All the uninvited guests were dealt with one by one. Under the greetings of Fang Yingwu and Xiang Chengxian, Zuixiang Tower was very lively tonight.
The lights upstairs and downstairs were as bright as day, and more than 60 people from Zhejiang Province gathered together, changing glasses, laughing, occasionally mixed with a few beautiful screams... This was the last comfort before the results were released.
You all enjoy the time with a tacit understanding.
When the results are released tomorrow, some will be happy and some will be sad. Although the admission rate for the joint examination is higher than that of the provincial examination, it is only less than 10%. Most people will return "frustrated". God will not reward you.
Well, given the opportunity to help the country, I have no choice but to reluctantly go back to my hometown and continue to be a rich man.
Moreover, everyone is equal tonight. They are all candidates for the same examination, all candidates from the same province, and all provincial elites. But when the results come out tomorrow, new identity boundaries will be subdivided.
After all, there is a difference between a would-be Jinshi and a successful candidate. There is a difference between a proud man who looks at the world and a country bumpkin. There are very few opportunities to be able to hang around like today.
Fang Yingwu reserved the space upstairs and downstairs. The invited guests were upstairs, accompanied by the host Fang Yingwu; the uninvited guests were all downstairs, accompanied by Xiang Chengxian.
Fang Yingwu sat on the chairman's chair, chatting and laughing with everyone from time to time. Drinking and having fun were also indispensable items. But he was not too active, nor did he show off his old skills of poetry. Because tonight he is the master, and the master must have
The host's demeanor means there is no need to compete for the limelight with the guests.
Fang Yingwu smiled and glanced slowly across the hall. He saw Wang Yangming's father, Wang Hua, Li Min, who was dismissed from the Yuan Dynasty in the same year, Wang You, a celebrity from the county, and some celebrities from the province...
.
As long as he can invite all these people over, that will be his greatest prestige as the master. Who else has the prestige to bring so many people together? Why should he be too aggressive to steal the limelight and make others dislike him?
Suddenly, a small burst of laughter broke out not far to the left. Fang Yingwu raised his eyes and found that Du Xiangqin, the secretary of the Jiaofang Secretary, was also there.
Someone turned around and called out to the other party: "Ms. Du Sanni said that whoever ranks highest this time will be invited to entertain him for three days! Mr. Fang, will you agree to part with your love?"
Fang Yingwu waved his hand and said with a smile: "I am a serious gentleman and will not participate in your nonsense!"
Someone in the corner deliberately sighed: "I wonder which of my friends here was given a copy of "Looking for Flowers and Questions of Willows" by the court official before the examination and misbehaved? Madam Du Sanni seems to have seen this person, right?"
The whole hall burst into laughter, and the atmosphere became more and more cheerful. After the laughter, Xiang Chengxian's head suddenly appeared at the top of the stairs, shouting to everyone upstairs: "Du Meiren is the one below! No one wants to rob her!"
Fang Yingwu remembered Wang Zhi's words, and wanted to call Du Xiangqin over to ask a few questions. At this time, a shop boy suddenly came to him, and the other party Yingwu said: "Mr. Fang, there is a man named Lou Tianhua outside the door.
, claiming to be your old acquaintance and asking to see you."
Lou Tianhua is the down-and-out scholar who often hangs around the guild hall and makes a living by snooping for information and acting as a middleman.
Why is he here? I don’t need him here now. Although Fang Yingwu was puzzled, he still nodded and said: "Please come in!"
Not long after, Lou Tianhua appeared in front of Fang Yingwu. After saluting, he said, "I heard that Mr. Fang is having a banquet with fellow villagers here to wait for the candidates. Would you like to know the list of candidates for the examination in advance?"
Lou Tianhua's voice was not loud, but the area around Fang Yingwu suddenly became quiet, and all eyes were directed at Lou Tianhua. Although everyone seemed to be carefree on the surface, what they cared about the most was still the result of the test.
Fang Yingwu was shocked. Lou Tianhua and his gang could even find out such a confidential thing? Gongyuan was strictly sealed, where did the secret leak come from?
He looked around, pondered for a moment and then replied: "We scholars, please don't listen to what is inappropriate. I'd better not do this illegal thing."
Lou Tianhua accompanied him with a smile and said: "Young master Fang is worrying too much. I will never violate the rules of nature!"
"Oh? I'd like to hear the details." Fang Yingwu was very curious. Do you want to rely on fortune telling?
Lou Tianhua explained: "Although the examination list is posted in the Ministry of Etiquette tomorrow morning or in the morning on the 27th, the writing of the list actually starts at midnight, and the successful candidates are approved and written one by one.
Only then can it be sent to the Ceremony Department.
At midnight, all examiners and supervisors will gather in the lobby of Gongyuan, and all copies and original papers of the Chinese examination papers will be moved to the hall.
Then, according to the ranking of the test paper, the names are opened one by one, and after proofreading them one by one, the calligrapher writes the name on the examination list. Open a name, proofread the test paper, and then write a name on the examination list.
