After the deer-minging banquet was over, the governor, chief envoy and other officials stood up and left, leaving only the curtain officials who participated in the provincial examination.
The officials swarmed up and snatched away the animals sacrificed to Confucius, and then fought for the leftover wine in the hall. This was a banquet. If there were school children in the family, they would be brought back specially for the school children to eat. It is said that they can become smarter. Eager to learn.
Wang Yuan and Jin Lei were two provinces that were separated from the Yuan Dynasty. The leftover food they ate became the focus of the officials' banquet. They even almost got into a fight. Finally, under the scolding of the examiner, they were finally able to distribute the food peacefully. This was also an official order of the imperial court. The reason for banning banquets is that it is too unbecoming and would bring shame to the court.
The chief examiner, Wen Shu, moved to the main seat, and the deputy examiner, Professor Zou, took the deputy seat. The room officials of each room were arranged on the left and right.
Wang Yuan took out his favorite gift, that is, the red envelope, and placed it on the desks of the chief examiner and deputy examiner respectively. Then he returned to the hall, paid homage to the master together with all the other candidates, and bowed down, that is, knelt down.
At that time, as a candidate, Wang Yuan did not kneel down to worship Xi Shu. He only knelt down to Wang Yangming when he was apprenticed.
It's a bit awkward, but it doesn't matter. Wen Shu is almost eighty years old, so why not kneel down in front of the old man? If the examiner was a young man, Wang Yuan would probably be even more embarrassed, so he would have to kneel down.
Wen Shu had been living idle for decades, and today he was worshiped by many scholars. He said with great consolation: "Gentlemen, the literary style in Yunnan and Guizhou provinces is not strong. Although you have obtained the title of Juren, you should work harder. I have no idea. My other wish is that next spring, Yunnan and Guizhou will produce five Jinshi!"
In the past few examinations, Yunnan could produce two or three Jinshi each time, while Guizhou had none.
Mr. Wen's wish that five Jinshi will be born next year is definitely a ardent wish. He really hopes that culture and education in the two provinces can flourish.
"I sincerely follow Sir's teachings!" I asked everyone to bow before me.
There are dozens of candidates for the imperial examination today, and Wen Shu cannot say more, otherwise it will waste time.
The candidates immediately went to pay homage to the house master, that is, they recommended their papers to the house master who was in charge of the examination. They also had to kneel down and give red envelopes.
Wang Yuan's room master, whose surname was Xie, was an old teacher in his fifties.
As soon as Wang Yuan knelt down, Xie Jiaoyu helped him up and said with a hearty smile: "There is no need to be polite. If you succeed at a young age, remember not to forget yourself. Six years ago, I also recommended a Guizhou Yayuan, but now he is I couldn’t pass the Jinshi exam. It’s very difficult for scholars in Yunnan and Guizhou provinces!”
"Students, please remember this," Wang Yuan said.
Xie Jiaoyu asked again: "Will Ruoxu go to Beijing to take the exam next year?"
Wang Yuan replied: "I plan to give it a try."
Xie Jiaoyu sincerely suggested: "In fact, a safer way is to study in the Imperial College as a scholar, or to go to the south of the Yangtze River to study as a teacher. Study hard for three years, and when your studies have made great progress, it is not too late to go to the capital to take the exam. "If you take part in the examination next year, you will probably waste half a year."
Wang Yuan heard the other party's good intentions and said, "The student still wants to give it a try."
Xie Jiaoyu said with a smile: "It is right for young people to be ambitious. It would be good to go to the capital and take the exam to see the world."
"This is exactly what the student meant," Wang Yuan said.
It’s really not a big problem to take the entrance exam next year. If you don’t do well in the exam, you can choose not to pass even the mid-term exam. Just like if your ambition is to go to Tsinghua University and Peking University, you can just take the ordinary one, go back and repeat and take the exam again.
Ordinary people don't dare to do this kind of cool thing, because it's rare to get a third-level Jinshi.
But there are many confident people, such as Zhang Dun, the prime minister of the Northern Song Dynasty. He passed the Jinshi exam for the first time. Because his nephew won the first prize, Zhang Dun felt particularly ashamed and voluntarily gave up his qualifications. Three years later, he passed the Jinshi exam again.
In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, if your Jinshi ranking was not ideal, you could still take the "Guan Selection" exam. Those with excellent scores would be designated as Hanlin Shujishi and go to the Hanlin Academy for further study. After three years, they could intern in the Sixth Department.
, there is a high chance of entering the decision-making level in the future.
Xie Jiaoyu held Wang Yuan and talked for a while, then said goodbye and accepted the thanks from the next person.
There was an official from the Chief Secretary at the door. Wang Yuan went over to register and received the transportation fare to Beijing to take the exam. It was a full ten taels, which seemed like a lot, but in fact it was not enough. In fact, Yunnan-Guizhou is too far away from the capital, and it takes several days to walk.
