All the faults were placed on those two household officials and they were dismissed and punished, so that all aspects were barely explained.
The reason why County Magistrate Wang agreed to Fang Yingwu's recommendation and let two literate Huaxi people fill the vacancies for household officials was because Fang Yingwu made a promise.
Fang Yingwu promised that the matter would end there and that he would not continue to make a fuss. In addition to restoring the fields to their original state, he would no longer pursue the Hu family. Magistrate Wang appreciated Fang Yingwu's attitude of calming things down and agreed.
His suggested candidates.
Of course, the Yamen had a fixed procedure for recruiting officials, and the two Huaxi people proposed by Fang Yingwu were not on the candidate list. But the magistrate nodded, and the mere procedure was no longer an issue.
In the eyes of Wang Zhixian, he is the only outsider. As for the other Fang family, Hu family and others, they are all locals. Even Ding Hushu and Shao Xiaoli are locals. There is no essential difference between these people. It doesn't matter who is unlucky and who is lucky.
Just don't disturb the peace of the county government.
However, there is an additional announcement outside the county government office stating that beating and kidnapping officials and government officials are illegal and will be strictly prohibited and severely punished from today on!
It is said that this is to appease the public mind. Otherwise, if the big gentry families are as bullying and lawless as Fang Yingwu, who would dare to do business? Especially business that is easy to offend people.
Later, as Mr. Hu feared, the story of how smart and witty Mr. Jie Yuan was was spread word of mouth among the people in the market, and the Hu family once again acted as a background actor.
But for the time being, Mr. Hu had nothing to do. Continuing to dwell on this matter was purely humiliating himself. The Hu family could afford to lose, but they could not afford to lose this man.
But it was said that it was the end of the year after collecting the autumn grain, and the busy year came to an end. At this time, the villagers finally ushered in the winter leisure time.
There have been no major disasters or major corvees in Chun'an County this year, which is considered a good year. Walking among the villages, you can feel the villagers' heartfelt happiness.
Fang Yingwu, who was promoted to a young landlord this year, also had a slightly bigger pocket because he received his first rent payment in his life.
Although Fang Yingwu treated the tenants who attached him well and only charged a symbolic family price. However, after counting the 140 acres of land, plus the original three acres of property land, he also charged a rent of about ten dan.
It is enough for him and Sister Lan to spend their expenses. As for the thirty taels of foreign debt, we will wait until after the scholar examination.
In addition, there is another major event. The plaque belonging to the Fang family in Huaxi was finally completed and hung in the Fang ancestral hall in a grand ceremony attended by the whole family.
According to custom, if you have significant achievements in the imperial examination, such as being promoted or becoming a Jinshi, a plaque must be hung in the ancestral hall to show the glory of the ancestors. Fang Qingzhi's achievements in Jieyuan are definitely worthy of a special mention. The plaque must be hung, and the whole family must
I want to make one even if I try to sell iron.
In fact, the Fang family had no fame at all before, and Fang Qingzhi's talent was the first of its kind in this dynasty, so much so that a county student member plaque was hung in the ancestral hall to celebrate.
In the eyes of other imperial examination families, this is simply ridiculous. Does a scholar's reputation deserve to be hung in the ancestral hall? But this is the only appearance of the Huaxi Fang family.
This time, the Jieyuan plaque was hung with confidence and as it should be. If the clan had not been able to raise the money, even a memorial arch should have been built, but it has been mentioned on next year's agenda.
Fang Yingwu, the clan leader Fang Zhili, and the village chief Fang Fengchang stood in the ancestral hall, looking at the plaque of Jieyuan, each feeling filled with emotion.
Fang Yingwu inadvertently caught a glimpse of the "County Student Member" plaque hanging on the other end of the wall. He couldn't help but ask the patriarch, uncle, "What is this?"
"Oh, this is yours." The second uncle replied.
Fang Yingwu couldn't laugh or cry, "I'm just a boy, I haven't received the title of scholar yet..."
The second uncle said confidently: "You are first in the county examination, second in the government examination, and your father is Mr. Jieyuan. You can pass the Taoist examination no matter what. Becoming a scholar is only a matter of time, just a few days in advance."
Fang Yingwu advised: "It's okay if there was nothing we could do in the past. Now there is obviously a plaque for understanding the Yuan Dynasty. If there is also a plaque for scholars, it will make outsiders laugh and make it look like our Fang family has never seen the world. Besides, it's too much.
