March has arrived in the blink of an eye, and the weather in Chang'an City has become warmer.

At the fourth watch, Xue Bai pushed Du Fu, who was still sleeping soundly.

"Brother Zimei, it's spring today. It's time for you to take the exam."

Du Fu turned over and murmured: "To the kings Yao and Shun, and then to make customs pure."

Before going to bed last night, we all talked about writing a poem about the poem when the results were released in spring, but he actually composed a few sentences in his sleep.

Yuan Jie woke up early and was still arranging her clothes.

This is a young man with outstanding temperament, outstanding talent and perseverance. He also has a wide circle of friends and goes out to meet friends every day after arriving in Chang'an.

He smiled at Xue Bai and said, "I think you are more serious about this Spring Festival than Brother Zimei."

"It's a big deal to become an official through the imperial examination."

After a while, Du Fu woke up and went out with Yuan Jie without changing his clothes.

Du Wulang quickly handed over a new set of Four Treasures of the Study and said: "This is a gift from Xue Bai and I to Duke Du. I wish Duke Du a great success in his writing career and be named on the gold list."

"Haha." Du Fu accepted it freely, put his arm around Du Wulang's shoulders, and said with a smile: "I'll treat you to a drink then. Drink good wine."

"Hey, okay."

The four of them left the dormitory and left the Taixue Hall.

There is no need to wait for the morning drums today. Jinwu guards and neighborhood envoys opened the gate of Wubenfang in advance, and the long street was full of people. It was "linen clothes like snow, filling the nine thoroughfares."

The light of dawn seemed to cast a gauze over the imperial city in the distance.

The disciples were clearly divided into two types, one was in coarse linen and linen clothes, dusty from the travels; the other was in brocade and rust clothes, with light fur and fat horses. At this moment, they gathered together for a rare moment, waiting in front of the Anshang gate of the imperial city.

Three to four thousand people gathered together, and it was extremely lively.

Chunwei not only has Jinshi subjects, but also Mingjing, Lv, and arithmetic subjects. These are regular subjects, that is, regular subjects are available every year.

The sixth year of Tianbao was different from the previous years. There was an additional system subject. It was a whim of the sage and he issued an edict to recruit scholars from all over the world who had a certain skill. They could all go to the capital and choose it. It was called "Fengya Ancient Tune Section".

This spring, there were so many civilians from poor families that those who participated in the Fengya Ancient Diao subjects did not need to pass the state or county tribute examination.

Xue Bai passed by those groups of commoners several times and vaguely heard some similar words.

"I will admonish the saints with poems and prose, and denounce the evil of treacherous ministers!"

"I don't seek to be ranked in this class, I just want to let the saints know that because of the Wei Jian case, how many watermen and boatmen died along the Yellow River!"

"..."

Xue Bai sniffed and smelled the restless atmosphere in this cold spring weather.

The atmosphere is not right.

Since the beginning of spring, people from all over the world have gathered in Chang'an to criticize current affairs in cultural meetings day after day. There is a kind of anger that has been spreading.

It's like small flames gathered together today, with the potential to start a prairie fire.

"Brother Cishan."

"Um?"

"Did you hear it too?"

"Don't make any noise." Yuan Jie pulled Xue Bai to the side of the street and whispered: "There are resentments among people everywhere."

"You can't get anything done if you're angry in the book business."

"I understand, we have been trying to appease them these days." Yuan Jie said: "Before today, you didn't hear the news, right?"

Xue Bai nodded, and his evaluation of Yuan Jie became even higher.

This is a good candidate for friendship.

"Let's go."

The two followed their companions.

I could hear a few brocade-robed men in front of me discussing something.

"Have you heard? Jinke has canceled the palace examination. After the provincial examination, the saints will not take the examination in person. Instead, they will still appoint the Minister of Provincial Affairs and the left and right ministers, and appoint the censor and Zhongcheng to conduct the examination."

"Impossible. Since the founding of the Tang Dynasty, there has never been a time when a saint did not attend the examination in person!"

"What my grandpa told me cannot be false."

"Censor Zhongcheng? Wang Xian?"

"Yes, the last scene will be reviewed by Wang Zhongcheng."

Like a stone thrown into water causing ripples, the news about the saint's absence from the palace examination is not limited to this part.

Some of them heard Xue Bai's name.

"Xue Bai, the face of Mrs. Guo, offered dominoes to the saint, causing him to indulge in fun and have no interest in state affairs. He even ignored such important matters as selecting talents through the imperial examination."

