"I want to have a good sleep. I'm too tired and I still want to sleep." After saying that, Yang Derong yawned and lay down to sleep again.
Du Changjiang did not let him go and lifted the quilt: "Who is a scholar who is not tired? It's not just for today."
"I'm different from you. I work and study at the same time." Yang Derong yawned and covered himself with the quilt, making a buzzing sound from his mouth. "I haven't slept so comfortably for more than half a year."
"No matter how tired you are, have you ever heard of the story about cutting through walls to gain light and hanging over beams that are bone-piercing?" Du Changjiang shook his head, lifted the quilt again and said, "On such an important day, Ziyu still has the time to sleep, so get up."
"I am indeed too tired. Now there is no one to disturb me, so I can finally sleep comfortably." After Yang Derong finished speaking, he lay down again.
Du Changjiang shook him and said: "I still want to sleep in, but there is no way. I heard the sound of gongs and drums. Could it be the sound of announcing good news?"
"I'm afraid your ears are deaf. There is no sound of gongs and drums." Yang Derong simply covered his head with a quilt.
As if someone was deliberately trying to make things difficult for him, the voice was getting closer and closer.
"Dang, dang, dang," the gong announcing the good news sounded. The heads of the students in the inn were like domestic geese, and they looked in the direction of the sound of the gong.
When Du Changjiang saw that Yang Derong was unable to get in, he ignored him, opened the window and looked towards the street.
"Congratulations to Mr. Du, Mr. Du, for being listed on the Yangtze River list and winning the 100th place in Changzhou." The official's voice almost knocked over the roof of the inn.
Du Changjiang thought he heard wrongly and asked blankly: "Is this another person named Du? I didn't expect that I would be admitted."
"There is only one Du Changjiang in Dazu County, and it's not you who else," Yang Derong patted Du Changjiang on the shoulder and said, "Why don't you go and receive the good news."
Amidst the sounds of congratulations, Du Changjiang arrived at the door of Lu's Inn.
At this time, the shopkeeper Lu Jie had already prepared the firecrackers. As soon as Du Changjiang came out, the firecrackers suddenly went off.
Du Changjiang's family was well off, and he immediately exchanged a lot of copper coins, which were thrown out like raindrops, causing the children to yell and grab the money.
Xie Yong looked at Du Changjiang and couldn't help but said in surprise: "A miracle, really a miracle. This Zishui is in the yellow class A, and he can actually pass it?"
"I can get into the Yellow Class A class, and I have no problem getting into the Tianzi Class A." Li Wenquan looked at Xie Yong excitedly, nodded and sighed.
"It's a pity that it's only one hundred, just the last one," Du Changjiang was excited but also depressed after holding the red news.
Yang Derong shook his head and said, "Just be satisfied. Not only will you be able to enter the circle of literati, but you will also be qualified to take the imperial examination."
"It was very difficult for me to pass the examination," Du Changjiang shook his head and sighed, "I have never had the extravagant hope of becoming a Jinshi."
When he said this, his eyes suddenly lit up, he looked at Yang Derong and said, "Zi Yu is from Changyuan County, right?"
"Of course, I don't know what you have in mind, just tell me." Yang Derong stared at him and nodded.
"There is a Zhaojiazhuang in Changyuan County, which is famous all over the world," Du Changjiang said with some embarrassment, "I want to make a living, and I hope to be recommended."
"It doesn't matter, I'll do my best." Yang Derong looked at him, nodded, and asked: "Do you want to enter a workshop or a school?"
"Although the salary in the workshop is good, it is a low-income industry after all." Du Changjiang shook his head, "It took a lot of effort for me to get out of a low-income family. I don't want to go back."
"There are many schools in Zhaojiazhuang, the salary is good, and they can educate people, I wonder if it is okay?" Yang Derong asked thoughtfully.
"Thank you!" Du Changjiang bowed deeply, "That's exactly what I meant."
"Zhaojiazhuang Academy may be different from other schools. You may have to learn one thing." After all, he is his classmate. Yang Derong wants to bring him in and give him a better future.
Du Changjiang thought about it for a long time, but he didn't think about it. He asked: "Isn't it enough to be a master now? What other things do I need to learn?"
"This thing is a new literacy method in Zhaojiazhuang school," Yang Derong had to tell him clearly when Du Changjiang didn't know why.
Du Changjiang looked at Yang Derong in disbelief and asked in disbelief: "There is also a new method of literacy. How effective is it?"
"Of course, Zhaojiazhuang is trying this literacy method, which is more than five times better than the traditional method." After speaking, Yang Derong handed over a "Zhaojiazhuang Dictionary" and said, "You can take a look when you have time."
Hearing that the literacy effect was five times greater, Du Changjiang couldn't help but feel curious. He opened it and looked at it with wide eyes: "Tadpole writing?"
The dictionary of Zhaojiazhuang is the secret of Zhaojiazhuang. If Du Changjiang hadn't been Yang Derong's best classmate and friend, he would not have revealed it to others easily.
"This is an unheralded treasure of Zhaojiazhuang. If you are not interested, I will take it back." Yang Derong reached out to Du Changjiang and wanted to take it back.
It is said that it is a rare treasure in Zhaojiazhuang. How can Du Changjiang be willing to hand it back.
He flipped through it for a while and couldn't help but ask: "Ziyu, how can these tadpole texts teach people to read?"
"You must memorize this first, and then you can learn to read." Yang Derong thought for a while and said: "I am stupid, and literacy has always been a weakness. It is through this dictionary that I deepened my understanding of the meaning of words, and then I mustered up the courage to take the exam. .”
