After the long holiday in the first month of the sixth year of Hongzhi, the imperial censor will go to various prefectures and counties for examinations. The county and prefectural examinations are more tightly scheduled. Qian'an County has now become a major county for the North Zhili scientific examination, and Yongping Prefecture is also called Tixue. February.
In this way, as soon as the first month holiday is over, Qian'an County will have to hold the county test, and when the results come out in early February, the students will have to go to the prefectural test non-stop for the remaining two exams.
That's how Cui Xie passed the test back then, and this year it's Cui Heng and Cui He's turn again.
The two candidates from the Cui family were not Cui Xie who came with a full set of exam-oriented education skills, but they were taught by Cui Xie after being restrained for many years as a senior in high school. The two men memorized the four books and the classics proficiently, and they wrote the articles with the main theme closely following the meaning of the classics. There are several desirable highlights in the even sentences, and the words are well-kept.
This is considered a good student.
The current Qian'an county magistrate, Lu Dinglu, was born in the Imperial College. Although Cui Xie and Cui Xie are not in the same house, they have been classmates for several years, and they have some fireworks. In previous years, Cui Xie wrote him a letter to discuss friendship, asking him to take care of his younger brother. He also called two students to the school, knowing that they were willing to work hard.
Seeing the neat papers of the two in the examination room, the county magistrate was more confident.
Cui and the boy were stronger, and handed in the papers early. Lu County Ling Ai asked him to write a few poems when he was young, and when he got the right pair, he drew a red circle on his curly head, waved his hand and said, "Go, forget it, you don't have to come again in the end. ."
Cui Hengjie was not as good as his younger brother, and only handed in the papers with everyone when the papers were collected at night. Fortunately, the scroll surface is clean and beautiful, and the text is smooth and rational, and the county magistrate read it carefully and drew a circle for him.
After five games, the two brothers passed the county exam together and are waiting to go to the government exam in early March.
The younger brother of the first champion in Northern Zhili was going to take the exam, and officials from the county to the prefecture were all paying attention. The two of them are more famous than when Cui Xie was the self-made prodigy. When they were queuing outside the test shed in the mansion, the guards on the field did not know how to recognize them. How long to let them freeze in the cold wind.
At the beginning of Hongzhi, the newly transferred prefect, Mr. Wu, specially asked people to stare at their article and made a mark, wanting to see what great talents the younger brother of Cui Zhuangyuan, who was ranked second, could have.
Comparing the two, it seems that they are both rigorous in format, full of loyalty to the emperor, and the words are based on Zhu's original meaning when they are analyzed. It is really taught by one person. It's a pity that the writing is a bit bland, and it lacks a bit of passionate and righteousness. It can only be said that it is an article in the middle of the regulation, and it is not as good as the first-scholar essay that was circulated in the capital by their elder brother.
It's just that Cui He is still young, Cui Heng's talent seems to be inferior to that of Nai's brother.
Wu Zhifu felt a little regretful, and while shaking his head, he drew a circle next to the title of the two's articles, and recorded the two of them in the top 30, which is also considered to be selling their brother's face.
After the county government's two exams, the two of them officially had the lowest level of fame in the Ming Dynasty—Tongsheng. Those who have Tongsheng status don't need to take the county government's two exams every year, and can directly apply for the imperial examination.
Cui Heng was even more delighted. His eldest brother said at the beginning that if he did not pass the Tongsheng exam, he would not marry him, but now at least he has a guarantee of Tongsheng's identity, so he can explain it to his elder brother.
The two brothers, with the spirit of the first two wins, stayed in Fucheng and tried again in the courtyard, vowing to enter Pan in one fell swoop. They temporarily stayed at the inn arranged by Zhao Yingshi, the elder brother of the Zhao family, in Fucheng, memorizing the articles that the elder brother had revised for them in the New Year, and nervously waiting for the last hospital exam.
In late February, the academy exam was finally over, and the two brothers were on the list at the same time, and they immediately wrote a letter to their family and the capital to announce the good news.
The Cui family immediately prepared firecrackers, wine and food, and invited all the neighbors, relatives and friends to celebrate, and only barely welcomed the two rookies back from Yongping Mansion. But their elder brother didn't take the letter at all, and didn't care about his obedient younger brothers, because Cui Xie was imprisoned in the Gongyuan on the eighth day of the second lunar month, and served as the examiner of the Book of Songs room as a Hanlin minister.
The main examiner of this general examination is his teacher Li Dongyang, and the deputy examiner is Lu Jian, who is also a lecturer. Cui Xie was dipped in the teacher's light, and he was about to be a house teacher at a young age.
