Chapter 606: Seizing the Opportunity to Reach the Blue Clouds

Rongguo Prefecture, Rongqing Hall.

Time passed by the middle of the fourth month, and the disturbance caused by Jia Cong's birthday banquet also slowly subsided.

Lady Wang often came to Rongqing Hall these days. Today, she also came early in the morning to pay respects to Jia Mu, and the topic mostly did not leave Baoyu's coming-of-age.

Lady Wang said: "Old Lady, according to the rules of the prefecture, when the young masters reach fifteen, they should arrange two maids in their rooms.

Baoyu's room already has Sister Xi Ren occupying one. Originally, I wanted to ask for an outstanding person from the Old Lady, but this matter did not succeed, so I had to let it go."

Jia Mu heard this and did not know how to answer. Yuanyang, who was pounding Jia Mu's legs, also had no expression, as if she had not heard it.

Lady Wang was somewhat unwilling, but also helpless, and continued: "The master and I have discussed it, and we chose Seeing Cai Xia for the other one."

Jia Mu heard this and hurriedly said: "Seeing Cai Xia is a good girl, honest and reliable, but she is not confused in her heart and has some opinions, much better than that Caiyun.

Moreover, her appearance is also handsome. She is a good one. In the future, she can be with Sister Xi Ren to give Baoyu more pointers and service. It is always good for Baoyu to have more people to persuade him in the future."

The reason Jia Mu said Seeing Cai Xia was better than Caiyun was not without reason. Some things were done secretly, but they were not airtight……

Lady Wang knew it even more clearly, so she naturally did not go to point it out and hurriedly turned the topic to other places.

She said: "Old Lady, Baoyu's fifteenth birthday is in a few days. I am planning how to handle it. I see the large flower hall newly built by the Old Lady last year is excellent.

Not only is the place spacious, but it is also convenient for the Old Lady to move about. Why not……"

Lady Wang was speaking when she saw the curtain at the entrance of the hall lifted, and Ping'er and Feng'er helped Wang Xifeng enter the hall.

Ever since Jia Cong held his birthday banquet, seeing that the time was approaching the middle of the month, Wang Xifeng seemed to be able to guess her aunt's thoughts.

Although her body was bloated and her movement was becoming inconvenient, she still took a sliding chair every day and came to pay respects to Rongqing Hall almost every day without fail.

Today she came by coincidence. Just when Lady Wang was speaking to the point, she happened to enter Rongqing Hall.

Some words Lady Wang could say without scruples when she was alone with Jia Mu, but with Wang Xifeng present, she found it difficult to say……

Wang Xifeng smiled: "I got up a bit early today. I had Ping'er accompany me to turn around the miscellaneous affairs of the prefecture, and came to pay respects to the Old Ancestor early by the way.

Just now at the entrance of the hall, I heard the Lady say she wanted to celebrate Baoyu's birthday and hold a banquet in the large flower hall of the West Prefecture?"

Jia Mu heard Wang Xifeng's words and sighed secretly in her heart, not opening her mouth to answer.

Lady Wang's face stiffened, and she frowned at her niece, saying: "Actually, the banquet can also be held in the East Courtyard. I just wanted to save the Old Lady from moving about and getting tired."

Jia Mu took the topic and said: "Baoyu's fifteenth birthday is a big event and should be handled well. Feng Yatou, you also say, how to handle it properly?"

Wang Xifeng smiled: "Baoyu's coming-of-age birthday naturally needs to be handled well. If it were still a few months ago, even if the banquet were held in the large flower hall, it would be barely acceptable.

It is just that Brother Cong held a birthday banquet at the beginning of the month and made friends with the descendants of the hereditary old relatives of each family, and recently there has been frequent contact.

A few days ago, the heir of the Marquis of Cheng Yang's Mansion visited the prefecture. Because the Old Lady promised the other party to send a piece of Brother Cong's ink treasure to their Third Young Lady, the heir of their family came to ask for the calligraphy.

At that time, Brother Cong was entertaining guests in Rongxi Hall, and the two of them talked happily and even made an appointment to meet again.

Yesterday, the heir of the Marquis of Jingyang's Mansion visited the prefecture and actually came to ask for calligraphy. Since the Old Lady opened this topic, there will be no shortage of these young descendants of noble families coming and going in the future.

With more contact with these outside old relatives, there will naturally be more talk.

Last time Brother Cong had his birthday, the Old Lady invited the wives and young ladies of each family, and they all ate at that flower hall. Now each family is familiar with that place.

Now Baoyu is also holding a banquet there. If word gets out that Baoyu is celebrating his fifteenth birthday and holding a banquet in his cousin's house.

