Time flies like a white horse, and in a blink of an eye, it is July of the eighth year of God's blessing.

The autumn festival was held on the ninth day of the eighth month as usual, and after the seventh day of July, the imperial court announced the list of the main and deputy examinations of the provincial and township examinations.

As for the Henan Township Examination at the feet of the Son of Heaven, according to convention, it will be announced seven days before the exam.

On the second day of August, after the list of Henan Township test examiners came out, Yang Yuanzhen, who was then the son of Zuo Chunfang of the Hanlin Academy, was taken aback.

Because the chief examiner of the Henan Township Examination this time is none other than himself.

There is a way to take the main exam once, and benefit for life, this is absolutely true, and the main examination of the township examination is a hot and good errand.

If two or three hundred people are admitted to one subject, they all have to call the examiner "teacher", and among so many students, there will always be a group of students.

You don't need to be a cabinet minister, you are an ordinary middle-level cadre, and that is also a valuable connection.

Therefore, every time in autumn, the court officials are eager for the position of the chief examiner of the township examination.

If it weren't for Yang Yuanzhen, who was born in the Hanlin Dynasty, with profound qualifications and a reputation for integrity, I am afraid that he would not have been selected by the Zuo Shilang of the Ministry of Rites who was in charge of this matter.

However, after receiving this good errand with face and lining, Yang Yuanzhen couldn't laugh anyway.

Why?

Because Henan is the place where Gyeonggi is located, there are many powerful and wealthy families, and princes and princes are all over the place.

No matter how perfect the anti-cheating measures are, it is difficult to prevent these people from crossing the sea, each showing their magical powers, and there are always loopholes to exploit in front of them.

In fact, since the founding of this dynasty, Henan and Jiangnan townships have tried to cheat the most.

Every year of the township examination, it is not uncommon for candidates and their families to do their best, go through the back door, and pull relationships.

This is also why the examiner of each Henan Township Examination has to be announced so late.

It's just to prevent someone from knowing the candidate in advance and doing something about the secret joint!

Therefore, on the day he received the order, Yang Yuanzhen was placed under house arrest, and he didn't even return home, so he was directly loaded into an airtight carriage and taken from the Hanlin Academy to a closed courtyard to meet with the deputy chief examiner and the fellow examiners.

Everyone met with a burst of greetings and complaints, and when all the examiners arrived in the afternoon, the proposition group of this Henan Township Examination was officially established, and they began their own proposition work.

It took a full three days, first drafted and discussed by the examiners, and then the chief examiner Yang Yuanzhen finally made a decision, and the three questions and four questions of the five scriptures to be tested in the first session of the township examination were finally prepared.

There is a sentence in the scientific examination room, which can be used in the township examination and the general examination, that is, "the first of the three is the first, and the first is the first".

The first four-book question is the most important of all the questions in the township examination, and it plays a decisive role in the final score of the candidates.

Therefore, the proposition group headed by Yang Yuanzhen can be said to have considered again and again on this exam question.

In the end, Yang Yuanzhen set the first four-book theme in line with the principle of not seeking surprise, but seeking no fault.

After handing over the Jingyi questions of the first session to the sergeant guarding the guard, Yang Yuanzhen spent two more days formulating and handing in the examination questions for the next two sessions.

Then there's the boring waiting.

Until the day of the official arrival of Qiuqiu, Yang Yuanzhen and other examiners could not take a step out of this courtyard.

……

When Gu Tingye, Sheng Changfeng, and Qi Heng arrived at the examination room, it was just after the fourth watch, the sky was still dark, and the air was even colder.

Looking at the Great Zhou Gongyuan in front of him, thinking of the things he had experienced these days, Gu Tingye had mixed feelings in his heart.

Gu Tingye studied at the White Deer Cave Academy in his hometown, and the children's exam was also taken there, so it stands to reason that he should have gone to Jiangxi to take the township exam.

However, when Gu Tingye was about to leave for Jiangxi, he unexpectedly received news from Bianjing, and his son Gu Yankai had already found a way to transfer his student status to Bianjing.

