Chapter 11 The Eleventh Round of the Tribute to Xiaolian Liangong Court for Interview
The Enke Examination in Shuntianfu is coming to an end.The chief examiner, Yang Mingshi, and the deputy chief examiner, E Shan, both breathed a sigh of relief.Historically, scientific expeditions have been chosen in spring and autumn, which is nominally "Confucius wrote the spring and autumn", but in fact, because these two seasons are neither hot nor cold, the people from the north and the south can adapt to it.But the season at the turn of spring and summer is the most likely to spread the epidemic. When three or four thousand candidates gather together, often a single illness will cause a large number of people, which will directly affect the level of admission.Since Yang Mingshi and E Shan entered Thorn City at the beginning of April, this was the most worrying thing.The two men, one Han and one Man, are both upright officials, but they have different styles in terms of epidemic prevention. Yang Mingshi bought large and small bags of licorice, root, honeysuckle, and mung beans, and made pots and soups in the east of the Gongyuan. Rabbit fee is supplied every day.Eshan believed in the gods, offered sacrifices to the god of plague, burned paper money, and specially invited the Taoist priests of Baiyun Temple to perform sacrifices in the transcription office. Vinegar charcoal was fired in the shed at No. 4,900 in the 70th district, making the courtyard full of cigarettes and vinegar aroma.In short, whatever method has been used.Fortunately, no one was infected with the disease.Seeing that the room will be released tomorrow, both of them let go of their high hearts.At application time in the afternoon, the two went hand in hand to inspect the test area, then went to the 18th room to check the official room, and returned to the Zhigong Hall located in the northernmost district. They couldn't help laughing. E Shanyin was thinking when he saw Yang Ming, and asked : "Mr. Yang, what are you thinking at this moment?" "Oh, I was thinking about the papers recommended by each house. I read all the first 30 volumes, and I paid them off. What I'm worried about is that the papers will fail. It’s not easy to be recommended by each house, and it’s not good if you are wronged.” E Shan smiled disapprovingly: “My Lord has tried several times, but it’s not as solid as this time. I’m afraid I have to be unyielding No one can do it. We have done our best, and we have not accepted bribes. This is called being worthy of the emperor's grace, and having no shame of scholars." He got up and took a stack of ink scrolls from the desk to browse, and said with a smile: "This This kind of thing is really neither good nor bad, but you can't be an official if you pass this test, it's incredible!"
Yang Mingshi got up and paced around, and sighed with a smile: "This is to the point. But as far as I know, stereotyped essays are not useless at all. Zhang Juzheng and Hai Rui from the Ming Dynasty, Xiong Cilu, Fan Wencheng, Xu Yuanmeng, Lu Longqi since the Qing Dynasty They are all famous ministers and officials who got out of stereotypes, and they are also in the annals of meritorious service!" E Shan was about to answer, when he heard a loud noise from the supervision hall outside, he frowned and told Geshha: "Go, Call the supervisory examination hall to inspect it!" Before the words finished, the supervisory examination inspector had strode in, and Yang Mingshi asked: "This is the holy place for the national talent ceremony. Who is acting wild outside?"
"Back to the examiner, there is a case who broke into the court!"
"What is he going to do?"
"He invited the two chief examiners for an interview!"
Yang Mingshi and E Shan looked at each other, they had never seen such a bold and reckless person.Yang Mingshi said coldly: "Tell him to come in." The inspector really brought in a Qingwu scholar.He bowed to the two chief examiners and said: "The late student Li Shiyao pays homage to the teacher!"
Yang Mingshi asked, "Do you know you're messing around?"
"A late student asks to see the chief examiner as an examinee, what is nonsense?"
"I didn't say that your 'asking for an interview' is nonsense. You are unconventional and ask for an interview alone. If everyone is like you, where is the legal system of the country and the court system?—Come on!"
"exist!"
"Drag it to the supervisory hall, and blame the forty board!"
