Jia Cong didn't have the ability to recognize or remember things from birth, but because of Mr. Wei's innate wisdom, many people expected him to be the second Liuyuan Wenkui.
The boy's success in the county and government examinations was relatively good. Thanks to Daiyu's cramming education in the past two years, Jia Cong knew the Four Books by heart, at least by heart.
County examinations and prefectural examinations generally consist of two questions on four books, or one question on four books and one question on poems.
In addition, the county examination is not strict, and there is no cumbersome procedure such as anonymity and copying of papers. After completing the questions, the candidates submit to the county magistrate.
If the time is early, the county magistrate will also conduct an interview on the spot. If the county magistrate thinks that your essay is well done and your answers are appropriate, the county magistrate will even announce that the candidate has passed the county examination on the spot. Of course, most of the candidates will not be able to decide whether they have passed the exam until the county magistrate has finished marking the papers.
As for the number of places admitted to the county examination, there is generally no limited number of people like the big examination. There are as few as fifty or sixty people and as many as two hundred people. The passing rate is basically maintained at one out of ten, which is relatively easy.
The prefecture examination was not so easy at the beginning. There were roughly six or seven counties under the jurisdiction of one prefecture, and there were at least 3,000 or more candidates who should take the exam every year.
Sometimes one session cannot accommodate all candidates to complete the test at the same time, so the test will be divided into multiple sessions, and the test questions will also be composed of two four-book questions, and the questions in each session will naturally be different.
Moreover, the number of people admitted does not exceed a hundred, so one out of twenty is considered rare, and one out of thirty or even forty is the norm.
Therefore, candidates also call the government examination "Fuguan", which means that after passing this pass, the road ahead will be smooth.
Of course, none of this is difficult. After all, Jia Cong has such a big name as Rongguo Mansion and is the "biological son (grandson)" of the Second Saint. The magistrate of Daxing County and the governor of Shuntian Mansion will only depose him if their brains are eaten by zombies.
The difficulty lies in the courtyard (road) examination. The courtyard examination is the last level of the children's examination and the most important exam. It is different from the county examination and the government examination, which are conducted by local officials, but by the academic officials appointed by the imperial court.
The full name of the Tixue officer is the deputy envoy of the Tixing and Inspection Department and the Admiral Xuedao. He is nominally under the Inspection Department of a province. He is a fourth-rank official and a high official.
Because he is in charge of academic affairs and controls the fate of the students, he is also respected as the "Grand Master" by the students.
The term of the academic officer is three years. During these three years, the academic officer will hold two examinations. In other words, the college (Taoist) examination is conducted twice every three years.
These two examinations are called the annual examination and the scientific examination respectively. The reason why they are so called is actually related to the students of the official school.
The so-called annual examination means that the academic officials will assess the students of the official school to six grades, and give corresponding rewards and punishments according to the grade. The worst six grades will directly remove the student qualifications.
The scientific examination refers to the examination of students by academic officials before the provincial examination. Only those with first and second grades are eligible to participate in the provincial examination.
Starting from the township examination, the township, hui, and palace examinations are the real beginning. The boy's failure is just one of the stepping stones to participate in the imperial examination.
I won’t go into details here, Brother Cong hasn’t even got a stepping stone yet.
Not to mention that the difficulty of the questions in the college examination has almost doubled. Just mentioning an upright and noble official like an academic officer is not something Jia Cong can connect with the holy family through family power.
Maybe because of Jia Cong's Wuxun background and his status as a member of the Holy Family, he might be deliberately embarrassed by the "upright" academic advisor.
The boy took three exams, and Jia Cong was confident of passing the county and government exams, but he really didn't have confidence in the college exam.
Even his teacher Xu Jin and Xu Qingteng said that although the college examination was like picking up mustard, for Jia Cong, a martial arts disciple, it was much more difficult than the government examination with the lowest admission rate.
After all, since the founding of the People's Republic of China, it has been common for emperors on the dragon throne to be spit on. It is normal to use the emperor's "own son" to build his reputation.
When he came to the palace to see the imperial edict, the emperor didn't ask much about the Kong family. The emperor, who was "ill of dragon body", was more interested in the story of Yanzhou's defense battle.
Probably because he was afraid of being blocked by his ministers, Emperor Liu Heng directly asked Yuan Chun to order Jia Cong to appear in Fengzao Palace.
According to the imperial doctor's judgment, Yuanchun's due date was within these ten days.
Liu Heng paid great attention to the child in Yuanchun's womb. He stayed in Fengzao Palace eight out of ten days.
This reassures the people in Rongguo Mansion.
How dare those who want to have Yuan Chun's ideas do anything under the emperor's nose.
Because she was tired from her pregnancy, Yuanchun only showed her face and chatted about household matters for a while before going back to the back hall to rest.
Liu Heng took Jia Cong out of the main hall and sat in the pavilion in the courtyard chatting.