The mouths of those noble wives are not fuel-efficient lamps. If they have nothing to do, they love to talk nonsense. If the word spreads, it will hurt the Second Master's face.

After all, the Second Master is currently an official of the imperial court. Those who move in official circles cannot be made to fabricate handles……"

Jia Mu heard the word "handle" and felt a sense of awe in her heart.

When she let her son Jia Zheng live in Rongxi Hall for a few more days, it caused such a big handle. Thinking about it now, she still has lingering fears.

In fact, with Jia Mu's experience, how could she not know that the Rongguo Prefecture is currently the family business of the eldest branch, and letting Baoyu of the second branch hold a banquet in the eldest branch's house is already against reason.

However, Jia Mu hoped that Jia Cong and Wang Xifeng would not care about this matter. As long as they did not speak, the matter would pass.

It would also fulfill Jia Mu's lifelong doting on Baoyu, letting his coming-of-age banquet have more glory and face.

Yet she did not expect that Wang Xifeng, as the daughter-in-law of the eldest branch, would not be ambiguous at all in this matter. Although these words were polite, the meaning of clear boundaries was self-evident.

Moreover, the worries she mentioned were not unreasonable, and there were no faults to pick. If it gave the second branch another handle, it would be a loss that outweighed the gain.

Jia Mu thought of these, and became increasingly unwilling to speak.

Lady Wang saw that her niece, whom she had brought into the Jia family, was now going against her in everything, and she was quite unconvinced in her heart.

She slightly suppressed her anger and said: "Feng Yatou, are your worries too much? Those noble wives would not be so idle as to manage other people's business every day."

Wang Xifeng smiled: "What the Lady says is also reasonable, but Baoyu's coming-of-age birthday banquet cannot just be a table of family members eating and drinking.

We still have to invite relatives and friends to the banquet. At that time, we will have to invite those noble wives. Otherwise, Brother Cong invited them, but Baoyu did not, and the Lady's face will not be glorious either.

By that time, Baoyu will hold a banquet in the flower hall, and it will not be the family spreading the word, but these noble wives experiencing it themselves.

By that time, you just watch, Lady. If those long-tongued women don't talk nonsense when they go back, I will write my surname backward."

Lady Wang heard this, and felt bitter in her heart. How could she not have thought of this?

Baoyu's coming-of-age birthday banquet naturally could not be just a meal at home. The people in the family could not even sit at a table. How could it be so shabby?

Naturally, we have to invite outside guests to celebrate. Baoyu's uncles have to be present, and the old merit relatives in the family cannot be missed. Otherwise, if it spreads, it will show that the second branch has declined……

Wang Xifeng saw Lady Wang was somewhat dumbfounded and smiled: "If the Lady doesn't care about these, then my words are just worries, and the Lady doesn't have to take them to heart.

Brother Cong doesn't care even more. He is now full of imperial examinations and officialdom every day. As long as there is no trouble outside, he is too lazy to manage the small matters at home.

Old Lady, speaking of imperial examinations and officialdom, I just heard yesterday that the Ministry of Rites is busy copying and reviewing the metropolitan examination papers. After the middle of the month, it will likely start to post the list.

According to Brother Cong's ability in reading and taking examinations, he will surely be on the Golden List. By then, I don't know how many people will be staring at him, staring at this one-third of an acre of land at home……"

Jia Mu heard this, and her face also changed, saying: "Baoyu's birthday banquet is also good to be held in the East Courtyard. Although I am old, I am not yet unable to move.

You have this filial piety, and that is enough. I heard that the garden newly built in the East Courtyard is not bad. I will take the opportunity to stroll around more……"

……

Love Shenjing, Ministry of Rites review hall.

Since the metropolitan examination ended on the twenty-seventh of the third month, after the early stage of sealing and copying, the formal metropolitan examination review had lasted for ten days.

The first round of the classics test and the second round of the edicts and policy essays of the metropolitan examination had all been reviewed, and they began to enter the third round of policy essay review.

The eighteen co-examiner rooms on both sides of the metropolitan examination hall had frequent personnel coming and going, and the sound of talking was endless, all for the co-examiners and review officials to recommend and discuss the grading of test papers.

The three chief examiners were also not like the previous days, mostly staying in the chief examiner's room, but walking in the hall and often entering and leaving the co-examiner's room to listen to the discussion on the screening of test papers in each room.

At this time, the eighteen co-examiners had also selected the top twenty-five candidates in their respective rooms according to the weighted grading of the first two rounds of test papers.

The top twenty-five people who entered the room in the first two rounds of grading were all outstanding people among the three thousand candidates.

As long as these candidates did not have accidents in the third round of policy essays, they all had a relatively high probability of being on the list.

