I'm not a fortune teller.

Chapter 121 Exam Questions
The imperial examinations of the Jin Dynasty were different from those of previous dynasties. In order to be open and transparent and to allow the people to feel involved, Taizu would announce the ranking of each day's examination results, especially the results of classics and historical strategies, which would be announced on the second day.

The candidates' classic answers will also be announced, and many scholars will debate based on the candidates' answers. Scholars from all over the world are most active at this time.

Of course, not only scholars, but ordinary people also like to join in the fun, but this time it is mainly for gambling. Most of the successful candidates take the practical policy exam on the third day, and the score accounts for the highest proportion in history, accounting for more than 50%. The first two days can only be regarded as a basic score, but the ranking of the first two days of examination can still give a great reference. Generally speaking, those who rank well in the first two days will not be too bad in the later days. Occasionally, there are those who fail, and of course there are also those who explode. This is the fun of betting among the people.

"Buy it and leave it, buy it and leave it!"

At this time, outside the North District, gambling houses of all sizes had already opened their doors, and the business became popular from the moment the list came out on the second day.

Generally, scholars or wealthy families rarely participate in these gambling activities, but this time, nobles from the other three districts will come to take a look, especially those wealthy families who intend to collect talents.

"Boss, do you really want to buy it?"

At this time in the casino, Zhou Zhijie also came to one of the casinos with a group of people. As an official, entering a gambling house without permission would easily lead to impeachment by the censors, but today, many censors might be placing bets in a certain gambling house.

"What else?" Zhou Zhijie rolled his eyes at the man behind him. "How much have we spent on filial piety over the years? Why not make some money if we have a chance? There will be many places where we will need to spend money in the future."

Several relatives and subordinates lowered their heads upon hearing this, some of them not daring to say something. Their eldest brother was rather slippery, and this kind of character was considered popular in official circles, but he was addicted to gambling, and the money he wasted on this every year could buy him a small house in the capital.

But they didn't dare to say anything. After all, as distant relatives, they were able to work for the other party because of the other party's official position. They were dependent on others, so how could they have the qualifications to lecture them?
"Boss, look, Sun Yufan did quite well in the exam this time, and is even in the top 20." Someone pointed at the name on the list.

"Doing well in the previous exams doesn't mean you'll be able to do well in the later ones." Zhou Zhijie snorted and shook his head: "Sun Yufan is too rigid in his studies and doesn't know how to adapt. He ranks among the top students in Bailu Academy in terms of basics, but his scores in comprehensive current affairs are mediocre. If he doesn't know how to attract attention, he may never pass the exam in his lifetime."

In his opinion, the final strategy for current affairs was to brag. No one had ever been in politics, so it all depended on who could brag better. In this regard, he had taken great advantage in the beginning. He was ranked outside the top 100 in the first two rounds. In the last round, he overtook the opponent on the third day just by affirming and catering to His Majesty's policy of stabilizing the north, and firmly won the second place!
"Boss, do you think the first place is the one that Mr. Zhang mentioned?"

One of them asked cautiously.

"Qi Xuan." Zhou Zhijie frowned and looked at him, with a hint of shrewdness in his eyes.

A few days ago, Zhang Rui asked him to contact Qi Xuan. He specially asked several senior brothers from Bailu Academy to contact him. The answer he got was that the other party had a steady style of study, a solid foundation, and was a humble person, so there was a high probability that he would be on the list.

I just didn’t expect the results to be so good!

No.1!!
In terms of basic knowledge, many mortal disciples are not as good as those from the warlock family. Those monsters are born with an evil aura, and most of them have photographic memories. Things that ordinary people would spend one or two days to memorize, they can completely remember in just one or two hours. They are really not on the same level.

So generally speaking, the candidates for the first two volumes of the exams are all children of sorcerer families, with one or two children from common people occasionally making it, and they are all gifted.

This was the first time he saw a mortal disciple take first place.

Even our Jiangnan prodigy, Master An, was ranked below him. The person that Zhang Rui wants him to pay attention to is really not a simple person.

"Boss, I heard that Qi Xuan is the illegitimate son of the Qi family who is living outside. A few days ago, the Qi family came to invite him several times outside the Confucius Temple."

"I've heard that too. There are rumors that he is the son of Minister Qi."

"Shut up!" Zhou Zhijie glared at the person who spoke: "How dare you make up stories about the Shangshu? Don't you want to use your tongue anymore?"

While scolding, Zhou Zhijie was also secretly thinking about how to secretly win over this abandoned descendant of the Qi family. If anyone in the Qi family really wanted to train Qi Xuan as their successor, now would be the best time to join them.

At this time, people all over the casino were discussing Qi Xuan, the top winner. Whether he could get the top rank in the third exam had become the biggest bet in the underground casinos. "Congratulations, Master Qi."

At this time, outside the Suzaku Gate, a group of officials were also outside the list to congratulate Lord Qi who came to see the list in person.

