Chapter 271: Confrontation and Compromise
In the next few days, Gu Bingqian frequently found faults in many papers and Fang Congzhe maintained a controlled counterattack, neither completely destroying his face, but also not giving Gu Bingqian sufficient reason to make trouble in the court. This kind of The neither soft nor hard measures also made Gu Bingqian feel uncomfortable.
But for Gu Bingqian, this can be considered a victory.
He believed that his "reasonable arguments" after locking up the courtyard and his confrontation with Fang Congzhe would be passed on to the emperor's ears.
Now Gu Bingqian has no interest in maintaining a good relationship with Fang Congzhe. He knows very well that it is difficult for him to win the favor and recognition of this group of mainstream civil servants who dominate the court, so he may simply rely entirely on the emperor. This may still have some points. Chance.
If he really had a complete falling out with Fang Congzhe and the review editors of the Hanlin Academy at this time, it would have considerable side effects. I am afraid that his reputation among the scholar-officials would really be ruined. This is what Gu Bingqian needs. Grasp the scale.
“Mr. Gu, let’s talk?” As more and more papers were transcribed, and seeing that this round of review and evaluation was coming to an end, Fang Congzhe also knew that he needed to have a positive conversation with Gu Bingqian.
Top straw wolf -fear of both ends, Fang Congzhe could feel his and Gu Bingqian's mind slightly.
To break up and go to the court or even the emperor, this is something that has never happened in the Zhou Dynasty or even in the previous dynasties. It will be a devastating blow to himself, Gu Bingqian's political reputation and reputation as a scholar. I'm afraid this is the case for two people. They don't want to see it, but if you give in easily, it will also bring a lot of subsequent troubles and problems.
Fang Congzhe knew very well that his prestige and reputation were based on the recognition of the scholarly civil servants, especially the noble officials like the Hanlin Academy. In terms of actual power or role in their hands, they did not have much use, but Their influence cannot be underestimated.
This area can be regarded as his basic base, and Fang Congzhe does not dare to give up or compromise easily.
"How dare I disobey the invitation from the elder of the pavilion?" Gu Bingqian also knew that it was time to show off his cards.
In the past few days, there have been more than a dozen papers that were rejected but selected by him. They are basically similar to the first paper, but there are also slight differences.
That is, the polarization of the first paper was too obvious, and the diction was indeed too superficial and rough, but the content was extremely rich and targeted.
Most of the more than ten papers that followed were slightly poor in literary talent, but the content was relatively meaningful.
In fact, Gu Bingqian also felt that he should be deposed, but he had to make a clear statement and make a full gesture, otherwise it would be difficult to obtain the results he wanted in the final negotiations.
There were only two people left in the room.
"Master Gu, what do you want?" Fang Congzhe said calmly: "There are only two of us, so there is no need to go around in circles. Master Gu also knows Fang's temperament, so tell me."
Gu Bingqian didn't expect that the other party would make it clear as soon as he came up, but then he thought about it, he couldn't delay it any longer at this time, and he was about to classify the papers that had passed the exam. According to the convention, they would be divided into five grades, and the rankings would be sorted in each grade. , this is also a quite tedious task, and the sorting is mainly carried out by the chief examiner and the deputy chief examiner.
If it is difficult for the two to reach an agreement or compromise now, then this evaluation will no longer be able to continue. This is also an unprecedented story. In the end, I am afraid that both of them will be forced to resign.
"Mr. Ge is aware of Gu's temperament and has no other intentions. However, the significance of this subject is extraordinary. The Emperor's intentions. Gu believes that Mr. Ge also understands that the current trend of fatigue in the court is increasing, and the Emperor intends to sweep away such stale things. Feng, we ministers must naturally uphold the holy will, but the people in the Hanlin Academy may have forgotten their responsibilities and blindly follow the old customs. This is not a blessing for the imperial court."
Gu Bingqian was not polite, "Gu knows the difficulties faced by Mr. Gu, but there are some things that Gu has to do, otherwise Gu, the deputy examiner, will become a puppet and his body will be left alone, and Gu will not do it!"
“Then Mr. Gu is determined to have his own way?” Fang Congzhe didn’t expect this guy’s attitude to be so tough, and he was a little worried.
"No, but Mr. Ge also needs to understand Gu's difficulties. If these rotten scholars are allowed to behave like this, Gu would rather burn the boat." Gu Bingqian said firmly.
Fang Congzhe stared at the other person for a long time before he smiled. This guy really almost scared him. If he really planned to fight to the death, why would he keep chattering like this?
“Well, I understand what Mr. Gu means. So what Mr. Gu means is that more than ten papers will be selected?” Fang Congzhe took another step to test, his eyes becoming colder and colder.
"Uh." Gu Bingqian hesitated for a moment. This question was a bit difficult to answer. If he agreed straight away, there would be no room for maneuver. If he gave in but was afraid of being revealed by the other party, he couldn't think too much at this time. "Mr. Ge, you have read these papers. You know how they are, what do you think?"
