Do you know that it starts with Meng Tong?

At the end of July, the Jiangning government office issued an announcement, ordering the children in Jiangning Prefecture to go to the government office to get their exam certificates.

Wei Chen also ended his life of ascetic cultivation in the small lakeside courtyard. Together with his friend Sheng Changbai and others, he came to Jiangning Mansion Office to receive the admission ticket for the college examination.

The clerks in front compared the transcripts one by one. The queue to receive the test cards was very long, but Wei Chen and the others were far away from their turn.

Tao Dazhi came to Wei Chen's side and said, "Brother Wei, as a rule, students are required to take the imperial examination in the capital. You can take this examination with your eyes closed."

Wei Chen smiled slightly: "No, Mr. Futai gave me this opportunity just for cultivation. If I don't do well in the college examination, wouldn't I have failed Mr. Futai for all his hard work?"

Chen Jun smiled and joked: "Brother Wei's talent and learning are much higher than ours, and now he has been taught by Mr. Qingteng, who is famous all over the world, it is even more incredible. Looking at Brother Wei like this, he wants to take over the county, government, and The leader of the third trial in the hospital has his sword pointed at Xiao Sanyuan!"

Wei Chen didn't say anything, but the smile on his face was full of confidence. It was obvious that Chen Jun had spoken his mind.

In the imperial examination, in addition to testing the candidates' talents and learning, the candidates' reputation is also a very important off-site factor.

For major national examinations such as the Provincial Examination, the General Examination, and the Imperial Examination, the names are unknown when grading the papers, but when determining the rankings, the examiners still

It will be affected by the candidate's previous reputation.

This is why some scholars sell their collected works to the capital at all costs before taking the examination.

And Xiao Sanyuan, although not worth mentioning compared to Big Sanyuan, is the easiest way for Wei Chen to become famous now. After all, he is only one hospital trial case leader away from Xiao Sanyuan. It can be said that he is close. So close.

At this time, Tao Dazhi suddenly put his arms around Wei Chen's shoulders and said slyly: "Brother Wei, in my opinion, Xiao Sanyuan and other things are mostly based on luck. You are bound to win the college exam, so there is no need." So you are tense, I heard that a steward came to Yichun Building recently, do you want to go together to relax tomorrow?"

Wei Chen was stunned when he heard this.

You are such a thick-browed Tao Dazhi.

The thoughts are really vicious!

This is to mess up my mind before the exam!

No, we must be severely criticized!

Wei Chen was about to criticize Jiangning City's romantic career with Tao Dazhi, but he saw Sheng Changbai step forward and glared at Tao Dazhi.

"The college examination is about to come, but you are still thinking about going to Goulan Washe to have fun. If word spreads, will your reputation as a good brother be lost? Go ahead and do it yourself. Don't teach me bad things to my good brother!"

After Sheng Changbai's righteous words, Tao Dazhi immediately shrank, with a submissive look on his face, aggrieved.

He also had good intentions. He couldn't stand the ascetic life of Wei Chen and Sheng Changbai, and wanted to take them to experience the beauty of Qinhuai. Who would have expected that Sheng Changbai would react so strongly?

However, looking at Chen Jun's expression next to him, he seemed to be quite interested in this matter, and we could discuss it with him in private later.

In fact, Wei Chen was somewhat interested in Tao Dazhi's proposal. Even if he was too young and weak-minded, it would be fine to follow him to see the world and open his eyes.

Unfortunately, with the upright gentleman Sheng Changbai still here, Wei Chen couldn't leave him alone.

That's not enough of a friend.

I can only wait until I have the opportunity to talk about the world.

Wei Chen noticed that the atmosphere was a bit awkward. He coughed slightly and changed the subject: "Everyone, it's boring to wait here. Let me tell you a joke!"

Tao Dazhi and Chen Jun looked at each other in a dignified manner, and Sheng Changbai, who was less angry, also turned his attention.

"A tiger came out of the mountain and came back depressed. The tigers came up and asked why they found nothing. The hungry tiger met a man on the road, but he didn't want to eat.

The group of tigers asked the reason, and the hungry tiger said that when he met a scholar, he refused to eat because it was too sour.The tigers laughed.

The hungry tiger said again, later he met a boy who also refused to eat.All the tigers are puzzled, why does the child not eat?Hungry Tiger said, afraid of hurting his teeth.

