Zhou Zhi has been in contact with Fan Jinche Lang and others for a long time, and he is no longer a hairy boy who knows nothing about the affairs of the world, but has an understanding of the current situation, especially some officials in Baoding Mansion.

Zhou Zhi knew that the Lord Fuzun in the mouth of the county teacher was naturally Peng Ze, the prefect of Baoding. As a traverser, Zhou Zhi naturally heard of Peng Zeqi in later generations. This Peng Ze is also the number one person in the history of the Ming Dynasty, and he is very well-known. Don't look at Peng Ze's white face, but Zhou Zhi knows that his main achievement is in the military aspect, which is known for his might.

Peng Ze is a native of Lanzhou, Lintao Prefecture, Shaanxi Province, and a Jinshi who has been in Hongzhi for three years. At the beginning, he was appointed as the director of the Ministry of Labor, and then successively served as Langzhong of the Criminal Department, and served as the prefect of Baoding in June of the eighth year of Hongzhi.

Don't look at Chen Guangyao's mouth saying that the prefect came to Qingdu County to inspect the county exam, in fact, everyone knows that the dignified prefect and the senior members of the fourth grade will have nothing to do when they are full, and go to a remote small county like Qingdu County to inspect the exam? This is obviously invited by Chen Guangyao, the magistrate of the county. It can be seen that the relationship between Chen Guangyao and the prefect Peng Ze is extraordinary.

Peng Ze glanced at the candidates present, and said in a deep voice, "This government is here to make decisions for you candidates, if you have any grievances, just speak out boldly, this government just wants to give justice to all candidates." ”

As soon as Peng Ze's words fell, a Confucian boy dressed in a long shirt, but the long shirt was extremely dirty and covered with mud stains, said, "Xiaomin's name is Li Xiyuan, Xiaomin has been studying for more than ten years, and has gone through three county exams, all of which have failed.

Xiaomin studies very weekdays, and he thinks that the article written in this county test is not bad, Xiaomin is puzzled, why is he still not successful? The magistrate of the county kept saying that he wanted to rectify the county's discipline, but Xiaomin heard about the head of Zhou Zhi High School, a student of the magistrate.

I was reading for a long time, and it was just a matter of being able to write a good article. But Xiaomin heard that Zhou Zhi was a country boy who had only been studying for a year.

Lord Fuzun, Xiaomin, please ask, in this great tomorrow, which one of them does not need to study hard for more than ten years, but Zhou Zhi has been studying for a year and is the first in high school, how can people believe it? Xiaomin is not convinced! ”

"Yes, we are not convinced, how can he be admitted to the head of the case, is it difficult to achieve it because he is a student of Lord Zhixian?" Under Li Xiyuan's first challenge, the candidates suddenly said in a hurry.

The people are afraid of officials, this is an eternal principle. These candidates are naturally afraid of the prefect, but the more courageous they are, and besides, they heard Peng Ze say that they want to make decisions for them just now, so they naturally vented their anger at this time.

Studying for a long time, but in the end it was in vain, who didn't hold back a lot of resentment in his stomach.

Prefect Peng Ze nodded lightly and said, "So you suspect that Chen Zhixian is favoritism?" ”

No one said a word.

This is tantamount to acquiescence.

Peng Ze turned his head to Chen Guangyao and asked, "Chen Zhixian, this government will ask you, have you ever shown favoritism in this county test?" ”

Chen Guangyao hurriedly stood up and said to Peng Ze very respectfully, "Lord Huifuzun, the lower officials have always been impartial in their duties, and as the magistrate of the county, they have always been trembling and walking on thin ice. ”

"Good! Then you might as well take out Li Xiyuan and Zhou Zhi's exam papers and let the government have a look. When Peng Ze spoke, his face suddenly became gloomy, making people see that he seemed to be very dissatisfied with Chen Guangyao, the magistrate.

Chen Guangyao may have been prepared for a long time, and Qiu Cai, the instructor of the court, instructed him to go down, but with the help of the two clerks, Qiu Cai moved all the examination papers of the county examination, found out the examination papers of Li Xiyuan and Zhou Zhi, and handed them to Peng Ze.

Peng Ze first saw that many places were circled with a red pen circle on the two exam papers, so he nodded slightly. Secretly thought, Chen Guangyao really worked hard to read the papers, if the magistrates of all counties in Baoding Mansion were so careful and impartial in reading the papers as Chen Guangyao, I thought that in a few years, the examination atmosphere in my Baoding Mansion would be reversed and more talents would be taught.

