Chapter 155: The Emperor Reviews the Papers, Announces the Results

Hearing the righteous spirit burst forth again between Zhang Jian's characters, this aroused the curiosity of Emperor Jingwu.

He first sized up this young tribute student sitting upright and meticulous, the other party's clean and simple attire and proper bearing immediately gave Emperor Jingwu a good first impression.

He then turned his gaze to Zhang Jian's exam paper laid out flat, merely glancing at it briefly, a hint of a smile appeared in the emperor's eyes.

Emperor Jingwu was not without experience as chief examiner of the palace examinations; before his ascension, when he was crown prince, he had supervised examinations several times and was very clear about the standards of these tribute students.

And after his ascension, the palace examination had already been held once.

Among the many tribute students' essays, this one before him could be considered of high quality.

Especially the idea of reforming officialdom to enrich the state, it greatly appealed to him.

Zhuang Ying beside him, seeing this scene, immediately walked over, keeping a slight distance from Emperor Jingwu, bowing slightly with an expression of admiration.

At the same time, he glanced at Zhang Jian's palace examination paper from another angle with his peripheral vision; just one look and he knew Zhang Jian's choice of angle for his argument had hit Emperor Jingwu's itch.

This is a point-addition item.

And not an ordinary point-addition item.

Looking again at the essay of Zhu Qingzhou, the winning candidate beside him, after a slight comparison, although that winning candidate's essay was not bad and his intent was not low, his substantive content was somewhat lacking.

As for Zhang Jian before him, he was very skilled at this kind of memorial-style essay, or rather, a pragmatic type, and he inherently had experience and ability in this area.

"Unfortunately, he is from an aristocratic family?"

This thought flashed through Zhuang Ying's mind.

Actually, during the Ministry of Rites' provincial examination, Zhuang Ying had also seen Zhang Jian's essay; originally, Zhang Jian had the talent to be the winning candidate, but considering that Emperor Jingwu today was exceptionally wary of great aristocratic clans, he had also given up the idea of appointing Zhang Jian as the winning candidate, and instead chose Wang Qingzhou, who came from a humble background.

He glanced at Zhang Jian; in his view, even if Zhang Jian's essay was excellent, if he wanted to be appointed as the top scholar, the odds were not high.

Emperor Jingwu himself also tended to promote talented individuals from humble origins to counter the growing power of great aristocratic clans, demonstrating his determination to not stick to one pattern in selecting talent.

Zhang Jian also noticed Emperor Jingwu, as well as many senior court officials approaching him; his expression paused, his arm seemed to intentionally tremble slightly for a moment, he took a few deep breaths, re-centered his mind, and continued writing the last three characters.

"Your servant respectfully replies!"

Afterwards, he continued checking the examination papers, looking for any omissions in the wording.

At this time, Emperor Jingwu had already walked away, but the area around Zhang Jian became a focal point for several senior court officials; several batches of officials in purple and red robes came, each with different expressions.

But Zhang Jian roughly guessed.

I have secured the palace examination!

I just don't know if it's top scholar, second place, or third place.

The palace examination lasting three hours passed quickly; most tribute students had completed their answer sheets, and at the end, a few tribute students were still sweating profusely.

This is due to excessive tension in the Golden Throne Hall, especially from being stared at by the censors for too long, making it easy to underperform.

This is also a normal situation.

After completing the palace examination, everyone, under the leadership of one of the Nine Ministers, the Minister of Rites, solemnly performed the great ritual before Emperor Jingwu, then slowly withdrew from the palace examination.

This may be the highlight moment of a lifetime for many tribute students.

It is rare in life to be able to enter the power center of the Great Qian court and have an audience with the emperor.

After leaving the Chengtian Hall, many tribute students' thick middle garments were soaked; Zhang Jian noticed Shilun in the queue smiling at him, looking like he had done well in the exam.

Being able to smile at this time is truly not common.

Zhang Jian's expression remained unchanged; he merely glanced at the surrounding magnificent and continuous palaces, though a hint of a smile appeared in his eyes.

