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The Sage of Confucianism and Taoism
As the June 15th provincial examination approaches, the people of Shengyuan Continent pay less attention to the palace examination. After all, there are few Jinshi candidates taking the palace examination, while the candidates for Jinshi are scattered all over Shengyuan Continent.
Starting from the beginning of June, some of the Tongsheng candidates in Ning'an County went to the capital of Qingwu Prefecture in groups or accompanied by their parents, where the Xiucai examination was held.
The provincial examination lasted for three days, from June 15th to the early morning of June 18th.
Ning'an County has been very peaceful during the days of the scholar examination, because all the candidates have already gone to the capital of Qingwu Prefecture, and it has nothing to do with Ning'an City.
For Ning'an County, the only change is that many people are waiting to go to the gate of the county academy of literature on June 19 to see the announcement of the results.
On June 18th, the examiners marked the test papers.
On the morning of June 19th, Fang Yun and Wan Yuanjun sat in the Yuanjun Residence of the County Academy of Literature, drinking the finest Baihao Yinzhen together. This was Wan Yuanjun's private collection, and Fang Yun praised this white tea highly.
"Brother Wan, can your family get used to living in Ning'an County? It's not like Dayuan Prefecture. It's close to the Yangtze River and the air is humid. Ning'an is much worse." Fang Yun put down the teacup in his hand.
"I am a juren, so this change is nothing. But my wife was not used to the climate when she first arrived. I had to ask the doctors to cure her, and now she is fine."
"I still remember this." Fang Yun nodded and poured himself some tea.
After a while, Wan Yuanjun said, "The time is almost up. Qingwu Prefecture should announce the results soon. You and I will be the first to receive the letter from Prefect Cai. Although I am the academic director of Dayuan Prefecture, I have never been in charge of a county academy. I am worried. I wonder if the proportion of high school students in Ning'an County has increased this year compared to last year."
"Let it be. I, a county magistrate who is currently taking the palace examination, am not in a hurry. You don't need to worry too much. I just came to Ning'an this year, and my education is not obvious. Next year, the number of Ning'an people who will pass the imperial examination will definitely increase significantly. Read the latest chapter in full." Fang Yun was humble but confident.
Wan Yuanjun said: "I think so too. If you had come to Ning'an half a year earlier, I would have prepared a celebration banquet now, because the number of scholars in Ning'an County would have increased dramatically this year. Unfortunately..."
Fang Yun said: "Let's not talk about this. Qingwu Prefecture will select 160 scholars this year, and the top 30 can all go to the Book Mountain. The number is far more than in previous years, which is a blessing for the human race."
Wan Yuanjun smiled and said, "In addition to the unusual movement of Wenquxing, it is mainly because of your great contribution that my Jing country received the reward from the Holy Academy. Otherwise, how could there be so many scholars and places to go to the Book Mountain."
"Mr. Wanyuan, thank you for your praise."
As soon as Fang Yun finished speaking, he felt the official seal tremble slightly, and an official document came.
Fang Yun and Wan Yuanjun looked at each other and held their official seals together.
The wild geese flew out and turned into a letter, floating in front of Fang Yun. It was the list of new scholars for the prefectural examination sent by Cai He, the governor of Qingwu Prefecture.
The first place among the scholars was from Qingwu Prefecture. Fang Yun nodded slightly. After all, a prefecture was bigger than a county, had a larger population, and had educational resources far beyond what any county could match. In the annual scholar examination, the top three in each prefecture were almost all taken by students from the prefecture.
Fang Yun continued to look down and saw that the top three students were still from Qingwu Prefecture. This situation had been going on for more than ten years.
At the same time, Fang Yun heard Wan Yuanjun sighing, thinking that it seemed that Wan Yuanjun was like him, seeing that there was no Ning'an person in the top three of the scholars. However, Fang Yun had a positive attitude and was not too persistent.
Although the imperial examination results account for a considerable proportion in the education subject, they are not the final word. After all, the time a successful candidate in the palace examination has to govern a county is very short.
Qingwu Prefecture has one prefectural capital and seven county towns, a total of eight cities competing.
