Sign in: The female supporting character in the book disrupted the heroine's glory

Chapter 566 Palace Examination

Jiang Youzhen breathed a sigh of relief, and the three of them went back home. From then on, they devoted themselves to preparing for the palace examination.

On March 14, one day before the palace examination, Jiang Youzhen went to Baohe Hall with all the candidates to take the re-examination.

Before the palace examination, one must take part in the re-examination. Although the re-examination is relatively simple, there are still some people who fail, but they are only a minority.

A total of 179 candidates made it to the imperial examination, and quite a few were eliminated.

The first time Jiang Youzhen went to the Hall of Preserving Harmony, he was amazed. It was indeed a royal palace, so grand. Even the square was bigger than his own house, and all the buildings were magnificent, showing a profound heritage.

But she didn't dare to look at it for too long, as the rules for entering the palace were strict.

On March 15th, the palace examination was held.

The palace examination lasts only one day. According to the regulations, one must enter the examination room in the early morning, probably before the hour of Chen, and hand in the paper before sunset, which is the so-called "enter at Chen and leave at You".

In theory, this palace examination would be presided over by the emperor himself in the examination room. Of course, the emperor was busy with many affairs and had to attend the morning court, so he had no time. He could only come to inspect it in the middle of the process, and the rest was left to the Ministry of Rites.

Being in such a majestic and solemn palace, even Jiang Youzhen, who was usually very calm, felt a little nervous.

Not daring to raise his head, Jiang Youzhen just stared at the red wall in front of him in a daze.

As the champion, Jiang Youzhen was the first to enter the Baohe Hall. When he heard his name being called, he immediately stepped out.

After walking up the long staircase beside the red wall, Jiang Youzhen finally entered the Baohe Hall. Hearing that the Taihe Hall where officials held court was to the east, Jiang Youzhen suddenly felt a desire in his heart.

In this dynasty, only those of the fourth rank are qualified to attend court. I don’t know when she will be able to step into the Hall of Supreme Harmony.

Then came a series of etiquette such as distributing the papers and praising and worshipping, which was more solemn than all the previous exams. The atmosphere was so solemn that Jiang Youzhen couldn't help but sit up straight.

The questions were distributed, all mounted on rice paper, very elegant. Those who could participate in the palace examination were actually the emperor's disciples, so the treatment was different.

Each piece of test paper has red vertical lines and twenty-four characters per line, which requires neat handwriting.

There are three policy questions in this palace examination, with no limit on length, each about 500 words.

The entire palace examination has a fixed format and must be written in regular script. Additions and alterations are strictly prohibited. These are the rules that have been in place for previous examinations.

Jiang Youzhen took a look at the draft paper, which was a small bound notebook. The paper was slightly smaller than the question paper and had no grids.

These are all arranged by the Ministry of Rites. The four treasures of the study are placed on the table and you are not allowed to bring your own.

Jiang Youzhen started to grind the ink first, as sharpening the knife does not delay the work of chopping wood. However, after grinding for a while, she felt a little uncomfortable.

Compared to the ink stick she prepared herself, this one was quite ordinary. Of course, since it was a palace examination, she would definitely not prepare bad ink, but Jiang Youzhen was already used to good ink.

It is indeed difficult to go from luxury to frugality! Jiang Youzhen muttered in his heart, but soon focused on the question again.

The format of the questions in the palace examination was very particular. The questions began with the emperor's tone. For example, the first question asked: I have heard that the three minors are passed down from generation to generation, so the wise queens inherit the heaven; the five fortunes follow the rules, and the wise kings make revolutions. Or gold and water are in order, and fire and wood return to the circle...

The word "朕" represents the emperor's tone.

When answering the questions, candidates have to answer in the tone of "minister".

This topic revolves around the principle that only wise rulers can inherit the will of heaven in all dynasties, which is related to the five elements. The five elements correspond to the five virtues, and for this reason, allusions are listed, such as Zhang Cang, the prime minister of the Western Han Dynasty, and Gongsun Chen, a doctor.

