It's just that the Ministry of Rites has already determined the rankings, and showing them to the emperor is just for him to have a final look. If there are no problems, it will be decided.

In the past, the emperor had no objections, but this time he was half the examiner for the Jinshi examination. He had gone to the palace and talked to him for a while, saying that some examiners from the Ministry of Rites decided the order directly according to the general list, and the emperor was a little unhappy.

.

So when Kong Jijiu sent the paper and the list, the emperor looked at it carefully. He went through the list first and found that Bai Shan, his consort Baicheng and Wei Yu were all there, so he went to look at the paper.

The emperor looked at it very seriously and read the thirty-six papers from beginning to end in order of ranking. Among them, four were waiting for selection. Because of the examination of Kong Jijiu and several doctors, the four attached papers were all of some famous names.

It is from a candidate who is not well-known, but writes well on the paper.

In order to read the paper, the emperor put aside all other political affairs. He called the officials who came to report the matter to sit in a row with Kong Jijiu. After he had finished reading the paper, he passed it on to them for them to read it again.

After reading the thirty-six papers, their eyes were dazzled, so the emperor ordered a meal and discussed the list with his concubines while eating.

The emperor had not seen the test papers of these candidates, but he had seen the general results early in the morning.

Although he wanted to hand over the reform of the imperial examination to the prince so that he could establish his authority, he did not want to just muddle along now.

So during dinner, he asked Wei Zhi and others for their opinions on several papers.

It is difficult for Li Shangshu to express his opinion on this kind of matter, mainly because he, the Minister of War, has a hard time talking about Confucian classics. He can say something about current affairs policy, but...

He glanced at Liu Shangshu beside him. It was almost the end of the year. After the new year, he would have to calculate the allocation for the Ministry of War. He decided not to cause trouble to Liu Shangshu this year. He just hoped that he would not cause trouble to him.

So Liu Shangshu just bowed his head and ate without expressing any opinions.

But Wei Zhi couldn't do it. Even though his son also took the Jinshi examination this year, he was not a person who favored the virtuous and avoided relatives, so when others didn't show any intention to speak, he simply commented on it. He didn't say that he had already set a thirty-year limit.

Which of the two places is not good, but the two articles that were put in for selection are particularly good.

Thirty-six articles, ranging from poetry to Confucian classics and current affairs policies, are all glued together. Poetry and prose can be understood at a glance, and Confucian classics is almost a fixed answer. What he said is very good, so it is natural to discuss current affairs policies.

Wei Zhi thought it was a pity that someone with such talent failed to make the list.

The emperor also thought so. Just as he was about to speak, he heard someone say: "If you fail the Jinshi list, you can take the Ming Jing exam."

The emperor choked at one breath and turned to look at the speaker.

Wei Zhi was not choked, but just spat back, "Can the Jinshi Ranking and the Ming Jing Ranking be the same? Why doesn't Mr. Han want to let his children take the Ming Jing exam?"

Han Shangshu choked and said: "I didn't say this, it was the doctor from the Imperial College who said it."

Kong Jijiu was sitting across the bank watching the fire, and the fire suddenly burned him. He simply asked Han Shangshu directly, "Which doctor said this?"

Han Shangshu stopped talking. He could talk to Kong Jijiu privately, but saying it in front of everyone made him look like a villain.

The emperor had already swallowed the choked breath and waved his hand: "Okay, let's get over this problem first. Since the examination paper has been released, we should still focus on the examination paper."

He directly picked out two test papers and said: "These two papers have been lost."

Everyone took a look and found that one was Cheng Wenhai from Tangzhou and the other was Nie Xiu from Luzhou. They were both disciples of the Imperial College. Everyone present except the emperor had seen their papers, and they thought they were pretty good at the time.

Liu Shangshu simply turned to Kong Jijiu and asked, "How did they do in the Imperial College?"

"Since you can be in the top twenty on the general list, you are prestigious, and your results should not be bad."

Wei Zhi asked, "Were their writing papers done in school, or were they done by themselves?"

Kong Jijiu paused and said, "I have them all, but I just made more."

Wei Zhi then snorted and said: "As the exam is approaching, the questions on current affairs policy issued by the Imperial College are very comprehensive. I remember that Bai Shan's behavior booklet was selected from a few of the homework he had done.

The two of them are really thoughtful, they have thought of other topics themselves, and they are so close to the government affairs. Whether they really have some insights or something else is not clear."

Although Kong Jijiu also felt that the two of them did a poor job on this paper, he did not allow others to maliciously speculate on his students without evidence, so he counterattacked: "Master Wei thinks people too badly.

If you don’t have evidence, please be careful what you say. If you have evidence, you can bring it to our Imperial College to lodge a complaint.”

Seeing that the two lovers were about to quarrel, and the two were the most eloquent, the emperor quickly acted as peacemaker, "Wei Qing is also worried about the promotion of talents. Mr. Kong will forgive me."

He also told Wei Zhi: "Wei Qing is careful when speaking, and it is not easy to talk about unfounded words."

Wei Zhi promptly apologized, Kong Jijiu snorted, and the matter was temporarily over.

The emperor brought the topic back, "Replace these two papers and you can discuss the rankings."

Kong Jijiu saw that the two people selected by the emperor were both students from his Imperial College, so he simply picked out another candidate paper from the remaining two candidates and said: "Your Majesty, I think this paper is also very good.

, which is comparable to these two."

The emperor took a look and saw that it was no match. Although he did a good job, it was still not as good as the two.

Looking at his name, he was also unknown, and his place of origin was that he was a student from Yangzhou Fuxue.

We can't let him replace one of the two, and Kong Jijiu has said that they are equally matched, so how to choose?

The emperor and Kong Jijiu looked at each other and immediately understood what he meant. The old man asked him to pick another person from the established quota, and it could no longer be from the Imperial College.

emperor:……

Wei Zhi took a look at the paper, became energetic, and then made a thoughtful suggestion: "Your Majesty, would you like to take another look at Bai Cheng's paper?"

emperor:……

Bai Cheng has been assigned to the thirty-second spot. His future father-in-law doesn't even think of moving forward, but you still want to fall behind?

When Wei Zhi saw that the emperor did not speak, he said more cautiously: "Your Majesty, Bai Cheng is still young and is not as good as a weak crown. It is still too early to become an official at this time. If he has passed the Jinshi examination, will he be released abroad?"

That was right under the emperor's nose. If this person was causing trouble outside, it would be hard to control him.

The emperor began to think deeply. He was not worried about Bai Cheng's other thoughts after being exposed. He was a little hard to refuse when he met Kong Jijiu and Wei Zhi's burning eyes.

Cheng Wenhai and Nie Xiu can occupy the top twenty places on the general list, which shows the strength of the foreign envoy. It would be bad if they were left alone, but if his son-in-law is added...
Chapter completed!