In other words, Gu Tingye was "immigrated by the college entrance examination" before the township exam.

The reason is very simple, the probability of Jiangxi Township test Chinese style is 150 to 1, while the probability of Henan Chinese style is 20 to 1.

The gap between them is self-evident, which is why there are so many candidates who impersonate the exam.

As for officials in Beijing, no matter where they are from, their children can take the imperial examination in Beijing.

It's not written, but it's always been the case.

The Son of Heaven also has a tacit attitude towards this.

There is no way, if you insist on driving all the children of Beijing officials back to their hometowns for the exam, I am afraid that if you make a will, Bianjing City will be able to turn into a pot of porridge immediately.

can only continue this unwritten rule, and it should be a preferential treatment for Beijing officials.

Although the Gu family is the family of Wujue, they have taken root in Bianjing for many years and are also a member of the Beijing officials, so Gu Tingye can naturally enjoy the preferential treatment of the examination in Beijing.

It's just that Gu Tingye Gu Tingye had an awkward relationship with his family before, and went to study at the White Deer Cave Academy in his hometown in a bad mood, and later even took the children's exam there.

Gu Yankai hated Gu Tingye on weekdays, and he didn't have a good word in his mouth, so he couldn't wait to expel him from the house.

It's a bit of a traditional Chinese father's repressive education, but Gu Yankai's actions are even more suffocating.

But no matter what, Gu Yan still misses Gu Tingye's son in his heart.

Seeing that Gu Tingye had arrived at the threshold of his life in the township test, Gu Yankai finally couldn't help but make arrangements for Gu Tingye, and asked him to find someone to transfer his school status from Jiangxi to Henan.

After Gu Tingye heard about this in Yuzhou, he was stunned for a long time, and kept complaining about his father's self-assertion.

But Gu Tingye rarely experienced his father's care and love for him, and although he complained, he couldn't help but be secretly happy in his heart.

In the end, he silently accepted the result and was finally willing to return to Bianjing.

Wei Chen understood Gu Tingye's inner feelings very well, but he was still quite speechless about Gu Yankai.

He clearly loves his son, but he always wants to show his father's love in a violent way, so that the relationship between father and son is like hatred, why bother?

In May, Gu Tingye set off from Yuzhou and returned to the Ningyuan Marquis Mansion in Bianjing.

The results were unsurprising.

Gu Tingye, who had just returned home, was beaten hard by his father Gu Yan.

Gu Tingye had just kindled a little hope in his heart, and he was looking forward to the beautiful scene of his relatives meeting with joy, and after this experience, he was naturally sad again.

Coupled with the fact that Xiao Qin's family and others fanned the fire on the side, Gu Tingye was angry, and lived in a small courtyard set up by the Bai family outside Bianjing City, and then he never wanted to go back to the Ningyuan Marquis Mansion unless it was necessary.

Fortunately, although Wei Chen is not there, Gu Tingye still has Sheng Changbai, a close friend, in Bianjing.

Sheng Changbai came to visit Gu Tingye's courtyard from time to time and talked with Gu Tingye about some scriptures and articles, which finally made the disheartened Gu Tingye barely have a smile on his face.

……

"Bang! Bang! Bang! ”

Three earth-shattering cannon shots brought Gu Tingye's thoughts back to reality, and the sergeant guarding the door slowly opened the gate.

Then three more cannons rang out, and the gate opened, and three more times, the dragon gate opened.

A total of nine cannons rang out, and since the last Spring Festival, the Great Zhou Gongyuan, which had been closed for two and a half years, was finally reopened to the world.

Seeing that the entrance of the Gongyuan began to enter in a queue, Gu Tingye hurriedly handed over the "Tanwenlu" in his hand to the stone beside him and asked him to keep it.

Qi Heng on the side was also the same as him, handing over the book in his hand to Buwei.

