The days of studying are dull, and it will inevitably become boring after a long time.
Fortunately, Wei Chen knew how to arrange his study and rest time appropriately. When he had nothing to do, he took Zhang Xu out to play, play chess, fish, or listen to a play and enjoy the scenery. The rest days were also a break.
Summer turns to autumn, autumn turns to winter solstice, and in a blink of an eye, it’s Wei Chen’s second year in the Zhou Dynasty.
For more than half a year, Wei Chen not only read the Eight Great Masters' Notes and Zhaoming's Selected Works, but also browsed through the collection of books in the Yi Xue Cangjing Pavilion. The amount of reading far exceeded that of any student in the Yi Xue.
On weekdays, even if he is a student in Shangshe, Lin Yan always only attends big classes. Only Wei Chen can enjoy this kind of treatment of running a small kitchen alone. Of course, Wei Chen must cherish this hard-won opportunity.
Lin Yan taught Wei Chen once every five days. No matter whether it was cold in winter or hot in summer, windy or rainy, Wei Chen was never absent once.
During this period, Wei Chen wrote so many articles that even he himself could not remember clearly. He only knew that the old manuscripts stacked in the corner of the room were as tall as a person.
Up to now, Wei Chen has learned from the three dynasties of the pre-Qin Dynasty, learned extensively from the Tang and Song Dynasties, and consciously made great progress in his writing. Although he has not yet reached the state of being a unique scholar, he can still be said to have entered the world.
As for calligraphy practice copybooks, there are countless.
If the dividends from Amber Wine hadn't arrived at the end of last year, I'm afraid that just the cost of this ink and paper would have caused Wei Chen to go bankrupt.
However, these investments have also been very effective. Now Wei Chen's pavilion style writing is dignified and neat, which is no longer the same as last year.
The spring breeze in February was chilling, and Wei Chen was sitting on the small building, staring out the window.
After nearly a year of preparation, Wei Chen was finally about to face the first fateful exam, and Wei Chen was full of expectations.
This is the first step in the long road to the imperial examination, and you must take it well.
……
Today is the day to register for the county examination.
At noon, students from Sheng's Volunteer School set off under the leadership of Lin Yan and arrived in front of the county government.
There are only a dozen students behind Lin Yan, all of whom are natives of Youyang. Students from other places have to return to their place of origin to participate in the county examination.
Lu Qingzhou returned to Shangyuan County, and Tao Dazhi also returned to Jiangning. Among the seven people in Shangshe, only Chen Jun and Wei Chen participated in the county examination in Youyang.
There are a lot more tolerances in the Youyang County Yamen than usual. There is a post every three steps and a sentry every five steps to prevent students who do not understand the rules from running around.
Youyang is located in the south of the Yangtze River, where culture and education are prosperous. Youyang County is also one of the few counties in the Zhou Dynasty that is strong in imperial examinations. Every year in the county examination, thousands of scholars compete together, fighting to the death.
The number of people admitted to the county examination generally ranges from a few dozen to a hundred, and the admission rate is less than one-tenth.
Today, when registering for the county examination, thousands of people crowded in front of the county government office, and the queue formed a long queue. Wei Chen came late, so he could only stand in the back. Looking at the queue that had not moved for a long time, he sighed helplessly.
Just when he was getting impatient, there was a sudden commotion in the team behind him.
"Get out of the way!"
The crowd obediently separated to make way for a five-foot-wide path.
Wei Chen looked around and saw an official with a stern face wearing a green robe and a handsome young man wearing a white shirt swaggering in from the door.
The originally very quiet crowd suddenly started to murmur in low voices, obviously very dissatisfied with this special behavior of jumping in line.
However, there are some people who are knowledgeable. They smile and say to those unhappy students: "Do you know who he is? He is Wang Yaochen!"
The students looked sideways, and many people made sounds of sudden realization.
"It turns out that he is Wang Yaochen from Bailudong Academy!"
"I heard that he went to Bailudong Academy to study at the age of ten. He studied under Luo Bingkun, the number one scholar thirty years ago. He studied for five years. Now it seems that he has finished his studies!"
