Born of Worry

The weather is getting warmer day by day, and spring fruits are starting to appear one after another. Mo Wen is very conscientious to get the freshest ones for Li Xian as soon as possible, especially cherries.

So while eating peaches, cherries and even early-ripening lychees, Li Xian took out the palace test questions unhurriedly, from the eighth day of April to the fifteenth day of April, and Lin Xingzhi and Li Ling almost died of anxiety.

April 21st was the day of the palace examination. Two or three days before that, the matter of cheating in the examination was brought up again, but Li Xian did not respond until the palace examination began.

this day……

Li Xian ordered someone to set up examination tables in the main hall, and asked the officials from the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Officials to supervise the examination room, while he himself changed into an examiner's clothes, took off all the emperor's accessories, and sneaked in under the eyes of his second brother looking crazy. into the ranks of examiners.

After the candidates entered the arena, Li Xian proudly admired their wonderful expressions after seeing the test papers.

This set of papers... came out... really... er, wonderful...

Due to the loss of the last exam, almost all the candidates have raised their vigilance. Although the palace test is just a formality, it can't go wrong. Many candidates have prepared more or less in the direction of unconventional test questions. Their emperor is still a broken sleeve, and some people have even prepared answers to questions like "What do you think about the broken sleeve", but when the test questions are issued, most of the candidates are dumbfounded.

There are ten questions in total, and the first few questions roughly follow this routine:

Question [-]: What do you think is a gentleman?What is a villain?

Question [-]: Do you consider yourself a gentleman or a villain?Why?

Question [-]: How do you treat the gentlemen or villains around you?

The first three questions gave the examinees a head-on blow, and it was agreed that they would only be asked questions...

These few questions really made people answer, and neither did they not answer. Li Xian wandered around the examination room in his spare time, watching the candidates scratching their heads. All the candidates didn't know that this person was the emperor, and they didn't pay much attention to him.He happened to pass by a table, but he saw that this person had already answered the first three questions and went on to do it later. After a brief glance, he saw that he only gave a unified answer to these three questions:

There are no gentlemen and villains in the world, only idealism.

The man raised his head, Li Xian smiled at him, the other party froze for a moment, nodded slightly, Li Xian then walked past him lightly.

After reading this set of test questions, Lin Xingzhi surprisingly praised it very much, and did not change a single question.The entire test paper starts with "individual", transitions from "family", and then spreads out with "world". There is quite a trend of ninety-nine returning to one.After answering, most people have slowly calmed down and answered with peace of mind, while some people became more and more flustered.

The last question is to make a policy essay, and the theme of this policy essay is: If someone around you cheated and passed the Gongshi exam, how would you deal with it?

When they got here, someone finally couldn't hold on and collapsed on the ground. Li Xian glanced at it, didn't ask anything, and only said to the imperial guards: "Take it down."

Then a few more couldn't hold on anymore, and one even shouted: "I won't take the test! I won't take the test!" and wanted to run away.

Li Xian sneered twice, and asked the imperial guards to arrest all these people, looked at a few people in the arena who were struggling with cold sweat, and said: "I am a gentleman and a villain, and I know in my heart, Do you still need me to come out one by one?"

Only then did the examinees realize that the person in front of them was actually their emperor, and the guilty ones knelt down on the ground, grabbing the ground with their heads: "Your Majesty! Please forgive me, Your Majesty!"

Li Xian didn't even bother to look at them, he directly escorted them away, and said: "If you still refuse to admit it now, there is no way I can save you."

The imperial army arrested a few more people. Li Xian asked Li Ling to make sure that no one had slipped through the net, so he said, "Close the paper at Rimu, and continue answering the questions."

Li Xian called the people who came to supervise the field, and the Minister of Rites who sold the test papers was also among them. After the test was over, Li Xian walked up to him and said, "What do you think is a gentleman and what is a villain?"

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty..."

The man was already sweating profusely, and he couldn't even utter a word to defend himself.

"You should know what I want to say."

The opponent fell to his knees on the ground, "Your Majesty! Minister... Minister..."

"Go to the prison and reflect on yourself."

"……His Majesty!!!"

On the day the palace examination ended, the imperial court issued a notice that all those who participated in the examination through improper means, even if they did not get a ranking, would be brought to justice, and the Minister of Rites who sold the examination questions was directly thrown into the prison. As soon as the news came out, the people applauded and applauded.

There are a total of 12 people who cheated in the general examination and passed the gongshi exam. The Ministry of Rites has removed these 12 people from the list. In order to reduce the unfairness to other candidates, it is now decided to add 12 people from the ranking. After five days, they will be held a palace test separately, and of course the test questions must be new again.

The 12 people who were supplemented were ecstatic, and immediately went to prepare for the palace examination.Because the preparation time was relatively short, Li Xian made the test questions a little simpler. After they finished the test, he handed over the two papers to the examiner for review, and selected the top ten papers with the highest evaluation and submitted them to him.