Only Sheng Changfeng was empty-handed, and when he saw Gu Tingye and Qi Heng's actions, he said with a smile: "Zhong Huai, Yuan Ruo, this is going to charge, why are you still grinding your spear?" ”

"Zhong Huai is also your name?"

Gu Tingye glanced at Sheng Changfeng lightly: "I have a relationship with Xingyun's peers, and since you admit that you are his disciple, you should call me uncle!" ”

Sheng Changfeng said disapprovingly: "Besides, how can there be an uncle and nephew who have tried in the same township, won't it make people laugh if they spread it?" ”

"You!"

Gu Tingye was so blocked that he had nothing to say for a while, so he could only glare at Sheng Changfeng viciously, trying to overwhelm him in momentum.

Sheng Changfeng had a surging smile on the corner of his mouth, and he looked at Gu Tingye so fixedly, without falling behind at all.

Gu Tingye couldn't help but sigh when he saw this, and then he remembered that the third child of the Sheng family in front of him was no longer what he used to be, and he was no longer the little kid who followed Sheng Changbai and his ass.

In the past few years, Sheng Changfeng and Qi Heng have already relied on their talents to learn and become famous rising stars in Bianjing.

Because he studied with Wei Chen and Sheng Changbai under Mr. Zhuang Jun of Qingteng, and they have all succeeded, they are considered to be the "Four Great Talents of Zhuangmen" by good deeds.

As soon as this statement came out, it was immediately recognized by many people, and it was talked about by Bianjing Shilin, and even Wei Chen and Gu Tingye heard it in Yuzhou.

Of course, Wei Chen didn't care about this, but Sheng Changfeng and Qi Heng always denied this statement.

They have always respected Weichen as a teacher, and they asked themselves that the gap between them and Weichen is like a firefly compared to Haoyue, where do they dare to be tied with Weichen.

Seeing that Gu Tingye and Sheng Changfeng were staring at each other and not letting each other go, another "talent" hurriedly came out to play a round

"Second uncle! You're too foolish. The second brother of the Sheng family and you, as well as Mr. Xiao, are all friends of the same generation, how can Changfeng be commensurate with you as an uncle, isn't that generation all messed up? ”

Gu Tingye knew that he was at a loss, so he snorted lightly at the moment: "It's okay, I can't afford a junior like him, or if my nephew agrees with me, the second uncle will definitely love you well in the future." ”

As he spoke, Gu Tingye reached out and patted Qi Heng's shoulder, with a kind face.

Qi Heng opened his mouth in astonishment, but after all, he didn't say anything, and immediately turned his head to count Sheng Changfeng, who was watching the joke on the side.

"I know you have a good memory, and you have memorized all the hundred and twenty articles. But how broad and profound is Mr. Xiao's "Talking Notes"? It's not too much to read it a hundred times!

What's wrong with me and Second Uncle Gu reviewing this book before the exam, it's your turn to talk here? That is, the little gentleman is in Yuzhou, if he sees you like this, he will definitely clean you up! ”

Hearing that Qi Heng carried Wei Chen out, Sheng Changfeng's heart sank at the moment, he smiled wryly, and hurriedly interrupted: "Okay, okay, if you have anything to say after the exam, let's talk about it after the exam, it's not too early, let's enter!" ”

Seeing Sheng Changfeng running away with the test box in a daze, Qi Heng could only shake his head helplessly, and called Gu Tingye to follow quickly.

At this time, the sky was dawning, the Longmen Cave was opened, and the candidates rushed in according to the roll call order.

When passing through the area where Yuzhou Shizi was located, Gu Tingye's pace suddenly slowed down a little, and his expression was slightly dignified.

Qi Heng and Wei Chen had a lot of correspondence, and when they saw this, they immediately understood what Gu Tingye was thinking, and said with a smile: "Don't worry, second uncle, you have read Mr. Xiao's "Tan Wenlu" yourself more than once, don't you know how powerful it is?" ”

Gu Tingye couldn't help but smile and nodded when he heard this, and immediately quickened his pace, caught up with Sheng Changfeng with Qi Heng, and joined the queue of candidates from Kaifeng Mansion together.

