In just a short moment, the young man's expression changed from enthusiastic to cold and stern, and he said dissatisfiedly: "Brother Qingyang and Brother Yansheng, why are you with this person!"
"Guo Zhaoqing!"
Zhang Yansheng looked at him solemnly, and said with a disappointed look on his face: "A year ago, when we were talking about policy and theory, you once said that the imperial examination should use policy and theory to select officials, and those who should be selected should be true talents in governing the country, but the examiners paid attention to those routines.
Articles are of no use to the country. One year later, have you forgotten what you said a year ago?"
"I..." Guo Zhaoqing was stunned and couldn't refute for a while.
Zhang Yansheng looked at him with piercing eyes and asked, "You just said that you didn't say that?"
Guo Zhaoqing lowered his head and said with some shame: "I, I said it."
"Brother Tang has the same ambitions and ideals as us..." Zhang Yansheng looked at him and said with a disappointed look on his face: "But he is different from us. He has more backbone and courage than us. He is willing to give up his own future.
You put yourself in danger to alert the examiners and recruit talents for the country, but as for you, you are slandering him behind his back... If you, Guo Zhaoqing, have fallen to this level, after today, I, Zhang Yansheng, will be ashamed to be in your company!"
Xu Qingyang took a step forward and said calmly: "What Yan Sheng means is what I, Xu Qingyang, mean."
Xu Qingyang and Zhang Yansheng are famous talents in Lingzhou. They have always been the leaders of Lingzhou students. In this state examination, they ranked second and third in the first list respectively. They are very important among the scholars in Lingzhou.
Scholars value face the most. Guo Zhaoqing was already ashamed by what he said. He lowered his head and said in shame, "I was just confused for a moment. Don't blame Brother Qingyang and Brother Yansheng..."
Guo Zhaoqing looked at Tang Ning, bowed to the end, and said guiltily: "Guo is confused and does not know that Tang Jieyuan is righteous, so he is here to apologize to Tang Jieyuan!"
Tang Ning waved her hand and said, "You can improve a lot if you know your mistakes. It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter."
When Guo Zhaoqing saw that he didn't care at all, the look of guilt on his face became even stronger.
When Zhang Yansheng loudly reprimanded Guo Zhaoqing just now, countless people had already gathered around him. After seeing this scene, their expressions gradually became complicated.
They are scholars who study the words of saints and talk about benevolence, righteousness and morality. The original intention of the imperial examination is to honor their ancestors and serve the country...
They were once ambitious and impassioned. They also criticized current ills and criticized injustices. However, now, they can only write some routine articles in order to pass the imperial examination.
The person named Tang is an outlier.
He did what everyone wanted to do but didn't dare to do. He caused some trouble for future candidates. They hated him, but they also admired him.
No wonder Xu Qingyang and Zhang Yansheng treat him like this. He is a person who is hated by countless scholars, but he is also a pure person, pure, brave, and fearless.
No one bowed to him and admitted his mistake like Guo Zhaoqing, but the eyes of the people around him changed more or less when they looked at him.
Boom!
Deep in the garden, a bell rang, indicating that the deer-crowing feast had officially begun.
Countless figures walked from all sides of the garden towards a very large building in the middle.
Xu Qingyang looked at Tang Ning and said with a smile, "Brother Tang, let's go too."
There were eight people per table at the Lu Ming Banquet, and there were 240 new candidates for the Lingzhou Prefectural Examination. Including the examiner, there were more than thirty tables arranged in the hall.
The tables are arranged in order according to the rankings of A and B. Tang Ning, as Jieyuan, and the top eight people including Xu Qingyang and Zhang Yansheng are naturally at the table closest to the examiners and local officials.
After everyone was seated, Lingzhou local officials and state examination examiners slowly entered.
Fang Hong is the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel. In terms of official position and real power, he is the head of all officials. He walks at the front of everyone, with a small tail following behind him.
Big tail.
Fang Xiaopang makes a presence wherever he goes and cannot be ignored.
It can be seen from this that Fang Hong is really indulgent towards his niece. After Fang Xiaopang raised his head and said a few words to Fang Hong, Fang Hong nodded slightly and she ran over quickly.
Fang Xiaopang ran to Tang Ning and said happily, "I'll sit with you!"
