Idle courtiers

Chapter 77 The Unspoken Rules of the Ming Dynasty Examination Hall (Happy New Year)

When I arrived at the gate of the yamen, I saw that the round list of the current county examination had been posted.

There are hundreds of scholars standing at the gate of the county government, which is very crowded.

The so-called round list is a special form of posting lists in the imperial examination for boys in the Ming Dynasty.It is to write the name of the head of the desk in the center of the notice, write No.2 and No.3 in the first circle, and then write down circles, like an arrow target.

I saw that Mei Pu's name was suddenly in the center of the round list.

A stone fell from Zhou Nan's heart, and he secretly breathed a sigh of relief: The 300 tael debt is finally settled, and the grievances between me and the Mei family are finally over.How clear the sky is, how fresh the air is, and how good life is!

When negotiating with the Mei family, Zhou Nan verbally said that he would give the third son Mei a reputation as a scholar, which would be used to offset the 300 taels of silver owed.As for the grievances between the two families, it will be settled after the boy's trial.

However, Zhou Nan had already been sentenced to ten years in prison for the homicide case that year.Now that he has done such a big favor to the Mei family, Mei Kang is probably too embarrassed to do him any harm.At most, we will not deal with each other in the future, just treat each other as invisible.

Zhou Nan was surprised that Shuiyue won No.2 in the boy's trial.Thinking of Shi Zhixian's praise for him in the examination room, and being admitted on the spot, it can be seen that this person is indeed the best-reader among the youngest scholars in Andong County.No wonder Lao Shui was determined to convert his nephew, and even adopted him to others in order to get Shui Le out of his lowly status.As for the sailors, they even donated a house to Zhou Nan to walk away.

It seems that this person will be able to get a job title in another ten years or so.

Just looking at it, a scholar next to him sighed: "I have also read the article written by Shui Yueshui in the Jinke County Examination, and he did it very well. With such talent, he only got second place. It's not fair, it's not fair!"

Another scholar said: "Brother Lian, in fact, I have also read Mei Pu's papers, and the writing is also remarkable. Both Mei Pu and Shui are the best among the younger generation of scholars. Whoever wins the top prize is the best of the younger generation." The capital of the famous case doesn't find it strange. However, Mei Pu's articles are much more sophisticated. In comparison, Shui Yue is a little immature."

It turns out that after each exam, scholars in the Ming Dynasty would exchange their experience, correct each other's papers, and review their gains and losses.In order to be open, fair and just, the Yamen will also publish the test papers of the top few.The boss of some bookstores will also buy the top few papers and engrave them into books for readers to figure out.

Therefore, everyone has read each other's exam articles this time.

The Mei family had plenty of money, so if they got the answer in advance, they would have to go to a composition master to write an essay in advance for Mr. Mei to memorize.That article is probably well written, at least convincing.

Otherwise, if it is too bad, or even nonsense, Shi Zhixian would not dare to risk the world's disgrace and let him get the first place, Zhou Nan thought so.

The scholar who was caught by Brother Lian refused to accept it, and argued: "Brother Wang, this is wrong. Shui and Mei Ersheng are both eleven or twelve-year-old children, so they should have the heart of a child. Mei Pu's essays are old-fashioned, but But it is not the vigor that a boy should have. Therefore, in this county test, Shui Yue should be the first, and everyone is also convinced."

The so-called literature has no first, and martial arts has no second.Scholars in the Ming Dynasty had a bad temper, Wang Shusheng got annoyed when he disagreed, and shouted: "Brother Lian, are you really confused or are you pretending to be confused? Did you get some benefits from the Shui family, so you helped Shui Yue speak. Really I don’t know anything, the Shui family spent a lot of money in the yamen in order to get the title of the head of the county test. Even Zhou Nan’s corrupt subordinate got a house.”

"It's still the county's honesty, with a public heart, insisting on taking the third son Mei. Otherwise, if the one named Shui gets the first name, everyone will really be dissatisfied."

Hearing his words, all the scholars also glared at Lian Shusheng: "Yes, if Shuiyue really won the first place, I will never give up. You must have benefited from the Shui family, gentle scum, you and I will cut it off today. The seats are broken."

The scholar surnamed Lian was so angry that his face was flushed, and he paused and said, "I can't get along with the Shui family, why should I speak for Shui Yue? It's just to say something fair, Shui Yue's article is really clever It has charm!"

All the scholars just sneered, with an expression that only ghosts believe you.

A place of right and wrong cannot stay for long.

Feeling guilty, Zhou Nan ran into the yamen in a hurry.If this group of scholars were to recognize themselves, they would be unable to get away.

When we arrived at Houya, Shi Zhixian was sleeping.The weather was hot, and he had been busy all morning. At this moment, he was lying under the flower shelf in the courtyard, and a yamen servant was lazily fanning him behind him.

Hearing the sound of footsteps, Shi Jieren slightly opened his eyes, and waved his hand to signal the servant to leave.Then slowly said: "Zhou Nan, have you returned to the Yamen?"

Zhou Nan took a step forward and said: "The humble official is here today to plead guilty to the Elder Master. These days Zhou Nan has been lazy in government affairs and caused trouble for the County Honor. Please ask the old parents to punish him."

Shi Jieren smiled: "People are mortal, and when they are tired, it's good to take a rest. For example, in this county, I don't sleep enough, and I don't have energy all day long."

