Chapter 346 Palace Examination (1)
The palace door opened wide, and people filed out of the small yellow gate, announcing an order to the tributes waiting outside to enter the West Garden. Zhu Ping'an and other tributes lined up under the guidance of the small yellow gate and were divided into two rows. They filed in excitedly and nervously, not daring to breathe.
Xiyuan is like a fairyland. Except as soon as he entered Xiyuan, Zhu Pingan almost mistakenly thought that he had arrived at Penglai Wonderland. The first thing I saw was the Golden Sea in Xiyuan, a place Zhu Ping'an had known for a long time in modern times. It included three parts: the North Sea, the Zhonghai and the South China Sea. Yes, the Zhonghai and the South China Sea are collectively called the Zhonghai and the South China Sea.
At this moment, the blue waves of the Golden Sea are rippling, and the water mist is shrouding the islands in the Golden Sea and the towering peaks on the other side in the mist. From time to time, there are several cranes chirping, and there are exotic flowers and grasses everywhere on the shore, and the palace in the distance Faintly visible, it looks like a fairyland on earth at first glance.
Under the guidance of the Xiaohuang Gate, Zhu Ping'an and other tributes passed through the Jin'ao Yudong Bridge between Zhonghai and Beihai and entered the hinterland of Xiyuan.
The emperor's personal armors were fully guarded at various strategic points in Xiyuan. According to the armor styles, they were roughly divided into Jinwu Guards, Yulin Guards, Fujun Guards and Huben Guards. They were scattered throughout Xiyuan to protect the safety of Xiyuan Palace.
After entering the hinterland of Xiyuan, Xiaohuangmen did not take Zhu Pingan and others directly to the examination room for the palace examination. Instead, they took Zhu Pingan and others to a slightly low palace with a falling stone on it. A plaque with four big characters on it, "Zhenkun Taoist Hall".
At first, Zhu Ping'an and others were still wondering what the little yellow gate leader was doing here, but they soon understood.
Shower and change clothes!
Although this hall is low, it is large enough. There are several separate bathtubs filled with hot steam, covered with curtains, and all the students filed in to bathe and change clothes.
This bathing has two purposes. Bathing and changing clothes are to show respect to the emperor. Emperor Jiajing is at the critical moment of cultivating immortals and refining elixirs, so he cannot be disturbed by ordinary people like Zhu Ping'an. In addition, bathing and changing clothes also have the meaning of inspecting the imperial examination. You You can go in and take a bath naked, and we will search your clothes and belongings outside. All contraband items should be temporarily left in the Zhenkun Taoist Hall and will be returned to you after you finish the test.
After bathing and changing clothes, Zhu Ping'an found that the pen and inkstone he carried was temporarily left in the palace. As for the ginseng that Li Shu asked Baozi's maid to bring, it was kept because it was not contraband and belonged to the food category. , allowing Zhu Pingan to take the palace examination.
After bathing and changing clothes, Xiaohuangmen took Zhu Pingan and others to the south again. About close to the south gate of Xiyuan, there was a row of straight huts. In front of the straight huts, there were more than ten officials wearing official attire. Where does the robe stand?
Approximately officials from the Ministry of Rites and Honglu Temple.
Zhu Ping'an, the little yellow gatekeeper, and others led them to these officials of the Ministry of Rites, said softly to the officials at the front, and left waving their fly whisks.
The rest was the matter of the Ministry of Rites, including roll call, emphasizing discipline, and mobilization. It took about half an hour, and then Zhu Pingan and others followed the officials of the Ministry of Rites to the Taisu Hall, the examination room for this palace examination.
Taisu Hall is located on the north side of Xiyuan, near Beihai.
When Zhu Pingan and others arrived at Taisu Hall along with officials from the Ministry of Rites and Honglu Temple, the rising sun had already risen in the east. Officials from the Ministry of Rites and Honglu Temple took the tributes to the open space in front of the palace. Stand solemnly and wait for the holy edict.
"Xuan Jiajing Xinhai Enke Gongshi came to see you." The announcements came one after another from the palace.
Soon, officials from the Ministry of Rites and Honglu Temple led Zhu Ping'an and others into the Taisu Hall in neat lines, following the inner guards who announced the decree.
