Turbulent Times Chapter 205: Xu Jingzong who vomits blood

In the end, Qi Ziming couldn't help but smiled bitterly and said in a low voice: "Brother Xuanling, don't you and I still not understand these things? Now that the imperial court is controlled by a powerful family, even if His Majesty forces you to recruit scholars, there are only two hundred places in total. , the East Palace and the eldest prince pre-determined a part, and the top ten or so aristocratic families were divided into a few, and the high officials in the court entrusted a few, and those with huge wealth bought a few. This family may be regarded as prestigious in the local area, and we are well-known in our hometown, but in the entire Sui Dynasty, or even in this capital city, what is it?"

Speaking of this, he sighed, raised his head and drank the wine in the glass in one gulp, and then said: "Alas! Even if the imperial court wants to find a few talented people as a foil, so as to block the mouths of scholars all over the world. , There are also a lot of celebrities in Beijing who have worshiped under the names of nobles in Beijing to choose from, such as Xu Jingzong who is very arrogant these days and claims to be in the top three, so it is not our turn."

The other scholar on the wine table was a little thinner, his eyes were cold, maybe he drank too much, and he couldn't express his chest, so he spoke very boldly, and sneered: "Yes, I also think that Xuan Ling Brother Ziming is too naive. Brother Ziming is right. I think it’s better not to take the imperial examination in the future, so that we don’t have to waste so much money on travel expenses. What kind of **** will try, but those aristocratic families have changed a more It’s just a good-looking way to make your own family an official, even if they don’t come from a powerful family, it’s just that they pick dogs for themselves!”

Zi Ming's complexion darkened, but then he was slightly frightened, and advised: "Brother Yun Qi, keep your voice down, if the spies of Hou Guan's mansion hear it, don't talk about whether you and I can be officials, I'm afraid that even I will stay in the capital with my wealth and life.”

Brother Yunqi's surname is Wei, who is near the capital, and he is known as Bo Youcai in Beijing, but his personality is completely different from Xu Jingzong's, because he doesn't pay attention to his words, and his words are mean, no high-ranking official is willing to recruit him The staff or guest ministers have always been a little lonely. Hearing his friend's worrying words at this time, he couldn't help laughing and said: "How can those secret agents of the Hou government look down on you and me? If they are really powerful, why don't they keep an eye on the examination room?" Exam, let the exam be fairer?"

Fang Qiao shook her head, sighed and said: "It's strange to say, it seems that no one from the Marquis government was used for the examination supervision and security matters."

Wei Yunqi waved his fingers and said: "You didn't see that all the servants and Dawei's guards moved, which means that His Majesty the current Emperor suspects that the Marquis government is colluding with those nobles."

Fang Qiao glanced at the two friends he had known for more than a month, hesitated a bit, and said: "I think Qin Anhou is in charge of supervising this matter, so there should be a chance for us humble scholars."

The two friends beside him naturally knew that Fang Qiao was caught by Qin Anhou in his clothes, and they couldn't help laughing in unison: "Although he allows you to take the exam, he may not help us out. After all, although he is powerful, he has no foundation in the Sui Dynasty, so how can he compete head-on with all the powerful families."

The three of them chatted and laughed a little more, and as the wine got drunker, they inevitably began to scold in a low voice that the aristocratic family controlled almost all the official positions in the imperial court. As an official, to serve the court, I am afraid that the first thing to do is to solve the problem of the powerful family controlling the government.

…

…

In autumn, it rains a lot in Beijing.

Autumn rain is seldom a continuous drizzle; it is not like ox hair, not like pine leaves, and even less like beads.

The rain fell like a bullet and fell on the ground with a ticking sound, driving away all the heat and dust, and bringing a cool world.

The rain stopped, and there was still some humidity in the air, and the little birds were flying in the low places: the music on the awning also stopped, only some raindrops fell from it from time to time, and the roar of the gods came from the sky , The thunder rang again and again, but it didn't stop for a long time.

But the terrifying thunder did not affect people's emotions. Today, more people came out for a walk than before. Because today is the day when the first scientific examination of the Sui Dynasty was released.

To the west of the yamen of the Ministry of Rites is a stone arch bridge. If you want to go to the red wall to read the list, you have to cross the bridge. Looking for his name on the paper.

The so-called "the palace test determines the superiority, and the test will determine whether to stay or not". In extreme terms, the last place in the test is the same as the first place. To distinguish between superior and inferior, it is decided in the palace examination. That is to say, but for Xu Jingzong, he still cares about the ranking in the test, even in his opinion, he must be in the top three in the test, and it is best to get the first place.

Early in the morning, Xu Jingzong drove towards the Yamen of the Ministry of Rites in a carriage. The closer he was to the Yamen of the Ministry of Rites, the more pedestrians there were on the street. When we arrived at the test release place outside the Yamen of the Ministry of Rites, there was already a sea of ​​people there.

