At the same time as reporting the good news to the candidates, the province will also send fast horses to report the good news to the families of the candidates. It's just that it always takes a few days at night, which makes the candidates' families anxious and restless.

Shaoxing has a prosperous cultural context, and in recent years, there are many high schools in each subject. At this time, the biggest topic is, how many high schools are there this time, and what is the highest ranking...... But the more intense topics will always be more likely to be reckoned with, or will they be more in the Sanyin? and which county the highest ranking will appear in.

Sanyin and Huiji, just like two brothers, say that we are a family to the outside world, but behind closed doors, they compete fiercely, and they both want to crush each other under them. Ping Suri still wants to find a fight, not to mention this triennial talent ceremony - for people in this era, reading is the most glorious profession, and being an official means the most honorable status. In the township test, the completion of the transformation from "Xianggong" to "Lord" is to complete the leap from the people to the official, in the eyes of the people at that time, there is nothing more important in the world than this, it is this kind of competition, by the two counties from the county to the people of the great height. For the losing side, unless there is a big comeback in the coming year, it will not be able to raise its head for three years.

So it's not difficult to understand what the recent excitement in Shaoxing City is...... Whether it is a deep house compound, a street or an alley, or a teahouse restaurant, or a gambling house, as long as you open your mouth to chat, you will be allowed to turn to this matter in three sentences at most.

Naturally, the casinos will not give up this great opportunity to make money, and they have offered corresponding odds, such as the total number of people who have won the lift, what the highest ranking is, etc., but it is more popular to predict the victory or defeat between the two counties - to see which county has the most and which county has the highest ranking.

However, between the two markets, there are also high and low levels of popularity, and whoever can get the highest position becomes the focus of attention. The people of Sanyin believe that Zhu Dashou is the champion of the talent, and has the experience of taking the examination, and it should be reasonable to win the championship this time; But the people of Huiji disagreed, they said that our silence is a small three yuan, since the debut, no matter the big test or the small test, it is to see who kills whom, never take the second. Don't look at your big ribbons are very good, when you encounter us silent, you can only bow down to the subordinate.

As soon as this market was launched, it became popular in the sky. In addition to the usual gamblers, people who are not good at this mouth also joined in, joined in the fun, and no longer shy away from saying the word 'gambling', as if it had become an elegant matter because of their involvement with the imperial examination.

The bets placed on the two of them also broke records...... According to people's speculation, the number of people and financial resources in the two counties are about the same, and the bet on both sides should be half and half.

But the night before the annunciation, when the casino stopped accepting bets and announced the figures, it was a big surprise, because buying silence won more than twice as much silver as buying big ribbons.

It's not going to be a trick on us, is it? In the face of public skepticism, some casino veterans came out to explain their doubts, and they believed that there were three reasons for this phenomenon: first, silence was too famous and more widely known; Second, compared with Silence's undefeated record, the strength of Zhu Dashou's first township test will undoubtedly make people look down; Third, many young ladies and ladies in the deep mansion compound paid someone to buy on their behalf, and for these ladies and ladies, Shen Zhuoyan, who was still handsome and single, was more attractive.

The officials of the two counties were not idle, organizing manpower to set up colorful sheds and prepare artillery battles, just waiting for the time to celebrate. The enthusiasm below is so high, the Tang prefect can not help but express it, he promised that every move, the government will allocate one hundred taels of silver to build a land and water archway. And under the persuasion of the two magistrates several times, they agreed to write the inscription by handwriting.

Now it's terrible, you must know that the Tang prefect is a famous writer in the world, his words are hard to find, and now to write the inscription by handwriting, it is tantamount to making those arches that are already very glorious, and their value is doubled immediately. The two county magistrates naturally compete secretly, and it depends on who can get more.

This decision caused dissatisfaction in other counties, and after several prefects learned the news, they jointly went to the government to complain, and the Tang prefect had no choice but to promise to send money inscriptions to several counties, which calmed the resentment of the counties. It's just that he suffers from his own old man - there have always been a lot of people in Shaoxing Mansion, and it is estimated that he will get at least two or three thousand taels of silver. How can there be so much spare money in the house? I can't say that he has to pay out of his own pocket.

But for the prefect, even if he takes it out, he is willing to do it. On the contrary, if he doesn't have to break the bank, then he will be very unhappy.

As the day of the annunciation approaches, the warm atmosphere in the city has reached its peak, and there are a large number of idle people piled up in the area of the North City Gate Tower every day, wanting to be the first to see the team of the annunciation, or to go with them to eat and drink, and ask for some luck.

In fact, the first to get the news is the government, on the second day of the first month of September, the two counties and county orders got the news, the good news team has arrived in Xiaoshan, the next day will be the first to enter the city to report the good news. The two county magistrates hurriedly notified the families of those who might be selected in the county and asked them to be ready to receive the good news.

