Chapter 167: Compensation must be announced by imperial decree (Subscription required)

And on the other end.

After leaving the Western Garden, Yan Shaoting rode the horse that had been parked outside when he was summoned to go to the Western Garden.

Yan Shaoting leisurely whipped his horse and hurried home.

And on the road.

As midsummer is coming to an end, the weather is gradually becoming less hot than before, and more people are coming.

On the streets, there were not only people from the capital.

There were also more scholars wearing Confucian or Taoist robes.

Next year will be the spring examination of the Renxu year in the 41st year of the Jiajing reign.

The candidates from the north naturally did not need to panic, but the candidates from the south had to rush to the capital early to prepare for the next spring examination.

He rode his horse through the streets and returned to Yan's mansion.

Entered the courtyard.

Yan Shaoting saw that Xu Wei somehow got together with Lu Yi, and the two were chatting happily.

Come closer.

I heard the conversation between the two.

Lu Yi thought about the situation that the Jinyiwei had, and said, "I heard that there was a candidate from Huguang who got three girls pregnant on his way to Beijing for the imperial examination. As soon as he arrived in Beijing, he was surrounded by a group of candidates from all over the country."

"Why?" Xu Wei looked curious.

Lu Yi snorted twice: "Why else? I'm asking him for advice!"

As he said this, Lu Yi laughed twice.

Xu Wei frowned slightly, looking slightly unhappy: "The spirit of scholars has been slackened!"

Lu Yi said quickly, "Not everyone is like him. If Mr. Xu can't stand it, I'll have someone find a reason to throw him into the Imperial Prison or Shuntian Prison and let him suffer."

Xu Wei immediately said: "This is absolutely not allowed! The law cannot be violated!"

Lu Yi whistled.

Mr. Xu is good in everything except that he is too dogmatic and rigid in etiquette.

He was just a candidate who caused a death. It was obvious at first glance that he would not pass the exam.

By being thrown into jail, I helped him avoid the suffering of spending nine days and eight nights in the examination room during the Spring Examination.

Seeing that Xu Wei's expression was becoming more and more unhappy.

Lu Yi quickly changed the subject and said, "This time the betting in the capital has also been opened. The most promising candidates are all from Nanzhili. There is a guy from Suzhou Prefecture in Nanzhili named Wang... Wang or something. He ranked first in the imperial examination in the 31st year and still ranked first in the 34th year. He ranked fourth in the Nanjing provincial examination in the 37th year. Everyone says that he will definitely pass the imperial examination this year."

"This man is called Wang Xijue."

Yan Shaoting, who had been listening in the corner for a while, smiled and read out Wang Xijue's name, then walked over.

Xu Wei and Lu Yi quickly stood up.

"Reader."

"Brother-in-law."

Yan Shaoting waved his hand: "Everyone, please sit down."

After Yan Shaoting sat down, he picked up a fruit and put it into his mouth.

Only then did Lu Yi and Xu Wei sit down.

A look of gossip appeared on Lu Yi's face, while Xu Wei poured tea for him.

He took the teacup and took a sip.

Yan Shaoting then asked, "Anything else interesting? Has anyone in Beijing been looking for a son-in-law recently?"

There was also a hint of curiosity and gossip on his face.

Every time the imperial examination was held in spring, the marriage rate in the capital was extremely high.

Famous families in the capital and even on the way to the capital would pick out the successful candidates to recruit as sons-in-law.

For this reason, countless stories and gossips have been passed down since ancient times.

What's the point of abandoning your wife once you pass the imperial examination?

Later, it was probably because there were too many such things.

The wealthy families also cared about their reputation, so gradually they would wait until the day of the announcement to find out in advance which new scholars were unmarried.

Let’s perform a drama of catching a son-in-law from the list.

In fact, the fundamental reason is because of the imperial examination system at that time. Passing the imperial examination and becoming a Jinshi meant becoming an official in the court.

