There is no need to rush when it comes to poetry, you have to find a suitable opportunity.
The state examination will be held in one month, and Wang Xu's focus will turn to the examination. Compared with his fame, everything else will have to take a back seat.
Wang Xu settled in Fahuai Temple and settled down.
The next day, Zhang Minghuai hosted a banquet for guests at Du Caoyun Mansion. He invited everyone to drink wine and taste poems, and the poems they tasted were poems sent by Wang Xu.
With this farewell poem, and Zhang Minghuai always saying to everyone he met that Zhang Xiaomei and Wang Xu were cousins, he could finally borrow the donkey from Poxia.
After some time, Wang Xu took the time to visit the embroiderer's boat. The embroiderer had Wang Xu's support and the boat had been opened.
The effect of the small advertisement was very good, and the embroiderer really had two skills, so she gradually stood out among the oirans in Yangzhou Prefecture. Although she could not be said to be more beautiful than Qin Huai, she was still considered to be one of the most popular.
As for the plan to build momentum for the embroiderer and promote her as the first courtesan in Jiangnan, Wang Xu decided to postpone it for a while.
After all, it can't be called calm at the moment, and Wang Xu doesn't dare to show his face easily in the face of the possible assassination by the demon clan.
No matter how good his reputation is, it is not as important as his own life. He needs to keep a low profile now. It is best to keep a low profile until everyone forgets about him and treats him as if he does not exist.
In this way, Wang Xu hid in Faming Temple without leaving the main gate or taking any steps forward, focusing on preparing for the state examination.
In the blink of an eye, a month passed, and the time came from July to the end of August, and the day of the state examination arrived.
On this day, Wang Xu got up very early. The state examination was also called the Juren Examination. The prescribed examination time was three days. He entered at ten o'clock in the morning and could not come out until three o'clock in the afternoon the day after tomorrow.
During these three days, everyone ate, drank, and had sex in the examination room, where each person had a small room the size of a toilet. When he was sleepy, he slept, and when he woke up, he wrote. He was not allowed to speak or communicate. It is said that some people with poor health often suffer from illness after three days.
A serious illness.
Wang Xu got up early in the morning, packed his things, and ate a bowl of corn porridge cooked by a novice monk.
The little novice also knew that today was the day he was rushing to take the exam. In the past morning, he only had a bowl of porridge and a piece of bread. Today, not only did he get an extra piece of bread, but he also got an extra plate of pickled cucumbers.
"Donor Wang, the master knows that you have to take the exam today, so he specially ordered me to prepare these. I wish you can pass the exam as soon as possible!"
Putting down the food box, the little novice monk held his hands in front of his chest and said auspicious words with a smile.
Wang Xu rubbed his head, picked up a piece of bread and handed it to him, saying with a smile: "Eat quickly. Only when you are strong will you be able to think about the Buddha."
"Thank you, donor." The little novice monk was overjoyed and ran away happily with the bread.
Monks are very particular about not eating after lunch. As a seven- or eight-year-old novice, at the time when his body is growing, he feels he is not full even if he eats three meals a day, let alone two meals a day.
Watching the little novice monk skipping away, Wang Xu sat down to eat in peace. After eating, he called Fahai who was still chanting sutras and walked together to the county school in Yangzhou Prefecture.
County schools are also known as county schools. Scholars in the world have three places to go if they want to study. One is to study with a great Confucian, the other is to attend major academies, and the other is to enter an officially established county school.
What Wang Xu was going to take part in was the National People's Government Examination, and the exam took place at the county school in Yangzhou.
When we arrived here, it was already nine o'clock in the morning, and the candidates standing outside the county school were waiting eagerly at the door.
Looking at the crowd, we can see that the scholars present are of different ages. The youngest ones are about the same age as Wang Xu, and there are even those who are thirteen or fourteen years old.
The eldest were over sixty years old and were supported by others. I really don’t know how to take the examination at such an old age.
Similarly, the crowd was also divided into two, with the children from poor families standing on the left and the children of the gentry standing on the right, looking at each other unfriendly.
This is also inevitable. The gentry and the poor are naturally at odds with each other, otherwise they would not be divided into the Han Party and the Zhu Party.
As a reserve member of the Zhu Party, Wang Xu naturally would not go to the side of the poor family to seek trouble, and took the initiative to go to the side of the gentry.
"Wang Xuzhi is here!"
Seeing Wang Xu coming, everyone who had seen him before greeted him.
When others heard Wang Xu's name, they automatically moved out of the way without him having to say anything. Occasionally, a few who didn't open their eyes were dragged over by their friends.
"Who is this? Why should I give way to him?" Someone was unconvinced and muttered.
