In the Imperial Study Room, the two prime ministers were present. The two prime ministers on duty today were Prime Minister Zeng Yu and Assistant Prime Minister Shen Zheng.

They couldn't guess what the emperor wanted to do with them.

The two looked at each other, did not communicate, and sat quietly waiting.

Not long after the emperor came in, the two stood up to greet each other. The emperor put the test papers in front of the table and said: "The several memorials you handed over yesterday contain several contents that need to be discussed with you on how to deal with them. Before discussing the matter, please give me Please take a look at a test paper from this Jiangnan Township Examination."

The two husbands were very curious.

This rural examination should have just been completed, and today should be the day when the results are released. Why did a Jiangnan Township examination paper appear in the palace? Could there be something wrong with the Jiangnan Township examination?

Zeng Yu's slender eyes were half closed, and he glanced at the emperor slightly, with many thoughts in his mind. Figuring out the holy will was the biggest task for them as close ministers.

This Jiangnan Provincial Examination is hosted by Xie Mingtang. Xie Mingtang is a Hanlin scholar and the number one scholar appointed by the emperor. He has always regarded him very highly. It can be said that the appointment of the prime minister is a certainty. Now it is just a grind.

Moreover, Xie Mingtang had no disagreement with him, unlike Shen Zheng across from him, who was his mortal enemy in terms of political opinions.

With just a moment's thought, Zeng Yu knew what to do.

The little eunuch handed the test paper to the two husbands for viewing. After getting the test paper, everyone's first impression was that the candidate's handwriting was really good, and his answers were very neat, with no mistakes or omissions. good.

After reading it, Zeng Yu put down the test paper and said: "I think the answers to this test paper are very good. It should not be a big problem to choose the top few, especially the poem written by this candidate. It is written with great literary talent and profound meaning. "There are things." This sentence is excerpted from Chapter 25 of "Laozi", "There are things mixed together, born from heaven and earth...can be the mother of the world." The words are cleverly used and the writing is beautiful. It is really a rare masterpiece. "

"Especially the last two sentences. 'From now on, I will master the Taoist hub, restore the order of heaven, exhaust all the principles, and think back to the past and start again.' 'It's so majestic, I hold the elephant and support the city, and achieve the wonderful and profound purpose'" The writing is simply too apt, and I deeply agree with it.”

Zeng Yu quoted these words from scriptures and memorized the original text after just reading it once, which shows how powerful this person is.

What's even more amazing is his ability to flatter people.

What do the two sentences at the end of this poem about things mixed together mean? In today’s words, it means that now I, the Holy One, hold the key to the development of things, expand the way of nature, the ethics of human beings, explore the mysterious principles of all things, and study all living things. All the characters are in order to return to the beautiful ancient society.

How noble! You are in charge of the "invisible and formless" "Tao" that is indispensable to all things, and you nurture all the people in this domain. This grand and great undertaking will have extremely profound and mysterious significance.

This ending is nothing but praise and flattery, and the level of kung fu is so high that it makes the words of later generations seem weak.

This is the highest level of flattery. No wonder the emperor was overjoyed after seeing it.

When Zeng Yu said this, the smile on the emperor's face became even stronger.

At this moment, Shen Zheng frowned slightly and said, "Why did the examiner reject one of the questions in this paper?"

The emperor knew they would ask this question and handed them Xie Mingtang's memorial. After reading it, the two suddenly realized that it was because of this.

Shen Zheng said: "If this kind of plagiarism of previous answers is found to be a violation, the candidate should be disqualified. If it is not a violation, it is unfair for Xie Mingtang to take this candidate last. This test paper is the least If you can be ranked in the top few, you can even compete for the first place in Jieyuan, the official family, I feel that Xie Xueshi is a bit vague about this matter."

Zeng Yu smiled and said: "I think Bachelor Xie handled this matter very appropriately. Our laws have always been 'no law is too high'. Since there are no regulations on such things before, we cannot convict him. Even if So what if that candidate wrote the answer given by a certain candidate three years ago? Classical meaning questions are meant to explain their meaning."

"My dynasty has been in existence for more than a hundred years, and there have been dozens of imperial examinations. There are so many answer sheets, and some overlapping test questions are not a big deal. Bachelor Xie also proposed a solution. I think the idea of ​​setting up a catalog of scientific examination questions is a good idea."

Shen Zheng looked at the emperor. The emperor didn't look like he was ready to pursue the matter. He thought for a while and said nothing more.

At this time, Zeng Yu said again: "Speaking of this candidate, I have some impressions. If I remember correctly, this candidate named Qin Guan has written several poems. Now they have been widely circulated in the Great Zhao Kingdom and are also known as "Qin Guan". People are given the title of 'Little Poet Fairy'."

The emperor became interested. He liked the autumn poem in Qin Guan's test paper very much and said, "Tell me and listen to it."

Zeng Yu had a good brain and immediately recited several poems such as "Special Red", "Green Apricot Little", "Xizi Lake" and "Magpie Bridge Immortal".

The emperor also liked it very much after hearing it and said: "I like these poems very much. It seems that this student does have quite a spiritual attainment in poetry and poetry."

Then he smiled and said: "But he was lazy in the classic meaning. He could have been awarded a Jieyuan, but now he was ranked last. This can be regarded as a lesson. I think this matter should be handled this way."

"I didn't expect Qin Zhang's son to be so talented."

Hearing what the emperor said, Zeng Yu and Shen Zheng were both stunned. Shen Zheng asked: "In the official family, is this Qin Guan the son of Qin Zhang, the doctor in the household department?"

"The people below have just found out that he is the second son of Qin Zhang, a doctor in the household department."

When the emperor said this, the faces of the two husbands sitting below suddenly became very bright. Xianggong Zeng only felt a suffocation in his chest, which was very uncomfortable. However, he did not dare to express the slightest expression in front of the emperor, and he was very suffocated. Uncomfortable.

Shen Zheng glanced at Zeng Yu, with a smile on his face.

Seeing this smile in Zeng Yu's eyes made him even more uncomfortable.

Zeng Yu and Shen Zheng share the same position as prime ministers, but their political opinions are at odds with each other and there are many criticisms in the court. However, Qin Zhang is Shen Zheng's man. In front of the emperor just now, Zeng Yu tried his best to defend Qin Guan and even said something about Qin Zhang. Guan's poems were often praised in front of the emperor.

In the past, he only knew Qin Guan's name, but he didn't know that he was the son of Qin Zhang, a political enemy. How could he not be depressed?

Finally, the emperor ordered: "As for the formulation of the catalog of imperial examination questions, you will give instructions later to avoid such problems."

"Yes" Zeng Yu and Shen Zheng responded in unison.

...

After finishing his court duties, Zeng Yu went home and had a few bites of rice, but then he lost his appetite. When he returned to the study, his face became gloomy.

He spread out the rice paper on the table, picked up a pen and wrote a poem called "Some things mixed into a fu". If you are careful, you will find that the fonts of this fu are exactly the same as those on Qin Guan's examination paper.

Zeng Yu looked at the words and said coldly: "I will preside over the Spring Examination this year. As long as the test paper has a font like this, I will not be accepted."

When Shen Zheng returned home, he ordered his servants, "Go to Qin Zhang's house and tell him that I asked him to come over and have something to say."

***The author has something to say***

I’m adding an extra chapter just to say one sentence. It’s not that I don’t want to write more, but my body can’t bear it, and my severe cervical spondylosis makes it painful for me to sit in front of the computer. This happened when I was writing about diplomats.

In addition, I am quite busy at work and spend all my spare time writing books. Two updates a day are the norm. Friends, please stop scolding me.
Chapter completed!