Wang Qiong was holding Xu Jin's exam paper in her hand at this time, and she was ranked thirteenth. Yang Tinghe took the scroll and glanced at it, and said indifferently: "Wang Shangshu, this volume has nine ○ (first class), three △ (second class), one \ (third class), and it is not wrong to rank thirteen. ”

The other examiners present all had different expressions, in fact, everyone understood what was going on, Yang Tinghe deliberately lowered Xu Jin's ranking, and the \ (third-class) score was given by Shi Xuan, a bachelor of Hanlin, and Yang Tinghe himself only gave a △ (second-class) score, and the other two △ were given by Mao Cheng, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, and Yang Tan, the secretary of the household department, and Mao Cheng and Yang Tan were Yang Tinghe's henchmen.

All the examiners are experienced and knowledgeable old guys, how can they not distinguish between good and bad, in terms of the level of examination papers, Xu Jin's paper can be said to be very good, and there are nine people who have commented on ○ is enough to prove this, and the evaluation of △ is barely reasonable, but the evaluation \ (third class) is too much.

However, although everyone knew that Yang Tinghe intended to suppress Xu Jin, no one spoke out, including the other three elders in the cabinet, because they were in the same camp, and Yang Tinghe had already communicated with them.

Wang Qiong frowned and said: "Xu Ziqian's exam paper is comprehensive, well-layered, well-organized, and to the point everywhere, not an empty scholar's opinion. This official asserts that if our dynasty wants to recover the Hetao, it must use this strategy. There is someone who evaluates the third class, and this person is either stupid or ill-intentioned! After speaking, he glanced at Shi Xuan coldly.

Wang Qiong used to be the secretary of the military department, proficient in military affairs, and his level was still quite high, so he was overjoyed when he saw Xu Jin's answer. The key is that Wang Qiong is still very happy, he is one of the few main battle factions in the DPRK, if he can recover the Hetao, this is a great achievement, and the expansion of the territory is a beautiful thing that will remain in the history of the Qing Dynasty.

Because of this, Wang Qiong still raised objections knowing that Yang Tinghe intended to suppress Xu Jin, and he wanted to push Xu Jin's ranking up, so that he could take this opportunity to persuade the imperial court to adopt Xu Jin's strategy to recover the Hetao region.

Shi Xuan sneered and retorted: "Zi said: Soldiers, murder weapons, saints have to use them. Together, the swords will inevitably be ruined. What's more, my Ming Dynasty is now not as strong as before, since the world is in peace, swords and guns into storage, horses put Nanshan, the army's combat power is far from the period of Chengzu, in the Hetao area of a horse Pingchuan, it is really difficult to fight with the Tartars who come and go like the wind.

What's more, there is no danger to defend in the Hetao area, this time I drove the Tartars out, and they made a comeback soon after, so it was just a futile move to recover the Hetao, and at the same time it cost countless money and food, and it also made my Ming warriors sacrifice their lives in vain. I think that my Ming Dynasty is the upper kingdom of the Heavenly Empire, the land is vast, the treasures are rich, and the small Hetao Plain is just that, what good do you want? ”

"What Shi Shilang said is extremely true, the soldier is also a murder weapon, don't be careless!" Yang Tan, the head of the household, immediately agreed.

Wang Qiong said angrily: "The scholar's opinion is nonsense. The major affairs of the country of soldiers, the place of life and death, and the way of survival must not be ignored. Although the world is safe, forgetting the war will be dangerous. The Hetao Plain is a rich land, but also a strategic point, now occupied by the Tartars, the Tartars are here to raise troops, the horses go out to rob our border people, the border soldiers and civilians are unbearable, the losses are heavy, the Han people who are taken captive by the Tartars as slaves every year do not know the ordinary. The princes present are clothed and fed, living in the temple in peace and stability, knowing the suffering of the border guards and the suffering of the people! ”

Wang Qiong's words were righteous and awe-inspiring, and Shi Xuan was suddenly speechless when questioned. Of course, everyone is a veteran of politics who has seen the wind and waves, how can they be shocked by the other party's words, Mao Cheng, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, immediately counterattacked: "The swords and soldiers are together, the blood is like a river, the wives are separated, the soldiers and the people are not more bitter, harmony is precious, it is better not to fight if you don't fight!" ”

Wang Qiong said loudly: "There are bloodless sacrifices in the war, the long pain is better than the short pain, isn't it worth exchanging the pain for decades of long-term peace and stability?" The official asserted that if Xu Ziqian's strategy was used, it would only take three or five years to recover the Hetao. ”

Yang Tinghe said lightly: "This is just the words of Wang Shangshu's family, and besides, now is the time to evaluate the papers, not the time to discuss whether to repeat the set, Wang Shangshu can put it forward again during the court discussion, so that everyone can discuss and discuss." According to the score of the volume, there is nothing wrong with Xu Ziqian's thirteenth volume! ”

Wang Qiong couldn't help but be secretly angry, and said in a deep voice: "Yang Xianggong's words are wrong, according to the convention, the first name of the examination should be ranked in the top ten of the palace examination. Yang Xianggong so blatantly suppressed the rising stars, it is difficult to block the mouths of the world's readers. ”

Yang Tinghe's face couldn't help but sink, Wang Qiong's words already had the taste of tearing his face!

Liang Chu sighed secretly, in fact, he admired Xu Jin's answer sheet very much, and also gave a rating of ○, but at this time, it was not good to disagree with his old partner, so he could only keep his mouth shut.