The spring breeze blows on the face, a cup of tea, and the spring red willows and green willows in the garden are extremely elegant, which calms Jia Cong's originally anxious heart a lot.
"The battle in Yanzhou was well fought and it did not embarrass me..."
Xu Qingteng played around with the Bailian bandits in Shandong, abandoning the traditional method of using the entire army to suppress the bandits and put an end to the rebellion.
Instead, he deliberately exposed his flaws and threw a bone to the White Lotus Sect. Lure the enemy deep and then directly surround them.
The war that was supposed to take months or even years to calm down was basically calmed down in mid-March. If we say that the one who made the greatest contribution was definitely Jia Cong, who presided over the defense of Yanzhou and held back the bandits.
Judging from a series of military intelligence documents sent from Shandong, although Xu Jin's method was the most effective, it was also a dangerous and dangerous method.
Yanzhou only had a total of 3,000 capable soldiers, but it was able to hold back more than 15,000 White Lotus bandits. If Jia Cong was replaced by an ordinary military commander, it would be nothing new to lose Yanzhou City.
In that case, the court would be completely disgraced.
The bandit rebellion in Shandong was quickly suppressed, and the power of the imperial court increased greatly. According to the secret report from the Dragon Guard, the White Lotus Sect, which was originally ready to move due to the chaos in Shandong, immediately ceased its activities after hearing that the chaos in Shandong was over.
Liu Heng's satisfaction with Jia Cong has been raised to another level. If the cabinet had not agreed, he would have given Jia Cong a title.
Liu Heng felt that his "own son" had made great achievements, and he felt very proud. He praised him again and again until Jia Cong himself felt embarrassed and began to make humble remarks.
"You don't have to be modest. Any merit will be rewarded. If you want any reward, just tell me directly..."
The two men chatted in the pavilion for an hour. It was not until Xia Shouzhong came to report the memorial from Southwest that Jia Cong got up and left.
Liu Heng happily sent away Jia Cong, who was holding a stack of books in both hands and was about to cry without tears, and then turned back to the main hall of Fengzao Palace.
From the Dragon Head Palace, the Emperor's oral instructions came, telling Jia Cong to go back to his residence and study hard. At the same time, he asked the young eunuch to send him a reward.
Jia Cong sat in the carriage and almost cried when he looked at the "three-year college entrance examination and five-year simulation" given by the two Supreme Beings.
What grudge? He just said humbly to the emperor that thunder, rain and dew are all your kindness, and all ministers will be happy with whatever your Majesty rewards you.
The emperor then found a number of sage classics annotated by great scholars from the Hanlin Academy. He also patted his shoulders and said that he was waiting for Jia Cong's roll call at the Golden Palace.
After returning home, Jia Cong took out the rewards from the two saints, and everyone in the house shouted long live.
Including the saint's reward, this box of books is a collection of the palace. In Daiyu's words, if you just take out a book, it will be snatched by people outside.
The old lady didn't pay much attention to the imperial examination. When she learned that the emperor was summoning Jia Cong in Fengzao Palace, she rushed the girls to sort out the books given by the two saints, leaving Jia Cong to talk alone.
"Sister Yuan... are you okay, my empress?"
Jia Cong nodded: "Eldest sister is very good. Your Majesty has been staying at Fengzao Palace recently, and the imperial doctor also said that eldest sister is in good health, so the old lady doesn't need to worry."
"That's good, that's good..."
The old lady clasped her hands together and prayed to Amitabha and Master Tianzun for a while, and then she talked to Jia Cong about the trivial matters at home.
Finally, someone who could stand up to the family came back. The old lady finally had someone to talk to, and she told everything that had happened recently, especially the matter of Princess Zhongshun coming to propose marriage for Liu Xianglian.
There was no surprise on Jia Cong's face, but he asked, "What does grandma think of this?"
"You already knew?"
"The Thirteenth Master mentioned to my grandson earlier that His Majesty sent Brother Liu to Shandong to help me. I met him in Qufu and he told me about it."
Hearing what Jia Cong said, the old lady asked tentatively
Said: "Then how did you respond?"
Jia Cong replied: "My grandson told the prince that his parents ordered a matchmaker. Naturally, it was his grandmother and father who made the decision. As for Brother Liu, my grandson did not give him a reply. He only said that he would wait for him to return to Beijing to give more details. explain."
"Ryujiro is a good brother, but he is a bit older..."
The old lady's evaluation of Liu Xianglian was quite appropriate, and Jia Cong also thought Liu Xianglian was quite good. The only drawback was that her second sister welcomed the spring too much.
Liu Xianglian is already twenty-two this year, and she won’t have hair extensions until the second day of February next year, so the difference between them is more than eight years.
However, being older also has the advantage of being older. Your character has been determined, and you can love others more.
