The Suncheon Enke exam is coming to an end. The chief examiner Yang Mingshi and the deputy examiner E Shan both breathed a sigh of relief. Historically, scientific expeditions have been selected in the spring and autumn seasons, nominally to implicitly "Confucius wrote the Spring and Autumn Period", but in fact, because these two seasons are neither hot nor cold, the cold and heat are moderate, and people from the north and south can adapt to it. However, the season at the turn of spring and summer is the most likely to spread the epidemic, and when three or four thousand test takers gather together, there is often a large number of diseases, which will directly affect the level of the candidates. Since Yang Mingshi and E Shan entered Thorn City in early April, they are most worried about this matter. Yang Mingshi bought large bags of licorice, reed roots, honeysuckle, and mung beans, and boiled soup in the east branch of the Gongyuan, and raised people to supply them for free every day. Eshan believed in the gods, sacrificed to the plague god, burned paper money, and specially invited the Taoist priest of Baiyunguan to make Jiao in the transcription office, and the vinegar charcoal was set up in the No. 4900 board shed in the 70th district, so that the courtyard was full of cigarette smoke and vinegar incense. In short, everything has been done. Fortunately, no one was infected with the disease. Seeing that the two people will be released tomorrow, the hearts of the two people who have raised high have been put down. In the afternoon, the two of them went to the test area to inspect together, and then went to the eighteen-room test officer room to have a look, and returned to the Zhigong Hall in the northernmost district, and couldn't help but smile. E Shanyin was pondering when he saw Yang Ming, and asked, "Yang Gong, what are you thinking about this time?" "Oh, I'm thinking about the rolls recommended by each room, and I've read the first thirty volumes, and I've paid them all off. What I'm worried about is that the file will be re-examined. It is not easy to recommend each room, and it is not good to bend it. Eshan smiled disappreciably: "My lord has tried several times, but he has not been able to do it as well as this time." If you have to be unyielding, I'm afraid no one will be able to do it. We have done our best, and we have not taken bribes, which is called worthy of the emperor's grace and worthy of the scholars. He got up and took a stack of ink scrolls on the desk and browsed, and said with a smile: "This kind of thing is really not good to eat or to look at, but if you don't pass this level, you can't be an official, it's really incredible!" ”

Yang Mingshi got up and paced, and sighed with a smile: "This is pertinent. However, according to my opinion, the eight-strand text is not useless at all. Zhang Juzheng and Hai Rui of the former Ming Dynasty, Xiong Cixu, Fan Wencheng, Xu Yuanmeng, and Lu Longqi since the Qing Dynasty are all famous ministers and officials who rolled out of the eight shares, aren't they also the annals of Gongbiao! Eshan was about to answer, when he heard a noise in the supervision and examination hall outside, frowned and ordered Goshha: "Go, call the supervision and examination hall to inspect it!" Before the words fell, the supervision and inspection had already strode in, and Yang Mingshi asked: "This is the holy land of the National Talent Ceremony." Who's out there to spread the wilderness? ”

"Back to the examiner, there is a move to the court!"

"What is he going to do?"

"He invited the two examiners to have an interview!"

Yang Mingshi and E Shan glanced at each other, they had never seen such a bold and reckless person. Yang Mingshi said coldly: "Tell him to come in." The inspection really brought in a young scholar, and said to the two examiners: "Late student Li Shiyao meets the teacher!" ”

Yang Mingshi asked, "Do you know that you are messing around?" ”

"What is nonsense when a late student asks to see the examiner as a test taker?"

"I didn't say your 'begging' was nonsense. You're out of the ordinary, asking for an interview on your own. If everyone is like you, where is the legal system of the country and the system of the court? - Come on! ”

"In!"

"Drag it to the invigilation hall and blame forty boards!"

"Wow!"

