Chapter 112 'The Mass Poisoning Incident of Imperial Examination Scholars'
"I wish you both hold high the Ming Sutra and be elected!"
In Pingkangfang, Li Yan hosted a banquet for two friends, and Guo Yuanzhen accompanied them.
Kangda had already met at the house before, and this time it was mainly to reunite with An Zhongjing.
The most favored youngest son of the An family has been studying hard in the Imperial College recently, and his behavior is very polite: "Chengyuan Fangji said, you are a fifth-grade powerful man, let me have a touch of nobility, I am sorry even if I am not in high school!"
Kunda was a little shy and raised his glass: "Thank you Yuanfang!"
Li Yan has been practicing hard in the past few days. Now he drank a little and became more interested.
These two were his best friends during his time in Liangzhou. Coincidentally, they both had to participate in this imperial examination.
An Zhongjing was almost unjustly accused and imprisoned by Jia Sibo during the mysterious case of the mission. He suddenly came to his senses and returned to Chang'an to study hard. He successfully passed the internal examination of the Imperial College and obtained the qualification for the imperial examination.
In comparison, states are much more difficult.
Kangda stood out from more than 300 scholars in Liangzhou, and only two people were admitted in one state. It was not easy.
The most pity is that these rare two people often excitedly enter Chang'an with their letters, and then become the foils of the six scholars in the second hall...
Fortunately, not every subject is hopeless, so Li Yan said to Kangda: "It is a wise move to take the Ming Jing subject."
Kangda was very self-aware: "My knowledge is shallow, and it is not easy to win the exam by chance. How can I expect to be a high school Jinshi and be able to lift up the Ming Sutra? It is enough for my wish."
He was the son of a county captain. When he was in school, he was in the most irresponsible PhD class. He passed the Gongju Examination because he worked hard enough and also because there were not many talented people in Liangzhou this year.
Kangda was self-aware, and his knowledge was not top-notch in Liangzhou in the past, and it was even more unparalleled in the entire Tang Dynasty.
Even if there is no out-of-state discrimination and admissions are based on true talent and practical learning, it is basically impossible to pass the Jinshi examination. We might as well settle for the next best thing and take the Mingjing Economics examination.
Li Yan looked at An Zhongjing again: "Zhongjing, how confident are you that you have studied hard these past few months?"
An Zhongjing's face was not red and his heart was not beating: "I actually wanted to take the Ming Dynasty major, but I was scolded by Aye, so I chose the Ming Jing major."
Li Yan: "..."
Thanks to what you just said so nicely, I thought you were at least 80% sure, but in the end you didn’t even expect to pass?
The imperial examination includes not only Jinshi and Mingjing subjects, but also subjects such as Mingfa, Mingshu, and Mingshu.
Mingfa is a test of law, Mingshu is a test of arithmetic, and Mingshu is a test of translation, which requires special interpretation of the meaning of words and sentences in ancient books.
In fact, talents in such subjects are more professional and have made greater contributions to grassroots governance, but they are extremely underestimated.
The imperial court only selects single-digit officials every year, and the officials they serve are all at the lowest level, with no prospect of promotion.
So unless you really have no ambitions and just want to work as an official and have a job, anyone with some ambition will not take the exam for that kind of miscellaneous subject.
During the Zhenguan period, there was also a scholar subject, which was the most difficult, but no one took the exam later.
Because each state recommends talents to take the scholar examination, if the candidate fails, the recommender will also suffer consequences.
That kind of system was too complicated. There were definitely fewer and fewer people to recommend, and every candidate who took the exam was under a lot of pressure. Later, not long after Li Zhi came to power, he abolished the Xiucai Department.
Not mentioning those difficult subjects, An Zhongjing said that he initially considered the Ming Suan subject, which shows that he was basically unsure about the Ming Jing subject.
Think about it, this guy is eating, drinking and having fun in Liangzhou. It would be really unreasonable for him to surpass someone who studied hard in a humble window as soon as he returns to school.
An Zhongjing knew that the probability of running with him was 90%, so he was optimistic: "I don't want to live in confusion. This exam will test my level and find the right direction. Should I continue studying or follow Aye?"
Join the army."
Li Yan agreed: "That's right. There is no harm in reading more."
The ancients did not have the Internet, so they relied on reading to broaden their horizons. Even if they could not get good grades, the experience of studying hard in the Imperial College was a valuable asset in itself.
An Zhongjing showed his fighting spirit: "I'm going to catch up with you anyway. Just because you're ahead now doesn't mean you can always be ahead!"
"I'll wait and see!"
Li Yan laughed, An Zhongjing was only two years older than him, and he indeed had a promising future.
Of course, some officials are ghosts, but I won’t say who they are.
After chatting and laughing for a while, Li Yan asked casually: "In your opinion, who can become the number one scholar in this imperial examination?"
Kangda said: "I just came to Chang'an, and I don't know many talented people yet."
An Zhongjing also shook his head: "I don't care much about these things."
However, Guo Yuanzhen's eyes lit up. He knew that he shouldn't disturb the leader's reminiscing about the past, so he kept silent. At this time, he just spoke up: "There is a person who has a good chance. His name is Su Weiwei. He is from Zhaozhou. He is recognized for his talent and learning. More importantly, he
It seems that he has gained the favor of Minister Pei and is publicly praised!"
"Su Weiwei...isn't that Su Shi's ancestor?"
Li Yan originally said it casually, but he didn't expect to hear from such an acquaintance.
Su Weiwei is not very famous in history, but his descendant Su Shi is really known to everyone.
Plus, the name is quite interesting, as if being a foodie is engraved in your genes, your family is destined to have a big foodie.
