As mentioned above, the prefectural examination is equivalent to the examination for junior high school. It is really not worth mentioning in later generations, and it is not much difficult in the eyes of Fang Zhongyong today.

Even with all kinds of restrictions, where can there be so many talents in a small Jinxi County. Except for a few Jinshi from Mr. Wu's family, there is no other person in this dynasty who has a great reputation. With Fang Zhongyong's current level, he dare not say that he is second to none locally, and there should be no problem with being the first in the county exam.

Compared with the three or four days of the examination and the provincial examination, the examination time of the county examination is only February 21. Although the content of the exam is also based on the module of the exam, the content has been greatly reduced, which is a bit of a Ming scripture meaning: ten posts of the Analects; "Spring and Autumn" Moyi Ten Articles; a poem; Essay on one.

The examination venue is in the county school, and the invigilator has a class of scribes and priests (that is, the position of Song Jiang in time), and the marking is by the county magistrate, the county Cheng (Zhang Panlong's father), Mr. Liu, Mr. Wu, full of the feeling of the grass platform, Fang Zhongyong even felt a little funny. Can you get real results in such an exam?

But Mr. Liu Mingxuan attaches great importance to it, and he said solemnly: "The old man knows what your results are. To put it bluntly, this county test is to be able to go to Fuzhou to participate in the state test, and even to Hongzhou to participate in the road test, in order to be able to achieve fame and fame, and even make people famous. But don't forget, if all the people who are elected are wine bags and rice bags, won't it be a loss of face for my Jinxi father. Therefore, no matter who you take, you can't get through here. It is the face of the magistrate, and it is not as big as the face of my Jinxi father. ”

After listening to Mr. Liu's pre-exam mobilization, Fang Zhongyong also put away his contempt for the county exam. How many heroes and heroes died under carelessness, Jin Jinggong accidentally drowned in the toilet, and Napoleon accidentally defeated the Battle of Waterloo because of hemorrhoids. Besides, everyone is three yuan and the first, if we get a six yuan and the first, then it is called a cow!

Although the three tripod armor in the first year of Jing Yu did not leave any mark in history, Yang Cha, the highest official position, was just a household servant and three envoys (the highest position was Yushi Zhongcheng). But what if, people love exams and will take exams?

At the end of the day, a gong sounded, marking the official start of the exam. There were officials who walked around the school building holding signs with books and exam questions, and shouted questions - not to tell people outside what to test, but to take care of candidates with poor eyesight. Of course, with just a few dozen candidates, it doesn't take much effort to write them directly.

However, Mr. Liu feels that it is beneficial to familiarize candidates with the environment of the big exam in advance. This has a special name in later generations, mock exams.

There was no difficulty in writing the ten sentences of the Analects silently, not only for Fang Zhongyong, but also for the rest of the candidates. You can't write texts silently, go home and wash and sleep! Although it was not difficult, Fang Zhongyong still cheered up. Carefully write down the answers in the increasingly perfect pavilion style calligraphy, and carefully check for typos.

Half an hour later, the ten questions of Moyi's "Spring and Autumn" were released. In order to make it a little more difficult, rare and error-prone sentences appeared. For example, this question: "I can't aspire to Handong, but I will." ”

If you listen carefully, you will know what Dou Bobi said to Chu Zi in "Ji Liang's Advice to Chase Chu Shi", and know that it is our fault that we cannot achieve ambition east of the Han River. Explaining this, it is probably qualified, but it is still not excellent. It is also necessary to explain what "Zhi" the White Chu State wants, and why Confucius derogatorily referred to King Wu of Chu as "Chu Zi". Seeing his classmates scratching their ears and cheeks, Fang Zhongyong showed the smile of a scholar—a smile of victory, a smile of pity for the weak.

Fang Zhongyong simply ate lunch, drank some tea in the bamboo tube, and slept beautifully on the table for half an hour—Mr. said that the big exam would take three days without leaving the examination booth, and now it was just a matter of adaptation—the afternoon exam began again.

The requirement of the poem is to chant a kind of flowers, and there is no limit to rhyme.

This is really a very relaxed condition. You must know that it is in vain to limit both the content and the words (rhymes) at the end of the sentence.

Since the topic is so broad, Fang Zhongyong is not polite, and directly sang "Jinxi Spring Rain and Early Ji": The world is as thin as a veil for many years, who makes the horseback rider He family. Xiaolou listened to the spring rain overnight, and sold apricot blossoms in the Ming Dynasty in the deep alleys. The dwarf paper is oblique and idle, and the fine filaments of the sunny window divide the tea. Plain clothes don't sigh in the dust, and they can go home as if they were Qingming. (Lu You's "Lin'an Spring Rain and Early Ji", slightly changed.) With Lu Fangweng's poetic talent, if he can't even pass this small county test, it will be too funny.

The title of the poem is followed by the topic: Pastoralists. This question seems simple, but in fact it hides a big hole. If you only take "benevolence and filial piety" as the starting point, you will definitely end up with a pedantic evaluation; If you only want to punish harsh laws, the "laurel crown" of the cool official will be given to you.