After the final three rounds of policy essay grading were completed, according to the inferior grading of the policy essays, the top twenty-five candidates in each room would have significant fluctuations.

Each room combined the grading of the three rounds of policy essay review, and among the top twenty-five in the first two rounds, eight more would be eliminated, and the remaining candidates could be reported to the chief examiner for evaluation.

The Great Zhou imperial examination selection was more focused on practical ability than previous dynasties, so the third round of policy essays had an undeniable role in the candidate's final success on the list. The candidates eliminated in this last round were all because of deviations in the third round of policy essays, or the policy essay level was low, or significantly weaker than their peers.

In this final policy essay review, some candidates in each room were ranked outside the top twenty-five in the first two rounds, but wrote magnificent articles in the third round of policy essays, eventually winning against the odds.

Moreover, when each room reported the final selected test papers, in order to avoid the regret of missing a pearl, the chief examiners would conduct random inspections of the eliminated test papers in each room.

If they found that among the eliminated candidates, the first two rounds of grading were at the middle level, but the third round of policy essays was determined by the chief examiner to be outstanding, they would also be unexpectedly listed on the list due to this kind of heavenly luck.

Such things occasionally happened in previous dynasties and were almost all regarded as good stories in the examination field, but that was just an extremely rare opportunity. If candidates hoped for this, it was no different from climbing a tree to catch a fish.

……

Therefore, calculated according to this list of admissions, the number of candidates on the list for the metropolitan examination in the fifteenth year of Emperor Jia Zhao was three hundred.

The number of successful candidates in this metropolitan examination was not determined at will.

It was determined based on the vacancies of officials formed by the retirement, assessment, and elimination of officials in the Hanlin Academy and various ministries in the capital, and the official vacancies reported by each state to the Ministry of Personnel before the metropolitan examination was held.

Only then would the number of successful candidates in this metropolitan examination be determined, which could prevent the aggravation of official redundancy from the root.

……

!

After the three rounds of policy essays began grading, most candidates were actually destined to be eliminated.

But for the small number of candidates who survived the fight, the competition for the path to the blue clouds in the metropolitan examination would enter an increasingly white-hot degree.

At this final juncture, what was tested was not only the talent of the students, but also the competition of each person's opportunity, time, and even destiny.

Some candidates' copied papers were already in a state of certainty, some copied papers were in a risk of being on or off, and many candidates' copied papers were waiting for the heavenly opportunity in the dark……

……

At this time, in the Ministry of Rites review hall, the co-examiner of the sixth room, Sun Shou, was carefully reviewing the test papers. What was sent to his desk were the copied papers of the three rounds of the room that had been screened.

Among the eighteen co-examiners, Sun Shou was the only seventh-grade official and also the co-examiner with the lowest official position and the shallowest seniority.

But compared to other co-examiners who were steady in their official careers, Sun Shou's official career already had a sense of being a tide-rider.

When other officials were worried about official entanglements and interests and did not dare to move forward, Sun Shou, a small official of the seventh grade, dared to impeach the heads of the Four Princes and Eight Dukes.

Moreover, he gained the appreciation of the current Emperor because of this, directly receiving an exceptional promotion in rank, and was even granted the right of direct memorialization by Emperor Emperor Jia Zhao; such career opportunities are rare.

Later, he was appreciated by the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites, Huang Hongcang, and was recommended by him as one of the eighteen co-examiners, which also made Sun Shou a figure of attention in the Love Shenjing officialdom for a time.

Although Huang Hongcang had an unexpected accident before the metropolitan examination began and could not continue to serve as the chief examiner of this metropolitan examination.

But Sun Shou was still grateful for Huang Hongcang's recommendation.

Like his original official position and reputation, even with the lucky advancement of impeaching Jia Zheng, it was extremely slim to sit in the position of a metropolitan examination co-examiner.

Therefore, the moment he entered the Ministry of Rites review hall, he decided to tilt his full responsibility as a co-examiner and not live up to Huang Hongcang's recommendation.

This morning, several review officials in the sixth room had selected the copied papers of the top twenty-five candidates in the first two rounds, made preliminary review comments, and sent them to Sun Shou's desk one after another.

Sun Shou read several policy essay copied papers one after another, all of which were at the middle level. Two of them even appeared embarrassed in writing, lacking a smooth and free spirit, which made him shake his head in disappointment.

The person who set the policy essay questions this time was the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, Xu Liangxiong, who unexpectedly entered the selection as the chief examiner to replace Huang Hongcang.

Sun Shou was somewhat helpless that the policy essay level of the top candidates in his room was not outstanding.

The reason for this situation was not that these candidates who performed excellently in the first two rounds had a decline in level when they reached the third round of policy essays.

