Tiantang Splendid

Chapter 5029: Relatives Visit
Yan Shigu said hurriedly: "The number one scholar was chosen by His Majesty himself. He chose my son from among a group of talented scholars. He certainly has some talent, but more importantly, he is favored by His Majesty and is greatly favored by the emperor. The Yan family of Langya is grateful to us!"

Who says that people with a straightforward personality can’t say nice things?

Normally, he has no desire to flatter others, speaks straightforwardly, and acts resolutely, but now that his nephew has become the top scorer in the imperial examination and is famous all over the world, he can still remain humble in his joy and give credit to the king. This is really a high standard...

Li Chengqian was very pleased and said with a smile: "Master Yan, why should you be so modest? Since the Qin and Han Dynasties, the Yan family of Langya has been rigorous and diligent in its studies. Great scholars have emerged from every generation and are admired by the world."

After a pause, he pointed at Wen Ce and said, "The first on the southern list is Xiao Shu, a descendant of the Lanling Xiao family. He is the grandson of Duke Song. He has a beautiful literary style and a quick mind. His essays are always on point and his thoughts are meaningful. He is also a rare talent."

Everyone congratulated Fang Jun together.

Xiao Yu has retired and returned home. There are no high-ranking officials from the Lanling Xiao family in the court. As the son-in-law of the Xiao family, Fang Jun has passively become the "spokesperson" of the Xiao family...

Fang Jun had no choice but to bow in thanks.

In fact, he had never seen this Xiao Shu, and he had only seen his father Xiao Yue once before, so he couldn't remember his appearance clearly...

"This is the list of candidates for the various subjects drawn up by the ministers and the invigilating officials. Please take a look at it, my dear ministers. If there is anything inappropriate, please correct it and we will discuss it again."

Li Chengqian casually handed Wen Ce to Fang Jun beside him, picked up the teacup and took a sip of tea.

Fang Jun took the paper with both hands and read it carefully.

Above the literary essay, all the successful candidates in this imperial examination are listed according to their subjects. The first is the Jinshi subject, with the northern list on the top and the southern list on the bottom.

In the northern list, the top scholar is Yan Kangcheng from Langya, followed by Cen Changqian from Dengzhou and Lou Shide from Xingyang. These three are the "three tops", followed by Li Zhaode from Longxi, Xue Yuanchao from Puzhou, and Cui Xianyi from Boling. Xin Maojiang is also on the list, and even Di Renjie...

Few people know the southern list of successful candidates. The top three are Xiao Shu, Shen Wenjian, and Xie Wenhua.

After passing Wen Ce to someone else, Fang Jun asked Ma Zhou, "Is this Shen Wenjian a descendant of the Wuxing Shen family?"

Ma Zhou nodded, and said with a little emotion: "Such aristocratic family does have a profound family background and rich cultural heritage. Even if the family is poor, the children of the family are also very talented and learned. They only need one opportunity to stand out and become famous."

He came from a poor family, and a poor family meant that the family heritage had long been lost, so he could not help but feel both envious and jealous of the aristocratic families.

Fang Jun agreed: "The Wuxing Shen family does have a profound heritage."

The gentry in the world can be roughly divided into the overseas Chinese gentry, the Wu gentry, and the northern gentry.

The so-called "Qiao surnames", as the name suggests, refer to the aristocratic families who were closer to the south during the Yongjia Rebellion and the Jin Dynasty's migration to the south. In order to avoid the war in the north, they moved with their entire families to the south of the Yangtze River and settled there. The most famous of them are "Wang, Xie, Yuan, and Xiao". Because of their close relationship with the Jin Dynasty, the Jin Dynasty relied on these aristocratic families after its migration to the south, and made them gradually become the pillars of the Eastern Jin Dynasty's political power.

"Wu" is a general term for the Jiangdong gentry, who have lived in Jiangdong for generations, headed by "Gu Lu Zhu Zhang".

