While waiting for Ke Wendeng, Pei Zhixian said to Master Ke: "Although it is said that I am the master to give Pei Wei to Wendeng, but in the end, Lao Shen is her father, and I can't help but let his father and daughter recognize each other, but Lao Shen's temperament is too circuitous to say to him clearly, in short, I have my own reason for this matter, and I am not afraid that he will not be in my favor."

"Yes!"

Because his son's dream came true, Master Ke was in a very comfortable mood, and naturally he was very grateful to his friends, secretly saying that it was no wonder that he could be an official, and he was indeed skilled.

Half an hour later, Ke Wenden came in with his head bowed outside, looking embarrassed.

If you don't want to step forward, you have to step forward, Ke Wenden had to say respectfully: "Uncle is above, the little nephew was arrogant and ignorant in the past, and he offended you, it's really damned." Now I have come to ask for sin, and I hope that my uncle will raise his noble hand and spare his little nephew for the sake of his father. ”

As he spoke, Ke Wenden knelt down directly.

Pei Zhixian deliberately said suspiciously: "Virtuous nephew! You have never regretted or disdained to ask for help, how can you do such a great gift?"

"The sin of the little nephew is difficult to write, you have tens of millions of Haihan, and adults don't remember villains." Covindon looked remorseful.

"Pull it down." Pei Zhixian didn't call him up, "In front of your father, why did you write down the evidence?" Didn't you trust the old man?"

Ke Wendeng's face suddenly turned red like a big red cloth, and he was embarrassed for a while, because he remembered Shen Kan's wit, he simply said: "Huh! What did the little nephew ever write?"

"Huh!" Pei Zhixian was speechless, pointed at him angrily, looked at Master Ke again, and shouted: "It was written by you, your father just read it, can the old man still wronged you?" Come on, this piece of paper is here, you can take it and take a look. ”

Throwing the note on the ground, he saw Ke Wenden kneeling and crawling a few steps, picking up the paper, not looking at it, suddenly tearing it, and then putting the shredded paper in his mouth and swallowing it in his stomach, shouting: "Uncle, how can the little nephew write any evidence?" Where, where? Don't wronged me!"

"Haha!" Pei Zhixian raised his head and laughed, "What a cunning boy!" It's right for the old man's spleen and stomach. Okay, this family affair is promised by the old man, you ask your father to choose an auspicious day to hire. But you have to promise the old man a condition, if you want to spend candle night in the cave room, you must first get the title of the gold list. ”

"Isn't this a bit ......" Master Ke was very embarrassed, although he was very confident in his son, but once he was thirty or forty years old, he was admitted to the Jinshi.

But then I thought about it, my friend was nothing more than motivation for his son, did he really not let him get married? So he smiled and nodded: "This is also the principle of nature, Wendeng, why don't you kneel down and thank you Uncle Pei for your fulfillment."

Ke Wendeng immediately sincerely bowed eight times according to the ceremony of meeting his father-in-law, but Pei Zhixian was only willing to accept four salutes from him, and said with a smile: "The virtuous nephew can have no worries from now on, and it is important to study hard in the future."

"Yes." Covindon nodded vigorously.

Master Ke asked, "Who is Brother Pei going to invite as a matchmaker this time?"

Pei Zhixian chuckled: "Naturally, it's still Lao Shen."

Master Ke laughed knowingly and said, "You are really calculating!"

Shen Kanxin, who had already come in, said that he still needs my second uncle? There must be an article in this. After all, he hadn't personally experienced a layoff, so he couldn't guess why.

At this time, Master Ke called his son to thank him, but Shen Kan hurriedly excused himself and refused to accept the gift of his future brother-in-law, and Ke Wendeng had to express his gratitude.

In the house, I saw the two of them arguing and coaxing, and Mrs. Pei's mother and daughter and the maids covered their mouths and laughed.

…………

A few days have passed, and those speculative literati who have drilled the camp all hope to be promoted, and they have hollowed out their minds one by one.

Speaking of Wuxing County School alone, almost all of the instructors and masters in the school received a lot of generous gifts, so they came to Zhou Xuezheng as soon as they had the opportunity to say good things to the gift-giver.

And young people who have no money to give gifts, such as the school elders and the talented people from poor backgrounds, take their masterpieces every day and go to various gatherings to preach them. It is best if it can reach the ears of officials, and if it cannot be transmitted, it can also enhance one's own reputation.

Because the recommendation of virtuous is the first event at the moment, the society is extremely concerned, so at this time, it will undoubtedly get twice the result with half the effort to make a name for yourself in Shilin.

There are also many scholars who submit self-recommendation letters to the school office, some send poems to the yamen, and some self-recommend to come to the school to talk and discuss, which makes the front of the county school extremely lively in the past few days.

Zhou Xuezheng was bothered by this, but he didn't have a way, he hid behind this day and said to Instructor Chen: "Look at these posterior students, where do you look like a serious reader?" If you want me to say that the matter of protecting the virtuous should be rather lacking than excessive, but unfortunately this Wuxing is a big county in the south of the Yangtze River, and it is impossible to be deficient, but I don't approve of any of the people they say, what do you say?"

