A few days later, on the third day of the ninth lunar month, the examination of the Tianfu Prefecture was held. The two counties of Shangyuan and Jiangning are the last two counties to hold a county test in Yingtianfu because www.biquge.info of Yunxi's departure from Beijing, and the other counties under the jurisdiction of Yingtianfu have already held county tests, and the government has also notified other counties, so there is no problem.

"It's just that if the schoolchildren in Shanghu County hadn't thought about it and allowed them to continue to take the government examination in Songjiang Mansion, they would almost be miserable, if they came from Shanghu County to Yingtian Mansion to take the government examination, the poor family would be bankrupt." Huang Huai said to Fu Cheng.

Similar to the county examination, the government examination is also presided over by the chief official of the yamen, that is, Ying Tianfu Yin, the content of the examination is also two questions and four books, and the examination location is also temporarily borrowed from the government school, the only difference is that this time the schoolchildren from all over the country need to be gathered according to the county registration, and the county is used as a unit for roll call, body search, admission and other things.

In addition, because there are many more people who take the prefectural examination than in a single prefecture, the roll call is gathered before dawn.

When waiting in line for the roll call and body search, Xue Xiyang looked at so many people who came to participate in the government examination, and he became nervous for no reason. If you pass the government exam, you are a child, although there is no preferential treatment, but you can be regarded as a literati.

The first one is the admission of schoolchildren from Jiangning County. Under the maintenance of the police, the schoolchildren in Jiangning County filmed two columns and were searched one by one.

Ying Tianfu and Jiangning County searched the same group of people, and they also opened the net to Xue Xiyang, but they looked strict but were actually very loose and searched.

After entering, it was bright, and the admission procedures were very cumbersome, so Xue Xiyang felt a little tired when he sat on the seat, took out the soft cushion prepared at home, and put his head on the soft cushion to seize the time to take a nap and refresh his spirit.

But there were constantly candidates walking into the examination room, and the footsteps were noisy, so that Xue Xiyang, who had lived a very comfortable life since he was a child, couldn't sleep at all, and kept thinking about something.

Suddenly hearing the sound of the three-way drum, Xue Xiyang knew that the exam was about to start, so he hurriedly straightened up, put down the soft cushion, and looked at several policemen holding up the board with the test questions.

The prefectural examination is the second level of the imperial examination, and under normal circumstances, the prefect or prefect will not have problems. However, there is a limit to the number of people admitted to the prefectural examination, unlike the county examination, which can take as many people as you want, so the difficulty is of course above the prefectural examination.

However, Xue Xiyang did not consider these at this time, but took out the paper to make a draft again, and then brushed and wrote on the answer sheet.

It was about noon again, Xue Xiyang finished writing two articles, combed through them carefully, and saw that someone had already handed in the papers, so he also stood up and handed in the papers.

When he walked to the place where he handed in the papers, he was surprised again: Ying Tianfu Yin, who was the main examiner today, was not in his seat. There is also no one sitting in the examiner's place.

But this time, he didn't talk 'nonsense', and left the examination room immediately after handing in the papers, and then didn't stay at the entrance of the examination room for long, and got in the car and returned home.

……

……

At this time, Huang Huai, who was supposed to preside over the government examination, was sitting in the room where the teachings of the government school rested on weekdays, talking to another person wearing a second-grade official uniform. I only heard the man smile and said: "This year, the industrial and commercial tax of Ying Tianfu has increased by a full fifty percent, and Lord Yin of the Mansion has made a great contribution!" ”

Huang Huai also smiled and said, "Brother Shangli, this is all a matter personally ordered by His Majesty, is it my credit?" ”

This is called Brother Shangli, and it is now the Hubu Shangshu Qitai. He came to Huang Huai to discuss some things today, and after finishing the business, he casually made some jokes.

The two of them were talking, when suddenly a policeman walked in with a test paper in his hand and said to Huang Huai: "My lord, this is Xue Gongzi's test paper." Huang Huai instructed them that if Xue Xiyang handed over the papers, they must send the papers over as soon as possible, so even if the police saw the two of them talking, they could only disturb.

Huang Huai said to Qi Tai: "I'm sorry. Then he picked up the scroll and looked at it. Qi Tai also knew that this matter was very important, so he didn't say anything.

After a while, Huang Huai handed the scroll to Qi Tai and said, "You come and take a look at this scroll." ”

Qi Tai was a little puzzled: Can't you evaluate the papers of a small house exam by yourself? But he still took the paper.

But immediately Qi Tai's face also changed a little, and after a while, he said: "This time, is your title from the chapter 'I am five out of ten and am determined to learn'?" ”

"Indeed." Huang Huai said.

"That," Qi Tai looked at the test paper in front of him and said, "This test paper is enough to be the head of the government exam!" I don't believe that a small government test can be better than this paper. This is enough to be a showman, or a first-class showman. ”

"I thought so, too. But that's what makes it harder. Huang Huai said: "I am a close confidant of Your Majesty, and Your Majesty is now happy to see this little son of the Xue family take the imperial examination, if I name him as the head of the case, I am afraid it will cause criticism." Especially the county test he is already the head of the case, and the government test is the head of the case again, my reputation and His Majesty's reputation will not be good. ”

Of course Qi Tai understood what he meant, wasn't he afraid that others would suspect him of cheating?

Qi Tai said: "The sage has a saying, and the virtuous do not avoid relatives, not to mention that Xue Xiyang is not your relative." Since his article is so good, it is only right to point him to the head of the government test, why should he look forward to it so much? ”

Seeing that Huang Huai was still a little hesitant, he said: "If you are really hesitant, just say that the test paper I judged with you will be the head of the case." ”

Huang Huai was overjoyed. Qi Tai is known as a Qing name, and he can be regarded as a famous Confucian scholar in the court, but he is not pedantic. Having Qi Tai's endorsement is enough for most people not to suspect him of cheating.

But verbally, Huang Huai still said: "How can this be? I am the chief examiner of the government examination, how can I affect you, Brother Shangli? ”

Qi Tai said a few more words, but Huang Huai just shirked it, which made Qi Tai wonder: "Isn't this the purpose of you letting me read the scroll?" Why are you still shirking it now? Just because Qi Tai doesn't like to think about these things doesn't mean he doesn't understand.

Huang Huai laughed secretly in his heart: 'Wouldn't public propaganda make me discredited?' It still has to be spread in secret. What we've just said so far is not a secret thing, and there are people serving on the side. ’

……

……

Three days later, the government test list was released.

Xue Xiyang, who came to see the list in person, was pleasantly surprised again: 'I actually won the first case of the government exam again? ’

The county exam year around him who came to see the list immediately congratulated him and said, "Congratulations to classmate Xue!" People from other counties came to congratulate him.

The level of the county test and the government test is still too low, although it is in the capital, everyone knows the queen's surname Xue, but it is still difficult for the people to associate him with the queen; This year, there was no Jingwei, and there were no children of civil officials from the capital to participate, so these people didn't know Xue Xiyang's identity yet, and only congratulated him as an ordinary military household.

Xue Xiyang also returned the salute one by one, and agreed with each other to learn literature and art together, and he hurried home to report the good news.