Yu Ba Chi rolled his eyes at Shen Ming and said, "How could Xu Sheng miss Ning'an County when he looked at the human race? Shen Zhubu must be careful with his words. This is the place where the county examination begins, and you will not be allowed to speak nonsense. If you do it again, I will report you to the court and impeach you!"
Shen Ming gritted his teeth and didn't dare to retort. He thought that it was not his fault for not thinking it through carefully, but mainly because Fang Yun was too clear-headed. He could launch two consecutive counterattacks in such a short period of time. No other county magistrate would have been able to do it.
Fang Yun then said, "There are too many children in Ning'an County, so it is relatively difficult to gather them together, so I don't plan to give lectures before the county exam. The candidates will gather today, and the results will be announced tomorrow. On the third day, March 17, I will give lectures here on how to respond to the words of the saints and the meaning of the scriptures. As long as you are a student in Ning'an County, you can come to the Academy of Literature to listen to the lectures."
"Thank you, Fang Xusheng!"
Many candidates were extremely happy. Fang Yun had achieved amazing results last year and was definitely the best among the teachers. Being able to listen to his lectures would be a lifetime honor.
Shen Ming wanted to slap himself. If he hadn't mentioned this matter, Fang Yun didn't know how long it would take to think of such a large-scale lecture. But now that he mentioned it, Fang Yun could take advantage of the fact that there were many people taking the county examination to win people's hearts.
Now, even the officials from Zuo Xiang's party began to look at Fang Yun in a softer light, because their children or the children of their relatives and friends needed Fang Yun's guidance.
Fang Yun started as a student and continued to be a "saint before the saint" until he became a Jinshi. When he spoke, it was almost as if a university scholar was giving a lecture. His words were from heaven, and no matter what he said, the students would remember it firmly, and even if they were lazy, they would slowly digest it.
This is one of the biggest advantages of the semi-saint family. They often receive teachings from great scholars or even great Confucian scholars, and are far superior to the poor and ordinary nobles in dealing with the imperial examinations. They are one step faster, and after years of accumulation, their strength continues to expand.
Therefore, except for a few candidates in the same palace examination, most people did not want to compete with Fang Yun for the first grade in education, because they could not win at all. Fang Yun had the power of speaking with the gods, and his advantage in this respect was too great.
In fact, Fang Yun had not originally intended to give lectures to candidates below the level of Tongsheng, in addition to the difficulty in convening the examination and the large number of candidates, on the other hand, the county examination had a fixed number of admissions. Regardless of whether he gave lectures or not, the same number of candidates would be admitted this year, and his ability to educate would not be demonstrated.
However, teaching students is different. Students will take the prefectural examination in June. The prefectural examination is a competition for the number of scholars in multiple counties in Qingwu Prefecture. If Ning'an County gets more places in the prefectural examination than last year, it can prove that he has a strong ability to educate his people.
Shen Ming wanted to find a crack in the ground to go to. The county magistrate Tao Dingnian coughed and said, "With County Magistrate Fang here, Ning'an County will surely surpass other counties in the future imperial examinations. Recently, Ning'an County has had many happy events. First, people from the Criminal Hall and the Engineering Hall came, and in a few days, Xu Sheng will give a lecture. March 19th is the day for the Medical and Literary Conference. I am lucky to be born in Ning'an!"
The officials saw that Tao Dingnian was trying to help Shen Ming out, so they changed the subject, praising the events of the Criminal Hall and the Engineering Hall, and then the Medical and Literary Conference.
Deng Xuezheng, who came from the government academy, never interrupted. He was not a core member of the left-wing party. He never attacked Fang Yun from beginning to end, maintaining the integrity of a scholar.
Shen Ming secretly took the official seal and sent a letter to Ji Zhibai.
"Master Ji, Fang Yun overestimates his own abilities and wants to give a lecture at the County Academy of Literature on March 17th. Why don't we arrange for that incident to break out on the 17th, brew a little on the 18th, and then have a second outbreak on the 19th. Not only will we ruin his lecture at the County Academy of Literature, but we will also ruin his medical literature conference!"