Seeing this question, Fang Zhongyong broke out in a cold sweat. If it weren't for Mr. Wu's legal reasoning, I am afraid that I would still have to stupidly say the idiotic theory of "taking the law as the criterion". Now, that's easy. It is nothing more than the words of the law and the law, showing that he respects the legal principles of the imperial court and does not forget the teachings of the sage, and he will definitely be able to scratch the itch of the magistrate - this question is 100% from Lu Zhixian. Because only these people would do the kind of thing that would be biaozi and erect a torii at the same time, and at the same time say, "I can't bear to see the cow coveted", and happily eat beef.

Fang Zhongyong first wrote on the manuscript paper, carefully checked for typos, avoidance and other problems, and then slowly transcribed it on the test paper one by one.

Some officials said, you said that you are a junior high student, do you need to be so serious? You can know that this is a mock exam in Fang Zhongyong's heart, and naturally all the rules must be in accordance with the big exam. If you are sloppy at this time, it may be difficult to rely on a temporary performance when it comes to the big exam. Fang Zhongyong is also a product that has passed the examination assembly line, although it is a bit inferior, the essentials are still remembered.

Out of the examination room, it was already twilight. But when I saw that my father was guarding outside the door, I found out that I had been guarding for a day. Fang Zhongyong couldn't help but complain with some distress: "The child has already said that such a trivial matter does not need to be worried about the second elder. Why are you still here? ”

The father stomped his feet and said angrily, "Is this a trivial matter? Since your grandfather's generation was the village chief, our family has never produced a scholar, not even a talent, let alone a master. When I came, your uncle said that your exam is the top priority in our family and our village. If you don't do well in the exam, don't go back! ”

Fang Zhongyong suddenly felt that whether a matter is big or small is determined by the degree of relevance and urgency of the individual, not by historians or sociologists.

For example, this year, Empress Dowager Liu is going to die, and Emperor Renzong is going to change the era name, which is really not a big deal for the people. Anyway, the surname Zhao is still the emperor, and it is even more inconsequential to change the name of the year. As for the Empress Dowager Liu, at most she has become the villain in "Tanuki for the Prince", and she can barely be regarded as the originator of the palace struggle scene. But for officials or soon-to-be officials, these two things are big deals.

First of all, the Queen Mother has to give you an excerpt to express your sorrow. Although the literati of the Song Dynasty were still more faceless and could not show "such as mourning", a simple "three minutes of silence" still had to be done. More importantly, in March, you are not allowed to drink feasts, get married, or have sex with your wives and concubines. The banquet is easy to do, who cares about you at the quietly small-scale banquet at home? Not getting married for three months is not a big problem, after all, there are not many officials who have not started a family, and it is not a big deal to postpone the marriage of their children. It is uncomfortable not to have sex with a wife or concubine. After a hard day's work, if you can't warm your arms when you get home, how can you rest well? What to do if the next day affects "serving the people"? A magistrate said, you won't "quietly drip into the village, don't shoot and drop", you have to shout all over the world? But what should I do if my wife and concubine are pregnant? This is a knife for a political enemy! Therefore, the Empress Dowager Liu died, and the officials had to "endure the pain and cut their love".

Of course, Empress Dowager Liu is a good thing for Emperor Renzong, a great thing. The heart of the bitter child Zhao Zhen should be like this: When I was twelve years old, my father died, and I sat on the dragon chair. The old witch pretended to be my own mother, saying that I was young and ignorant, and that I was afraid that I would fall for the ministers. Fart, it's all her own addiction to wanting to be an emperor. On the ninth day of the first month, she still wore a dragon robe to the Taimiao Temple to sacrifice, which was originally my job! hated Lu Yijian, Yan Shu and a bunch of sycophants, and they all supported her. Now she's finally dead. Ha! Ha ha! Hahaha! Hahahaha! (Empress Dowager Liu died on March 29, and Fang Zhongyong remembered it wrong.) ）

For Fang Zhongyong, although the county exam is like child's play, although it is important, the sense of urgency is not strong, because he is very confident in his results, not to mention that three of the four marking officers are "his own people". If nothing else, the head of the mixed case should not be a problem, and it can be regarded as the first yuan of his six-yuan road.

Fang Zhongyong patiently explained to his father: "Father, don't worry, there will be no problem in this county test. But the release of the list will not be done until the day after tomorrow, and the child wants to wait until the results are announced before making a decision. It made my father worried. ”

Father Fang was very happy: "It's good if you're sure!" I'll go back and tell your uncle and your mother, they are all worried about you! ”

Fang Zhongyong hurriedly stopped: "It's getting dark, you might as well find an inn to stay in and go back tomorrow." ”

"Where to live in an inn, the shop costs 20 yuan. A few steps, I'll just walk faster. After a day of exams, find a better restaurant to eat and replenish your body, but don't get tired. With that, Father Fang walked home like a fly.

Ten yuan is a trivial matter for himself, and it is a big deal for his father, but it is a trivial matter to spend hundreds or even hundreds of yuan to replenish Fang Zhongyong's body. Perhaps, the difference between big and small things is not only cold interests, but also family affection.

In my previous life, I heard a story about a man's wife who was sick and said that he needed his mother's heart to take medicine to cure him. The man ran and cried to his mother. His mother had no choice but to dig out her heart and give it to him. The man rushed back with his mother's heart in his arms, and fell down as he passed a ditch. At this time, the heart spoke: Child, did you fall in pain?

Standing on the side of the road, Fang Zhongyong's tears rained down.