Being able to enter the Chengtian Hall as a tribute student does not waste his ten years of hard study in the cold window.

This also counts as fulfilling a wish in his heart.

After the tribute students left the palace gate, it seemed they finally caught their breath and became lively, though still somewhat cautious.

However, a few tribute students who had not finished answering the exam questions were crying with faces like they were at a funeral, saying it was over.

Not long after, everyone dispersed.

The announcement of the palace examination results generally occurs within two to three days.

For the many tribute students who completed the entire process, this is the final waiting period.

……

And at this time in the imperial palace

In the Hall of Longevity, all the examination papers were completely laid out before the imperial case, and several officials in purple robes were also before the imperial case helping to check the papers.

This time, the palace examination papers were not concealed by name, but were made public.

Emperor Jingwu at this time had two sets of examination papers placed alone before the imperial case; his eyes showed a hint of fatigue.

Having sat continuously for several hours, he also felt some weariness.

The elderly eunuch Liang Shiwu beside him said softly: "Your Majesty, there are many officials here helping you review the papers; you might as well rest for a while, and look again tomorrow—it won't be too late!"

Emperor Jingwu glanced and said: "No need, I am just a little hungry; you go to the small kitchen and get something to eat for me!"

The elderly eunuch, upon hearing this, softly nodded.

He immediately summoned the young eunuch beside him and personally went to the imperial kitchen to prepare.

Emperor Jingwu's gaze lingered doubtfully on the two sets of examination papers on the imperial case.

As the Censor-in-Chief Zhuang Ying had thought, Emperor Jingwu indeed found it difficult to decide who should be made the top scholar.

After pondering for a while, Emperor Jingwu simply put the two sets of examination papers aside, preparing to wait until other senior court officials had finished reviewing the papers before making a comparison.

In the Hall of Longevity, the speed of the officials reviewing the papers was not fast; it was only around the second evening that they finished reviewing all the palace examination papers, discussed, and then remade a ranking.

But the ranking differed little from before.

Before the imperial case, Emperor Jingwu glanced a few times and knew that among the many tribute students, the top scholar, second place, and third place would still be selected from the top three of the tribute list.

He then thought for a moment and took out one set of examination papers from among the many palace examination papers.

This was Shilun's examination paper.

Because of the memorial from Wu Hongqiao, the governor of Jixian Commandery, and because Shilun and Zhang Jian were both mentioned in the same memorial, he had an impression of Shilun.

Emperor Jingwu glanced at it and immediately shook his head slightly; although Shi Lun's palace examination essay had a good idea, it could only be considered middling to upper.

At this time, Shi Lun's ranking had not changed much.

The rankings given by the many reviewing officials were still around one hundred and third place, only an improvement of six places from the previous one hundred and ninth.

Emperor Jingwu lifted his brush and immediately crossed out the one hundred and third next to Shi Lun's name, writing twenty-eight.

In the Great Qian court, it is customary for the first class to take twenty-eight; placing Shi Lun as twenty-eighth already meant directly promoting him from the second class to the first, even if he was at the very end, but that still made him a conferred jinshi.

Yet Emperor Jingwu still hesitated somewhat in his eyes.

Thinking of Shi Lun's background, he again crossed out the twenty-eight and filled in twenty-nine.

Twenty-nine is the first place in the second class.

But there is clearly a difference between second-class jinshi and first-class jinshi who are conferred the degree.

Official appointments will also be distinguished accordingly.

However, rising from behind in the second class to first place in the second class also makes a difference; when appointing officials, one enjoys certain priority rights, which can also be considered a reward for loyal ministers.

Seeing this, Emperor Jingwu's expression revealed a hint of satisfaction.

Afterwards, he turned his gaze to the names of Zhang Jian and Wang Qingzhou, hesitated for a moment, then made a decision, using his vermilion imperial brush to place a red dot on Zhang Jian's name.

He had other considerations for this matter.

One important reason is that the dried goods in the examination paper indeed moved him.

Overriding mere considerations of interest and advantage!

If he could improve the court's administration, this top scholar would truly deserve his title.