A few Goshha pounced on him, and when he saw Li Shiyao standing still, he was stunned. Li Shiyao laughed loudly, pointed at Yang Mingshi and E Shandao: "Non-named corporal!" Why do you drag, where is the insulator hall? I'll go on my own! So saying, he staggered after Goshha. Eshan looked at his back in disgust and said, "This man looks like a madman! ”

"It's a madman." Yang Mingshi said while flipping through the ink scrolls recommended by the examiners of each room, and sure enough, there was no Li Shiyao, and said with a smile: "I must be thinking that I want to lose my name to Sun Shan, so I am in a hurry, so I will make a fuss with ingenuity." As he was talking, a eunuch ran over panting from the Mingyuan Building in the Dragon Gate, and E Shan said: "Gao Wuyong is here, I'm afraid there is a will." ”

The two walked out of the court together. Yang Mingshi was just about to ask, but Gao Wuyong said: "The emperor is here!" It's already outside the dragon gate. Quick, open the front door! Yang Mingshi was taken aback and asked:

"What do you say? You repeat! ”

"The emperor has come to the Tribute Courtyard!"

Yang Mingshi and E Shandeng were so excited that their faces turned red, and they turned around and went back to the public hall to get a big hat and put it on, and came out to order: "The examiners of each room inform the candidates that they are not allowed to leave the examination shed without permission, otherwise they will be removed from the name and will not be loaned - fire guns, open the middle door, and welcome the holy car!" ”

After a while, he saw that Emperor Qianlong had taken a public opinion outside the Thorn City, accompanied by Zhang Tingyu and the three military ministers of Ortai and Neqin. Yang Mingshi and Eshan hurriedly knelt down and kowtowed.

"Get up!"

Qianlong seemed to be very happy, shaking a Xiangfei plain paper fan in his hand and looking forward to it while walking. Before going to the hall of Mingyuan Building, he looked up at the heavy eaves and arches with peeling paint, and said, "What year was this building built?" ”

"It was built in the second year of Wanli in the former Ming Dynasty." When Ortai saw Yang Mingshi, he and Eshan looked at each other, knowing that they couldn't answer, so he hurriedly smiled and said: "Kangxi overhauled once in the seventeenth year, and it was originally intended to be used for erudite Confucianism. Later, the Holy Grandfather tried to change the temple in the Taihe Palace; Didn't use this place. Qianlong pointed to the small building west of Mingyuan Building with a fan and asked, "What is that building for?" "That's the watchtower." Yang Mingshi accompanied him and hurriedly explained: "It's not to prevent thieves, I'm afraid of passing entrainment inside and out, and it's just a sign of strict guarding." Qianlong laughed when he heard this. Yang Mingshi saw that he was very interested, and he walked all the way to point, which was the seventy districts of the east and west houses, the east side of the supervision and examination hall, the sealing, receiving the volume, and the supply of three schools, the two reading and transcribing schools, and what is the Huijing Hall, Yanxi Hall and so on.

Qianlong nodded and smiled as he listened, and sighed, "It's too old." It's not as good as Nanjing Gongyuan! Hengchen, ask the Ministry of Rites to check how much silver is needed for all repairs, and those that should not be saved cannot be compromised. The tribute envoys of the Rakshasa Kingdom and the Hongmao Kingdom saw me last month, and wanted to admire the civilization of the Celestial Empire. I've been here before. This is the place where the face of the court is faced, and if your face is dirty, you have to wash it quickly, isn't it? Zhang Tingyu hurriedly said: "The holy worry is extremely good! Qianlong turned his face to the two main exams of E and Yang again: "This subject was selected in the summer, and you came safely without illness or disaster. ”

"It's inevitable in any subject." Seeing Qianlong looking at himself, E Shan hurriedly bowed down and said with a smile, "Three thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven people who took the test for filial piety and honesty will inevitably be uneven, and a total of 42 cheaters who have been entrained, replaced, and passed on have been found, and there are five who fell ill halfway and did not quit before the end, and now there are 3,820 people in the field." Yang Mingshi said with a smile: "There is also a roaring court, and those who ask for an interview will be expelled from the examination room." Then he told Li Shiyao about the trouble that went to court.

