The Bookish Scholar of the Red Mansion

After leaving Lin's house on the 24th, I walked and stopped all the way. When I returned to Shanxi Village, it was already March. Wang Xianming, who is over 50 years old, has a feeling that time flies by and I am already in my twilight years.

As the slow carriage entered Shanxi Village, the cool spring breeze blew slowly and played with the door curtains, bringing with it the faint sound of reading. The voice was so ethereal, it could not help but bring Wang Xianming into beautiful memories.

When the carriage stopped, Wang Xianming couldn't wait to lift the door curtain, and then he got out halfway, and then he retracted like a ghost. He only bumped into Ms. Liu who was about to get up behind her.

How can a person of such age be so impetuous in his work? Ms. Liu steadied herself and did not pay attention to the strange look on Wang Xianming's face. He raised the curtain and stepped out of the carriage.

Then, Mistress Liu enjoyed the scene of being watched and saluted by more than a dozen pairs of eyes.

Ms. Liu herself was dumbfounded. What happened? Why is it that someone blocks the door to my home when I go out on my own?

That's right, this place is Shanxi Village. The house with the fence is the door to your own home. The lock on the door was bought by her herself.

The group of people surrounding her were naturally students from the county. Everyone was stunned when they saw a woman coming down. He quickly stood up and saluted, and another older man stood up and asked, Excuse me, is this the frame of Mrs. Wang?

Ms. Liu nodded subconsciously, confessing her mistake on the spot.

There was a burst of suppressed cheers from the crowd, and the leader continued to ask: May I ask if your wife is Mrs. Liu?

These two words woke Ms. Liu up like an electric shock, and she saw a cold look on her face. She wrote down this person's face. He said in a cold voice: It's me, I dare to ask you all here - what are you doing here?

These people didn't seem to understand Mrs. Liu's expression at all. They just saluted again and shouted in unison: Welcome Master and Mrs. Madam home. I have been waiting here for a long time. Please accept us.

Damn it, even Liu, who claims to be the best among women, is all waxed at this moment.

The dumbfounded Ms. Liu looked at the group of students bending over to bow, and had to raise her hand to knock on the carriage. Old man, come down, I'm not here to seek revenge.

Someone hiding in the carriage had no choice but to obey his wife's orders and slowly climbed out of the carriage. Right now.

Dong dong dong.

There was a distant and near sound of gongs, attracting everyone's attention. A kid still wearing crotchless pants ran and beat the gong while carrying it. He was followed by a few older ones, who were also beating gongs and drums, shouting: Welcome to the return of our mentor who is the head of the county examination case. village.

Double Happiness, Chen Qi, what are you doing? Mistress Liu shouted at the two leaders. These two idiots also sell people easily.

Shuangxi wiped the runny nose and said, Brother...it's the eldest brother.

It was rare for Qisuo to see Liu getting angry, so he had no choice but to raise his hand and point somewhere behind him.

Well, now even Wang Xianming knows the culprit.

Second and Third Son, I understand your purpose of coming. It's just that I'm a little tired today, so why don't we let our couple take a rest. We'll have to choose a time tomorrow. Let's sit down and discuss it in the long run.

Wang Xianming said to the students, if they heard what the elder said, there was no reason why they should not agree. They all took their benches and said goodbye.

After they were all gone, Wang Xianming turned to Shuangxi and Qisuo with a dark face and said, Let that evil disciple come to see me immediately.

…………

…………

Even if Chen Heng wanted to continue hiding, he had to come after his mentor ordered him to do so. He was smart when he arrived. He brought some dried fruits from home. As soon as he entered the room, he started to smile. He helped Liu make tea and moved a stool for Wang Xianming. His attentiveness was called diligent.

After silently watching his disciple finish everything, Wang Xianming spoke up: Evil disciple, why don't you come and sit down.

Well, wait until I finish the work before you speak. Chen Heng twitched the corner of his mouth, raised his sleeves to wipe the sweat from his forehead, turned around and sat down with a smiling face.

Is this all your fault?

Wang Xianming asked sharply.

If you don't take action at this time, you won't be able to have a good time before the government examination. Chen Heng had already made a plan in his mind. He took out the script that had been rehearsed for several days and said, Master, I'm sorry, I am indeed half to blame for this matter. Please allow me to explain it slowly.

Then he told the truth about what happened in the county one by one. When Chen Heng said that he was 'stopped and asked' who his mentor was in the inn. Although Wang Xianming's face was calm, Chen Heng could tell from his twitching beard that the master was also happy inside.

So you got the county's first verdict?

Seeing that the Master's tone had softened slightly, Chen Heng was convinced. He stood up and saluted, saying, Fortunately, I have lived up to my destiny. I have lived up to Master's teachings and lived up to the expectations of my elders.

Wang Xianming was silent for a long time before he laughed uncontrollably and said, Okay, okay.

The old man couldn't help but think of the scene when he returned to his hometown in frustration more than two years ago. Compare it to that day and look at today. He immediately understood the artistic conception of the spring breeze and the horse's hoof disease.

After laughing, Wang Xianming realized that he hadn't picked up his disciple yet. He quickly stepped forward to hold Chen Heng's arm. Looking at his growing body, he couldn't help but tell him: You have to do well in the next imperial examination. Be prepared. And don’t relax just because of official rules.”

Chen Heng nodded in agreement. He had a calm temperament. Wang Xianming was also very relieved about this and naturally he would not say any more.

