Mao Peng listened to it and knew that the examiner was laughing at him, and he was very unconvinced, so he said correctly:

"White water is a spring, and every day is growing."

It means, don't judge people by their appearance, my knowledge is like a spring, every day is like a day, and it will never dry up.

Yan Song listened to it and thought, this young man's literary style is not bad, I don't know if he understands current affairs? I'll give him another sentence and test him. So, he groaned again:

"Short-sighted can read and write,"

It means that if your eyes are not good, how can you pass the test? In fact, it is a hint: If you want to be admitted, you must go to a dignitary, I wonder if you have this vision?

Mao Peng is so shrewd, when he saw the examiner chanting this sentence, he knew that he was enlightening himself. also said casually:

"There is no gold to hope for fame."

means to tell Yan Song: I know the rules of this officialdom. Since I have come, I have prepared enough gifts for accommodation.

As soon as Yan Song heard that there was gold, his small eyes immediately emitted green light. I had the intention to let him in, and I thought about it again, now there are many powerful people in the capital, and the examiner is not me. If he votes for someone else, I won't be busy in vain! Then he groaned:

"Four mouths in the same picture, the inner mouth is from the outer mouth,"

It means that as soon as the door of the exam room is closed now, you will not be allowed in, only in my words.

Seeing that there was hope, Mao Peng replied respectfully:

"Five people share an umbrella, and the villain is all covered by adults."

It means that I am a small test taker and I missed the exam room again. My fate and future are all in your hands, and I hope that the examiner will take care of me and be thoughtful.

Yan Song saw that Mao Peng had submitted to him, so he happily asked the doorman to open the door and let Mao Peng enter the examination room.

In order to thank Yan Song for his kindness, Mao Peng went to visit him after coming down from the examination room.

At that time, the field was dark, and it was difficult for candidates to pass the exam if they did not defect to a powerful person. Even if you are in the middle, there is a big gap in the arrangement of official positions.

At that time, Yan Song was very powerful in the court and was the chief examiner. Mao Peng's defection to him caused a lot of discussion. Especially Tian Lun, Gu Du, and Liu Di, who had just bowed on the road, persuaded him: "How did you go to such a big traitor?" Forgot the oath we made on the road?! ”

Mao Peng said wittily: "Our oath is true, but my visit is before the win." ”

Tian Lun said angrily: "You are still a literati, why are you so discredited?" ”

When Mao Peng saw that the three of him had confessed the truth, he smiled and said, "Three young brothers, it is precisely because of the oath on the road that I did this." You see,"

Mao Peng pointed to the lotus flowers blooming in the pond, "The reason why this lotus is lush is because the sludge at its roots is fertile. This lotus can come out of the sludge without being stained, are we not as good as a mustard? ”

"You mean to use his power?" Tian Lun said.

"Yes, if the eldest husband wants to make a career, he can't learn without real talent, and he can't do it without a certain foundation. Now, Yan Song holds the power of the DPRK and the Central Committee, and if he takes refuge in him, he will be promoted quickly.

"I'm going to use his power to stabilize my feet and do what we're going to do. He raped () I don't () adulterous, so what's the harm in taking advantage of him? ”

After this time, Mao Peng, Tian Lun, Gu Du, and Liu Di all won the Jinshi. Mao Peng was appointed governor of Shanxi and Henan; Tian Lun granted the prefect to be made up at home; Gu Du credit Yangzhou Zhizhou; Liu inscribed the magistrate of Cai County. Only then did he deduce the famous Peking Opera "Four Jinshi" in history.

Governor of Henan

Mao Peng has a classmate named Feng Lianshi, the two went to school together when they were young, and went to the exam together when they became adults. Mao Pengzhong became a magistrate; Feng Lianshi Lianjie Jinshi became a state official. After taking office, Mao Zhixian rode a little donkey to meet Feng Zhizhou.

At this time, Feng Lianshi was full of ambition, so he patted Mao Peng's shoulder and said arrogantly: "Mao boy, Mao boy, don't say that you are riding a little donkey, even if you are a tall horse, you can't catch up with your Master Feng." ”

Feng Lianshi's words made Mao Peng ashamed and embarrassed. Mao Peng asked angrily: "What if I catch up with you?" ”

Feng Lianshi said contemptuously: "If you can catch up with me, I will give you forty miles across the sedan car." ”

"Really?"

"Seriously!"

"Definitely?"

"Definitely!"

"Okay, I'll tell you to have this day sooner or later!"

In a fit of anger, Mao Peng resigned and went home, studied hard for three years, and went to take the exam again. This year, he really passed the Jinshi examination and was appointed as the governor of Shanxi. He heard that Feng Lianshi was the prefect of Henan, so he asked the emperor to supervise Henan. The emperor will play.

Mao Peng led his entourage to Henan. When he arrived at the Henan border, Mao Peng said to the sedan chair: "If there is a sedan chair, you just have to go, ignore him." ”

The news that Mao Peng was admitted to the Jinshi and was appointed governor of Shanxi and Henan reached Feng Lianshi's ears. In feudal society, there is intrigue in officialdom and strong revenge.

Feng Lianshi regretted what he had said. Thinking about it again, if he is a classmate, he may not really call this real child. When he received the notice from Mao Peng to inspect Henan, he went to the reception hall with the psychology of seven points of courage and three points of luck.

Seeing that Mao Peng's official sedan chair was coming majestically, he led his subordinates to the hall to greet him. Mao Peng had already said that he was not allowed to lift the sedan chair, and he continued to move forward.

Feng Lianshi saw that Mao Peng refused to appreciate his face, and knew that he still remembered the gap, so he had to go up to the sedan chair according to the foreword. Who knows, the sedan chair does not show up, and the sedan chair bearer does not say a word. Governor Feng had no choice but to hold the sedan pole and follow the sedan chair forward.