Qianlong had already stepped into the public court, and when he heard this, he felt fresh, and said: "This filial piety is not small. Call me to take a look. He didn't sit down, stood in front of the desk and looked at the ink scroll, and several ministers were standing on the right side of the Confucius tablet. Qianlong picked up an ink scroll and looked at it, and asked, "Is this a recommendation?" E Shanjian saw that he had seen it, and said busily: "Yes." I don't know which room in the West District, and it's about the number of 'Yuan'. It wasn't opened, and the minions didn't know who it was. Qianlong looked at it intently, and the title was "Zi Wei Yan Yuan said that if you use it, you will do it, and you will hide it". The writing is mellow and upright, and it is very good-looking, so I watched it, and picked up the pen to change the word "俟" in the text to the word "serve" before putting it down, and asked, "What about the volume?" Yang Mingshi hurriedly pointed to a large cabinet against the wall on the east side of the hall and led Qianlong over. The rolls are stored according to the eighteen provinces, prefectures, counties and states, and each volume is marked with ink sticks, and the stacks are arranged very refreshingly. He is a caring person, but he can pretend to be careless, take out a copy and look at it and put it back. When I came to the column of Taikang County, Xinyang Prefecture, there were only two copies in the grid, Qianlong took them out, looked at them, and removed the seal. The first one was the volume of "Wang Zhenzhong of the River Temple in Taikang Town", and I took it. I looked at the bright place in front of the window and thought that the text was not bad, but there was a place in it that was carried out in the wrong place. Qianlong didn't send it back to the original place, and when he returned to the case, he put his head on the stack of rolls that Yang Mingshi had taken, and then sat down. Seeing that Li Shiyao was already kneeling outside the court, he asked:

"Are you Li Shiyao? What do you have to dare to roar in this court? ”

Li Shiyao saw Qianlong checking the papers, dozens of officials inside and outside stood quietly with bated breath, thinking of Tianwei at hand, his heart couldn't help but panic. When Qianlong spoke, he felt a little calmer, and kowtowed again and again: "Back to Long Live Lord's words: filial piety can compose poems, and Bagu Wen can also be written." But I was always unhappy after taking the exam three times in a row, and I didn't know why, so I asked for an interview and didn't dare to roar. ”

"The Son of Heaven now attaches great importance to articles, why should Er Cao talk about the Han and Tang Dynasties." Qianlong said to Yang Mingshi with a calm face: "You found out his ink scroll and showed it to me-the country's scholars have always been based on the art of the times, and they can recite a few crooked poems, so arrogant?" The two examiners were handled very fairly. But if you want to interview, and you meet me, you also have your blessings. I don't test your poetry, nor do I test your writing. You boast of being talented and proud, so I asked you, how many places in the "Four Books" say 'Yangyang'? ”

Li Shiyao kowtowed to the ground, his eyes were stunned for a while, although this question was out of the four books, but it did not come out of the scope of the four books, and he said "I don't know" categorically, so he had to search his intestines and scrape his stomach, and replied in a deep voice: "There are ...... 'Yang Yang is like the chapter of "Shi Zhi"; there is "Yang Yang is like the chapter of "The Mean, Ghosts and Gods"; there is ...... "Yang Yang is like the chapter of "The Mean, Dazai", ......" He hesitated and stopped.

"Is there still 'Yangyang'?"

“…… Few. ”

Qianlong smiled and said, "It's hard for you." There is also a place that happens to be 'less is more than that'! At this time, Yang Mingshi had already found Li Shiyao's ink scroll. Qianlong saw that it was a thin gold character, hard and straight, and only the pen was weak, and he couldn't help laughing: "The lack of Zhongqi must be formed outside, which can be said to be like the person." He looked at it again and asked, "Li Shiyao, I asked you what 'Zhong Weng's Vultures Tomb Road' is in the volume—what is 'Zhong Weng'?" ”

Li Shiyao was proud of his talent, and he was already discouraged by Qianlong in front of him, and hurriedly said: "'Zhong Weng' is a stone statue standing on both sides of the tomb. "'Zhong Weng' is the 'second master'!" Qianlong burst into laughter, "Do you know that it's called 'Weng Zhong' and not 'Zhong Weng'?" As he spoke, he wrote a book on Li Shiyao's volume. Eshan was close, but when he looked at it, it was a poem:

How did Weng Zhong become a Zhong Weng? Er's article owes the husband credit.

