The Bookish Scholar of the Red Mansion

Chapter 31 Making waves (Third update)

After everyone reviewed Chen Heng's test paper, they were about to disperse. Another examiner stood up eagerly and shouted: Sir, bachelor, don't be anxious. I also have a good article in my hand, which may be able to compete for the title of the leader of this case.

Wei Yinghong was overjoyed when he heard this and couldn't help but smile: It seems that there are many capable people in this subject. Bring it quickly, bring it quickly.

The examiner was overjoyed and trotted forward to deliver the examination paper. Wei Yinghong stood in front of everyone and took the article to read. First he kept nodding, and then suddenly shook his head.

The examiner was a little puzzled and asked, Sir, is there anything inappropriate in this article?

As an examiner, if you can have a case leader in your hands, there is no reward at all, but everyone is a scholar, and it is also interesting to go back and tell relatives and friends.

Wei Yinghong smiled, handed the test paper to Pei Huaizhen, and said, One thing is worth nothing. Master Pei, please also take a look at this article.

As expected, these candidates will all enter Yangzhou Academy in the future. Pei Huaizhen didn't show any humility and just pretended to meet these candidates in advance. After taking the article and reading it carefully, he said: This person has great literary talent, his words are gorgeous, and his meaning is reasonable, but his temperament is not enough. Ruhai, please come and read this article to see what I am talking about. no.

Lin Ruhai put down Chen Heng's article and took up Pei Huaizhen's article. After reading it, he smiled again and said: Master Pei, he should be punished to read more in The University in the future. But he can write such a thing in the imperial examination. His articles are enough to be ranked in the top three. He is also a talent that can be developed.

That's true. Wei Yinghong nodded, then pointed at the two examiners and said, You should also read each other's favorite articles, but don't say that the three of us are showing favoritism.

The two examiners said they didn't dare to see the three people in front of them. Two number one scholars, one the most beautiful man. One is a second-grade bachelor, a literary leader known as Bei Guo Nan Pei, one is the current prefect, and the other may be the next prefect.

They didn't dare to have any opinions. They just took the articles and read them to each other. The examiner who selected Chen Heng also understood the comments made by Pei Huaizhen and Lin Ruhai after reading the articles selected by his colleagues.

The crux of this article lies in 'Everyone has wings. Pull out people's hair and do what you want. It is difficult to pluck out one's own hair.

This method of solving the problem is also very subtle. After the examiner finished reading, he also felt that his lips and teeth were full of fragrance. In this case, why did Pei Huaizhen and Lin Ruhai say that he was not talented enough and needed to read more The University.

The examiner thought about the content of the university in his mind and immediately figured out the reason.

The way of a university lies in being virtuous, being close to the people, and striving for perfection.

After the new king ascended the throne, he strongly advocated Mencius' benevolent government and encouraged current scholars to apply what they have learned and take the country, the country, and the people of the world as their own responsibility. If these words in the article were spoken by ordinary people and businessmen, they would be excusable. But if it is said by a scholar who is interested in officialdom, it is not beautiful.

Compared with this article, although Chen Heng's article is slightly lacking in terms of wording, in terms of momentum and conception, it is really ahead of the other party. At this point, there is no need to argue about the title of the leader of the government trial case.

The two examiners looked at each other and knew the importance of Chen Heng's article. They bowed to each other and revealed the matter. He also invited Wei Yinghong to take down the name paper. Everyone knows that the scholar who wrote this article is: Cui Youdao, Xinghua County.

Wei Yinghong put Cui Youdao's and Chen Heng's articles together on the koan, which was regarded as recognition of their top three positions, and he only waited for the final ranking. After all, it is just a government examination, intended to select talents who can be created. The standards are naturally looser and more tolerant. They will not be as pretentious as the provincial examinations. If they go out of line even a little, they will be rejected directly.

Later, they were asked to wait for an article. Compared with Chen Heng's lofty intentions, Cui Youdao's analysis of the topic was exquisite. This article was like a cold long knife, striking the Yangzhou salt merchant bloody.

The article details the extravagance and corruption of the salt merchant, and also writes about his going to the salt merchant's house to obtain two hundred taels. This person said bluntly: Ordinary people can only save ten taels of silver a year through frugality. The behavior of the salt merchants is consistent with what is said in the poem: The rich wine and meat smell, and there are frozen bones on the road.

Why plucking one hair will benefit the world? If you ask me, you should pluck all their hair and let the world see their fat heads and big ears.

This article uses strong words and high emotions. Unexpectedly, this person's writing style is extremely good, and he can even curse people very pleasantly. Wei Yinghong came to Yangzhou this time to reform the salt policy. As soon as I saw this article, I was very happy and cried out in my heart. He directly placed it in the same position as Cui Youdao Wen Zhang in his heart. It seemed that the two of them were going to compete to the end and then judge who would be the second place.

There will be many deficiencies in future articles, so I will wait until all the test papers have been reviewed. Wei Yinghong sat at the top and looked at the article in his hand. He wanted to think carefully about the final ranking.

There is no need to mention the name of the leader of the case. Chen Heng's article will be used in the court to quarrel with others in the future. But for the second place, he had to think carefully about who to give it to.

Pei Huaizhen and Lin Ruhai sat down below, drinking tea by themselves. This kind of ruling is the authority of the prefect. Naturally, the two of them would not intervene verbally.

