Red Mansion Reader

Chapter 16 County Examination (Second Update)

In the first year of Wenhe, on the tenth day of February.

The south of the Yangtze River is humid, and the rain has not stopped for days.Many candidates have a headache for this, worrying that it will rain on the day of the county examination, which will affect their performance.

The county magistrate Xu Pingzhi was sitting in the county government office, but he liked this rainy season very much.

One is that when it rains, there are never any lawsuits, so he can relax.The second is that the spring rain nourishes all things, and it can rain continuously in this warm and cold season. I think the harvest of the farmers this year will not be bad.

The county magistrate's performance evaluation every time is very important. Xu Pingzhi still has one year left for this exam. As long as there is no catastrophe this year, he should be able to get the desired result.

Xu Pingzhi was a Juren in the fifth year of Wuding. Because of his outstanding ability, he was appreciated by the magistrate of Yangzhou, and he was promoted to be the magistrate of Taixing County.He was not a Jinshi, although he lacked talent.But Xu Pingzhi is good at practical affairs and good at human affairs, so he is more effective than some pedantic Jinshi in handling things.

Taixing County has not had any troubles in the past few years, and he has indeed contributed a lot.

Since he was a little free today, he was sitting in the county government office, unavoidably concerned about the upcoming county examination.

Today's emperor changed the year name to Wenhe, and the intention is self-evident.Xu Pingzhi secretly guessed in his heart that the Holy Majesty is now firmly seated on the throne, and the princes and nobles in the court are also more or less appeased.At this juncture, replacing the year name Wenhe is precisely to make good use of the signal of scholars.

He has an exquisite heart that can figure out what he wants, and he also wants to continue to do things in the officialdom, so he is naturally more attentive to this county examination.There was nothing to do left and right, so someone called Master Shaoxing to discuss other matters.

Opportunities are always reserved for those who are prepared.

But county magistrate Xu is not the only one with this vision.

Li Gongming didn't know where he got some rumors. In order to cooperate with the prefect to rebuild Yangzhou Academy, he promoted culture and education.I heard that the salt merchants in the Yangzhou government have prepared a sum of money, which is going to be sent to the heads of the counties and their mentors before the government examination.

I heard that there is at least 100 taels, so it's fine if you don't know about it. Now that Li Gongming knows, he will never allow himself to miss this windfall.

In previous years' county examinations, the questions were very simple.Although Li Gongming was busy preparing for the provincial examination, he didn't spend much time on the students.But he felt that he was much stronger than those masters in the valley, how could he miss this honor this time.

Besides, what Li Gongming really cares about is the reconstruction of Yangzhou Academy and the behavior of the salt merchants who are so flattering. Does this indicate that the imperial court will make a big move?
Thinking of this, Li Gongming suddenly felt a fever in his heart. He called the students who were taking the exam to his side to supervise them, and wanted to pull out these seedlings again.

Just when Li Gongming was mentioning his order, the housekeeper stepped forward and whispered to him.

"What? You said that Wang Xianming just brought a child here?" Li Gongming frowned, and asked a little strangely, "Could it be that his disciple who has read the Four Books and Five Classics won't enter the venue this time?"

It's of course useless to ask the servants about this kind of thing.

"Forget it, don't worry about him." Li Gongming waved his hand, he still needs to be strong to strike the iron, even if Wang Xianming has no intention of this county test, there will be many opponents.

Now at this time, let's focus on our own students.

…………

…………

As the exam period approached, the atmosphere in the inn became more dignified day by day.Chen Qi, who was still an old god, walked around the inn these few days, and all he saw were nervous scholars.

They either held the books and read them again and again, or braved the rain to go to the Temple of the City God to ask for a lottery.

After seeing this kind of situation too much, even Chen Qi, the elder accompanying the exam, couldn't help but get nervous.

But every time he returned to his room and saw Chen Heng who was calm and composed, he didn't know what to say.He was afraid that when he opened his mouth, he would pass on his nervousness to his son, and he was also afraid that his son would not be well prepared, and his ranking would be bad, and he would regret it in turn.

Going in and out of the room like this, Chen Heng, who was concentrating on practicing calligraphy, saw the clues.

Chen Heng put down his pen, smiled at Chen Qi and said, "Father, I'm the one taking the exam, why are you nervous?"

"Hey." Chen Qi didn't know what to say, so he said, "Don't you read more?"

Chen Heng couldn't help being surprised, blinked, and said, "I watch it every day when I get up early."

Seeing that his son's elm head was still not awakened, Chen Qi gritted his teeth and gave his own suggestion: "Let's take another look, in case it happens to be used in the examination room."

Chen Heng shook his head with a smile. He knew that his father was suffering from pre-examination syndrome, and it was nothing serious. His father would be cured after he finished the exam.

"When the book is in use, you hate it. That's an excuse for lazy people. Dad, your son's book..." Chen Heng pointed to his little head, "It's all here."

"Okay, it's all up to you."

Anyway, it was his son who was going to take the exam, and Chen Qi saw that he couldn't beat Chen Heng, so he stopped talking.Just when the two were silent, Xiao Er's voice came from outside the door.

"Guest officer, your family members are looking for you in the lobby. There are many scholars preparing for the exam in our inn. I'm afraid I will trouble you two to go down."

Chen Heng and Chen Qi looked at each other, probably only Chen Huaijin could come at this time, father and son went downstairs together.

