I go to the ancient imperial examinations

Chapter 114 The Competition Begins

Tong Tongzhi and Tong Xu waited anxiously, whether they could be apprentices to Grand Master Gu was up to them. If Lord Liu was willing to help, Tong Xu could also participate in the [-]-day competition, which was the first step of apprenticeship.

After a while, Liu Jian said coldly, "Go back and prepare, don't lose to a little girl."

"Thank you, my lord." The father and son were overjoyed, thanked each other repeatedly, and finally left the study.

"My lord." A figure came out from the inner room. A middle-aged man in a green shirt poured a cup of tea and handed it to Liu Jian. "If your lord intervenes, I'm afraid it will be difficult for the Holy One to explain."

The outside world doesn't know, but the officials above the third rank in the court know the inside story. The merit of movable type printing is attributed to the imperial court and the Holy Majesty, but Zhan Feiyu is the one who really deserves the credit.

The little girl didn't ask for any reward, so the Holy Majesty asked Scholar Gu to accept her as an apprentice. Firstly, it was a reward to Zhan Feiyu, and secondly, it was to prevent Scholar Gu from accepting other people as apprentices, so as to avoid the appearance of friends in the court.

Liu Jian's expression was dark and difficult to distinguish, and his hoarse voice suppressed his anger, "Zhan Feiyu, this little girl is a trouble."

She can not be afraid of those unbearable gossips for Master Lin; she can challenge Wan Yunhao to avenge Zhao Jiaoyu; Liu Jian has to be prepared that one day Zhan Feiyu will face her for Chen Weibin, the little girl is nothing to be afraid of, but Gu Qingzhou himself had to guard against it.

"Go and make arrangements..." Liu Jian's voice was low, and there was an undisguised murderous intent in his fierce eyes.

The middle-aged man was taken aback, as if he didn't expect Liu Jian to have such a plan, but he nodded in agreement, and quickly left the study to make arrangements.

……

The highest officials received by the Sanshengtang of the county school were only the county magistrate and the school principals of the prefectural school, but today, not only Gu Dashi, but also Prince Yipinyu were here.

In the past, Zhang Zhifu and Tong Tongzhi would definitely sit at the top, but today they can have a chair to sit on, and they are already corporals of Prince Yu.

"Xiaoyu, come to meet Prince Yu and all the adults." Gu Qingzhou, who was on the main seat, spoke loudly. This intimate attitude is not like dealing with the Holy One, and he is clearly very satisfied with this little disciple.

"Hmph, like a teacher, like a disciple!" Prince Yu, who was sitting on the armchair on the left, snorted angrily.

Although he was born as a general, he is seventy-one this year. He rushed all the way from the capital to Shangsi County. The key is to take care of Qingzhou's master and apprentice.

"Students pay homage to the lord." Zhan Feiyu knelt down and bowed. She, as a disciple, could only endure the troubles caused by her teacher.

Prince Yu looked at the little girl with red lips and white teeth, a small white and fat ball, so his old face softened a little, "Get up, you can play with this jade pendant."

Prince Yu gave the meeting gift, and Liu Jian, Zhang Zhifu and others also gave the meeting gift. Zhan Feiyu took it and stood behind Gu Qingzhou.

Too lazy to chat with other people, Prince Yu had a sullen old face full of wrinkles, and his sonorous voice was full of arrogance, "As a scholar of the Imperial Academy, you will be lazy!"

"Now the country is prosperous and the people are safe, the river is clean and the sea is clean, the officials are just stealing half a day's leisure." Gu Qingzhou selectively forgot the holy majesty's order to let him return to Beijing.

"Then you might as well resign and return to your hometown, and you will be moldy in the next 30 to [-] years!" Prince Yu raised his beard, and unceremoniously turned back. Gu Qingzhou is the best at putting on airs, otherwise how could he have deceived his family back then? Jiaojiao fell in love at first sight!

