Chapter 29: County Examination and Imperial Examination
Li Changming also said to Yan Jun: "Master Du Renyi, I advise you to turn back in time. I don't want to harm your literary reputation. To take a step back, if Master Du ruins his literary reputation, he will still be a poor student. He can afford the price, but
What about you? Once your reputation is ruined, you will become a shame to the Yan family, so you have to weigh it carefully."
Yan Jun looked hesitant, but Li Changming's words woke him up. With such a bet between the two parties, Du Ning could afford to lose, but he couldn't afford to lose.
What seemed like a fair bet was actually very uncomfortable for Yan Jun.
It is nothing for a poor family to kowtow to a powerful family, but if a powerful family kowtows to a poor family, the whole family will be humiliated.
Yan Lu said fiercely: "To put it nicely, when it comes to poetry, my cousin is willing to be defeated, but when it comes to discussing classics and meanings, my cousin will never lose to you, Master Du. So, Master Du, are you willing to meet me again?"
A gamble?"
"I'm afraid you can't afford to lose." Du Ning said.
"What a joke! I've kowtowed to you once, so what if I kowtow to you again? Is there anything I can't afford to lose?"
Yan Lu said hysterically, luckily there was no one else nearby, otherwise it would have attracted a lot of ridicule.
"You can afford to lose, but that doesn't mean Yan Jun can afford to lose."
Du Ning looked at Yan Jun, shook his head slightly, and signaled him not to agree to this meaningless bet, lest his reputation be ruined.
It's not that Du Ning is afraid of this Yan Jun, but that Du Ning and Yan Jun meet for the first time today. There was no enmity in the past and no enmity in the recent days. There is no need to get into this kind of thing out of nowhere.
Du Ning suspected that Yan Jun might have been bewitched by Yan Lu and wanted to regain some ground for his cousin, so he stood up to become his enemy.
Du Ning can be forgiven for feeling like he is hurting his family brothers.
Therefore, for Yan Jun, a promising scholar, Du Ning could not bear to ruin his literary reputation.
This is all Yan Lu's fault. His literary reputation has been ruined and yet he has to drag others down. He is simply a coward.
Du Ning looked down on Yan Lu from the bottom of his heart.
Yan Lu felt Du Ning's contempt, and the anger in his heart became even stronger. He placed his hope on Yan Jun and must make Du Ning pay the due price.
"Cousin, don't be scared by Du Ning. He comes from a poor family and cannot afford a private tutor, and he has never taken a formal study course. His knowledge of classics is definitely not as good as yours," Yan Lu said.
Yan Jun gritted his teeth and handed over to Du Ning, "If I can't avenge my cousin's shame, Yan Jun will be in vain as a son of the Yan family. I still say that if I am not as good as you in my ethics, I am willing to suffer the punishment together with my cousin."<
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"Yan Jun! This is your last chance! Don't make a mistake!"
Li Changming was very angry and scolded Yan Lu: "You are a scholar in vain, and you actually want to involve your own family brothers. What qualifications does a person like you have to be the leader of the Hanyi Club? It's ridiculous!" p>
"Brother Li, this is a matter between me and Mr. Du, it has nothing to do with you." Yan Lu warned.
"Master Du is a student of my Hanyi Club." Li Changming said loudly.
"Yan Jun, do you really want to make this bet with me for your worthless cousin?"
Du Ning looked at Yan Jun with eyes still full of warning. At the same time, this was also the last chance for Yan Jun to regret.
"I have made up my mind." Yan Jun said seriously.
"Okay, since Brother Yan Jun insists on having his own way, don't blame me for not giving you a chance to regret it later. I agreed to this bet." Du Ning said.
"Okay, as expected of Du Zhenguo, he is really brave, but this time, you will definitely lose!"
Yan Lu laughed loudly: "Everyone here is a witness. In the imperial examination and county examination, the two of you compete for the top spot. If you both miss the top spot, the winner will be determined by your ranking."
"I have no objection. As long as you two keep your word, it's fine. It's getting late, so I won't leave you to finish your meal and say goodbye."
After Du Ning finished speaking, he turned around and walked back into the house, ignoring them.
"Yan Lu, if you harm others and yourself, you will never get any good fruits."
Li Changming snorted coldly and closed the door.
"Rampant! You talk as if Yan Jun will lose to him, Du Ning!"
"A boy from a poor family speaks arrogant words, how presumptuous!"
"Yan Jun is the prodigy of the Yan family, there is absolutely no way he will lose to him!"
The students of Jieying Club shouted at the gate, looking very righteous.
Inside the Li Mansion.
Li Changming said to Du Ning: "That Yan Lu is nothing. Fortunately, I respected him a little before, but now I know that this person is fighting for fame and wealth, and he will do whatever it takes."
"But then again, Mr. Du, are you really sure you can beat Yan Jun? The poetry and Confucian classics in the imperial examination are nothing. The most difficult thing is the meaning of the classics. If you can't answer the meaning of the classics well, you will fall behind a lot.
Ranking."
Du Ning said: "If it hadn't been for what happened just now, I might have been slacking off, thinking that even if I couldn't win the top spot, it would be enough to be on the gold list."