It's a waste, it's not worth it to make a plaque for a scholar."
"Don't waste it, don't waste it!" The second uncle said with a smile: "This is your father's scholar's plaque. It's useless anyway. If you use it to repair it, it will be yours. So not only is there no waste, but you are also frugal. Let's talk about the plaque.
So much, it looks so atmospheric!”
Fang Yingwu took a closer look and saw that on the "County Student Member" plaque, his name and date had been cut with a knife, and then his name and the words "Chenghua 14th Year" were rewritten on it. Sure enough, it was a waste product.
It saves money...
Fang Fengshi looked at the Jieyuan plaque and thought thoughtfully: "If the Master of the Qing Dynasty wins the imperial examination, he will also make a Jinshi plaque. But if the young man can win another Jieyuan plaque, then this Jieyuan plaque will come in handy again."
.”
Fang Yingwu disrespected his elders and complained: "Don't wake up and talk nonsense. The smoke from the Fang family's ancestral graves has not yet reached the sky."
Time then entered the Spring Festival, leaving the thirteenth year of Chenghua and ushering in the fourteenth year of Chenghua.
There was the Lantern Festival after New Year's Day. During the bustling New Year's Day, Fang Yingwu, as the most respected figure in the Huaxi area, enjoyed the highest level of worship. For a while, he even forgot about his identity as a time traveler.
It was not until the end of January that Fang Yingwu gradually calmed down and focused on his fame again. The next one or two months would be a decisive moment for both him and his father.
Fang Yingwu missed his father very much. February of the 14th year of Chenghua was the month of the Spring Palace Competition in the capital, which was also the examination to determine the number of Jinshi.
Fang Yingwu not only wanted his father to be successful in one step and directly win the title of Jinshi, but also worried that the next ten years would not be a good time to join the officialdom. After his father became an official, he would be
Suffering a loss, from this point of view it is better not to pass the Jinshi exam first.
At the same time, he also thought about himself. This year, Zhejiang Province will have a new academic officer. According to the schedule, after the spring, the academic officer will be in Linyan Prefecture to preside over the Taoist examination for the admission of scholars from the counties under Yanzhou Prefecture. The time is about
Right around the end of February.
Although Fang Yingwu knew that he had two insurances, one was the unspoken rule of the county's first case being recommended, and the other was Magistrate Zhu's promise to take care of him during the supervision and promotion examinations, but no one could guarantee that everything would be foolproof until the dust settled.
Amidst all the worries, Fang Tongsheng finally waited for the announcement from the county government. It happened that he came to the county town to buy books and pens on that day, so he saw the announcement immediately without having to be relayed by others.
The announcement mainly contains two contents. First, Grand Master Li Shishi, the newly appointed Deputy Envoy of Zhejiang Province by the imperial court, will be in Linchun'an County in late February and will take the Taoist examination on the 25th. Students in this county must prepare in advance.
Second, in accordance with the requirements of the academic officer, for the sake of fairness and justice, the test paper will be anonymous.
These two contents were very unusual. Most of the people who read the announcement were scholars, and there was a lot of discussion under the announcement.
According to the imperial system, as an academic advisor assigned to a local area, his main task is to inspect the academic affairs of a province. He should inspect every county during his term of office, and he should inspect twice, and preside over various examinations in each county.
But in fact, there are often one or two hundred counties in a province. With today's transportation conditions, it is impossible for the academic officer to inspect all of them, let alone inspect them twice.
Therefore, there are policies and countermeasures, and workarounds have emerged. In actual work, the academic officials do not visit the counties, but only visit the prefectures. And the students and scholars in each county are inspected when the academic officials come.
When you are in your hometown, you just need to rush to the capital city to take the exam - this is also the origin of the Xiaosanguan examination model for the county examination, prefecture examination, and road examination.
Therefore, it is strange that the new deputy envoy of Zhejiang Province, Li Dazhao, actually presides over the examination of a county directly based on Linchun'an County. This is not in line with common sense. Under normal circumstances, he can just go to Yanzhou Prefecture, and there is no need at all.
Lower County.
Another unusual thing is that this time the Taoist examination actually has to be anonymized. According to the common practice, county examinations, government examinations, Taoist examinations, junior high school examinations are not as formal and rigid as the provincial examinations and senior examinations, and the exams are not anonymous.
The candidate's name is clearly visible, so there are often instances of being chosen on the spot.