Du Changjiang flipped through the book again. Is it so magical?
It's so amazing, you should at least pass the exam and get a good ranking.
Of course, Du Changjiang couldn't say these words, he could only bury them deeply in his heart.
He was polite on the surface and kept praising the dictionary, but he had another thought in his heart.
"Dang Dang, Dang Dang." The official voice continued to announce the good news, and Lu Jie, the shopkeeper of Lu's Inn, smiled from ear to ear.
There are so many people coming out of his inn, which is an auspicious sign, and the business will be more prosperous in the future.
The sound of announcing the good news lasted from morning to noon, and from noon to afternoon, there were already thirty cases in Lu's Inn.
The ranking also went from the last hundred to the top twenty.
Xie Yong and Li Wenquan looked at each other, cupped their hands, and said, "It seems that you and I must be the top three."
Li Wenquan and Xie Yong laughed and congratulated each other.
Not only did the two of them come from a good family background, but before the exam, they also enrolled in a private school, hoping to succeed.
"Will this great talent Yang be among the top three?" There was no good news about Yang Derong. Li Wenquan thought for a moment, looked at Xie Yong and asked suddenly.
"Difficult! Difficult! Difficult!" Xie Yong thought for a moment, shook his head and said, "Last time, some examiners rated his scriptures as nonsense!"
"He should have made progress in three years, but I don't know how much?" Li Wenquan thought for a while, took a sip of tea, put it in the teacup and said.
Xie Yong shook his head and said: "His family is in a difficult situation. I heard that he hasn't studied for a year. No matter how much progress he has made, at most he has become a master from being unreasonable."
The two looked at each other, used teacups instead of wine glasses, clinked glasses and drank, celebrating the upcoming good news.
At a quarter past five o'clock in the afternoon, the gong sounded again at Lu's Inn.
Although Xie Yong and Li Wenquan were still drinking tea leisurely, their faces suddenly turned red and white, and they were obviously extremely nervous.
The official's voice shouted, "Congratulations to Mr. Xie Jialang for bravely making the list and winning the third place in the Changzhou Examination."
Although Xie Yong didn't say anything, he was actually heading towards Jieyuan.
At this time, when I heard that I was in third place, although a stone fell to the ground in my heart, I felt more of a strong sense of loss.
Although Li Wenquan was overjoyed and had a smile on his face, this was definitely sincere and he kept congratulating Xie Yong.
He thought to himself: "You, your biggest competitor, have been implemented, and my solution is finally settled."
"Congratulations to Guanzhi (Li Wenquan) for becoming Jieyuan." Xie Yong forced a smile, reluctantly held his hands, and was unable to sit down.
Two people who care so much about Jieyuan are that there is an unwritten rule in Sichuan's imperial examination. Members from various prefectures will generally become the same Jinshi.
"Dang, dang, dang," the official's gong rang again, and many people in the inn looked at Li Wenquan.
Xie Yong used all his strength to stand up, raised his hands, and said loudly: "Congratulations to Guanzhi."
Sure enough, it was Li Wenquan's name, and the official's rough voice sounded again: "Congratulations to Mr. Wenquan of the Li family for being on the list and winning the second place in Changzhou's examination."
Bang bang, this sound startled everyone. It turned out that someone's teacup fell to the ground, and the steam of hot tea continued to float from above the inn on the ground.
"Congratulations." Xie Yong's tone was absolutely sincere, because his heart suddenly felt balanced.
The second place seems to be higher than the third place, but in fact there is no essential difference. The Sichuan Provincial Examination Examiner only looks at Jie Yuan and does not look at the following ones.
The two of them felt sorry for each other and couldn't help asking: "Who is Jieyuan?"
"Could it be Mr. Yang?" Li Wenquan thought for a while and asked absently.
"From knowing nothing to being the first in articles, can you do it in three years?" Xie Yong looked at Li Wenquan while drinking tea, shaking his head, "In three years, you and I devoted themselves to studying, and there were also professional teachers to teach them, but they also passed by. Pass."
Li Wenquan changed a teacup, sipped the tea gently, thought carefully, and nodded in agreement.
It was already a quarter past six (equivalent to a quarter past six now), the weather was almost completely dark, and the lights in the inn had already been lit.
Li Wenquan and Xie Yong finally felt relieved and said, "It's dark and the official messenger hasn't arrived yet. It seems that Jie Yuan is not at Lu's Inn."
Yang Derong was no longer sleepy at this time. He was drinking tea and looking outside, feeling secretly worried.
The sky was completely dark, and his heart was also completely dark. Could it be that there was no hope for the people to be elected this time?
Du Changjiang also drank tea and looked at Yang Derong, thinking about what to do with the dictionary.
"Dang, dang, dang," the official gong sounded again. At this time, everyone put down their tea cups and looked towards the door of the inn.
Du Changjiang looked at Yang Derong, raised his hands, and said happily: "Congratulations Ziyu."
"The decision has not been made yet." Yang Derong smiled bitterly and lowered his head to drink tea, but his mouth did not touch the tea, and he was obviously very nervous.
Before he finished speaking, a rough official's voice rang out: "Congratulations to Mr. Yang of the Yang family for being listed on the list and winning the title of Changzhou Jurenjie Yuan."
Yang Derong and Du Changjiang finally breathed a sigh of relief. At this time, congratulatory voices from Lu's Inn began to fall one after another.
But in the congratulatory voice, there was an extremely discordant voice: "I don't believe that Mr. Yang has become Jieyuan."
