Shen Rui made a new calculation table for the imperial examination. He will take the boy's examination next year, take the annual examination, the scientific examination, obtain the qualifications for the provincial examination, and take the provincial examination. The provincial examination is not like the Dingjia, second, and third-level examinations. The merits are very different. As long as Being on the list, even being the last one is a success.
The second wife and the third prince passed the examination at the age of fifteen, the second master passed the examination at the age of sixteen, Shen Luo also passed the examination at the age of sixteen, and all three generations of his ancestors and grandchildren were young candidates.
Shen Rui can be dismissed when he is fifteen years old. Even if he fails for the first time, he is not afraid. There is room for one subject.
If you are lucky and pass the national examination at the age of eighteen, then you will stop one subject and take the examination four years later at the age of twenty-two. Then it will depend on whether your homework is solid and whether the examiner's "circuit" is accurate. , if you have the confidence in your heart, you will end it, otherwise, you will have to wait for another subject until you are twenty-five years old.
The fourteenth year of Hongzhi is about to pass, leaving eleven years.
After Shen Rui finished making the schedule, he sighed in his heart, but there was nothing he could do about it. His previous thoughts were too simple. If nothing else, even if the eldest man was old enough, he would not be allowed to slow down.
In the officialdom of the Ming Dynasty, there was no such thing as clinging to power at seven or eighty years old. Except for cabinet ministers who were relied upon by saints, most other officials entered office at the age of sixty.
If Shen Rui entered the official position late and could not rely on the help of the elder, he would have a hard time in the officialdom.
Today I took a day off, and now I still have half a day to spare. Shen Rui went to the upper room to say hello, and took Changshou and Changfu to Wang's house.
After Wang Shouren returned from Jiangbei, after handing over his errands at the Ministry of Punishments, he filed for "recuperation".
According to the rules, if an official is sick, he can take three months of sick leave. If he needs to take another three months, otherwise the position will become vacant. In Wang Shouren's case, he did not take three months' leave, but became vacant directly due to illness.
Wang Shouren was indeed seriously ill, but it was not as serious as outsiders had guessed. It was just that he was investigating old prisons in Jiangbei and offended too many people at once, and there was something wrong in the court. He took such a step back to save the father and son.
He Yingzhi was just a little aggrieved. Because the engagement was hasty and the wedding was in the twelfth lunar month, many people thought it was the Wang family's "celebration."
In fact, the reason why the wedding date was hastily decided is because Wang Shouren will return to his hometown to "recuperate" after the new year.
When Shen Rui arrived, Wang Shouren was sitting by the window, holding a book in his hand. After two months of recuperation, he had already recovered from his illness, but he had not regained the weight he had lost due to his previous illness. In addition, he had not been out much these days. In the house, the skin is a little white and looks a little thin.
Shen Rui didn't change his clothes, and was still dressed as he was when he went out for a visit in the morning. Wang Shouren put down the book in his hand, invited him to sit close to him, and said with a smile: "You have packed up so solemnly, are you going to the Yang family?"
Even though the marriage between the Shen and Yang families was not publicized, Wang Shouren knew about it.
He also quite agreed with this marriage.
The Yang family has a scholarly family background, and is a good match for the Shen family.
You must know that the three current cabinet ministers all served in the James Mansion back then and were old friends when they became the crown prince.
Nowadays, the elders of the three pavilions in the court are at odds with each other. As the minister, Mr. Shen is inappropriate no matter which side he leans towards. If Shen Rui's marriage is not done properly, the Shen family will be drawn into the party struggle. Now that he has stepped out of the three parties, even if he is outside the three parties, The Yang family has a weaker foundation, which is not without its advantages. Although Yang Tinghe was not born in Sandingjia, he was also born in the Hanlin Academy and was appointed to the East Palace. He can expect to join the cabinet in the future.