"You're crazy. You don't even know him. Why don't you read the Jiangnan Poetry Collection every season?"
"What does this have to do with the Jiangnan Poetry Collection?"
"Hey, it's a big deal. This man's name is Wang Xu, also known as Xu Zhi. He has written seven famous essays by himself, all of which have been included in the Jiangnan Poetry Anthology and printed on the front page. You can't say you haven't heard of his poems.
"
Jiangnan Poetry Collection is a semi-official publishing house in Jiangnan, specially used to collect poems written by people from Jiangnan.
It is finalized every quarter, and a hundred poems are selected and bound into a volume for readers in Jiangnan. Scholars in Jiangnan are all proud of their poems being selected into poetry anthologies, just like the scientific magazines of later generations.
Although Wang Xu's output is not high, every piece is of high quality.
To this day, his poems have been published in Jiangnan Poetry Anthology several times. Unfortunately, intellectual property rights do not exist in this era. He was not given a penny to print his poems and sell them.
"It turns out it's him. I wonder who is so capable of making everyone lose face!"
After hearing the explanation, people who didn't know Wang Xu suddenly understood.
Wang Xu listened to the discussions of the people around him, carried the book basket, and walked inside with his hands folded.
The crowd automatically made way for him because they thought highly of him, and they had to continue to give him face. Even if they were performing, they had to be more friendly to the people.
After all, the hundreds of thousands of scholars present were scattered in various prefectures and counties, and they were all prominent figures.
If they didn't have real talent and practical knowledge, they wouldn't come to the city to take the exam if they had any chance of passing it.
Doing the math, there are more than tens of millions of scholars in the entire Jiangnan area, and there are millions of talented people at least.
But there were only tens of thousands of people present. Among the scholar class, less than one-thirtieth came. If you put them in various counties, everyone would be a scholar with the same seed.
Don't look down on these people. For future generations, those who can be admitted as scholars are equivalent to being admitted to key universities.
If you look at people, that would be Tsinghua University and Peking University.
As for the difficulty of getting into the Jinshi examination, it is not only comparable to academicians of the Academy of Sciences, but is at least about the same as university professors.
Let’s not talk about it if you don’t pass the exam. Once you pass the exam, your life will be settled. Even if you don’t want to be an official, you can write a plaque or make a couplet for the newly opened shop, and you will be rich and wealthy for the rest of your life. Ordinary people can’t imagine it.
Life.
"Brother Wang, Brother Wang!"
Wang Xu walked to the front and heard someone calling him. When he looked up, he saw that it was Zhang Xu, Zhang Xiaomei's brother.
Zhang Xu is also a scholar, and he has said before that he will be dismissed this time, and he will return home with the honor of being a scholar.
Seeing this, Wang Xu was not too surprised as it was expected and reasonable.
What really surprised Wang Xu was Zhang Xiaomei next to Zhang Xu.
Wang Xu has been studying in seclusion during this period, and he thought that Zhang Xiaomei would be detained in solitary confinement and punished severely.
When he saw it again, Zhang Xiaomei not only had not lost weight, but had gained some weight, she looked at him with a shy look on her face.
Meeting Wang Xu's gaze, Zhang Xiaomei's face instantly turned red, and she shyly hid in the carriage without saying hello to him.
Wang Xu looked very strange and asked: "What happened to your sister?"
"You'll know when you come out."
Zhang Xu had an eager look on his face, as if he didn't blame him at all, so Zhang Xiaomei went to Hangzhou Mansion to find him.
Wang Xu was confused. As the eldest brother, he didn't know who his sister was, and there were rumors outside. But when he saw the person involved, the elder brother acted like nothing happened.
No, he didn't act like he was fine. He was even happy to see him, just like meeting his real relative. What kind of attitude is this?
Wang Xu asked himself, what if he had a sister who left a letter and ran away from home to find a wild man elsewhere.
Regardless of whether the man is justified or not, break his legs first.
Zhang Xu is good, he is quite enthusiastic. Could it be that the Zhang family decided to let this matter go and pretend it never happened?
If this is the case, it is really good news. These days, many friends are better than many enemies, and Wang Xu does not want to fight with the water transport envoy.
"The candidates are in their places, receive their badges, undergo inspection, and are ready to enter!"
Wang Xu didn't wait to ask again. It was time to enter the venue, so he could only keep the next words in his heart.
However, he still felt that there was something in Zhang Xu's words and that this matter was not that simple.
The attitude of the Zhang family shouldn't be like this. Even if he really has nothing to do with Zhang Xiaomei and has made amends, they still won't be happy to hear about him.