The Prosperous Era of Longwan

"Yo yo, the deer roars, eating apples from the wild. I have a guest, who plays the harp and the sheng. Playing the sheng and drums, carrying the basket is the general. People who are kind to me show me how to move around."

Melodious singing came from the Minglun Hall of Nanchang Gongyuan.

Some people say that chorus songs are the best, whether they are male or female, or a mixture of male and female voices.

However, Wei Guangde, who was sitting in the banquet at this moment, only felt that his ears were being bombarded by noise. He was originally singing with great enthusiasm, but he stopped singing after being blasted by the high-pitched and low-pitched rocket launcher.

Seeing the big shots at the top of the table shaking their heads as if they were enjoying themselves, opening their mouths and seeming to be singing, Wei Guangde felt a chill.

"Deer Ming" comes from "The Book of Songs·Xiaoya". It started in the Tang Dynasty and continued in the Ming Dynasty. On the day after the provincial examination results were released, a banquet was held for new imperial examination candidates and internal and external officials.

The original meaning of "Deer Ming" is that when a deer discovers delicious food, he never forgets his companions, and calls out "yo yo" to invite others to eat together.

The literati believed that this was a virtue, so they followed suit. The emperor gave banquets to ministers, and local officials hosted banquets for colleagues, local officials, and local gentry. They used this move to win over people's hearts and show themselves to be courteous and virtuous.

In fact, because deer has the same pronunciation as "Lu", I naturally think the meaning is very good, so this "deer" is not the other "deer".

Wei Guangde ranked lower, so naturally he could only sit at the end of the banquet.

Wei Guangde has always been at the back of the queue since he went to worship Confucius Temple.

After the worship ceremony was completed and they returned to Gongyuan, according to their rankings, the new imperial examination candidates entered Minglun Hall to pay tribute to their mentor.

Yes, at this time, the examiner becomes the mentor of the candidates, the examiner is the seat teacher, and the co-examiner who recommends the exam is the room teacher.

Naturally, Wei Guangde was the last one to enter the Minglun Hall. Holding the thank-you ceremony he had prepared in his hands, Wei Guangde respectfully saluted his room master and seat master.

It was just a routine rule at first, but when Wei Guangde visited the room master first, he was kindly helped up by the man.

"Guangde, this time I selected you for the exam, not because your eight-legged essay was good. In fact, with your current level, you are still a little short of the exam. You have to study hard after you go back."

The room master's words made Wei Guangde a little dazed, but then he bowed and saluted: "Students, please keep this in mind and don't dare to be arrogant."

"Well, that's good. I recommend your paper just because I'm afraid you'll be arrogant. You need to know that there's no end to learning."

At this time in the Ming Dynasty, most of the co-examiners were selected from the first-level professors of other provinces, and most of the chief examiners and deputy examiners were PhDs and teaching assistants from the Imperial College in the two capitals.

Naturally, the position of examiner in the provincial examination is not very high, but the weight of the position is low, at least for scholars, it is a pen that determines the fate.

"Go and see your master, and remember to guard against arrogance and impetuosity."

After Wei Guangde presented the gift, he went to see the master again. This time it was normal. The master just said a few words as usual.

Wei Guangde felt a little amused. He had previously speculated that Zhu Shilong might have had some auxiliary effect in helping him become famous last time. From what Master Fang said just now, it seemed that he was the main attack rather than the auxiliary.

As "Deer Ming" was sung, another group of masked people rushed into Minglun Hall and danced the "Kui Xing Dance" to the accompaniment of musicians on both sides. Each of them held a bowl and a bowl in their hands. A pen.

Okay, maybe that's not a bowl, it should mean an inkstone.

During the chaotic dance of the demons, Wei Guangde noticed that many of the movers seemed to be twisting along with them.

In order not to fall into the cliché, Wei Guangde could only twist a few times, which felt very awkward. Later, with the sound of gongs and drums, Wei Guangde simply threw out the original disco posture, at least feeling a little better about himself.

However, to outsiders, Wei Guangde's actions are still a bit unusual.

Next came the speeches of the important figures. Many people were so inspired by poetry that they even composed a poem "on the spot".

Wei Guangde had no expectations for Ming Dynasty poetry.

However, at this time, Jiangxi Dusi Commander-in-Chief arrived belatedly, and kept apologizing to other officials and officials of the yamen and trying to atone for his late arrival.

For scholars of this era, Dusi Yamen did not think highly of it, but Wei Guangde certainly did not think so.

Wei Guangde had noticed that Lord Dusi seemed to be forcing a smile.

Finally, after the big shots spoke to encourage the juniors, the banquet officially began.

Wei Guangde naturally had to go up with a wine glass to toast, not only the newly recognized teachers, but also local officials in Jiangxi, especially the commander of the Jiangxi Dusi. Although his own family was not under his control, on the ground in Jiangxi, strictly speaking, military households were all It's his people.

After a round of toasts, Wei Guangde noticed that at some point, Master Dusi had pulled the two adults involved in politics to a corner where no one was around, took out an official document from his sleeve and handed it to them.

After reading the official document, the two officials, who were still smiling, unconsciously put away their smiles and looked solemn.

Of course, the change of face was very short-lived. As the right-hand political officer said something, the three of them instantly changed into their previous appearance and returned to the table with smiles on their faces.

Perhaps, only Wei Guangde noticed the strangeness in all this because Du Si was late because of his attention.

While Wei Guangde was attending the Luming Banquet, the postman who delivered the successful report of the provincial examination had already rushed into Jiujiang Prefecture and sent the results of the provincial examination to the prefect's Yamen.

At the same time, at the Jiujiang pier, a speedboat from Yingtianfu had cut into the queue and docked at the pier.

Although the surrounding boatmen were angry, when they saw the official ship mark and official plaque hanging on the bow, no one dared to say anything anymore.

After the gangplank was set up, there was a person on the boat who ran out of the boat in a hurry and rushed to the soldiers' camp at the dock.

Not long after, a knight was already galloping towards Jiujiang Fucheng on horseback. It looked like he was wearing the same clothes as the man who had just disembarked from the ship.

As the postman's horse arrived in front of the magistrate's office, the bamboo tube conveying the news was immediately picked up and brought into the main hall. The prefect, who was already waiting in the main hall, signaled to his master to open the bamboo tube and take out the good news.

"Sir, our Jiujiang Guard has three candidates for this provincial examination, eh? Two are from Dehua County, Lao Kan and Shen Liangdong, and one is Wei Guangde from Jiujiang Guard. He also lives in Fucheng, so there is no need to arrange for people to rush. Come down and announce the good news."

After reading the victory report, the master turned around and said to the magistrate.

"Go down and make arrangements, and send the good news today."

In recent days, the servants in the Jiujiang government office have been ready, waiting for the successful report of the provincial examination to be sent, and they are going to ask for the happy money.

Normally, it would be a bit illegal to ask for money from someone, but this is a different matter if you are sending good news.

Soon, the magistrate heard the music of celebration outside in the main hall. Perhaps he was the only one in the entire yamen who was shaking his head gently.

"Only three hits"