Jia Yujing of Red Mansion

Chapter 91 News from the Capital
Jia Qiong took the letter and saw that it was from Wang Yu. He took out the letter paper and scanned it quickly.

The letter said two things. First, the situation on the southwest border was tense. There had been many small-scale battles with Annan, and the situation in the southwest was unstable.

This has nothing to do with Jia Qiong for the time being. What does matter is the second piece of news.

That is, the candidates for the chief examiner and deputy chief examiner of this year's provincial examination in Jinling Province have been determined. The chief examiner is He Zhongdao, the right minister of the Ministry of Rites.

Old Man Wang then said: "He Zhongdao is one of the backbones of the Fujian Party and Zhang Chunyang's die-hard minion.

In these years, due to the obstruction of the Fujian Party and the emperor's consideration of balancing the court, he has not been able to join the cabinet. He should have taken office in more than a year.

He Chongdao was the candidate placed by the Fujian Party in the Ministry of Rites to replace Sheng Jingbin.

The Ministry of Rites is the first of the six departments, and the Minister of Rites has a great chance of joining the cabinet.

Currently, there are only five cabinet bachelors, and there is always one vacancy.

If He Zhongdao can successfully become the Minister of Rites, then Zhang Chunyang and others will definitely push him into the cabinet in the next step, trying to break the balance in the cabinet.

This time Zhang Chunyang sent He Zhongdao to Jinling Province to preside over the provincial examination, just to let him accumulate prestige and qualifications, and he will definitely suppress you with his help.

He Zhongdao was the number one scholar in Hongwu for 25 years, and his knowledge was of great importance. He would definitely be able to spot any errors or omissions in your article.

You have to be mentally prepared, there can be no mistakes in this provincial examination. "

This is really not good news for Jia Qiong. If he is not careful and He Zhongdao catches any small mistakes, Jia Qiong will definitely end miserably in the provincial examination.

However, Jia Qiong is not too pessimistic. He knows that as long as the article is smooth and impeccable, with his reputation, He Zhongdao will not dare to depose him at will.

All he can do is lower Jia Qiong's ranking, which doesn't matter to Jia Qiong.

As long as he can pass the exam, Jia Qiong can accept it no matter how low his ranking is.

But if He Zhongdao really dares to risk the disapproval of the world and insists on deposing him, then he will be very uncomfortable.

Then even if Jia Qiong fights back, everyone in the world will know the shameless behavior of Zhang Chunyang and He Zhongdao.

But the deal was done, and the results of the provincial examination could not be changed, so he would waste another three years.

Jia Qiong frowned and said: "As long as He Zhongdao does not break the rules, I am confident that I can pass the exam.

As for the ranking, I won't be too strict. When the time comes for the imperial examination, I will compete again.

But if he doesn't follow the rules, it will be difficult. "

Wang Mu said: "You still have to calm down. In the final analysis, it still depends on how well your article is written.

I read your article on the county examination and it was very well written.

If you can still maintain this level in the provincial examination, if He Zhongdao dares to insist on deposing you, he will not be able to keep his black hat.

But if you don't perform well, you'll be playing into someone else's hands. "

Jia Qiong nodded and said: "Don't worry, grandpa, I won't be affected.

My goal is to be number one, how could I fail in the provincial examination? "

Wang Mu nodded and smiled: "Your willow calligraphy is unique and different from others in the world.

I heard that the Jiangning County Magistrate highly praised your calligraphy and said that you were ready to start a sect. "

Jia Qiong waved her hand and said, "It's just that I wrote too much and gained some insights."

Wang Mu said with a smile: "In the provincial examination, one has to conceal one's name. Throughout the history of imperial examination fraud, it is nothing more than using code words or looking at handwriting.

If you bribe the examiner, your character will be very easy to identify. "

When Jia Qiong heard this, her heart immediately moved, and she instantly understood what Wang Mu meant.

He gave a thumbs up and said: "Haha, as expected, ginger is still hotter than ever. Sun Xu, thank you for your advice!"

Wang Mu stroked his beard and smiled and said: "Although He Zhongdao is the chief examiner, the deputy chief examiner is Wu Heng, the left deputy censor of the Nanjing Metropolitan Procuratorate. He will never let him do anything wrong." Jia Qiong nodded understandingly and said: "That's it. , I feel more confident.

Policy analysis is my strong point. As long as I pass the provincial examination, I will be confident that I will come back as the top pick. "

Wang Mu said with a smile: "You don't have to force it, your reputation is already high enough, and the top prize is just the icing on the cake.

I have recently studied several chess books, and my chess skills have improved greatly. Your father-in-law no longer dares to play with me.

How about playing a few games with me today? "

"No problem, grandson-in-law will stay with you till the end today."

The process of the prefectural examination is roughly the same as that of the county examination, except that you need to find two rural students to act as guarantees when registering.

Jia Qiong doesn't need to worry about this. Wang Yi has already found it for him. He has registered for it at the end of March and is just waiting for the exam to start on April [-]th.

For Jia Qiong, this government examination should be the most certain one.

Because the magistrate Yingtian is a young man like Jia Yucun, his article can be successful even if it is not good.

On the day when the exam started, Jia Qiong set out as early as last time.

One advantage for candidates in Jiangning County and Shangyuan County is that they take all the exams from the county examination to the township examination in one examination room.

Being familiar with the road is much happier than the candidates who have to come from another place to take the exam.

There were many more candidates in the government examination than in the county examination. There were almost 5000 people, and the square in front of Jianggongyuan was almost full.

This time, each county entered the venue in batches, so the teachers from each county had people make red lanterns to prop them up, with the names of each county on them, so that the students could find their own teams.

Many candidates had gathered under the lanterns in Jiangning County. When they saw Jia Qiong coming, everyone who knew him came forward to greet him.

The weather today is not very good, the wind is relatively strong, and the sky is cloudy, it seems like it is going to rain.

After everyone exchanged pleasantries, everyone began to talk about it.

"It's going to rain in all likelihood. Did you bring tarps and curtains?"

"I've brought it with me, but if it's a leaky shed, it'll be really troublesome."

"It's even worse when I encounter the exam booth facing the wind. I can only ask God to forgive me and stop it from raining."

Amid everyone's worries, the time came quickly and the dragon gate opened wide.

Jia Yucun, wearing a crimson third-grade official robe and a gold-topped black gauze hat, walked out majestically and started giving the same old speech.

What follows is a more stringent search than the county examination. Everything in the test basket must be carefully inspected, and even the food brought must be cut into small pieces.

The candidates' clothes must also be untied for the soldiers to inspect, their hair must be spread out, and their mouths must be inspected. It can be said that there are no blind spots in 360 degrees.

One of the soldiers noticed that one of the candidates looked strange, searched carefully for a long time, and finally pulled out a thin bamboo tube from the person's back yard.

Therefore, the anus of everyone behind was given special attention. Although Jia Qiong knew that this was a necessary process, she still felt her anus tighten when she saw the scene in front of her.

Fortunately, he did not suffer this fate. Jia Yucun called out all the top three in each county individually.

After a brief inspection, they were taken to a separate seat in Zhi Gong Hall for the examination.

This is called mentioning the hall, and examiners often do this in the imperial examination room, not only to show their importance to these people, but also to supervise them.

After all, the questions are answered under the nose of the prefect and all the invigilators, so no one has the chance to cheat.

Jia Qiong is very satisfied with this examination environment. It is spacious and does not have to be cramped in a small examination room.

Moreover, he has a solid roof to protect him from wind and rain, so he is not afraid of wind and rain. Even if there is strong wind and rain outside, it will not affect him at all.

(End of this chapter)