Tang Ning knew why she came here. Fang Hong was surrounded by officials and she couldn't let go. If she couldn't let go, she wouldn't be able to let him go. This was what she cared about most.
Tangning looked at Xu Qingyang beside her and said apologetically, "I have wronged Brother Xu."
"It doesn't matter." Xu Qingyang smiled and said, "Just squeeze in with Yan Sheng and the others."
At the banquet, there were eight people at each table and two on each side. A little fat man squeezed in. Xu Qingyang and Zhang Yansheng had to squeeze in three people.
They had just seen clearly that the little... fat girl in front of them had come with Mr. Fang Hongfang, and she looked very familiar with Tang Ning. They were naturally confused and surprised.
Fang Xiaopang looked at Tang Ning, swallowed a mouthful of saliva, and asked, "Where's the roasted whole deer?"
Tangning looked at her and said, "The food hasn't been served yet, please wait."
Fang Xiaopang was sitting upright, with an expression of anticipation and excitement on her face. She had eaten mutton, beef, pork, chicken, duck, and fish, but she had never eaten venison...
The Luming Banquet is not a simple banquet. It has a set of extremely complicated process specifications. The rules need to be strictly followed and no step can be skipped.
Before the banquet, the song "Deer Ming" must be played first, and then the song "Deer Ming" must be read aloud to enliven the atmosphere. Then there are speeches by the two examiners, summarizing the state examination and encouraging all the new candidates.
After everyone finished speaking, the song "Deer Ming" was played, and then the dishes started to be served.
Now it was Lingzhou Governor's turn to speak. Fang Xiaopang's face had completely fallen. He clutched his stomach, tugged at Tang Ning's clothes, and asked in a low voice, "Why aren't you serving food yet?"
Tangning looked at her and lowered her voice and said, "How about you eat some pastries and preserved fruits first?"
"I didn't bring it..." Fang Xiaopang shook his head and said, "I didn't even eat today..."
It was incomprehensible to Tang Ning that Fang Xiaopang had not eaten for a quarter of an hour. She had actually been hungry for a whole day just for tonight's meal. Fortunately, she was not born in future generations. In any self-service restaurant, the owner
I have to be eaten up by her to the point of panic.
The Luming Banquet was a huge and extremely luxurious affair, with dozens of hot and cold dishes. Tang Ning still remembered that when he told Fang Xiaopang these things, her eyes sparkled with a light she had never seen before.
After Governor Dong finished speaking, he was replaced by a lecturer from Lingzhou Prefecture School.
He continued to encourage Lingzhou students from above. Fang Xiaopang leaned on Tang Ning's shoulder and said weakly: "I'm dizzy..."
The instructor's speech would not end for a while, and Tang Ning was a little worried. What if she really fainted from hunger?
When he thought of this, suddenly a figure hurriedly ran from outside and said a few words in Fang Hong's ear.
Tang Ning saw the expressions of surprise on the faces of all the officials, and they were slightly wary. They all got up and left the table, and walked quickly outside.
The students here also looked puzzled, but they could only sit here honestly.
"I'm so hungry, I feel dizzy..." Fang Xiaopang leaned on Tang Ning's shoulder, his voice almost inaudible.
Tang Ning looked around and saw that all the officials had already walked out of the door. The attention of everyone present was also at the door. He took Fang Xiaopang's hand and whispered, "Let's go, I'll take you to eat."
Fang Xiaopang immediately became energetic and asked: "Where are you going?"
Their seats were close to the side door, so Tangning pulled her out of the seat quietly and dodged out of the side door.
Zhang Yansheng looked at the door and asked in surprise: "What happened?"
"Looking at the looks of the adults, there should be something important. Let's just wait here." Xu Qingyang shook his head and said. When he looked back, he looked at somewhere beside the table and said in surprise: "Where's Brother Tang?"
?”
At the door, Fang Hong looked at the figures coming from a distance, cupped his hands and said, "What are the envoys here for?"
"It's nothing important. I just heard that your lords are holding a deer-crowing banquet here today, so I wanted to come over and meet the young talents." A middle-aged man waved his hand and asked with a smile: "I'll wait.
Your Excellencies won’t be surprised if you come uninvited, right?”