Whether it is recruiting a son-in-law in advance or choosing one from the list, it is just an investment.

Lu Yi shook his head: "There is no such news yet, but there is a guy named...Xu something in Suzhou Prefecture, South Zhili. He came in third in the provincial examination of Yingtian Prefecture and went to Beijing to take the exam. Since they are both from Suzhou Prefecture, people in the market have put him and that Wang Xi...something together, and are betting on who will pass the exam and who will get a higher ranking."

After Lu Yi finished speaking, his brows furrowed slightly.

Yan Shaoting also gave his brother-in-law a strange look.

Is this child name-blind?

But after just speculating about it for a moment, Yan Shaoting was attracted by Lu Yi's words and finally reacted.

"Is his name Shen...Xu Shixing?"

Lu Yi nodded: "His last name is not Shen, but his name is indeed... Shi Xing."

Yan Shaoting couldn't help but narrow his eyes.

He put down the teacup and slowly leaned back in his chair.

Xu Wei looked over in confusion and asked, "Reader, is there something hidden?"

Yan Shaoting glanced at Xu Wenqing and nodded.

I was so focused on listening to the gossip that I didn't react.

I just remembered it now.

This is not just a hidden secret, it is a huge loophole.

Wang Xijue!
Xu Shixing!
Both of them were admitted to the imperial examination in the 41st year of Jiajing's reign, and became Jinshi, one of them being the top scorer and the other the second.

What’s the name of the other Tanhua?

Yan Shaoting thought about it carefully for a while.

"Yu Youding!"

Lu Yi asked curiously: "Who is this person?"

Xu Wei also asked: "Could it be that the tutor knows the candidate who is going to Beijing to take the exam?"

Yan Shaoting nodded but did not explain.

But this Yu Youding was the third place winner of the imperial examination in the 41st year of the Jiajing reign.

Xu Shixing, Wang Xijue, and Yu Youding.

The three of them will be on the same list of successful candidates next year.

And the reason why he can remember this incident.

This was because, after counting all the imperial examinations held during the 200 years of the Ming Dynasty, only the spring examination of the 41st year of the Jiajing reign had three first-class Jinshi, who later served in the court and as cabinet ministers.

The three of them served as officials in the court, and they worked together without suspicion of each other.

In particular, Xu Shixing and Wang Xijue, who have not yet changed back to their original surnames, became the prime ministers of the cabinet during the Wanli Dynasty.

Seeing that his second brother-in-law didn't say anything or explain, Lu Yi was just thinking hard. He asked, "Brother-in-law?"

Yan Shaoting's eyes flashed: "What's wrong?"

Lu Yi chuckled, glanced at Xu Wei, then leaned in and whispered, "Did someone offend my brother-in-law? As long as my brother-in-law gives me a name, I can make sure none of these candidates pass the exam!"

Xu Wei smiled bitterly.

He could understand the contempt that Lu Yi and other sons of noble families had for the imperial examinations.

Especially since Lu Yi is a member of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

It is easy to tease a candidate and make him fail the exam.

Xu Wei, however, looked sad and spoke softly, "Actually, if you want to protect the middle, there is a way. Throughout history, such things have never been prohibited."

Lu Yi looked at Xu Wei with curiosity, wanting to find out what was going on.

But Xu Wei kept his mouth shut.

It seemed that he was remembering his past failures.

Yan Shaoting also started to think about it.

There were three Jinshi in the first class, and they were all in the cabinet.

This is unique in the entire Ming Dynasty.

But based on the reputation of the Yan family outside, I'm afraid these young scholars would look down on the Yan family.

There is no good way to make friends in advance.

Give money?

Yan Shaoting shook his head.

Wang Xijue's family was considered a prominent family in Suzhou Prefecture.

Although Xu Shixing was adopted by Xu Shangzhen, the governor of Suzhou, because his grandfather was adopted by his uncle's family, he was not short of money. After he won the first place in the imperial examination, he changed his surname back to Shen.