Gu Bingqian’s face changed slightly, “If that’s the case, Mr. Ge, there’s no need to talk about it anymore, why not hand it over to the Holy Inquisition!”
Fang Congzhe nodded, basically estimating the bottom line in the other party's heart, and said calmly: "That's it, seven of them can be taken, but they cannot be included in the first four brackets, they are all in the fifth bracket!"
Gu Bingqian was a little hesitant. Qifen was indeed his bottom line, but it was difficult for him to accept all of them being put into the fifth gear.
Although the determination of first, second and third grade still needs to be determined by the palace examination, among the more than 300 papers, the reading of each paper is basically controlled by the examiner. If it is listed as the fifth grade, it is basically impossible to enter the second grade. , can only be listed in the third class with Jinshi.
But seeing the cold determination in Fang Congzhe's eyes, Gu Bingqian also knew that this was probably the best result he could achieve. Otherwise, the other party would have taken the lead and complained to the Holy Father, which he was not willing to accept.
Seeing Gu Bingqian finally nodded, Fang Congzhe breathed a sigh of relief.
Achieving this effect is actually not what he wants, but he is not willing to get entangled with the other party on this matter.
Once he goes to court, Gu Bingqian will certainly not end well. Even being demoted is a frivolous matter. If not, he may be ordered to resign. But his dream of being the chief minister will probably come to nothing, but he will take advantage of Ye Xianggao in vain. This is another This is something Fang Congzhe can't let go of.
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Feng Ziying and his party naturally did not know about the series of disturbances that occurred after the Gongyuan was locked. It is still under lock-down. All of this will not be known until the lock is unlocked.
These more than ten days have been a torture for countless students. Everyone is eager to see whether they are on the list as soon as possible, but they are also afraid of seeing that cruel scene.
But this day is coming eventually.
Early in the morning of February 28th, countless students gathered on the streets of Chang'an. According to the Zhou regular system, the Chinese-style exam results will be posted here instead of outside the Gongyuan like the provincial exams.
Right now, someone started to post the imperial list on the courtyard wall specially used for posting. However, the first ones posted were the lists of admission officials. It was difficult for these to attract everyone's interest, but they had to be posted first. Then they were divided into more than ten pieces of yellow paper and posted one after another.
Basically, there are about 30 people in each post, from front to back in order of name, place of origin, identity, and finally a few articles on the subject.
The so-called Cheng Wen is a model article that can be used for study and for the reference of the majority of students.
Thousands of people gathered throughout the streets of Chang'an, and people from the Five Cities Military and Horse Division had already started patrolling at both ends to prevent anyone from taking the opportunity to cause trouble.
More than fifty students from Qingtan Academy were waiting at the Hongbin Inn. Guan Yingzhen and Zhou Yongchun were also sitting in the lobby of the inn with a group of students. The one who came to see the rankings was Yi Er, who had not even passed Qiu Wei. Ten students, including Xu Qixun, Fu Zonglong, Song Shixiang, Sun Chuanting and others, all came out in full force.
Today's Hong Guest Inn has already refused to entertain guests, including the waiters in the store, who are waiting with excitement, waiting for the moment when the fate of these students will be revealed. Everyone wants to know what will happen after this moment. How many serious officials have been produced from this group of people? Once they are Chinese-style, they will be the real officials of the Zhou Dynasty, and they all start at the seventh rank!
Looking at Fang Youdu with white lips next to her, Feng Ziying couldn't help but feel a little nervous.
Indeed, among the students who are relatively close to each other, it is definitely no problem to practice national affairs, and Xu Xie should be no problem as well, that is, it depends on whether he can be ranked in the top 100 or even the top 30.
For people like Fan Jingwen, Chen Qiyu, and Wu Yan, the chances are relatively high. For people like myself, Zheng Chongjian, and Fang Youdu, the chances are smaller, especially for Fang Youdu and myself.
Accompanied by a loud noise on the street outside the door, the noisy voices of people were like floods breaking through the gates, sweeping in like thunder, and occasionally there were some hoarse screams, "Good news, good news! Henan Yongcheng student training State affairs, the first place in the Chinese-style Yonglong fifth spring examination!"
When this voice came into the inn, and the continuous sounds of good news approached, all with the same content, the whole inn suddenly became excited. Is it actually a matter of practicing state affairs? !
Everyone, including Guan Yingzhen and Zhou Yongchun, believed that the first place, Huiyuan, was either Han Jing, Xu Xie, Ai Nanxing from Baima Academy, or Yang Sichang from Chongzheng Academy. Or maybe it was Huang Zunsu of Chongwen Academy, but he didn't expect to be practicing state affairs.
Although Lian Guoshi is quite famous, in terms of talent and reputation, he is still inferior to Han Jing, Xu Xie and others, but he did not expect that he won Huiyuan in one fell swoop!
(End of this chapter)