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Li Longji took away two Qingci written by Bai Gui.

He had memorized the Qingci in his mind, but Bai Gui's calligraphy was unique and looked like a master, which made him excited and ready to take it home to copy and collect.

In ancient times, a good handwriting could be used by everyone.

Bai Gui practiced calligraphy for many years and received guidance from his senior Guanxue master Liu Xueyu. At that time, Yan Lugong Yan Zhenqing was only two years old, and there were no monks like Huaisu, so his calligraphy claimed to be a lineage and a trend of the generation.

The next day.

The two Qingci were circulated in the streets and alleys of Chang'an City.

"Qingci after Passing the Imperial Examination" was fine. This poem could only show Bai Gui's brilliant literary talent and first-class flattery skills, but nothing else could be seen. But the other short Qingci was different. It was on the eve of the imperial examination.

This sentence "I advise the God to shake himself up and send down talents in all kinds of ways" hit the minds of many candidates and was widely circulated among the people. Similarly, the Qingci written by Bai Gui was very different from the previous Qingci in terms of technique, which shocked all the poets. It turned out that Qingci could be written in this way.

The Qingci written in the past were all sacrificial poems for the rituals of offering sacrifices. Except for the Taoist priests, no one else would take a second look.

Therefore, there were many more people in Chang'an who specialized in the creation of Qingci.

After all... the emperor at that time was the Li Tang royal family, and the Li Tang royal family's worship of Taoism was not much weaker than that of Emperor Jiajing.

Writing Qingci and submitting it to these dignitaries was obviously feasible.

So in the second year of Jingyun, among the well-known people in the regular examination of Jinshi, Bai Gui jumped to the top of the list with his calligraphy and prose.

Soon, the examination of the Ministry of Rites of the Ministry of Shangshu arrived as scheduled.

During the Tang Dynasty, there were no county examinations, prefecture examinations, and academy examinations, but only the examination of the Ministry of Rites of the Ministry of Shangshu.

However, it is not so easy to participate in the Shangshu Province and the Ministry of Rites exam. There are two sources of candidates for the exam, one is students and the other is tribute. Both are literal meanings. Students are students from various schools in Chang'an, while candidates from local prefectures and counties who are brought to Chang'an while escorting tribute are called tribute students.

Students seem to be the easiest to get, but in fact they are the most difficult. In the Tang Dynasty, there were so-called six schools and two halls. The six schools refer to Guozixue, Taixue, Simenxue, Luxue, Shuxue, and Suanxue, all of which belonged to Guozijian. The two halls refer to Hongwenguan and Chongwenguan.

At this time, Guozijian was not a school, but the highest educational institution in the country.

Guozixue only enrolled royal children and noble children above the third rank, Taixue enrolled noble children above the fifth rank, Simenxue only enrolled children of civil and military officials above the seventh rank, and the remaining Luxue, Shuxue, and Suanxue enrolled students below the eighth rank and scholars from the common people.

So if you want to become a student, you have to rely on your father.

Bai Gui, as a tribute student of Xiaying County School in Huazhou, went to the capital Chang'an to take the regular examination.

…

Ministry of Rites, Imperial Academy.

Bai Gui carried the examination basket, looking calm and composed.

He had taken several imperial examinations and studied abroad, which was not comparable to ordinary students and tribute students. Moreover, he was not just a student who studied abroad, but a student who received traditional Confucian education and was well versed in Confucian classics.

"Bai Meihe wrote good poems and essays, but those were just two additional essays. The real content of the examination was five current affairs strategies."

"What's the use of poems and essays in governing the country!"

"What's really useful is the current affairs strategy..."

The tribute students and students around him were chattering in a low voice.

Bai Gui became famous so quickly that they didn't have time to inquire about Bai Gui's hometown. His reputation had spread all over Chang'an. Not to mention that everyone knew him, but which candidate hadn't heard of Bai Gui.

They really admired Bai Gui's talent, but it was inevitable that some doubts and questions would arise when he became famous in vain.

"Du You said in Tongdian·Election: 'During the Kaiyuan and Tianbao periods, there were thousands of candidates in the imperial examinations each year.' This was just the imperial examinations, not counting the students in the various schools in Chang'an..."

"It was much more spectacular than when I took the prefectural examinations in Chang'an Prefecture."

Bai Gui looked back and sighed.

