Almost in the blink of an eye, the Spring Festival has arrived, and history has come to the spring of the second year of Qingli at its own pace.

On the seventh day of the first lunar month, the provincial test, Du Zhongxiao played normally. After the exam, I went back to the inn and slept for three days, without celebrating with anyone. A few days later, the list was announced, and Du Zhongxiao passed the test with 218, ranking relatively high among the 577 people who passed the provincial examination. However, at this time, the palace examination will still be disgraced, and the acceptance rate is about seven or eighty percent. More than 200 people are still in danger, and they are ranked low, falling backwards, etc., and their careers are greatly affected.

In February, when the provincial examination was being passed and the preparation was intense, the new intellectual, Hu Fubi, suddenly played and requested the cancellation of the palace examination, and the results of the provincial examination were used to determine the stay and ranking of the jinshi, and there was a big uproar in public opinion for a while.

On this day, Du Zhongxiao was studying in the inn, and Cao Jucheng, who lived not far away, hurried over, finished saluting, and said: "Brother Du, can you hear about the new policy of the imperial court, do you want to take the palace test, but use the provincial test to decide to stay?" ”

Du Zhongxiao was taken aback: "The story of the palace test, how can it be changed!" Now that the provincial examination has passed, everyone in Beijing is carefully preparing for the palace examination, and the sudden change will not make everyone at a loss? Besides, there are five or six hundred people in the provincial examination, where will there be so many jinshi. ”

Cao Jucheng sighed: "That's right. But the news is true, the rich people suddenly went up and down, what provincial test hall test three short and three long, to abolish the palace test, with the provincial test results to take the scholar. The saint feels justified, and the edict has already come down! ”

After speaking, Cao Jucheng couldn't stop patting his thigh. He ranked more than 400 in the provincial examination, and he directly used the provincial examination results, which may have been brushed off.

Du Zhongxiao carefully recalled the history he had learned in his previous life, and clearly remembered that the palace examination was an indispensable part after the Song Dynasty, and the importance of the emperor's centralization of power had never changed in his impression. All of a sudden, Fu Bi came like this, which made people scratch their heads.

While sighing, Cao Jucheng sat down at the table and complained: "I heard that the Fushe people themselves are from the system, and they are dissatisfied with their colleagues from the Jinshi, so they thought of this method, and they want to let the people from the Jinshi from now on be under the system." Alas, they fought back and forth, just pity for us people. I worked hard and worked hard to pass the provincial test. So this is the first place, how can you be at peace! ”

Du Zhongxiao was silent, and his intuition thought that this matter was impossible. But what Cao Jucheng said is true, the edicts have already come down, so is there any fake? Cao Jucheng may fall into the first place, but he is not only hearted, but the achievements of more than 200 people are likely to be born in Jinshi, not in the first place, which will have a great impact on his career in the future.

After thinking about it, Du Zhongxiao said to Cao Jucheng: "It happened suddenly, and no one knows what the imperial court means." Why don't you go and ask a few friends, and you will be waiting in the inn. ”

Cao Jucheng was an acquaintance in the capital, and hurriedly agreed, watching him go out. Du Zhongxiao's attitude towards Cao Jucheng is relatively cold, and the previous mustard has not been eliminated. But after all, it is half a fellow countryman, and it is difficult to refuse people thousands of miles away.

Due to the conflict with Wang Su, Su Shen left Beijing a few days ago and changed his knowledge to Yangzhou. Leaving his father's channel, it is not clear to Su Song that this kind of court event wants to come. After thinking about it, Du Zhongxiao still came to Han's house.

As the subordinates arrived at Han Jiang's small courtyard, they saw that Su Song and Wang Anshi were here, and they were discussing the steam engine in full swing.