"tie"
Several Goshhas rushed forward, and they were stunned when they saw that Yao was standing still.Li Shiyao laughed loudly, pointed at Yang Mingshi and E Shan and said, "It's not a corporal! Why are you delaying, where is the supervision hall? I'll go by myself!" Saying that, he wobbled and followed Goshha.E Shan looked at his back with disgust, and said, "This man looks like a lunatic!"
"He's a crazy student." Yang Mingshi said, while flipping through the ink scrolls recommended by the examiners in each room, as expected, there was no one from Li Shiyao, and he laughed: "I must be thinking that I will lose my name to Sun Shan again. I'm in a hurry, so I just made a fuss out of my own way. Just as he was talking, a eunuch came running out of breath from the Mingyuan building in the Longmen, and E Shan said, "Gao Wuyong is here. I'm afraid there is a purpose."
The two walked out of the courtroom together.Just as Yang Mingshi was about to ask, Gao Wuyong said: "The emperor is here! He has already arrived outside the Dragon Gate. Hurry up, open the main gate to welcome you!" Yang Mingshi was shocked and asked:
"What did you say? Say it again!"
"The emperor has arrived at the Gongyuan!"
Yang Mingshi and E Shandeng were so excited that their faces turned red, and they turned back to the court to take their big hats and put them on, and came out to order: "The examiners in each room will inform the candidates that they must not leave the examination booth without permission, otherwise they will be expelled--fire the cannon. Open the middle door to welcome Shengjia!"
In a short time, Emperor Qianlong disembarked from the Chengyu outside the city of Ji, accompanied by Zhang Tingyu, Ertai and Neqin, three military ministers.Yang Mingshi and E Shan hurriedly knelt down and kowtowed on the mountain.
"Get up!"
Qianlong seemed very happy, holding a Xiangfei plain paper fan and looking forward as he walked.In front of the hall of Mingyuan Building, look up at the double eaves and bucket arches with peeling paint, and say, "When was this building built?"
"It was built in the second year of Wanli in the former Ming Dynasty." Ertai looked at Yang Mingshi and Eshan anxiously when he saw Yang Mingshi, knowing that they couldn't answer, he hurriedly said with a smile: "It was overhauled in the seventeenth year of Kangxi, and it was originally intended to be used for erudite Confucianism. Later, The holy ancestor changed the palace examination to the Hall of Supreme Harmony; this place is useless." Qianlong pointed his fan at the small building to the west of Mingyuan Tower and asked, "What is that building for?" "That's the watchtower. "Yang Mingshi accompanied him, and hurriedly explained: "It's not for preventing thieves, for fear of being carried inside and outside, it's just to express strict security." Qianlong laughed when he heard it.Yang Mingshi was very interested when he saw him, and he walked all the way to give pointers. It was the 70th district of Dongxihaoshe, the east side of the supervision and examination hall, the three places for sealing, accepting papers, and providing, and the two places for reading and transcribing. Yan Xitang, wait..."
Qianlong nodded and smiled while listening, and sighed: "It's too old. It's not as good as the Nanjing Gongyuan! Hengchen, ask the Ministry of Rites to check how much money it will cost to repair all the velvet. If you don't need to save it, you can't let it go. The Mao Guogong envoy visited me last month and wanted to pay homage to the civilized scholar system of the celestial dynasty. I did not allow it, so it is so dilapidated that it is unsightly. I have been here in the past. This is the place where the imperial court faces. If your face is dirty, you must wash it quickly Isn’t it?” Zhang Tingyu hurriedly said: “It’s a great concern!” Qianlong turned to E and Yang, the examiners, and said, “This subject was selected in summer, and you will come here safely without any illness or disaster. —Have you found out such things as tape entrainment and transmission fraud?"
"This is unavoidable in any subject." Seeing Qianlong looking at him, E Shan hurriedly bowed and smiled, "Three thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven candidates for filial piety are inevitably mixed. There are forty-two applicants, and there are five others who fell ill halfway, and those who quit before the end, there are still 3,820 applicants in the arena." Yang Mingshi laughed and said: "There is another one who roared at the court and asked for an interview. , will be expelled from the examination room." Then he told about Li Shiyao's quarrel in the court just now.
