Xiangzhou Mansion Tribute Courtyard is built separately in the southeast of Yecheng, as the examination room of the township examination, and the "Tribute Courtyard" plaque is hung in front of the gate. Everyone looked at the word "Gongyuan" with burning eyes, and their hearts were fascinated, as if they had been in the examination room, and they were fascinated.

Zhao Gou smiled lightly and turned to leave; Coincidentally, Shao Jun and others came belatedly and met with Zhao Gou.

"Brother Weiguo, when did you arrive in Yecheng? Why did you wait before me? ”

Zhao Gou and they exchanged pleasantries, Shao Jun saw that Zhao Gou and himself and the others were separated and walked all the way south, and they did not delay for a moment, but Zhao Gou arrived first, and he and the others came later, which made him really a little unbelievable and unbelievable.

"Brother Shao Jun is surprised!" Zhao Gou smiled calmly, "My brother and I enter the city in a different way, I ride a fast horse, I can travel thousands of miles a day, and my foot is slightly better; Brother Shao Jun is riding in a carriage or walking, and it is natural to be a little slower. ”

Shao Jun and the others suddenly realized, and Zhao Gou then asked, "Brother Shao Jun and the others are also here to visit the Tribute Academy?" ”

"Definitely! We're not here to visit, we've all been here! Shao Jun recalled the previous incident, looked at the Gongyuan sadly, this was his sad place, and sighed: "Brother Weiguo doesn't know, I have been to the Gongyuan once, and this is the second time." ”

"The second time?" Zhao Gou exclaimed.

Shao Jun smiled bitterly: "Not bad! I came here once in August, and that time I failed and did not achieve fame. If it weren't for the emperor's grace this time, I would have to wait another year to have a chance, and it would be a revisit! ”

It was only at this time that Zhao Gou understood what was going on with the complicated look on Shao Jun's face. If you come back here after a failure, you are not going to revisit the old place, but where you fall and get up. If it weren't for the emperor's reopening of Enke, the candidates who failed in August would be given a chance to remedy, which is why they are called 'Enke'.

"Why didn't Brother Shao Jun mention it?" Zhao Gou was a little puzzled, he had already participated for the first time, so there shouldn't be no news.

The corners of Shao Jun's mouth twitched, and he wanted to say it but didn't know where to start.

Zhao Gou was stunned for a while, and then he understood Shao Jun's suffering, and said apologetically: "Zhao has offended, I hope Brother Shao Jun understands!" ”

Shao Jun smiled bitterly and didn't say anything. Zhao Gou didn't know that his words inadvertently hit his sore spot, even if he participated in the township exam, he didn't achieve any fame, or the fame of the academy students, which made him talk about it, so he could only remain silent.

If Shao Junxiang passed the test and achieved fame, I am afraid that he does not need to say more, it will already spread throughout the academy. Because of this, Zhao Gou's ignorance made Shao Jun extremely embarrassed, and his unintentional words were even more sarcastic and sarcastic in his heart.

"No matter what, this time I will definitely achieve fame, otherwise I will not have the face to meet my hometown fathers and villagers, live up to the expectations of my parents, and I must not fail again!"

Shao Jun secretly made up his mind that he would study harder than anyone else this time and won the first place in the college examination. Although Shao Jun knew that he was not knowledgeable enough last time, he had redoubled his efforts in the past few months, and he also knew that the candidates who had failed with him before were also working hard, and if they didn't work, they would inevitably fail.

As for Zhao Gou, Shao Jun doesn't like it. Zhao Gou's achievements in the academy are obvious to all, Shao Jun doesn't believe that he is really such a genius, he plays when he should play on weekdays, and when others are having fun, he is working hard himself; Others are working hard, and he is still working hard, and it took several times more effort than Zhao Gou.

Martial arts is based on talent, so reading also requires talent. Although diligence can make up for shortcomings, it is just that some people are born with exam materials. On weekdays, he looks giggling and doesn't work hard, and when it comes to exams, he often does a lot better than students who usually seem to work hard.

Even if Shao Jun doesn't admit that Zhao Gou is better than himself, he has to admit that Zhao Gou is talented, and he is well-read, and all the sons and hundreds of schools of thought know about it. In Shao Jun's eyes, Zhao Gou belongs to the kind of student who doesn't work hard and doesn't want to communicate with him in depth, but he doesn't know that he himself has missed a huge opportunity, and he can't blame him.

After all, Zhao Gou didn't reveal his identity, otherwise Shao Jun wouldn't have treated him like this. Although it may not be able to stutter, it will not be cold. Zhao Gou didn't know what he had said unintentionally, which provoked Shao Jun's hatred hidden in his heart, glared at Zhao Gou fiercely, and quickly retracted his gaze.

Zhao Gou's feeling is so sharp, any clue cannot escape his internal force, and his series of actions have long been known by Zhao Gou. On the surface, he was silent, and he had already denied this person in his heart. In his opinion, if you really want to benefit the people, you don't have to be an official, you can also do business.

Or the thousand-year-old class concept has led everyone to think that doing business is something that only useless people do, and even the social status of peasants is higher than that of merchants. If Zhao Gou is not a descendant of the Zhao family, he will inevitably choose to do business rather than politics.

The people of the Great Song Dynasty looked down on businessmen, and Zhao Gou came from later generations, and he himself was also in business, so if he could look down on him, he should advocate the status of businessmen. 'Everything is inferior, only reading is high!' Such a fixed ideology, and under the atmosphere of the Great Song Dynasty, the status of scholars reached its peak.

Even if you have no power to tie the chicken, you don't have any way to make a living, as long as you read and study literature, you are high and respected. In Zhao Gou's view, it was self-amusement and deception. If you can't even feed yourself, you can talk about benefiting the people, and you will sneer at this.

Zhao Gou saw that Shao Jun didn't want to deal with him, so he smiled and said nothing, and heard that the candidates around him were discussing who the examiner was this time.

"Brother Wang, have you ever heard who the chief examiner is this time?"

"I don't know, let alone hear who it is." Listening to what the two of them said, Zhao Gou guessed that the two of them knew each other, and saw the man continue: "No matter who it is, I'm afraid that the competition in Enke this time will be even more fierce. ”

Zhao Gou thought that the number of people in the township examination this time was more than in the past, there were candidates who failed last time, and there were candidates who took the new exam, and the number of candidates added to the two was larger, and there were candidates from four counties participating together, but I am afraid that this time it will be one in a thousand, or even one in a thousand.

"Generally speaking, the chief and deputy examiners of the state examination are all selected by the imperial court to send Hanlin and cabinet bachelors to come!" The man talked eloquently, frowning: "This time it is the emperor's grace, if you are not mistaken, I am afraid that this time the chief and deputy examiners will be not small." ”

"That's a good thing!" One of them applauded, "If it is not small, there must be officials with real power; Those who are knowledgeable and well-versed in the past and present are better, and only the list chosen by this person is fairer. If not, I'm afraid it's a black-box operation, which is unfair! ”

"That's right!" The man nodded approvingly.

Zhao Gou thought secretly: "According to the usual township examinations, officials are sent by the imperial court to come, this time is different, but I am really curious about who is the main examiner!" …… If a man of uprightness and erudition is much fairer and a good thing than he says! ……”