Chapter 624: Honor and Disgrace Reveal the Heavenly Heart

Great Zhou Palace City, Huang Ji Hall.

Led by Wang Shilun, Grand Secretary of the Cabinet, dozens of executive officials of the Palace Examination stood below the precious steps of the Emperor's throne.

In the hall behind the officials, the Guang Lu Temple had long since set up hundreds of examination desks; more than three hundred successful candidates stood solemnly by their desks. Looking at them, it was a sea of Confucian robes and square caps, a spectacular sight.

Emperor Jia Zhao's gaze swept over the officials and successful candidates in the great hall, and finally, his gaze involuntarily froze, lingering for a moment on the first examination desk on the left.

All successful candidates entering the hall were seated at examination desks according to their ranking on the Metropolitan Examination list; traditionally, the left was honored, and Jia Cong, as the Hui Yuan of this year's examination, was naturally seated at the first examination desk on the left.

In such a nearly dazzling position, it was hard not to let Emperor Jia Zhao take notice, especially since Jia Cong was a minister he esteemed.

But at this moment, Jia Cong becoming the first of the three hundred successful candidates made Emperor Jia Zhao's heart quite complex...

Jia Cong now held two titles and was already a Grade 5 official. According to the thoughts of an old woman like Grandmother Jia, there was truly no need for him to take the imperial examinations again.

However, Emperor Jia Zhao held a favorable attitude toward Jia Cong's progress in the examination hall, because Jia Cong was both civil and martial, and for any monarch, he was a person of great utility.

If Jia Cong stopped at the status of Wu Ju Ren and did not have the status of a Jin Shi, according to the conventional official ranks of the Great Zhou, it would be extremely difficult to break through to an official position above Grade 5.

Initially, Emperor Jia Zhao had exceptionally promoted his trusted henchman, Zhou Junxing, the head of the Tui Shi Yuan, to a Grade 4B official position.

Memorials of impeachment and dissent from officials of various departments of the imperial court and censors of the Censorate swarmed in like snowflakes.

Officials of various departments, regarding Emperor Jia Zhao's overstepping of the ancestral rules of the officialdom, were earnest and tireless, spitting as they spoke, exhausting all means of persuasion and pleading.

If it weren't for the sake of the dignity of the monarch and his ministers, and the fear that the Emperor would repeat his old tricks, ruining their official reputations by investigating their illegal actions as officials.

Some radical censors would have likely pointed at Emperor Jia Zhao's nose and cursed him as a muddled monarch.

The reason why the promotion of Zhou Junxing had made Emperor Jia Zhao so passive and embarrassed was, fundamentally, that Zhou Junxing was not a Jin Shi.

The Tui Shi Yuan belonged to the civil official system, and according to the ancestral rules and official regulations of the Great Zhou, one could not be promoted above Grade 5.

Coupled with the fact that Zhou Junxing had the reputation of a cruel official, the group of civil officials in the imperial court, whether for public or private reasons, naturally had to oppose him with one voice and with all their might.

Although Emperor Jia Zhao finally overcame the dissenting views and promoted Zhou Junxing to the Grade 4B head of the Tui Shi Yuan, this matter could happen once but not again.

Zhou Junxing would stop at Grade 4B for the rest of his life; although the Emperor esteemed him, he would not break the rules for him again and become an enemy of the ancestral family laws and the civil and military officials of the entire court.

However, compared to Zhou Junxing, the weight of Jia Cong in Emperor Jia Zhao's heart was much more important.

Jia Cong was not only astonishingly talented in literature, but also seemed to have inherited the brave and martial bloodline of the Duke of Rongguo; fighting in Liaodong, pacifying the Jurchens, he was no less than a born famous general, and he also had the ability of a master artisan of firearms.

For such an outstanding figure, if his official career stopped at Grade 5, his authority narrow, how could the Emperor esteem him, how could he let him hold the whip and stirrup for him, and open up great achievements?

Therefore, Emperor Jia Zhao was happy to see Jia Cong take the spring examination, and Jia Cong was not like Zhou Junxing, whose talent was limited; with his talent, taking the name of Jin Shi was nothing more than reaching into a bag to take something.

This was also the reason why, when Zhen Fangqing had begged the Retired Emperor for grace so that Jia Cong could add grace to the spring examination after his father's mourning, Emperor Jia Zhao had happily gone with the flow.