Qianlong stepped into the courtroom with one foot. Hearing this, he felt fresh and said, "This Xiaolian is quite courageous. Call me to have a look." He didn't just sit down, but stood in front of the case and looked at the ink scroll.Several ministers are standing on the right side of the tablet of Confucius.Qianlong picked up an ink scroll and looked at it, and asked, "Is this recommended?" E Shan saw that he had read it by himself, and hurriedly said: "Yes. I don't know which room in the western district, it's about 'yuan' The person who raised the brand name. It hasn’t been opened, and the servant doesn’t know who it is.” Qianlong looked at it intently, and the title was "Zi said that Yan Yuan said to use it, carry it out and store it."The handwriting is round and correct, which is very beautiful, and I can't believe it.And picked up a pen to change the word "思" in the text into the word "Serving" before putting it down.He asked again, "Where is the scroll?" Yang Mingshi hurriedly pointed to a large cabinet on the east side of the hall against the wall, and led Qianlong over.The fallen volumes are stored according to the eighteen provinces, prefectures, counties, and prefectures. Each volume is marked with an ink label, and the stacks are neatly organized.He was a caring person, but he pretended to be careless, took out a copy to have a look and put it back.When I came to the column of Taikang County in Xinyang Prefecture, there were only two copies in the grid, Qianlong took them out, looked at them, and actually removed the seal.The first one was the paper of "Wang Zhenzhong of Hemiao, Taikang Town", so I took it.I went to the bright place in front of the window and looked at it, and felt that the writing was not bad, but there was a wrong font in one place.Qianlong also didn't send it back to the original place, and before returning to the case, he put it on the stack of scrolls that Yang Mingshi picked up, and then sat down.Seeing that Li Shiyao was already kneeling outside the Zhigong Hall, he asked:
"You are Li Shiyao? What ability do you have, dare to roar in this court?"
When Li Shiyao saw Qianlong checking the papers, dozens of officials, big and small, stood there holding their breath, thinking of Tianwei's power so close, he couldn't help feeling flustered.After Qianlong spoke, he calmed down a little, kowtowed again and again: "Go back to the words of the Longevity Lord: Xiaolian can write poems, and stereotyped essays. But I don't know why I am not satisfied in three consecutive exams. So I asked for an interview. .and dare not growl."
"The Son of Heaven now emphasizes articles, so why should Er Cao talk about the Han and Tang Dynasties." Qianlong said to Yang Mingshi with a calm face, "Find out his ink scrolls and show me--the country's selection of scholars has always been based on contemporary arts, and they can make a few crooked poems. You are so arrogant? The two main examiners are very fair. But you want to interview, and you meet me again, and you are also lucky. I don’t test your poetry or your essay. You boast that you are talented, and you are proud of yourself , let me ask you, how many places in the "Four Books" are written "Yangyang"?"
Li Shiyao kowtowed on the ground, staring at his eyes for a while, although the question was tricky, but it did not fall within the scope of the four books, saying "I don't know" was absolutely impossible, so he had to search his stomach and ponder, and replied: "Yes..." There is a chapter in Shi Zhi'; there is a chapter in "The Doctrine of the Mean·Ghosts and Gods"; there is a "chapter in "The Doctrine of the Mean·Dazai"..." He hesitated and stopped.
"Is there still 'Yangyang'?"
"……few."
Qianlong smiled and said: "It's hard for you. There is another place that just happens to be 'Small is elated!" At this time, Yang Mingshi had found Li Shiyao's ink scroll.Qianlong saw that it was a thin gold calligraphy, which was straight and steep, and only the meaning of the brush was weak, so he couldn't help laughing and said: "The lack of energy in the middle must be manifested on the outside. It can be said that the calligraphy is like a person." Looking at it again, he asked: "Li Shiyao, I would like to ask you what is "Zhongweng" in your paper, "Like Zhongweng standing upright tomb passage"?"
