After leaving Cai Mansion, Zhang Yue felt relaxed.
It feels good to finally let go of the big stone that was troubling my heart, and finally realize that my worries were unfounded.
Zhang Yue saw a carriage parked at the corner of the alley in front of Cai's house. Zhang Yue recognized the carriage as belonging to Ouyang Xiu's house. He and Ouyang Fa had ridden several times.
Zhang Yue said goodbye to Lu Huiqing immediately.
Lu Huiqing smiled when he saw this. Zhang Yue saw that the other party did not take the initiative to invite him, so he took a step forward and said, "I wonder where Mr. Lu is staying in Beijing? I would like to come and ask for advice in a few days."
Lu Huiqing said: "I can see that Sanlang is concerned about national affairs. If you are of the same mind, you have the same virtue, and if you have the same virtue, you are a comrade. Since we are like-minded people with Lu, there is no need to ask for advice."
Zhang Yue was very moved after hearing this, bowed to Lu Huiqing and left.
Zhang Yue got on the carriage and saw that it was Ouyang Fa who was accompanying him. Zhang Yue was also familiar with this person. It turned out that Ouyang Fa had sent this person to meet him.
Seeing that Zhang Yue was fine, the other party said a few words and then drove a carriage to send Zhang Yue back to Taixue.
Sitting in the carriage, Zhang Yue thought that he had met Cai Xiang, but what was even more unexpected was that he met Lu Huiqing.
Zhang Yue was thinking about Lu Huiqing all the way, and the conversation he just had was very pleasant and harmonious from beginning to end. Every word spoken by the other party seemed to speak to his heart, scratching an itch, and feeling like an old friend at first sight.
is that so? As a newcomer to the officialdom, how could I possibly have a good conversation with the other party about my experience in the officialdom and my experience in running the place?
Therefore, the only answer is that Lu Huiqing is a very high-ranking person, and he has been talking with him from beginning to end.
Zhang Yue suddenly figured this out in the car and could only secretly say that the boss is awesome.
If he hadn't known the other party's historical evaluation, he would have completely filled up the other party's impression in his mind.
But then again, why did Lu Huiqing deliberately put aside her status and use her scheming skills to make friends with her?
Zhang Yue thought about it and guessed that it probably had something to do with Ouyang Xiu. But this is also a good thing for Zhang Yue. Although Lu Huiqing is known as a traitor, he can actually get things done. In terms of political career, he is not only longer than Wang Anshi, but also Zhang Dun and Zeng Bu. Zhang, two new party bosses have fallen one after another, but he has not yet fallen.
Had she not been implicated in Zhang Huaisu's rebellion, Lu Huiqing could have continued to bounce around in the political arena.
It is better to deal with such people sooner rather than later.
A few days after Zhang Yue returned to Taixue, the imperial examination scandal came to an end with little fanfare.
Li Dalin was punished and demoted to Chuzhou to supervise taxes due to the mistake of taking the exam. However, not even a month later, Li Dalin was restored to his original post halfway and returned to Beijing to serve as an official.
As for the seven candidates who were obviously unable to pass the article, they were disqualified from the provincial examination, and at the same time, their qualification to solve the next subject was also cancelled. He Qi was also one of them, but luckily he was not expelled from Taixue.
After Zhang Yue heard that He Qi knew this, he sat alone in the studio for two days without getting a drop of water. He came back on the third day, chatting and laughing with his classmates, as if nothing happened.
As for the candidates who caused trouble in front of Kaifeng Mansion, not only were they not re-enrolled, but the leading candidates were not allowed to participate in the next exam.
In the end, Cai Xiang settled the case.
Zhang Yue knew that if the case was investigated further, not only these people would be arrested, but in the end he could not continue the investigation, otherwise many people would be implicated.
In the imperial examination, there is a vast chain of interests behind the examiners, candidates, bookstores, officials in the examination room, and the powerful. If you look deeper, it will definitely be a big deal. Too many people will be offended in this way.