Seeing that the atmosphere was restored to harmony, Chen Heng cleverly changed the topic to Yangzhou and asked about Wang Xianming's experience during his trip. Wang Xianming also had this intention, so he told his disciples what happened in detail after concealing Lin Ruhai's name.

Reading and reading should not only read a collection of classics and history, but also broaden your knowledge. If you can't do this, you will be just a bookworm in the end. Chen Heng was huddled in Shanxi Village, and after all, the world he could see was limited. Naturally, Wang Xianming would not miss every opportunity that opened his eyes.

When Wang Xianming told what happened in Lin's house, Chen Heng listened with excitement and thought to himself: Businessmen nowadays are really having a hard time. Fortunately, he chose the path of studying.

After the master finished explaining the plan of the magistrate and others, Chen Heng couldn't help but also commented: What a trick to ask you to put yourself in the jar and borrow a knife to kill someone.

Wang Xianming picked up the tea cup and took a sip, and continued: The life of the salt merchants in Yangzhou will only become more and more difficult in the future. I think the prefect dares to plan like this, and the imperial court's intentions are inevitable behind it. When you go to take the imperial examination, you must Pay more attention to this.”

Disciple understands. Chen Hengshen agreed and decided to stay away from these people when he saw them in the future.

Wang Xianming told some more jokes about salt merchants before turning the topic to Chen Heng's future path and comparing the Chongzheng Academy in Jinling with the academy in Yangzhou.

This Chongzheng Academy has been famous all over the world for a long time. As early as the previous dynasty, it was a place that Jiangnan scholars yearned for. Since Dayong was founded, most of the Jinshi who passed the examination in Jiangsu came from it. It's just that this academy is very difficult to get into, and most of the places that can be admitted in a year are taken up by children of aristocratic families in Jinling.

For this reason, bad reviews have often spread in the past ten years. I often heard that the disciples in the academy were engaged in cockfighting and horse racing, and I didn't know if the teaching there was still as focused on teaching as before.

Jiangsu's culture and education have been sluggish in recent years, and Chongzheng Academy wants to take half of the blame.

As for the Yangzhou Academy that is being rebuilt, although its predecessor is not famous, it now has the support of the prefect. Sitting behind the prefect was the imperial court, which was like a raging fire, quite ready for a big fight.

After listening to what Master said, Chen Heng had already made up his mind, but he still asked Wang Xianming what he meant first, What do you think, Master?

The advantage of Chongzheng Academy is that it has been famous for a long time and has produced many Jinshi. After you enter, you will have more friendships with the same students in high school and official circles. And when the academy examinations begin, the imperial examinations will start to be very different. I will tell you about this. Passed. Chongzheng Academy has been immersed in it for a long time, who knows what secrets they have.

It's just that the fees of Chongzheng Academy are quite high, which is what I'm worried about. Compared with it, if you can get into the top ten in this government examination, as long as you intend to enter Yangzhou Academy, the academy will waive certain fees. I just don't know about the academy. What level is Master, and can he teach you with all his heart?

Chen Heng nodded, he understood what the Master meant. The imperial examinations of the Great Yong Dynasty were somewhat different from those of the previous dynasties.

If the county examination and the government examination are regarded as advanced primary school literacy graduation, then the college examination will start with the knowledge points of junior high school, high school and university, and the difficulty can be said to rise rapidly.

Taking the college examination as an example, those who are interested in obtaining the title of scholar must study books such as Nine Chapters of Arithmetic and Dayong Law because these are required questions. Ordinary old boys, if they don't learn well themselves, how can they teach their disciples.

Only a place like Chongzheng Academy, which has rich and successful experience accumulated from generation to generation, may really have the skill of carp leaping over the dragon's gate.

After the academy examination, a wide range of questions will be asked on the Dayong Law in the provincial examination. Strange cases and important cases collected from various places will appear on the examination paper for the scholars to judge.

Because with the title of Juren, as long as there is someone to support him, he can go to a local place and become a county magistrate to enjoy his official life. If a parent official doesn't even understand these things, he will become a faint official who cares little about human life.

Chen Heng also really embarked on this path, and then he realized that the so-called imperial examination was not like what he had seen in past novels, which was based on the Four Books and Five Classics from beginning to end.

At each stage, there will be books to read at each stage. How can the national talent appraisal ceremony recruit stupid scholars who only know how to do this?

Just like the classics and meaning questions in this county examination, students' talent and effort in reading are considered. Starting from the college examination and the provincial examination, the gradually increasing policy questions are to measure the students' knowledge and ability.

The selection process was carried out step by step, and it continued until the examination, the gathering of the best among the best. Those who can pass the exam are all top-notch students in the world.

Otherwise, how could there be such a thing: the sordidness of the past is not worthy of praise, but the dissolute thoughts of the present have no limit. The spring breeze is proud of the horse's hooves, and one day I see the poem of Chang'an flowers.

Chen Heng turned his head and thought carefully before saying, I want to go to Yangzhou Academy.

Although Wang Xianming was not surprised, he still asked: Why?

Chen Heng said with a smile: Living in Jinling is not easy.

Wang Xianming fell into silence and sighed, finally understanding Chen Heng's considerations. It is indeed extremely difficult for children from farm families to study. He was still thinking about the pros and cons of the two academies, but Chen Heng had to consider which place to live, which would put less pressure on his family.

Thank you book friends for your support. Newbies and new books will receive your approval. It also relaxed my anxious mind a lot, and I felt less nervous about writing. I went out and took a look, and we were ranked 29th on the list of new works by newcomers in the history category. Hahahaha, I feel a little proud.

Let’s all follow Chen Heng to uncover the drama in Yangzhou.