Now he is not allowed to be Lin Han, and he will be punished to Shanxi for the judgment!

After writing, he got up and said to Yang Mingshi: "I'm gone, you still have to cook for a few days, and then hand over the sign and talk." ”

The two sent Qianlong away and immediately returned to the public court, because seeing that everyone had not dispersed, Yang Mingshi said: "First go back to each room, and I will discuss with Lord E before putting the dragon gate." Then he called Li Shiyao in. Li Shiyao's arrogant state had been swept away at this time, and he knelt down when he entered the door, and said: "Two teachers, ......" He didn't know what Qianlong had written on his scroll, and his voice was actually trembling.

"Do you dare to see no one now?" Eshan asked.

"Don't dare." Li Shiyao's face was pale, "I don't want to enlighten those little boards for the teacher." It's really a waiter who doesn't learn and doesn't know how to do it, and he is embarrassed in front of the Holy Lord. Baume & Mercier is not shallow! Not beat around the bush. I entered school at the age of twelve, and I was the first Xiucai in the county examination that year, and the first Xie Yuan in the township examination at the age of thirteen. Only Gong students were admitted to three subjects in a row, and they didn't even get on the sub-list! I thought that it was a great pleasure in life for a young man to get the first, the Golden Palace's countermeasures, and the male to talk about the world's affairs, but I didn't know that it would be so difficult to try! The generals of the defeated army dare not speak of war, and they are willing to return to their hometowns to study for another ten years! E Shan smiled: "It seems that there is no need to be so discouraged. Virtue is like the sea, and it is also a blessing to take a bath. Go ahead, we'll read your papers. ”

Yang Mingshi had been reading Qianlong's poem, and when he saw Li Shiyao going out with his buttocks covered, he sighed: "This person is blessed, he is a true Jinshi!" E Shan smiled and said: "Song Gong, how to rank him!" Yang Mingshi said: "He was originally in the scroll." Fouls should have been punished. The emperor punished him for 'not being a Hanlin' and went to Shanxi to be a general judge. The general judgment is from the seventh grade, and the genuine brand Jinshi is only distributed to this position. Considering the Sacred Heart, it must not be ranked in the 'Tongjinshi'. Therefore, it is advisable to place around sixty or seventy places. He picked up the copy that Qianlong had changed again, and said, "This one is naturally the first volume." ”

"That's it." Eshan said, "The emperor has changed the volume!" - What about this Henan Wang Zhenzhong? Yang Mingshi couldn't help but smile and said, "I dare to say that we have presided over the least number of joints in this department." Unexpectedly, the emperor personally selected three tributes. This is an outlier. Wang Zhenzhong's seal has been opened, so there is no need to transcribe it, and it is placed in front of Li Shiyao. ”

At that moment, the two examiners discussed the list of recommended papers for a while. Apart from these three volumes, nothing else has changed. Both of them used private seals on them, sealed them with fire paint, and covered them with tribute courtyards, and placed them in front of Confucius's tablet. Yang Ming ordered the eighteenth room to be judged, and the prefects of the five two halls and two halls came to the public hall, knelt three times and bowed nine times to the tablet of Confucius, and handed over the sealed list of tribute students to the tribute dean and immediately submitted it to the Ministry of Rites. At this point, the Enco ceremony has come to an end. Yang Mingshi led the group of officials out to the public court, looked at the red sunset in the west, and said with a sigh: "Open the dragon gate and let go!" ”

There is a fixed number of tribute students in the scientific field examination, and since two new ones have been added, two must be squeezed out. Although there is no fraud in this Keenke, who is willing to want favors in the ink rolls recommended by the examiners to the court? Le Min took the exam in Jingzi No. 2, and felt that the three articles were done seamlessly, and the examiner also came out with a recommendation paper, which was expected to be a must, but when the list was released, it did not even make a sub-list.