We also know from the attitude of the officials that he did not punish them strictly, and the court only punished a few people symbolically. This is evident from the looseness of court laws and regulations in the Song Dynasty.
After all, the examiners have personal needs to take care of, and the anonymous system has not been implemented for a long time. Therefore, how to find a balance between recruiting scholars for the country and the examiner's selfish desires.
This is not only the subtleties of the imperial examination, but also the difficulty of a ruler in handling matters.
Some things are clearly not good, but you can't change them right away, you have to change them slowly. This is what Zhang Yue learned through this imperial examination case, and at the same time he also gained an understanding of the official methods of governing the country.
Although Zhang Yue felt panicked from beginning to end, and he was frightened for a while in vain.
After letting go of his worries and clearing up the cheating case, Zhang Yue was naturally preparing for the provincial examination. It was now September, and the provincial examination would be in January next year, only three months apart.
The ecstasy of passing the examination here has not passed yet, and it is time to study hard to prepare for the provincial examination.
There was no meritorious examination in the Song Dynasty. If you failed in the Chinese examination, you would have to do it all over again.
As for the Ming and Qing Dynasties, as long as you become a Juren, you can take the Rites Examination an unlimited number of times until you pass the Jinshi exam.
Therefore, failure in the provincial examination is like zero, and the results achieved now do not count.
In Zhaishe, Zhang Yue, Fan Zuyu, and Huang Lu were all preparing for the exam.
Sun Guo went to Luoyang, and now it was Wen Yanbo who resigned from his position and stayed behind in Luoyang. Sun Guo might have another chance in Luoyang.
But Zhang Yue had no intention of letting Wen Jifu take care of Sun Guo. Zhang Yue knew who he could help and who he couldn't help, even if the person was a good friend.
As for Huang Haoyi, he gave up on himself, turned grief into desire, and wandered around became a common thing, and the money was spent like water. Huang Haoyi was even in debt and borrowed money from Zhang Yue almost every month to go to whoring.
Although Huang Haoyi spends a lot of money, one advantage is that he must pay back whatever he borrows, no later than two months.
However, Huang Haoyi's frequent behavior caused his jokes to spread throughout the Imperial Academy. Even Zhang Yue was very unkind and made up a paragraph for Huang Haoyi.
The story goes like this: Huang Silang went to a brothel one day, and the madam made him a pot of wine to entertain him. At this time, Huang Silang saw a prostitute and provoked him.
Huang Silang was not angry and raised his gun. The old bustard stopped and said, the wine is hot, drink it before going.
Huang Haoyi said, "No need, I will come as soon as I leave."
Suddenly, he heard a loud shout, like the sky was shattering and the earth was falling, and the mountains were shaking. The old bustard was about to inquire, but Huang Haoyi had already pushed the door open and walked out.
Everyone is watching...the wine is still warm.
This joke quickly spread in Yangzhengzhai and Taixue. From then on, Huang Haoyi always returned from the brothel.
Everyone looked at each other and smiled, and then asked: "Shiro, is the wine still warm?"
Huang Haoyi didn't know why, so he just replied naively: "Shang Wen Shang Wen."
From then on, Huang Haoyi had the nickname Shang Wen.
Another thing is that the prince of the country, Wang Kui of the Yuan Dynasty, and the grandniece of Fu Bi, the prime minister of Zhaowen, agreed to marry after becoming a Jinshi.
It is necessary to know that Guo Ziyuan has a high probability of becoming a Jinshi in the Yuan Dynasty. Since the beginning of the imperial examination, I have never heard of a few people failing. However, if you get the Jinshi title, you will be the top Jinshi, which may not be satisfactory for Wang Kui.
But when news of this incident spread, the students still expressed their envy towards Wang Kui. After all, he was related to the prime minister's family.
