Leaving Ma's Village, going to Luoyang to prepare for the imperial examination, not just to give Ma Jun and Ma Qi the crown ceremony is the end, not long ago, near dusk, suddenly a canopy carriage came from the county town, galloped into the village, Martin, Ma Ben and others all changed into new clothes, and went to the village entrance pavilion to greet each other. Old man Martin even threw his crutches to strengthen his spirits, and personally carried the carriage until he led it outside his mansion, opened the middle door, and welcomed him in.

Immediately, an old man got out of the car, wearing a three-beam crown, decorated with jade cicadas, wearing ochre-yellow deep clothes, a jade belt across his waist, tied with three-colored ink ribbons, holding a dove cane, and looking around proudly. Martin himself took the broom, respectfully led the way, led it into the main hall, and then swept the couch and invited the old man to take his seat. The servant served the filtered thin wine, and the old man picked up the cup, took a sip, frowned, and said directly: "My state affairs are very good, but I have no time to spare, but I can urgently call the second and third sons to see me." ”

So including Chen Yun, Ma Qi, and Ma Jun, the four teenagers who Ma Wen circled to try to take the imperial examination were all summoned to the old man. Ma Ben bowed and said: "The county is in charge of Lu Gong, and they all came to pay their respects. ”

It turned out that this old man's name was Lu Kuan, and he was the grandson of Han Situ Lu Gong, Zeng Shihan was the commander of Ji County, and Chen Changwen ordered him to serve as the Zhongzheng official of the right Fufeng after the Jiupin Zhongzheng system. In fact, with Lu Kuan's knowledge and qualifications, he may not be qualified, but he came to touch the light of his grandfather, and secondly, he also touched the light of his eldest brother - his brother Lu Kui was once a servant, and Wang Yun, Shi Sun Rui, etc. punished Dong Zhuo, and later was killed by Zhuo's generals Li Dao and Guo Yan, so his name was important for a while.

Moreover, it was Hongfu who made a certain degree of modification and restriction on Chen Changwen's Jiupin Zhongzheng, and the appointment of officials was mainly based on the imperial examination. Zhongzheng is supplemented and left alone. It is also stipulated that the central magistrate is independent of the local administrative system. However, it is under the jurisdiction of the central government, and the central government is subordinate to the secretary and superintendent. Moreover, Zhongzheng is a separate position, and cannot concurrently serve as another official, so Lu Kuan, who is scattered at home, has to be awarded this position.

It is really a clear position, it is not a complicated drama, but it is easy to accumulate popularity, and it is a county of scholars. Who dares not to slap him with a shy face, Lu Zhongzheng.

Let's say that this time, Martin Ma Zi bowed under the guidance of Marven and invited Lu Kuan from the county town to prepare a generous gift, in order to evaluate the four village children who were about to take the exam. Originally, the duty of the central magistrate was to evaluate the scholars in the jurisdiction, but what is a scholar? Not everyone goes to public school, so there is no exact list, but how should it be evaluated? Therefore, under normal circumstances, Zhongzheng only cares about the eunuchs or the children of the family, as well as famous teachers and apprentices, as for other scholars, you have to come to me in person to sign up. As for whether to comment or not, it depends on the old man's mood.

Although the martial arts Ma clan also claims to be a famous family. However, he has not been a eunuch for many generations, and he does not have much prestige in the county - the big clan may not be a family - Lu Kuan has never bothered to take care of it. It was Martin who prepared a generous gift to invite the Zhongzheng official to the village - in fact, the children should be allowed to take the initiative to go, but Martin felt that if he could get Zhongzheng to perform in his own house, he would be able to shine in the court, so he made a reluctant request.

But it doesn't matter, as long as the gift is rich enough, Lu Kuan, who is over 70 years old but is not dazzled or deaf, and does not have much official business to handle, can take this trip as a leisure.

Let's say that the four children made a big gift to Lu Zhongzheng, and then lined up in a row, arching their hands and standing upright, as if there was a column of goods waiting for buyers to choose on the shelves. Lu Kuan casually raised his eyes and glanced at it, and saw the one on the far right who was seven feet three inches tall, with a white face and no beard, a clear appearance, and a graceful demeanor, he couldn't help nodding and raised his dove cane to point: "It's a child who looks like a middle-......-upper."

