Thousands of miles away, thousands of miles of sea are rippling with blue waves.
In the capital city, there is an undercurrent surging and a storm is coming.
After the imperial edict and the re-grading and review of the undergraduate examination papers, the emotions among the sons in Beijing were vaguely contradictory.
From the perspective of scholars in the north and those provinces that failed to win, since the emperor ordered a re-reading, there must be something fishy about the local scientific examination.
In the view of Jiangnan scholars, other people are simply unreasonable and troublesome, crying, making trouble, and hanging themselves.
Right after the edict was issued, whenever scholars from two sides met in the capital, there was always a quarrel. Even privately, there were several fights between the two sides. Not all scholars these days are powerless.
generation.
As soon as it dawned that day, the place where the emperor's list was placed outside the Gongyuan was already overcrowded, because today was the day when the list was released again. The teahouses, restaurants, and even the stalls on the street were overcrowded, all crowded with people waiting for the release of the list.
Scholar.
But if you look closely, you can see that there are clear distinctions among these crowded scholars. Those who are gathered together as if they are facing a formidable enemy are the northern scholars, while those with sneers on their lips and a look of disdain are all students from the south of the Yangtze River.
You are at the teahouse, and I am at the wine shop.
If you are at the stall, then I will go to the shade of the city wall.
In short, it is just a sentence, never interfere with each other, even if there are close friends between the two parties, they will keep a straight face at this time, never look at it twice, let alone talk to each other.
"On the second floor of the wine shop opposite the place where the results were released, Han Kezhong leaned against the window, his anxiety palpable, and his fingers almost tore through the window lattice.
"Old Han, don't be like this, look at your face, ha!" Liu Nianen stood next to Han Kezhong and said with a smile, "You are as nervous as a young daughter-in-law who is about to get married. Don't be afraid."
Han Kezhong lowered his head and felt his heart beating very fast, "I'm not afraid, I just feel that if my name is not on the list after the re-grading, I..."
"You have no place to kill yourself!" Liu Nian'en said, "You are good at everything, but you are too hot-tempered!" He said with a big laugh, "You are a man from Shandong, you don't have any pride like a man!"
Hearing this, Han Kezhong smiled, shook his head and said, "Brother Liu, if I am like an ordinary, rich local family with no worries about food and clothing, the government will take it seriously, I am also full of pride!" He said, sighing, "What a pity.
, If I can’t carp jump over the dragon’s gate in this life, I’ll have no choice but to float in the creek!”
"Frustrating words!" Liu Nian'en said displeased, "Even if you don't win the Jinshi, what will happen? You are also an official, and you will be an official just like you participate in the selection of officials!"
At this time, Jiang Hongye said with a smile, "Brother Liu, if you go to elect officials, the Ministry of Civil Affairs will naturally arrange a vacancy immediately. But I will wait for these candidates to be elected, in the year of the monkey and the month of the horse!"
Liu Nianen's expression changed, "Why, is there any other explanation?" After saying that, he paused and asked, "Do you want money?"
A future is made possible by money. Only when you have money can you make a future.
"That's not true. Who in the capital is so tired that he openly asks for money!" Jiang Hongye said, "But there are ways to do it. Those from high-ranking families who participate in the election of officials must be better than those from our poor families!"
"Everyone says it's fair, but in this world, damn it!" Liu Nianen said with a free and easy smile, "People are more annoying than others, and learning well is not as good as living well, haha!"
The two of them were chatting and laughing next to each other, and Han Kezhong's nervousness subsided a bit. He looked out the window and suddenly saw two familiar figures in the crowd downstairs.
Yang Rong, and Cui Yingying.
Han Kezhong wanted to say hello, but when he thought that he was surrounded by people from the north, it would be quite inconvenient for him to call them up.
At this time, Jiang Hongye also saw Yang Rong and Cui Yingying below.
He was straightforward by nature, so he smiled and said, "Brother Yang, Brother Cui, come up and sit down. I'll wait for there to be some space around you!"
As soon as he finished speaking, there was a sudden silence inside and outside the wine shop, and many eyes came over.
Yang Rong, among a group of Jiangnan disciples, smiled and waved to the people upstairs. Cui Yingying said angrily, "I'm not going. The teahouse has been taken over by you, so what are you going to do up there?"
His temperament is like this. He has been pampered since childhood and is a bit unsophisticated. He offends people whenever he speaks out.
Sure enough, Jiang Hongye was immediately displeased, "I greeted you with good intentions, why are you so angry with me?" He said louder, "The teahouse over there was also taken over by your people. Just now I wanted to go up, I also got a few big looks. I thought everyone was friends, so I greeted you, but I didn’t even bother to ask anyone else. I’m really ignorant!”
Hearing this, Cui Yingying also felt a bit embarrassed. She knew in her heart that she had just said the wrong thing, but she still blushed.
"You don't have to worry about it, we have a place to go!" Someone among the scholars said with a bit of sarcasm, "The list will be released soon. No matter how high you are, you can see it more clearly!"
"Hahaha!" Someone laughed and said, "Yes, yes, tell the truth. If you fail again, don't shout that there is something fishy!"
"Stand high and see far away, the crying child will have milk to feed!" Someone else laughed, "They will take advantage of all the good things!"
A few words and insinuations immediately made the people upstairs furious.
"Hmph!" Liu Nian'en snorted, looked back at some fellow Fengyang fellows, and said in a low voice, "Let's go and beat the hell out of them!"
"No, Brother Liu!" Han Kezhong quickly stopped him and advised, "It's just a matter of scholarly anger and verbal disputes. Everyone is angry in their hearts, so just talk freely!"
"They talk loudly when they are angry, but I use my fists when I am angry!" Liu Nian'en glared and said with raised fists.
But at this moment, someone from the crowd downstairs suddenly spoke.
"Such words, referring to mulberry trees and scolding huai trees, are not the behavior of a gentleman!"
Everyone looked around and saw that the person speaking was actually Yang Rong.
I saw Yang Rong standing among the candidates and said loudly, "Yang is from the south and is also on the list this time. But because he is on the list, shouldn't others think it is unfair?"
"In the history of scientific examinations, there has never been a case where people from the north have failed. The elder brothers in the north are not angry and have reached heaven to listen. The emperor issued an order to review it again. This is what should be done!"
"If we are talented enough to learn, we will still get it even if we try it hundreds of times. If among those northern brothers, some of them miss it due to omissions, this retrial can make up for it."
"Everyone, we are all students of the Ming Dynasty. Why do we become hostile to each other after a scientific examination? Southerners look down on northerners, and northerners can't stand southerners. What's the reason?"
"And between the north and the south, when divided into details, there are all kinds of mismatches. We are students and the pillars of the Ming Dynasty, why are we so superficial?"
"Are you still a scholar who looks down on this and that and always talks about people? Are you still a scholar? Looking at each other with cold eyes and ridiculing each other, what is the difference between you and ordinary people who are gossips and shrews?"
As he spoke, Yang Rongyi cupped his hands and said, "Brothers, we are all students of the Ming Dynasty. It is said that reading the books of sages is for the family, the country, and the world. What is the family, the country, and the world? Both the north and the south are countries, and the world is home!"
"This imperial examination has been full of twists and turns. The original intention of the imperial court is to give justice to students all over the world, but what the northern brothers want is the same as us southerners. They all want to be named on the gold list."
"Are they wrong? Is it because their request for justice involves us, so we don't allow them to ask for justice?"
"Are we really happy if none of them win?"
"Now, because of the retrial, students from the north and the south are at odds. Everyone, is this what our teachers, Master Confucius and Mencius want to see?"