Xu Jingzong heard that as early as the fourth watch, some scholars came to sit and watch, waiting to see the result. In fact, there are quite a few such people, and they all want to be the first to see their names. More than 3,000 scholars were eagerly watching, plus people sent by various forces, relatives and friends of various scholars, and more people watching the excitement, the street more than 20 steps wide in front of the Yamen of the Ministry of Rites was crowded with cars and horses. Pedestrians were blocked.

"This... how to get in?" Xu Jingzong frowned slightly.

"Mr. Xu, wait a moment, let the villain come here!"

Following behind Xu Jingzong, two big and round guards of the Eastern Palace stood up.

Both of them are veterans who have retired from the government army. They both have the strength to squeeze through the crowd, just like a chariot running over the grassland. People and others were all squeezed away abruptly.

After being pushed aside, someone turned around and was about to scold angrily, but when they saw the red livery worn by the two strong men, they immediately stopped talking. Although the clothing regulations of the Sui Dynasty were not as strict as those of the Song and Ming dynasties, the servants and guards who dared to wear red livery were generally princes and ministers, or top-notch nobles.

After dismounting from the horse, Xu Jingzong came to the gold list unimpeded all the way. Six golden lists were pasted on the wall, densely packed with names and places of origin, occupying most of the space on the paper.

The first thing that catches the eye is Li Xiyu, the first name in the Ministry of Rites Examination.

Xu Jingzong knew that this person was from the abolished prince's side, and he was no less famous than him in the capital. The most important thing was that the other party's family background was much better than his.

Although Xu Jingzong was thinking this way, his face had already become a little gloomy. When he saw that the second and third place did not have his name, his face became extremely gloomy.

And this is just the beginning.

Without his name in the top ten, his face turned ashen.

The top 100 did not have his name, and anger erupted in his eyes.

After reading the entire list and not finding his name, the anger in Xu Jingzong's heart was almost soaring. If he hadn't been rational, he would have cursed on the spot. Missing a fuse.

Soon, the fuse appeared.

"Isn't that Xu Jingzong? Didn't he show everywhere that he will be in high school, and he must be in the top three? Why didn't I see his name."

"Yeah! I didn't see it either, just look at how crazy he was two days ago."

"Some people! They are just self-righteous and don't know how much they are."

"That's right, I think he is an overreaching idiot..."

Because of Xu Jingzong's character, and Wang Junlin secretly asked Shen Guang to arrange someone to help the flames, Xu Jingzong's reputation has already spread. , The laughter continued one after another, and it became more and more intense.

These arguments were heard clearly in Xu Jingzong's ears. For Xu Jingzong, who had always been conceited, it was tantamount to slapping him in the face again and again.

In addition, during this process, several scholars who were looking at the list crowded over, and one of them pretended to accidentally bump into him and apologized to him, but Xu Jingzong ignored him, and the scholar ran to the side to watch His own list, but no one noticed that at the moment of crowding just now, Xu Jingzong felt as if he had been pricked by a needle on the back of his neck, but the pain disappeared in a flash, and Xu Jingzong's mind was full of unbelievable Anger and doubts about the fairness of the imperial examination were not taken to heart at all.

After four or five breaths, under the eyes of everyone, Xu Jingzong suddenly raised his head and yelled: "This is impossible, it is impossible for me, Xu Jingzong, to not be in high school, there must be someone who is doing something for personal gain..."

Puff! Before Xu Jingzong finished speaking, he spat out a mouthful of blood and passed out immediately. His followers and guards hurried forward to carry him away in a panic, and went to find someone to treat him.

"Hahahaha... The surname Xu couldn't accept the phenomenon, and he was so angry that he vomited blood." Someone said loudly, and everyone around him echoed.

This scene was witnessed by hundreds of people at the scene, and what he said was also heard by thousands of people. Among them were Fang Qiao, Liu Ziming, and Wei Yunqi who had just crossed the stone arch bridge.

There were still some rain stains left on the ground, and the moss between the stone bricks looked extraordinarily slippery. As the three of them walked there, Liu Ziming almost slipped and fell, causing everyone to laugh. Liu Ziming laughed at himself. Although he pretended to look normal, how could he not be nervous deep down.

When they came under the red wall, the three of them managed to squeeze into the crowd. They started to look from the left hand side, and for an unknown amount of time, they heard Liu Ziming's happy cry: "Brother Wei, brother Wei! You've won the prize!" ! You won!"

Fang Qiao and Wei Yunqi heard the voice and rushed to Liu Ziming's side, and sure enough, they saw Wei Yunqi's name written on the fifth row above their heads. Congratulations with a punch on the shoulder.