After running all the way, the two stopped looking at each other and laughing. The last time they laughed together like this was this time last year.
After laughing, Wang Xian suddenly felt mysterious and took out a pair of chubby, smiling, big-headed doll clay sculptures from his sleeves.
"Big Ah Fu" Lin Qing'er exclaimed in surprise, took the pair of clay figurines and started playing with them admiringly. They saw a male and a female clay figurine, wearing red bellybands, sitting cross-legged with a little lion in their arms, plump and smiling.
Haha, you are so naive and endearing.
Just now at the market, Lin Qing'er took a fancy to this pair of big boys. She was about to buy it, but she was surrounded by onlookers and had to give up. Unexpectedly, Wang Xian saw it and bought it for her... Uh, why are you free?
Bought? Lin Qing'er suddenly remembered, this guy didn't even talk to the stall owner?
"Shh..." Wang Xian whispered sneakily: "Keep your voice down, these two little guys came into my arms on their own." If it were a real person, he would honestly tell Sister Lin that I stole them.
But Wang Xian is a naughty guy who always makes people happy with his mouth.
"Nonsense." But Lin Qing'er knew him well and had already guessed it. She smiled bitterly and said: "This clay figure has no feet, how can it run into someone's arms by itself? It's more like someone taking a sheep."
"He really came here by himself, and he even talked." Wang Xian's face was not red, but his eyes widened and he said, "If you don't believe me, I'll throw you away."
"What did you say?" Lin Qing'er gave him an infinitely beautiful look.
"Call me daddy," Wang Xian looked at Sister Lin hotly: "I call you mother."
"Bad guy..." Sister Lin couldn't bear this any more. She let out a cry, her pretty face turned red to her neck, and she fell softly into her lover's arms. Big Ah Fu poked his head out of their arms, smiling innocently...
…
The next day, Wang Xian returned to Hangzhou to make final preparations for the county test next month. However, with the beauty in her red sleeves and the thoughtful care of her family, studying hard became a kind of enjoyment, and it was soon February.
As a rule, in early February, children who want to obtain their parentage must first register with the county school instructor, then report to the county ceremonial room, fill in their name, place of origin, age, three generations of resume, and obtain a joint guarantee from the county's village students.
Guarantee that you are not pretending to be a member of the family, hiding your funeral, or advocating for the descendants of superior officials, etc. These things may not be a big deal, but signing up, asking for help, and providing guarantees... the whole series is extremely cumbersome and can't be completed in three to five days.
But for him, it was another matter. In order to allow the royal officials to study with peace of mind, as soon as February entered, Han Jiaoyu from the county school and Guan Sili from the ceremonial room went to Hangzhou and came to handle a paperwork for him. According to the
For example, when you sign up at the county school instructor's office, you have to ask a familiar junior student to be your guarantor. If you can't find a scholar who is willing to be your guarantor, you will not be able to register. After your name is submitted, the instructor will send another junior student.
As a deputy sponsor, you cannot take the exam without this person.
So this has become a good opportunity for those poor scholars to catch up. According to the current market situation, even if you are a deputy bailiff, you still need two taels of silver and a banquet to spend. The main bailiff is even more expensive, and you have to be polite... So the imperial examination
It’s such a money-burning business, so it’s not surprising that many scholars are impoverished.
Of course, Wang Xian didn't have to worry about this. Han Jiaoyu was accompanied by Li Yu and several other scholars. They took the initiative to jointly guarantee him and asked enthusiastically, if he needed free pre-examination tutoring?
Wang Xian had two guardians, Sister Lin and Yu Qian. He didn't need their help, but he was still very grateful for their enthusiasm and kindly allowed them to have a meal. However, the scholars were afraid of delaying his studies and would not bother him. In the end, they made an appointment to visit the West Lake after the county examination.
After admiring the spring, they parted reluctantly.
It is said that the two parties used to regard each other as a thorn in the flesh, but now they are as good as nothing. It can be seen that in this world, not only women's moods, but also the relationships between men are fickle...
Having no time to express his emotions, Wang Xian had to seize the time to practice his composition. It is said that from last year to now, he has memorized no less than a thousand articles. There is a saying that if you read 300 Tang poems, you will slip away if you can't write poems. When you have memorized a poem,
When you have written thousands of eight-legged essays, you will know how to compose them.
The so-called eight-part essay refers to the eight parts of the article-breaking the topic, carrying the topic, starting the argument, starting, starting the part, middle part, back part, and conclusion. This is a style of writing that has the highest format requirements. Each part has
Specific requirements, such as starting with two sentences, or three or four sentences, are called breaking the topic, and there are usually more than couplets. Then the meaning is expressed in four or five sentences, which is called continuing the topic. Then the question is asked why the master said this, which is called "continuing the topic".
At the beginning of the speech... at the end of the chapter, the saint's words are expounded, and then he expresses what he has seen, maybe counting crosses, or more than a hundred words, which is called the conclusion.
Everything has a formula. As long as you are willing to work hard, it is not impossible to write a compliant eight-part essay. Of course, this is only the minimum standard. If the essay is to be recognized by the examiner, it must be outstanding, which requires many years of immersion.
Only by practicing this way can we get a glimpse of the saint's subtle words and great meanings, and we can't achieve it quickly.