Wei Yinghong glanced at them and suddenly thought of something in his mind. Back then, Master Pei assisted His Majesty in ascending the throne, reforming the court system, and always acted in an open and cooperative manner. In the end, he was falsely accused and ended up resigning to his hometown.

When Master Pei left the capital, he and Ruhai came to see him off. At that time, Master Pei told the two upstarts in the officialdom, Haste makes waste in everything, and impatience will mess up big plans. I just didn't take this into consideration. You two We should learn from this in the future.”

Thinking of this, Wei Yinghong took up his pen and wrote the ranking on the yellow paper, then picked up the official seal and stamped it. After finishing the work, an official will take it away and prepare to post it at noon tomorrow.

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Chen Heng was sitting in the inn room. Although it was late at night with the moon above the treetops, Chen Heng was still a little excited because he had just finished the main exam during the day. At this moment, he was sitting in the room chatting with Brother Chen and the Shanxi brothers.

Due to the government examination, half of Yangzhou city was under martial law. During this time, these three people could not get much work, so they simply stayed in the inn to recuperate.

The main person responsible for the conversation was the cousins ​​from Shanxi, both of whom had the surname Zhang and were from a county under Hedong Prefecture. Chen Heng had never been to this place in his life, but when they said that Hedong was the hometown of Mr. Guan, Chen Heng immediately became energetic. Therefore, in ancient times, it was important to have a famous person in his hometown.

The brothers surnamed Zhang first told Chen Heng about the local operas in their hometown. They said that every time during the New Year and the festival, the opera singers would use their own unique skills: Shaozi Kung Fu, Chair Kung Fu, playing with paper flags, etc. They described it vividly. Most of his words are nostalgia for his hometown.

Chen Heng couldn't help but ask how long it had been since they went back.

Brother Zhang raised his hand and made a three sign.

His younger brother continued: Our county is full of mountains. When you open the window, you can see them one after another. It's like Yangzhou Mansion. You can't see the end at a glance. When the Lin family troupe in the east of the city was singing, they said that the mountains in the distance were like black clouds.

If they like mountains so much, they can come to our county to see them. The nine twists and turns of the mountain road also allowed them to see and walk as much as they could.

Brother Chen also echoed: Where can we go in Zhejiang? Chen Xiaolang, you don't know. Before I came all the way to Yangzhou, I had never seen what the fertile soil of thousands of miles looks like... Hey.

Chen Heng was filled with emotion after hearing what they said. He didn't know it was so difficult to farm in their hometown, so he had to take out a piece of paper and write down the information about their hometown, such as the names of mountains, waterways, and the amount of fertile farmland, all as a way to increase his own growth. some insights.

Chen Qi listened with great interest on the side. The old farmer didn't know much about the mountains. He just found what the three people said interesting, and he had never heard of these places before, so he was very interested.

Let me tell you a joke here, Chen Qi's luck is really good. When Heng'er took part in the county examination for the first time, he was told that Heng'er was just practicing, and he was only nervous for a while in the first few days. This time I came to take the government examination, and Heng'er confirmed that I had passed it.

Accompanying him to the examination room twice, Chen Qi was much more relaxed than most people. So much so that he can now indulge Chen Heng, sitting in the house without sleeping and chatting with travelers.

While everyone was talking energetically, the waiter's voice suddenly came from outside the door, asking: Is Chen Qi from Taixing County here? Are there any of your fellow villagers looking for you outside the inn?

It’s strange, it’s already midnight, how come someone from Shanxi Village is here?

Chen Qi had a lot of life experience, and suddenly he felt bad. But she smiled at her son and said, I'm sure your grandma was worried and asked someone to bring us a message. Dad will come back as soon as he goes.

Chen Heng did not doubt that he was there and continued to talk to Brother Chen and others. Chen Qi walked out of the inn all the way and saw at the door that the inviter was none other than Brother Zhang from the same village.

Seeing that he was sweating profusely and looking anxious, Chen Qi immediately said in a panic: But what happened to my parents?

No, it's Huaijin. Brother Zhang, an honest man, said tremblingly, He killed someone and was thrown into prison by the county magistrate.

When Chen Qi heard this, his face immediately turned pale. He felt his eyes darken for a while. He finally stood firm and didn't know what to say. Then he thought that his son's government examination had started, and he quickly said to Brother Zhang, Don't leak this matter in front of Heng'er. Let's find another place and say, you can sleep directly in my room tonight.

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When Chen Qi brought Zhang San back to the house, Chen Heng was a little surprised when he saw the visitor. He stood up and said hello: Uncle, what happened at home?

Zhang San and Chen Qi had already talked to each other, and now they smiled and said, That's right, your mother is pregnant again. Before I came to Yangzhou, your grandma asked me to tell you, so that you and your son will be happy.

Really?! Chen Heng was overjoyed when he heard this and laughed: So, I'm going to have younger brothers and sisters.

Then do you want a younger brother or a younger sister? Chen Qi deliberately made a serious face and joked about his son.

Du Cheng is the younger brother. I will teach him to study with Double Happiness. If it is a younger sister, hahahaha, I will make money to buy her rouge. Chen Heng clapped his hands and said with a smile, Dad, our family can be considered a Double Happiness.

Chen Qi snorted lightly, without comment, but he looked very 'satisfied'.

I seemed to have a cold and I vomited. I wonder if it was caused by the air conditioning on the train. I said why my head hurt so much yesterday. As soon as I slept until morning, when I woke up, my face was red and my throat was sore. Memorize it

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