Li Yan thought about it, but after thinking about it carefully, he found that although Su Weiwei was the prime minister during the Wu and Zhou Dynasties, he had not made many achievements as an official and liked to be wise and protect himself.
The idiom "ambiguous" is used to describe him. He has a clear understanding of the officialdom and is knowledgeable enough, but there is a question mark about his actual work ability.
Just because he has a good offspring doesn't mean he loves Wujiwu.
Li Yan gave up. After eating and drinking, he began to enjoy singing and dancing.
This time it was finally not his dance. After a good dance, Li Yan happily rewarded the dancer.
The four of them got up and paid a total of two dollars, which is equivalent to eating in a restaurant with an average price of more than 1,000 yuan per person.
The story of Liao Cai's lavish spending of twenty gold has become a thing of the past. Since that incident, everyone has become more rational in their consumption.
On the occasion of separation, Li Yan asked Guo Yuanzhen and An Zhongjing to see them off.
When Jia Sibo's threat was reported, Qiu Ying took it very seriously. During these days, the internal guards were on heightened alert to prevent any eventuality.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! But to be honest, Chang'an is so big that it is impossible to prevent it, and Li Yan can only try his best to ensure that nothing happens to his relatives and friends around him.
Under the escort of Guo Yuanzhen, An Zhongjing and Kangda rode all the way back to the accommodation dormitories arranged for new scholars by the South School of the Ministry of Rites.
The three of them parted in front of the courtyard gate. Guo Yuanzhen was supposed to live there, but later he joined the inner guard and had no intention of studying for the imperial examination.
He looked at the sky and rushed to the inner guard.
These days, there is a round Wu Dewei who has been working overtime, which gradually makes others feel a sense of urgency.
Guo Yuanzhen felt that he could not be compared with a fat man who came later and was the oldest, so he had to work hard and work overtime!
…
"Brother An, I'm going to study!"
“We go together, we go together, we work hard in the last few days, and we won’t regret it even if we fail!”
On the other side, Kangda took the time to study hard and was also infected by An Zhongjing.
The two of them were walking towards their house when they found a group of scholars from other places gathered together, muttering about something they didn't know.
Among them, the leading scholar surnamed Zhang had an old appearance but was very energetic. When he saw the two people coming back, he took the initiative to come over and said, "An Xiaolangjun! Kang Xiaolangjun! Come, come, I have something good to share!"
An Zhongjing asked curiously: "What?"
Zhang Shizi showed a small brocade box with his thin hands: "Look!"
An Zhongjing thought there was something good about it, but he couldn't help but feel disappointed when he saw it: "Elixir..."
Zhang Shizi said: "This is a cloud pill. There are cloud patterns on the pill. Look!"
An Zhongjing took a look and saw that there was indeed a pattern on the surface of the elixir, which looked like a cloud. It looked very good.
Zhang Shizi said: "Those who can refine this elixir are all Taoist immortals. Taking it can refresh your mind and make you remember what you read. God is really helping us! Ahem!"
There was resentment in his voice, and he even coughed twice: "Compared with the favor given by the Central Government to the Sixth School and the Second Hall, it is too difficult for us foreign scholars to go to high school. I got these cloud pills.
For nothing else, just to give the students in each state a good reputation!"
Although An Zhongjing was studying in the Imperial College, his mentality was indeed biased towards other states. He thought of Jia Sibo, his friend who had been playing since childhood, and his heart ached. He praised: "Brother Zhang has great ambitions! How much does a pill cost?"
Zhang Shizi said: "Ten guan, that's the price when I bought it, I didn't make a penny!"
Ten guan of money corresponds to about 20,000 yuan in later generations. To buy a medicine sounds very exaggerated.
But An Zhongjing felt that the price was really fair. He nodded and said, "Give me one. Is the quantity enough?"
Zhang Shizi smiled with wrinkles on his face: "I have specially reserved it for the two young gentlemen. Each of them has two pills. You can take the first pill tonight and the second pill before the exam."
Seeing An Zhongjing accept it, Kangda whispered: "I...I don't want..."
Zhang Shizi explained: "Kang Xiaolangjun, I really kept the cloud pill specially for you. You can never buy it with this little money."
Although Ankang and Ankang were among a group of top academics with almost the lowest academic performance, others were willing to make friends with them.
Because youth represents the possibility of the future. On the contrary, the kind of old people, even if they can pass the imperial examination and become an official, they can basically be buried in the coffin.
For example, Cao Song, who wrote "Don't talk about the matter of becoming a marquis because of your superiors, one general will achieve great success". He graduated from high school in his seventies, but died not long after passing the exam.
But Kangda still shook his head: "Thank you, Brother Zhang, I don't want it."
Zhang Shizi frowned and said in a low voice: "Su Weiwei is convinced, what worries does Mr. Kang Xiaolang have?"
The shadow of a person's famous tree. Once the person's effect came out, anyone else would have followed suit, but Kunta still shook his head.
Zhang Shizi finally showed his displeasure.
An Zhongjing hurriedly stepped forward: "Brother Zhang, don't be angry. He is an honest boy. Please give me the elixir!"
Zhang Shizi snorted coldly, as if he didn't know the kindness of people, and handed over two more boxes, saying with caution: "This medicine is very powerful, take one tonight, and wait three days before taking the second one before the exam. Do not use more.
Remember, remember!”
…
Late at night.
Li Yan was awakened by the footsteps of his servants. He got up immediately after sleeping with his clothes on.
In the front yard, he saw An Shengan, whose face was full of panic: "Yuanfang, something happened to my ninth brother, Academician Gong was poisoned and fell down!"