Prime Minister

Chapter 78, Section 077: Entering the Game

February 26th, noon.

The east corridor of Zuoshun Gate houses the Ministry of Works.

Since Shen Wang took over this place, he has been patiently and steadily solving long-standing problems. The atmosphere of the Ministry of Works has been changing day by day, and it has now become a brand new place.

With newly appointed officials such as Yuan Cheng, Fang Jiming, and Chen Zhi setting an example, the lower-level officials naturally dared not slack off. The new system with them as its backbone quickly matured and supported the operation of the entire government office.

The person who worked the hardest was undoubtedly Shen Wang.

He only took a five-day, six-month leave, half of which was spent entertaining Xue Huai at home on the seventh day of the first lunar month.

He knew that Xue Huai was about to face a major test. It was difficult to excel in the position of co-examiner in the imperial examination, but it was easy to make mistakes. Moreover, because it was related to the foundation of the dynasty, once a mistake was made and someone with ulterior motives took notice, it was very likely to cause a lot of trouble.

However, Shen Wang did not give Xue Huai the same instructions as before during this period. Firstly, he was extremely busy, having to sort out the official system of the Ministry of Works and reorganize the myriad affairs. He could only sleep for two or three hours a day at most.

Secondly, Xue Huai ultimately needs to undergo constant trials to grow. Shen Wang cannot always stand by his side to shield him from the wind and rain; otherwise, he will only produce a mediocre talent who is all show and no substance and cannot shoulder real responsibilities.

As for the last point...

Shen Wang picked up his teacup, took a sip of tea, and his eyes were deep and unfathomable.

The imperial examination is a grand ceremony for selecting talents, but it has become a common practice for various forces to manipulate things. Shen Wang had a premonition that the emperor would not sit idly by this time, so he had to minimize his meetings with Xue Huai during this period to guard against the secret agents of the Jing'an Division hiding in the shadows.

"master."

A middle-aged man with an ordinary appearance, around forty years old, walked into the duty room and closed the door behind him.

His name was Lü Duan. On the surface, he was the steward of the Shen family, but in reality, he was one of Shen Wang's most trusted confidants.

What's the situation with Xue Huai?

Shen Wang turned to ask.

Lu Duan approached and said, "At the beginning of Chenshi (7-9 AM) today, Xue Shidu went to the Ministry of Rites to collect his official documents and then went directly to the Examination Hall to report for duty. According to past practice, the Examination Hall will hold a closing ceremony at the beginning of Shenshi (3-5 PM)."

Shen Wang was naturally very familiar with these procedures, and his expression was slightly complicated at this moment.

I thought again and again about giving Xue Huai space to grow on his own, trying to avoid forcing him to grow too fast, and letting him experience more trials. However, when the time came, I couldn't help but worry.

To outsiders, Shen Wang's care for Xue Huai might be due to his talent. After all, he was able to achieve the third-highest rank in the imperial examination at the age of sixteen and write the poem "Ode to Plum Blossoms" at the age of eighteen. Such talent is rare even in the more than one hundred years of history of the Great Yan Dynasty.

However, Shen Wang knew in his heart that it was Xue Huai's restraint and determination in the Ministry of Works corruption case that moved him. Xue Huai was no longer as reckless as before, but he still retained his upright and courageous nature.

With such a mindset, Xue Huai will surely become an assistant to Shen Wang in his grand scheme in the future, so he does not want this disciple to fall into danger.

"master?"

Lu Duan was puzzled. The person he admired most in his life was his master. No matter how troublesome the problem was, he could solve it with ease. He rarely saw his master in such a dazed state.

Shen Wang composed himself and asked calmly, "What are your thoughts on this year's imperial examination?"

Lu Duan had followed Shen Wang for nearly twenty years, so he naturally knew what Shen Wang was asking. After a moment's thought, he replied, "Master, Vice Minister Ouyang is unlikely to give up. After all, he has become increasingly weak in the past two years. If he cannot help his subordinates to gain benefits, their morale may collapse. However, I think that Vice Minister Ouyang will not dare to go too far, since Vice Minister Yue Zhongming is a true confidant of the Grand Secretary."

Shen Wang tapped his fingers lightly on the table, his expression calm and composed.

Seeing this, Lü Duan continued, "As for Prime Minister Ning... I believe that after the corruption case in the Ministry of Works, Prime Minister Ning urgently needs to stabilize the situation. His need is more urgent than that of Vice Prime Minister Ouyang. This spring examination is the perfect opportunity for Prime Minister Ning to take action. As long as the core members of the Ning faction remain steadfast, Prime Minister Ning can continue to control the overall situation."

His deduction seems reasonable.

In the spring imperial examination, all sides put on their act. Ouyang Hui wanted to appease his faction by giving some of the selected scholars a chance to win, while Ning Hengzhi tried his best to mitigate the negative impact of Xue Minglun's dismissal. The two cabinet leaders seemed to be going to have a showdown in this spring imperial examination, and see whose methods were more secretive and clever, and who would have the last laugh.

However, Shen Wang frowned slightly and said softly, "I'm afraid that Chief Minister Ning's ambitions lie elsewhere."

Lü Duan was taken aback, not understanding what he meant.

Shen Wang didn't continue speaking. He turned his head and looked southeast, where the Imperial Examination Hall of the capital was located.

After a moment, Shen Wang slowly stood up and looked at Lü Duan, saying, "While the examination hall is not yet locked, you should immediately tell that 'stubborn man' that if anything happens to the examination hall during the spring examination, he must act according to Xue Huai's arrangements."

Lü Duan dared not be careless, and stood up solemnly, saying, "Don't worry, sir, I will take care of it right away!"

……

The Imperial Examination Hall is located in the southeast corner of the capital city.

