The conversation between Fang Yingwu and Mr. Shi Yanyan did not last long, only less than an hour. But even this time was enough for two smart people.
It is precisely because both of them are "smart people" that they can save a lot of unnecessary nonsense. Many things are clear without having to point them out verbally, and there is no need to waste too much time on "why". They just need to
Just do what you say.
When Shi Yan returned home, Mr. Xie had been waiting for him for a long time. "It has been agreed, I will spare you this time!" Shi Yan said to him, and then briefly explained the situation.
Mr. Xie knew that he could save his wealth and life, and a stone fell to the ground in his heart, and he no longer felt uneasy. But suddenly he felt a little unwilling, "Brother Shi has a big plan, is it just like making wedding clothes for him?"
Shi Yan laughed at himself: "You and I are both frustrated in the examination room, and we can only do things that are not on the stage! If we don't make wedding clothes for him, we have to make wedding clothes for others! What's wrong with this?"
But a young man's heart is as high as the sky, so support him and let him sit on all the seats of poetry leaders and famous literary figures. But whether he can sit still depends on his ability.
If he can sit still, then I will naturally be convinced and honestly follow his lead. If he has a high vision and a low hand and cannot sit still, it is no wonder that others are alienated."
Mr. Xie sighed again: "But we have been preparing for this provincial examination for more than half a year, and it is really a pity to give up like this."
Shi Yan said decisively: "This is Fang Yingwu's request, and we cannot violate it! There are always opportunities to make money. A feudal official like the governor will not stay in office for a long time. It can be as short as one year or as long as three years, so Governor Wang
It won't be too long either.
Come back next time for the provincial examination. Governor Wang will definitely be gone in three years. I don’t believe it. Next time, I won’t meet a relative of the governor out of nowhere to disrupt the situation!"
Mr. Xie thought of another worry: "If we set up Fang Yingwu, what will happen to the Shao family? The Shao family and Fang Yingwu are not getting along very well. The Shao family has helped a lot of money before."
Shi Yan struggled for a moment and said helplessly: "Then Shao Chen is really useless. What else can we do for the sake of helping him? This is what I just said. He is not able to sit firmly even if he takes the position. It will still be a few years.
Besides, if they don’t understand, there’s nothing they can do about it.”
"Without the Shao family's money, we have nothing for this rural examination. Then it will be difficult for the literary society to use the money in the future. I'm afraid we won't be able to hold several gatherings a year. Without elegant gatherings, there will be no momentum."
Shi Yan thought for a while, "In terms of money, there is nothing we can do... I heard at the governor's office that Fang Yingwu has a close relationship with the Wang family, a newly wealthy businessman who has emerged in the past two years. It seems that the Wang family can defeat Fang Yingwu.
Strong support.
I see that the way is right here. Fang Yingwu can't just sit back and enjoy the gains, but should also put in some effort. If he has a long-term vision, he won't be stingy with the money."
He didn't talk about anything, but he said that after this matter was settled, Fang Yingwu had nothing else to do. He only concentrated on reading, but his focus had shifted to edicts, sentences and other practical texts. As for the meaning of the classics, you know.
Time flies to the beginning of August, and the provincial examination is finally about to begin. By this time, not only the inner curtain officers have already moved into Gongyuan, but also the outer curtain officials such as supervisors, transfer officers, and deacons have also moved into Gongyuan.
The provincial examination is divided into three sessions, the first session on August 9th, the second session on August 15th, and the third session on August 17th. The results will be released in about ten days.
The exam started on August 9th, but the roll call started at 4 a.m. Because thousands of people participated in the provincial examination. The inspection was very strict. If the roll call started during the day, the roll call would not be completed until dark, so the roll call must be done early.
.
The examination equipment was all prepared in advance, including pens, inks, paper, inkstones, food, etc., all put in an examination basket. On the night of August 8, Fang Daxiucai went out to take the examination with confidence, and Wang Ying followed him with the examination basket.
behind.
The exam will be held tomorrow, roll call will be held at midnight, and we will set off tonight. Fang Yingwu couldn't help but sigh with emotion. It's not easy to take exams these days, and the level of hardship is simply unimaginable in his previous life.
After meeting up with two friends, Hong Song and Xiang Chengxian, the three of them walked to the Gongyuan together. Don't even think about sitting on the sedan. At this time, Qingyun Street outside the Gongyuan was filled with a sea of people, one after another. If there were no sergeants to clear the way, it would be impossible to sit down.
How can walking in a sedan be convenient?
This is the moment that truly determines the destiny of life. Qingyun Street is brightly lit, lanterns are everywhere, and the street is as bright as day.
Under the firelight, everyone's face was solemn. Even the most out-of-the-box person would be affected by this environment and become nervous.
Fang Yingwu was originally smiling and relaxed, but when he saw this situation, he immediately followed the trend and acted calm.
There are east and west gates built outside the gate of Gongyuan. It was almost midnight when Fang Yingwu and his party struggled to squeeze through the crowd. There are two lanes on the left and right of the gate of Gongyuan.
The country seeks talents.”
The firelight is brighter here, countless tall lanterns are placed in front of the door, and the dense crowd blocks the area near the door.
Compared with the scholar whose fingers were not stained with mud, Fang Yingwu seemed to be relatively strong. He once again fought his way through the crowd, squeezed into the gate of Gongyuan, and arrived at the second door.