There were already many officials in Taisu Hall, wearing official robes of crimson, cyan and green, embroidered with birds and animals, looking at the four hundred paying tributes with the eyes of younger generations.
"I pay homage to your Majesty, long live our emperor, long live long live"
Zhu Pingan, along with officials from the Ministry of Rites, Honglu Temple and all the tributes, paid homage to the emperor who was sitting on the dragon throne. Emperor Jiajing gave a grand salute - five bows and three kowtows. This was a clearly stipulated salute for tributes to the emperor during the palace examination. Simply put, it meant bowing five times to the hand, and then kowtowing to the ground three times.
"Sit down." A rather majestic voice came from the hall.
This was the voice of Emperor Jiajing. After many Gongsheng heard it, they trembled with excitement. After being pushed a few times, they hurriedly stood up and stood respectfully in the hall.
When Zhu Pingan got up, he took the opportunity to look at Emperor Jiajing. Emperor Jiajing was sitting on the dragon chair. He was a little thin, but his majestic aura was extremely strong. He was wearing a dragon robe, like a real dragon coiled on the dragon chair, which made people feel... Don't dare to look directly.
“It’s the year of Enke, and the auspicious signs are here, don’t let me down!” Emperor Jiajing said a few sacred precepts after the tributes were completed. In short, this is Enke. It is to obey God's will, and you must also obey God and the people, and don't let me down.
After Emperor Jiajing finished speaking, he nodded to Huang Jin who was standing next to him. Then Huang Jin held the apricot-yellow cloth inscription in front of the imperial case in his hands, walked down the hall and handed it to a A middle-aged official, this official is the Minister of Honglu Temple. After receiving the apricot-yellow cloth inscription, the Minister of Honglu Temple knelt down and saluted Jiajing.
He, the Minister of Honglu Temple, is the examiner for this palace examination.
After receiving the test questions and saluting, he placed the test questions on the east side of the imperial case in front of the cabinet members and others. Under the supervision of the cabinet members, he opened the test questions and placed them on the imperial case.
After that, there was a burst of drumming and the sound of whips.
Zhu Pingan once again followed everyone in the palace to salute Emperor Jiajing, who was sitting on the dragon throne. This time he kowtowed three times and bowed nine times.
After everyone bowed, Emperor Jiajing slowly left the Taisu Palace. He still had a furnace of good elixirs to refine, and he didn’t have time to keep an eye on it. He would just leave the palace examination to his ministers, otherwise he would do it. Why give them so much salary?
After the emperor left, a group of ministers in the palace also left. Yan Song and more than ten officials stayed, but Xu Jie did not stay. This time, none of the examiners stayed, probably to avoid suspicion. .
After the emperor left, officials from the Ministry of Rites and Honglu Temple divided Zhu Pingan and others into two rows and sat on the east and west sides of the Taisu Hall according to their rankings in the examination. On the east side of the main hall, those with even numbers in the examinations sit on the west side of the main hall.
Tables and chairs have been placed on the east and west sides of the main hall for the imperial examinations. Zhu Pingan and Ouyang Zishi took the first place on the east and west sides, facing each other from a distance.
Zhu Pingan was very bad. After so many kneels and tossings, Zhu Pingan, who was already exhausted and haggard, almost couldn't stand, and his haggard and tired state became even more serious. Ouyang Zishi, who had been paying attention to Zhu Pingan silently, saw Zhu Pingan's crumbling figure and raised his lips silently, "What are you trying to argue with me about?"
"It's the day of the palace examination. One breakfast, one lunch, and two tea rounds will be provided. The palace examination has its own rules. You should do your own thing and don't let down the expectations of the Holy One!"
All the tributes! After sitting down, the officials from the Ministry of Rites gave a brief lecture and began to distribute the test papers for this palace examination.
After Zhu Ping'an received the test paper, he slightly rubbed his tired and dizzy forehead, and slowly opened the test questions in his hand.
The test paper was made of snow-white rice paper with extremely fine workmanship and a touch of sandalwood. The font of the test questions was excellent, and the test questions slowly appeared in Zhu Pingan's eyes. (End of this chapter)