Generally speaking, among the top ten scholars every year, Ning'an County can only have one scholar ranked in the top ten every one or two years. If there are two scholars ranked in the top ten in one year, the incumbent county magistrate will even be commended by the court.
Fang Yun continued to read, but after seeing the top ten, he was stunned.
Wan Yuanjun suddenly said excitedly: "Fang... Lord Fang, did I see it wrong? There are actually four people from Ning'an County in the top ten scholars? It's even equal to the number of people in the capital? This has never happened since the founding of the country! Let me rub my eyes... Yes, I saw it right. Although the ranking is not as high as the scholars in the capital, it does occupy four of the top ten!"
Fang Yun raised his head and looked at Wan Yuanjun. Unexpectedly, Wan Yuanjun really rubbed his eyes. He couldn't help but smile.
"Keep reading." Fang Yun said.
"Um."
Fang Yun stopped after looking at the top thirty, because the top thirty scholars could go to the Book Mountain, which was relatively important.
Among these thirty new scholars, eleven were from Ning'an County, and there were only ten scholars from the provincial capital!
Among the top thirty, Ning'an County surpassed Qingwu Prefecture and all the counties in all aspects.
"Sir, your ability to teach disciples is amazing! You don't have to be modest. We all know what level Ning'an County is at. Last year, Ji Zhibai almost vomited blood in order to help Ning'an County students get good results in the prefectural examination. In the end, there was only one more scholar than the year before. This year, with your help, the number of Ning'an scholars ranked in the top 30 actually surpassed that of the prefectural city!"
Fang Yun smiled slightly and said, "Keep reading. This time, there are 160 scholars admitted. I have the most in the top 30, but the total number may not be the same."
The two continued to read. Fang Yun was a Jinshi and Wan Yuanjun was a Juren. Fang Yun finished reading in advance and found that among the 160 new scholars, Ning'an County accounted for 54, surpassing the 43 in the provincial capital, not to mention the other six counties.
When Fang Yun looked up, he saw Wan Yuanjun staring at the letter in front of him, looking stupid.
Fang Yun smiled and shook his head, walked to the desk, spread out the gold list paper that had been prepared long ago, and began to copy down the rankings of the scholars in the county.
"Fifth in the prefectural examination, Zhang Yun, middle B, middle B, upper B. Sixth in the prefectural examination, Xu Changwei, middle B, middle B, upper B. Eighth in the prefectural examination..."
When Fang Yun had copied half of it, Wan Yuanjun finally came to his senses and said hurriedly, "I didn't expect such a shocking result. I lost my composure."
"No problem." Fang Yun glanced at the official seal while speaking. It had been shaking since he had copied down the name. It was probably another round of inquiries or congratulations from many friends.
Fang Yun didn't bother with the official seal and said, "The people outside the Academy are still waiting, let's finish copying first."
Fang Yun copied three pages of the gold list before he finished writing down the fifty-four names.
"Come here, hang up the list of successful scholars." Fang Yun said.
"Yes!" Two officers at the door walked in. They looked a little surprised when they heard what Wan Yuanjun said. They looked at the table and were shocked.
"Three pages of the gold list?" The officer said and then shut up. In previous years, one page of the gold list was enough.
"Go ahead." Fang Yun said.
Wan Yuanjun took two steps forward, grabbed a page of the gold list and said, "I will post it myself."
"Yes." Fang Yun said with a smile.
"This is a great event for Ning'an County. Why don't you come in person, sir?" said Wan Yuanjun.
"I won't join in the fun." Fang Yun shook his head slightly.
Wan Yuanjun was stunned and thoughtful, realizing that Fang Yun had long surpassed his level.
"Then I will go."
Then, Master Wan was seen holding a page of golden list in front, and two officers were holding golden list behind. The three of them walked quickly towards the front door of the Academy of Literature with joy.
The officials along the way were all stunned when they saw the three pages of the golden list, and then their eyes lit up and they quickly followed.
The front door of the County Academy of Literature slowly opened, and Master Wan's face was filled with a joyful smile, and he said with great enthusiasm: "The list... is released..."
The joyful sound spread throughout Ning'an County.