On February 28th, the day when the examination results were released, the spring rain continued.
Thin raindrops fell on the newly sprouted leaves without making a sound. Only the water flowing down from the eaves made a continuous sound of water splashing on the bluestone slab at the corner.
The tidy and solemn Dazhou Gongyuan was not disturbed by the rain at all, and returned to the bustle of half a month ago. It was full of scholars wearing 襕shirts and square scarves.
Of course, more of them are bookboys and followers. These people gather in front of the screen wall outside the Gongyuan, waiting anxiously.
This is also cheaper for the shops on the nearby streets. The candidates who have a little money don't want to lose face in front of the same year, so they all sit in the teahouse and restaurant, order a pot of fragrant tea and a few snacks, and elegantly wait for the moment when the results are announced.
Arrival.
In the largest restaurant on the south side of the street, the hall is full of candidates. According to different regions, they sit together and are clearly separated. Among them are some famous talents.
On this occasion, it is normal for township parties to flatter each other and make each other famous.
While they are concerned about their own future, candidates from various provinces are secretly competing to see which province has a higher ranking and which province has admitted more people.
Especially in Jiangnan, Zhejiang, Fujian, and Jiangxi, which are major provinces in science and technology, each subject must recommend a few recognized talents to represent the province in the competition with other provinces.
At this time, the most popular person in the restaurant hall was Zheng Xian, a candidate from Zhejiang Province. Under the hard praise of his Zhejiang compatriots, he seemed to be the second most talented person in the Great Zhou Dynasty.
Even if Zheng Xian thought highly of himself, he would not dare to risk the disapproval of the world and call himself the most talented scholar of the Great Zhou Dynasty. The scholars of the Great Zhou Dynasty had already made a public decision about the ownership of this throne.
However, this does not affect Zheng Xian's good mood at this time. After all, becoming the first person under Mr. Xingyun is not a shameful thing, but a rare honor.
Zheng Xian himself also read "Tanwenlu", which is known as the imperial examination treasure book, and benefited a lot from it. Naturally, he knew that the level of Wei Chen's articles was far beyond his own.
At the unanimous request of everyone, Zheng Xian, who has an outstanding memory, recited the first article of his examination, which made everyone present marvel. He was the one to become the first member of the Jinke Association.
Facing the praise from everyone, Zheng Xian was humble, but deep down he was also quite proud.
He thinks that he performed extremely well in the Jinke Examination and wrote an unprecedentedly good essay. As long as the bad luck like Xie Yuan and Guo Jin in the Henan Provincial Examination does not happen again, he will definitely win the first prize in one fell swoop!
The Zhejiang candidates boasted about themselves as if no one else was around, which naturally made the candidates from other major imperial examination provinces unhappy.
It's just that Zheng Xian does have a lot of beauty in his heart. For the article he just recited in class, few people here can match him. Most of the candidates asked themselves that they couldn't learn as well as Zheng Xian, so they could only frown and turn away.
, out of sight but out of sight.
At the table of Jiangnan candidates, everyone looked at a young man with a dark complexion and a calm demeanor: "Brother Zichun, your writing skills are definitely not inferior to that of Zheng Xian. Why not recite it in public to suppress these ignorant people?"
People!"
This "Brother Zichun", whose surname is Chen Mingshao, is Jinke Jiangnan Jieyuan. He also has another identity, that is, he is a student of the famous Mr. Xingyun.
Chen Shao was originally from Suzhou. He lost his father when he was young, his mother remarried, and he was raised by his grandfather. After his grandfather died of illness, he left home to study and moved to Bianjing.
It just so happened that Wei Chen's masterpiece "Chen Qing Biao" came out, which attracted the attention of Bianjing. Chen Shao admired Wei Chen's name for a long time, so he went to his house to pay a visit. Finally, he passed Wei Chen's selection and became one of Wei Chen's disciples, following Wei Chen.
Go to Yuzhou and serve you.