After the tea was over, Peng Ze finished reading Zhou Zhi and Li Xiyuan's exam papers, looked up at Li Xiyuan, his face was very peaceful, and said, "Li Xiyuan, come and see if there is any difference between the article at the head of this case and what you did?" ”

Li Xiyuan didn't dare to slack off, and hurriedly took Zhou Zhi's exam paper from Peng Ze's hand.

The clear and handsome Xiaokai first caught his eye, just by seeing this smart handwriting, Li Xiyuan was very surprised. Then it's a matter of carefully reading the article word by word.

The more he looked, the more energetic Li Xiyuan became, and even in the end, his eyes faintly emitted a strange brilliance.

He has been studying for ten years, and although he can't write good articles by himself, he can still clearly distinguish the advantages and disadvantages of articles.

Zhou Zhi's two articles are novel and appropriate, not to mention the rigor of the layout and structure of the articles and the meticulousness of the chapters and sentences.

Li Xiyuan couldn't help but sigh secretly, I have been studying for ten years, even if I read for another thirty years, I will not write such an article! This is the article at the head of the case, and it is no wonder that my county tried the exam three times, but it couldn't pass once.

It's too far away, a world of difference!

Someone has long said, "If the eight-strand article is done well, whatever you do, if you want poetry, you want to be endowed, it is a whip and a mark, a slap and a palm of blood, if the eight-strand article is not exquisite, whatever you do, it is all wild fox Zen, evil demons and foreign ways." ”

Zhou Zhi was able to write such a good article in only one year, which shows how talented he is, and I Li Xiyuan...... It seems that it is by no means the material for reading.

Thinking like this, Li Xiyuan's face couldn't help but turn like dirt, and his eyes became gloomy in an instant. It was as if the body had been emptied, and it suddenly withered.

Although the people behind him could not see Zhou Zhi's article, they could already see the difference from Li Xiyuan's expression. Someone couldn't help but whisper, "What's so strange about Zhou Zhi's ability to write good articles?" He is a student of Zhixian, who knows if this article is really written by him, and it is not known if it may have been plagiarized! ”

These words poured into Li Xiyuan's ears, causing Li Xiyuan to be shocked, yes, maybe it was really copied by Zhou Zhi or written by someone else. A person who has only studied for a year will not write such a good article no matter how talented he is.

Li Xiyuan held Zhou Zhi's article in his hand and said, "Maybe the prefect also heard it, Xiaomin still doesn't believe that this article was written by Zhou Zhi, if it was really made by him, he should be able to recite it." Lord Prefect, why don't you let Zhou Zhi recite these two articles on the spot, so that the people can be completely convinced! ”

As soon as he finished speaking, Zhou Zhi stepped forward, and after saluting the prefect Peng Ze, he said loudly, "Everyone, Zhou Zhi is willing to recite the two articles he has made. ”

This is where you have to express yourself.

In Zhou Zhi's mind, the two articles of his county test are definitely the best works. At this time, the purpose of reciting it is to let all candidates know that they know their own articles and convince them. Second, Zhou Zhi felt that this was a good opportunity to get close to the prefect Peng Ze, and if he could leave a good impression on Peng Ze, it would definitely be of great benefit to him in the future.

Zhou Zhi quickly recited the two articles in one breath, and Li Xiyuan held Zhou Zhi's exam paper in his hand and read it really word for word.

After listening to the thoughtful recitation, all the candidates were secretly sad and surprised. Good article, no wonder Zhou Zhineng won the head of the case, compared with the articles he wrote and others, the gap is too big. Even Yue Shuzhen was quite surprised, he couldn't imagine that Zhou Zhi actually wrote such an article, he was really inferior to him.

But can Zhou Zhi really write such a good article in just two hours? Shouldn't the magistrate reveal the question to him in advance?

Thinking like this in my heart, a stream of blood in my body was speeding up.

What is in front of him is the prefect, if he can really find a way to suppress Zhou Zhi, the prefect will definitely make the decision for himself, and there is still hope that the head of the case will fall on his head in the end. Besides, if you can make a good impression on the prefect at this time, it will be very helpful for future exams! I Yue Shuzhen will definitely not let go of this opportunity.

Thinking of this, Yue Shuzhen immediately made a decision, came out of the crowd, and after saluting the prefect, he said loudly, "Lord Prefect, just now Xiaomin listened to Zhou's article, but Xiaomin is still not convinced, Xiaomin is willing to compete with Zhou's head on the spot, and let the prefect and the candidates judge." ”