Tiangong Qi Tan Zhi Shu Lake

Candidates' test sites are located in the second courtyard. Officials are deployed around the test room to prevent harassment. Non-reference students are not allowed to enter. The servants who send the test must stop at the door and retreat to the gate of the academy.

In the courtyard, there are wing rooms in the east and west, and Mingzheng hall in the north. The courtyard is made of wood and stone, and the green bricks in the courtyard are supplemented by cobblestone pavement. There are flower beds in the courtyard. The double-petaled hibiscus is in full bloom. Blow, the petals are rolling all over the ground.

Mingzheng hall is a four-bay room, facing south, with white walls and gray tiles. There is a corridor in front, and the waiting area for candidates is inside.

Jiang Chuan walked to the door and glanced inside. The children of the aristocratic families who were talking in the Mingzheng Hall looked at him in unison.

At the same time, a rough voice shouted at him: "What are you doing? Stop!"

Jiang Chuan turned his head, only to see a short official with bare eyes and a knife in his hand rushing out from the side.

The little official rushed to him, looked at the white clothes on his body, thought that this poor scholar should be the servant of the academy, and said in a disgusted tone: "What are you doing? This is you Where can I come? This is the examination room! Let’s go.”

Jiang Chuan didn't speak, and took out the customs clearance document from his arms and handed it with both hands.

The other party took it with disdain and glanced at it, then suddenly shifted his gaze from the document to Jiang Chuan, glanced at him twice, and said ecstatically, "You...you are Jiang Chuan? You are the only one who entered the final round of exams Jiang Chuan, a poor student?"

Jiang Chuan nodded slightly.

"It's really you. The fact that you won all the six rounds of exams has been spread in Qingzhou. I didn't expect you to look like this."

Jiang Chuan asked calmly: "Uncle met me before?"

"That's not true, it's just that I heard people call you a koi, and I thought you looked like a fish." After finishing speaking, he seemed to feel that it was a bad thing to say, and quickly added:

"Calling you koi means that you are lucky, so you can stand out among so many students who are full of knowledge and talents. However, I don't think you are lucky. I think you have the strength, and you can get it in any exam. First."

Jiang Chuan smiled wryly, feeling quite helpless about the name koi, and the "casual test" in his mouth was probably just something he said casually.

"In short, you are already a god in the eyes of scholars in Qingzhou. It is said that some scholars are begging for your portrait everywhere, saying that they want to worship you, that you can learn to possess the body of a god, and you must pass every exam."

Jiang Chuan bowed to him, and said calmly: "The younger generation can't afford to be, let alone be able to afford it. The younger generation is just a poor scholar who passed six rounds by luck..."

"Well, I'm surprised that you can say that."

The little official interrupted him straight away, but he didn't think it was impolite at all. He just felt that although the boy in civilian clothes was a little thinner and weaker, he had a calm demeanor, which was very different from ordinary boys of fifteen or sixteen. do not.

I couldn't help but looked at him again, thought for a while, and said in a low voice, "Seeing that you are an honest person, then I will tell you the truth."

"Uncle, please tell me." Jiang Chuan behaved well.

"Shangfang Academy's exams claim to be fair on the surface, but in reality? You see, you are the only poor student who entered the final round." The little man raised his chin lightly and asked, "Do you know what this means?"

Jiang Chuan shook his head, looked at him without blinking, and seemed to be listening to him very seriously.

"It shows that the imperial court always chooses people from powerful and powerful families, here, they are those people." He glanced at the rich and powerful children in the Mingzheng Hall, "They are the future of the country, and you, after all, are just a foil " After that, he patted Jiang Chuan on the shoulder comfortingly.

Jiang Chuan said in a calm tone: "The establishment of Shangfang Academy basically selects scholars fairly, regardless of poverty or wealth, regardless of birth status."

"Do you believe that too?" The little man looked around, making sure no one was paying attention, and smacked into Jiang Chuan's ear like a thief: "The quota for Qingzhou has already been reserved by default."

"Isn't it?"

"Why not? It has been spread throughout the government. It is said that someone has already obtained the answer to this exam. Do you know how much money it is?" He gestured and spread his five fingers, "One quota 50 taels of snowflake silver."

Jiang Chuan's eyes narrowed slightly, and he saw that the official put his hands in his pockets after he finished speaking, and was touching something. Judging from the shape, it was two silver ingots.

But the monthly salary of these errands is only a few copper coins...

What's more, as an official, he was actually at the entrance of the examination room, announcing to the candidates that the number of places was determined by default, his behavior was really abnormal.

Jiang Chuan looked very interested, and said in a low voice: "Uncle, you must already know the default list, right?"

"I can't tell you that. Anyway, you'll know when the results come out. Anyway, you're useless."

Jiang Chuan stopped talking, and looked at Mingzhengtang from the corner of his eyes. There were several pairs of eyes staring at the door, winking at each other. previous set.

There was an imperceptible cold smile on the corner of his mouth.

The day before yesterday, on the way back to the inn after releasing the list, a Taoist priest in yellow came up to block his way, and insisted on divination for him. Pack up your things and run away immediately, or your life will die.

Yesterday was even more exaggerated. A Jiangyang thief with a portrait hanging at the gate of the city came to the inn. When he entered the door, he slapped a large bag of gold on his shoulder in front of him. If the thief hadn't suddenly suffered from leg cramps and couldn't run anymore, Jiang Chuan himself would probably be the one who went to jail.

This morning was even more absurd. When he arrived at the entrance of the academy, there was a carriage parked at the entrance. In the carriage sat a delicate young lady from a brothel, who claimed to have admired his talent for a long time and wanted to commit herself to him. Elope with him... It's just that he saw through this clumsy beauty trick and those turtle slaves in the forest holding sticks as early as the little lady spoke...

It's just that they didn't expect that these people were so ruthless that they even arranged someone at the entrance of the examination room.

Jiang Chuan followed the officer's words and said, "Of course I believe in uncle."

"That's right, literati have their own character, if I were you, I would give up the exam."

Jiang Chuan was silent, thinking he had finally come to the point.

The little official made Jiang Chuan speechless after seeing a few words, and he couldn't help but proudly said loudly: "The poor family is always poor, the poor are born poor, and they have to admit their fate. I have lived to this day to understand a The truth is that people can’t fight their lives. As the saying goes, people are divided into three or six grades, and meat is divided into five or three layers. The scholars, farmers, and businessmen refer to officials, farmers, workers, and businessmen. It seems that they all have one nose and two eyes, but they have been classified into high and low since they were born. If you say that the highest status is an official, this time it is a farmer, and this time it is a worker. Yes, in the end it's business..."

At this time, there was a sudden shout from behind: "Where is the beast, who is full of nonsense, and dares to distinguish between high and low here, I think you are tired of work."

The voice was three parts feminine and seven parts furious, before the words finished, the visitor had already blown to the door like a whirlwind, and a resounding "slap" slapped the little official's face on the face.

The little official was so complacent just now, he wanted to curry favor with the powerful son who gave him two ingots of silver, but he was so dizzy by this slap in the face, and when he saw who was coming, his face turned pale with fright, his whole body trembled and he knelt down On the ground: "Hu... Mr. Hu."

The nearby officials watched from a distance, no one spoke, let alone stepped forward to stop them, all were silent, as silent as cicadas.