Li Shiyao thought he was talented, and was discouraged by Qianlong's examination in person, so he hurriedly said, "'Zhong Weng' is the stone statue standing on both sides of the tomb." "'Zhong Weng' is the 'Second Grandpa'!" Qianlong laughed , "Do you know that is called 'Weng Zhong' and not 'Zhong Weng'?" As he spoke, he inscribed a pen on Li Shiyao's paper. E Shan was close, and when he squinted, it was a poem:
How does Weng Zhong become Zhong Weng?Erzhi's article owes my husband work.
Now he is not allowed to be Lin Han, and he will be sent to Shanxi as a punishment!
After writing, he got up and said to Yang Mingshi: "I'm gone, you have to cook for a few days, then hand over the sign and talk."
The two sent Qianlong away, and immediately returned to the Zhigong Hall. Seeing that everyone had not dispersed, Yang Mingshi said: "Let's go back to each room first, and I will discuss with Mr. E before releasing the Longmen." They also called Li Shiyao to come in.At this time, Li Shiyao's arrogance was completely wiped away, and he knelt down when he entered the door, and said: "Teachers..." He didn't know what Qianlong wrote on his paper, but his voice was trembling.
"Do you still dare to look at no one now?" E Shan asked.
"Don't dare anymore." Li Shiyao's face was pale, "I don't want to enlighten the teacher on those small things. It's Shiyao's introspection that he is ignorant, behaves badly in front of the Holy Lord, and embarrasses me, and the habits of celebrities have misled me a lot! To be honest. I Entered school at the age of 12, was the first scholar in the county examination, was the first scholar in the county examination at the age of 13, and was the first in Jieyuan. Only the Gong students failed in three subjects in a row! , Talking about the affairs of the world is one of the great pleasures in life, who would have known that the test would be so difficult! The generals of the defeated army dare not speak out, and would like to go back to their hometown and study for another ten years!" E Shan said with a smile: "It seems that there is no need to be so discouraged. The holiness is like the sea, and it is a blessing to have a bath. You go, we will read your papers before we can discuss."
Yang Mingshi had been reading Qianlong's poem all the time, and seeing Li Shiyao go out clutching his buttocks, he sighed: "This man is blessed, he is a true Jinshi!" E Shan smiled and said: "Mr. Song, how is his ranking ranked?" Yang Mingshi said: "He was originally in the test, and he should have been punished for fouling. The emperor fined him 'not to be an Hanlin', and went to Shanxi as a general judge. The general judgment is from the seventh rank, and the distribution of genuine brand Jinshi is only for this position. Considering the Sacred Heart, it is absolutely impossible to be ranked in the "Tong Jinshi". Therefore, it is advisable to rank around the sixty or seventy." He picked up the copy that Qianlong had changed, and said: "This is naturally the first volume. .”
"That's it." E Shan said: "The emperor's corrected test paper! - What about the Henan Wang Zhenzhong's?" Yang Mingshi couldn't help laughing, and said: "I dare say that we preside over this subject to dredge the joints the least. Unexpectedly The emperor actually personally selected three tribute students. This is an anomaly. Since Wang Zhenzhong’s paper has been unsealed, there is no need to transcribe it, and it should be placed in front of Li Shiyao.”
The two chief examiners had a secret discussion on the list of recommended papers for a while.Apart from these three volumes, nothing else has changed.Both of them used private seals on it, sealed it with wax paint, covered it with the customs of the Gongyuan, and placed it in front of the Confucius tablet.At that time, Yang Ming ordered the examiners of the Eighteenth House to pass on. The chiefs of the Second Hall and the Second Hall of the Five Institutes came to the Zhigong Hall, kneeled three times and kowtowed nine times to the Confucius tablet, and handed over the sealed list of tribute students to the dean of the tribute and immediately handed it over to the Ministry of Rites.So far, the Enke Grand Ceremony has come to an end.Yang Mingshi led a group of officials out to the court, looked at the bright red sunset in the west, and said with a sigh of relief: "Open the dragon gate and let them go!" There is a fixed number of tribute students in the examination, since two new ones have been added, they must be squeezed out two.Although this Keenke did not cheat, the examiners recommended the ink scroll to the Supreme Court, who would not want favors?Le Min took the exam at Beijing No. 2, and felt that the three essays were done flawlessly. The examiner revealed that they were recommendation papers, and they were expected to be successful.