Returning from Tiananmen Square, Lemin's legs were weak. The people who ordered at the same table at the Gaojin Restaurant, Zhuang Yougong was at the top of the high school list, and Ji Xiaolan was ranked fourteenth. The most out-of-the-lime Qian Du, both himself and He Zhiquan are named Sun Shan. What now? The exam is over, and there are no friends who speak the same voice to comfort each other; The hometown hall is closed, and there is no way to borrow; Where to go for pumping? is back to Wuchang, and his family has long been separated. Le Min, who vowed not to take fame and not return to his hometown, what face does he have in front of his family?

After standing in the hot square for an unknown amount of time, Lemin realized that all the people who watched the list were gone, and he was the only one left. He subconsciously touched his sleeve, and there was a string of small money growing in it, which was quietly stuffed by the kind-hearted fifth aunt when he left his hometown. With such a small amount of money, even the cheapest small board house in the Dalang Temple can't live for ten days. Le Min was hungry at this time, and sat on a stone bar under the big locust tree, thinking about where to go next. But I saw a man carrying two barrels of rice wine to rest and cool. The man put down the barrel, pulled up his shirt and sweated, and took out two sticks and noodles from the lid of the barrel, as well as a piece of salted mustard gnocchi, and ate it with taste, and the pickles rattled with a clatter. From time to time, I scooped half a scoop of wine from the barrel and drank it with a sizzle. Seeing Lemin looking at him in a daze, the man smiled and said, "You can see at a glance that you didn't get the lottery in this subject." Come on, reader, don't be so dead like a mother, talk about it when you have wine and food to eat! Saying that, he sent a dumpling, tore half of the pickles and handed it over, while scooping up the wine, he said: "I am full and homesick, and I am not sad when I am drunk, come on!" ”

"This ......" Lemin was already hungry, and hesitantly took it, and said, "How is this embarrassing?" The man smiled heartily: "Where don't you meet in life?" The wine belongs to his mother's owner, and if he doesn't drink it, he won't drink it for nothing. The bread is not even worth a penny, and it is already poor, so where is it still poor? Lemin thanked him again, ate the gluttony, and drank half a scoop of wine. The man who sold wine shouted to a fat old man selling meat opposite, "Butcher Zhang has a piece of braised pork without hair." Come over and have some wine, our host—his grandma, it's not bad! ”

Zhang Butcher said loudly over there: "Done!" I'm hungry - my damn mother-in-law somehow hasn't asked Xiaoyu to bring me food yet! As he spoke, he cut a piece of fatty pig's head meat, ran over happily, and said with a smile: "Which owner has found your living treasure and poured blood mold." Six-six, take another piece of bread - this scholar, how about this subject? ”

"Ashamed ......"

"What's there to be ashamed of?" Although Zhang Butcher the white knife and the red knife came out, he was kind and kind, shook off the mulberry paper and spread the meat on the stone, and said with a smile: "Thousands of people have entered Beijing, how many are proud of the spring breeze?" Can you do it? Come, eat, eat! - Look at your dress, are you a flag man? Those who eat the emperor's grain, who are worried! ”

Le Min couldn't help but feel sour in his heart, and only said vaguely: "Our family is in the hands of Yongzhengye. The banner people are also divided into three, six, nine and so on...... "He stopped talking, but just ate meat and drank wine. The three of them seemed to realize their respective identities at this time, so they didn't say anything more. I was drunk like a whirlwind.

Everyone was gone, but Lemin was still sitting alone on the stone, still undecided, where to go. Suddenly, I felt a faint pain in my stomach, and melon, rice wine, pickles, stick noodles, and fatty meat were all stirred in my stomach. He touched his hot brain, and realized that he was not sweating at all. Le Min stood up in shock, his waist was not tight, his stomach was full of food pouring up and down, his heart was extremely uncomfortable, he couldn't hold back anymore as soon as he bowed his body, "Wow-" sound, the filthy filth spewed out, and the smell was even more disgusting. He thumped his chest until he spat out the sour and bitter yellow water, and then he felt a little useful. As soon as he stood up straight, Lemin's eyes were full of gold, and his hand holding the locust tree was as soft as mud. He didn't even stumble a step before he fainted......