When they came to the lobby, they saw their second uncle Chen Huaijin sitting on a wooden bench with a food box in front of him.His face was flushed, and he looked like he had eaten a lot of wine.

As soon as he saw Chen Heng and Chen Qi, Chen Huaijin got up from the wooden bench excitedly, seeing his body trembling a little.Chen Heng quickened his pace and stepped forward to support him.

"Brother, you are so cruel."

Chen Huaijin really drank too much, and his tone of voice became louder than usual.

Chen Heng helped him to sit down, and looked at the clothes on the second uncle's body, which still showed signs of being wet. He should have come here in the rain.

"What's wrong with me?" Chen Qi scratched his head, unable to understand what the drunk man was talking about.

"Heng'er came to participate in the county examination. You didn't come to inform me about such a big event." Chen Huaijin's tone was very sad and indignant.

No way, Chen Heng opened his mouth and looked at his father.The second uncle has been a bit confused in the past two years, and it doesn't make sense not to talk about such things.

Chen Qi also felt wronged, and muttered: "I thought you knew, didn't father and mother tell you?"

"What the fuck." Chen Huaijin scolded, "It was because I was having a drink with the shopkeeper in the restaurant and met the third son of the Zhang family. He told me by the way, so I knew."

Chen Qi smiled awkwardly, he didn't know what to say for a moment, he really forgot.

Chen Huaijin didn't get entangled in this matter, but just grabbed Chen Heng who was about to serve tea, "Our shopkeeper heard that my nephew is only seven years old, so he came to take part in the county examination, and clamored for me to call you over to meet him. Hehehe..."

Chen Heng frowned.

"...How could I agree to him." Chen Huaijin hiccupped, and continued, "Seeing Heng'er at this time, what kind of heart is there. But he is so beautiful! I sent him a few words, and came to look for you."

As if proud of his wit, Chen Huaijin shook his head, then pointed to the food box in front of him, "Heng'er, guess what Second Uncle brought you?" After finishing speaking, without waiting for Chen Heng to answer, he got up and opened the food box and took out one by one.

Half a 'steamed duck', a plate of 'rice cakes', several dried fruits, and a piece of maltose at the bottom.Chen Huaijin said drunkenly: "Look, it's all your favorite food. When you were young, you often gave things to your two sisters. Today, you are alone. You can eat freely. Second Uncle makes a lot of money now. As much candy as you want, Second Uncle will buy it for you."

Seeing that Chen Huaijin talked more and more, the more he talked, the more drunk he became.Chen Qi had no choice but to stand up and carry him back upstairs.

Chen Heng was left alone in the lobby, sighing at the food brought by his second uncle in the rain.

He was worried about his second uncle's ignorance, and he was also moved by his care at the moment.Chen Heng couldn't help but think of any way to get the second uncle to quit his job as a pawnbroker?

Chen Heng stared at the willow tree outside the door in a daze, it was used to tie horses for guests.Willows swaying in the wind and rain, it looks like a person's precarious fate.

But Chen Heng took a closer look, and found a few leaf buds on the willow branches, which were the horns before the coming of spring.

That night, Chen Huaijin also slept in the inn, but he slept on the floor with Chen Qi.The only bed is now Chen Heng's exclusive.The county examination is coming soon, and there is no way to talk about the etiquette of father and son.

When Chen Heng woke up the next day, Chen Huaijin had disappeared.Both father and son didn't know when he left, and they didn't look for him, so they continued to prepare for the exam with peace of mind.

It's just that after that day, the food for the two of them in the inn was much better.

…………

…………

In a blink of an eye, it was the day when the county examination was held. After many days of rain, it finally stopped, and the bright moon like a disc was still hanging in the sky.The guards parading the streets will also say a few more thoughtful words at this time: The county exam is coming soon, don't be late.I hope to wake up the candidates who are still sleeping so that they will not miss the exam.

Chen Heng, who got up early, ate a few simple breakfasts, and then set out for the county government under the escort of Chen Qi, accompanied by scholars from Lianbao.

When I walked out of the inn, there were only scholars on the street who were taking the exam one after another.When Chen Heng smelled it with his nose, he could smell a faint fragrance.He looked up, and the willow tree outside the inn had a few more buds.

I don't know if this counts as a dark fragrance floating moon dusk?Chen Heng smiled, lowered his head and concentrated on his way.

When we arrived at the county government office, there was already a queue at the gate, but fortunately it was not long.Chen Heng checked his examination equipment for the last time, and he was at the end of the line.

When it was his turn, a literati first took the paperwork and began to register. When he saw Chen Heng's age, he couldn't help but sigh with emotion, "Young people are awesome." Chen Heng just smiled and didn't answer.

Since Chen Heng was the youngest, he was the first among the five.When Chen Heng was done and the next one came up to replace him, the clerk behind the literati had already dragged Chen Heng to start a body search.

When the five people were all finished, they walked across the gate of the county government office side by side, and the government officials shouted in unison: "Zhang Shan, Liu Yan, Chen Heng...the five of them secured security, the search was correct, and they entered the venue."

As Chen Heng walked into the county office, there was a row of janitors from Taixing County behind the gate, and one of the old men got up at this time, and after carefully looking at the faces of the five people, he replied, "Guardian Huang Tingxue, Bao."

This is the legendary "Singing Bao". After passing this level, you will enter the examination room.

Chen Heng's county examination is about to begin.

　Come on, come on, the third watch is at ten o'clock

　　
　
(End of this chapter)