This time, the luck of the Kaifeng Mansion Sect was not very good, and the lottery was quite backward, and the candidates of Kaifeng Mansion waited for more than an hour before they heard the angry shouts of the prison officials in front of the gate.

"Kaifeng Mansion candidates enter!"

Gu Tingye, Qi Heng, and Sheng Changfeng were all in good spirits when they heard this, and slowly entered the gate with the queue.

After entering, the candidates, regardless of whether they are rich or poor, will be undressed and naked.

Even if Gu Tingye and Qi Heng are marquis in one family and duke in the other, they will be treated equally when they come here.

After the search, the candidates rearranged their clothes and test boxes, and under the guidance of the scribe, they found their own rooms and sat down.

Put down the examination box, put the pen, ink and paper, the candidates all stretched out their heads to look out from the doorway, and the scribe began to send papers.

At this time, Gu Tingye found out that the person opposite Lao She actually knew that it was the middle-aged scholar who cried bitterly on the day of Wei Chen's lecture on the last day.

Gu Tingye remembered this person's name, Guo Jin, Gu Tingye also knew that this should be the fourth time this person has participated in the township test.

When Gu Tingye noticed Guo Jin, Guo Jin also saw him, the two looked at each other, smiled encouragingly at each other, and then they both lowered their heads and began to complete one of the most important exams in their lives.

Guo Jin got the packaged test papers, and his palms were full of sweat.

Failing the list three times in a row has already made him disheartened, and this time he regrouped to take the test, but after meeting Wei Chen that day, it aroused a trace of unwillingness in the depths of his heart.

Guo Jin is a native of Shenyuan Town, Mi County, and he borrowed the "Tanwenlu" in the Yixue Library of Shenyuan Town seven or eight times, during which he copied the content of the entire set of books by hand, word by word.

Guo Jin knew that in Yuzhou, there were still many scholars like him who had failed many times.

Everyone regarded the thick set of "Tan Wenlu" as their last hope, like a sponge, frantically absorbing nutrients from it, just for that little chance.

Maybe this time, it's different......

Guo Jin took a deep breath and slowly opened the test paper, and the first question of the township test appeared in front of him.

"The villain is not good at idleness, he does everything, and when he sees a gentleman, he is disgusted, and he is not good, but he is good."

Seeing this exam question from the original text of the chapter "Sincerity and Meaning" in "University", Guo Jin couldn't help but be stunned, and then rubbed his eyes in disbelief.

Then, a wave of ecstasy welled up in my heart.

He actually did this question!

It's in the last part of the 120 mock exam questions!

Although the mock question only captures one of the passages, the meaning of the question is basically the same!

Guo Jin answered all these mock questions carefully, and revised his article more than once with reference to Wei Chen's explanation in the book and the sample text provided.

Later, during a lecture, Guo Jin was fortunate to get the opportunity of Wei Chen's personal guidance, and the question happened to be the question in front of him.

At that time, Wei Chen patiently pointed out the deficiencies in his article and proposed ways to improve it.

After Guo Jin went back, he revised the article according to Wei Chen's suggestion.

It was Guo Jin who was very impressed by this question.

Coincidental!

What a coincidence!

It's a coincidence!

Even among the Yuzhou scholars who have carefully studied "Tan Wenlu", Guo Jin dares to guarantee that he is also the only one of the scorpions!

At this moment, Guo Jin suddenly felt that he was extremely lucky!

He couldn't help but tremble all over, so excited that he couldn't even hold the pen, and his whole heart was surging, and he roared silently in the house, so that his face was hideous and terrifying.

If someone sees the scene in the dormitory through the doorway at this time, they will definitely think that this candidate has gone crazy.

Half an hour later.

Guo Jin finally forced himself to calm down, carefully recalled the article he had revised, and after a little silence, he dipped his pen in ink and began to solve the problem.

"To deceive the self-deceiving gentleman, the villain's intention is hypocritical!"