Shen Rui thought of Yang Ting and the disappointed look in his eyes that morning, and said sarcastically: "Disciple has embarrassed the teacher again."
Wang Shouren sat up straight and said, "What's going on?"
Shen Rui smiled bitterly and told about the poem test in the morning. Wang Shouren shook his head and said: "That is your weakness. I have told you not only to read poetry anthologies, but also to write poems diligently... I have a lot of things here in the past two months.
"You have a heavy workload in the academy, so you forgot about this..." At this point, with a bit of regret on his face, he said: "Master Yang, I didn't know you were talented. Otherwise, even if you were to take the exam for a contemporary essay, you would not be able to pass."
You can still be on the stage without receiving praise."
Shen Ruidao: "Before, the disciples were not in a hurry. Even though they knew their shortcomings, they wanted to make progress step by step. But now they are a little anxious... Making progress here does not happen overnight. There are only a few months left before next year's county examination.
, this disciple is really not sure."
It's not that he's worried that the boy won't be able to pass the test, but that he's worried that his grades will be too low and the Yang family will look down upon him.
In later generations, the Yang family's father and son would be academic masters, and Shen Rui didn't want to be the same.
Wang Shouren thought for a while and said: "As long as you take the imperial examination and official career, you can't get around the examination poems. It starts from the childhood examination, and it will be the same when you enter the imperial examination. If you don't make up for it, the college examination will be forgotten, the provincial examination will be passed, and the provincial examination will be passed.
All hope is misty."
After hearing this, Shen Rui felt a headache.
Shi Wen is a set article, and everyone's level of proficiency depends not only on their own problem-solving skills, but also on the examiner's preference. There are traces to follow. The test poems have fewer words and can be more demanding. If you are not careful, they will become vulgar.
It's not that Shen Rui can't do it now, it's that he doesn't have the spirit. In the lower-level exams, he could barely pass; in the provincial exams, he was able to take the test, and compared with others, he fell short.
Wang Shouren looked at his disciple's sad face and couldn't help but smile: "You are also confused. Where has all the cleverness and energy you had when you were studying essays gone? After all, the poems and essays are all limited in topic and format, but the number of words is different.
That’s all. As long as you can make flowers bloom, who will exchange words with you and understand the poetry?"
Shen Rui's eyes lit up after hearing this: "Teacher, what you mean is that the disciple's previous method of 'summarizing the test' can also be applied to the test poem?"
Wang Shouren nodded and said: "Why not? If you write a test poem one day, and it is as colorful as when you wrote the poem, you will be able to fool people..."
Shen Rui was blind before and always felt that the quality of poetry required poetic talent. Now he realized that he was just doing it to take the exam, not to become famous in the scholarly society, but only to target the examiners.
He stood up, bowed to Wang Shouren and said, "Thank you, Teacher, for your advice."
Wang Shouren said helplessly: "It's just a trick, but it's not a good thing after all... Since you have a shortcoming here, you must use your strengths to make up for your weaknesses. Otherwise, even if the imperial examination goes well, you will inevitably be underestimated when making friends with scholars in the future. There is no distinction between poetry and painting, and there are three masters of the Shen family.
Here, you can be regarded as a first-come-first-served person. From now on, you will practice ten more big characters every day. You should also work hard in your spare time here. As long as you develop your strengths, you can cover up your shortcomings..."
After knowing each other for four years, Wang Shouren also realized that even though his disciple studied diligently and had outstanding talent, he could not become a literary graduate.
Shen Rui lowered his hands and listened and agreed honestly.
Thinking that Wang Shouren would return to his hometown next year, Shen Rui said with regret: "It's a pity that the disciple has to take the boy's examination next year and can't stay with the teacher..."
Wang Shouren rolled his eyes at him and said: "It's not like I'm not acting like a child if I don't return to Beijing. After two years, everything will be fine, and I will go to Beijing to accompany my grandmother..."
