Chapter 238 Wei Yuan Serves as an Examiner for the Imperial Examination

Before Li Liangzuo came to Zhou Dynasty, he had actually had contact with the Liao Kingdom.

His original intention was to put pressure on Zhou Dynasty through the intervention of Liao State and force Zhou Dynasty to withdraw its troops.

As Wei Yuan expected, the Liao Kingdom liked to sit on the sidelines and would not easily get involved.

The last time they allied with Xia to attack Zhou, it was just because the battle took place in Daizhou.

But now, the direction of Zhou's troops is Yanzhou, which has nothing to do with their Liao Kingdom.

After hitting a wall with Wei Yuan, Li Liangzuo could only place his hope on Zhao Zhen, but he tried to ask to see Zhao Zhen for several days to no avail.

As a last resort, Li Liangzuo went to the Prime Minister's Mansion to ask for an audience with Han Zhang.

Han Zhang's response was simple, "I heard that General Chao Wei said something to your envoy, which is not to say that you are unprepared for what you said today. The truth of what I said today will also be conveyed to your envoy."

Everyone says that the temples of the Great Zhou Dynasty were very complicated and full of intrigues.

But in fact, it's not as complicated as the world thinks.

If there is no decision, everyone should fight.

But things that have been decided will not be changed easily, and the tip of the spear will be consistent with the outside world.

Not to mention Li Liangzuo came to see Han Zhang, even if he sought help from Han Zhang's political enemy Wen Yanbo, the result was nothing more than this.

In desperation, Li Liangzuo had no choice but to leave Bianjing in despair.

——

In mid-February of the sixth year of Jiayou's reign, the examination began.

The examination was held in Gongyuan, located near the east side of Zhuque Street. Walking two or three miles eastward, near Daxiangguo Temple, you can see the ‘Zhuangyuan Building’.

All the way north along the main road of Daxiangguo Temple is the location of Donghua Gate.

After the palace examination, the results of the candidates will be announced at the Donghua Gate.

At this time, people were coming and going in front of Gongyuan, most of them were nobles and nobles coming to see their children into the examination room.

The Sheng family is no exception.

At this moment, Sheng Hong and Wang Ruofu, the eldest lady, were standing in front of Sheng Changbai and Sheng Changfeng. The former couldn't help but remind her again and again:

"Be sure to review the questions, and the handwriting must be neat. There must be no typos or stains. Remember it."

Sheng Changfeng looked very confident and said with a smile: "Dad, please don't worry, the child will definitely go to high school."

Sheng Changbai seemed more calm, "Father and mother, please rest assured that the children will do their best."

While they were talking, Minglan, Rulan and Molan, who were sitting in the sedan, spoke one after another:

"Second brother, third brother, take the exam well. After you finish the exam, I will make you some delicious food to reward you."

"Mo Lan congratulates the second brother and the third brother for being named on the gold list."

"."

These children of the Sheng family are both prosperous and devastated.

As long as one of the two brothers can make the list, it will be a great joy for the Sheng family.

At this time, Qi Heng, the young master of the Duke of Qi's mansion who was standing not far away, saw Minglan opening the curtain of her car. He immediately felt happy and stepped forward to greet her, saying, "Sixth sister is here too."

Minglan nodded, "I've met the young master."

Qi Heng was about to say something when he suddenly heard his mother's voice coming from behind him, "It's getting late, let's get in quickly."

After a pause, he looked at Minglan again, "If you are free these days, please ask your mother to come sit in my house and enjoy the flowers."

Then, he smiled at Shenghong and his wife and said, "I often hear Qi Heng say that your Changbai's articles are very good, and Changfeng is also very smart. I think he will be on the gold list."

Mrs. Wang said with a smile: "The princess and her wife are so well-known, but there is no guarantee of success in the scientific examination. These two children can do their best."

"I think the young master is really smart and very incomparable."

When the two parties met, it was nothing more than flattery and pleasantries.

Qi Heng kept staring at Minglan, making Minglan uncomfortable and simply lowered the car curtain.

Only then did the former come back to his senses and murmured: "Does Sixth Sister have some misunderstanding about me? I always feel like she doesn't want to care about me anymore."

In the sedan chair.

Ru Lan first glanced at Mo Lan, then smiled at Ming Lan and said:

"Just now, the young master's eyes seemed to grow on you, and he couldn't even walk."

Minglan said sternly: "Fifth sister, please don't joke about this kind of thing. If it gets spread, it will damage my young master's reputation."

Rulan nodded, suddenly thought of something, and asked:

"I heard that your uncle was responsible for the war between us and Xixia?"

Minglan shook her head and said, "Why are our daughters talking about this?"

Ru Lan smiled and said: "It really has nothing to do with us. I just thought that the official in charge of the scientific examination this time is Wang Anshi, the Minister of Civil Affairs. Doesn't this Wang Shangshu have a good relationship with your uncle?"

Minglan said: "Wang Shangshu is Wang Shangshu, and my uncle is my uncle. Fifth sister, please don't say any more."

Rulan nodded, "I hope my second brother can go to high school."