In the past fifty years, there have been few decent children of the Qi family. Only two or three of them have passed the imperial examination and became Jinshi, and they all just barely missed the mark. The Qi family has been in charge of the Ministry of Rites for many years, and with such a result, one can imagine how useless their children are.

"Thank you." Minister Qi's face was flushed at this time, and he seemed to be very proud, which made many civil servants discuss it secretly.

It is said that Minister Qi pays special attention to this young man studying abroad, and it seems to be true.

In the distance, Minister of War Wei Jiaming and Minister of Revenue Gong Tianyang were also watching this scene with vigilance in their eyes.

They have dealt with Minister Qi for many years and they all know that he is a man with an extremely strong desire for control over power. Would he really be willing to retreat to Xijing?
They also found out about Qi Xuan's deal. The three major allied families, including the Bai family that was about to take power, had guaranteed Qi Xuan's official career and promised to transfer a lot of resources. In addition, with the emperor's promise of additional tribute for 30 years, as long as Qi Xuan worked hard, he should be able to support the Qi family for the next hundred years. As for whether the Qi family would still have incompetent children a hundred years later, that was not something Minister Qi could control.

It seems that it is quite satisfactory.

The Bai family came to power, the Qi family retreated, the Jiang family suffered heavy losses, and the eight major families all retreated. At the insistence of Your Majesty, the An family succeeded to the Ministry of Rites, and the capital entered an era of three-way confrontation.

Your Majesty has achieved his goal. The Qi family has retreated safely. Although the remaining major families have been weakened, they have not been targeted. Things are quite peaceful and everything seems to be going so smoothly.

But in Wei Jiaming's opinion, it was extremely abnormal.

He didn't believe that the transfer of power would be so smooth. When his Wei family and the Gong family came to power, it was a bloody storm. Even most of the royal family died. Would the one from the Qi family really be willing to give in?
"What do you think, Brother Wei?" Gong Tianyang was watching from the side. With His Majesty's permission, both of them wore the Nine Ministers Seal in order to prevent Minister Qi from causing trouble.

"His Majesty has entered the palace. We just need to keep an eye on Minister Qi. The Four Spirits are guarding outside the palace gate. Logically, nothing should go wrong." Wei Jiaming whispered.

"What about the palace?"

"Qi Xuan has no evil spirits, and he has been under surveillance by various forces over the years. It is unlikely that he can plot against Your Majesty. Hong Lie has already informed His Majesty of the three suspects in the palace. You also know His Majesty's ability. With preparation, nothing will go wrong."

"I hope so." Gong Tianyang took a deep breath. He was extremely uneasy today. He felt that this time might be even more dangerous than the last time.
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At this time, in the Mingde Hall, many candidates were writing furiously. The test questions this time were not too novel. It was still an old question: the war in the north!

This is an enduring government examination question. Since the founding of the Jin Dynasty, the problem of border troubles in the north has always existed. To strengthen military defense, it is necessary to continue to delegate power to the martial arts sects. Several generations of emperors have wanted to set up more military priests there, and even open up greater authority to the sects. All officials, especially civil servants, have tried their best to stop it over the years.

In order to resist the invasion of those barbaric tribes in the Northern Wilderness, Taizu established a special zone in the north and gave great preferential treatment to any martial arts sects that were willing to relocate to the north. Now half of the middle-level border troops are from martial arts sects. In the eyes of many civil officials, they are more dangerous than the barbarians in the Northern Wilderness.

Once the martial arts sects monopolize the northern border troops and unite, judging from the terrain, they may endanger the imperial city at any time. The north must be controlled, and even the authority should be reduced to prevent the martial arts sects from continuing to grow. This has always been the proposition of many literati. They advocate appeasing the barbarian tribes, using a policy of division to let them kill each other, weakening the power of some northern sects, and strengthening the supervisory power of the academic officials, so as to better control these wild martial arts sects.

The children of the military also believed that the northern sects had taken up too many of the resources of the children of the military, and that the group of lords who had followed Taizu to conquer the world were later squeezed out. They were the most loyal to the Jin Dynasty, and policies should be more inclined towards them rather than those children of the wild sects.

This force hopes that Your Majesty will continue to increase military spending in the north, but hopes to weaken the influence of the sect.

The three forces have been arguing over the situation in the north for thousands of years, and successive emperors have leaned towards one side, resulting in an unstable strategy towards the north. After this emperor came to power, he changed the previous emperor's policy of weakening the north and chose to increase aid, but he has been hesitant between the Jianghu faction and the lord faction, and many policies were not implemented in the first time.

Now that His Majesty has been on the throne for more than 20 years, this issue has been raised again during this year's imperial examination. It seems that he is planning to take some action again. After all, the last time the imperial examination was brought forward was nine years ago.

Qi Xuan took the pen and prepared for it. In less than half an hour, he wrote thousands of words. However, he did not notice that His Majesty and the Crown Prince were standing behind him.
(End of this chapter)