Zhu Ping'an looked at his uncle's blushing face and just smiled gently without exposing his lie.
After all, my uncle himself didn't believe it.
"Ahem, my dear nephew, even if your salary is low and you don't make any money, your wife's family is rich, and you are the head of the family. You can withdraw three hundred taels of silver from my account first, and I will pay you back in a while. Don't worry, uncle, I will keep my promise."
Uncle Zhu Shouren had not forgotten the three hundred taels of silver at this time, and urged Zhu Pingan to withdraw three hundred taels of silver from the account.
"Uncle, are you teaching me to live off others?" Upon hearing this, Zhu Ping'an couldn't help but smile and looked at his uncle Zhu Shouren.
"Hehe, what soft rice and hard rice, aren't they all the rice in your pot?" Uncle Zhu Shouren said indifferently.
Uncle, where is your face? Why can’t I find it? !
Zhu Ping'an couldn't help but curl the corners of his mouth. Although he knew that his uncle was shameless, he was still shocked by his shamelessness.
"Don't worry, nephew. I will definitely pay you back. Gold will always shine, and I will definitely pass the exam this time. When I pass the exam, I will be able to pay you back the mere three hundred taels of silver in a few months."
Uncle Zhu Shouren put his hands behind his back and walked with a wide step, with a mysterious confidence on his face, as if passing the exam was as easy as taking candy from a baby.
Gold will always shine?!
Oh.
I think all the gold will be spent by you eventually!
Zhu Pingan shook his head speechlessly.
How did you prepare for the exam? How much knowledge do you have? Don’t you have any idea
"My dear nephew, I am a talented person who has not been recognized, just like a thousand-mile horse that has not met a good horse trainer, so I didn't pass the imperial examination."
Seeing that Zhu Ping'an didn't believe it, the uncle hurried to explain.
Bole?!
You are a thousand-mile horse. If Bole sees you, he will castrate you and raise you as a meat horse...
A horse like you is useless except for eating meat. Forget about traveling a thousand miles a day. It's hard for you to even travel ten miles a day. After walking two or three miles, you have to find a young mare to kick you. Even being a poor horse to carry loads is not good enough.
"Really, nephew, please don't disbelieve me. The reason why I failed to get into high school was because I had no connections. The examiner was irresponsible to me and treated my beautiful essay as worthless. He refused to accept me against his conscience."
Uncle Zhu Shouren said with confidence, blaming his failure in the exam on his lack of connections.
Zhu Ping'an's ears were so tired of hearing his uncle's words. When he was at home, whenever the topic of imperial examinations came up, his uncle would always make excuses for his repeated failures to pass the examination.
It doesn’t matter. This is the most common excuse my uncle makes.
Anyway, my uncle never looks for the reasons in himself.
"Uncle, it doesn't matter if my nephew took the imperial examination that year. After all, I still have to rely on myself to take the imperial examination."
Zhu Pingan said speechlessly.
"That's different, my dear nephew, you are the God of Literature who has descended to earth. How dare the examiner not read your essay carefully? You are different from us..." Uncle Zhu Shouren shook his head and said with specious arguments.
Zhu Ping'an was completely speechless.
"But now it's different. I will definitely pass the exam this time. Do you know why, nephew?"
Uncle Zhu Shouren stood with his hands behind his back, looking at Zhu Ping'an with mysterious confidence, and asked thoughtfully:
Zhu Ping'an shook his head and said, "Uncle, wake up! With the attitude you have towards preparing for the exam, it will be a miracle if you can pass the exam this time!"
"My dear nephew, we had no relationship in the beginning, but now we are related. With your help, I can just give you a greeting, and it will be easy for me, your uncle, to pass the exam." Uncle Zhu Shouren looked at Zhu Ping'an with shining eyes.
Oh shit!
You really dare to think so!
Zhu Ping'an was once again pushed to the limit by his uncle's shamelessness. There is no such thing as the most shameless, only more shameless.
Haha, what's up, uncle? So if you fail the exam this time, you're going to blame me for not being good enough? !
!
Zhu Ping'an couldn't help but laugh.
"Uncle, do you know what crime is committing cheating in the imperial examination?" Zhu Ping'an smiled, looked at his uncle, and asked slowly.
The uncle was stunned for a moment.
"This is a capital crime, so don't make the mistake, uncle!" Zhu Ping'an said seriously.
Uncle Zhu Shouren was stunned for a moment, then laughed again, "Nephew, don't scare me. It's just a greeting. It's not a serious crime."
"Uncle, do you know about the 'Northern and Southern List Case' during the Hongwu period? It is also the famous Liu Sanwu imperial examination case."
Zhu Pingan asked calmly.
"Uh, I seem to have heard that Liu Sanwu was a cheating candidate, right?" Uncle Zhu Shouren scratched his head and said uncertainly.
You are really uneducated. Zhu Pingan rolled his eyes and said, "Liu Sanwu is the chief examiner..."
"Ah, the examiner's name is so rustic?" Uncle Zhu Shouren said in disbelief.
Zhu Ping'an was completely speechless.
If modern people saw Sanwu and said that this name is rustic, it would be fine, but you, a scholar who is taking the eight-part essay examination, actually said that this name is rustic?! How did you learn the Four Books and Five Classics? Do you know how to solve the questions and write eight-part essays? It would be a miracle if you can pass the exam!
Sanwu, from the Analects of Confucius, means "I examine myself three times a day". You actually said such a cultured name is rustic.
"In the 30th year of the Hongwu reign, the Ministry of Rites held a joint examination. The Hongwu Emperor appointed the highly respected Hanlin scholar Liu Sanwu as the chief examiner, and Ji Shan, Bai Xindao and others as examiners..." Zhu Ping'an simply told his uncle Zhu Shouren about the North and South list.
"What are the consequences of this unfounded imperial examination fraud?! The Hongwu Emperor personally sentenced Bai Xindao, Zhang Xin and more than 20 other examiners to death by slow slicing; Liu Sanwu was exiled to the frontier due to his advanced age; all 51 selected southern candidates were dismissed, and no less than a thousand people were implicated."
"This is all hearsay, if there is real cheating in the imperial examination, what do you think will happen, uncle?!"
"In the end, the imperial examination still depends on yourself!"
Zhu Pingan said to his uncle Zhu Shouren with a serious face, and then sternly warned him, "Uncle, don't mention this matter again!"
"It can't be just a greeting..." said the uncle embarrassedly.
"Uncle, if you hadn't had the time to scheme, you would have passed the exam long ago if you had just focused on writing eight-part essays and preparing for the exam."
Zhu Pingan frowned.
"Ahem, nephew, didn't uncle say that you need connections to pass this exam? Without connections, no matter how talented you are, it will be useless..."
Uncle Zhu Shouren still spoke stubbornly.
"In my Ming Dynasty, nearly 30,000 people pass the imperial examination every year. Could it be that they all passed through with connections?" Zhu Ping'an said impatiently, "Let's not talk about other people. In our county, there are Wang Xiucai and Zhang Xiucai who passed the imperial examination in Taoyuan Town, as well as Qian Xiucai, Han Xiucai, and Sun Xiucai in Kaoshan Town. All of them are from farming families for generations. How could they pass the imperial examination with connections?!"
The uncle had no excuses now and could only say, "It's always easy if you have connections..."