The autumn night is deep, the stars are shining, the huge Hangzhou Gongyuan seems to have all the light gathered in the public hall, the sergeants outside the hall patrol, the hall is full of high-ranking officials, in addition to the roll call of the scribes, only the dozens of red candles in the two houses from time to time make a "pop" sound softly, the wick bears a lamp, the candle flame will dim, that is, there are deacons who come forward to cut off the lantern, and the candle flame is restored - unpacking, roll call, and writing the list continue until the third watch day later, only the five classics are left on the table of the eight immortals, and the head of the five classics is about to be revealed, The undergraduate Xie Yuan will also be selected from it, and the house officials who are already a little tired have begun to cheer up again, whose house the Five Classics Kui comes from, that is whose glory, not to mention Xie Yuan's house master - in turn, starting from the "Spring and Autumn" Jing Kui, one scribe will remove the seal, and the other scribe will roll call loudly: "Zhang Yuan, a student of Shanyin County, Shaoxing Prefecture." ”

As soon as these words came out, the hall was silent, Zhang Yuan's reputation was too great, and the scribe who was calling the name immediately felt that the atmosphere in the hall was different, and looked up at the officials with some surprise - Yang Lian sat solemnly, "Spring and Autumn" only had one room, and the first name paper he recommended was confirmed by the two main examiners, that is, Jing Kui, which was expected. ”

The deputy chief examiner Wang Bian was pleasantly surprised, he always thought that Yang Lian's recommendation of the "Spring and Autumn" room head volume was not Zhang Yuan's, and now it was unpacked, it was still Zhang Yuan, which really made him overjoyed, he was originally worried that Zhang Yuan's volume would be dethroned, and a few days ago he also went to look at the "Spring and Autumn" room scroll - President Qian Qianyi's expression was not moving, thinking that Zou Yuanbiao recommended to him the three people Shanyin Zhang Yuan, Yuyao Huang Zunsu, Jiashan Wei Dazhong, Zou Yuanbiao said that these three people will glorify the master, Jiashan Wei Dazhong has taken the twenty-eighth place, Now Zhang Yuan is high school "Spring and Autumn" Jingkui, however, before leaving Beijing, Dong Qichang and what he said about Zhang Yuan also came to mind - the two deacons inserted a pair of red candles in front of Yang Lian's case, and the other examiners all bowed their hands to Yang Lian to say hello, this is the custom of the Gongyuan, which house official came from, and inserted a pair of red candles in front of the house official to show glory - and then opened the "Yi" Jing Kui ink scroll, and the scribe said: "Huang Zunsu, a student of Yuyao County, Shaoxing Prefecture." ”

The fifth room official of "Yi" suddenly laughed to the root of his ears, "Yi" is not like "Spring and Autumn" with only one room, five rooms, standing out from the five rooms and five first names of "Yi", this room official is very embarrassed - Qian Qianyi said: "I heard that Huang Zunsu is also the backbone of the Han Society, and now Zhang Yuanguan "Spring and Autumn", Huang Zun Suguan "Yi", the Five Classics Kui Han Society has been based on the second, Dong Xuanzai said that the Han Society wants to take over the Zhejiang Township Test Five Classics Kui, will it come true? ”

"Yi" is followed by "Li", and "Li" has only one room, and the scribe said: "Yu Bangchen, a student of Fuyang County, Hangzhou Prefecture." ”

This Yu Bangchen is not very well-known, and I don't know if he is a member of the Han Society, Qian Qianyi took a sip of the tea cup in front of him, and listened to the scribe call the first of the "Book", and it was "Qi Biaojia, a student of Shanyin County, Shaoxing Prefecture." ”

Qi Biaojia is a prodigy in Shanyin, and his father Qi Chengjiao is currently in the military department, Qian Qianyi has naturally heard of it, and said in his heart: "Another Han Society." I couldn't help frowning slightly, the examiner is not as good as the room official, the chief examiner has to consider the overall situation, so many people in the same literary society, and it has been determined that three people are Jingkui, although these papers are recommended by the room official, he has a clear conscience, but he always has a little inappropriate feeling, and there is a faint uneasiness - the deputy chief examiner Wang Bian is very relieved, Qi Biaojia is also a rising star he values, he is only fourteen years old this year, and he actually crowned the third room of the "book", it is really difficult for that young man.