"Where did you get that information? What if it's just a cover?"
Shen Ming had no choice but to tell Ji Zhibai the whole story.
"Master Shen, you were quite smart when you were under my command. How come you became so stupid after meeting Fang Yun? If your niece had not become the concubine of the second young master of the Liu Mansion, I would have taken off your official hat long ago!"
"Sir, it's not that I'm incompetent, it's that Fang Yun is too cunning! For example, you sold the dilapidated workshops and successfully turned losses into profits. This is your achievement, but the owners of those workshops were all arrested and convicted by Fang Yun. He is slapping you in the face! You can tolerate it, but as your old subordinate, I can't tolerate it!"
"Hmph, I have my own plans! Anyway, we'll start on March 17th, and push things to a climax on March 19th! By then, you have to organize the officials and business people in Ning'an County."
"Don't worry, sir! Fang Yun has been targeting the abbot these days, and has angered the public. They just don't dare to show up because of the protection of the Criminal Court and the Works Court. However, as long as he is a little careless and gives us an excuse, we will definitely make him fall into the abyss! On the 19th, I guarantee that his civil service and people's livelihood subjects will be ranked second, making it difficult for him to turn over! As for medical affairs, haha, as long as many doctors criticize his medical ethics, no matter how strong his medical skills are or how good his medical books are, he will not be able to get an A grade!"
"The reason why I decided to let the incident break out before the Medical and Literary Conference and then let the officials retaliate was to kill three birds with one stone and make him lose his medical skills. However, I originally wanted to use those cases to embarrass him, let him make wrong judgments and omissions, and thus arouse the anger of the officials. But he actually handled the cases in an orderly manner. However, God helps Ji Zhibai, he actually overestimated his own ability to deal with a large number of abbess, and aroused public anger! Let's meet on March 19th!"
"See you on March 19th!"
After Shen Ming replied to Ji Zhibai, he showed a joyful smile and began to prepare for the county examination.
Soon, all the candidates entered the College of Arts. Amid the shouts of the parents, the gate of the College of Arts slammed shut.
Fang Yun stood in front of all the candidates and closed his eyes to rest.
All the candidates dared not speak and waited quietly.
When the time came, Fang turned around and faced the holy temple.
The gate of the holy temple is open, and one can see the statues of Confucius and six sub-saints in the deepest part, as well as a large number of tablets of semi-saints.
"Worship Confucius!" Fang Yun said loudly.
Everyone bowed and paid homage to the statue of Confucius.
"Greetings to the Second Saint!" said Deng Xuezhen.
Everyone bowed twice.
"Worship all the saints!" said Wen Yuanjun.
Everyone bowed three times.
After the three bows, there was a fixed ceremony. At the end of the ceremony, Fang Yun personally announced the start of the exam. The candidates bowed to Fang Yun and others for the last time, and then dispersed in all directions like a swarm of bees in a hot pot.
The Tongsheng examination only lasts one day.
Fang Yun first stood in the square and chatted about the county examination. After the test papers were distributed, he led the officials to personally observe some examination rooms. After finding that no accidents occurred, he nodded and returned to the pavilion on the side of the square.
The servant prepared tea and saw Wen Yuanjun bring this year's test paper. He smiled and said, "We have a tradition in Ning'an County. When candidates are taking the test, the examiners can't be idle either. Why don't we start answering the questions quickly?"
"It's fun." Deng Xuezhen nodded.
"That's fine with me." Captain Lu said.
Shen Ming chuckled and said, "My literary rank is not as good as yours, so I will not participate."
"Where are you, County Magistrate Fang?" Yuanjun Wen Gu asked with a smile.
"Examiners from all over the country like to answer questions in the examination room to liven up the atmosphere, but what does 'quick answer and ask for divine advice' mean?" Fang Yun was not sure about this gameplay. (To be continued...)