The tigers asked why they were afraid of hurting their teeth.The hungry tiger replied, Tong Sheng is too old to bite! "

After Wei Chen finished speaking, Tao Dazhi and Chen Jun both laughed.

Sheng Changbai couldn't help but laugh. He suppressed his laughter and lowered his voice: "It's better to tell our joke in private. If it gets too loud and some old boy hears it, I'll give you a beating!"

Wei Chen smiled lightly, but said in his heart, I heard this joke from the respected Mr. Futai. If anyone has any grievances, just send it to him!

After telling the joke, the atmosphere in the room finally became lively again, and Tao Dazhi had the good sense not to mention visiting a brothel in front of Sheng Changbai.

After a lot of effort, the team finally reached them. Wei Chen stepped forward to answer the questions and receive the test card.

Many scribes in the government office knew Wei Chen, the clerk who made a big splash during the government examination. They knew that his status as a boy student was just a formality and that his enrollment as a student member was a certainty, so they couldn't help but congratulate him in advance.

Wei Chen smiled in return and did not look down upon these scribes because of their low status.

The king of hell is easy to meet, but the devil is difficult to deal with. A prefect like Shen Du may change every few years, but these subordinate officials have been rooted here for generations, and their influence in the yamen is intertwined and deep-rooted.

Jiangning is Wei Chen's hometown, and these local snakes will inevitably have to take care of him in the future.

The other children who came to register nearby saw Wei Chen talking and laughing with the yamen clerk, and they felt mixed emotions in their hearts.

They were all still anxious about the upcoming college examination, but Wei Chen had reserved a spot early and was firmly seated in Diaoyutai.

But they had nothing to say. Who let him be the leader of the government trial?You should also enjoy some special treatment.

At this time, someone suddenly thought that Wei Chen was not only the head of the case in the government examination, but also the head of the case in the county examination. So, if he gets the first place in the college examination this time, wouldn't he be the top three in the elementary and middle schools?

Speaking of which, it seems that Jiangnan Province has not produced a small three yuan in more than 50 years, right?

Chapter 56 Bo Lan is a little nervous

After signing up and going home, Wei Chen moved into the small courtyard by the lake again.

Every day when he got up early, Wei Chen read a collection of scriptures, and then practiced Shi Wen under the guidance of Zhuang Jun.

In the previous imperial examination, in order to cater to Shen Du's preferences, Wei Chen changed his writing style to be gorgeous and parallel, and thus won the first place in the imperial examination.

Zhuang Jun adheres to the concept of managing the world and applying it to the world, and is not a corrupt scholar. He can understand Wei Chen's approach of trying to make ends meet, but he does not agree with it.

After reading the article from Wei Chen's imperial examination, he said this: "Although your writing is neat and beautiful, it can't help but be reduced to inferior quality. Such an article will not work when encountered by a dabbler like Shen Du who likes gorgeous rhetoric. You can get a good ranking, but if you meet a real scholar of the Fang family, it won't work."

In fact, Zhuang Jun didn't need to tell him, Wei Chen himself knew that his article, which won the first place in the government examination, was originally written to cater to the prefect Shen Du. In the eyes of knowledgeable people, this is an act of charming people with literature, and the style is of course It's relatively low.

Therefore, even if Zhuang Jun disparaged his article as not worth mentioning, Wei Chen would have nothing to refute.

Didn't you hear that Zhuang Jun said that the dignified prefect Shen Du was just a dabbler?

This was Zhuang Jun's confidence as a great scholar in the world. Even if Shen Du himself was here, he would have to bow his head and be punished.

After commenting on Wei Chen's article during the imperial examination, Zhuang Jun then talked about Wei Chen's new article "On the Return of the Perfect Jade to Zhao".

"Your ancient prose is much better than Shiwen. I haven't seen such a wonderful article for a long time. If your Shiwen can be like your ancient prose, it takes off the ink decoration and expresses the eternity. If it is indelible, it is the best article in the world!"

After listening to Zhuang Jun's words, Wei Chen felt his eyes suddenly become brighter.

In the past, when he wrote articles, he mainly imitated his predecessor Cheng Wen and groped step by step. Wei Chen was actually very confused about the next path.