After stepping forward to salute, Du Zhongxiao looked at everyone and said with a wry smile: "I heard that the imperial court has a will, this time I will not take the palace test, and I will stay in the provincial test." You're better informed than I am, so I wonder if that's really the case? ”

Han Jiang said indifferently: "Not bad." The rich people played, on the provincial test three long, the palace test three short. If you don't use the temple to test the scholars, there have been ministers who have mentioned it in the past, and if you mention it again this time, the saint will be approved. - Actually, there is nothing, it is still us people who take the test again, what will be different? If you don't do the temple test, it's not a big deal. However, as far as the imperial court is concerned, it is up to the judges to take the provincial test, and it is inappropriate to deviate from the favor and return to the top. But we are now a child, and we cannot intervene in such matters. ”

Su Song said: "Each subject must take three or four hundred people, and the province will try to obtain it, and Brother Du will also have to be born as a jinshi, so why bother." ”

Du Zhongxiao looked at a few people, all of whom didn't care. Han Jiang and Wang Anshi are both within the top ten, Su Song is later, there are only more than twenty, and the provincial test results are also high-tech, of course I don't care much. But with more than 200 of them, it's completely different. Of course, in the eyes of others, with his own family background and knowledge, he should be satisfied with being born in high school. In their eyes, it was a happy ending.

Wang Anshi was silent, still there observing the steam engine. After staying in the capital for a few months, Wang Anshi finally felt that these people could speak and slowly came together. Unlike Su Song and Han Jiang, Wang Anshi was not interested in the specific structure and principle of the steam engine, he was interested in what was the use of this thing. Han Jiang told him that he could be put on the ship, and there were all kinds of benefits, so he really paid attention to it.

Du Zhongxiao thought about it, he was good from the original middle jinshi, and now it is best to be a jinshi and the first, the first department is better, and the desire is higher and higher every time. Really according to Fu Bi's play, he has already been promoted to the jinshi, and he has actually reached the original goal.

This incident did not stir up any waves among the best performers, and for them, no matter how they were tested, the results would not change much. For example, Yang Ning, the provincial yuan, is the person with the highest voice for this champion. But for those who rank four or five hundred in the provincial examination, it's a different matter.

After saying goodbye to Han Jiang and the others, Du Zhongxiao was a little sullen. returned to the residence, went to the wine shop next to it with Cao Jucheng, and drank stuffy wine.

Raising his head and drinking a glass of wine, Cao Jucheng said indignantly: "Brother Du, do you say that there is such a thing in the world?" A good imperial examination has its own story, how come we have so many tricks? After the provincial exam, I studied hard day and night, just thinking about the palace exam and turning over in one fell swoop, and now it is a bubble! ”

Du Zhongxiao said in a deep voice: "There may be room for change in this matter, so don't be too anxious." ”

Cao Jucheng shook his head again and again: "I heard that the edict has been issued, can it still be taken back?" Alas, what a bad luck! ”

Du Zhongxiao calmed down, thought about things carefully, and then said: "It's not a big deal to take back the edict, is it still less before?" After all, this matter was the intention of the rich people alone, and the saint did not notice it, so he recklessly agreed. If the temple examination is canceled, there are two things that cannot be said. One is that the palace test is the old system of Yizu, which has been followed for nearly a hundred years, how can it be said that it will be changed. Again, there is no palace test, only the provincial test is used to determine the number of people to stay, that is, the power to take the priest lies in the division, not in the master. The former is easy to say, and the latter is difficult to implement. ”

Cao Jucheng just sighed, where was he willing to listen to what Du Zhongxiao said.

Chrysostom said that the words spoken by the emperor cannot be changed a word, and they do not exist in this era. There are still several procedures from the edict to the truly effective imperial edict, and it is not impossible to take it back. The current emperor has not done this kind of thing for the first time. It's not that he was impulsive, but after the persuasion of the ministers behind him and carefully weighing the pros and cons, he pulled his face down and took it back.

The drawbacks of abolishing the temple examination are obvious. The most important point is that if there is a palace test, it is up to the emperor to take the judge, and the jinshi is a protégé of the Son of Heaven, and the grace of employing people is attributed to the Son of Heaven. The abolition of the palace examination was decided by the relevant departments, and the most important bureaucratic group had nothing to do with the emperor himself. As long as the emperor's mind is still clear, he can't do such a thing.