However, for Emperor Jia Zhao, as long as Jia Cong became a Jin Shi, his official career would be smooth, and he would have a stepping stone; he didn't need to be as stretched as Zhou Junxing.

Out of the imperial heart's art of power, whether it was for the sake of checks and balances or for the long term, he only needed Jia Cong to make the list; he didn't need him to seize any glory of being the Hui Yuan.

And according to conventional judgment, the Metropolitan Examination faced students from the vast territories of the Great Zhou; that was a struggle for the scholars of the world.

Like Jia Cong, a Jie Yuan of a prefecture, there were quite a few in the world; to say that he could seize the top spot on the list was mostly a slim hope, which was something Emperor Jia Zhao had never anticipated.

Yet Jia Cong had surprised him once again, which made Emperor Jia Zhao somewhat helpless.

As the Supreme Ruler, he had the right to select and rank for the spring Palace Examination, because the Emperor was the actual chief examiner of the Palace Examination, and the successful candidates of the Palace Examination were called the Emperor's students.

But even the Emperor himself, with power reaching the heavens, did not have the power to control the selection of the Metropolitan Examination at will.

Because the selection rules for the Metropolitan Examination were much more standardized and strict than those for the Palace Examination; before the candidates' papers entered the reading process, they had to undergo name transcription and book changing, and were supervised by multiple official departments.

Unless high-level cheating was employed, neither the Emperor nor the three chief examiners could predict who would be the top of the list in the end.

Therefore, when Emperor Jia Zhao saw the Metropolitan Examination list submitted by the Ministry of Rites and saw Jia Cong become the top of the list, although his heart was quite impacted.

He did not raise any objections, but approved it with the vermilion brush and jade seal as usual, and let the Ministry of Rites release the list on time as usual.

The Metropolitan Examination was a grand ceremony for the country to select talent; even if he was the Son of Heaven, he would never manipulate or fake it.

Otherwise, he would be an enemy of the civil officials of the imperial court and the scholars of the world, unable to escape the clear pen of history, ending up with the name of a muddled monarch, fearing that even the dragon chair would be unstable.

Emperor Jia Zhao withdrew his gaze from Jia Cong, looked at the hundreds of officials and candidates below the jade steps of the throne, and a sense of hesitation arose in his heart.

He said, "In this spring Metropolitan Examination, all you ministers have exhausted your hearts and efforts, worked hard, and selected talent for the country; I am very comforted.

All candidates entering the hall, your studies have been arduous, you have made it to the Metropolitan Examination, and your names are on the imperial list; you are all people of profound learning, reserve ministers of the country, and pillars of the world.

All candidates entering the hall to compete, treasure it and value it, think deeply and consider carefully; I hope you will fully display your talent, offer strategies for the country, and not disappoint my expectations!"

Among the more than three hundred candidates in the great hall, most were students of humble origin; like Jia Cong, who had seen the Emperor many times, one could likely not find a second one among the three hundred.

Therefore, the candidates who were entering the palace to see the Emperor for the first time were unexpectedly encouraged by the Sage Monarch in the hall, and naturally, everyone was moved to tears and bowed to thank him.

Once Emperor Jia Zhao signaled for everyone to rise, Wang Shilun, Grand Secretary of the Cabinet, read the imperial edict for the Palace Examination.

The edict expounded that the Palace Examination was a grand ceremony for the imperial court to select talent, the weight of the country, and the focus of the masses.

This Palace Examination was personally attended by the Sage Monarch, and who were the reading officials, receiving officials, seal-affixing officials, scroll-managing officials, sealing officials, monitoring officials, and so on, and what important tasks each undertook.

It explained the ritual laws followed by the Palace Examination, the various rules and taboos that candidates must strictly observe, the starting and ending times for answering questions in the Palace Examination, as well as the time required for reading papers after the Palace Examination, the date for releasing the list and conferring titles, and so on.

Wang Shilun, as Grand Secretary of the Cabinet and concurrently the head of the six ministries, was naturally familiar with reading imperial edicts; his voice was clear and smooth, with ups and downs, shaking the great hall.

The candidates in the hall listened to Wang Shilun reading the imperial edict, and everyone felt a sense of solemnity, especially when they heard about the list release and conferring of titles; everyone was boiling with excitement, and all felt the ambition to seize the top spot.

At the end of Wang Shilun's reading of the edict was the strategy question for this Palace Examination; in principle, the strategy question for the Palace Examination was personally drafted by the Emperor.