Jia Cong thought about it carefully and suggested to the old lady: "Grandma might as well write a letter to my father and ask for his opinion."
"This is natural..."
The old lady nodded in agreement, and then added: "One more thing, I plan to put Er Yatou and you under your mother's name, what do you think?"
"ah?"
Jia Cong didn't want the old lady to mention this suddenly, and he felt grateful but also dumbfounded at the same time.
"Originally, my grandson also planned to mention this matter to you, but it would be better to record the second sister in my wife's name. The grandson does not lack the title of a legitimate son. It is enough for our legitimate son to have a second brother."
The old lady looked at Jia Cong with complicated eyes, but finally complied with Jia Cong's wishes.
Despite his young age, this grandson has the most upright ideas in the house.
At this time, Yuanyang knocked on the door, saying that someone from outside the house came to visit. When he learned that she was the wife of the Sun family in Datong, Shanxi, the smile on Jia Cong's face gradually faded.
The old lady also showed dissatisfaction: "This Sun family is our family's old disciple, but Sun Shaozu is restless. Before, your mother took the second girl and Yu'er to the Great Baoen Temple to participate in the massacre, but this guy didn't know To avoid taboos, there is an act of stalking.”
Jia Cong took advantage of the situation and asked with a smile: "Then you are gone? Anyway, you are sick. My grandson is tired from a long journey and wants to have a good rest."
The old lady smiled knowingly, told Yuanyang to refuse the Sun family's visit, and then continued to talk to Jia Cong about Liu Xianglian.
The chief minister was angry, and all the civil and military officials in the capital became trembling with fear.
After Jia Cong returned from the palace, the gate of Rongguo Mansion continued to be closed, and he could study at home and accompany his relatives.
The chaos in Shandong has entered the final stage of clearing up. Xu Jin sent a letter to Jia Cong, detailing the follow-up in Shandong, and even drafted several questions in a row, giving Jia Cong a month's worth of homework.
Every day, Jia Congchen would get up at midnight, and after breakfast, he would study the Four Books under Daiyu's guidance. At noon, he would go to Dongfu to receive Jia Jing's teachings and study the classics and meanings.
With three days off, Jia Cong spent most of his time playing with his sisters, living a life similar to Baoyu's.
After Jia Cong came back, the old lady personally informed Yingchun about Liu Xianglian's marriage proposal and asked Yingchun for her own opinion.
To say that Liu Xianglian is really beautiful, it is not an exaggeration to describe her as a jade master.
It was raining continuously that day, so Daiyu gave Jia Cong a rare half-day off, sitting in the pavilion with her sisters to enjoy the rain and play.
The girl from Rongguo Mansion was truly born from the aura of heaven and earth. In just half an hour, she had already composed several very good poems, which put even the "poet" Jia Cong to shame.
"It's a pity that Sister Bao has been very busy recently. Otherwise, if we could get two more good poems, our poetry collection would be even more glorious."
Everyone watching Daiyu record the poems nodded and agreed with Xiangyun.
Jia Cong asked doubtfully: "Didn't you say that Aunt Xue invited her nephew to come to the capital to take charge of the family business? Why is Sister Bao still so busy?"
"Sister Bao is not busy with any business right now...hehe..."
Xiangyun covered her mouth and laughed, and said to Jia Cong mysteriously: "Sister Bao is busy attending various flower appreciation banquets with Mrs. Xue now."
The flower-viewing banquet is just a name. After the beginning of spring, the flower-viewing banquets are held one after another in the capital. In fact, the wives of each family have the same idea: to marry their little girls.
Dear.
"Oh~"
Jia Cong knew in his heart that Baochai was two years older than Baoyu, and he was already sixteen or seventeen this year.
If the marriage is not decided, according to the system of the country, before Shiba is married, the official media should come to the door to directly decide on the candidate.
Can Mrs. Xue not be anxious?
However, according to the news from "Little Detective" Xiang Yun, Baochai's marriage was really grand. Every time when a candidate was about to be decided, there would always be various accidents, causing Baochai's marriage to be aborted.
The more Jia Cong listened, the more he felt that there was something evil in it, so after carefully asking about the inside story, he temporarily left the inner courtyard and called Jia Shiyi.
"Uncle Eleven, go check out these families and find out what is the reason that made them cancel their marriage to the Xue family."
Jia Cong wrote down all the families who suddenly came to the Xue family with gifts to apologize and talked about canceling the marriage with the Xue family.
The Xue family is no longer the shaky imperial merchant Xue family before. The current head of the Xue family, Xue Pan, is valued by the East Palace and is one of the six most important generals of the prince.
The Xue family has officially entered the official family. Although the family background of this family is not bad, in reality, it is too high for them to marry Baochai.
It makes no sense that such a good marriage, which was promised well before, would be suddenly canceled.
?Monthly ticket??Recommended ticket?