His father is also a wealthy businessman in Jiangnan.

Yu Youding's family was relatively poor, but his father was the magistrate of Kunshan County and had been honest all his life. Even if someone gave him some money, he probably would not accept it.

Giving money away won't work.

Yan Shaoting couldn't help feeling a little annoyed.

These were all the dirty things that the Yan family had done in the past.

Just based on the friendship between Old Yan and Grandmaster Wang, the scholars in the capital who were preparing for the imperial examinations, given the popularity of the philosophy of mind pioneered by Grandmaster Wang among scholars, would all have to pay him a visit and give him a visiting card.

Dog father is a burden!

When he thought of this, Yan Shaoting wanted to drag out a certain young cabinet minister and give him a beating.

He didn't even know how to be a treacherous minister, and was despised by both the government and the public.

It would be good to learn from Xu Jie.

"Ah!"

In Beijing, someone somewhere suddenly sneezed for no apparent reason.

Just when Yan Shaoting was racking his brains over whether he should tie Xu Shixing, Wang Xijue and Yu Youding up and take them to the Yan family, branding them as members of the Yan family.

The lackey Yan Hu ran in from outside.

"Master!"

"Master!"

"Your Majesty has issued an order to convey it to the court."

Yan Shaoting turned his head and looked over.

Lu Yi shouted: "What happened again?"

Xu Wei, who had just been lamenting his repeated failures, also looked over curiously.

Yan Hu ran towards the three people.

He was breathing heavily.

"Master..."

"Is such that……"

"The will... the will..."

"The examiners for next year's spring examination have been decided."

Yan Shaoting frowned: "Examination officer?"

Yan Hu nodded, "Yes! Our old man was the first, followed by Xu Jie, Yuan Wei, Yang Bo, the Minister of War, Gao Yao, the Minister of Revenue, Pan En, the Minister of Justice, Lei Li, the Minister of Works, Guo Pu, the Imperial Academy Bachelor, Dong Fen, the Imperial Academy Bachelor, Li Dengyun, the Supreme Court Minister Wan Cai, Li Chunfang, the Vice Minister of Personnel, Cai Yuncheng, the Vice Minister of Justice, and Pei Yu, the Imperial Academy Bachelor."

"There are quite a few people."

Yan Shaoting muttered.

But just by looking at the list of examiners, you can tell that Xiyuan has struck a balance.

There are those from the Yan family, those from Xu Jie's faction, and then there are those who are neutral like Yuan Wei.

In this way, we can avoid being biased towards one side when marking the examination papers.

While Yan Shaoting was still analyzing the list of examiners.

Xu Wei frowned and said in confusion: "No, if it is based on the past, the list of examiners and examiners of the Spring Examination was announced together."

Yan Shaoting looked over and asked, "Is that so?"

……

"That's it!"

In the Wanshou Palace, Jiajing stood in front of a square table with his hands on his hips, talking excitedly.

In front of him was Lu Fang, who was holding a red pen and facing a blank imperial edict.

Lu Fang held the red brush in one hand and held the tip of the brush with the other hand.

He glanced back at the emperor.

"Master, do you really have to do this? Master, even if you want to make amends, doing this will always..."

Jiajing nodded, his eyes flashing with unnatural excitement, and waved his hand to interrupt Lu Fang's worries.

"Just write it as I say!"

"Once it is written, let the imperial court know immediately!"

Lu Fang was helpless. This master was really puzzling today.

But he had no choice but to bite the bullet and start writing the imperial edict.

Jiajing laughed out loud twice.

"Since we agreed to compensate that kid."

"Then I will use this imperial edict to announce to the court that I will make fair compensation!"

…………

(List of examiners for the spring examination in the 41st year of the Jiajing reign. Some of the examiners have different official positions due to the plot)

Monthly ticket recommendation ticket

　Godfathers! Please vote for me! Please vote for last month's guaranteed minimum~
　
(End of this chapter)