But in actual operation, it was written by the three chief examiners of the Metropolitan Examination, but the intent of the strategy question for the Palace Examination must be the Emperor's will, just written and finalized by the ministers according to the Sage's will.

In the great hall, Wang Shilun finished reading the imperial edict and began to read the strategy question for the fifteenth year of Jia Zhao's Palace Examination; the voice circled and returned in the Huang Ji Hall.

The strategy question for the Palace Examination related to what rank the three hundred candidates would finally achieve; everyone was listening with full attention.

The edict says: I look up to the grace of Heaven, inherit the ancestral temples, rule the seas and universe, work hard day and night, not daring to slack off, ashamed of the weight of the family and country, for more than fifteen years now.

At the beginning of my reign, I selected talent only for virtue, clarified the administration, and implemented policies to benefit the people, wanting to make the country have a scene of abundance, the people have the joy of benefit, and then the imperial government would be fully cultivated, all living things would be fulfilled, and the country would be greatly governed.

Since the first year, the national economy has been full every day, various policies have been implemented, and compared to our predecessors, there is a slight new abundance.

However, the administration is complex, the worry of the armpit, the disaster of corruption, great disasters have not yet occurred, small illnesses have not yet ceased; for these few years, the governance has been very diligent, but the effect has not been seen; what is the reason for this?

Since the twelfth year of Jia Zhao, north to the nine border towns, south to the prosperous six prefectures.

Civil officials handle affairs, strictly following the way of the sages, there are those who are loyal and benefit the country, and there are those who pervert the law for private gain.

Military generals protect the country, upholding the will of loyalty and courage, there are those who guard the borders and pacify the barbarians, and there are those who are owls who harm the people with military force.

Corrupt officials, greed does not cease, demanding from lower officials to serve upper officials, rot arises, causing unworthy officials to harm the people's livelihood; what method can reform this evil?

I select the virtuous, to share in the governance, how should I use their talent, how should I call them to their duties, what is their conduct?

You many scholars, explain in detail, I will personally read them.

Wang Shilun finished reading the strategy question for the Palace Examination, and the entire Huang Ji Hall fell into a silence.

Although there were more than three hundred candidates entering the hall, under the nose of the Son of Heaven, they didn't dare to make noise or discuss, let alone breathe loudly; everyone just lowered their heads and thought hard.

And the dozens of executive officials of the Palace Examination present, except for the three chief examiners who participated in drafting the Palace Examination questions and knew the content of the questions very well, other officials were also knowing the questions for the first time.

Everyone had different expressions on their faces, but they all had the same thought: the current Sage Monarch is worthy of being a monarch who is extremely pragmatic, to the point of being secretly disparaged by some old scholars in the scholar forest for having a lack of literature.

Just looking at the Palace Examination strategy question personally selected by the Sage, observing its intent, one can know how it hits the current affairs, completely participating in the government affairs of recent years, directly asking for strategies to deal with the administration.

The question mentions various events involving the administration that have occurred since the twelfth year of Jia Zhao, from the nine borders in the north to the south, but it is concise and does not fully point them out.

The occurrence of these events, because they involve different official departments, and the origins of the events are hidden and different, are not known to everyone in the officialdom; many officials mostly know one or two, not the whole picture. But the three chief examiners who participated in the Palace Examination strategy question drafting know the whole picture very well.

The government affairs involved in the Palace Examination strategy question include the major case of corruption in the Ministry of Personnel's merit evaluation last year, involving more than a dozen officials who were convicted and dismissed, and also the major case of the Jin Ling guard army that caused a sensation last year.

There is also the major case of the Water Supervision Department that broke out in Jin Ling in the south, tracing back to the twelfth year of Jia Zhao.

In the northern town area, one can extend to the current military nobility, the case of selling salt and iron, and also the disaster of hereditary military officers in the border towns defecting to the enemy, and it also vaguely points to Jia Cong's pacification of the Jurchens.

The reason why Emperor Jia Zhao personally selected such a strategy question is because in recent years, he has vaguely realized that ten years after he took the throne, the imperial administration has shown signs of corruption.

It seems that there is a big hand he cannot see, stirring up the wind and clouds, making people feel unfathomable...

Of course, the deep meaning of the Emperor hidden behind this personally selected Palace Examination strategy question, even the three chief examiners, are not all fully aware of...

Even the other executive officials of the Palace Examination present, although they have been officials for many years and have certain experience in government.

