Xu Huai stood in Meng Jiaoyu's office, dazed in front of Magistrate Wang's approval, and had some bad premonitions in his heart.
Reject the candidate they submitted? But ask them to re-elect another person? Why bother? What's the point?
After thinking about it again, there is actually nothing to criticize about the behavior of the county magistrate. Although he disagreed with the candidates, he did not cross the line and directly appoint the candidates. Instead, he returned the power of election to the county school, and still asked the county school to decide separately.
Report candidates.
For the county magistrate, this is not too much. The parents' officials are the parents' officials, and they still have the right to speak. It is not surprising to deny a few candidates.
However, when faced with the request to re-report, Xu Huai felt that something was wrong and that things might not be that simple.
Since Yang Yuan, the previously selected Gongsheng candidate, was rejected by the county, he would try another one first. Xu Xueba thought about it, asked for opinions, and reported another person to the county government.
Soon, Wang Zhixian's approval came back again, with the same comment as the first time: "The candidate is not suitable. The county school will elect another good person and report again later."
Then Xu Huai was angry and applied for three more people in succession, but each time they were rejected by Magistrate Wang, but still let the county school continue to select people. Now even a fool can see that the Magistrate is definitely
on purpose.
Wang Zhixian could be unscrupulous and intentional, but Xu Huai found that even if he wanted to continue to be angry, he didn't have many candidates at hand.
Speaking of this year's tribute, although there is only one place at a time, it seems very small, but the number of students has not yet expanded to the level after Wanli, and there are not many candidates who truly meet the conditions.
According to the imperial system, only those who have been a member of the imperial family for more than ten years and cannot advance to the next level in the imperial examination are qualified to be a tribute student. And having the qualification to be a tribute student does not mean that you have this desire. Not everyone wants to be a tribute student.
.
Among those who meet the qualifications for Gongsheng students, most of them are older and have left school early to go home and live idle. There are also many ambitious people who still plan to continue to struggle in the examination hall. Neither of these two are candidates for Gongsheng students.
Therefore, after ten years of seniority, they are tired of taking exams. There are not many people who actively want to study in the Imperial College and take the path of being a graduate student. In the entire Chun'an County School, there are no more than six or seven who meet the requirements this year.
After being rejected several times by Magistrate Wang, the only people in the county school who were still eligible to be selected as Gongsheng students were Liu Yandao, who was supported by Fang Yingwu, besides Xu Huai himself.
Xu Xueba was so nourished by the county school that he obviously did not want to be a tribute student, so the only real candidate left was Liu Yandao.
At this time, facing the complaints from Yang Yuan and others, and the vague and looming ridicule from others, Xu Huai, who was originally confident, felt anxious and exhausted. But he had nothing to do. How did things become like this?
The behavior of the county magistrate is indeed in compliance with the regulations and does not break the rules. However, repeated over and over again, it has produced essential changes.
Although on the surface, the choice still lies with the school, and the magistrate has not violated any boundaries. However, after repeated denials, there is only one candidate left. How can he make a real choice?
Recalling the sentence "The county magistrate will never draft the candidates, the final selection will be made by the school", it was like a slap in the face.
It is true that the county magistrate did not directly select the candidates, and it is true that the schools had to select the candidates themselves. But the feeling was completely different.
The most painful part is that even after seeing through this, he still can't resist and can only watch as he is gradually forced into a blind corner. This is Fang Yingwu's way of causing trouble. It turns out that standing up and choking is just to confuse him!
Xu Huai also knew that many people were watching his joke, secretly or overtly. If he really lost, where would he put his face? This was a matter that he had controlled for three years, but he was unprepared to lose to a newcomer like Fang Yingwu.
Xu Xueba's embarrassing situation was noticed by others, and they all commented: "The new generation is better than the old one. If Senior Xu is to fall, he will definitely lose to Fang Yingwu."
Xiang Chengxian praised the other party: "High, really high. This is definitely a conspiracy. Even if Xu Huai saw through it early, he couldn't resist.
No wonder you didn’t ask me and Brother Hong for help. It turns out you were not careless, but you were confident! You can win this game without the help of the two of us."
As for Liu Yandao, the client who asked the entrusting party to help with the matter, he was overjoyed. Unexpectedly, there was hope again after all the twists and turns, and the realization of his wish seemed to be just around the corner. Except for him, the candidates were all rejected by the county magistrate one by one, so the final candidate
Who else?
Fang Yingwu laughed at this and said nothing. If he had some knowledge of modern electoral politics, it would not be difficult to design such a dilemma for Xu Xueba. Isn't this the essence of the electoral game?
What's more, political options are never just two opposing options. There are a lot of gray areas in between. How to make good use of these gray areas is where one's ability can be demonstrated.
It is indeed inconvenient for the county magistrate to directly select candidates, but he can achieve the same effect through a more indirect and gentle method of vetoing all other candidates.
Facts have once again proved that although scholars can be intoxicated with vanity and have the illusion of arrogance, and sometimes even take advantage of the government, but in the final analysis it is still an illusion. It only depends on whether the government needs to expose the illusion.
Several days passed. Meng Jiaoyu was giving a lecture in Minglun Hall. Suddenly, a county official shouted outside the door: "The elder sent the younger one to ask questions. Seeing the time passing by, why is there no one in Sui Gong?"
Report?
If you don't submit the application again, you will miss this year's opportunity! Therefore, I ask your county school to submit the candidates today so that the great master can forward them to the capital in time."
Everyone looked at Xu Huai and Fang Yingwu in unison. These two people were contradicting each other over this matter, and the final outcome had to come out from between them.
Fang Yingwu stood up and walked to the front of Meng Jiaoyu and asked: "Liu Yandao, Senior Liu has outstanding character and pure morals. He is the best candidate for Gongsheng. What do you think, sir?"
Meng Jiaoyu, who realized that he had colluded with Xu Huai, couldn't think of anything. He looked at Xu Huai, but he only saw Xu Huai in a daze. So he still had no idea, and finally had to say: "Very good."
Fang Yingwu turned around in a wicked way and said to his classmates: "Who agrees? Who opposes?"
Xu Xueba snorted coldly, stood up and left Minglun Hall, disappearing out the door without looking back. The students watched Xu Huai leave and no one stepped forward to dissuade him.
"Congratulations to classmate Liu!" "Congratulations to senior Liu!" The situation has changed. It's still the same group of people, but this time they all gathered around Liu Yandao and kept saying congratulations.