Liu Jian, Zhang Zhifu, Tong Tongzhi and the others suppressed the surprise in their hearts, and glanced calmly at Prince Yu and Gu Dashi who were sitting there, didn't they say that they had a rift?This doesn't look like that.

As for the Commander of the Forbidden Dragon Guard who never showed up from the beginning to the end, Prince Yu didn't speak, and Gu Qingzhou avoided talking about it, and the others didn't dare to ask.

After a while, Liu Jian winked at the fellow student sitting below.

His complexion was slightly pale, Tong Tongzhi looked at Prince Yu, who was dressed in iron and blood, and then at the treacherous and unpredictable Master Gu, although he was worried, but for his own career and for the Tongfu, he had no way out.

Seeing that Gu Qingzhou and Prince Yu had suspended their conversation, Tong Tongzhi hurriedly stood up and saluted, "I pay my respects to the lord."

"What's the matter?" Throwing two words perfunctorily, Prince Yu glared at Gu Qingzhou who instructed Zhan Feiyu to pour tea. The little girl was his disciple, not a servant girl.

"My lord, dog..." Tong Tongzhi knelt on the ground and said how Tong Xu admired Master Gu. As a father, he could only lick his old face and beg Prince Yu for mercy so that Tong Xu could also participate in the competition.

Frowning, Prince Yu's face turned cold, his fierce aura made the kneeling Tongzhi tremble.

Prince Yu is a military commander, but he is not a fool. He said that he was participating in the competition, but he came for the purpose of apprenticeship.

Gu Qingzhou smiled meaningfully, and asked Chen Weibin: "Magistrate Chen, how many scholars have gathered in Shangsi County?"

Standing up quickly, Chen Weibin saluted and replied: "My lord, according to the statistics of the lower officials, there are currently more than 300 scholars."

Scholars flocked to the place, and the county magistrate, Chen Weibin, also got busy. The yamen servants patrolled three times a day to maintain law and order, and the small officials went door-to-door to advertise that the house could be rented out temporarily, but the price could not be raised.

All shops and small vendors must also obey the government's arrangements, the food must be clean and hygienic, and the price should be raised slightly, but price gouging is also not allowed.

"Tong Xu wants to participate, and these more than 1000 people must also want to participate. Master Tong, it is better to advance the provincial examination, and you can't treat one more favorably than another." Gu Qingzhou said calmly, but he put Tongzhi on the fire to roast.

Why can Tong Xu participate, but other scholars can't?If all of them participate, isn’t the competition of more than 1000 people an imperial examination? Since ancient times, only emperors can open Enke. How many heads are enough for Tong Tongzhi?
What's more, he takes care of Qingzhou to accept disciples, and all kinds of cats and dogs come to meddle, the father and son of the same family are quite courageous!
The fellow who was being questioned was pale, trembling and trembling, pleading guilty, "I have absolutely no intention of doing so, please be clear, my lord, I just want to help the dog to study and be enterprising."

"Master Gu." Liu Jian smiled with the corners of his mouth pulled up, and the corners of his drooping eyes were raised slightly, "As the saying goes, if you don't climb a high mountain, you don't know the height of the sky; if you don't face a deep stream, you don't know the depth of the earth. Wan Yunhao is from the South The youngest Juren in the Xuan Manor, Xiao Yu is also known as a child prodigy, it is only natural for Tong Xu to want to compete against each other, what does your lord think?"

"My lord, what is your son's age? Does he have fame?" Prince Yu originally planned to refuse, but when he saw Gu Qingzhou's face, he became angry immediately. It is not easy to make Gu Qingzhou unhappy.

Tong Tongzhi hurriedly replied: "Gouzi is twenty-one this year, and he has already earned a reputation as a scholar."

Prince Yu was dumbfounded. He thought that Tong Xu was also a child prodigy, so he tried every means to become a teacher. He was only in his 20s when he was admitted as a scholar. Let alone the capital city, Nanxuan Mansion probably has a lot of scholars like this.