However, no matter how many rules there are in the composition, it is still a subjective question. Do you know that as long as you can’t find any major faults in the subjective question, it doesn’t mean that if the examiner says you are good, then you are good, if not, you are good, and if you say no, you are not good, and if you are good, you are not good?
Moreover, the names of the county examinations will not be obscured or transcribed...
Time flew by quickly, and it was February 15th in the blink of an eye. On this day, Wang Xian, accompanied by Shuai Hui and Erhei, left Hangzhou and returned to Fuyang to prepare for the imperial examination the next day.
In Fuyang, he still lived in Lu Yuanwai's villa... Oh, I forgot, it was his villa now. Seeing that he liked this exquisite and elegant little house, Lu Yuanwai took the eight or nine people in the house with him.
He gave it to Wang Xian as a place to stay when he returned to his hometown.
Wang Xian was polite and accepted it. Lao Lu now has a net worth of tens of thousands taels, and this house is only a drop in the bucket, so that's what he meant.
I had known that the master would come back to take the exam, so three days in advance, the house started to get busy. When Wang Xian came back, everything was ready. In the evening, Wang Xian, Li Yu and Yu Xiucai came over to have dinner together. These two were his guardians tomorrow.
They were honored to be valued by Mr. Wang. They explained the procedures and rules for tomorrow in detail: "There are five exams in the county exam. Four exams are eight-legged essays with four book questions. There is one exam in the middle that must be done."
Fu or ancient poetry, this is called archeology, also called ancient field. Those who did not pass the first test will not be allowed to take the second test. People will be deleted from each test in the future. The last sixty people left are those who passed the county test.
.”
"Although there are five exams, there are more than 600 people taking the exam in our county. How can the elder have the energy to watch each exam? In fact, he only pays attention to the first four essays in the first exam." Yu Xiucai said mysteriously
: "I won't even finish reading the first chapter, I'll just read the first three sentences. If the first three sentences can't catch the eye of the Dharma, the scholar will be a loser. If he can catch the eye, he will basically be admitted."
"So in the first three sentences of the first chapter, you must try your best. For the rest, it's almost enough." Li Xiucai nodded in agreement.
"The top names in the first to fourth games are all called drafts. The drafters are also the first papers of the undecided case, but they are not interesting. Because the top names in the last game are the real heads of the case." Yu
The scholar continued: "Only the first case is interesting, because as a rule, the first case in the county examination and the prefecture examination, as long as there are no major mistakes, will definitely be a scholar, otherwise the prefect and county magistrate will not look good."
"Except for the first one in the case, the rest of the rankings are of little significance." Li Xiucai added: "Even if you rank first in the first four exams and only fail to get the first one in the last one, you may not be admitted as a scholar in the college examination.
After a pause, he said: "No matter how bad you are in the exam, even if you fail the county exam, you can still take the government exam. If you don't pass the government exam, you can still take the college exam. If the articles in the college exam meet the discernment of the master, you can still be selected as a scholar."
"
"Looking at it this way," Wang Xian said with a smile, "the county examination is just for two cases. It would be too laborious and laborious."
"Haha, you can't say that," Li Xiucai said with a smile: "I said that even if you haven't passed the county examination, you can also take the government examination. It's for people like us. This matter is not something that the instructor of the government school can make the decision on. I learned that the government has specially approved it.
That's fine, and you have to get special approval from the grandmaster in the college examination. If it's an ordinary boy, the grandmaster can't make the prefect look bad, and the prefect can't make the magistrate look bad."
"Haha, that's right." Wang Xian nodded, thinking that it seems that only a few people can enjoy the privileges granted by the imperial court, and most people have to pass the exam step by step.
"If you ask me, sir, why don't you ask Magistrate Jiang to give you the first case? Don't worry about the rest. This student is fine." Yu Xiucai said with a bad idea.
"What a good idea." Li Xiucai praised: "With your status in Fuyang County, even if you take the lead in a case, everyone will be convinced."
"Haha..." Wang Xian looked at the two of them with a smile. He didn't know whether they were stupid in studying or had bad intentions, and they came up with such a bad idea. As an official, he took part in the county examination. It was already eye-catching. If
If the case is taken again, there will definitely be an uproar. If some of the scholars who did not win the case make a radical appeal, even if the matter is suppressed, their reputation will be ruined, and how can they survive in the future? So it is absolutely not advisable.
Seeing that he smiled and didn't respond, the two of them hurriedly said: "We just came up with random ideas. If adults think it's inappropriate, just listen to it as a joke." The two of them were afraid that the relationship that had been repaired so easily would be ruined by themselves again.
Smashed.
"Where is it?" Wang Xian shook his head and said with a smile, "What you two have talked about has given me a lot of experience. I will remember it all in my heart." After talking for a while, he asked the two husbands to be taken to the guest room to rest because of the exam.
It's not a day to call anyone, so they stay here and go there with Wang Xian tomorrow morning.
Wang Xian also returned to the back house and saw Lin Qing'er carefully arranging the test basket for him. Wang Xian came over, put his arm around her waist and said, "Isn't everything packed?"
"I'm not worried, so I'd better sort it out again," Lin Qing'er didn't look back, lowering her head to count the pens, inks, paper, inkstones and food inside, "Only when everything is in place can you rest assured."
"I think you are more nervous than me." Wang Xian said with a smile, "Which one of us will take the exam?"
Lin Qing'er rolled her eyes at him and said nothing.