Finally, there is the fifth room of "Poetry", Jing Kui is from the first room, which is "Qian Shisheng, a student of Jiashan County, Jiaxing Prefecture." ”

At this point, the head of the Five Classics came out, and those scribes and deacons who followed the rules suddenly made a presumptuous noise at this time, and they came to snatch the red candles in front of the case of the Kui Fang Division, and the officials and political envoys and the patrol of the imperial history were all smiling and silent, and let it go, which is also the custom of the township test, called the five kui, and the red candle that the scribe grabbed could be sold at a high price outside the tribute courtyard, and the picture was an auspicious - the scribe who wrote the list had written the names of the one hundred and fifteen new recruits after the Five Classics Kui on a list, which is called the deputy list, and the main list is the five kui list, The final ranking of the five kui will be determined by the chief examiner, also known as Dian Xie Yuan, which is the power and glory of the chief examiner.

All the officials in the hall and the officials in the hall stared at Qian Qianyi's right hand resting on the table, looking at the ink scroll drawn out by this hand-five Jingkui ink scrolls side by side in front of Qian Qianyi, Qian Qianyi opened the first article of the first scene of the five people, compared them one by one, and couldn't decide for a long time...... Candle tears flowed silently, time passed quietly, although I couldn't interfere with the examiner's point of Xie Yuan, but I couldn't delay it so much, the promotion officer He Rushen finally couldn't bear the surname, and reminded loudly: "President Qian, it's been nearly four days." ”

Qian Qianyi smiled, stretched out his hand and took out a roll, and said to himself: "Qi Biaojia, a student of Shanyin County, Shaoxing Prefecture." ”

The officials present breathed a sigh of relief, and the examiner finally began to rank the five classics, and the scribe who wrote the list hurriedly wrote "The fifth place in the Zhejiang Township Examination of Yimao Branch is by Kuishan Yin Qi Biaojia." ”

The rules for writing lists are all written from the back to the front——...... Zhejiang political envoy Si Yamen in the right of Qinghe Fang, the left of Taipingfang, and the command of the Yamen is adjacent, there is a stele in front of the Yamen, the word "Fang Yue" is written on it, the political envoy is called Fang Bo, it is for this reason, there are two squares around the Yamen, the east square is "Bao Jiao", the west square is "patrol Xuan", there is also the east and west gates, there is a blue brick wall outside the east gate, the wall is called the outer wall outside the gate, this side of the wall is six feet high, six feet long, the eaves are three stacks, solemn and concise, there are brick carving patterns on both sides—— August 28 Ren Yin said, Zhejiang political envoy in front of the yamen of this wall of public attention, from midnight, there have been candidates and their relatives and friends who participated in the Zhejiang Township Examination of the Yimao Branch to wait in front of the wall, because the five more Tianxiang test dragon and tiger list will be hung on this wall, three years and so on, suffering from gains and losses, sleepless all night - near the fifth watch, Zhang Yuan and his sister Zhang Ruoxi and Wang Wei several people came to the big square in front of the political envoy Yamen, but there is no place to stand, the square is crowded, Countless high-legged lanterns were shining, the hustle and bustle were undulating, Zhang Yuan and a few people could only stand on the edge of Qinghefang and look at the square - Zhang Ruoxi and Wang Wei each took a small sedan chair, Zhang Yuan and Mu Zhenzhen stood by the sedan chair, and Wuling volunteered: "Young master, I squeezed to the wall to see the list." ”

Xue Tong said: "Brother Xiaowu, I'll go with you." ”

These two teenagers like to join in the fun, so let them go, Zhang Yuan instructed: "If they are crowded and can't find us, they will go back to Wanxian Bridge." ”

Wu Ling and Xue Tong agreed, and then squeezed into the crowd, and soon drowned in the sea of people.

