Although he knew that he would definitely not be able to get into the Jinshi, but it was also a matter of completion, Ji Qingwen was indescribably relaxed in his heart, and jumped back to the guest room of the Liansheng Inn like a spring under his feet.

Unexpectedly, Li Yan was already waiting in the room, and asked, "Brother Ji, how did you do in the exam?" ”

Ji Qingwen raised his hand and scratched his scalp and said, "How much knowledge I have, Brother Li still doesn't know?" How did you do on the exam? Four words - a mess. But looking at Brother Li's face full of spring breeze, he must have done well in the exam, right? ”

Li Yan suddenly closed his eyes and sighed deeply: "What does Brother Ji think of these three exam questions?" ”

This question is going to kill Ji Qingwen, he didn't even understand the meaning of these three questions, so he could only say two words: "Not bad." ”

Li Yan looked deeply emotional and said, "It's really good." Two of these three questions are from the "University" and one is from the "Book of Changes", and the quotations are all original texts, which are not dismantled, not spelled, not cut or divided, which can be described as dignified and upright, and quite a new dynasty atmosphere. ”

Ji Qingwen only understood these words, so he could only echo them casually: "Reasonable, reasonable, Brother Li is reasonable." ”

Li Yan nodded, and continued: "Looking at the meaning of the exam questions again, although it is mediocre at first glance, it seems to imply that he is dissatisfied with the politics of the previous dynasty, and he wants to rectify the society, refresh the rule of officials, and create a prosperous era in the Ming Dynasty." ”

Ji Qingwen understood these words, but he was still a little confused, so he asked: "Brother Li, isn't the question of the imperial examination just to examine the candidate's talent and writing?" Will the examiner who made the question think so far? ”

Li Yan patiently explained: "That's nature. Brother Ji, don't forget, this is a test question, after the end of this course, someone will definitely use this question to practice the Bagu article, and the examiner admitted a few to the test questions, far-reaching articles will be spread all over the world. In this way, the intention of the author of the question will be conveyed to the eyes and hearts of all readers in the whole country......"

Ji Qingwen also felt a little emotional, and said: "Brother Li knew that I was a person with no ink, but I didn't expect that there would be such attention to the exam questions. However, since Brother Li has seen through the examiner's thoughts, he must have been confident in this exam? ”

Li Yan said proudly: "Don't dare." It's just that these questions hit my temper, so I wrote three articles in one go, and I was probably the first to finish the questions and leave the examination room. It's not that you can be sure, but one thing is for sure. ”

Ji Qingwen heard that he had sold a pass, so he asked, "What is certain?" ”

Li Yan smiled and said: "Although Feng Quan, the main examiner of this section, is a member of the eunuch party, looking at these three exam questions, it can be confirmed that the eunuch party has no real power at least in this imperial examination!" ”

As promised.

The main purpose of the three questions is to reform maladministration. So what is the cause of these malpractices? Isn't it caused by the Emperor of the Apocalypse, the "nine-thousand-year-old" Wei Zhongxian and the eunuchs of the previous dynasty? If he is still a eunuch presiding over the examination, how can he come up with such a question and slap himself in the face?

Ji Qingwen suddenly thought of the three people he met in this Liansheng Inn two months ago—they claimed to be members of the clan, and they had the right to meet the emperor and show them face to face.

At that time, Ji Qingwen was still a little suspicious, but now that he thinks about it, they didn't say a word, and a few of them may really affect the emperor's decision-making to a great extent.

Thinking of this, Ji Qingwen not only regretted it a little-

You must know that throughout the ages, the principle of being an official is the same, and a thousand words are turned into one sentence: "There are people in the court who are good officials"; And doing business to make money is similar to being an official, and knowing a few people in the center of the court who can speak and use it is much more important than tens of thousands of taels of silver in hand - and these three people are also figures in the royal palace of the clan, as long as the emperor of the Zhu family in the Ming Dynasty does not fall, it will not be the turn of the people in the palace to be unlucky, and they are the most worthy of friendship.

- But until now, I haven't even figured out the names of these people!