In August last year, Chen Shao bid farewell to his teacher and returned to his hometown for Qiu Wei. Then he won Jieyuan in one fell swoop, which shocked the south of the Yangtze River and became the most prominent figure in Jingxi Society after Wei Chen.
Now in the restaurant, seeing the candidates from Zhejiang being so arrogant because of Zheng Xian, the candidates from Jiangnan were so angry that they naturally thought of Chen Shao, hoping that he could stand up and suppress the opponent's arrogance.
However, Chen Shao shook his head unmoved and said with a dull expression: "The result of the general examination will be decided after filling in the results. Why bother to have a dispute here? Everything will be known when the results are announced.
."
Everyone couldn't help but feel a little disappointed when they heard this. They didn't know whether Chen Shao was really indifferent or scared. After all, Chen Shao had been away from home to study for many years, and the Jiangnan candidates here didn't know him very well.
Most people subconsciously think that Chen Shao did not perform well in Jinke, so he lacks confidence and dare not compete with Zheng Xian.
An examinee from Jiangnan suddenly sighed and said: "I recall that in the spring of the sixth year of God's blessing, Wei Liuyuan was in front, and Jiangning's seven sons were behind. Just one Jingxi club produced eleven Jinshi. All the talents in the world were surpassed by our Jiangnan
The province has taken over everything. How come it’s only been three years and it’s already stolen the limelight from others?”
These words made all the Jiangnan candidates present feel the same way. They were speechless for a while and had no choice but to lower their heads and drink tea in depression.
Chen Shao just smiled when he saw this and didn't say much.
The day after the examination, he and several classmates prepared some small gifts and went to the teacher's house to meet him. During the period, the teacher had already commented on the article he had written silently.
Therefore, Chen Shao actually had a good idea of his results in the general examination for a long time. However, he had always had a calm temperament and did not like to show off. This was one of the reasons why Wei Chen admired him and was willing to accept him as his student.
The dull atmosphere on the table did not last long, and was soon broken by the crackling of firecrackers outside the restaurant.
"The rankings are released, the rankings are released!"
Hearing this voice, Chen Shao, who had always behaved calmly, suddenly felt nervous. Even if he had received a reassurance from Wei Chen, after all, Han Chuang's ten years of hard work were all today, and no one could keep his peace of mind.
Like water.
When Chen Shao went out, the courtyard of the restaurant was already full of people, and there was no place to stand. He and his fellow villagers had to stand on the steps and look out.
After a while, a reporter came in beating gongs and drums, shouting: "Good news, Mr. Guo Baojin of Mi County, Yuzhou, Henan Province, the 251st tribute scholar in the Tianyou Ninth Year Examination of High School, the saint above the Jinluan Hall.
!"
Then I saw an ecstatic middle-aged candidate squeeze out, raised his hands in the air and shouted: "It's me, it's me! I'm Guo Jin! Guo Jin is me!"
The reporter immediately stepped forward, covered Guo Jin with red and colorful clothes, and then handed a yellow flower paper sprinkled with gold powder to Guo Jin's hand.
Guo Jin seemed to be drunk. He stood there with a blush on his face and was at the mercy of the reporter like a puppet on strings. It was not until the reporter hinted and made it clear several times that Guo Jin took out the money to pay.
Rewards.
"What a risk, it almost became 250! No matter what, I finally won!" After sending away the reporter who was demanding money, Guo Jin was still smiling from ear to ear.
Although there is a big gap from Jieyuan in the provincial examination to No. 251 in the general examination, Guo Jin himself also understands how lucky he was in the provincial examination. Now that he can pass the examination, he can guarantee that
He is already very satisfied with the title of Jinshi.
Chen Shao followed Wei Chen in Yuzhou for three years and met Guo Jin several times. When he saw him in Nangong Zhongshi, his long-cherished wish came true, and he was sincerely happy for him. He bowed from a distance to express his congratulations.
Next, good news came one after another, and the whole restaurant was filled with an atmosphere of celebration.