But such a difficult question of current affairs strategy is not easy for them either.

Not to mention the three hundred candidates taking the exam, the vast majority of whom are students of humble origin; for such a difficult and pragmatic question, they cannot help but be at a loss, finding it hard to grasp the point.

!

However, the Palace Examination, as the peak of the imperial court's imperial examination industry, is itself the selection of the outstanding among the scholars of the world; no matter how difficult the questions are, it is reasonable.

Such a strategy question tests not only the candidates' knowledge of the classics, but if they only know how to read poetry and literature and do not know the affairs outside the window, I fear they won't even be able to read the intent of the question.

Only those who are both proficient in sage ethics and have great ambitions, with the mountains and rivers in their chests, will care about the changes in the world around them and not spare deep thought.

Only then can they face the grand strategy question issued from the perspective of the Son of Heaven, make answers that are useful for the world, and stand out among the hundreds of candidates.

The executive officials of the Palace Examination present all have similar thoughts: I fear that among the three hundred candidates present, more than half of them will mostly find it hard to grasp the point of the strategy question and will not know what they are talking about.

However, this doesn't matter; today, no matter how the candidates answer the questions in the Palace Examination, they will not be dismissed; even if they rank in the third tier, they are still considered to have the status of Jin Shi.

At this moment, including the three chief examiners and dozens of executive officials of the Palace Examination, many people's gazes involuntarily look toward the first examination desk on the left.

Because they all know that Jia Cong is one of the very few among the three hundred candidates who has been a Grade 5 official and has been in government for several years, and his talent and literary thought are second to none among the candidates entering the hall.

They almost all thought of the same question: how will Jia Cong answer this Palace Examination strategy question?

Once Wang Shilun finished reading the strategy question for this Palace Examination.

The scroll-managing official led dozens of eunuchs to begin distributing the examination questions, answer sheets, draft answer sheets, and other examination items to the hundreds of candidates.

At this moment, Emperor Jia Zhao stood up from the dragon chair and, with eunuchs like Guo Lin, left the Huang Ji Hall.

The Emperor is the Supreme Ruler, busy with ten thousand tasks, with many major affairs of the imperial court waiting to be handled.

This Palace Examination will last from morning until sunset; naturally, there is no reason for the Emperor to stay and waste time; it is just a formality for the beginning of the Palace Examination.

Before the candidates officially take the exam, the three chief examiners and other executive officials begin to patrol the examination desks to clarify the examination rules.

Sun Shouzheng, the assistant examiner of the sixth room of the Metropolitan Examination, also as one of the executive officials of the Palace Examination, walked between the examination desks, seeming somewhat restless.

When he walked to the row of examination desks in the center of the great hall, he inadvertently saw a slightly plump candidate, and his eyes lit up slightly.

In his mind, he couldn't help but recall a strategy essay answer from the Metropolitan Examination:

The ancients said: Use one person's heart to melt the heart of heaven and earth, use the heart of heaven and earth to melt the heart of the world.

This is a principle understood for a hundred generations, scattered among the differences of the red dust, which ordinary people know but do not know.

The Dao has no end of merit; only those with high and distant aspirations are enough to reach the extreme merit; the Dao is not for small use; only those with a firm and determined strength are enough to enlarge its use...

At that time, when he saw this strategy essay answer, he couldn't help but praise it.

Even until now, this strategy essay answer was the most excellent strategy essay answer he had encountered while presiding over the reading of the sixth room of the Metropolitan Examination.

But after he carefully read this answer, he also noticed some clues.

This candidate must be very familiar with Liu Jichuan's "Tui Si Ji" to be able to answer so aptly and outstandingly.

Sun Shouzheng knew clearly that the Metropolitan Examination strategy question issued by the chief examiner Xu Liangxiong was taken from the main theme of Liu Jichuan's "Tui Si Ji".

However, because of Liu Jichuan's entanglement with the Great Zhou's founding emperor, his articles had always been unpraised, their circulation narrow and obscure, and very few scholars went to study them.

Yet this candidate was so unconventional, unexpectedly having an unspeakable fit with Xu Liangxiong's hobby.

Sun Shouzheng finally included this candidate in the selection list of his room because this answer was indeed outstanding, but a doubt was buried in his heart.

It wasn't until the successful candidates of the Metropolitan Examination were settled that he, as an official drawn from the eighteen rooms, followed the three chief examiners into the examination hall to extract the official papers of the successful candidates.

