewhere else. Finally, someone in the hall came out and knelt, picked up something from it, and then turned around to open it. It looked like something like an imperial edict.

At this time, Wei Guangde knew that the ceremony in the hall was probably over, and now it was time to announce the name of the top scholar. He hurriedly lowered his head and dared not continue to peek.

At this time, the sound of elegant music that had been floating around had already stopped, and only a faint sound came from the Fengtian Hall in the distance.

"In the 35th year of the Jiajing reign, the imperial examination of Bingchen year was held to examine the candidates of the whole country. The first place was awarded the title of Jinshi, the second place was awarded the title of Jinshi, and the third place was awarded the title of Tong Jinshi."

Wei Guangde knew that it was the "Zhigao", which was the imperial edict that conferred the status of Jinshi to them.

At this time, all the Jinshi candidates in the palace were nervous and waiting for the announcement of the final list.

For the Jinshi candidates who ranked lower, who would not want to be in front if the examiner was old and blurry?

What's more, the Emperor Jiajing has made great changes to the examination of the papers, especially the three papers that the emperor did not pay attention to before. The Emperor Jiajing would draw four copies to read. Who would not want to be the lucky one?

"The first place in the palace examination. Zhu Dashou."

Amid the expectation of many new Jinshi candidates, the sound of the list was heard from the front of the palace.

However, due to the distance, everyone, including Wei Guangde, could not hear it clearly. Many candidates with similar pronunciation and higher ranking could not help but tremble all over.

However, it doesn't matter if they can't hear clearly the first time, because someone else will repeat it three times.

After the Honglu Temple officials sang out the name of the first place champion, the Jinyi captains outside the palace took over in a neat and powerful manner: "The first place in the first class of the palace examination. Zhu Dashou."

At this time, Zhu Dashou, who ranked second in the examination, was slightly surprised and suddenly became ecstatic. After bowing and saluting, he walked out of the Jinshi team under the guidance of the Ministry of Rites officials, and knelt on the left side of the imperial road under the steps to thank the emperor for his grace.

After three waves of captains shouted three times in a row, they immediately fell silent, because the next second and third place in the first class would also have this honor, and their task was not yet completed.

"The second place in the first class of the palace examination is Tao Dalin."

"The third place in the first class of the palace examination is Jin Da."

Wei Guangde quietly listened to the names of the top three in this year's exam in the Jinshi queue, and finally heard Jin Da's name in the Tanhualang ranking. He inadvertently raised his head to look at the man who should have become the champion. At this time, he had already knelt behind Zhu Dashou.

There was no suspense about the first and third place. In fact, almost all the Jinshi knew that Jin Da could not become the champion. In fact, he did not, and only got the Tanhua.

But I can't envy him. After all, his exam results are there. If you are not as good as him, you can only accept it.

Then the list of candidates continued. At this time, the names of the second and third place candidates were announced in turn, so that the other candidates would know their ranking.

However, when the official of the Honglu Temple called out the first name, there was a little commotion in the whole list of candidates. It was really unexpected.

"The first place of the second place of the palace exam. Wei Guangde."

"The second place of the second place of the palace exam. Chen Xi."

The list of candidates was still going on according to the process, but Wei Guangde, who was in the list of candidates, felt like a thunderclap was going on above his head.

I actually rushed from 271st to the fourth place?

Wei Guangde still couldn't believe it was true. It really surprised him.

Although he didn't know what others thought, Wei Guangde really didn't think that he could rush to the second place, and even climb to the first place. List of candidates.

If Wei Guangde still had a little bit of luck before the results of the imperial examination were announced, he no longer had such thoughts after the results were announced.

In his opinion, being on the list was the result of his hard work in visiting temples and monasteries in and outside the capital, and he was really lucky.

But now, his palace examination score was actually fourth. Does that mean that if he had done a better job in the palace examination essay, would he have been able to step on Jin Da and be promoted to the position of Tanhualang?

Wei Guangde was thinking wildly behind the Jinshi team, feeling happy and regretful.

At this time, he only thought that his essay was well written and caught the eyes of the examiners, so his ranking was greatly improved.

Fortunately, at this time, the second and third Jinshi did not need to leave the class to thank the grace, but only needed to stay where they were, so he did not make a fool of himself because of his wild thoughts.

It took a long time, and finally, the Honglu Temple official called out the last name, "Li Shichan, the 203rd place in the third class of the palace examination."

The whole process of calling out the names was over, and the names of all 300 Jinshi were read out once again, which took a long time.

As the Danbi Grand Music "Qingping Chapter" sounded again under the performance of the musicians, the officials of the Ministry of Rites led the Jinshi of this year to kowtow to Emperor Jiajing again to express their gratitude.

As the Minister of Rites took the yellow list from the Honglu Temple official and respectfully placed it on the cloud plate engraved with auspicious dragon patterns, four eunuchs gently lifted the cloud plate and walked out of the Fengtian Hall. The imperial carriage officer who had been standing in front of the hall for a long time raised the yellow cover representing the emperor's supreme authority to clear the way. Coming down the steps, the cloud plate passed through the imperial road, through the Fengtian Gate, Wumen Gate and Chengtian Gate. The yellow list will be posted on the outer palace wall of the East Chang'an Gate, and will be taken back by the cabinet three days later and placed in the Imperial College.