The northern gentry were those who lived far away from the south and found it difficult to migrate, so they had to seek self-protection and development in their hometowns. For example, the Cui family of Qinghe, the Cui family of Boling, the Li family of Zhaojun, the Li family of Longxi, the Lu family of Fanyang, the Gao family of Bohai, the Xue family of Hedong, the Du family of Jingzhao, etc. Some of these branches also followed the Jin Dynasty to the south, forming a trend of development in which the north and the south branches developed side by side, such as the Wei family of Jingzhao, the Wang family of Taiyuan, the Pei family of Wenxi, the Liu family of Jiexian, etc.

"Wuxing Shen's" is one of the Wu surnames in Jiangnan. It is neither a noble family like in the Central Plains, nor a wealthy family among the natives of Jiangnan. However, from the Eastern Han Dynasty to the Southern Dynasties, the descendants of Wuxing Shen's multiplied and talented people emerged, making them prominent for a time.

The Southern Dynasties were the heyday of the Wuxing Shen family, especially the Southern Chen, which produced two empresses, five princes-in-law, and countless civil servants.

After the Sui Dynasty conquered the Chen Dynasty, it executed five "flatterers" including Shen Keqing at the front palace; it exiled four "criminals" including Shen to distant places to thank the people of Chen. The Shen family in Wuxing also began to decline.

At the end of the Sui Dynasty, Shen Faxing mobilized his family to fight for supremacy, calling himself "King of Liang", intending to monopolize the south of the Yangtze River and rule it by dividing the river. As a result, he was desperate and committed suicide by jumping into the river. Many elite children of the family also died, dragging down the entire Wuxing Shen family to complete decline and failure...

However, it was unexpected that within thirty or fifty years, there would be another young man who could excel in Confucian writing in the south of the Yangtze River.

Ma Zhou shook his head and said no more, feeling pessimistic about the prospects of the imperial examination.

A powerful family like the Wuxing Shen family, which once destroyed its family and all its direct descendants were killed, was able to have a generation rise again after twenty years of decline. How could the poor and common people in the world resist them?
The imperial examination has many purposes, but the most basic one is to break the monopoly of education held by aristocratic families for hundreds of years and to support children from poor families and common people. But according to the current situation, I am afraid that the talents who will pass the imperial examinations in the future will all be children of aristocratic families. How difficult will it be for children from poor families and common people to make the leap to success?

Fang Jun didn't care about this. There is no perfect policy in the world. We always have to gain one thing while losing another. We only need to weigh the pros and cons when formulating and implementing the policy. If the benefits outweigh the disadvantages, the policy can be continued. If the disadvantages outweigh the benefits, it will be stopped.

Just now, I took a closer look at the Wen Ce. There were well-known students from the academy listed in the Jinshi, Mingfa, Mingsuan and other subjects. A rough estimate showed that there were no less than 70 students. There were only more than 70 students from the academy who took the imperial examination this time. Except for a few individuals, almost all of them passed.

It can be imagined that after this examination, Zhenguan Academy became famous all over the world.

The document was passed from one person to another, and when it finally came back to the table beside Li Chengqian, he glanced around and asked, "Do you think there is anything wrong with the selected candidate?"

Everyone looked at each other and shook their heads.

Although there are some disputes about the Southern List and the Northern List, the number of successful Jinshi in the North and the South is distributed very evenly. Even if some people are dissatisfied, there will not be too much unrest.

It is rare that such a large-scale selection initiative can bring stability to all provinces in the world.

Everyone couldn't help but look at Fang Jun, who had advised the establishment of the North-South Double List. Although this guy was sometimes too naughty, his brilliant ideas always produced unexpected results, and he was truly a genius.

Many people couldn't help but recall the words of Emperor Taizong praising him for his "talent as a prime minister", and they couldn't help but sigh in their hearts...

Li Chengqian said: "In this case, immediately put up a notice outside Chengtian Gate and let the world know!"