Zhuang Jun's words directly cleared away the clouds for Wei Chen and pointed out a bright road for him.As long as Wei Chen works hard in this direction, one day his article will be completed.

Wei Chen couldn't help but secretly admire Zhuang Jun. He was indeed a world-famous scholar. He had a sharp eye and could see his own problems at a glance. He was so lucky to have such a wise master.

In the following days, Wei Chen locked himself in the room to read and write. During this period, except for a few visits from Chen Jun and Tao Dazhi, Wei Chen never met any strangers.

But Sheng Changbai had never been to the courtyard.

I don’t know why, but this guy seems to have always avoided Zhuang Jun.

Wei Chen was quite confused about this, but since Sheng Changbai didn't want to mention it, he wouldn't ask further.

On the morning of the day of the hospital examination, Wei Chen got up early and felt refreshed and had the pleasure of breaking through.

After breakfast, Wei Chen checked his examination cards, pens, inks, paper, inkstones, etc., and then walked out of the small courtyard with the examination basket. Tao Dazhi was already waiting outside the courtyard in a mule cart.

After loading Wei Chen, the two drove to the examination booth together.

As soon as I got off the car, I saw sparks and people buzzing in front of the examination shed's gantry.

There are about [-] children who came to take the college examination this time, which is a little less than the government examination.

There are so many, even the scale of the Youyang County Examination is not comparable.

During the county examination, the candidates were mostly fourteen or fifteen years old. During the government examination, the candidates were mostly eighteen or nineteen years old. When it came to the college examination, the number of people in each age group was almost the same, and the age gap between them was extremely exaggerated.

There is no other way. The three thousand students in the government examination will get fifty. Even if they are recruited later, they will only be a few dozen more people. It took me countless years to save these eight hundred children. Naturally, there are old and young, and they are uneven.

I think back then, Wei Chen's mentor, Shi Kai, was almost 40 years old and was just a boy.

As soon as Wei Chen arrived at the examination room, he and Tao Dazhi looked for traces of Sheng Changbai and Chen Jun. The four of them were among the top ten in the imperial examination this time. According to the rules, they also had to mention their seat names during the imperial examination, so they could enter together.

However, the sky was only dimly lit at this time and the line of sight was blocked. It was quite difficult to find two people among the more than 800 children.

Wei Chen looked around and didn't find Sheng Changbai or Chen Jun, but he found an old acquaintance.

"Mr. Stone?"

Seeing the middle-aged man in green shirt in front of him, Wei Chen couldn't help but feel a little surprised.

He immediately stepped forward and saluted: "Mr. Shi, you are here too."

The middle-aged man turned to look at Wei Chen, but hurriedly denied it: "Who is your husband? You got the wrong person!"

After saying that, he hurriedly covered his face and left.

Wei Chen looked confused. He remembered Shi Kai's face clearly, so he shouldn't admit his mistake.

When Wei Chen saw the middle-aged man ducking into the crowd, he hurriedly chased after him.

But after walking a few steps, Wei Chen stopped again. He suddenly understood that the man was clearly Mr. Shi, but why he refused to admit it.

The former student was now the same age as him. Shi Kai's self-esteem made it difficult for him to accept this sense of gap in identity and status, so he chose to avoid seeing him.

Under this situation, even if Wei Chen catches up with Shi Kai and forcibly recognizes him, it will only make Shi Kai more embarrassed.

"Let's wait until we finish the college exam before meeting again..."

Wei Chen let out a long sigh, and finally stopped and stood there, watching as the familiar figure gradually disappeared into the crowd.

"Brother!"

While Wei Chen was sighing, he suddenly heard an excited shout from behind. He turned around and saw that it was Sheng Changbai, so he said happily: "Brother, I had a hard time looking for you. Where is Brother Chen?"

Sheng Changbai said: "Brother Chen and Brother Tao have joined together. They are both waiting outside Longmen. You are the only one missing."

"Okay, let's go together now."

After Wei Chen heard this, he and Sheng Changbai walked towards the dragon gate.

On the way, Wei Chen saw Sheng Changbai's face looking very bad, so he asked, "Brother, what's wrong with you? Your forehead is covered with sweat?"

"Um, is it?"

Sheng Changbai was slightly startled, then reached out and took out a handkerchief to wipe his sweat.