Feeling deeply cheated, Prince Yu's old face sank, and he scolded angrily: "Does he still want to win the little girl to make a name for himself?"

This age is still a fart, and winning is also invincible!
"My lord's words are wrong, Tong Xu can't beat my disciple." Gu Qingzhou's voice resounded firmly, and he continued lazily: "If you want to compare, then let's compare, the bet remains the same, sir, you can think about it. "

Whoever wins this competition will learn from Master Gu, while the loser has to give up his pen and cannot take the imperial examination, and his future in this life is considered to be over.

Tong Tongzhi's body trembled, he gritted his teeth and took the words, "Thank you, my lord, and Mr. Gu for your success."

……

Tomorrow is the day of the competition, and the news that Tong Xu will also participate in the competition has spread throughout Shangsi County.

"Brother Zhu, don't think about it, there are thousands of people here, do you think you can win?" The young man patted his classmates on the shoulder comfortingly, who wouldn't be moved when he heard the news?After all, if you win, you will be able to learn from Master Gu.

But after calming down, who would dare to gamble their own future to compete?
"I understand, it's just that I'm upset." The man surnamed Zhu shook his head with a wry smile, and said something ugly, even if Zhan Feiyu lost, she is a woman, and she can still marry in the future.

But as men, they have studied hard for decades, failed the imperial examination, and can come back after three years. If they participate in the competition, once they lose, everything will be over.

……

The weather in Yanwei is long, and the sweat is light and leaning against the picture window.In the early morning, the sun was scorching, and the cicadas were singing hoarsely. Fortunately, the county school was large enough. Thousands of scholars were scattered everywhere, and everyone's eyes were all turned towards the north.

The row of rooms on the north side was originally filled with sundries, but Zhao Jiaoyu asked someone to clean up five of them. It was nicknamed the "Introspection Room", but it was actually a confinement room used to punish students and make them reflect on their own mistakes.

"There is a table and chairs in the room. The pens, ink, papers and inkstones are all ready. After the three of you enter, the doors and windows will be locked from the outside, and they will not be opened until the competition is over." After Zhao Jiaoyu finished speaking, he signaled the three of them to enter the room.

The porch facing the house was full of people, looking at the three empty rooms from a distance, they couldn't help joking, "This looks like a house."

"Yes, this is much more spacious and bright than the dormitory." Thinking of the cramped dormitory during the imperial examination, a group of scholars feel sympathetic.

The dormitory is narrow and leaky, and if it rains, the roof may leak. Of course, the worst thing is to be assigned to a stinking number, and the feeling will never be forgotten.

The chubby scholar wiped the sweat from his forehead, and couldn't help but say something fair: "The county test almost froze me to death, and my hands and feet were frozen, but it's hot enough today, stay indoors It's not good either."

Uh... Everyone was right when they thought about it. Once the doors and windows are locked, the room is not ventilated, and there is no ice basin to cool it down.

"The competition begins." The bell rang, and Zhao Jiaoyu nodded to Zhan Feiyu. After the three of them entered the house, they stepped forward and locked the door, and put the key on the tray for Zhan Fu to send not far away. Sanseido.

Compared to the sweltering heat inside and the heat outside, Sanseido was cool and cool. The ice basins in the corners were steaming white, dispelling the heat.

"This time, this king is biased towards your little disciple." Prince Yu expressed his merit in a loud voice, beckoning Gu Qingzhou to pour tea for himself.

"Five hundred scripture questions, the prince is tired." Gu Qingzhou replied insincerely, he should be worried that the little girl will get heatstroke if she is bored in the room for too long.

Sitting at the bottom were Liu Jian, Zhang Zhifu, Qin Patriarch, Chen County Magistrate and others were stunned for a moment, their expressions cracked. The prince really does not care about trivial matters. It will take at least an hour to answer these [-] questions.

The key is that after answering so many scripture questions, will my mind be in a mess, and will I still have the energy to answer the remaining three papers?

