Do you know the long song of laughter?

Chapter 150 A question with only one answer

After the county examination was over, the marking officers who had been selected long ago began to mark the examination papers intensively.

The people who grade the papers are Yangzhou Official School and Yangzhou officials. They need to read the answer papers of more than 500 candidates, select the top 100, and hand it over to the examiner to determine the final candidates.

According to the examination rules stipulated by the imperial court, each examination paper needs to be cross-reviewed by two people. If the two people have different opinions, it will be reviewed by a third person.

Therefore, the workload of reviewing documents is very heavy.

While the papers were being reviewed here, there was a lot of discussion in Yangzhou City about the candidates for the county examination.

Before the start of the county examination, all Guanpu stores in Yangzhou opened handicaps about the county examination.

There are only two betting rules. One is who will be on the list, and you will pay one out of five.

The second type is the first bet, which pays ten for one.

Although the former odds are very low, there are actually more than 500 candidates. If you take 50 candidates, you have almost a one-tenth chance.

What's more, the county examination is not based on probability. Many of those who take the county examination are already well-known, and in the eyes of many people, winning is almost certain.

Therefore, many people are betting heavily on those who are popular on the list.

After the county examination, many of the popular candidates to join the gang were asked whether they could be admitted.

Those who are more arrogant and confident say that they will definitely make the list, while those who are more modest say that it depends on luck.

Many of the people who beat them were very happy and were waiting to receive their money after the results were released.

Five days later, one hundred examination papers selected after detailed review and discussion were sent to the two examiners, Zhou Yingjie and Xu Shigao.

Both of them need to read the 100-point test paper once.

However, the two of them only took a cursory look at the classics and meanings, focusing on arguments and strategies.

Among them, the most important thing is policy, which plays a large role in the imperial examination.

The papers that could be selected and sent to them were all very similar in terms of scriptures and meanings, and there was nothing interesting about them.

It took three days for the two of them to read a hundred papers, and after discussion, they decided on the fifty people to be included in the list.

On the final list, although there is some controversy between the two, it is not major.

However, the two men were very controversial over the final selection of the case leader.

Zhou Yingjie and Xu Shijie each selected the three people they were most optimistic about, and planned to select a candidate to lead the case after discussion.

Zhou Yingjie wanted to name Li An as the head of the case, but Xu Shigao disagreed and chose Yang Tao instead.

"Xu Xuezheng, this Li An is not only outstanding in literary talent, but also outstanding in articles among all students. What's more, he is also Wen Linlang, a member of the official family. The four words of warning he said were erected at the gate of the Imperial College. If he were not the head of the case , if it spreads to Bianjing, it will probably cause a lot of criticism."

Seeing that Xu Shigao couldn't be persuaded, Zhou Yingjie simply revealed Li An's identity.

As the saying goes, writing is the best, Yang Tao's writing is no worse than Li An's. If it were normal, he would not compete with Xu Shigao.

But Li An was different. What he said was engraved and erected at the entrance of the Imperial College.

So where is the Imperial College?

Except for the officials' children, all the other students failed the examination.

As a result, Li An failed to win even a single county exam in the capital. Some people may laugh at Li An, but what if someone suspects fraud in the county exam?

That was at the feet of the emperor, and it might have reached the ears of the officials.

Not to mention that Li An's article is really good, there is no problem in choosing him as the head of the case.

Even if Li An's article is a little bit worse, he will push An Li forward.

"Zhou Tongpan, is everything you said true?" Xu Shigao exclaimed after hearing this.

"This is what he told me when he came to me as a guarantee before. To be honest, I didn't believe it at first, so I asked someone to investigate, and it was indeed true," Zhou Yingjie said.

Xu Shigao frowned slightly, he didn't expect Li An to have such an identity.

"In that case, let's do as Lord Tongpan said." Xu Shigao said with an ugly expression.

They say that if you are upright, you are not afraid of a slanted shadow. The problem is that your body is not upright.

If he had no problem, he would naturally not agree.

Anyway, Yang Tao's articles are no worse than Li An's, so he won't be afraid even if they are investigated. However, he had a problem himself, so he was naturally afraid that things would get serious, so he could only hold his nose and admit it.

Seeing Xu Shigao's promise, Zhou Yingjie smiled and said, "Then I will have someone copy the names of the scholars on the list, and the list will be published tomorrow morning."

"Lord Tongpan, just take care of it. I'm very tired from reviewing papers these days, so I'll leave now." Xu Shigao said.

Although there is no actual benefit to the case, it will greatly improve the reputation.

He naturally felt uncomfortable having his old enemy's student at the head of the case.

……

That afternoon, the yamen servants were divided into two groups, beating gongs and drums, and shouting that the county test results would be announced tomorrow.

For a time, the whole Yangzhou was boiling.

Some people in the family are naturally nervous about taking the county examination and are afraid of failing.

And those who place bets in Guanpu shop hope that the person they bet on will win.

As mentioned earlier, people in the Song Dynasty loved gambling, and most people in Yangzhou, from officials to traders and footmen, placed bets, no matter how much.

It can be said that posting the list touched the hearts of most people in Yangzhou.

……

The Li family was eating when they got the news.

Knowing that the list would be announced tomorrow, everyone stopped and looked at Li An.

"What are you all looking at me for?"

Li An stretched out his chopsticks and was about to pick up vegetables when he suddenly felt quiet. Seeing everyone looking at him, he thought there were rice particles stuck to his mouth. He wiped his mouth and found that there was not, so he asked with some confusion.

"A Niu, Niu Jing just said that there are government officials outside shouting that the results of the county examination will be announced tomorrow, didn't you hear it?" Li Ping said.

"Hey, what did I think it was?"

Hearing this, Li An nonchalantly put a piece of mutton into his mouth, and while chewing, he said vaguely: "The list will be published tomorrow, not now."

"Bad boy, are you not worried at all?"

Ms. Liu, who was sitting next to Li An, was very dissatisfied with Li An's attitude and slapped him on the back.

"Mom, the exam is over. It's a foregone conclusion whether you will win or not. What's there to worry about? If you win, there's no need to worry. If you don't, there's no point worrying." Li An said speechlessly.

"Bah, bah, bah, I told you not to mention the word "miss"," Ms. Liu said.

Ever since Li An came back and said that he wanted to take the county examination, Mrs. Liu said that the word "failure" was not allowed in the family.

Li Nan, Li Ping and Li An have all been scolded for this.

Li An didn't expect his mother to be so superstitious.

However, after what Li An said, Li Nan and the others relaxed a little.

"Son, tell your mother, can you win this time?" Ms. Liu asked.

"Mom, there seems to be no other answer to your question, right?" Li An said.

Li Nan and Li Ping: "..."

No, there are only two answers, yes or no.

There is not only one answer to the question.

Li An saw that his parents were a little nervous, and originally wanted to make a joke to liven up the atmosphere.

Unexpectedly, Mr. Liu has no sense of humor and cannot feel the laughter in it. Instead, he will get angry as soon as he stares.

Seeing this, Li An quickly said: "It's a hit, it's a hit, it's definitely a hit!"

(End of this chapter)