Huang Gai was in front, and Huang Bang was behind. At this time, the princes and ministers in the hall also lined up and followed behind, and followed the list with the Jinshi.

When Huang Bang passed by, Wei Guangde looked up and glanced at the Fengtian Hall in the distance. Emperor Jiajing had already stood up and left his seat. It seemed that he couldn't wait to go to the West Garden to hold a ceremony.

The entire ceremony of the grand ceremony of the imperial examination probably delayed the Taoist master's practice time.

At this time, in the Jinshi queue, Wei Guangde had consciously stood on the right side of Jin Da. He was now the first in the second class and should be here.

However, seeing that Zhu Dashou, Tao Dalin and Jin Da were led to a side hall and came out of it, they had changed into new clothes. At this time, Zhu Dashou had already put on the champion's clothes, wearing the Erliang court crown on his head, wearing a red silk court dress, a plain silver belt around his waist, and a pair of jade pendants hanging on his waist, he looked really majestic.

There was also a hairpin on the hat, with silver branches and leaves, decorated with green feathers, and a small gold plate hanging on it. Wei Guangde was not sure whether it was made of pure gold or silver with gold. He had to take it off and weigh it to know, but the three words "Rong En Yan" on it were extremely eye-catching.

When the three of them rode on a white horse again, Wei Guangde felt jealous again.

If he had been more careful and serious during the palace examination, maybe he could have ridden a white horse through the Imperial Road and Imperial Street to boast of his official position.

Sighing in his heart, Wei Guangde could only walk behind them, and he could not go out through the middle door, but could only go out through the side door.

But when he was complaining about himself, he didn't know how many pairs of envious and jealous eyes were looking at him from behind.

Although there was no horse to ride, Wei Guangde walked in the first row after all, and the others could only follow behind him and eat dust, and it was not easy to show their faces.

After leaving the palace gate, the princes and ministers naturally would not follow them to boast of their official positions, but would only politely bow to these new disciples of the emperor.

The drum and music guards who had been waiting here for a long time saw the new Jinshi coming out, and they immediately started playing music and creating a grand and festive atmosphere.

The yamen runners rang the gong to clear the way, and the officials of the Ministry of Rites followed closely behind with the yellow list. Zhu Dashou and three other first-class Jinshi also followed on horseback, leading Wei Guangde and others to walk onto Chang'an Street.

At this time, both sides of Chang'an Street were already crowded with people. In ancient China, the common people had relatively few entertainment activities. The imperial street boasting official grand event held every three years in the capital naturally became an important entertainment activity for the people of the capital.

Wei Guangde walked and looked at both sides of the street, wondering if most of the people in the capital had come to watch the excitement, filling the entire street with no space to be seen.

The gongs were rang in front to clear the way, and these people were neatly arranged behind the team. Wei Guangde suddenly had a feeling that was not a very glorious feeling.

Wei Guangde knew that the main purpose of the imperial street praise officials was to inspire students to make progress, encourage them to study actively, take the imperial examinations, and let students see the glory of the top scholar.

Riding on a tall horse is indeed glorious, but as a second-class and third-class Jinshi, Wei Guangde felt like he was being watched by others. What should he do if he felt a little ashamed?

Walking on the imperial street of the imperial city and accepting the congratulations of the people, Zhu Dashou and his team were indeed glorious at the moment, but Wei Guangde felt worse the more he walked.

The praise official team came to the left gate of Chang'an, where a colorful tent with gorgeous decorations had been temporarily built. After the yamen runners separated the crowd, the officials of the Ministry of Rites entered with the imperial edict and posted the imperial edict in the colorful tent for the people to see.

Zhu Dashou, Tao Dalin and other first-class Jinshi were also extremely excited when they looked at the imperial edict of Jinshi.

While Wei Guangde was in a tangle of emotions, on one side of the street, Wei Guangde's long-serving Zhang Ji and the coachman and bodyguard Li San had already seen Wei Guangde following closely behind the top three.

Li San had never been to school, so naturally he didn't understand much. He just knew that his young master was going to be an official. In fact, he had already decided to be an official at the end of last month, but he didn't know what kind of official he would be.

Seeing so many adults taking their young masters out to parade on the streets, Li San felt very honored. Although he was not walking on the streets, his young master was in it.

Zhang Ji had been to school, and although he didn't understand these things before, he had been in contact with the book boys and attendants of other candidates in the capital during this period, and he already knew that the position where the young master stood was only for the top two in the second class. What does this mean?

"Hiss"

Zhang Ji couldn't help but take a breath.

He knew his young master's performance in the imperial examination. He ranked more than 200. How could he be in the top two in the second class all of a sudden?

The followers of Lao Kan and Zhang Ke were also stunned to see the team of officials walking on the street. Wei Guangde's position was too eye-catching.

The people on the street were naturally attracted by the three top scorers on horseback, and as servants, they naturally looked for their own young master in the crowd behind, and then inevitably saw the young and overly arrogant Chuanlu.

Wei Guangde thought that the people on the street were laughing at them, just like monkeys, but he didn't consider that people's attention was only on the top scorer on horseback. In fact, even the second and third place could not attract much traffic.