"It's really embarrassing." Instructor Chen thought for a while, "Let's not worry about it, and when the Ding Festival comes, we can discuss it with the talents." ”

"Hmm." Zhou Xuezheng nodded, this is not a good way.

In public, ask the talents to recommend a few candidates, and whoever agrees with the most will be promoted, and naturally no one will be offended, but it is too child's play.

Zhou Xuezheng groaned: "My brother has lived here for a long time, and he must know a few talents, but it is difficult to say it clearly, I know this." Now that the two of us are discussing it in private, you can give me a detailed account first, so that when they jointly guarantee the promotion, I can also know in my heart, and once the candidate is not good, I can immediately refute it on the spot, and I can suppress everyone's mouth. For example, the day before yesterday, someone on the front foot said that so-and-so could be promoted, but someone on the back foot came to denounce and said that person had done a few bad deeds, and I was confused, isn't it ridiculous? Anyway, you can help me think about it, whether it is a tribute or a prisoner, let's evaluate it first, and it will live up to the meaning of the saint to seek talent. ”

Instructor Chen said: "My lord, it is true that Wu Xing's literary style is prosperous, but among this gentry, it is actually rare to find people with perfect conduct. And over the years, everyone has said that it is good, but there are only a few, you wait for me to think about it first. ”

"You think slowly, don't rush." Zhou Xuezheng smiled, and then picked up the teacup.

Instructor Chen thought for a while and said, "There is Chang Weizhi among the people, who is called Yunnong, who is the one who often ghostwrites for our school. He donated money to repair bridges and roads all year round, respected the elderly and cherished the poor, he was really a good person. Didn't he come the day before yesterday to send two copies of "Suzhou Yin Owl Wen Annotation", in short, I haven't seen anyone say that he is bad. ”

Zhou Xuezheng said: "I saw it the day before yesterday, and I was full of kindness, but I was a little older. Brother Chen, think about a few more. ”

Instructor Chen thought for a moment and said, "There is also a Cheng Linshan, he and the descendants of the poor pavilion, Wang Qianzhai and Chang Yunnong, are known as the three sages of Suzhou and Hangzhou. This Cheng Linshan's knowledge is excellent, he has studied under Mr. Tang Yin for a period of time before, and he is proficient in composing poems and pairs, and many people have begged him. However, he has the same temperament as Mr. Tang Yin, he is greedy for a glass of wine, and he speaks bluntly and unscrupulously, and he is often seen as drunk, and everyone says that he is a good man with learning. ”

Zhou Xuezheng said regretfully: "People should be extraordinary, but it's a pity that good wine is not appropriate, and being an official is afraid of being greedy for a cup and making mistakes."

"Then there are only a few masters left of Wang Qianzhai and the Shen family, and this will not be explained by the lower officials." Instructor Chen said with a smile.

"Let's not mention them yet." Zhou Xuezheng shook his head slowly, "Say a few more." ”

This recommendation of virtuous people is generally not recommended for the young, and eunuch families, landlords and other wealthy families are generally not included.

Instructor Chen was helpless, so he had to say: "There is a talent in Zhouzhuang, named Lin Xiaoli, this person is extremely filial, his mother is sick, and he cried blind in one eye."

"This is a filial son." Zhou Xuezheng was very appreciative, "But with a glance, how to face the saint?" It is better to wait for the school to build a memorial arch for his filial piety on the other day. ”

"That's what my lord said."

At that moment, Instructor Chen continued to frown and think, kept gesturing his fingers, and suddenly said, "That's right! That's right! There is a talent in Shengze Town, named Shi Zimian. There are two brothers in the family, and there are seventy or eighty acres of land. Soon after his parents died, his brother suddenly proposed to divide the family, but he was unwilling, but his sister-in-law insisted on splitting it. His brother then divided 30 acres of good paddy fields on one side of the embankment, and he didn't know where he divided them, but he probably divided 50 acres of dry land, and everyone knew that he had actually suffered a loss. Just a few years ago, there was a flood that washed away his brother's paddy fields into ponds, and his brother was so angry that he died. The teacher reluctantly took his sister-in-law and two nephews over to take them over, as if they had never separated from each other. Remembering my birthday a few days ago, the guests at the table said that he was good, my lord, can you say okay?"

Zhou Xuezheng sighed: "There is really no money in this world, and this division is very good for himself, but there are only forty or fifty acres of land, how can he afford this guarantee?"

"Not really." Instructor Chen also sighed.

It turns out that rich and noble families are generally not included in the list of guarantees, but it does not mean that the poor can, and they can at least be regarded as a well-off family if they become Xiucai, but the well-off families, such as this teacher who has dozens of acres of thin fields and drags his family, is self-encouraged, after being promoted, what will he do to make all parties along the way sacred?

That's why Zhou Xuezheng has this sigh, the Ming Dynasty has been established for a hundred years, what does the officialdom look like today? Just to deal with the small officials under the six departments of the capital, invite guests to dinner and other entertainment, thousands of taels of silver were spent in a blink of an eye.