He looked around again, but did not see Li Xiaogong. He felt a little dissatisfied and said to Fang Jun, Liu Li, Ma Zhou and others: "After the announcement, send the list of Jinshi to the Ministry of Personnel. You, my dear ministers, will work with the Prince of Hejian to place the new Jinshi."

"Here."

Fang Jun, Liu Li and Ma Zhou all stood up to receive the order.

Many people watched with envy but could do nothing about it. Whenever official positions and powers were designed, it was impossible to simply evaluate and then fairly assign them. Even the same official positions had differences. For example, the position of county lieutenant. The rank of Chang'an county lieutenant and Huxian county lieutenant were the same, but their status, power, and future were vastly different.

Who is promoted and who is demoted? This is the decision made by the prime minister who controls the Ministry of Personnel.

The power of the prime minister was fully demonstrated at this moment.

It is impossible for others to interfere.

*****
The officials from the Ministry of Rites posted the imperial edict outside Chengtian Gate. Suddenly, the entire city of Chang'an was deserted. Officials, merchants, students, and common people all flocked to the imperial city to see the imperial edict.

Even those who are least informed know that His Majesty attaches great importance to this imperial examination. The court has made every effort to it and has spent countless manpower, material resources and financial resources. Therefore, it can be seen that once you pass the examination and are listed on the imperial list, it means that you will be successful and have a bright future.

Fang Jun naturally would not join in the fun, so he walked out of Chengtian Gate in ordinary clothes. Seeing that Tianjie was already crowded, he had to ride upstream with a few personal soldiers, out of Yanxi Gate, and return home.

After entering Chongrenfang, as soon as he arrived at the door, he saw the servant of the family coming forward and informing him that there was a guest. Mrs. Lu had ordered Fang Jun to go to the main hall to meet the guest as soon as he got home...

Throwing the reins to the servant, Fang Jun asked curiously, "Who's here?"

The servant said, "I don't know her. I just said she was Zhang from Fanyang."

Fang Jun nodded, climbed the steps, entered through the side door, and went straight to the main hall.

The Zhang family of Fanyang was also a big family in the local area. Although they could not compare with the Lu family of Fanyang, which was one of the "Five Surnames and Seven Aristocrats", they were related by marriage and helped each other, and their relationship was extremely close. Otherwise, his mother, Lu, would not have allowed him to meet the guests directly.

After all, with Fang Jun's current status and power, not everyone can see him if they want...

When they arrived at the main hall, they saw Lu and Gao Yang sitting with a young man with a short beard. When Fang Jun came in, the young man quickly got up and bowed to the ground: "I am Zhang Zizhou, your humble servant, and I greet the Grand Commandant."

Fang Jun looked him up and down, nodded and said, "Just now the palace listed the names of those who passed the undergraduate examination. If I remember correctly, you seem to be on the list. Congratulations."

Zhang Zizhou was stunned for a moment, then his face flushed slightly, but he remained calm. Although he was ecstatic, he did not lose his composure. He said modestly, "It's just my luck, I dare not say I'm happy. Although I have read a few books on the meaning of the classics, I swallowed them without understanding them thoroughly. I am far behind the Taiwei. I should continue to study with an open mind and strive for excellence in the future."

Fang Jun smiled and said, "You look like you are going to do something big, very good. No need to be polite at home, please take a seat."

After saying that, he walked to Lu's side and sat down, smiling and asked, "I was invigilating in the county office these two days and couldn't go home. How is mother's health?"

Zhang Zizhou sat down with his head lowered.

Mrs. Lu glared at her son, picked up a letter on the coffee table beside her, and admonished him, "Mrs. Zhang and Mrs. Lu are old relatives, and have been close for generations. When I was a boudoir, I got to know Zizhou's father. Later, when I got married, Zizhou's father served as an official in various places, and I haven't seen him for about 20 years. Now that Zizhou has passed the imperial examination, you must take good care of him."