Chen Chengwen and Fan Hai were the first scholars to arrive at the county government office.
Originally, the results of this kind of county examination were only allowed to be looked at by the servants and then reported.
But how can a few wealthy young men have so many rules?
You can chat while waiting for your results.
After publishing the list, we can also go drinking together.
This is what young people enjoy.
But Chen Chengwen and Fan Hai came today for another purpose.
They came in with many programs prepared.
Just wait for the list to be released and the papers to be posted, then it will be time to launch the attack.
So after the two of them had lunch, they waited directly in the open space in front of the county government office.
As soon as they saw the two of them waiting, other classmates they knew also came here to wait.
People are like this, they all want to be among the first to know the results.
This is the herd mentality, the more people wait, the more people get.
By the end of the afternoon, dozens of students had gathered here.
But until they arrived at Shen Shizhong (around four or five o'clock in the afternoon), they didn't see any movement in front of the Yamen.
Obviously, this result is a bit late.
Everyone was anxious, and several candidates gathered together and started chatting about this morning's questions.
"Brother Nian, how did you do on the exam today?"
"It's okay, who knew this year's questions would be so difficult."
"Yes, it's rare for me. My hair has turned two or three gray."
"Oh, you don't know me. In the end, I drew lots to answer the questions. I don't even know if my answer is correct or not."
"Hey, stop talking. I'm even worse. What kind of question is this? I've been reading for a long time and I don't know what the question is. It's that sentence.
These teachers must be sick. How can people answer questions like this?"
"Hey, this classmate, you can't say that. If it's not so difficult, how can you select talents?"
"I don't have any objection to you selecting talents, but don't make it difficult for me. It's a pity that I have been studying so hard for so many years."
Upon hearing this, many people felt sad.
Chen Chengwen seemed to have found an opportunity and said: "This dear friend is right.
Who do you think I'm waiting for? It's not like I've been studying hard until now.
Get up earlier than chickens and go to bed later than ducks.
It took so many years to persist until now.
Do they know how we got here all these years?
they do not know.
But do you know that in this exam, someone actually tried to tamper with the results through unfair means."
As soon as Chen Chengwen said this, all the young men in the county government office stopped.
What kind of big melon is this? Why don’t they know about it?
Although they came to Quanzhou County to take the exam, not all of them were related.
Many people just think that the local population in Quanzhou County is mostly absentee, so the quality of the students is not high, and they should be able to stand out.
This is what happened.
They didn't take any tricks, and they didn't do anything to tamper with the results.
Then I heard that someone still has this way.
Their eyes lit up, but immediately afterwards, they felt offended.
This is how people are, not worried about scarcity, but worried about inequality.
If I don't have it, why can you have it?
We are all descendants of aristocratic families, why do you have an extra path for promotion?
So someone said: "My dear friend, are you serious about this?"
Chen Chengwen took advantage of it and said: "Is it really not that simple? The results will be announced soon. You will know if you take a closer look at the papers of the top few."
Upon hearing this, many people felt their eyes light up.
yes.
We can't find ways to find ways, but we can definitely find faults.
But immediately someone else said: "My dear friend, this opinion is not good.
As the saying goes, articles in the world have countless tastes.
A benevolent person enjoys mountains, and a wise person enjoys water.
How can this be evaluated as high or low?"
Obviously, this person knew something and didn't want to offend the top few easily.
Before Chen Chengwen could speak, Fan Hai smiled slightly and said, "This dear friend is right. There are so many different styles in articles, it's really hard to explain."
Seeing that someone is supporting him, the person speaking feels bright.
But soon, I heard Fan Hai say: "But everything must have an explanation and evaluation.
Look, look, who's coming over there."
Everyone looked around and saw two old gentlemen approaching in the distance, surrounded by several young people.
All the candidates looked at it in confusion.
Suddenly another candidate shouted excitedly: "Wow, it's Mr. Huo. Why is Mr. Huo here?"
Some people didn't know who Mr. Huo was, so someone explained that Mr. Huo's original name was Huo Chengji.
When he reached the rank of Jinshi, he moved to the left to be the magistrate of Chongzhou Prefecture.
Later, because of the Chongzhou Nightmare Curse case, he was dissatisfied with the collusive style of local officials at all levels and deceived superiors and concealed subordinates, so he resigned angrily.
After becoming an official, he opened a college here to educate students.
He is a famous scholar locally.
Most upright.
His teaching philosophy is that people can learn without skills, but cannot practice without virtue.
It is highly praised locally.
He is also a life mentor and role model for local young people.
Hearing this, someone said: "No, what is Mr. Huo doing here? Who is that next to him?"
Upon hearing this, a person next to him said: "That seems to be Mr. Pu from Yanqu County."
Pu Botao, who was a Jinshi scholar at the same time, later entered the Hanlin Academy as an editor. He was dissatisfied with the court's customs and begged for bones.
Classes were held in Yanqu County.
He is known as Mr. Shioqu.
People give him a nickname: "Honesty cannot be exchanged for gold, and there is no sand in one's eyes."
Seeing these two people appear, the crowd immediately became commotion, wondering what these two old gentlemen were doing.
Immediately a middle-aged man in his forties came out of the crowd to greet him.
He paid homage to the two gentlemen with the disciple's rites, and then asked: "Why are these two old gentlemen here?"
The two old gentlemen looked at each other and smiled bitterly. Mr. Huo said: "I didn't want to come at first, but my nephew took the exam and I always wanted to come and have a look."
Mr. Pu said: "I came to visit Mr. Huo today. I heard that our Quanzhou County will open the exam today.
I have nothing to do, so I just want to go for a walk with the old gentleman."
When everyone heard this, they were all excited.
Just these two old people participated in the opening of the list.
This is an inspiration to these young people.
If you brag to others in the future, you can definitely say that you passed the county examination under the witness of the old gentleman.
No matter how you put it, it's all about showing your face.
The arrival of the two old gentlemen also completely ignited the enthusiasm of these students.
Some students immediately shouted to the county government, why haven't the results been released yet?
People in the crowd asked about the opening of the list.
Sure enough, everyone feels that the list announced today is really strange.
Finally, a few Yamen servants walked out of the county government office.
Then without looking at the crowd, he just took a big piece of paper and started posting it.
When everyone saw it, they realized that this was the county examination list.
But these two government officials finished posting and went to stand there.
There is no more action.
As soon as the list came out, everyone immediately jumped in front of it.
Some rejoice and some lament.
But suddenly, an angry cry broke out from the crowd.