Name, this is the final confirmation of the candidate.
In other words, this is an all-night process and takes a long time. Although the names of the people who have been written on the examination list have not yet been released to the outside world, they have actually been admitted and cannot be revised.
And we have someone here who can spread the news as soon as the names are written on the list, and report the number of people on the list, so that everyone can know the results as soon as possible, without having to wait until the Ministry of Rites publishes the list tomorrow morning. In fact, this is not
Even if it violates the rules of heaven and leaks secrets, the exams and grading have already ended, and the results have been settled. We just tried to find a way to report the good news as early as possible."
Fang Yingwu was speechless. As expected, these days, there are snakes and rats. Ordinary officials may be concerned about their dignity and disdain to do such nonsense, but the junior officials don't care.
Finally, Lou Tianhua added, "Of course, if you want to know the result early, money is indispensable. The younger one can help Mr. Fang to pull the strings."
Money is indispensable, a pun intended. First, the money must be paid, and second, the bid cannot be too low.
Fang Yingwu looked around and saw pairs of longing eyes. If everyone waits dryly until tomorrow morning, it will be boring after a long time. But if the latest Chinese news comes while drinking and having fun, it will make the night banquet more exciting.
Even more exciting, it might become a grand event.
Thinking of this, he said to Lou Tianhua: "Well, thank you, Your Excellency! If you have any news, especially news from Zhejiang Province, send it to Zuixianglou! Your money is indispensable!"
The overspending tonight was huge... Fang Yingwu was a little heartbroken, Meng Changchunshen was really not a good candidate. Lou Tianhua made a bow and said loudly to everyone: "I wish you all good luck in high school!"
"Then he went out happily.
The banquet continued, but after midnight, the noise became much quieter. Many of the more enterprising people were a little distracted. Their thoughts had already flown to Gongyuan, and they had probably started writing the list.
Unknowingly, the third watch passed slowly, and at the fourth watch, I suddenly heard a crash downstairs, and a anxious person was already standing on the edge of the railing, stretching his neck and looking down.
Someone shouted at the top of their lungs: "Good news! Good news! The 300th place..."
There is a rule in writing the list, which is to write from the last one to the last one. Those who are ranked later will appear earlier, and the first one to come out will be the last one. It seems that the undergraduate examination may only admit 300 people, no
More or less, exactly the middle number between two hundred and five and three hundred and five.
Now no one in the whole building said anything, and everyone listened attentively to the good news - "The 300th, Li Min from Qiantang County, Zhejiang!"
Okay! The first one is from Zhejiang Province, which is a good start. Especially since Li Min is also upstairs, everyone cheers together and expresses congratulations to Li Min.
Li Min frowned. He was always proud of himself and was a little dissatisfied with the 300th place. He was the first place in the Zhejiang Provincial Examination, Jie Yuan! How did he get the 300th place in the provincial examination? This was the last person on the list.
One, do all examiners have eye problems?
But he thought again, it was better to get on the list than to fail. Besides, this was just a general examination. There would be a palace examination later where he could show his talents. That would be the final ranking, so he was relieved.
Then Li Min remembered Yingwu's prediction before the exam that he would fail, and couldn't help but said to Fang Yingwu: "Fang is the same year, it seems that I won't be able to get the top prize in the next subject, but I can still give it a try in the undergraduate program."
Fang Yingwu smiled bitterly, and could only swallow the bitter fruit and said: "I'm sorry, it's your fault."
It’s not easy to be a prophet. Although the general direction of history has not changed, the butterfly effect has still occurred, and some small details are inevitably different from the previous life. Li Min should have failed this time, but he counterattacked and became the number one scholar in the next subject, but unexpectedly
, he did not fail this time in this time and space.
Along with Li Min, the news came from several other people on the list, all of whom were at the bottom of the list. However, those few were not from Zhejiang, so no one was very interested in paying attention.
After the hustle and bustle of the first news, Zuixiang Tower became quiet again. There was no hustle and bustle in the hall, no shouting, everyone was in small groups, talking among themselves, and the banquet seemed to have turned into a tea party.
A quarter of an hour later, there was another noise downstairs, and the messenger came again, shouting loudly: "The 290th place in the examination, Chun'an County, Zhejiang..."
Hearing these words, Fang Yingwu was confused, stood up suddenly, and held his breath nervously.
Although he has always thought that he is very calm, with his current status and age, he is not in a hurry to become an official in the Chinese style. He keeps saying that I am lucky if I get it, and I am lucky if I lose it.
But when things came to pass, he found that he still couldn't calm down. Is it because he felt guilty about his eight-part essay standard, so he comforted himself like that? If he could win, of course it would be better, and the biggest threshold in his life would have been passed.
, I dare not say that it will be a smooth road from now on, but there will be no barriers. For those who travel through time, the imperial examination is of course the biggest obstacle in striving to reach the top.
"No. 290...Xiang Chengxian!"
