At the end of the second lunar month of the fourth year of Shaosheng, this day is sunny and beautiful, and it is the day of the provincial test list!

On the south wall of the Gongyuan, a place where many literati are haunted by dreams, laughing and crying, the admission list of the Jinshike Provincial Examination was announced on the south wall of the Gongyuan. On this day, the city was full of wind and rain, the hearts of the people were boiling, the whole capital fell into a restlessness, the scholars rushed to the tribute courtyard with excitement, and all kinds of people also gathered to the tribute courtyard, like a torrent hitting the shore. Three years of hard work in the present day to blossom and bear fruit, success is both achievement, defeat is discouragement, as the so-called half of heaven is half of hell, people's hearts are floating, the tide of thought is surging.

Wu Zhi had also gotten up early, although he didn't feel the need to be so nervous at all, but last night he was still tossing and turning, with a lot of thoughts and couldn't sleep. After washing, he ate breakfast slowly, Xiao'e, Pan Wei, and Wang Er were all anxious and eager to move. After eating breakfast, at their urging, Wu Zhi went out with them unhurriedly and headed in the direction of Gongyuan.

Along the way, there were crowds of people surging in the direction of the Gongyuan everywhere, talking and laughing in twos and threes, walking together.

Wu Zhi lived not far from the Tribute Courtyard, and after a short time, they slowly walked to the vicinity of the Tribute Courtyard, they couldn't go faster if they wanted to, there were too many pedestrians, and they couldn't go fast one after another, and Wu Zhi was not in a hurry. The result is already doomed, and it is the same if you know it sooner or later, so why rush it.

When I came to the huge open space outside the Tribute Courtyard, I saw that there was already a sea of people in front of me, and all kinds of people surrounded the south wall of the Tribute Courtyard.

Standing on the periphery of the crowd, Wu Zhi suddenly discovered an interesting phenomenon: outside the crowd, groups of well-dressed wealthy businessmen and gentry gathered in twos and threes, including men and women, old and young, all standing in front of the sedan chairs of each family or in front of the carriages and ox carts. Wu Zhi's heart moved, and he suddenly realized, it turned out that these were all here to prepare for "catching a son-in-law under the list"!

At that time, the Great Song Dynasty, it was very popular to "catch a son-in-law under the list", many rich and noble eunuchs in order to find a fast son-in-law of Chenglong, on the day of the provincial test list, they stayed under the list of the south wall, and the Jinshi on the list, especially the top Jinshi, will become the object of contention. This is how Ouyang Xiu and Cai Bian, celebrities of this dynasty, were arrested and became other people's sons-in-law.

Wu Zhi was a little hesitant when he saw this, but Xiao'e eagerly pulled him, so he had to squeeze into the crowd and move towards the south wall where the list was released. Pan Wei and Wang Er couldn't wait to squeeze into the crowd for a long time. They had just squeezed halfway through, when suddenly, the front was boiling like boiling water: "Here we are!" Here it comes! ”

The crowd of people suddenly surged forward like flowing water, crowding people to stagger, shouting and shouting. Wu Zhi had no choice but to protect Xiao'e tightly and slowly squeeze inside, which was very difficult.

In front of the crowd, the gate of the Gongyuan slowly opened in a dull creaking, and the officials of the Ministry of Rites in the door ran out with a roll of lists, and distributed them to the officials around them one by one. At the beginning of the front, there were roll calls and cheers from time to time, and the list had already begun to be released, and the provincial examination admission list was posted and announced at one time, regardless of before and after.

With a roll call, there will be bursts of cheers. When a scholar hears his name or sees his name, he smiles with joy and dances with his hands. And those who didn't hear their own roll call or didn't see their own name cried and mourned their faces, and even beat their chests and feet. On the south wall of the Tribute Courtyard, the sounds of ecstasy and exclamation, congratulations, sighs, and weeping and sobbing came and went. The flavors of life are vividly displayed at this time.

Subsequently, the wealthy businessmen and gentry who caught their sons-in-law began to take advantage of the opportunity to enter, some scholars gladly accepted, and some fled in the wilderness. The guards in front of the list are cold bystanders, as long as no one tears up the imperial list, they will not interfere, and they have the right to watch the show and talk about jokes.

After a lot of hard work, the four of them finally squeezed to the front of the crowd.

Wu Zhi and Pan Wei were slowly reading the list, starting to look for their names from the back. Abruptly, he first saw Pan Wei's name, the twenty-eighth place in the Ding Chouke Provincial Trial: Pan Wei of Qinghe County, Enzhou! Pan Wei also saw his name, and jumped up excitedly: "My God! I was lifted! ”

Wu Zhi's mind fluctuated a little, and he continued to look down according to his thoughts, and finally saw his name when he was close to the top of the list, Ding Chouke Province tried to win the tenth place: Wu Zhi of Qinghe County, Enzhou! His heart jumped, and his heart suddenly blossomed: "It's okay, scare me!" ”

He was also admitted to the Jinshi. Wu Zhi was finally able to start completing the third step of the plan.

was admitted to the list, and Wu Zhi was determined. He then took a serious look and found that this time the provincial examination was a scholar, a total of 569 people were admitted, and these 569 people were all lucky, and there were only two high school scholars in Enzhou, that is, Pan Wei and him.

In front of Wu Zhi's name, there are nine new jinshi, namely Liu Ji, Zhang Zhi, Antique, Gu Ge, Wu Xiwen, Hu Zhiru, Fang Tianruo, He Changyan, and Hu Anguo. Among them, the first place in the undergraduate provincial examination is Hu Anguo, a native of Chong'an, Jianning, 24 years old.