At that time, Gongsun Chen thought that according to the cycle of the Five Elements, the current dynasty should belong to the Earth Elements, and the auspicious sign of the Earth Elements was the Yellow Dragon. He believed that the calendar should be changed and the color yellow should be respected.

However, Zhang Cang believed that the current dynasty should be based on the virtue of water, so he used black and red as the main colors.

There are other examples besides these, and Jiang Youzhen thought about them for a while before he started writing.

Answer: "I have heard that the transformation is harmonious with the Qianshu, and the Jingwei presents its spiritual gifts; the water flows around the Kunluo, and the flowers and trees respond to its auspiciousness, so it is like mist and smoke..."

The sandalwood incense is curling in the hall, which has a soothing effect.

Jiang Youzhen's writing is still fluent and smooth this time.

After finishing the first essay, Jiang Youzhen immediately copied it onto the test paper. This time, all the answers were covered with blanks, and officials were no longer asked to copy them, so it was very important to keep the test paper clean and tidy.

Especially the top ten in the imperial examination will most likely be presented to the emperor.

The first question is related to the five elements, and the second question is related to the five punishments.

The title takes the example of "Ancient wise kings established punishments to support the five teachings", pointing out that it was impossible for ancient wise kings to make everyone obey the teachings, so they had to implement the "Five Punishments".

The "five punishments" of this dynasty were "whipping, caning, imprisonment, exile, and death."

In other words, the emperor's educating the people is in compliance with the will of heaven, but the theory of education is not suitable for everyone.

The moral theory of "Virtue is integrated with Tao, Tao is integrated with Heaven" is only suitable for gentlemen. How can villains be restrained? That depends on the "Five Punishments".

Jiang Youzhen thought that according to the content of the question, the emperor agreed with this point. Of course, Jiang Youzhen also felt that the punishment was necessary.

Her answer had to please the emperor, but it couldn't appear too cruel, so she had to bring up the fact that emperors in ancient times had to rule the country with the five punishments.

Therefore, even our ancestors had to do this in the interests of justice. Even if we are kind-hearted today, we still have to do it in order to consolidate our country.

After sorting out the policy questions, Jiang Youzhen began to write.

The palace was silent, and the officials from the Ministry of Rites kept a close eye on the examinees. Although cheating in the palace examination was impossible, they still patrolled among the examinees.

The Minister of Rites Luo Chengyi saw Jiang Youzhen again. He did not intervene in the previous case of imperial examination fraud, and this case was finally transferred to the Dali Temple.

However, he did not expect that he would eventually be implicated in the crime of a court spy. This time, Zhu Zhimin, the Minister of the Dali Temple, made a great contribution and secured his position as the Minister of the Dali Temple.

He was really surprised that Jiang Youzhen was unharmed in the end.

The fact that she remained calm in the face of danger and saw through the fraud scheme on the spot shocked all the major families.

Although those noble families didn't seem to pay attention to Jiang Youzhen, he knew that they were already ready to make a move.

This boy has great talent. If he enters the officialdom, he will surely stand out soon.

Thinking of the concubine's daughter from the third family, Luo Chengyi felt that he should strike first.

The Fourth Prince always mentioned to him how smart and clever Jiang Youzhen was, which showed that he thought highly of him. If he could serve under the Fourth Prince, he would be even more powerful.

Luo Chengyi stroked his beard and kept looking at Jiang Youzhen. The more he looked, the more satisfied he became.

It's just that her background is a bit poor. If she was from a noble family, she could marry a princess.

Jiang Youzhen had no idea that someone was looking at her, she was immersed in answering the questions.

In fact, the time for one day is quite tight.

Just when she finished writing the second article and had not yet had time to copy it, the bell rang.

She took a deep breath, probably time for lunch.