The noise immediately started downstairs, mixed with Mr. Xiang’s proud laughter: “Hahahahahaha!”
Damn, this is just bullshit... Fang Yingwu laughed a few times and couldn't help but complain. Mr. Xiang's nonchalant attitude towards the exam turned out to be Chinese style. This is not bullshit.
What is luck? Does the examiner have eye disease?
While he was happy that his friend was on the list, Fang Yingwu was a little worried. It would be okay if he didn't win. If he didn't win this time, wouldn't he be a head shorter than Mr. Xiang and become his follower in the future?
?It’s really confusing...Forget it, let’s go downstairs to say hello first.
In this sleepless night, the messengers came again and again to announce the good news. There were seven or eight Chinese people in the building. Except for Li Min and Xiang Chengxian, who were ranked at the bottom, Wang You, a celebrity from the same county, was in the 40th place.
Eight people appeared, and the future number one pick (already doubtful) Wang Hua appeared in the 37th place... and there was another one who won the 14th place.
The rankings he appeared in were getting higher and higher, and Fang Yingwu's heart became heavier and heavier.
He doesn't have much confidence in the level of his writing. Even if he can write Chinese, he will probably be at the bottom of the rankings. The top name may be too low. In other words, the further back he goes, the lower the probability that he will be Chinese.
When the sky was dark, more than 290 of the 300 people who had been selected for the test had already submitted their names, and the remaining ones who had not shown up were all in the top ten.
Fang Yingwu sighed, there was really no chance for this examination. If his two essays were in the top ten when he copied the papers without his name, what would happen to the examiner's eyesight?
He rubbed his forehead again and started planning his career. In the next three years, he would honestly play the role of a second-generation official and a dog-headed military advisor. This is also a promising career.
Not only Fang Yingwu, but most of the people in the building were a little disappointed. After all, there were only seven or eight people among the sixty people. They sighed long and short, drank to drink to drown their sorrows, and some people even left the table early.
Wang Yangming's father saw that Fang Yingwu's enthusiasm was waning, so he comforted him: "Master Fang, why should you be discouraged? There are still a few places to be ranked." Fang Yingwu waved his hand and said, "I know my own business, and it is difficult for my humble skills to reach the level of elegance.
..."
"You are also one of the top three in the province, how can you demoralize yourself so much and make others look down on you!" Li Min suddenly interjected from the other side.
At this time, suddenly there was a noise again downstairs, and then Xiang Chengxian was seen running upstairs, breathlessly shouting: "Great joy! Great joy!"
The attention of everyone in the building was attracted. What great joy could there be at this time?
A messenger came out from behind Xiang Chengxian, holding a big red post, lowered his head and read word for word: "In the 17th year of Chenghua, the first place in the Xinchou Science Examination was Huiyuan, Fang Yingwu, Chun'an County, Zhejiang Province
!”
Damn it! Fang Yingwu jumped up from his seat. The examiner was really blind. No, did he have an eye disease? There must be something shady in this!
Although Huiyuan is not the number one scholar, has no actual surname meaning, and will not be appointed based on Huiyuan, Huiyuan is still one of the three yuans, and he is also the best in the world! As long as you are a scholar, who doesn't want these false names!
Although Fang Yingwu had always warned himself to remain calm regardless of gains or losses and not to lose his dignity, at this moment he couldn't help but clenched his fists and raised them high, laughing wildly, the sound waves echoing around him.
No matter what fishy inside story there is, let’s enjoy the present moment first, and it won’t be too late to die after enjoying the moment!
Everyone saw it and didn't think it was out of the ordinary. If he were nineteen years old and had won the first place in the test, he would probably be even more crazy than Fang Yingwu.
I don’t know who took the lead, and everyone in the building clapped and cheered. It was like thunder, resounding throughout the Zuixiang Building, and it was probably no problem to spread it for two miles. This is the best in the world, and everyone deserves to be impressed!
Xiang Chengxian, who was standing at the entrance of the stairs and couldn't squeeze in, shouted outside: "Brother Fang Xian! Please write a poem to congratulate yourself on this situation! I haven't heard of you for a long time!"
They are really good brothers who share the same mind! Fang Yingwu’s previous loneliness was swept away, he looked around with complacency and recited aloud:
"The first among three hundred people, the flowers are like Luo Qi and the willows are like smoke! The green robe is full of kindness from the king, and the royal ink is fresh when the yellow robe is opened! Walking on the blue clouds and saying goodbye to the white house, climbing the osmanthus to the sky with your hands! Don't be surprised when you get admitted to the imperial examination early.
Chang'e loves young men in the moon!"
Although the words are a bit unclear, he has not yet reached the stage of wearing a green robe or opening a yellow list, and his tone is more like the number one scholar. He also borrowed a few sentences from the ancients, but he responded to the situation impeccably. Huiyuan is also the number one.
First of all, among the three hundred people, isn’t it the person in front of me who Chang’e loves the young man in the moon? (To be continued.)