Rise From the Humble

The rooster didn't crow, the dog didn't bark, and it was pitch black outside the window without any light.

After getting up and washing, Zhu Pingan got up, ate the breakfast delivered by the little maid with lanterns, and with the help of the little maid, put on the brand-new Jinshi uniform, and then left the residence of Marquis of Linhuai, heading for the Forbidden City.

Breakfast is porridge and side dishes with meat buns. It tastes very good. It can be tasted as the craftsmanship of Li Shu’s fast-improving chef. The bun skin is flexible and delicious, and the side dishes are refreshing and delicious.

In other words, the chef of Li Shu's family is also very hard. He has to wake up at least half an hour earlier than himself to make such a table breakfast. I must thank the chef of Li's family face to face. Recently, I have been grateful to the Li family. Thank you very much for the food care taken by the chef.

Zhu Ping left the Marquis of Linhuai Mansion and headed all the way to the Forbidden City, because the place of Chuanlu notified yesterday when the officials of the Ministry of Rites delivered the Jinshi crown uniform was the Jinshen Hall of the Forbidden City.

The Forbidden City, the city within a city, is the modern Forbidden City. Of course, the Forbidden City at this time in Ming Dynasty is very different from the modern Forbidden City. After all, the modern Forbidden City has been rebuilt in the Qing Dynasty. Unlike the modern Forbidden City, people can go in and play around after paying for a ticket. The Forbidden City at this time in the Ming Dynasty was a forbidden area. It was an imperial palace, and the most noble people in the world lived there.

Chuanlu refers to the ceremony of announcing the ranking in the palace examination.

When Zhu Pingan walked to the Meridian Gate of the Forbidden City, the east gradually became dimly lit. The sky was turning white, the flowers were turning red, and the willows were turning green. The golden glazed tiles of the Forbidden City spread a golden light, full of luxury and wealth.

The crowd of people outside the Forbidden City was roughly divided into two groups. One group was civil and military officials in court clothes. A new Jinshi wearing a brand-new Jinshi uniform and a hairpin and black gauze hat.

Both groups of people were very excited. The civil and military officials were excited because they hadn't seen Emperor Jiajing for a long time. Many of them were not qualified to go to Xiyuan in the last palace examination. How can we not be excited to see the holy face after a long absence; as for the new Jinshi who are ranked behind the civil and military officials, they are excited because today is their day of great joy, and the golden palace is passed on. time.

Because it was still early, the palace gates of the Forbidden City had not yet opened, so everyone was waiting and chatting outside, and their excitement was palpable.

When Zhu Pingan arrived in the Forbidden City, he, Zhang Siwei and Wang Shizhen joined the 400 new Jinshi.

The hottest topic among the newly recruited scholars is the title of champion. At this time, not only do they not know the top 20 rankings of the first class, but even so many civil and military officials in front of them, none of them know the top 20 rankings, including Yan Song, Yan Ge Lao and other eight ministers who read the papers also didn't know. They only knew the ranking of Jinshi after twenty.

At this time, the ranking of the top twenty has been sealed since Emperor Jiajing arranged it. It will not be opened until today when it is announced.

Of course, even though the exact ranking of the top twenty is unknown, there is still a lot of inside information circulating. Many of these four hundred new Jinshi are from the families of high-ranking officials, or are related to high-ranking officials. , Through connections, many new Jinshis found out some information about the eight exam-reading ministers in a roundabout way.

In addition, yesterday, the news that Emperor Jiajing summoned the top twenty people also spread among everyone.

It is because the unknown nature of the No. 1 Scholar is mixed with some known attributes that everyone is talking about it so enthusiastically.

"Logically speaking, the Huiyuan we tested last time has a good chance." A new Jinshi wearing a hairpin black gauze hat, a set of Jinshi crown uniforms, and holding a locust wood wat board was among the crowd. Have your say.

As soon as this person finished speaking, someone smiled and shook his head.

"I'm afraid this brother Nian only knows one thing but not the other." The man shook his head and said with a smile, with a look of gossip on his face.

"Oh, I would like to hear the details." The first new Jinshi asked this man for advice.