But to be honest, Li Xian really didn't want to read these test papers, and he felt a headache when he read the full text, so he simply called Lin Xingzhi and Li Ling to his imperial study to discuss which three to give the top three. name.

Li Xian directly took out the three test papers with the highest scores and asked, "Let's follow this order, what do you think?"

Lin Xingzhi sat in an armchair, stroked his beard, and said, "It's not impossible, but... the old minister has a suggestion."

"But it doesn't matter."

"It's better to change No.3 and No.4."

Li Xian was puzzled and asked, "But why?"

"These ten veterans have all investigated, and there are no major mistakes. However, the thank you note of No. 3... the word of mouth is not very good, and he is quite small-minded and very stingy."

Li Xian pondered for a while, and retorted: "As far as I know, his family is poor and he values ​​money a little more, it's not unforgivable."

"That's not all." Lin Xingzhi paused, "This Xie family used to be the family of the late emperor's favored ministers. The reason for their decline is because they colluded with the enemy and treasoned the country. Fortunately, they were discovered in time and did not cause a catastrophe."

"What Lin Aiqing said...was during the time of which emperor of my Dayin?"

"It's been a long time ago. It should be the third or fourth place."

"It has been more than 100 years, right?" Li Xian smiled, "Aiqing is too worried, even if this thank you is really the blood left by the collaborator and traitor of the Xie family, after more than 100 years, I am afraid that he will not Knowing about his ancestors, it is a pity to bury his talent just because of this."

"I don't mean that, what I mean is, transfer him to No.1 in the second class, so..."

While he was talking, suddenly a little eunuch rushed in recklessly, Lin Xingzhi frowned suddenly, and said sharply: "Who let you in!"

"Ah..." The little eunuch was terrified, and the tea he was carrying nearly spilled out. He hurriedly put down the tray, knelt down, and said in a trembling voice, "Damn the servant! The servant is... to bring the tea you just asked for to His Majesty." ..."

"Okay, okay," Li Xian stopped Lin Xingzhi who was still talking, and said to the little eunuch, "You were the one who provoked Master Mo last time? You have been here for a long time. Last time I spared you, Why don’t you understand the rules this time? Well, it is indeed the tea I want, no wonder you, but there will be no next time.”

"Yes, yes! Thank you, Your Majesty! Absolutely, absolutely there will be no next time!"

"You go back."

The little eunuch ran away in a hurry, but Lin Xingzhi still looked displeased, and said: "Your Majesty, we are discussing important matters, what are you doing..."

Li Xian smoothed things over, "Okay, okay, old Lin, I'm thirsty, why don't I have some tea? Would you like to try West Lake Longjing tea?"

"...You can drink it yourself, I can't bear it."

"Where did you just say? You continue to talk."

Lin Xingzhi stroked his beard, "Oh, as I said just now, transfer him to No.1 in the second class, so that the ranking will not be too bad, and it will allow him to study in the Imperial Academy for a few more years. Temperament, and by the way, see if his mind is in order."

"It's not impossible. But..." Li Xian picked up Xie Yan's test paper, which was the one that said "only idealism", "His paper is better than No. 4, and I can see it It's more pleasing to the eye."

"Talent is only one aspect. For an official, what is more important is character. This No. 4 is not inferior to him in any aspect except talent and learning. The neighbors also have high evaluations. He is a good material for an official. In comparison, A word of thanks is much worse."

Li Xian sighed, "But in this imperial examination, the emphasis is on fairness and justice. He already got this rank in the exam, but forced to change it because of some of his own defects. Is this... appropriate?"

"Your Majesty, don't forget that this imperial examination is of great significance, and the selected officials will become the pillars of Dayin."

"I understand what you said." Li Xian frowned, "Forget it, let me think about it, and I will give you an answer tomorrow."

"it is good."

Li Xian thought about it all afternoon, and finally decided to agree with Lin Xingzhi's proposal, but at night, he tossed and turned and couldn't fall asleep.

"What's the matter?" Mo Wen saw his thoughts, and said, "Still worried about the ranking?"

"Well... I still don't think this is very good, after all, people..."

"But haven't you already answered Lin Shangshu?"

Li Xian frowned: "That's what you said... I guess the ranking of the Ministry of Rites has already been ranked."

"Then don't think about it, the matter has come to this point, and there is no room for change."

"I still don't think it's right." He rolled over and sat up, "No, it can't just be like this."

"Where are you going?" Mo Wen saw that he was about to walk out of the house with bare feet, and hurriedly said, "Wait, put on your shoes first."

"……Oh."

Li Xian went to the imperial study to write an imperial decree, Mo Wen stood aside and watched, and after reading it, he said, "You...won't you?"

"As for. After entering the Imperial Academy, it will take at least two or three years before he can be officially appointed as an official. I really want to see him in the court, not to mention that his family is poor, and he can enjoy the imperial salary earlier."

"But if you do this, won't Lin Shangshu's thoughts go to waste?"