Gu Qingzhou glanced at the proud Prince Yu, looked at Liu Jian and said, "I don't know what question Mr. Liu asked?"

Liu Jian remembered that the Holy Majesty had talked about salt tax and salt price with him before coming here, and said with a smile: "There used to be a fool, but as for his family, the master and the food are too bland. The master has heard about it, and the salt is even more beneficial."

"Since I have the beauty of salt, I said to myself: the beauty is due to the salt. There is little beauty, but there is more? Fools are ignorant, so they eat salt empty. The food is already delicious, but it is a problem."

"When I came up with the question, I thought of the matter of fools eating salt, so I came up with a question about the salt tax." Liu Jian stroked his beard with a smile, and he was in a good mood.

Before, he was worried that when he chose three out of four, his strategy might not be selected. He didn't expect Zhan Feiyu to be so unlucky.

This story is that once upon a time, there was a fool who went to someone else's house as a guest.The host invited him to dinner, but the fool thought the taste of the food was too bland.

After the host heard this, he immediately added some salt to the dish.After the fool ate it, he thought the dish was very delicious.So I said to myself: "The reason why the food tastes good is because of the salt. Rarely is so delicious, let alone a lot?"

A fool has no wisdom, so he only eats salt (not vegetables). (Eat only salt.) His sense of taste is spoiled, and it becomes his trouble.It's just a small story, but Liu Jian used it to solve the problem of salt tax policy, which can definitely be put in the rural examination.

Zhang Zhifu and Chen County Magistrate looked slightly solemn. No matter how smart Zhan Feiyu was, she was only an eight-year-old girl who had been in school for less than a year. Although she was talented, she only learned to write art now, and Ce Wen had never learned it at all.

Not to mention the policy on salt tax and salt price, even Zhang Zhifu may not be able to write it well, and Zhan Feiyu probably has no way to start.

Prince Yu slammed the table, glared at Liu Jian and reprimanded, "You actually made such a plan? Liu Jian, you are making things difficult for Zhan Feiyu!"

No wonder Prince Yu is angry, he is a general with a straight temper, he hates these schemes the most, if he is in the court, it would be fine, but Liu Jian, a dignified second-rank official, plotted against an eight-year-old girl, he is so shameless!

"My lord calm down, I'm just expressing my feelings." Liu Jian stood up and apologized, looking terrified.

But the question was already out, and the three of Zhan Feiyu also started to answer it, it was too late to say anything now.

Gu Qingzhou looked at the glaring Prince Yu, but instead smiled and smoothed things over, "You don't have to be like this, since Xiaoyu has issued a challenge, he deserves to win or lose. I don't know what happened to Professor Qin?"

have to!Kindly treat it as a donkey's liver and lungs!Prince Yu stared angrily, and was angry with himself with a stern face, but he had some calculations in his heart, Gu Qingzhou was not a good person, how could he allow Liu Jian to bully his disciple, there was probably some mystery in it.

Patriarch Qin is just a professor of the government school. In front of such powerful adults as Prince Yu and Gu Qingzhou, how can he make a question. In the end, it was Gu Qingzhou who asked Patriarch Qin to participate in the question to avoid suspicion.

He is Wan Yunhao's father-in-law. If Zhan Feiyu wins the competition, he will naturally be able to stop Youyou's mouth. No one dares to say that Zhan Feiyu's victory is invincible.

"My lord, I wrote a five-character and eight-rhyme poem with Xia He as the title." Patriarch Qin replied respectfully. He is humble, so naturally he didn't dare to write a title like Master Liu. His saliva could drown him.

So Patriarch Qin's topic was pretty standard, just an ordinary test post poem, but Zhan Feiyu was no better than a little Mengtong, and Wan Yunhao was already a candidate. In terms of poetry writing ability, Wan Yunhao didn't know how much better than Zhan Feiyu, The simpler the topic, the better it is for Wan Yunhao.

(End of this chapter)