"But with this bet, it will put a lot of pressure on me and make me try my best to win the first place. This is not only a kind of pressure, but also a kind of motivation."
Li Changming immediately admired him after hearing this: "So, because you are a child and have no literary courage, even if you set a goal, your ambition may be shaken at any time. You are worried that you will not pass the exam if you are careless, so you agreed to go with Yan Lu
Their bet means that if this happens, you will have to compete with Yan Jun for the top spot. Li is impressed and convinced."
"Since Mr. Du is going to compete with Yan Jun in the county examination, starting from tomorrow, you should have more scholars in your house. You can read the books in my study as you like."
"In the gambling battle with Yan Lu, you must win no matter what, not only for your own fame, but also for Hanyi Club and the poor families in the world."
Du Ning cupped his hands and said, "Thank you for your support, Brother Li. Du will definitely do his best. Even if he can't get the top spot, he will still surpass Yan Jun in the imperial examination rankings."
"I'm optimistic about you."
Li Changming patted Du Ning on the shoulder.
…………
The first day of February.
Yulin County Wenyuan County Examination.
This is a very important day. Every year, many scholars take part in the county examination. In Yulin County alone, nearly a thousand candidates take part.
Although there are many people, only the first one hundred people are admitted.
If you can be named on the gold medal list, even if you are at the bottom of the list, you will still have a solid reputation and you can make suggestions to the court.
Even if you are reporting a court official, you will not accuse the official by the people, you have already been guilty first. This can be offset by your reputation.
This is a Confucian and Taoist world, and fame is really important to a scholar.
Du Ning's student status is at the Suzhou Liberal Arts College. Before taking the county examination, Du Ning had asked Dongfang Xiong to help him transfer his admission ticket number to the Liberal Arts College in Yulin County.
Therefore, Du Ning can take the exam in Yulin County.
After entering the liberal arts college, Du Ning saw a familiar figure, it was Yan Jun.
Yan Jun on the opposite side also cast his gaze, showing hostility in his eyes.
"Have you heard? Mr. Du Ning from Nanping Prefecture came to our Yulin County to take part in the county examination, and he had to compete with Mr. Yan Jun for the top spot. The loser would have to kneel down and kowtow!"
"This is unreasonable! Du Ning is so brave. He dares to bully us Yulin County people like this. Do you really think that our Yulin County students are easy to bully?"
"Nonsense! It was obviously Yan Lu who took Yan Jun to Li Changming's house in person and insisted on betting with Mr. Du. How come you said it was Mr. Du's fault?"
"Presumptuous! Why are you talking? Are you still a student from our Yulin County? Why are your elbows turned outward? You are so shameless!"
"I am a student from Yulin County and a scholar from a poor family. How can a scholar confuse right and wrong and not distinguish right from wrong?"
"What nonsense!"
Someone started shouting and quarreling, because this is within the Academy of Arts. Even if someone quarreled, they didn't dare to really make a loud noise. That would be disrespectful to all the saints.
Some scholars pointed at Du Ning, as if he had offended the public.
Some people were confused at first, but after whispering to each other for a few words, they immediately cast an unkind look at Du Ning.
"Extremely despicable! Bullying is too much!"
"This Du Ning actually doesn't take the Yan family seriously, is he worthy of being a scholar?"
"A person like this wants to argue the case, unless the examiner is blind!"
Du Ning glanced at those people and said nothing.
It may be that Jieyingshe spread some unfriendly remarks towards me, which made local candidates in Yulin County very dissatisfied with me.
Once you are influenced by these people, you may not be able to calm down and write good scriptures.
As for the candidate who just spoke for him, Du Ning bowed to him to express his gratitude.
The other party's expression changed and he hurriedly returned the favor.
"Have you seen how generous and generous Mr. Du is? If you slander him here, he won't even bother with you."
"That's right! Don't think that we don't know Yan Lu's character. If you ask me to say that Yan Lu bullied Du Ning, I believe it. If I say that Du Ning went to find Yan Lu's trouble, I wouldn't believe it even to death!"
"Well said!"
Many candidates nodded.
Seeing that most people were unmoved, the students from Jieying Society were so angry that they could not say a word.
"Students, please follow me into the holy temple to worship the saints and sages before entering the examination room."
The examiner of the county liberal arts college led the way, and many candidates followed behind.
The holy temple enshrines the saints who still exist in the current countries, as well as the sages who have passed away in the past dynasties. They not only once dominated the literary world, but also created many classic works and made contributions to the human race.
Some saints promoted Confucianism and Taoism and spread their talents throughout the world.
Some saints killed demons and barbarians, quelled chaos, and stabilized the country.
There are also some saints who presided over the war court, scolded the foolish kings at the top, and punished the sycophants at the bottom. They governed the world with Confucianism and Taoism, and the country was peaceful and the people were safe.
All the saints and sages are in front, like a mountain, majestic and solemn.
"Worship!"
The examiner led the candidates to kneel down in front of the temple and bow down to express their gratitude to all the saints and sages for their sacrifices.
After paying homage to the saints, the students entered the examination room one by one.
Du Ning sat quietly in the examination room. It was quiet everywhere and no one dared to make any noise.