In other places, the second gate is called Yimen, but here, the second gate is called Longmen, which is a very auspicious name. Longmen is where roll call is taken, and after passing Longmen, you officially enter the examination room.
There are four gates in the Longmen, which means "Yu Shu opened the four gates". Scholars from all over the province can enter the examination room only after roll call, physical examination and inspection.
Fang Yingwu, Hong Song, and Xiang Chengxian were waiting quietly in the courtyard in front of Longmen. No one said anything, each thinking about their own concerns.
Soon it was the fourth watch day, which would be one o'clock in the morning if used in the 21st century algorithm, and the roll call officially began. Several long signboards with the name of the county were raised high, instructing the county's scholars to come forward and wait.
Check.
In the Ming Dynasty, scholars were very respectable people, and they were inferior in everything except reading. But if you ask scholars about the most humiliating moment in their lives, it is estimated that 90% of them would answer that it was the pre-exam inspection.
At this very moment, these respectable people had to have their buns removed, their shoes and socks taken off, their hair disheveled, and their bare feet subjected to body searches by sergeants to prevent cheating.
There is nothing more elegant than this. I can't bear to look at you! Even if it is a special time traveler, it is no exception!
I don't know how much time passed, but when he saw the lanterns of Chun'an County hanging on the left, Fang Yingwu took the examination basket from Wang Ying's hand and personally carried it forward to line up.
When it was his turn, he still had to style his hair, take off his shoes and socks, and was groped by several strong men. Even the examination basket was rudely turned over.
A dozen steps away, in the very center of the dragon gate, Governor Wang, the chief promotion officer for this provincial examination, was sitting here, calmly watching Fang Yingwu being treated roughly.
After passing the customs, Fang Yingwu put on his shoes and socks again, and when he was about to straighten his clothes, suddenly there was a commotion in front of him. I don't know what happened.
Then I saw the crowd parting automatically, and a small path emerged. Then I saw a man with his hair scattered and his clothes open rushing out of the dragon gate. He laughed as he ran, clapped his hands and kept shouting: "I'm hit!"
bingo!"
Fang Yingwu was shocked. Before the exam even started, some candidates were so stimulated that they went crazy?
There were a few sergeants behind who chased the crazy candidate angrily. But the other soldiers felt the desolation in their hearts and silently gave way to the crazy candidate. No one helped to stop him, and as a result, the sergeant was unable to catch up for a while.
After a long commotion, the sergeant held down the examinee tightly and dragged him to Governor Wang to be punished. Then the calm returned to the dragon gate, and the scholars continued to be inspected silently.
Xiang Chengxian was searched in front of Fang Yingwu and entered the dragon gate first. He waited inside for a while and saw Fang Yingwu also come in. He sighed and said, "Did you see that crazy examinee outside just now? I heard he was there.
While I was praying to God, I was suddenly stimulated by two paintings and I went crazy."
"The God of Kao is still enshrined in the Gongyuan?" Fang Yingwu asked curiously: "What other words are there?"
Xiang Chengxian was in a very low mood, "When Brother Hong comes in for inspection, let's go and pay homage together. You will know then."
After waiting for a while, Hong Song also came in, and the three of them went to the center of the Gongyuan examination room together. They saw that outside the wall of the room, there was indeed a tall altar, and many candidates were worshiping there.
Fang Yingwu saw it from a distance and frowned: "Forgive me for being ignorant. I have heard about most of the gods from all over the world, but I have never heard of who is the God of Test?"
Xiang Chengxian said calmly: "The test of God is Zhang Fei."
"..." Fang Yingwu was speechless. He couldn't figure it out even if he thought about it. What does Zhang Fei have to do with the exam?
As he got closer, he saw majestic gods on the altar. Zhang Fei couldn't tell. There were flags hanging on both sides. The sign on the left flag was "Repay injustice", and on the right flag was "Repay injustice".
The font on the flag is "Revenge with enmity".
The cool breeze in the late night of early autumn blew past his forehead, and Fang Yingwu couldn't help but shiver. He suddenly understood why some candidates went crazy. The examination room facilities of the Ming Dynasty Provincial Examination were also weird. Is this Gongyuan or Senluo Hall?
Doing as the Romans do, Xiang Chengxian and Hong Song came forward and bowed casually, and then the three of them separated and went to their respective rooms.
Hong Song was worried that Fang Yingwu was inexperienced, so he warned carefully: "Brother Fang Xian, don't worry about anything after entering the room. Just fall down and go to sleep. Otherwise, if you wait until dawn and the exam starts, it will last all day, and it will be difficult to have energy."
I can persevere soberly.”
These are all words of experience, Fang Yingwu cupped his hands and said: "I have learned a lesson." Xiang Chengxian sighed again: "Please take care of yourself, which room are you in?"
There are thousands of rooms in this examination room, every fifty or one hundred rooms are in a row, with the prefix "Heaven and Earth Xuan Huang Universe Primordial" as the prefix, they are densely arranged in the Gongyuan.
Fang Yingwu lowered his head and looked at the test ticket, "I am in the 44th room in the four-digit row." Xiang Chengxian was stunned, and said in a faint tone: "I have heard that there have been deaths in several rooms.
, has been haunted, including this one..."
"Shut up!" Fang Yingwu couldn't stand Mr. Xiang anymore.
However, I remembered that when I was in college in my previous life, there were often rumors about which dormitory had a death and which study room was haunted... I didn't expect that the ancients also had this bad habit. It is really a centuries-old tradition.
