Tibet

On the day that Li Ye led his army to leave Jincheng County and headed for Huining, the recruitment examination for civil servants also entered the final sprint.

Although in Chang'an, many scholars who participated in the imperial examinations disdained the recruitment of civil servants, it was just because all of them had the title of gold medal and the dream of becoming an official, but it really made them return to their hometown and county, and the civil servant positions in the county It will also make them break their heads and scramble.

Although civil servants are not officials, they have a staff and are located closest to the core of power. They belong to the periphery of officials. More importantly, officials generally do not fight with the people. It is the officials who fight with the people. Therefore, the officials have more real power and more power. Oil and water can be fished out.

Although the imperial examination scholars in Chang'an had high ambitions and low abilities and looked down upon the officials, at most they wanted to test the waters of judging.

But this does not mean that there are no pragmatic people, so Longyou's recruitment of county officials also attracted a large number of scholars who came to apply.

More importantly, the Yongxian examination was scheduled after the results of the imperial examination were announced. After realizing the despair of life, countless failed scholars had to lower their noble heads and go to Yongxian to try their luck.

All the inns and temples in Jincheng County were full of scholars who came here for reference. Fortunately, Jincheng County was a large county and had enough inns and temples to accommodate more than 10,000 scholars.

There is a Ping'an Inn in the west of the city. It is also full of scholars who come here for reference. There will be exams tomorrow. Some scholars are sprinting to review, while others are relaxed and carefree.

In the easternmost room on the second floor of the inn, there live two young scholars, both from Guanzhong. One is named Wei Yingwu. Yes, he is the one who wrote: "The spring tide brings rain in the evening, and there is no one in the wild crossing." Wei Yingwu was born in an official family in Weisuzhou, and he entered the palace as a guard at the age of fifteen. He was a benevolent, righteous, chivalrous, unrestrained and unrestrained man.

The year before last, the emperor Li Longji fled to Bashu, and Wei Yingwu also lost his job. The family had no savings at all, and had to support the family, relying entirely on his parents' financial support. Life was extremely difficult.

But he also worked hard to study from then on. In addition, he had an excellent academic foundation, and he achieved success in his studies in two years.

But Wei Yingwu also knew that with his current level of knowledge, he would definitely fail in the imperial examination. When he saw Longyou recruiting civil servants, he simply borrowed a sum of money from his family, settled his wife and children, and came to Longyou with his friend Du You. refer to.

So the other person in the same room was Du You, the historical Prime Minister of the Tang Dynasty and the grandfather of the poet Du Mu.

Du You and Wei Yingwu were the same age, and both were from Duling, Chang'an. The Wei family and the Du family had always been two famous families with a close relationship. They played together since they were young, and later studied together. After finishing the county school, Du You continued to study at Taipei University. After learning to read, Wei Yingwu entered the palace and became a bodyguard.

Du You originally had a family, but An Lushan rebelled, the court was in turmoil, and the wait for the family was too long, so Du You simply came to Longyou with Wei Yingwu to try their luck. It is unknown whether there was any arrangement by their family. .

Tomorrow is the time for the exam, and the two of them are too lazy to review. They are discussing where to eat. At this time, a young scholar ran in and said excitedly: "Brothers, let's have a drink together. I'll treat you!"

This young scholar is called Liang Fei, who is from Mianzhou in the south of Jiannan, but his home in Chang'an is also in Duling, and he is a neighbor of Wei Yingwu. He is not from a famous family, but from a business family. Liang Fei's great-grandfather is a famous medicine merchant in the capital. One, and through the accumulation of three generations including his grandfather and father, the family capital is already tens of millions.

Although the Liang family was rich, their social status was not high. They wanted to buy an official position for their son, but there was no way. This time Longyou recruited civil servants, which gave Liang's father a glimmer of hope, so he asked Wei Yingwu to bring his son for reference. Wei Yingwu got the job. The Liang family couldn't refuse the help, so they agreed immediately.

Fortunately, Liang Fei had a cheerful personality and was generous with money. He paid for the travel expenses, food and lodging along the way, which was a great help to Wei Yingwu who was short of money. The three of them got along very harmoniously.