Seeing that he was not angry, Zhou Nan hurriedly said: "Thank you, Elder Master, for granting a humble position as the head of the case, and the kindness of the county lord, Zhou Nan will never forget it."

Shi Zhixian sighed suddenly: "You have been with this county for so long, and you are the most useful person under my command. After the Chinese New Year, I will go to Yunnan? Humanity is, the Zhou Dian in this yamen is smart and sophisticated. , Actually, this county knows that you are honest in nature, and sometimes you can't think of such details when you do things, and I'm afraid you will suffer in the future. If you can settle the grievances between you and the Mei family, it will not be in vain for you and me as a guest and host."

It was rare for him to be emotionally moved, and Zhou Nan's heart suddenly warmed up, and he whispered: "Thank you county lord."

When he came out from the back office, Lao Shui came up to him, with a guilty expression on his face: "Master Zhou, I have heard about it. Originally, my nephew was going to win the first place in this issue, and you also contributed a lot to it. It was helpless. The master wanted to be an upright official, so he insisted on handing over the case to the Mei family, which also caused the master to offend the county magistrate. He was driven home to think about it for three days, and he was not allowed to interfere in the publication of the list. This kindness is not only for me, but also for the sailors. Keep it in your eyes and keep it in your heart. The sailors said, take a day to invite the master to have a drink."

"There is an invitation from the sailors, Zhou Nan dare not obey." Zhou Nan smiled wryly, this is the charge that he took over the house of Shui and wanted to give Shui Yue the first place in the county test.The image of the corrupt subordinate who broke the law has been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people since then, which is really not so glorious.

But he, Shi Jieren, has changed in the eyes of scholars and common people, becoming Bao Longtu who resists corruption and never clings, for the sake of justice and justice, and does not show favor to his subordinates.

In this way, Mei Pu won the first place, and no one would suspect that there was something tricky in it, and he gained a reputation as an upright official in Shizhi County. This is really deep thinking!
"No wonder Shi Jieren just said that I, Zhou Nan, have a good nature. Sometimes I can't think of such details when I do things. I'm afraid I will suffer in the future. Indeed, compared with this old oily officialdom, I am indeed a little weaker. .” Zhou Nan thought in his heart.

In this matter, Shizhi County gained fame, Meipu won the first place, Zhou Nan canceled the arrears, and got the best of all three.

In the end, it was Shui Yue who was unlucky. According to the level of his articles, he should have been the top of the table and recommended a spot as a scholar.Now it is done by everyone.

However, the Shui family is also very grateful to him, Zhou Nan, Shi Jieren, what a talent!

"Who says that modern people are smarter than ancient people? In terms of officialdom alone, modern people are not good enough."

……

According to the unspoken rules of the imperial examination system in the Ming Dynasty, the head of the county examination was recommended to be a scholar.

If ordinary people get this case, they will naturally be overjoyed.However, Yuanwai Mei was wary of Zhou Nan, so he seemed very low-key, so he decided to wait and see.

This year Huai'an Mansion was delayed due to the official assessment and the reform of the land to mulberry, and the examination period for the boy's examination seemed very tight.After the county examination, half a month later is the government examination.Then, another month is the hospital examination.

After finishing the county examination, the registration for the government examination begins.Candidates who are impatient have already gone to the city of Huai'an, staying in temples or Taoist temples or simply living in inns while studying their homework while waiting for the exam period.

For things like reading, no matter in any age, you have to communicate with your colleagues in addition to studying hard and doing your best.In this way, under the catalysis of excellent students, knowledge can be raised to a higher level.

Moreover, things like composition are actually a test of people's vision. If you don't listen to things outside the window and concentrate on reading sage books, you may not be able to become a talent.This is also the reason why scholars in this era will go out to study once they have completed their studies, and this is why Zhou Xiucai owed the eldest son of the Mei family a huge sum of 300 taels of silver.

As soon as Mei Pu finished the county examination, she rested at home for two days before being sent to Huai'an City by Mei Waisai on a boat.It is said that he lived in the newly bought house of the Mei family in Huai'an City, hired another Juren as a teacher, and was tortured to death with an eight-legged essay every day.

It's a pity that this kid is really not very good at studying, at least he belongs to the most inconspicuous part of the candidates in the entire Huai'an Mansion.

Soon there was news that the Juren teacher felt that Mei Pu's standard was too low, and he resigned again in anger, saying that he couldn't afford to lose this person.

He left the two private school gentlemen with a look of anger. The traits of this third Mr. Mei's scumbag have reached the point where there is no cure.

Zhou Nan felt a little worried, worried that this kid would lose his name in the government examination room.The reason why unspoken rules are unspoken rules is because they cannot be put on the surface.

If the third son of Mei’s writing is really bad, the prefect thinks it’s too embarrassing to accept such a student.

These half a month was the happiest time Zhou Nan had lived since he traveled to the Ming Dynasty. The salt ship had already started operating, and every day it was worth a few taels of silver.Nothing happened in the yamen, and every day went by, nothing more than drinking tea, reading the residence newspaper, and chatting with colleagues.

After leaving the Yamen, Yunniang and Yunniang worked to renovate the half-acre vegetable garden at home and eat restaurants.Go to bed in the dark, take off your clothes and belts, the ceremony of Duke Zhou.

Soon, the government examination was over, and the third son Mei successfully entered the list and passed the second pass of the boy's examination.

　Dear readers and friends, happy new year, all the best, make a fortune, make a fortune, make a fortune!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)