Xu Jin postponed coming to Nanchang in order to avoid conflict with Prince Ning. As a result, as soon as he landed, he encountered a "decisive battle" between candidates from Guangxin Prefecture and Nanchang Prefecture. Moreover, the initiator was Prince Ning. He was really afraid of what would happen.

.

What to do?

If he participates, he will definitely fight with Prince Ning. This guy wants his own life. Nanchang is the territory of Prince Ning's palace, with big trees and deep roots. What's more, Prince Ning holds the power of three guards, even though each guard only has 3,000 people.

With a total of nearly ten thousand troops, Governor Sun might not be able to compete with King Ning.

However, if you don't participate, you will probably be cast aside by fellow candidates, and even ridiculed by all the scholars, and your reputation will definitely be damaged.

Xu Jin was weighing the pros and cons when he saw another group of scholars approaching. It turned out that they were classmates from Xinjiang Academy headed by senior brother Wei Yang.

"Zi Qian!" Wei Yang and others couldn't help but be overjoyed when they saw Xu Jin. Fei Maoxian and Fei Maozhong hurriedly greeted him, and before they knew it, they had been separated for more than a month.

"Senior Brother, the people sacrifice and the people receive..." Xu Jin greeted all his classmates with a smile!

There are a total of 20 people from Xinjiang Academy who came to take the exam this time. In addition to Xu Jin and other six new students, there are also five talents including Wei Yang and Fei Maozhong. There are also nine people who have not passed the exam before.

Tongsheng, such as Fei Maoxian.

Fei Maoxian said regretfully: "If Zi Qian had arrived a few days earlier, we wouldn't have lost the first match."

All the students at Xinjiang Academy agreed. Xu Jin's strength in pairing was obvious to all. On the Lantern Festival, he defeated Yushan Academy and made consecutive hits. If Xu Jin had taken control the day before yesterday, he would have definitely defeated Nanchang Prefecture.

Do not stay.

Senior Brother Wei Yang was wearing a jade-colored t-shirt, with a handsome appearance and a gentle temperament. He smiled and said: "It doesn't matter, it's still a draw so far. Now that Zi Qian has arrived, we are sure to win the poetry category today."

All the candidates at Xinjiang Academy laughed. Although Xu Jin didn't write many poems, unless he didn't do it, he would definitely be a masterpiece if he did. His strength is there, who dares to be dissatisfied?

Xu Jin couldn't help but secretly smile bitterly. It would be impossible if he didn't participate in today's literary competition. If nothing else, he couldn't lose the trust of his classmates.

"Everyone, look, the Nanchang Mansion is here!" Huang Dacan said suddenly.

Xu Jin followed the sound and saw a group of scholars walking from a distance. There were about fifty people. The leader was about twenty-four or five years old. He was tall and thin. He also wore a jade-colored robe that represented a scholar and held a hand in his hand.

Handle folding fan.

"This man's name is Li Zhe, a native of Nanchang, the president of Yuzhang Academy, and good at writing facial expressions." Fei Maozhong introduced to Xu Jin in a low voice.

At this time, the candidates from Nanchang Prefecture had already approached. Li Zhe, the leader, cupped his hands toward Wei Yang and said, "Wei Yuanzheng, we must choose the winner today."

Wei Yang said calmly: "That's exactly what it should be."

An examinee from Nanchang Prefecture mocked: "Our Nanchang Prefecture is rich in resources and talented people, how can it be compared to your Guangxin Prefecture? I advise you to admit defeat now to avoid humiliating yourself when you get there."

"I'm afraid it's you Nanchang people who will humiliate you then. It's just the provincial capital. No matter how hard you try, our Guangxin Prefecture is no worse than Nanchang Prefecture." The candidates from Guangxin Prefecture here immediately retorted.

Any indiscriminate attack that involves a geographical area is the most likely to attract hatred, and will also unite the attacked party unprecedentedly. Therefore, in an instant, the two sides started to violently attack each other, and the fighting had already emitted a strong smell of gunpowder.

Li Zhe opened the folding fan, shook it, and said coldly: "It's useless to talk more. Let's see the truth. Let's go. All the talented people in Nanchang Mansion will follow me upstairs!"

Li Zhe led a group of candidates from Nanchang Prefecture and walked up the stone steps outside the gate of Tengwang Pavilion. Naturally, Guangxin Prefecture also refused to lag behind. Nearly a hundred people from both sides climbed up the steps and rushed to the gate of Tengwang Pavilion.

"Hey, I thought people named Xu didn't dare to come to Nanchang, but they are really not afraid of death."

Brother Zhu, the crown prince of Prince Ning, was standing on the outer corridor on the sixth floor of Tengwang Pavilion. He was holding on to the railing and watching the confrontation between the candidates from the two prefectures below. Naturally, he also saw Xu Jin standing on the side of Guangxin Prefecture. He suddenly showed murderous intent in his eyes and let out bursts of murderous intent.

sneer.