Wei Yingwu stood up and said with a smile: "I'm really sorry that I keep making Brother Liang Xian spend so much money. I'll let Brother Wei treat me today!"

Liang Fei waved his hand, "Brother's money has been used to settle the family, so let's save some money! Go back and buy some small gifts for your sister-in-law and children."

He pointed at Du You and said: "Old Du too, don't fight with me, I will be angry."

Who wouldn’t like such a generous and wealthy friend?

The three of them came to Wangwu Restaurant diagonally opposite the tavern. Wangwu Restaurant is also a famous restaurant in Jincheng County. It was dinner time and the restaurant was full of guests, mostly scholars who came to take exams.

Liang Fei made a reservation in advance, and a waiter led them to a table by the window on the second floor to sit down. Liang Fei ordered two bottles of fine sake and a dozen delicious dishes.

Wei Yingwu and the two were really embarrassed, "I have cost my dear brother so much along the way!"

Liang Fei waved his hand, "Money is an extraneous thing. Being able to make outstanding friends like my two brothers is something that money can't buy."

As expected of a businessman family, they were very good at talking, which made Wei Yingwu and Du You feel ashamed. They were not considered heroes, just descendants of a down-and-out family.

At this time, the wine and food were served. Wei Yingwu grabbed the jug and poured wine for the three of them. Liang Feixiao asked: "I have always had a question that I don't understand. Why didn't we go to Yong County to take the exam? Instead, we came to Longyou to take the exam." , it’s a bit far away from the near!”

Wei Yingwu smiled slightly and said: "Think about it, who are the people who went to Yong County to take the exam? They are all scholars who took the imperial examination. Can we pass them?"

Liang Fei suddenly realized, and then he frowned again, "Isn't it the same admission as Long You?"

Du You said with a smile: "They are all taking exams on the same day. In order to be admitted uniformly, the papers must be marked together. Send the papers to Longyou, and then send the admission list. It will take several months. Who can wait?"

There must be quotas allocated to both sides. One side is most likely to have 100 quotas. However, there are only 10,000 people on this side and 20,000 people on the other side of Yongxian County. Which side is more advantageous? Brother Liang should be able to figure this out clearly! "

Liang Fei gave a thumbs up, "The two eldest brothers are still smart!"

Wei Yingwu smiled bitterly in his heart, who couldn't figure this out clearly? It's just that the scholars in Chang'an are not as eager as they are, and they don't value it as much as they do!

The three of them drank another glass of wine. At this time, someone next to them said loudly: "I heard that there are only three questions in tomorrow's exam, one for scriptures, one for literature, and one for policy. Isn't this too simple?"

Another person said: "If there are only three questions, it must be very difficult. Otherwise, what will happen if everyone takes the same test?"

Liang Fei curled his lips, "Nonsense!"

Wei Yingwu's heart was moved. He knew that Liang Fei was a bastard. He couldn't write poems, had incomplete memorization, and had no idea about his policies. Could he be so reassured? Could he have inside information?

"Brother Liang Xian, do you have any news?"

Liang Fei was a very righteous person. Although his father repeatedly asked him not to say anything, he felt that he should not be alone and should let his friends take advantage of it.

He looked to both sides and lowered his voice: "There are actually only two questions on the exam in one day. One question is about the classics. There are about thirty famous sentences in the question. You have to write the classics of each sentence. The second question is about deciding the case. There may be There are dozens of cases, but each case is different. We ask you to write down how to solve the case, and then the classic questions will account for 20% of the score, the case judgment questions will account for 50%, and the calligraphy will account for 30%."

Wei Yingwu and Du You were greatly surprised. This Liang Fei seemed to be laughing and having no brains, but they didn't expect that he actually knew the types of test questions.

"Brother Xian, is the news possible?"

"The information is reliable, but there is no specific topic and it is useless. However, there is still some inside information here."

"Brother, can you tell me? If it's really inconvenient, it doesn't matter. We are still good friends!" Du You was a little more scheming and played hard to get.

Liang Fei couldn't save his face, so he gritted his teeth and said: "I will only tell you this matter, and you must promise me to keep it secret."

The two of them nodded at the same time and looked at Liang Fei expectantly.