But just because he was brought up by the teacher's light, he had to work hard to select the real talented essays, so that no one would catch him and throw dirty water on Li Xueshi. For this reason, he took the attitude of sprinting for the exam that year. Since he took the first paper on the night of the ninth day of February, he hadn't closed his eyes before the third watch.
Sleeping at the third watch and waking up at the fifth watch every day, I can't let go of my pen and my eyes. I'm so busy that even famous masters like Wang Shouren and Zhu Zhishan don't even bother to ask a question, not to mention the two younger brothers in the family.
- It's no use thinking about it. After entering the tribute courtyard, not even the colleagues who are patrolling outside the curtain can't say a word to them, let alone family members
Cui Xie stayed up all night to read the papers and ate the exquisite wine meal specially provided by the scorer, and accidentally gained a few pounds. Fortunately, in the bedroom at night, I can practice small movements such as squats and abdominal crunches, otherwise I can't say whether I can see the abdominal muscles after this little month.
Rao is like this, he also feels that his face is a lot fatter, and his face is red. Compared with those examiners who stay up late and have blue eyes, they are not dedicated enough.
On the day of the duo reading and filling the list, Cui Xie sat on the examiner's seat and listened carefully to the duo's reading Zhu Mo scroll, looking for a name that he was familiar with.
Unexpectedly, after listening to the 298 papers, none of them was named Wang Shouren. Not only Wang Shouren, but also Zhu Zhishan and his party, who he met from the township examination, were not selected.
Choi Xie was heartbroken.
It's a pity that one of the two studied "Ritual" and the other studied "Yi", and the papers did not end up in his room, otherwise he would have to carefully judge the papers of the two, pick out the essence of the sentences in it, and strongly recommend them!
It is a pity that Wang Shouren was not alone in his failure. After filling out the list, the elders who had taught Wang Shouren to read and saw his bamboos were a pity.
It must have been because of the sickness of Ge Zhuzi that he did not pass the exam! The next class will definitely be in!
Wang Zhuangyuan was very open to this matter, and he did not delay rushing the manuscript to Cui Xie. When he handed in the manuscript, he also said to their master and apprentice open-mindedly: "It is destiny that I will try it, and I am not behind the two talents of Brother Qiao. The first name? Maybe this child has the same fate as me, so I shouldn't be in this class, and it will take two classes to arrive."
Xie Qian and him studied in the same class, took the same subjects in the same examination, and became the champion together. There is no distinction between talents, but there is a sequence in the middle test. Isn't it fate. His son also followed his father, and it was inevitable that he would have to enter the field a few more times.
Li Dongyang comforted him and said that his son would be like his father, and he would be the leader of the division. Behind his back, he asked his own disciples to persuade Wang Shouren in private, telling him not to lose his ambition because of a failure in one division.
Cui Xie held up the thick manuscript and said, "Teacher, don't worry, brother Shou Renxian is not that kind of person. The disciple has just received a letter from his younger brother, saying that they have been selected as scholars, and I was just about to move them to Beijing. Talk to your relatives, and talk to him when you have settled down on family matters."
Li Dongyang calculated the age of his younger brother and nodded: "Your younger brother is in his twenties? If it's not like you are inconvenient to marry, you should prepare as soon as possible. Have you found someone else?"
After looking for it, it was recommended by Mr. Lu, Yang Chengqi, a fellow of his hometown and the same year.
Mr. Yang did not stay in the capital to take the exam like Mr. Lu did, but chose officials as a person, and now he has become the judge of the Yongping Mansion. His daughter was kept to nineteen because of her filial piety to her mother, and she is not very likely to marry, but she is actually a gentle and filial girl; as her husband, she is as honest and prudent as Mr.
Most of the people who get married this year are Weng's son-in-law, and Cui Xie is not exempt. He fell in love with his younger brother's future husband-in-law, and Lord Yang liked the eldest brother of his future son-in-law. The two hit it off and they could settle the marriage.
It is a common practice for parents to get engaged without going through their children. Choi Xie showed it a little more prominently - he didn't even go through his father, and he took care of it from start to finish. After he came out of the Gongyuan, as soon as he knew that both of his younger brothers had become scholars, he immediately wrote a letter to the Yang family to express his intention to seek marriage.
The Yang family responded very quickly.
Master Yang was in Yongping. After reading the government exam list, he knew that Cui Xie's two younger brothers were going to take the exam, so he went to secretly meet his son-in-law in person, and also asked the prefect for Cui Heng's article. Although Cui Heng is not very talented, he read it hard in the small dark room. When Lord Yang saw that he was a talented man and loved his brother, he didn't mind that he was a widow and was willing to marry the Cui family.