"Although I heard this from hearsay, the information is very reliable. My father's good friend works in Dali Temple, and his boss, the Minister of Dali Temple, is one of the ministers who read the records. Yesterday when he was drinking at my house, he mentioned it to my father, saying that After the marking was completed, the top twenty test papers were submitted to the imperial review. During the imperial review, the seal was opened and it was found that our Zhu Huiyuan only scored seven 'O's in this marking, and his ranking before being submitted to the imperial review was only tenth. One." The man who shook his head and smiled said with a gossipy look on his face. He looked at the surprised expression of the man opposite him with satisfaction, having satisfied his addiction to gossip.

"Eleventh, let alone first-class, this ranking is not even close to second-class." The crowd started talking.

"This is all taken care of by Yan Shoufu. I heard that after the first pass, the test paper only had six 'O's, and they were among the top three. Yan Shoufu cherished his talent and asked the examiner to re-read the test paper. After reading it again, there is an extra 'O'." Some new Jinshi who knew more inside information added the inside information they knew.

It’s so exciting, Huiyuan only got seven “O”s, and he didn’t even rank among the top two! Forget about being the top pick. Everyone's mood was high for a while, especially those who felt that they had done well, and felt that they had another chance.

Uh, that's me. Zhu Ping'an listened to everyone's discussion with an indifferent expression. He just smiled slightly when everyone looked over with sympathy, and he did not show any frustration at all.

In the eyes of everyone, Zhu Ping'an has no greater sorrow than the death of his heart, the joy of being extremely sad, and the rush to hold on.

After hearing the news, Zhang Siwei and Wang Shizhen kept comforting Zhu Pingan, asking Zhu Pingan to relax and not think too much, but the result didn't come out, everything is possible, even though they really felt that it was impossible .

"Don't worry, I've already achieved what I wanted to reach today. As for the number one scholar, I'm lucky if I get it, and I'll die if I lose it."

Zhu Pingan smiled calmly and calmly.

"I'm lucky if I get it; I'm lucky if I lose it. Zihou is so open-minded and open-minded, which is admirable." Zhang Siwei and Wang Shizhen admire Zhu Pingan's optimistic attitude towards life. I am lucky to have this sentence The loss of my life simply devastated the two of them.

Zhang Siwei and Wang Shizhen see it this way, but it doesn’t mean that everyone sees it this way: pretend, pretend, just keep pretending, and see when you can hit it, and when the result comes out, you will cry.

"Let me see, Brother Ouyang is the number one scholar in Enke this time. I heard that Brother Ouyang won a lot of prizes. The eight ministers who read the papers all gave "O" high marks." Someone in the crowd was very confident. He concluded that the number one scholar must belong to Ouyang Zishi.

This conclusion was approved by the majority of people present, almost all the people present, and then the people standing beside Ouyang Zishi started to compliment Ouyang Zishi, as if the number one scholar of Enke was already in possession.

Under the compliments of the crowd, Ouyang Zishi said that he dare not be worthy, that the grades have not yet come out, and everyone should not joke, but he was full of happiness, proud of the spring breeze, looking forward to brilliance, and looked completely confident.

"I heard that this time the top 20 face saints are the last, and the sage asked one to be rewarded. May I ask you guys what you chose?" A Jinshi who was summoned by Jiajing among the top 20 asked the crowd.

Soon someone responded, saying it was a golden carp, and several people said it was a golden carp.

Someone asked Ouyang Zishi, and Ouyang Zishi also replied that it was a goldfish, and a carp jumped over the dragon's gate, which was perfect.

Then someone thought that although Zhu Ping'an was ranked eleventh, he had received the grace of the Holy Spirit and was summoned after all, so they came to ask Zhu Ping'an what he had chosen.

"Golden Rooster." Zhu Pingan replied sincerely.

Well

When everyone heard the words, they were quiet for a few seconds, and then they started whispering again. Many people couldn't help but chuckled. They didn't expect that Zhu Ping'an would choose the Golden Rooster. Carp Yuelongmen said that he had good grades in the imperial examination. Obviously Carp Yuelongmen was the most suitable for the scientific examination, but he chose the Golden Rooster! The test paper was under Yan Shoufu's unconventional care, and he only got eleventh. Now this golden rooster is selected, hehe, don't even think about being the number one scholar, it is impossible. In their eyes, nine out of ten champions are Ouyang Zishi. Anyway, in their eyes, Zhu Ping'an is impossible.

Hearing this, Ouyang Zishi couldn't help but sneered, whispered something, and played the piano randomly. Then, the confidence in his eyes became even stronger.