Mo Lan kept listening and didn't say much.

Since Lin Sushuang's status in the Sheng family has been declining day by day, Mo Lan, who is usually a bit spoiled, has become more docile.

After everyone entered the examination room and the Sheng family and others returned to their respective places, Minglan made an excuse and went to look for her aunt.

What San Lan, Sheng Hong and his wife, or everyone else, didn't expect was that the examiner 'Wang Anshi' they had just talked about was currently in the Zhongyong Hou Mansion.

Wei Yuan rarely took a break today, and wanted to go out to the city to enjoy the flowers with Zhang Guifen, but when he was about to leave the house, he saw Wang Anshi coming.

Wei Yuan felt something bad for a moment and asked, "Today is the first exam. Why are you, the examiner, here for me?"

Wang Anshi smiled broadly and said, "I heard that my sister-in-law is pregnant, so I came to congratulate you."

Wei Yuan winked at Zhang Guifen and asked her to return to her residence temporarily.

Then, he said seriously: "Wang Shangshu, I haven't taken a break for half a month and have been keeping an eye on the situation in Yanbian. Now I can finally breathe a sigh of relief. You should go back to where you came from."

Wang Anshi nodded, "Okay."

Then he walked straight into the Hou Mansion.

Wei Yuan had no choice but to follow him and said, "Wang Shangshu, I didn't offend you, did I?"

Wang Anshi was stunned, "Why did the Marquis say this?"

Wei Yuan said: "I don't usually see you looking for me, so why are you looking for me at this entrance?"

"Aren't you afraid that the ministers in the court will find out about it and involve me in a party dispute?"

Wang Anshi said: "The Minister of Literature recommended Yang Huairen, and the British Minister recommended Wu Kui. Put these two things together, wouldn't you have been involved a long time ago?"

After a pause, he walked towards the main hall of the Hou Mansion and said:

"This scientific examination does not examine classics and history books, but mainly examines current affairs."

"Do you know what they are going to test today?"

Wei Yuan even suspected that the Marquis Mansion was not his home, but that of Wang Anshi.

"What's the test?"

Generally speaking, the examination lasts for three days and consists of three exams.

They are classics and meanings, historical books and current affairs.

From what Wang Anshi means, it seems that the scientific examination has been changed to a current affairs examination?

Want to find some talents who can do practical things?

Wang Anshi said: "The test on this first day is how to deal with the two countries of Liao and Xia, and how to recover the sixteen states of Yanyun."

Wei Yuan said disdainfully: "It's just talk on paper."

The two of them said that they had already arrived at the main hall.

The examination of the Great Zhou Dynasty did not test the eight-legged essay, but it still required the candidates to figure out the test questions and the tips for answering them.

Although in comparison, the eight-part essay is definitely more difficult.

But for examiners, it will be more difficult to review papers without taking the eight-part essay.

Because there are templates for eight-legged essays to refer to, the examiner determines the candidates' merits based on the templates.

However, in the imperial examinations of the Great Zhou Dynasty, the candidates' merits were judged entirely based on the examiner's knowledge level.

In other words, if there are two candidates, both of whom have excellent test papers, and they have to be ranked one after another at this time, it is equivalent to giving the test questions to the examiner.

After all, what they evaluate is not just the merits, but also the candidates' future prospects.

When the two came to the main hall, Wang Anshi sat directly next to Wei Yuan, not treating himself as an outsider at all.

"So I came to see General Wei today because I want General Wei to review the papers with me."

Marking together?

Wei Yuan's eyes widened and he said in disbelief:

"Throughout the ages, there is no precedent for Wu Xun to be a scientific examiner. If you talk about the martial arts examination, I can be an examiner. But for the literary examination, if I mark the papers with you, I am afraid that all the scholars in the world will scold me to death. ”

Wang Anshi smiled and said: "Don't worry, General Wei. I will only read the first volume of this first day."

"I read your 'General Strategy for Attack and Defense Against Xia', and it is quite brilliant. With your method, Xixia will not be in danger within ten years, unless there are major changes during the period."

"It can be seen that, Lord Marquis, whether you are leading troops in war or writing articles, you are a leader among people. It is most appropriate for you to review the first paper of the joint examination."

Wang Anshi has a great advantage.

He has always believed that professional matters should be left to professionals.

Since we are recruiting talents for the country, we must leave them to people who know the military and state affairs to review them.

Although there is no such precedent, from this moment on, there can be one.

"The officials also agreed to this matter."

"General Wei is a scholar and has the status of a scholar."

"How about just helping me?"

After hearing what Wang Anshi said, Wei Yuan was still a little worried.

"Wu Xun participated in the literary test event, you are pushing me on the stove to take the test."

One of the most intuitive consequences of Wu Xun's participation in the literary examination event is that he is suspected of forming cliques between civil and military officials.

In the future, those candidates who pass Wei Yuan's examination will call him 'Master'.

Although this statement was not popular in the Song Dynasty in previous history, this was the Zhou Dynasty.

Once a martial artist establishes a nepotistic relationship with a scholar, he is not far from destruction.