Zhang Ruoxi looked at this scene from the small window of the sedan chair and exclaimed: "Today, I know that I am in the grand stage of the imperial examination." Said to Zhang Yuan: "Your brother-in-law can't return to Qingpu until the test list is released in Tianfu Township." He asked Wang Wei on another sedan chair: "Xiuwei, is Nanjing Gongyuan also so crowded?" ”

Wang Weidao: "I saw the township test three years ago, and the Nanjing Gongyuan was on the bank of the Qinhuai River, and some people were squeezed into the river, and they were teased that they fell into the water again. ”

While he was talking, the crowd in the square suddenly surged, and someone shouted: "The list is released, the list is released-"

When Zhang Yuan looked up, he saw that the northwest of the square was full of light, dozens of lanterns lined up, drums were leading, the guard of honor followed, hundreds of soldiers escorted, and there seemed to be a yellow sedan chair in the middle - Mu Zhenzhen on the side said: "Young master, that is the color pavilion of yellow silk." ”

Wang Wei said: "Yes, the list is in the color pavilion." ”

Zhang Yuan's heart was raised, the last moment of the list was announced, even if he was calm and calm, how to say that he had tried his best to have no regrets, at this moment, his palms were still damp, his mouth was dry, his heartbeat gradually accelerated, he no longer talked to his sisters, his eyes narrowed and he looked at the team of soldiers who opened the way, escorted the yellow silk pavilion to the wall, and was about to hang it - "Laifu, where is the clairvoyant mirror?" ”

Laifu also tiptoed to look at the side of the wall, heard Zhang Yuan ask, and hurriedly touched his body, and suddenly broke out in a cold sweat, and shouted: "Why is it gone!" ”

Wang Wei in the small sedan chair said: "Isn't it here." As he spoke, he handed out a rectangular wooden box.

Before, I saw that there were many people in Laifu, so I put the clairvoyant mirror box in Wang Wei's sedan chair - Zhang Yuan took out the tube of white copper telescopes and slowly adjusted the focus on the wall half a mile away, well, the light in front of the wall was very bright, and I could see that the official messenger was on the list, but there were too many high-legged lanterns, dense, blocking his sight, just didn't block it, and it was impossible to see the words on the list, so let's listen to the official mission singing the list - many people wanted to rush to the wall to look at the list to find their names, and the scene was very chaotic for a while, The hundreds of tall soldiers with sticks in their hands, joined hands to fight to set up the soldiers and slaves who rushed to the front, vacating the two feet of the wall, and ten loud scribes began to sing in unison, and the singing list started from the five classics of the main list - but the noisy voices in the square couldn't be quiet for a while, Zhang Yuan was far away, and he couldn't hear the singing list at all, and he was in a hurry, after a while, the black crowd in the square finally quieted down, and Zhang Yuan heard the loud scribe say loudly: " The thirteenth place in the Zhejiang Township Test of Yimao Branch is Shangyu Ni Yuanlu. ”

Zhang Yuanxin said: "Ni Ruyu High School is the thirteenth, very good!" ”

Starting from the thirteenth, Zhang Yuan listened all the way, and the names of the members of the Han Society came loudly every three or five times, until the sixty-second Wang Binglin, the sixty-fourth Zhou Menong, and the sixty-fifth Zhang Dai - "Big Brother High School has lifted people!" ”

Zhang Yuan was overjoyed, at this moment he knew that he had quietly changed history, Zhang Dai, who wrote "Tao'an Dream Memories", was a lifelong talent, and now, the nineteen-year-old eldest brother Zhang Dai Longhu is on the list, but what about him Zhang Yuan, did he miss it in front, or was he ranked last or even nameless on the list at all?

Calm as Zhang Yuan, he couldn't help but feel apprehensive at this time, and at this moment, a sharp voice stabbed into his ear with wheezing:

"Jie Zi Xianggong, Xie Yuan, first place!"

(To be continued)