He also heard some whispers about him from the candidates and students, but it was normal. He was the most famous among the pre-listed celebrities at this time. It would be strange to discuss others instead of him.

The bell rang.

The gate of the Imperial Examination Hall opened.

Bai Gui walked in steadily, without panic or impatience.

The number of applicants for the Jinshi exam was about 1,300 people, which was the second largest number of applicants in the Imperial Examination Hall after the Mingjing exam.

However, because he was the first among the pre-listed celebrities.

He enjoyed the title of "Tizutang".

This is the court of the Imperial Examination Hall, with examination tables and benches prepared. There are less than 70 candidates who have applied for the Jinshi exam to enter and answer questions.

Although there are less than 70 candidates, at least 30% of the candidates who have been admitted to the Jinshi exam are here.

"That should be Song Jing, the official of the Ministry of Personnel, right?"

"He is listed as one of the four famous prime ministers of the Tang Dynasty along with Du Ruhui, Fang Xuanling, and Yao Chong..."

Bai Gui put down the examination basket, sat on the bench, and looked up at the people sitting in the court. He first saw a middle-aged scholar dressed in purple robes, with a stern face, a seven-inch long beard, and cold eyes.

The Minister of Personnel during the Jingyun period was Song Jing.

He looked to the side and saw another purple-robed official with a kind face and a similar dress to Song Jing.

It was Jia Zeng, the Minister of Rites.

In the Tang Dynasty, officials of the third rank and above wore purple robes.

Portraits of the dignitaries of the time had long been sold secretly in the Chang'an market, and Bai Gui also bought one. Although the ancients emphasized freehand painting, realistic paintings were not necessarily bad. He made a slight guess and recognized the identities of the two.

One was the Minister of Personnel, Tianguan, who was in charge of the selection of officials, and the other was the Minister of Rites, Da Zongbo, who was in charge of schools and imperial examinations.

It was very reasonable for two prime ministers to be the chief examiners.

The imperial examinations in the Tang Dynasty were not standardized, and the Ministry of Rites was the main venue. Often, the Political Affairs Hall would send officials to supervise or serve as chief examiners to supervise the examinations.

Song Jing had a more domineering personality and was on good terms with the Li Tang royal family. He once strongly recommended that Princess Taiping go to the Eastern Capital to avoid interference from the harem.

Therefore, Song Jing had a close relationship with the crown prince Li Longji.

This was indeed the case. After Li Longji ascended the throne, the Kaiyuan Prosperity was due to the contribution of Prime Minister Song Jing.

So Bai Gui was talking about whether the two Qingci poems could be reviewed by the Tianguan of the Ministry of Personnel instead of the Dazongbo of the Ministry of Rites. The reason was that although Jia Zeng was the Dazongbo of the Ministry of Rites, he might not have as much power as Song Jing in the evaluation of the Jinshi exam.

And he knew history. Li Longji won the final victory, so it was no surprise that he bet on Li Longji.

Although Jia Zeng was still a high-ranking official later, he had little to do with Princess Taiping, but this matter had nothing to do with Bai Gui. He submitted it to Song Jing and asked Song Jing to review it, which was equivalent to joining the forces of Li Longji.

A statement to Li Longji, standing in line!

"Is this Bai Meihe?"

"I heard that his calligraphy made Ke Da (Zhong Shaojing's name) love it. Princess Jinxian asked him to appreciate the poems written by Bai Meihe, but he put them away..."

"In the past few days, Princess Jinxian went to the official several times to complain."

Jia Zeng said with a smile.

He also sensed Bai Gui's gaze, but he didn't know that Bai Gui had asked Li Longji to let Song Jing, the official of the Ministry of Personnel, review the manuscript. This was just a hint, a witty remark. Bai Gui's two Qingci poems were also in Li Longji's hands. They were not given directly to Song Jing, but the handwritten copies were still available to the prime ministers in the Political Affairs Hall.

"Ke Da likes calligraphy the most. He has hundreds of volumes of authentic works by Wang Xianzhi, Wang Xizhi, and Yu Shinan. It is impossible for him not to be excited when he sees Bai Meihe's unique calligraphy..."

"But I guess Ke Da will return it to Princess Jinxian after copying it."

"After all, these are poems written for Princess Jinxian, and he can't keep them without permission."

Song Jing said slowly.