It was mainly because the policy essay questions set by Chief Examiner Xu Liangxiong were too cold and profound. The candidates' answers were generally somewhat raw, so it was not surprising.

For this person Xu Liangxiong, Sun Shou also had some understanding.

Although this person was only the top of the second grade, when he participated in the metropolitan examination and palace examination, he was a popular figure for winning the championship, so it could be seen that his talent was outstanding when he was young.

Since Xu Liangxiong became an official, he had been famous in the court and the scholar forest for his outstanding talent and knowledge of the past and present.

And because of his outstanding talent, his vision was quite high, he looked down on everything, and his words and deeds were different from the vulgar flow……

His setting of such cold and profound examination questions was inseparable from his arrogant and self-respecting temperament.

At this time, Sun Shou took the next policy question copied paper and only read two sentences, and his eyes lit up slightly.

He chanted softly: "The predecessors said: melt the heart of heaven and earth with the heart of one person, and melt the heart of the world with the heart of heaven and earth.

This is the principle of a hundred generations of clarity, scattered in the differences of all kinds in the red dust, ordinary people know to follow it, but do not know it.

The way has no end, only those with high and distant aspirations are enough to reach the extreme; the way is not for small use, only those with condensed and determined strength are enough to enlarge its use……"

Sun Shou only read a few paragraphs of the policy essay copied paper in his hand, and a happy look appeared on his face, and he could not help but call out "good" softly!

This was the most outstanding policy essay copied paper he had read in this room.

The policy essays of other students on this topic mostly looked for roots in the classics, and then quoted extensively to discuss, but mostly because the topic itself was cold and profound, they lost the smoothness and freedom.

This was also an important reason for the poor writing level of the policy essay answers this time.

However, this policy essay just now directly cut sentences from the topic: melt the heart of heaven and earth with the heart of one person, and melt the heart of the world with the heart of heaven and earth.

And used this as the topic eye to break the topic. The method was very bold and novel, and the words of breaking the topic and discussing were high-spirited, and they were closely linked to the topic's literary pulse, which was quite rare.

Sun Shou was secretly happy that his room also had excellent policy essay works, but when he pondered the article again, a strange feeling suddenly arose in his heart.

When he first saw the policy essay question set by Xu Liangxiong, although he felt it was too cold and profound, he could see the origin and thinking of Xu Liangxiong's question setting.

This was thanks to the day he visited Huang Hongcang, when he happened to see that book "Liu Jichuan Selected Works" that he was flipping through in his study……

Sun Shou read the copied paper in his hand again, and his brows were already slightly wrinkled, but he had to admit that this was indeed an outstanding policy essay, enough to be ranked in the top eighteen of this room.

Immediately after, several review officials of the sixth room sent in another batch of copied papers. These were the remaining top twenty-five copied papers, which had just been reviewed by the review officials.

There were another ten copied papers, all of which were ranked behind the twenty-fifth in the first two rounds, and the policy essay articles were well reviewed.

These additional copied papers were screened by the review officials for the redundant selection of co-examiners. Once the top twenty-five candidates in the first two rounds had abnormal policy essays, the ten candidates could substitute.

Sun Shou put the excellent policy essay copied paper aside and continued to review the newly sent copied papers.

Within less than an hour, he discovered two more copied papers with excellent policy essay levels.

The appearance of outstanding articles in the room's copied papers was originally a good thing for the co-examiner, but while Sun Shou was happy, he could not help but feel increasingly strange in his heart.

Because these two policy essay copied papers, together with the first excellent policy essay he discovered, were all broken from the topic, with similar methods, and the discussion was also consistent, with quite a foundation.

Although the literary methods of the latter two policy essays were slightly different from the first one, and the focus of the discussion was different, the literary pulse and thinking had a heritage, as if they were from the same school.

In fact, in a large-scale metropolitan examination, among thousands of candidates, it was very common for some people to have similar literary styles and thinking, and it was not how strange it was.

Because all students were based on the Four Books and Five Classics in the root of learning, so it was reasonable to have similar literary styles.

Although Sun Shou was cautious and thoughtful, judging from common sense, he could not pick out any grounded mistakes in these three excellent policy essay articles, so he could not do anything against his will.

Finally, he put these three copied papers into the selection list of his room.

However, having been a Censor of the Censorate for several years, the integrity and calculation in his nature had already penetrated into his bone marrow.

It was like a person who could not rub sand in his eyes, not knowing how sand was sprinkled on him, and he could not rub it clean no matter what……(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 607 =====

It was like a person who could not tolerate a grain of sand in their eye, yet did not know how the sand had been scattered there, and no matter how they rubbed, they could not get it clean... (End of chapter)