But this time, for some unknown reason, the new academic officer concealed his name. Is it really for the sake of fairness and justice in selecting scholars?
I don’t know what others thought, but after reading the announcement, Fang Yingwu wanted to curse on the spot - couldn’t this new grandmaster be an old enemy from his previous life? Both of these surprises made him unlucky!
First of all, as the county case leader, he enjoys the privilege of being escorted through, but the prerequisite is that the Grand Master needs to know that the paper belongs to him.
If the name is affixed to the test paper, how would the grand master know which paper belongs to Fang Yingwu and should be taken care of? If he cannot be taken care of by the unspoken rules, then what is the greatest significance of his county case?
Therefore, Fang Yingwu was firmly opposed to anonymity.
Secondly, Fang Yingwu was also very angry that the new academic officer was transferred to Chun'an County. He had already received a promise from Magistrate Zhu, that is, Magistrate Zhu could take care of him when he served as a Taoist promotion officer and a supervisory officer.
As long as the exam is held in the prefectural city, the prefect will of course be the promotion officer and supervisory officer, but the grand master went to Chun'an County to preside over the exam! This ruined the second insurance for other parties!
Taking the exam in Chun'an County, the promoted officer might become Wang County Magistrate, but Fang Yingwu didn't dare to be completely reassured about Wang County Magistrate. This is not to say that Wang Magistrate is not good, but it is because the official status is here.
Magistrate Zhu is at the same level as Tixueguan, and has a strong personality and dares to do things; Magistrate Wang is a few levels behind, and his nature is softer. Therefore, there are some things that Magistrate Zhu dares to do, but Magistrate Wang may not be able to count on.
Fang Yingwu's nearly 100% chance of admission was suddenly reduced to zero by two unusual people. He knew his own affairs, so he had no problem writing two articles, but he had to stand out in the elite group of Chun'an County.
, that is self-deception.
Fang Yingwu silently walked away from the announcement. It was useless to scold the public, so he might as well think of countermeasures. He knew that all the unusual things must have some inhumane internal reasons, but what was the reason this time?
After returning to his home in Shanghuaxi Village from the county seat, Fang Yingwu was about to ask Sister Lan to make tea when he saw his concubine handed him a post and said, "Husband, there is a man from Renshou Township today who came to deliver a post. Listen to him
Report that your family is from Shang Xianggong's side."
Shang Xianggong? Fang Yingwu quickly threw away his distracting thoughts and took the post to browse. It turned out that after Shang Xianggong returned home from his official career, he wanted to build an academy in the clan and it would be opened in a few days, so he invited guests and friends to see him.
This is nothing. Fang Yingwu put down the post and suddenly realized the reason why the new academic officer was unusual - because Shang Ge was always in Chun'an!
This great man who has only been in office for half a year and still has a lot of power is in Chun'an County. He went to Chun'an County to preside over the examination. Of course, he just wanted to show himself in front of Shang Ge's hometown, and also wanted to get a chance to get close to Mr. Shang Ge.
.The seemingly fair and equitable naming is probably also due to this mentality.
After thinking through the reason, Fang Yingwu couldn't laugh or cry. It was really a disaster for him. When he goes to Renshou Township in the next few days to support him, he should think of a way to discuss this matter with Mr. Shang.
However, this academic advisor named Li Shishi is really a thoughtful person. He would have thought of such an opportunity early and issued notices and arrangements more than half a month in advance. I just don’t know if Shangge will always accept his tricks.
.
Wait... Fang Yingwu suddenly thought of something again. The name Li Shishi looks familiar. He must have noticed it when doing research in his previous life. This means that he must also be a famous person!
Fang Yingwu recalled it carefully and finally remembered it.
If he remembered correctly, forty years later, that is, in the 14th year of Zhengde, there was a famous rebellion by King Ning - of course, everyone remembers Wang Yangming more.
And Li Shishi, a veteran of the three dynasties who served as an official at home, was King Ning's mastermind, national advisor, and prime minister, and was the second-ranking figure in King Ning's rebellion group...
Fang Yingwu was speechless for a long time. History is such a wonderful thing. The great rebel thief forty years later is actually going to be his examiner this year, and according to his term of office, he will also be the examiner for the next Zhejiang Provincial Examination.
If he is admitted, wouldn't Grandmaster Li Shishi want to be his tutor for the Taoist Examination? This is truly an unusual academic advisor. Unfortunately, only Fang Yingwu himself understands it best.