The more Ji Qingwen thought about it, the more solemn his face became, Li Yan saw it on the side, and he was a little uneasy because he was not good in the scientific examination, so he said: "Brother Ji is talented and knowledgeable, compared to those rotten Confucians, I don't know how strong it is, what is a failure in the examination?" In the future, there will be a time when Brother Ji will soar. Well, the trial has passed, and a stone has finally landed. Come, I'll treat you today, let's go out to eat and drink. ”

As he spoke, Li Yan took Ji Qingwen's hand and walked out of the door.

The two chose a famous restaurant in the capital, feasted on it, and ate until the lights were on, and then returned to the Liansheng Inn with satisfaction.

In the next few days, Ji Qingwen was relaxed, but Li Yan was uneasy and nervous.

The reason why Ji Qingwen was relaxed was that he was sure that he handed in a blank paper, and he knew in his heart that he would never pass the test; Although Li Yan felt that he had done a brilliant job of three exam questions and three articles, and his rhetoric was fluent, he was worried about whether he was right about the temper of the examiner and would take the first place in the exam.

In this way, I waited for ten days, and finally it was time to try out the list.

That day, Li Yan didn't wait for the sun to rise, so he got up, dressed neatly, and went to the Gongyuan to check the rankings alone.

But he went all morning, and did not return to the inn until noon, but his face was black and blue, as if he had a serious illness.

Seeing his appearance, Ji Qingwen in the room couldn't help but ask with concern, "What's wrong with Brother Li?" Didn't you go to see the list? Why do you come back now, your face is so ugly, as if you have fallen off the list? ”

Li Yan raised his eyes and glanced at Ji Qingwen, smiled to himself, but did not speak, slowly sat on a chair in the room, arrived at a bowl of cold water, "Gu Dong Gu Dong" Niu drank down, and finally sighed and said: "I pride myself on being talented and not inferior to the world's talents, I thought that this fame was at my fingertips, but I didn't expect that there would be a day when I fell to Sun Shan......

Ji Qingwen exclaimed, "How is this possible? Or is the examiner blind? Brother Li has such a good talent article, but he will not pass the test? ”

Li Yan's face was cloudy, and he said, "Today's scientific examiner is fair. I think the first member is that Liu Ruozai. Although he is frivolous, he still has real talent and learning. Can...... Can...... But my articles, even if they are not better than him, will never be worse than him. Even if you don't get into the top few, you won't fall off the list again......"

Before Ji Qingwen crossed over, he had read several articles such as "Kong Yiji" and "Fan Jinzhongju", and knew what the imperial examination meant to ancient scholars, for fear that failing this exam would make a young and talented Li Yan stupid and frightened.

So Ji Qingwen hurriedly comforted: "I know Brother Li's academic talent. If you don't get into it this year, you will definitely go to high school in three years. Isn't it the old man Zhang Juzheng of the previous dynasty, didn't he also fail the first time and pass the second time? Maybe Brother Li was discussing poetry and articles in the inn a few days ago, and the momentum was too strong, which examiner saw it, and deliberately didn't take it, and deliberately tried to test Brother Li's will, which is also possible. ”

After listening to Ji Qingwen's words, Li Yan's face finally recovered a little.

When Ji Qingwen saw it, he quickly relieved a few more words, and then opened the door and asked the inn to pick up the delicious food and drink in the store, although he sent it to the room, accompanied Li Yan to eat and drink, and talked and chatted, and sat until the night.

When a red list is promulgated, some people are happy and some are sad, and there are still a few people who can walk over the single-plank bridge of the imperial examination after all-after all, there are few happy people and many sad people.

Take this Liansheng Inn as an example, as soon as the red list was released today, the inn immediately became a lot deserted - just because those who failed to pass the exam did not want to live in this inn anymore and spent money in vain, and they settled their debts before nightfall, and left with a roll - the originally lively Liansheng Inn suddenly became a lot more deserted.

Ji Qingwen was afraid that Li Yan would be infected by this cold atmosphere again, so he didn't let him go out, and asked the restaurant to come up, and chatted with him until both of them were exhausted, and then they fell asleep.

However, as soon as Ji Qingwen's eyes were closed, there was a knock on the door, and someone asked outside the door, "Is Ji Qingwen here?" Ji Qingwen is not there? ”