Furthermore, if there are any problems in reviewing the papers, scholars all over the world can poke countless holes in Wei Yuan's spine.

Wang Anshi stroked his beard and said: "I know why you are worried. The officials have said that you will read the first day's roll and decide the ranking, but you will not tell anyone else."

"Prime Minister Han has also informed the ministers of the DPRK and China about this matter."

"Nowadays, everyone in the imperial court hopes to select a group of available talents."

In the dispute between Han and Wen, Wang Anshi, the official minister, won.

Therefore, neither Han Zhang nor Wen Yanbo would easily object to his opinions.

It's just that Wei Yuan is allowed to participate in the examination, and he is not the examiner, so there is no harm in it.

Wei Yuan said: "What's the benefit of helping you?"

Wang Anshi's eyes widened, "I want to work for the government and recruit talents for the country. You want benefits from me?"

Wei Yuan said: "So... there is no benefit?"

Wang Anshi said: "It is our duty to do things for the country!"

Wei Yuan spread his hands, "So there is still no benefit."

Wang Anshi stood up suddenly, flicked his official robe, "I'm ashamed to be with you!"

After saying that, he put on a posture of leaving and walked slowly outside the main hall. Seeing that Wei Yuan had not said a word, he couldn't help but stop.

Wei Yuan pretended to be curious and said, "Wang Shangshu wants to leave? Go slowly and don't see him off."

Wang Anshi turned around, looked at him, and said, "It's already three o'clock in the morning, and you're driving me away? Are you not going to let me have lunch?"

Wei Yuan frowned slightly, "Has Minister Wang always been so shameless?"

Hearing this, Wang Anshi was not angry, and smiled and said: "I heard that Fanlou has served a lot of new dishes. Thank you for spending money, my Lord."

While talking, he sat back to his original position.

The salary of Wang Anshi, the Minister of Personnel, and the Prince's Junior Tutor added up to about 300 strings of money.

In the Great Zhou Dynasty, two strings of money was about one tael of silver, that is to say, if you only count money, not counting food, silk, cotton and other things, you can't play much in Bianjing with a hundred taels of silver a month.

When Zhang Guifen was pregnant, the Marquis's Mansion could reward the servants with 50 taels of silver.

In terms of money, civil officials really can't compare with military merits.

Wang Anshi also wanted to be extravagant occasionally, but didn't want to spend money, so he had to let Wei Yuan spend money.

Wei Yuan:.

At noon, Wei Yuan sent someone to invite the chef of Fanlou to cook some food in the Marquis' Mansion.

During this period, Minglan had already come to the Marquis's Mansion from the Imperial Examination Hall.

Since they were already here, they might as well have dinner at the same table.

There were not so many rules in the Marquis's Mansion, and Wang Anshi was not a person who cared about small details. He even praised Minglan during the meal,

"I heard that the Marquis had a good niece. Today, I saw that she was indeed as good as her reputation."

Minglan chuckled. This could even be called "as good as her reputation"?

Zhang Guifen smiled and said, "Minister Wang, my niece can't stand your teasing."

Wang Anshi ate and drank while speaking vaguely:

"Tease? How did you tease? I just thought the Marquis's niece was really cute."

Wei Yuan said dissatisfiedly, "Eating can't stop you from talking? If you really have a lot to say, why don't you tell me what to take the test tomorrow?"

Wang Anshi suddenly put down his bowl and chopsticks and said very seriously, "I dare to say it, do you dare to listen?"

He, who originally didn't want to drink, suddenly drank a sip of wine.

The meaning is self-evident. If the examination questions are leaked from the Marquis' Mansion, he can just say that he came to ask Wei Yuan to review the papers, and Wei Yuan forced him to get drunk and then tricked him.

Minglan lowered her head to eat, not daring to raise her head at all.

After a pause, she whispered to Zhang Guifen: "Aunt, why don't we go eat somewhere else?"

The latter smiled with her hands covering her mouth, "Minister Wang, look at you, you scared my niece."

Wang Anshi hurriedly poured a glass of wine for Wei Yuan himself, and said with a smile: "It's my fault, Marquis, let's drink together, come."

Wei Yuan raised his glass and drank it all, looked at him, and asked with a smile: "Speak."

Wang Anshi blurted out: "What?"

Wei Yuan said: "What will be tested tomorrow and the day after tomorrow?"

Wang Anshi said, "You really dare to listen?"

"So. You don't dare to speak?"

"Do you dare to listen?"

"I dare to listen, do you dare to speak?"

"If you let me speak, I will speak?"

Wei Yuan suddenly said seriously, "There is no question about demotion in the test questions tomorrow and the day after tomorrow, right?"

Wang Anshi was stunned, and his expression became heavy in an instant, "My Lord, don't joke, why do you demotion for no reason?"

In the past, he had written a memorial "The Emperor's Letter", in which one of the items emphasized that if the title is to be demotion, who is the title? It goes without saying.

Wei Yuan suddenly asked such a question, just to know that Wang Anshi now has no such idea.

If not, he believes that he will become friends with Wang Anshi.

If so, the two will sooner or later go to the opposite side of each other.