When he came back from reading the rankings, Le Min's legs were weak.Zhuang Yougong High School ranked first among the people who served at the table at Gaojin Restaurant, and Ji Xiaolan ranked fourteenth.Qian Du, himself and He Zhi, who were the most prominent, all lost their names.What now?The exam is over, and there are no more like-minded friends to chat and comfort each other; the town hall is closed, and there is no way to borrow money; where can I go to play the game?Even when I returned to Wuchang, my family had already been separated.What face does Le Min, who has vowed not to take fame or return to his hometown, have any face in front of his family?
After standing in the scorching hot square for an unknown amount of time, Le Min realized that all the people watching the list had left, and he was the only one left alone. He subconsciously touched his sleeves, and there was a long string of tiger's mouth inside. The little money was secretly given to me by my kind fifth aunt when I left home.With such a little money, even the cheapest small wooden house in Dalangmiao could not live for ten days.Le Min was hungry right now, sitting on a stone slab under the big locust tree, thinking about where to go next.But I saw a man coming to take a rest with two barrels of rice wine.The man put down the wine barrel, pulled up the single cloth shirt to wipe his sweat, took out two stick noodles and a piece of salty mustard lump from the bag on the lid of the barrel, and ate it with relish, until the pickles clucked Boom.From time to time, he took half a scoop of wine from the barrel and drank it.Seeing Le Min staring at him in a daze, the man smiled and said: "You can tell at a glance that you didn't get a lottery in this subject. Come on, scholar, don't be so dead like an old lady, let's talk when you are full with wine and food !” As he spoke, he sent a pastry, tore open half of the pickles and handed it over, while scooping up wine, he said, “I don’t want to go home when I’m full, and don’t feel sad when I’m drunk, come on!”
"This..." Le Min was already hungry, so he took it hesitantly, and said, "Why is this so embarrassing?" The man smiled boldly: "Where do we not meet each other in life? The wine belongs to his mother's shop, and if you don't drink it, you don't drink it." Well, pancakes are not even worth a penny, you are already poor, how poor are you?" Le Min thanked again, ate the pancakes and drank half a scoop of wine.The man selling wine shouted to a fat old man who sold meat opposite: "Butcher Zhang has a piece of braised meat without hair. Come over and have some wine, our boss—fuck his grandma, this is the wine Not a bad job!"
Butcher Zhang promised in a loud voice: "Success! I'm hungry now—my mother-in-law is out of control today, and she still hasn't asked Xiaoyu to bring me food!" He said and cut a piece of fat. He ran over happily, and said with a smile: "Which boss finds you, it's bloody bad luck. Liuliu, get another pancake—this scholar, how is this subject?"
"Ashamed..."
"What's there to be ashamed of?" Although Zhang butcher was doing the business with a white knife in and a red knife out, he was kind-hearted. He shook off the mulberry paper and spread the meat on the stone strip, and said with a smile: "Thousands of people come in." Jing, how many people are proud of the spring breeze? Is it worth it? Come, eat, eat! ——Look at your outfit, are you a bannerman? You are a person who eats the emperor’s food, what kind of worry do you have to worry about?”
Le Min couldn't help feeling sour, and said vaguely: "Our family is in trouble at the hands of Lord Yongzheng. Banner people are also divided into different classes..." He didn't speak anymore, just ate meat and drank like hell.The three of them seemed to realize their respective identities at this time, so they stopped talking.I ate drunk and satiated like wind and clouds.
Everyone left, but Le Min was still sitting alone on the stone slab, not making up his mind on where to go.Suddenly I felt a dull pain in my stomach, melon, rice wine, pickles, cornmeal, and fat all stirred in my stomach.He touched his hot forehead, only to realize that he didn't sweat at all.Le Min was startled and stood up. His waist was not tight all the time, and his stomach was full of food. He felt extremely uncomfortable. He bowed and couldn't hold it anymore. There was a sound of "Wow--", dirty and dirty. The thing spewed out, smelling the breath was even more disgusting.He beat his chest until he spit out the sour and bitter yellow water, and then he felt a little bit better.Just stand up straight.Le Min's eyes were golden again, and his hand holding the locust tree was as soft as mud.Without even staggering a step, he passed out...