"Looking at his posture, I'm afraid he's not here for Xiao Sanyuan!"
……
After understanding the reason for the matter, Chen Jun whispered to Wei Chen: "Brother Wei, I'm afraid this person is your strong rival in this county examination!"
Wei Chen smiled: "Which one is strong or weak can only be known after passing the test!"
Chen Jun felt the edge in Wei Chen's words and couldn't help but froze for a moment. He still knew Wei Chen very well. Wei Chen would rarely take the initiative to show off unless necessary.
Seeing the confusion in Chen Jun's eyes, Wei Chen smiled and explained: "Brother Chen, you have to be low-key as a person and as an official. Only in the imperial examination, it is absolutely forbidden to be low-key. The better you do in the exam, the greater your reputation and your future."
It will be brighter!
Therefore, no matter who comes, I will compete with him for the top spot in the county examination!"
"That's it."
Chen Jun scratched his head and chuckled: "I just want to avoid failing the rankings, but this battle for the top spot has nothing to do with me."
While he was talking, Wei Chen suddenly felt someone patting him from behind. When he turned around, he saw that it was a small official from the yamen.
"This is Wei Chenwei, a junior official. Please come with me."
After confirming Wei Chen's identity, the clerk led Wei Chen on a journey to jump in line.
Wei Chen felt a little funny in his heart: "I was angry with others just now, but now it's my turn to make others angry."
As expected, another angry discussion came from behind.
"Damn, there's another queue-jumping person. If this continues, we won't be waiting in line until the end of the year of the monkey!"
"You don't even know this guy, but he is a child prodigy in our Youyang County. He was appreciated by the academic administration at the age of ten!"
"Have you heard of "Bamboo Stone"? He wrote it!"
"It turns out it's him. Why did he come to the county examination at such a young age?"
"This guy is pretty good-looking, a bit more attractive than Wang Yaochen."
"What's the use of being good-looking? Even the academic masters have confiscated him as a disciple. How can he compare with other top scholars?"
"That's right. It's not unusual for a child prodigy. It's not like we, Youyang, have never been born before! Hahahaha..."
As soon as these words came out, the surrounding people burst into laughter.
The name of a certain child prodigy named Sun is so well-known in the Youyang area that no one knows about him.
When Wei Chen heard these people's discussions, he couldn't help but darken his face and speed up his steps. He just wanted to leave this place of right and wrong quickly.
Which guy is so wicked as to compare himself with Sun Zhigao?
It is still such an important day to register for the county trial.
What a damn bad luck!
……
After Wei Chen was brought into the county government ceremony room, after waiting for a while, a clerk from the ceremony room came forward.
The scribe asked whether anyone in the three generations of Wei Chen was engaged in prostitution, elite, soap, slave, or untouchables, whether it was during the Ding You period, and whether he applied for the exam at the place of household registration...
And so on, a total of more than a dozen questions were asked. After recording them all one by one, he wrote down Wei Chen's physical characteristics on a piece of paper: "Short body, round face, white face, no beard, very good appearance."
The clerk put the paper on the back of the examination card and asked Wei Chen to put his fingerprints on the front of the examination card.
Registration for the county examination requires a joint guarantee, that is, five candidates from the same county who take the examination at the same time guarantee each other.
If one person's identity is faked, the other four people will be implicated, and the risks are self-evident.
Another option is to ask a senior citizen to be your insured, so that you can avoid the risk of accidents.
Originally, Wei Chen had negotiated with Chen Jun and several other volunteer students to provide mutual protection, but since he was called in in advance, the Yamen must have made other arrangements.
Sure enough, after a while, the little official who led Wei Chen in came back and said with a smile on his face: "Mr. Wei, the county official has found a good villager to be your guarantor. Please come with me."<
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Wei Chen suddenly realized that this must be Wang Xuezheng's influence.
It's only February now, and Wang Wenqing won't leave office until June. After all, Wei Chen is also Wang Wenqing's favorite student. Naturally, Magistrate Feng will not deny him this favor.