As the number one favorite to win the championship this time, the Shen family was naturally notified, and Chunhua and Shen An, who had already returned, said, let's prepare. But they were all stopped by Shen He with a black face: "Prepare before you can believe it, aren't you afraid of losing the door?" It is said that his old man has been fasting since the beginning of August, and now he has been fasting for a whole month, and in recent days, he has not been able to eat, and his mood is irritable, and he has obviously lost weight.

"Then it's okay to get a new outfit, right?"

"What do you know? This dress was worn by me when you young master was a talent, a real auspicious dress! "Shen He's superstition has reached the extreme, and he doesn't even allow Shen An to go out to see.

On the third day of the Lunar New Year, since the morning, the sound of firecrackers outside has never stopped, gongs and drums have been beating, and from time to time there are celebratory crowds walking past the street. Shen An and Chunhua climbed on the ladder, they had already counted five teams, and looking at the people as if they were celebrating the New Year, Shen An finally couldn't hold back and said: "I have to go out and take a look, it's past noon, and I'm nervous." ”

"But...... The lord won't let him out. Chunhua looked worriedly at the closed door of the West Wing.

"I can't care so much," Shen An said: "Anyway, if you bring the good news back, no matter how big the sin is, it will be broken." So he climbed over the wall and went out to the street to hire a car, and arrived outside the north gate where the crowd was crowded.

Get out of the car and see, hey, there are so many people, the inner nine layers and the outer nine layers are piled on both sides of the road, shoulder to shoulder, sweating like rain, one by one is still so excited, as if they are lifted. Shen An dared to say that the City God Gathering was not so lively.

He wanted to squeeze to the side of the road, but he was pushed out again and again, and he was so angry that he shouted: "I am here to receive good news for our young master." Countless faces said to him, "So are we." Shen An was completely shocked.

Giving up the plan to squeeze in, he had to run to the distant city wall, and finally found a place, looked down condescendingly, and asked the people around him: "Labor, how much good news has come to this?" ”

"Nineteen." The man said with honor: "It's almost the sum of the previous two sessions." ”

"Where is this? The person who heard the good news said that the rat pulls the bellows, and the big head is behind. Someone on the side proudly said, "Look, there's another team." ”

Shen An followed the man's point, looked to the north, and sure enough, he saw a team of riders with signs rushing from the official road, and when they came to the front in a blink of an eye, they shouted together: "Congratulations to Master Xu of Shanyin, the sixteenth Yayuan in high school." Beijing Daily even appeared in Huangjia! ”

Everyone cheered loudly, and they all said, "Master Xu has finally been transferred." Xu Wei's reputation is extremely high, but he has not been able to achieve the results he deserves, everyone is very sad for him, this time he is finally in high school, it is naturally worth celebrating, but the good news of the twelfth place in the back is directly shrouded in the shadow of Xu Wei, and he doesn't even remember his name.

About a quarter of an hour later, there is the good news of the ninth place, but it is the Wu Dui of Huiji, people celebrate for a moment, then focus on the city, only to see the left side of the plaque of the word Shaoxing, there are eleven hydrangeas hung each, that is, the two counties so far, each has eleven in the lift, temporarily a tie.

The air was extremely tense, as if after a long wait, the next team came to report the good news, only to hear the newspapers shouting in unison: "Congratulations to the old man of Huijitao, the third place in high school." Beijing Daily even appeared in Huangjia! ”

This sound detonated everyone's cheers, and we have Shaoxing ranked among the top three dings! Then add another red hydrangea to Huiji.

The frustration on the San'in side did not last long, and there were larger-scale reports, only to hear the newspapers shouting in unison: "Congratulations to the old men of Sanyin, the second place in high school." Beijing Daily even appeared in Huangjia! ”

There was a burst of cheers from San'in, and a hydrangea was added. But everyone no longer cares about the outcome of the game, because if the first place is not from Shaoxing City, then a draw will not hurt the peace. If the first place is from Shaoxing City, then Shaoxing City will take the top three, this glory is enough to make everyone forget the victory or defeat, and it is an honor!

The waiting time is too tiring. The people could no longer bear the restlessness, left the city gates, and walked in the direction of the Annunciation procession, whether there was or not, give it a good time!

At this time, it was already evening, the golden light was ten thousand ways, and the sky was full of red clouds, and I saw that on the official road in the distance, a large group of knights came, but the number of people was much more than before, I don't know if it was an illusion, and the plaque in their hands was also inlaid with gold edges.

The people excitedly asked, "Who is it?" Who is it? ”

The other side also responded loudly: "Congratulations to Master Shen for being silent, Xie Yuan, the first place in the Zhejiang Township Examination in high school, and the Beijing News even appeared in Huangjia!" ”

(To be continued)