Since the Shen family and the Yang family had "looked at each other" and the two families had a tacit understanding, the news that Shen Rui was getting engaged also spread among the relatives.
Even though Mr. Shen and Mr. Xu are heirs and can make the decision, it is not easy to ignore Shen Li and Mr. Guo, who care deeply about Shen Rui. Mr. Shen will inform Mr. Shen Li; Mrs. Xu sent someone a message and went there in person.
Mrs. Guo was not surprised when she heard that Shen Rui was proposing marriage.
After all, Shen Rui is the heir, and passing on the incense is the most important thing. We are planning to get married now, and we will get engaged next year. It is not too early to get married at fifteen or sixty.
However, when she heard that the other party was only nine years old and a young lady from a fifth-rank official family, Mrs. Guo didn't show anything on her face, but she was surprised in her heart.
After all, women are different from men. Men can know people at the age of thirteen or four, while women are too young to give birth. She originally thought that the second wife would be anxious to marry Shen Rui, even if she didn't find a daughter-in-law who was older than Shen Rui. He is also about the same age as Shen Rui, but he didn't expect to be so much younger.
In addition, this Yang family is only a fifth-rank official, which is very different from the eldest master of the Shen family. Even if he is a "low-class married woman", with the current status of a second-rank official, the eldest Shen has many choices.
However, Mrs. Xu and Mr. Shen had already agreed on the matter of Shen Yang's marriage, and that was for Shen Rui's studies.
After hearing this, Mrs. Guo was not suspicious and was secretly happy for Shen Rui.
He did not care about the inheritance of his children, but only focused on Shen Rui's studies. The marriage was also based on Shen Rui's future. They were his biological parents, and that was it.
After the Xu family left, when the Guo family mentioned the marriage to Mr. Hong, they were still overwhelmed with emotion and only said that the elder Mr. Xu and Mr. Xu were kind.
Mr. Hong is a man after all, and he has a broader vision and said: "Brother Cang is getting older and is starting to pave the way for Brother Rui..."
Shen Quan, on the other hand, learned the news from his parents. After the surprise, he became more and more angry and said: "This Brother Rui has a strict mouth. There was no news at all before..."
When he arrived at the academy the next day, Shen Quan found Shen Rui, took him to a deserted place, and gave him a scolding speech.
Shen Rui begged for mercy again and again: "Third brother just spared me this time. It's not that I wanted to hide it from him, but I wasn't sure about it before, so I couldn't say it publicly..."
Shen Quan sneered: "You are just trying to coax me. The Yang family is not a noble family. How can we still find fault with you?"
Shen Quan has always been protective of his shortcomings, and Shen Rui couldn't say that he was criticized by Yang Tinghe. He only said: "A daughter from a family is wanted by hundreds of families. People who choose a son-in-law should always be cautious..."
Shen Quan himself had just been engaged not long ago, and he immediately reacted: "On the day you took leave a few days ago, you went to see each other, right?"
Shen Rui nodded, and Shen Quan thought that he didn't make any big announcement before "looking at each other", so he snorted lightly, which was considered as a way to spare Shen Rui.
Mao Chi, on the other hand, felt aggrieved when he saw that Yang Shen was still not treating Shen Rui well, but Shen Rui was always giving in. He had tried to persuade her twice before, but Yang Shen had gone his own way.
Mao Chi couldn't bear it anymore and complained to Yang Shen: "If you really don't have the same temperament, don't join them together. Why bother to be so boring? What mistake did Shen Rui make to make you so unpopular? If he had known this, he wouldn't have done it in the first place. It’s time to introduce you two to be friends...I’m not a child, and I’ll fall out whenever I want..."
Yang Shen did not respond. I wonder if he heard it and stopped coming to Class Five.
Mao Chi couldn't bear it and said to Shen Rui: "Did I say what I said before?"
Mao Chi was devoted to being a friend, and Shen Rui couldn't hide it from him anymore, so he told the two families about their marriage...