A few days later, on the third day of September, the Yingtian Prefecture Examination was held. Shangyuan and Jiangning counties were the last two counties to hold county examinations in Yingtian Prefecture because of Yunxi's departure from Beijing. All other counties under the jurisdiction of Yingtian Prefecture had already
The county examination has been held, and the government office has also notified other counties, so there is no problem.
"It's just that the schoolchildren in Shanghu County would have suffered if His Majesty hadn't thought of it and allowed them to continue to take the government examination in Songjiang Prefecture. If they had come all the way from Shanghu County to Yingtian Mansion to take the government examination, the poor families would be bankrupt."
Huang Huai said to Fu Cheng.
Similar to the county examination, the government examination is also presided over by the chief official of the yamen, that is, Ying Tianfu Yin. The examination content is also two four-book questions. The examination location is also temporarily borrowed from the government school. The only difference is that this time, students from various places need to be
County registrants gathered, and roll call, body search, admission, etc. were conducted on a county basis.
In addition, because there were many more people taking the prefectural examination than those taking the county examination in a single county, the roll call was gathered before dawn.
While waiting in line for the roll call and body search to enter, Xue Xiyang looked at so many people who came to take the government examination and became nervous for no reason. If you pass the government examination, you will be a child. Although you will not receive any preferential treatment, you can still be regarded as a scholar.
The first one was the school children from Jiangning County. With the support of the police, the school children from Jiangning County formed two columns and were searched one by one.
The same group of people searched Yingtian Mansion and Jiangning County, and they were also open-minded about Xue Xiyang, but the search seemed strict but was actually very loose.
After entering the venue, the talent was bright and the admission procedures were very cumbersome, so Xue Xiyang felt a little tired when he sat down on his seat. He took out the cushion prepared at home, rested his head on the cushion and took a nap to regain his energy.
However, candidates kept walking into the examination room, and their footsteps were noisy. Xue Xiyang, who had lived a very comfortable life since childhood, couldn't sleep at all, and kept thinking about random things.
Suddenly hearing the sound of the three-way drum, Xue Xiyang knew that the exam was about to start. He straightened up quickly, put down the cushion, and looked at several policemen holding up boards with test questions.
The prefectural examination is the second level of the imperial examination. Under normal circumstances, the governor or the prefect will not have any problems. However, there is a limit on the number of people admitted to the prefectural examination. It is not like the county examination where you can take as many people as you want, so of course the difficulty lies in the county examination.
above.
However, Xue Xiyang did not think about this at this time, but took out the paper to make a draft, and then started writing on the answer sheet.
It was about noon again, Xue Xiyang finished writing two articles, sorted them out carefully, and saw that someone had already handed in the papers, so he stood up and handed them in too.
When he walked to the place where he handed in the papers, he was surprised again: Ying Tianfuyin, who was taking the exam today, was not in his seat. There was no one sitting in the examiner's seat.
But this time he would not talk nonsense. He left the examination room immediately after handing in the papers. He did not stay at the entrance of the examination room for any longer and got in the car to return home.
…
…
At this time, Huang Huai, who was supposed to be presiding over the imperial examination, was sitting in the room where the imperial tutors usually rest, talking to another man wearing a second-grade official uniform. He only heard the man say with a smile: "This year we should
Tianfu’s industrial and commercial taxes are a full 50% higher, Mr. Fu Yin has done a lot of credit!”
Huang Huai also smiled and said: "Brother Shangli, these are all things ordered by His Majesty himself. How can it be my credit?"
This man who is called Brother Shangli is the current Minister of Household Affairs, Qitai. He came to Huang Huai to discuss some matters today, and after finishing the business talk, he joked a little.
The two of them were talking when suddenly a policeman came in with a test paper in his hand and said to Huang Huai: "Sir, this is Mr. Xue's test paper." Huang Huai told them that if Xue Xiyang turns in the paper, he must be first.
The paper was delivered at the right time, so even if the police saw the two of them talking, they could only interrupt.
Huang Huai said to Qi Tai: "I'm sorry." Then he picked up the paper and read it. Qi Tai also knew that this matter was important, so he didn't say anything.
After a while, Huang Huai handed the paper to Qi Tai and said, "Come and take a look at this paper."
Qi Tai was a little confused: Couldn't you evaluate the paper for a small government examination yourself? But he still took the test paper.
But Qi Tai's expression also changed immediately, and after a while he said: "Is your question this time from the chapter 'I am very determined to learn'?"
"Indeed." Huang Huai said.
"Then," Qi Tai looked at the test paper in front of him and said, "This test paper is enough to be the first in the government examination! I don't believe that a small government examination can have something better than this paper.
This is enough to qualify as a scholar, a first-class scholar."
"I thought so too. But that's what makes it so difficult." Huang Huai said, "I am your majesty's confidant. Your majesty is also happy to see this young master of the Xue family take the imperial examination. If I choose him,
Being the head of the case may cause criticism. Especially if he is already the head of the case in the county examination, and if he is the head of the case in the government examination, neither my reputation nor His Majesty's reputation will be good."
Of course Qi Tai understood what he meant, wasn't he just afraid that others would suspect him of cheating?
Qi Tai said: "The sage has a saying that you should not avoid relatives when promoting talents, not to mention that Xue Xiyang is not your relative. Since his article is so good, it is only right to appoint him as the head of the government examination case. Why do you need to be so hesitant?"
Seeing that Huang Huai was still hesitant, he said: "If you are really hesitant, just say that I will judge the test paper with you and make him the head of the case."
Huang Huai was overjoyed. Qi Tai had a clear reputation and was considered a famous Confucian scholar in the court, but he was not pedantic. With Qi Tai's endorsement, most people would not suspect him of cheating.
But Huang Huai still said verbally: "How can it be like this? I am the chief examiner in the government examination, how can I bring trouble to you, Brother Shangli?"
Qi Tai said a few more words, but Huang Huai just shied away, which made Qi Tai wonder: "Isn't this why you asked me to read the paper? Why are you still shirking now?" Qi Tai just doesn't like to think about these things, it doesn't mean that he
don't know.
Huang Huai secretly laughed in his heart: 'Wouldn't publicizing it publicly discredit me? It still has to be spread secretly. What we just said until now is not a secret, and there are people on the side to serve it.'
…
…
Three days later, the government examination results were released.
Seeing the results in person, Xue Xiyang was once again pleasantly surprised: 'I actually won the first prize in the government examination again?'
The person next to him who came to see the results of the county examination in the same year immediately congratulated him and said: "Congratulations to Mr. Xue!" There were also people from other counties who came to congratulate him.
The level of the county and government examinations is still too low. Even though it is in the capital, everyone knows that the queen’s surname is Xue, but it is still difficult for the people to connect him with the queen; this time there are no Beijing guards or civil servants from the capital.
The disciples participated, so these people did not know Xue Xiyang's identity and only regarded him as an ordinary military household to congratulate him.
Xue Xiyang also returned the favor one by one, and they agreed on a time to discuss literature and art together. He hurried home to report the good news.