"Nepotism brings disaster to the country!"

Du Wulang was stunned when he heard this. He pulled Xue Bai and comforted him: "Don't listen to them. Cockfighting is much more fun than dominoes. Why didn't they say that the saint didn't come because of the chicken prodigy?"

Not far away, a disciple wearing light fur must have heard the discussion, laughed loudly, and shouted: "I told you before, dominoes are the most fun!"

The men in brocade robes in front turned to look at this man and began to discuss.

"Who is that idiot?"

"Yang Hu, a branch of the Second Wang and Sanke, got a huge advantage from the Hongnong County Duke's line."

"Hush, his cousin Yang Qixuan is the eleventh son-in-law of the right prime minister..."

Suddenly, the imperial city drums sounded.

"The time has come!"

"According to the regulations, install the door and let it go!"

The heavy door opened slowly.

Xue Bai bowed his hands to Du Fu and Yuan Jie and said, "I wish my two brothers to win the title of Chan Palace."

"Let's go to the Wild Goose Pagoda to write our names together someday and have a drink."

Du Fu, Yuan Jie responded cheerfully, straightened his clothes, and followed the torrent of his disciples' move towards the imperial city.

~~

There are no classes in the Imperial College today, so Du Wulang is in a hurry to go to Fengwei Building, while Xue Bai plans to go home.

After waving goodbye, Xue Bai turned around and saw Zheng Qian standing not far away with his hands behind his back.

"teacher."

Zheng Qian was looking at the eaves of the imperial city with worried eyes. When he heard this, he turned around and saw Xue Bai. He nodded and said, "Now that we have met, let's have a cup of tea together."

The Imperial College was quiet and empty, and the two of them returned to the Taixue Hall and sat down.

"In the spring of this year, there is a crouching tiger, hidden dragon. There is a scholar in Songshan Academy named Liu Changqing, whose courtesy name is Wenfang. He writes extremely well in five characters. He submitted the scroll to me and returned it with your poems and allusions. "Melancholy Wang Suncao, Qingqing"

Another year'."

Zheng Qian was playing with the tea set and talking casually.

"There is also Huangfu Ran, whose courtesy name is Maozheng. He is smart and studious, and can write at the age of ten. He is a student of Duke Zhang Qujiang. I was delayed on the way to Beijing, otherwise I will introduce him to you. Don't worry, I will see you after the Spring Festival."

Xue Bai listened silently, knowing that there was no shortage of talents in the Tang Dynasty, and these were the best candidates to become friends.

But the premise is that you are strong enough, otherwise you will have to be a guest for these people in the future in order to be protected by them.

Zheng Qian sighed slightly and asked: "Zimei, Cishan, Wenfang, and Maozheng are all talented candidates. How many of them do you think can make the list?"

"The student doesn't understand the imperial examination and wants to ask the teacher for advice."

"Before the exam started, the rankings were almost decided." Zheng Qian said, "The examiner for this subject is Li Yan, the Minister of Rites. This person is quite fair."

This kind of imperial examination is very unfair.

The Datang Science Examination does not obscure names. If the examiner wants to point out who is on the list, he can directly find his paper.

But relatively speaking, it is not as unfair as it sounds. Before the exam begins, candidates will have a rough idea of ​​their investment banking papers, talent, knowledge, and reputation, and the examiners will rank them accordingly.

In other words, the Imperial Examination of the Tang Dynasty did not only test a few questions in the examination room, but everything that the candidates could show before and after the examination. Those who were born in poverty and studied hard would not have a way out, and the candidates would have no way out.

He was of noble birth, had wide acquaintances, was famous far and wide, was talented and learned, and was good at dancing.

"On the list drawn up by Minister Li, are all these talented people on the list?" Xue Bai asked.

He was a little surprised because he vaguely remembered that Du Fu had never passed the Jinshi examination.

"Talent is obvious to all. If today's examiners dare not to select these talented people, they will be scolded by the world." Zheng Qian said: "Li Shaobao has already said hello to this matter."

Only then did Xue Bai think of what changes had taken place in this Spring Festival compared to the original - Li Shizhi was still there. Although he was the prime minister and had no actual duties, the influence of Prince Shaobao on the court was still there.

"I dare to ask the teacher, does Li Shaobao still have such prestige now?"

"Du Zimei's poem says, 'The left prime minister spends tens of thousands of money every day.' Li Shaobao has a loose temperament and is not suitable for the prime minister. But do you know why the saint asked him to worship him?"
To be continued...