But Wang Kui is the prince of the country, and he has many good and bad things. More than one Taipei student said that Wang Kui was already engaged in his hometown, or that Wang Kui was in love with a prostitute in Beijing. The prostitute paid for him to study for the imperial examination, and she only wanted to The other party gave her a title after becoming a Jinshi, but he abandoned the prostitute.
There are many rumors, and I don’t know which one is true.
Scholars have always looked down upon each other, which has existed since ancient times. Wang Kui was born in a poor family and was able to win the title of Guozi Yuan, so he was jealous of many people. Overtly and secretly, many people were hoping for his misfortune.
Zhang Yue did not pay attention to this matter. He was still busy studying. Even if Wang Kui was not Guo Ziyuan, he could not take his place.
On the contrary, Zhang Yue also said a few good words about Wang Kui, but there were too many people in the Imperial College talking about this matter.
This matter was discussed in Yangzhengzhai that day. A classmate asked Huang Lu: "If you are Wang Junmin, you have a engaged wife at home, and the prime minister there wants to marry his daughter to you, how do you decide?"
Zhang Yue shook his head, "Don't you see, Chen Shimei has been scolded for thousands of years. Although she is selfish, the mainstream values of the common people have long been determined."
But some people still want to clear themselves up even after they have done it. This is deceiving the world.
Huang Lu was not happy after hearing this. There was an engaged woman waiting for him at home.
Huang Lu said: "If you want to marry the prime minister's daughter in the future, don't be engaged to a daughter of a good family. But as long as you are engaged, even if the official orders you to become a consort, you will not go."
Zhang Yue clapped his hands, this is a good saying, the three views are correct, and it is exactly what I want.
The man asked reluctantly: "If this marriage contract is ordered by your parents, you can't push it away?"
Huang Lu said: "Since it is the order of my parents, I can't refuse it. Doesn't this mean I am unfilial and unjust?"
Zhang Yue praised him again, saying it well.
The man got the answer from Huang Lu and felt that it was not in line with his heart, so he asked Zhang Yue, "What did the chief say?"
Zhang Yue thought for a while and said: "Then I have to care. If a woman can know me when I am humble, it goes without saying that I will become rich in the future. If I fall into despair, she will still stick to me, so I think she is a bad wife." Don’t abandon it.”
"If I were the prime minister's daughter, it wouldn't be possible. She knew me when I was in glory, but now I'm down and out. What should she do? Even if she doesn't say it, how can the Yue family not say it? How can a person be rich all his life?"
The man laughed and said, "What the chief said is true. How can I still be down and out if I marry the daughter of the prime minister?"
Zhang Yue smiled, as long as he got the point, he wouldn't argue anymore.
The man became bored with the conversation and left.
Huang Lu couldn't help but quarreled with Zhang Yue: "Some people think this way deep down, but they are afraid that they are the only one, so they look for people who share the same path. As long as they hear things that don't agree with them, they will feel that others are hypocritical."
Zhang Yue said: "You only know one but not the other. I heard someone said that he had already made a marriage arrangement in his hometown. The woman and he were childhood sweethearts. They only waited for him to get Jinshi and then return to his hometown to get married. But the woman has waited enough. In his seventh year, he failed to pass the Jinshi examination.
"In the end, it was a coincidence. The son of a good friend of the woman's father was also an official. His wife died not long ago and he had no children, so he married this woman as his second wife. This woman also resisted a little and went on a hunger strike to express her ambition. , but could not withstand his father’s repeated persuasion, and the official had just been promoted to the general magistrate of Dazhou... Finally... the woman wrote him a long letter... Now he is like this."
Huang Lu was stunned for a while, then stood up immediately.
Zhang Yue asked: "What are you doing?"
"I'm going to apologize to him."
Zhang Yue smiled and said, "Hey, sit down, what's there to say? He'll be even more sad after saying it."
Huang Lu sat down again with a solemn expression.