In the examination hall's archives, when the examination hall officials removed the seals of the official papers and compared and read the candidate numbers of the successful candidates, reporting the corresponding candidate names, courtesy names, and native places.

Sun Shouzheng finally knew the name of the candidate who wrote the strategy essay answer he admired most.

His name was Wu Liang, courtesy name Xi Wen, a Wu Ju Ren from Hangzhou Prefecture.

And Wu Liang's courtesy name, Sun Shouzheng had heard of in the Xiao family bookstore of the Wen Han family.

The old man in the bookstore told him that a few days before the Metropolitan Examination, a candidate named Xi Wen had specifically purchased a copy of "Liu Jichuan's Literary Records" from the bookstore, which contained that "Tui Si Ji".

When the examination hall official read out Wu Liang's courtesy name Xi Wen, it was as if waves were stirred up in Sun Shouzheng's heart; the seeds of doubt that had originally existed instantly broke through the soil and sprouted, becoming a sharp thorn stuck in his heart!

After the Metropolitan Examination list was released, Wu Liang, like other candidates, followed the convention of paying respects to the chief examiner and the assistant examiners of his room, so Sun Shouzheng got to know Wu Liang.

The increasingly heavy suspicion in his heart made him, who was upright and serious by nature, restless for several days, and finally, unable to suppress his temper, he went to the Xiao family bookstore of the Wen Han family again.

Things went surprisingly smoothly; he only spent three taels of silver to learn the shocking inside story from that old man.

He could almost be certain that his original speculation and suspicion were very likely the truth.

These days, Sun Shouzheng had been in anxiety; in the past, as a censor, hearing the wind and playing the memorial was just a normal thing.

But the spring Metropolitan Examination was a grand ceremony for the country to select talent, a matter of world attention; once a cheating scandal broke out, it would surely shake the imperial court, and the consequences would be unpredictable.

He, a Grade 7 censor, not only had to confront a high-ranking official of Grade 3, but also had to face other inside stories he didn't yet know...

He might be countered because of this matter, or even have his reputation ruined and his official career destroyed; this made him unable to decide.

Just as Sun Shou was somewhat distracted, he saw Wu Liang smiling and bowing to someone, his etiquette very respectful.

Sun Shouzheng followed his line of sight and saw Xu Liangxiong, who was patrolling the examination hall, also smiling and nodding at Wu Liang, his gaze seeming to contain the intention of promotion.

After the Metropolitan Examination list was posted, the successful candidates had all paid respects to the chief examiner, so in the Palace Examination, it was normal for the candidates to know the chief examiner.

Before the Palace Examination officially began, the candidates occasionally paying respects to the chief examiner was just normal etiquette.

However, Sun Shouzheng could clearly sense that there was an unusual tacit understanding between Wu Liang and Xu Liangxiong; they were not like the relationship between an ordinary chief examiner and a candidate.

He could almost conclude that before the Metropolitan Examination, these two had an unusual entanglement; this sensitive intuitive feeling was like poison fire, roasting and burning in his heart.

Although he had made the list in the imperial examinations, he was from a humble background and had no family connections to support him; after making the list, he sank into the lower ranks and could only be an inconspicuous Grade 7 censor.

But relying on his upright heart, the courage to speak, and the thought of tracing the truth, he had only begun to show his talent in the imperial court by impeaching Jia Zheng for overstepping ritual laws.

Moreover, he had also obtained the good fortune of the imperial court, becoming an assistant examiner for the sixth room of the spring Metropolitan Examination; it was precisely because he practiced his heart of integrity that he could exchange it for today's glory.

Now, the sixth room of the Metropolitan Examination he presided over, because of his reading and selection, had hidden dirt and cheating in the examination hall under his nose.

This was his shame as an assistant examiner; his past reputation as a clean stream of censors would be tarnished by himself, and he felt ashamed in his heart!

At this moment, Xu Liangxiong and Wu Liang's greeting, which seemed to contain deep tacit understanding, was like a wanton mockery of him, making a sense of injustice arise in his chest, and his original concerns instantly vanished without a trace.

He looked at the dragon throne of the imperial pole; the current Sage Monarch had long since left the hall and returned to the palace, and he looked at the hundreds of candidates sitting separately; the Palace Examination was about to begin.

He thought for a moment, and finally, he temporarily suppressed the gushing hot blood... (End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 625 =====