It takes a month to get there, and food and accommodation along the way are very expensive.
On the way back, Jin Lei took the initiative and said, "Brother Ruoxu, thank you very much for today!"
"Nothing." Wang Yuan smiled.
Jin Lei shook his head and sighed: "The courtesy of Xiangshe is almost too polite."
Wang Yuan comforted him and said: "The Duke of Guizhou is not everywhere, and this kind of thing will definitely not happen again in the future. Is the injury on your forehead okay?"
"It's okay." Jin Lei subconsciously covered his forehead and said.
Tian Qiu followed up and asked, "Ruoxu, are you really going to the Duke's Mansion tomorrow?"
Wang Yuan said with a smile: "If I don't go, wouldn't I be denying Mr. Mu some face?"
"I inquired about it and found out why this gentleman hates scholars," Tian Qiu said angrily, "but the person who deprived him of his title was the elder of the pavilion more than ten years ago. What does it have to do with us? What does it have to do with today's Yunnan?"
What does it have to do with the officials of the Third Division? His hatred must be outrageous."
Wang Yuan thought for a while and said: "Maybe it's because of fear."
"Afraid?" Jin Lei was a little confused.
Wang Yuan explained: "I am afraid of being demoted again. He is more domineering, and he has a heavy army in Yunnan. The court is naturally afraid that he will rebel, so naturally he does not dare to mention the matter of demoting again. Even if he acts so recklessly, he can still leave a definite mark for the court.
This impression makes the court feel that the Mu family is not someone to be trifled with, and future generations will not be afraid of being demoted."
Jin Lei was surprised and said: "How can he have such foresight?"
"Do you think this young master is a fool?" Wang Yuan couldn't help but laugh, "Every move today, Mr. Mu had planned in advance, otherwise how could the governor's Yamen prepare all kinds of bows and arrows? And he always maintained
The bottom line is that I did not insult Governor Gu and it will not affect the overall situation of Yunnan."
Jin Lei remained silent. He felt that this kind of problem was so complicated, and it would be easier to read and write articles.
Zou Mu also collected travel expenses and caught up, asking, "Brother Ruoxu, Brother Ruli, when are you going to leave for Beijing?"
Wang Yuan thought for a while and said: "We definitely can't celebrate the New Year at home. It's best to set off from Guizhou in November. There will be a buffer time for headaches and fever on the way."
It is now late August, and it will be the end of October when I return to Guiyang. I have to rest at home for a few days, and then I have to travel non-stop.
Fortunately, although the journey to Beijing is far, you can take a boat in eastern Guizhou, go down the river to Huguang, then take a boat east along the Yangtze River to the east, and go up along the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal. There are cars and boats available along the way, unlike
From Guizhou to Yunnan, you have to walk two to three thousand miles.
Jin Lei said: "I'm going with you. I want to see if the Yunnan-Guizhou Post Road is really that scary."
"hehe."
The Guizhou scholars laughed dryly and did not bother to say anything more.
The next morning, Wang Yuan rode to the Duke's Mansion, but was scolded by his disciples: "How come you are so poor? Can you even enter the main gate?"
Wang Yuan smiled and clasped his fists: "Yesterday at the deer roaring banquet, President Mu invited me to be a guest and allowed me to enter through the gate."
"Get away!" Menzi's attitude was bad.
"It turns out that this is the way of entertaining guests in the general palace. Farewell!" Wang Yuan reined in his horse and turned around. Zhou Chong also glared at his disciples fiercely.
"Wait!"
A palace guard suddenly came out and said to Wang Yuan with a smile: "Ms. Wang, please come in."
Wang Yuan handed the horse to Zhou Chong and told him, "Don't come to pick me up."
The guard led Wang Yuan to a small hall and said with a smile: "Ms. Wang, please wait a moment. Your Majesty is handling important matters."
Wang Yuan waited for a full quarter of an hour, but he didn't even see a ghost. He didn't even bring him a cup of tea. He just left him here to dry on purpose.
Obviously, Mr. Mu still has a grudge against Wang Yuan, but he just didn't show up yesterday because of his face.
Wang Yuan actually took out a book from his arms, which he bought on the way, and sat leisurely in the small hall reading.
One sitting lasted three hours, from ten o'clock in the morning to four o'clock in the afternoon.
Suddenly, Wang Yuan heard very slight footsteps. He was too lazy to pay attention and continued to read leisurely.
Someone outside passed through the crack in the door, observed Wang Yuan carefully for a while, and then quietly left. This person went straight to the garden and reported: "My lord, this Mr. Wang has been reading a book."
"Where did he get the book?" Mu Kun asked curiously.
The servant could only reply: "Maybe I brought it with me."
Mu Kun asked again: "Is there any other news?"
The servant shook his head and said, "He didn't say a word."
"Boring!"
Mu Kun felt like he punched the cotton and ordered: "Take him to the garden and bring him some food and wine."