Cui Xie was very optimistic about this marriage. When the word "Xu" came from the Yang family, he immediately sent someone to Qian'an to tell his grandmother, Mrs. Song, and asked his grandmother to preside over it in person. A rare good friend.
He arranged a marriage here, so he went to see Wang Shouren to comfort him in the pain of falling, and by the way asked him to introduce Zhu Zhishan. Unexpectedly, Wang Shouren was completely unaffected by Luodi, and he still kept in mind what he had requested at the beginning. In the past few days, Zhu Zhishan had been persuaded and brought to the door to visit him.
Zhu Zhishan entered Beijing in the first month of the month, but he was conceited about his identity and talent, so he didn't go directly to the Wang family. The two are both fallen people, but their mentality is different. Wang Shouren is not moved by this failure, but Zhu Zhishan is conceited about his talent, a little embarrassed, and does not want to see people.
But he was just a weak scholar. Wang Shouren learned to bow and horse skillfully since childhood. With a wave of his long arm, he dragged him into the teahouse and talked with him about culture and education.
Educating people with drama and novels, changing customs and habits, even though people are not in the official circles, they can also raise their aspirations as scholars.
As soon as Zhu Zhishan heard it, he knew that Wang Shouren wanted to talk to him about Jin Yiwei. In the name of Jinyiwei, it is a comic strip that has been serialized from Pipa to the present.
He is older than Wang Shouren. He is already in his thirties this year. He has experienced more world affairs. He even saw Jinyiwei sent from Beijing to capture the adopted son who was sent by Quan Huanliang and Wei to make money in Jiangnan. He is very clear. Today's Jin Yiwei has changed a lot from his youth. And the opportunity for this change has nothing to do with the popularity of Jinyiwei drama.
He heard Wang Shouren say a few words, then smiled and said, "Brother Wang Nian also has the heart to write a Jinyiwei play, and wants to ask me to co-write it with you? Jinyiwei plays are mostly northern songs now, and only one "Wind and Clouds" is used for both. The format of the Southern Opera is still the Northern Opera and the Northern Sound. We Suzhou and Hangzhou are the center of the world’s articles, so it is appropriate to produce a drama of our own, but I am not familiar with Beijing’s affairs…”
He raised his head and glanced at Wang Shouren, his eyes without glasses seemed a little distracted, but his face exuded a splendid brilliance unique to a talented person, smiled and said, "Brother Wang pulled me here, and he must have a belly in his heart. , why don't you take it out and give Zhu a glimpse?"
Wang Shouren smiled and said, "My little brother doesn't have any drafts, and I don't know what to call Brother Nian to write. To be honest, I am actually entrusted by others. Please, Brother Zhu, come with me to meet someone, and help him write such things that can change customs and shape people. Sexual manuscripts."
Zhu Zhishan was astonished: "So it's not Brother Nian? I don't know what kind of talent he is. He can have such a large amount of talent and can make a beautiful woman like Brother Wang succeed?"
Wang Shouren is not good at talking about such a secret thing in the restaurant. After pondering for a while, Zhu Zhishan asked with doubts: "Is it the master of Ju Anzhai who specializes in Jinyi Weishu?"
If it is a businessman who opens a study, he really needs to think about it: "I have been idle since I was a child, and I don't like to be restrained by others, and I have some property at home, so I don't want to write articles for gold and silver. Although Ju'anzhai is famous in Beijing... "
However, he could not invite Zhu Zhishan, who was named by his Wu Sect.
Wang Shouren understood his unspoken pride, and smiled: "I specially invited Brother Zhu to come here, how could it be entrusted by a study master? The master is just a book printer, and the one who wants to ask Zhishan brother to help is a book editor. but he is a strange man in the world, and he does not want to be named after this, and just hides behind him silently."
"Could it be the master of the bouldering restaurant? Longquan hermit? Mr. Shuixi?"
Zhu Zhishan was shocked and delighted, guessing the names on the covers of Zaju and comic strips. Wang Shouren himself didn't know who the authors were, so he shook his head and said, "He is not the one who wrote the manuscripts, but those talented people are willing to write these things for him because of his sincerity. I hope you can come with me if you don't believe me. This trip is not because of benevolence and reputation, that person is indeed extraordinary, and anyone who has seen him will not be able to persuade or stay without him!"
This is the truth - two years ago, even Wang Shouren himself could make Cui Xie hold down dozens of tricks, and he couldn't escape even if he ran.