Martin hurriedly pointed to the little man standing on the far left: "This dog too." ”

Lu Kuanxin said I thought that the first one to stand was your son - the Han Dynasty Guidong was inferior to the west, and the north of the court official was to pay homage to the Son of Heaven, and the right was the east, so he was used to respecting the right; Lu Kuan thought that Martin would list his son first, so he said a good word by the way, but he didn't expect the children to be automatically sorted by year, and Ma Qi was the youngest, but he was listed on the left.

So take a look at Ma Qi Ma Boyong, who is younger, shorter, and a little more than six feet, with a baby face, slightly darker complexion, and a flat nose and thick lips. But after all, it was Ma Qi's father who invited him to come, and he couldn't directly denounce it as an "ugly thing", so he had to say vaguely: "Yijia'er also." ”

The four children are arranged according to their age, from right to left, the first is said by Lu Kuan to be "good-looking" is Chen Xuan, the second is the son of Ma's small sect, called Ma Xia, the word Dehua, the third is Ma Jun, and the fourth is Ma Qi.

Among them, Chen Xuan's appearance can barely be called handsome, and the other three are all middle-class people, or even more - especially Ma Xia, who is seven feet tall and seven feet horizontally, with fat cheeks and wide mouths, big ears and wind, Lu Kuanxin said Is this a person? Is it a wild boar that has become a sperm? Look, the so-called descendants of General Fubo are not very good on the whole.

Martin asked the children to sign up one by one, and Lu Kuanxin said that if you want to give your Ma family a little face, it seems to be very difficult-as far as you give that gift, I can't say anything against my will. Well, let's move on to the next step – ask the right question.

As soon as he heard that he was going to ask the right question, Ma Jun panicked on the spot, and couldn't help but set his eyes on Ma Ben, squeezed his eyes, and asked this uncle, who could take care of himself, to help cover up. Ma Ben naturally knew Ma Jun's problem, in front of strangers, he was still a Qianshi official, he could report his name completely without stumbling, then it was already the end, and he had to ask a few more words.

So he took a step forward, first threw himself to the ground towards Lu Kuan, and when he raised his head, he smiled and said: "The boy Qianren caught the Weishui fat carp, and cut it to wait for Zhongzheng, this thing can not be left for a long time, and I am afraid of losing its freshness - if you ask the right children, I am afraid of hurting the spirit of Zhongzheng, and I am mistaken for food, and I will make them write correctly, and Zhongzheng is the first to eat?" ”

Ma was able to invite Lu Kuan to move his toes, and the main temptation was "Weishui Fat Carp", because after investigation, he knew that this Lu Zhongzheng loved fish tart, and it was as if he was dying. So Ma Ben said, I'm afraid that the fish will not be fresh if it is left for too long, so you should eat it first, and you don't have to ask it in person. How about a casual debut question for the children to answer in writing?

Lu Kuan listened. What the. Ready for the tray? Then hurry up and bring it up. As for asking the right question, it doesn't really matter, and the question - he really can't think of any topic for a while, even if he originally intended to ask the right question, he just wants to casually ask what books you have read and which teaching you have received. After a little hesitation, he simply - "How can Jingyi be right in a few words?" But the scriptures are to be recited, and each one is written silently for me to see. ”

casually said: "Sex." Juqi willow also, righteousness, Ju Zhu also; Take human nature as benevolence and righteousness, and take the willow as the canopy. "This is the book of Mencius. A sentence in the "Confession", Lu Kuan said, you start to be silent from here, just write in front of me, and when I finish eating, see how much you can write, whether there is any mistake - "Take the Jian'an Stone Scripture as its original." ”

Because he said in his heart that he would let the children write the Analects silently. It's a little shallower, and I write "Li", "Yi" or "Shangshu" silently. But it's deep, that's me bullying people. In recent years, Zheng Xue has risen, it is Hongfu who preaches "Mencius" everywhere, if you don't learn Mengzi, it is estimated that even if you go to the imperial examination, it will be difficult for you to pass the examination, so you will write "Mencius" silently to me to take a look.

Hearing that it was written silently, Ma Jun couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief, and finally let his heart hanging in the air slowly fall.