Li Xian snorted, "He's the emperor and I'm the emperor? What's wrong with caring? What's wrong with paying attention to money? If I was born in a poor family, I would also value money. It would be too one-sided to deny a person based on this. And he What did you say about Xie family ancestors being tainted by collaborating with the enemy and treason, how many years have passed, and the debts of the father and the son can still be understood, the debts of this ancestor...will not be repaid by the descendants who don't know how many generations?"

Mo Wen sighed, "It's all up to you, you can do whatever you want."

"Well... But this imperial decree cannot be issued in advance, we have to wait for the list to be released. The list will be released the day after tomorrow... Then the day after tomorrow, I will issue this imperial edict, and I have to secretly. It's not good to let others know. Wait until I bring him up , Let's see what else Lin can say."

On April 29, the palace examination results were released.

Standing in front of the bulletin board, Xie Yan once thought he had misread.

"Xiao Xie, you...why didn't you win Tanhua? Ahaha... Chuanlu is also very good, congratulations."

Xie Yan didn't say a word, and stood there for a long time before finally coming back to his senses, and said: "I still have something to do at home, so I'll leave first."

"Hey! Xiao Xie! Don't go!"

Xie Yan returned home, and as soon as he entered the house, he saw his mother sitting on a small stool embroidering sachets. He felt annoyed for no reason, and said, "Mother, don't embroider these every day, you won't be able to sell any of them for a few pennies."

Seeing him coming back, the woman put down her work, "This child, how do you talk, do you understand how much you accumulate? By the way, is today the day when the exam is released? How did you do in the exam?"

When Xie Yan heard this, his face immediately collapsed, and he said angrily: "It's okay, the first in the second class, Chuanhe."

"First? That's a good relationship! Mother knew that Yan'er would pass the exam."

"It's No. [-] in the second class! Not No. [-] in the first class."

"It's number one anyway, no difference, no difference."

He jumped up all of a sudden: "Why is there no difference? Is there a lot of difference? I would rather take the third place in the first class than the first place in the second class!"

"Why? Isn't there such a saying, what is it called... Would you rather be a chicken head than a phoenix tail?"

"This is different!" Xie Yan was about to lose his temper. "This year, because the court is in urgent need of officials, the first and third can be exempted from entering the Imperial Academy and directly enter the court as officials, while the second and I! I..."

"This kid, why are you so eager for success? Wouldn't it be good to go in and learn? Learn the rules and taboos of officialdom, and don't mess with others then."

"mother!"

The woman touched his head, comforted him and said: "Okay, okay, mother is going to cook you something delicious, drink some water first, calm down, and be obedient."

"..."

And at the same time...

"Father, what do you want from me?"

Li Zhang took his hand and pulled him in front of him, "Little Xian, an old friend of my father is coming to Weiyang these two days, you remember to ask the imperial army to welcome him."

"Old friend? Who is it?"

"It's just...Uncle Luo, do you remember, Luo Zhitian."

Li Xian looked confused: "Uncle Luo? Which Uncle Luo?"

"You child, how many Uncle Luos can you have? Of course it is Uncle Luo from Gusu Luo's family."

"Gusu Luo family? I don't remember."

Li Zhang was a little speechless, and continued to ask in another way: "Then do you remember Luo Chen?"

Li Xian still looked blank: "Luo Chen? Who?"

"...It's the little brother you play with every time you go to Luo's house."

"Little brother? No impression."

Li Zhang was almost helpless, "...then you always remember Biluochun, right?"

"Biluochun is tea, of course I know, but I like Longjing tea."

"It's not this Biluochun, it's the Biluochun that the Luo family gives us every year, Dongting Biluochun."

"Father, you've only been in Suzhou and Hangzhou for a few years? You still give it away every year...I didn't like drinking tea at that time, how can I remember..." Li Xian stopped suddenly, thought for a while, "Hey, I'm going to The Biluochun I drank at Ruyuexuan last time, I always feel that the taste is a bit familiar, as if I drank it somewhere... Could it be what you said?"

"Probably so."

Li Zhang didn't want to get entangled in this topic anymore, he was afraid to ask Li Xian again and said he didn't know, "It doesn't matter if you don't remember, anyway, just keep an eye on your father for the past two days, they came to the capital to buy and sell goods, They should use the name of the Luo family and wait for them to enter the city... probably this evening or at noon tomorrow, remember to ask the imperial guards to escort them to me."

"I know, I know," Li Xian curled his lips and muttered, "So what if you don't have an escort, what else can happen in this capital..."

"What did you say?"

"It's nothing, Dad, I have something else to do. I'll leave without any other orders. I'll call Ning'er to accompany you later."

"Go, go, you child, you are busy every day, and you don't know what you are busy with."

Li Xian came out of the Yinlong Hall, and quickly gave orders to the Imperial Army, telling them to pay attention to the caravan that had recently entered the Luo family business, and escorted them into the palace as soon as they saw it.

Then he was busy with his own business again, thinking that the caravan would not be able to come anytime soon, he had to catch up with the palace examination for two days to release the rankings, I wonder if he is busy...

However, Li Xian didn't expect that it took only two days...but by accident...an accident happened.