When he woke up again, he found himself half-lying on the clay kang of a small, dilapidated house, stripped of only a pair of underwear. Beneath him was a shabby bamboo mat, with a bamboo lady under her head, and a medicine bowl, a spoon and a banana fan on the kang table. There was nothing else in the house but that. He blinked, wondering where he was and how he had come here. I didn't have a clue when I thought about it, so I simply didn't want to. Seeing that there was leftover tea in the bowl, Le Min got up with one arm and took a sip of tea, feeling that the numb was cold and cold, it turned out to be mint water, and he lay back again. At this time, a shirtless boy lifted the curtain and looked at it, and shouted outside: "Daddy! That Xianggong woke up! ”

"Hey, come on! - Maomao, you go to the backyard to help your sister clean up the pigs. Tell your mother to cook a bowl of noodles and cut them finely! As he spoke, he saw a fat old man, dressed in shorts and a white shirt on his upper body, walking in with his chest open. He was Zhang Kuiming, who sold meat, and shouted when he entered the door: "Maomao, sue your mother that the noodles are not oily, and they don't want to ...... at all." Hey, Xianggong, you're awake! Zhang Kuiming's flat face with a tired smile, sat on the edge of the kang, as if he was fanning himself and Lemin, approached and looked at his complexion, and said: "You are suffering from heat stroke, the illness is not big, but you are in a hurry - the ghost door is closed and you have walked for a while!" What do you call Xianggong? ”

Le Min remembered, struggled for a while, was held down by Zhang Kuiming, and said, "Don't, your body is weak!" He fanned again. Le Min was lying on Mrs. Bamboo, the cool breeze came one by one, and his body was cool, he looked at Zhang Butcher gratefully, and said, "Save your life...... My name is Lemin...... It was the son of the former Hu Guangbu political envoy Le Geying...... "so his father was robbed of the treasury and went to Beijing alone to take the exam, also known as Luosun Mountain, and told in detail."

"It turns out that Master Le is a noble son!" Zhang Kuiming's eyes lit up, and then dimmed, "I believe what you say." It's uncomfortable, this world is like this...... It's just that I heard you say that you don't even have a relative, and it will take three years for the next subject and first class, what are you going to do? ”

Before he could finish his sentence, a girl walked in from outside, holding a large bowl of noodles in her hand. When Le Min looked at it, he saw that she was tall and tall, wearing a moon-white embroidered piping coat, the pulp was clean, and the facial features on the melon seed face were upright, very delicate, and only a few freckles on the sideburns. smiled, and there were two shallow wine vortices on his face. Le Min suddenly remembered that he was still shirtless, and when he grabbed his hands behind his back, there was nothing. Zhang Kuiming said honestly: "This is my daughter Yu'er." ”

"Listen to my father! How can anyone still be sick and ask them 'what are you going to do'? Yu'er was very refreshing, stacked the medicine bowls, tea bowls, and spoons together, put the noodles in it, looked at her father coquettishly, and said: "No matter how you plan when you are sick, you can't plan anything if you are sick, don't you say that you want to find a gentleman to teach his baby young master?" Recommended! Otherwise, help our family keep an account or something, but only three meals, and then he should take the exam! As he spoke, he shouted, "Mom! You're here to feed this Le-master! As soon as he put away the medicine bowl, he turned around and went out. In a blink of an eye, he came in again and threw Lemin's clothes on the kang: "Put it on!" It's dirty, and you've probably never washed your clothes in your life! ”

This girl is so rough and arrogant, Le Min who is sick can't help but smile and say, "Big sister is a good talent!" Zhang Kuiming said honestly: "We are poor and have no tutors, we are all used to her - I should go to burn the braised pot." It's hot, and you can't delay. Old woman, why is it so slow? Then I saw an old lady walking with her little feet twisted and said, "Come, Amitabha!" ”

Lemin stayed at the butcher's house.