At this time, there was a middle-aged scribe standing next to Brother Zhu. It was Liu Yangzheng, the literary strategist of Prince Ning's Mansion and the Juren of Anfu County.

Liu Yangzheng frowned imperceptibly and reminded: "Your Majesty, a little impatience will ruin a big plan. This situation is not easy to come by, so we can't let things go wrong at this time."

"But this beast of Xu Jin is extremely hateful. If you don't kill it, it won't be enough to eliminate the hatred in my heart." Prince Ning gritted his teeth.

It is said that most of the losses and humiliations suffered by Crown Prince Ning in Shangrao County were related to Xu Jin, so he hated Xu Jin so much that he wished that his guards would rush down right now and kill Xu Jin before Lord Teng Wang.

Liu Yangzheng said calmly: "His Royal Highness, the first step is to attack the enemy, the second step is to attack the enemy, and the third step is to attack the army. Direct use of force is just the next step. It is the action of a fool and is not advisable. Moreover, what the prince needs most now is to gather troops.

In the hearts of the people, if His Highness the Crown Prince orders Xu Jin to be executed, it will probably cause all the scholars to be dissatisfied with the palace."

Prince Ning had a dark face and remained silent!

Over the years, Prince Ning had done a lot of outrageous things in order to raise money to support the army and bribe the powerful. Therefore, his reputation among the people and scholars was very poor, and very few literati were willing to serve him.

Prince Ning is aware of this and is currently working on clearing himself, recruiting talents, and preparing for future rebellions. After all, for a government to function normally, it cannot do without literate people, just like a big company, without

Finance, accounting, and administrative staff simply cannot operate.

This time, the competition between the candidates from Nanchang Prefecture and Guangxin Prefecture was secretly provoked. On the surface, it was Prince Ning who wanted to vent his anger and target the candidates from Shangrao County. In fact, it was Liu Yangzheng's plan to win over the people of Prince Ning's Palace by taking advantage of regional disputes.

Draw the local scholars in Nanchang Mansion to the camp of Prince Ning's Mansion.

Now the plan is progressing smoothly. The candidates from Nanchang Prefecture are all mobilized. They are full of enthusiasm and regional pride and want to compete with the candidates from Guangxin Prefecture.

The fiefdom of Prince Ning is in Nanchang, so it naturally belongs to Nanchang. In addition, Prince Ning's "Corporal of Rites and Xian" during this period tried his best to provide logistical support for the candidates in Nanchang Prefecture. For example, the cost of each literary meeting is

Born by Prince Ning.

In this way, the emotions of the scholars in Nanchang Mansion will naturally be drawn closer to Prince Ning's Mansion, and Prince Ning's purpose of winning over people's hearts will be initially achieved.

However, if Crown Prince Ning had Xu Jin killed and treated the scholars so cruelly and roughly at this time, then the good impression that the scholars in Nanchang Mansion had just established on Prince Ning's Mansion would be gone, and they would even resort to verbal and written criticism, and all their previous efforts would be in vain.

Because of this, Liu Yangzheng advised Prince Ning to be patient and not to do bad things at this critical moment.

Prince Ning naturally understands this, but he really hates Xu Jin. He was knocked down twice by Xu Jin in Shangrao County that day, and his face was trampled by Xu Jin. How could he endure such humiliation?

Liu Yangzheng smiled and said: "Your Highness, you don't have to kill him to take revenge. In fact, there are things more painful than death. For example, if this person risked his life to come to Nanchang to take the exam, he must have attached great importance to fame. Failure is not a good thing for him.

It’s the best punishment.”

Prince Ning's eyes lit up and he laughed and said: "What Mr. Liu said is absolutely true. Then I will let him fail the court examination. Hehe, Xu Jin, I can make you the leader of the government examination, and I can also make you

His reputation has fallen from Sun Mountain."

A hint of ferocity flashed in Prince Ning's eyes, and he thought about letting Xu Jin taste the feeling of failing the exam first, and then kill Xu Jin without anyone noticing. Anyway, he couldn't let Xu Jin leave Nanchang alive.

The Tengwang Pavilion is nearly fifteen meters high, with three bright and seven dark floors. It appears to have three floors, but in fact there are seven floors with the attic. The main venue for the competition between the two houses is on the fifth floor because it has a large space and can accommodate more people.

At the same time, people can also be satisfied with climbing high and looking into the distance, overlooking the river.

Of course, although the fifth floor is wider, it cannot accommodate more than a hundred candidates from the two provinces. Therefore, both sides recommended 20 people to go to the fifth floor as the main force of the literary competition. The remaining candidates were waiting on the fourth floor to watch the battle.

, if necessary, send people upstairs to help.
Chapter completed!