"He Changyan? Fang Tianruo? Juan Guo? Wu Zhi muttered these names, he felt a little familiar, but for a moment he couldn't remember who it was.

"Young Master is so good!" "Brother Da Lang is so good!" Wu Zhi was immersed in his thoughts, and the exclamations of Wang Er and Xiao'e sounded in his ears, and Xiao'e also grabbed his hand excitedly, shaking it constantly, and her face was full of joy.

Coming back to his senses, Wu Zhi touched Xiao'e's head affectionately, smiled, and calmed down, which was expected, sooner or later.

"Congratulations, Brother Xian!" "Congratulations, Brother Pan!" Pan Wei and Wu Zhi congratulated each other. Compared with Wu Zhi, Pan Wei was inexplicably excited, and he was a little excited that he couldn't find the north.

"Juan Guo! Who is Juan Guo? At this time, bursts of shouts exploded around Wu Zhi, and the crowd was in a commotion. He turned his head and found that there was a group of wealthy businessmen and gentry's family members pulling and pulling at a young man with extraordinary bearing, and a group of people were eyeing them, Pan Wei, Xiao'e and Wang Er's ecstatic appearance fully exposed Wu Zhi and Pan Wei's identity as new science and technology scholars, and they were targeted by their sons-in-law. Wu Zhi was startled, and hurriedly grabbed Xiao'e's hand, squeezed out of the crowd with difficulty with her, and fled the scene in a hurry.

Boy! The son-in-law is going to catch him! He has a deep affection for Jin Lian, and he can't be messed up by others.

After a while, Pan Wei and Wang Er also ran out of the crowd in embarrassment, Pan Wei was shocked, his face was red, and even the bun on his head was messed up, hanging diagonally.

"Brother Pan is not shallow, which woman do you fall in love with?" Wu Zhi joked with him with a smile.

Pan Wei looked at Wu Zhi with a wry smile and didn't say a word, he was still in a circle of surprise. At the age of twenty-two, he was admitted to the Jinshi for the first time in the Jinshi Kegongju exam! He was a little incredulous, like in a dream. Seeing Wu Zhi as if he was casually joking, he was in a complicated mood, although he was overjoyed, he was surprised and delighted.

After escaping from the Gongyuan, the four of Wu Zhi rushed back with a smile, and Pan Wei, Xiao'e and Wang Er were particularly excited. Xiao'e is more like a little magpie who can bring joy to people, and Wu Zhi has completely regained his composure and can talk and laugh freely. And Pan Wei was still a little in a trance, but he also smiled, he walked aside, looked at the calm and calm Wu Zhi, and his heart was mixed: "The half-old boy who is not yet nineteen years old is already a Jinshi and so on, and he can still be calm!" What a wickedness! ”

Pan Wei secretly sighed that his sister's vision was really good, and he was glad that he could trust him with the blessing that the carp jumped into the dragon gate. If it weren't for Wu Zhi's guidance, it would have been a bit difficult for him to get into the Jinshi exam this time.

Originally, when he went to Beijing to catch the exam this time, he didn't have much hope in his heart, he just wanted to try the water and accumulate some experience to cope with the second exam, but with the help of Wu Zhi, he was lucky to soar to the sky! Can he not be pleasantly surprised? Can he not be impressed? Wu Zhi became more and more mysterious in his heart.

When he left the Gongyuan, it was already a quarter of noon, and Wu Zhi was very happy to see everyone, so he proposed to go to the nearby Zhuangyuan Building to have a good meal, and at the same time celebrate the title of him and Pan Wei on the gold list. Everyone listened enthusiastically in support, and Pan Wei nodded again and again, saying yes, he is now in good spirits on happy occasions, and he can't wait to find a place to celebrate, Wu Zhi's proposal is exactly what he wants.

The four of them came to the front of the champion building, only to see the colorful flags flying in front of the champion building, which was very lively. The literati were calling friends to greet each other, coming in and out, some of them were struggling, smiling, and looking forward to the gods; Some were dejected, and their faces were like earth, and they were dragged inside.

There were a lot of people, and the shopkeepers were too busy to have a chance to greet Wu Zhi, so the four of them had to enter the door by themselves.

Good guys, as soon as I entered the building, I saw that the hall on the first floor was crowded, and almost every table was full of people, full of people, and full of people. In the staggered planning, all kinds of flattery and flattery are endless, and the people who are complimented are "happy together!" Rejoice! The toast was complacent, and the joy was in the face. Those discouraged and frustrated scholars were bowing their heads and drinking alcohol, sighing and weeping from time to time, and borrowing wine to dispel their sorrows.

Going up to the second floor, the hall on the second floor was already full. Helplessly, Wu Zhi and the four of them could only find an independent private room. Private rooms are more expensive, and on weekdays, literati who are shy in their pockets rarely book private rooms for dinner.

Sit down, order good food, see that everyone is happy, Wu Zhi also asked for a pot of wine, he wants to taste the taste of the current liquor, so that there will be a countermeasure in the future. Pan Wei was a little surprised when he saw that he asked for a pot of wine, because he had never seen Wu Zhi drink wine before, and today was the first time in the world, which was a bit strange.

While waiting for the food to be served, Wu Zhi finally remembered what the familiar feeling was just now: He Changyan, Fang Tianruo, and Hu Anguo were the champions, Bangyan and Tanhua of the Ding Chouke in the fourth year of Shaosheng in history; The protagonist of "One Door and Three Nobles, Famous Generations" praised by Zhezong Zhao Xu is the three people he saw on the list just now, Gu Gong, Antique, and Gu Ge, who are brothers of the same mother. A three-entry scholar can be regarded as an ancient anecdote!