So Ma Ben slapped his palms, and a servant brought the table. Lu Zhongzheng met a large plate of fish tart, white as frost and snow, as thin as cicada wings, from the side of the lacquer plate along the spiral straight stack to the center, he couldn't help but move his index finger, and hurriedly lifted the chopsticks - as for how the children wrote silently, they didn't even bother to glance at the corners of their eyes.

This meal was really enjoyable, and he ate heartily, and Martin and Ma Ben next to him even rummaged through the wine: "The fish is cold, and it needs to be accompanied by hot wine so as not to hurt the body - Zhongzheng, please, please." Finally, after eating and withdrawing from the banquet, the old man was already red, his eyes were foggy, and he sat on the couch and shook again and again. Martin hurriedly beckoned the servants, and helped the prince sleep peacefully in the bedroom, and naturally there were also beautiful maids to offer - it doesn't matter if the old man has the energy to enjoy it for the time being, but as the main family, this gift must not be lost.

When Lu Kuanlin left the main hall, Ma Ben followed and asked: "What is the silent text of the little children?" Lu Zhongzheng remembered the matter at this time, and waved his sleeves casually: "But, you can seal it first, and wait for me to judge tomorrow." So after seeing off the old man, Ma Ben went to check the "Mencius" written by the four teenagers.

He himself has no knowledge, and he can't see whether the silent writing is accurate, but he just compares it, but he sees that Ma Jun writes the most, more than ten pages - in fact, he has started from "sex, like a willow", and has finished all the remaining chapters of "Mencius" silently, so tired that the five fingers of his right hand are trembling - followed by Chen Xu, and the third is Ma Qi, only Ma Xia wrote the least, and changed it in many places.

Ma Ben said that this would not work, and called the servants: "Quickly take Mencius." "Tell the four children to compare the books, and if there are any mistakes, they should be corrected, especially Marsha—" and re-copy it, so as not to miss this great opportunity. Ma Jun arched his hand at Ma Ben: "In the middle of the night, if the kid doesn't return immediately, I'm afraid that his mother will worry - even if there is a mistake, it's just two or three words, and please retire." ”

Ma Ben frowned at him and asked, "Are you really that sure?" Well, whatever you want, go home as soon as you want. Ma Jun hurriedly said goodbye and left, but he couldn't help but slander: It's so late for nothing, I haven't even eaten the evening food yet! Why don't you reward me with the rest of what Lord Zhongzheng eats...... However, Uncle Ma Ben had already helped him a lot today, and he was embarrassed to ask for food again.

Early the next morning, Lu Kuan woke up from a hangover, said goodbye to Martin in a daze, and returned to the county town by car. It wasn't until that evening that he remembered what was going on, so he called the servant to fetch the answer sheet that Ma Ben had put on before he left, and read them one by one. Although three of the four children are crooked melons and cracked dates, fortunately, there is still a merit in the endorsement, and there is basically no mistake in this silent writing.

Looking at the text carefully, Ma Jun and the others are only in the middle of the peace, but Chen Jun wrote a good official book - but it is useless. Critics, one looks at the talent, the second looks at the morality, the third looks at the family background, the four weak-crowned teenagers in Ma's Estate, even if they can write the whole "Mencius" silently, they don't necessarily have much talent, as for the morality, it is even more invisible, what about the family background? It doesn't seem much better......

But after all, people invited themselves to a good meal, Lu Kuan knew it very well, so he hurried to invite himself to go over and evaluate the four people, in order to add points to the imperial examination in the near future, but if they were rated inferior, there was no possibility of adding points. So he pinched his nose and rated Ma Qi as a middle-of-the-middle, and the other three were all middle-of-the-middle.

This is the apex of his authority, if he really wants to evaluate the middle or even the top, once the court reviews it, I am afraid it will not be able to get out of it. In order to avoid favoritism, it is stipulated that the officials of the secretary or the electoral department are appointed to patrol the states and counties every year to review the evaluation of the Zhongzheng, especially the Zhongzheng officials are all natives of each county, and their clansmen and in-laws cannot be evaluated, and they have to wait for the above-mentioned officials to come down and evaluate.

Below the middle and middle school levels, even if Shangguan comes to trial, he has something to say - after General Fubo Ma Yuan, even if he is from a high-ranking family, I give a little more points, can you still find anything wrong? (To be continued......)