At that time, the officials were all dressed in court robes, pedaling court boots, wearing jade belts around their waists, and walking in a figure of eight. Feng Lianshi wore this court dress, and followed the sedan chair drivers to go, where can they eat! Especially the pair of court boots, the soles of the boots are half a foot thick, and they are crooked step by step.

After walking a short distance, he twisted one off. One high and one low couldn't go, so he simply took off the other one and threw it away, and ran barefoot with the sedan man. After running for a few miles, I was sweating profusely and dizzy and my legs were wooden.

Mao Peng in the sedan chair felt that he was angry enough, opened the sedan curtain, and pretended to be surprised and said, "Oh, isn't this Brother Feng?" Get off the sedan quickly, get off the sedan quickly. ”

Then he walked out of the sedan chair, hugged the panting Feng Lianshi, and said in a very regretful tone:

"Look, why is this coming? You and I were telling jokes at the beginning, how do you take it seriously? Supposedly, I should have thanked you first. If it weren't for your joke, I wouldn't be where I am today. ”

Feng Lianshi was so tired and ashamed that he got typhoid fever after he went back, and died in a few days. Since then, the surnames Mao and Feng have formed a feud and vowed that the two surnames will never intermarry. This tradition continued for hundreds of years until the eve of liberation.

Impartially enforce the law and punish the three evils

During Mao Peng's patrol in Henan, in order to understand the people's situation, he disguised himself as a fortune teller to visit the people privately.

One day, in a dense willow forest, I saw a young woman crying to a young man, her voice sad and desolate. Mao Peng was afraid of a grievance, so he rushed over and asked for the reason. And the woman began to weep and weep, and to speak.

It turned out that the young woman's name was Yang Suzhen, a native of Shangcai County, Henan. Married husband Yao Tingmei. Half a month ago, Yao Tingmei suddenly died of poisoning. Su Zhen saw that her husband's death was unknown, so she went to the county government to complain.

When the county magistrate led the staff to conduct an autopsy to solve the case, a paper bag containing arsenic () frost was found in the room of Yao Tingmei's brother Yao Tingchun.

At this time, the facts of the case have been revealed: it was Yao Tingchun and his wife Tian who poisoned their younger brother Yao Tingmei for property.

As soon as the Tian family saw that the matter was exposed, he gave a gift to the county magistrate with some silver, and on the other hand, he brought out the name of his mother's brother Tian Lun, saying that her brother "is in high school, and he has become a prefect, and he will take office immediately." If the county lord can use his place, just speak. ”

It's okay that this Tian family didn't mention Tian Lun, but when he mentioned Tian Lun, he suppressed the county master. It turned out that this county magistrate of Shangcai County was one of the four jinshi who swore an oath in the Shuangta Temple-Liu Di.

As soon as Liu Di saw that the case was spread out on Sister Tian Lun's head, he was on fire under his buttocks - he couldn't sit still. Judge the case impartially, and Tian's younger brother Tian Lun has a sworn friendship.

Moreover, Tian Lun's official position is two grades greater than him. If Tian Lun is to blame, dismissal or removal is a matter of his words; Corrupt the law, and there is an oath first: "Take a coffin, go home on your back." ”

Liu Di looked at the silver sent by Tian's family, and his heart and eyes were crooked a lot, and he was sentenced to "Yao Tingmei, a citizen of Yi, died of poison because of a quarrel with his wife Yang Suzhen." "Push the blame on the deceased and close the case.

Yang Suzhen was not convinced, and several times she broke into the county government to find Liu to reason, but was blocked by the officials. Tian took the opportunity to woo Yao Tingchun and sold Yang Suzhen to Nanjing cloth dealer Yang Chun as his wife at a high price.

Yang Chun wanted to take Su Zhen back to Nanjing. Su Zhen did not avenge her husband, and secondly, she did not agree to this family affair and was unwilling to walk with Yang Chun. Therefore, crying to Yang Chun in this willow forest to complain about his grievances, he happened to be met by Mao Peng.

Yang Chun listened to Yang Suzhen's story, shook his head and said with a pause: "Then Yao Tingchun only said that he sold me a young and beautiful woman, how did he know that there were so many grievances?" If I had known this, I would never have forced you to go with me. ”

Mao Peng was very angry when he heard this. said to Yang Suzhen tentatively: "Listening to what you say, do you still want to fight this lawsuit?" ”

Yang Suzhen said with tears in her eyes: "If you don't take revenge, the little woman will not be a person." ”

Mao Peng said: "Okay, just say this to you, I, a passerby, also want to help you." I'll write you the complaint. After that, he said to Yang Chun: "What do you mean? ”

Yang Chun patted his chest and said, "Sir, please rest assured, you can help someone who has nothing to do with you, can I still sprinkle salt on her wounds?" Although I bought her at a high price, between good and evil, money is a bastard. ”

As he spoke, he took out Yang Suzhen's deed of selling her body and tore it up. continued: "Let's not talk about the past. She was a young woman, unaccompanied and unable to walk. I would like to be a brother and sister with her, and accompany her to sue the scum who have lost their conscience. I don't know what happens to Su Zhenyi? ”

Yang Suzhen saw that she was busy kneeling and bowing. Yang Chun stepped forward to help, and the two became brother and sister from then on.

When Mao Peng saw this, he was very happy and wrote a pen. said to the two: "You can't go to Shangcai County." I've heard people say that Lord Gu Dugu, the governor of Xinyang Prefecture, is a clean official, and if you go straight there, you may be able to win the lawsuit. ”

Yang Suzhen took the case, thanked Mao Peng, and went straight to Xinyang Prefecture with Yang Chun.