When he woke up again, Le Min found that he was half lying on the kang of a dilapidated small house, with only his underwear left.Under the body is an old bamboo mat, under the head is a bamboo lady, and on the kang table are medicine bowls, spoons and a plantain fan.Apart from these, there is nothing else in the house.He blinked his eyes, wondering where he was, and how did he come here?Thinking about it made my head hurt and I didn't think of a clue, so I simply didn't want to.Seeing that there was tea left in the bowl, Le Min stood up with one arm and took a sip of the tea. He felt numb and cold, but it turned out to be peppermint water, and lay back down again with a groan.At this time, a boy with a shirtless arm lifted the curtain to look around, and shouted outside: "Father: That gentleman is awake!"
"Hey, come here! - Maomao, you go to the backyard to help your sister clean up the pigs. Ask your mother to cook a bowl of noodles and cut them thinner!" As he spoke, he saw a fat old man wearing shorts and upper body Wearing a white waistcoat, she walked in with her chest open.He is Zhang Kuiming, the butcher, who came in and shouted out: "Maomao, tell your mother that the noodles don't need to be oily, not at all... Hehe, Mr., you're awake!" Zhang Kuiming had a tired smile on his flat face , sitting sideways on the edge of the kang, as if fanning himself or Le Min, looked closer and looked at his complexion, and said: "You are suffering from heat stroke, the illness is not serious but it comes in a hurry-the gate of hell is closed It’s been a while! What’s your name, Mr. Xiang?”
Thinking about it, Le Min struggled for a while, but was held down by Zhang Kuiming, and said, "Don't, you're weak!" Then he slapped the fan again.Le Min was lying on Mrs. Bamboo, and the cool breeze came one by one, making his whole body cool. He looked at Butcher Zhang gratefully, and said, "The savior...my name is Le Min...it's the former Huguang Governor Legion. His son..." Then he described the situation in which his father went to Beijing alone to rush for the exam, also known as Luosunshan.
"It turns out that Master Le is a noble son!" Zhang Kuiming's eyes lit up, and then dimmed: "I believe what you said. Don't feel bad, this world is like this... just listen to you, I don't even have any relatives. The first class is another three years, what do you plan to do?"
Before he finished speaking, a girl walked in from outside, holding a large bowl of noodles in her hand.When Le Min looked at her, he saw that she was tall and tall, wearing a moon white embroidered and trimmed blouse, which was thoroughly washed, and her melon seed face had regular features and was very delicate, with only a few freckles on her temples.With a smile, two shallow dimples appeared on his face. Le Min suddenly thought that he was still shirtless, and when he grabbed behind his hands, there was nothing.Zhang Kuiming said honestly: "This is my daughter Yu'er."
"Don't listen to my father! Who is still sick and asks 'what's the plan'?" Yu'er was very straightforward, stacking medicine bowls, tea bowls, and spoons together, putting the noodles inside, and said coquettishly Looking at his father, he said, "If you are well, you can make any plan, but if you are not well, you can't make any plan. Didn't our landlord say that we want to find a teacher to teach his precious young master? I will recommend it! Or else I will make a note for our family." Bills or something, there are only three meals left and right, when the time comes, he should still take the exam!" Then he shouted: "Mom! You come and feed this lord!" After clearing away the medicine bowl, he turned around and went out up.In a blink of an eye, he came in again and threw Le Min's clothes on the kang, "Put it on! It's so dirty, you probably haven't washed your clothes in your whole life!"
This girl is so rough and uninhibited that Le Min, who was sick, couldn't help smiling, and said, "Young girl is a great talent!" Zhang Kuiming said honestly, "Our poor family has no tutor, and I'm used to her——I should go The stewed pot is burning. It’s hot, so don’t delay. Old woman, why are you so slow?” Then an old lady came walking with her legs twisted, saying, “Come here, Amitabha!”
Le Min lived in this butcher's house