Yang Tinghe said lightly: "Although it is a practice for Huiyuan not to go out of the top ten in the palace test, it is not a national law, and it does not necessarily have to be followed. The sun and the moon can be seen in this official's work, and the world can be learned, so why should the mouth of the people in the world be blocked. Xu Ziqian is ranked thirteenth in this volume, so it is decided, and there is no need to discuss it again! ”

Although Yang Tinghe understood that doing so would damage his prestige, compared to the appearance of a Jiang Bin-style minister by the Son of Heaven in the future, what was the loss of his reputation? So he took out the authority of the first assistant and pressed Xu Jin to the thirteenth.

Wang Qiong flicked her sleeves, turned around angrily and left the East Pavilion, no longer participating in the follow-up work, in order to express her protest against Yang Tinghe dictatorship.

There is no impermeable wall in the world, and the next day, what happened in the East Pavilion came out in the officialdom circle, and the news that Xu Jin was forced to be outside the top ten of the second class by Yang Ge Lao also spread. Some people gloat, some people are indignant, and some people feel sorry for Xu Jin, the consequences of offending Shoufu are very serious, Xu Wuyuan is a pity!

Early in the morning, more than 300 candidates gathered outside Zuo'anmen again, waiting for the release of the palace examination results.

The night before yesterday, the examiner had already ranked the papers of the palace examination, and today it will be handed over to the Son of Heaven to hand-pick the top ten rankings, and then the list will be written and announced, which is the so-called gold list.

Outside Zuo'an Gate, more than 300 candidates were divided into piles according to the region, gathered together to chat, congratulate each other, and congratulate each other, because the ranking arranged by the marking officer the day before yesterday has been spread, and today is just for the Son of Heaven to hand-pick the top ten, so the ranking after the ten will basically not change.

"Congratulations to Brother Minshou Tanhua and the first!"

"Congratulations to Brother Minshou!"

"Haha, Brother Minshou will soon be Tanhualang, father and son Tanhua, father, son and uncle are officials in the same dynasty, a good story, congratulations!"

Candidates from Jiangxi Province congratulated Fei Maozhong, because Fei Maozhong is currently ranked third, and the first and second places are Yang Weicong, a native of Gu'an, and Lu Yi, a native of Zhejiang.

Fei Maozhong was not very happy, and arched his hand and said: "I am only temporarily ranked third, and I have to be appointed by the emperor, so I will be disappointed!" ”

Fei Maozhong walked up to Xu Jin in the same year, frowned, and said: "Ziqian, Yang Tinghe has gone too far, he actually broke the rules and pressed you to the thirteenth place, how can this be reasonable, in vain I still regarded him as a model before!" ”

Before the results came out, Xu Jin was still a little nervous, but at this time his mentality was calm, he had long expected that Yang Tinghe would suppress himself, but he didn't expect the other party to suppress him so thoroughly, thirteenth, hehe, Yang Xianggong This is the rhythm of getting himself out of Beijing, however, this is very in line with Yang Tinghe's style, there is no doubt that he is an excellent politician!

A group of people from Jiangxi looked at Xu Jin in the same year, Yuan Cheng sighed and sighed: "Alas, Xu Ziqian is a pity, it was possible to even get six yuan, but now he didn't even enter the top ten of the second class. In terms of Yang Gelao's attitude, it is estimated that he is most likely to be released from Beijing to take up his post. ”

Senior brother Wei Yang patted Xu Jin on the shoulder and comforted: "Ziqian, don't be discouraged, in fact, it is good to be released from the office, stay away from the court fight, and it is easy to make political achievements." ”

Fei Maozhong said dissatisfiedly: "What's the use of political achievements, the officials have a small examination every three years, a major examination in six years, and a general examination in nine years, as long as Yang Tinghe is still in office, it is impossible for Ziqian to rise." ”

Wei Yang was slightly embarrassed, indeed, if Yang Tinghe wanted to suppress Xu Jin's big means, just the assessment of the officials was enough, and he coughed lightly and said: "The people are cautious, Yang Ge Lao is not so unbearable." ”

After the temple test that day, everyone went to drink, and Wei Yang got drunk and told him about the failure of his marriage with Fei Jixiang, so Xu Jin now knows that Wei Yang's uncle is Yang Ting and his protégé, so in order to avoid the embarrassment of the senior brother, he smiled and diverted the topic: "What are the plans of the senior brother in the future?" ”

Wei Yang will be ranked twenty-fifth in the test, and he was in a bad mood in the palace test, so he played abnormally, and his ranking fell to the fiftieth.

Wei Yang shook his head and said: "I haven't thought about it yet, my uncle asked me to work in the Sixth Department, but I want to be an official, but I can't do it, I plan to go back to Shangrao Xinjiang Academy to be a lecturer!" ”

"What!" Xu Jin and the others were taken aback, a talented man from Jinshi, and he was so young, coupled with the Wei family's family situation, Wei Yang's future can be said to be bright, if he went back to Xinjiang Academy to teach, it would be a great waste.

"Senior brother, let's think about it before deciding!" Xu Jin patted Wei Yang's shoulder, and the latter nodded silently!

Xu Jin didn't know how to comfort a man who was in a state of falling out of love, quoting: Where is there no grass at the end of the world? But the herb he wanted was Fei Maozhong's sister Fei Jixiang, and it was inevitably embarrassing to say it.

A group of candidates were waiting outside Zuo'an Gate, and at this time, in the Wenhua Hall in the palace, the top ten papers of the palace examination were also presented to the desk of the little emperor Zhu Houxi, and the thirteen marking officers headed by Yang Tinghe were separated in front of the imperial case.