As the hour of Shen (3-5 PM) approached, a large group of officials arrived at the Dragon Gate of the Imperial Examination Hall.

At the head of the group was Sun Yan, the chief examiner of this year's spring imperial examination and a Grand Secretary of the Cabinet. Standing to his left was Yue Zhongming, the vice-principal and Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites, and to his right stood Fan Dongyang, the supervisor and Left Vice Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate. These three were in charge of all affairs related to the spring imperial examination. Sun Yan and Yue Zhongming were responsible for leading the inner curtain officials in grading the papers, while Fan Dongyang was responsible for coordinating the examination affairs, inspecting the examination discipline, and managing all the outer curtain officials.

Following the three, the examiners, invigilators, sealing officials, copyists, reading officials, patrol officials, and supply officials were arranged in order.

The ceremony to lock the courtyard officially began.

After the supervising official finished reading the opening imperial edict for this year's spring imperial examination, Sun Yan led the officials into the examination hall. They first went to the Kui Xing Pavilion to burn incense and kowtow, praying for academic success. Then they went to the Zhi Gong Hall to worship the Sage Confucius. Finally, they made a vow under the plaque "A Bright Mirror Hangs High".

The ceremony concluded, and the supervising official ordered the outer gate of the examination hall to be locked and sealed with a seal from the Ministry of Rites.

The two high walls inside and outside the examination hall were covered with thorns, and the four corner towers were guarded by imperial guards. At the same time, elite spies from the Jing'an Division also worked together to guard the area.

From this moment on, the entire examination hall will be isolated from the outside world, and all examiners will be required to hand over their personal seals, which will be sealed and stored by the supervising censors.

They were not allowed to leave the examination hall, meet with relatives and friends, or receive documents from outside the hall.

The examiners were not freed until the lockdown was lifted on March 20th at 9:00 AM.

Xue Huai was mentally prepared for this. He returned to his small private room in Ju Kui Hall and leisurely organized the various daily necessities he would need for the next month.

The courtyard would naturally provide accommodation and meals, but fearing that he might be mistreated at the examination hall, Cui had Moyun prepare three large bundles. One bundle contained various changes of clothes, another contained snacks, tea, and sandalwood that were easy to store, and the last contained several sets of fine writing implements and incense.

Xue Huai originally did not want to make a big fuss, but Cui Shi rarely acted arbitrarily and directly assigned Li Shun to do things, without giving Xue Huai a chance to refuse.

These bags were also searched when Xue Huai was admitted to the hospital. Fortunately, the soldiers were not as rough as they were with the scholars. Although the search was very thorough, they were very gentle and did not dare to be abrupt in the slightest.

The single room for the examiners was quite cramped, with only room for a bed, a desk, and a chair. But this was the second best treatment in the courtyard, second only to the three chief examiners. The others even had seven or eight people crammed into one large communal room.

Xue Huai looked around, placed the bundle containing clothes directly at the foot of the bed, and put the writing implements and incense on the desk. As for the snacks and daily necessities, they could only stay in the corner.

There is nothing else to do today except for the courtyard locking ceremony. Dinner will be brought by servants later.

Xue Huai sat at his desk, seemingly lost in thought, but in reality, he was pondering the unpredictable nature of this spring imperial examination.

According to the information provided by Jiang Li, the chief examiner Sun Yan appears to be neutral in the cabinet, but secretly he has close ties with the second prime minister Ouyang Hui, while the relationship between Yue Zhongming and the prime minister Ning Hengzhi is common knowledge.

Recalling what he saw at the Ministry of Rites that day, Yue Zhongming seemed to be acting on behalf of Ning Hengzhi to warn others not to think about using the imperial examination for personal gain, and his focus was on the chief examiner, Sun Yan.

"Xue Shidu".

After an unknown amount of time, a gentle voice from outside the door startled Xue Huai from his reverie.

He got up and walked outside, where he saw Grand Secretary Sun Yan standing outside with a smile, followed by two close attendants.

"Greetings, Your Excellency."

Xue Huai bowed respectfully.

Sun Yan smiled and said, "The conditions in the examination hall are simple and cannot compare with your home. I was worried that you would not be used to it, so I came here to see you."

"It is truly a blessing for us that the Grand Secretary is so considerate of his subordinates."

Xue Huai also smiled and said, "However, I believe that all of you colleagues will be able to adapt to life here. After all, three years ago we endured nine days and nine nights of hardship in the cells in the front yard. Our biggest wish was to have a room, a table, and a bed like we have now."

"I forgot about that."

Sun Yan laughed heartily. His two attendants behind him looked slightly surprised, clearly not expecting that the legendary aloof and proud Xue Hanlin would say such a witty remark.

Seeing that the other party had no intention of leaving, Xue Huai had a plan in mind, so he continued, "If the Grand Secretary has some free time, why not come inside and sit for a while?"

"Alright."

Sun Yan nodded in agreement, and then entered the small room with Xue Huai, while the two attendants remained outside like door gods.

Xue Huai invited Sun Yan to sit at the desk, took out the fragrant tea prepared at home, brewed a cup for him, and then sat calmly on the edge of the bed, saying, "I wonder what advice the Grand Secretary has for me?"

He knew that the other party's visit was definitely not a simple inspection. According to the habits of these important figures, they would probably ramble on and on for a long time. Rather than wasting his energy playing along with their roundabout games, Xue Huai preferred to get straight to the point.

Most importantly, he wanted to use this method to test Sun Yan's true strength.

Although Sun Yan did not have the power of Ning Hengzhi and Ouyang Hui, he was still a Grand Secretary of the Cabinet and was usually highly respected by the civil and military officials in the court. He had not experienced this sharp feeling for a long time.

Thinking of this, his smile grew even warmer, as if Xue Huai were his most valued and admired junior nephew.

(End of this chapter)