The days of studying are dull, and it will inevitably become boring after a long time.
Fortunately, Wei Chen knew how to arrange his study and rest time appropriately. When he had nothing to do, he took Zhang Xu out to play, play chess, fish, or listen to a play and enjoy the scenery. It was also a break in his days of rest.
Summer went to autumn, autumn passed to winter solstice, and in a blink of an eye, it was Wei Chen's second year in the Zhou Dynasty.
For more than half a year, Wei Chen not only read the notes of the Eight Great Masters and the Selected Works of Zhaoming, but also browsed through the collection of books in the Yixue Library. The amount of reading far exceeded any student in the Yixue, and even Lin Yan was ashamed of himself.
Lin Yan taught Wei Chen once every five days. No matter whether it was cold in winter or hot in summer, windy or rainy, Wei Chen was never absent once.
During this period, Wei Chen wrote so many articles that even he himself could not remember clearly. He only knew that the old manuscripts stacked in the corner of the room were as tall as a person.
Up to now, Wei Chen has learned from the three dynasties of the pre-Qin Dynasty, learned extensively from the Tang and Song Dynasties, and consciously made great progress in his writing. Although he has not yet reached the state of being a unique master, he can still be said to have made his mark.
As for calligraphy practice copybooks, there are countless.
If the dividends from Amber Wine hadn't been received at the end of last year, I'm afraid that just the cost of this ink and paper would have caused Wei Chen to go bankrupt.
However, these investments have also been very effective. Now Wei Chen's pavilion style writing is dignified and neat, which is no longer the same as last year.
The spring breeze in February was chilling, and Wei Chen was sitting on the small building, staring out the window.
After nearly a year of preparation, the first fateful exam was finally coming, and Wei Chen was full of expectations.
This is the first step in the long road to the imperial examination, and you must take it well.
…
Today is the day to register for the county test.
At noon, students from Sheng's Free School set off under the leadership of Lin Yan and arrived in front of the county government.
There are only a dozen students behind Lin Yan, all of whom are natives of Youyang. Students from other places have to return to their place of origin to participate in the county examination.
Lu Qingzhou returned to Shangyuan County, and Tao Dazhi also returned to Jiangning. Among the seven people in Shangshen, only Chen Jun and Wei Chen participated in the county examination in Youyang.
There are a lot more tolerances in the Youyang County government office than usual. There is a post every three steps and a sentry every five steps to prevent students who do not understand the rules from running around.
Youyang is located in the south of the Yangtze River, where culture and education are prosperous. Youyang County is also one of the few counties in the Zhou Dynasty that is strong in imperial examinations. Every year in the county examination, thousands of scholars compete together, fighting to the death.
The number of people admitted to the county examination generally ranges from a few dozen to a hundred, and the admission rate is less than one-tenth.
Today, when registering for the county examination, thousands of people crowded in front of the county government office, and the queue formed a long queue. Wei Chen arrived late, so he could only stand in the back, looking at the queue that had not moved for a long time, and sighed helplessly.
Just when he was getting impatient, there was a sudden commotion in the team behind him.
"Get out of the way in front of me!"
The crowd obediently parted to make way for a five-foot-wide path.
Wei Chen looked around and saw an official with a stern face wearing a green robe and a handsome young man wearing a white shirt swaggering in from the door.
The originally very quiet crowd suddenly started to murmur in low voices, obviously very dissatisfied with this special behavior of jumping in line.
However, there are some people who are knowledgeable. They smiled and said to the unhappy students: "Do you know who he is? He is Wang Yaochen!"
The students looked sideways, and many of them made sounds of realization.
"Wang Yaochen, it turns out to be him!"
"I heard that he went to Bailudong Academy to study at the age of ten. He studied under Luo Bingkun, the number one scholar thirty years ago. He studied for five years. It seems that he has finished his studies and left the academy!"
"Looking at his posture, I'm afraid he's not here for Xiao Sanyuan!"
…
After understanding the reason of the matter, Chen Jun whispered to Wei Chen: "Brother Wei, I'm afraid this person is your strong rival in this county examination!"
Wei Chen smiled: "Which one is strong or weak can only be known after passing the test!"
Chen Jun noticed the edge in Wei Chen's words and couldn't help but be stunned for a moment. He still knew Wei Chen very well. Wei Chen would rarely take the initiative to seek the limelight unless necessary.
Seeing the confusion in Chen Jun's eyes, Wei Chen explained with a smile: "Brother Chen, you have to be low-key as a person and as an official. Only in the imperial examination, it is absolutely forbidden to be low-key. The better you do in the exam, the greater your reputation and your future." It will be brighter!
Therefore, no matter who comes, I will compete with him for the top spot in the county examination! "
"I see."
Chen Jun scratched his head and said with a shy smile: "I just want to avoid failing the rankings, but the battle for the top spot has nothing to do with me."
While he was talking, Wei Chen suddenly felt someone patting him from behind. When he turned around, he saw that it was a small official from the yamen.
"This is Wei Chenwei, a junior official. Please come with me."
After confirming Wei Chen's identity, the clerk led Wei Chen out of the queue, and like Wang Yaochen before him, started his journey of jumping in line.
Wei Chen felt a little funny in his heart: I was angry with others just now, but now it's my turn.
As expected, there was another angry discussion behind him.
"Damn, there's another queue-jumping guy. If this continues, we won't be waiting in line until the year of the monkey and the month of the horse!"
"Come on, he is different from you and me. He is Wei Chen, the child prodigy of our Youyang County. He was appreciated by the academic master at the age of ten!"
"Have you heard of "Bamboo Stone"? He wrote it!"
"It turns out it's him. Why did he come to take the county examination at such a young age?"
"This guy is not bad looking. He is a bit more attractive than Wang Yaochen's pretty face."
"What's the use of being good-looking? Even the Master of Academic Affairs has confiscated him as a disciple. How can he compare with the serious disciples of the number one scholar?"
"That's right. It's not unusual for a child prodigy. It's not like we, Youyang, have never been born before! Hahahaha..."
As soon as these words came out, the surrounding people burst into laughter.
The deeds of a certain child prodigy surnamed Sun are well known in the Youyang area. If Wei Chen, the new magical power, also repeats the mistakes of his predecessor, it will be fun to see.
When Wei Chen heard the discussion of these people, he couldn't help but turn around and glare fiercely.
Those people didn't expect that a young man's eyes could be so terrifying. They were all startled and subconsciously closed their mouths.
Wei Chen looked at the silence of those people and couldn't help but sigh, speeding up and leaving this place of right and wrong.
Ever since he got the title of Youyang Prodigy, Wei Chen has become accustomed to people comparing him to his predecessor Sun Zhigao.
But what day is it?
On the day of registration for the county examination, Wei Chen took the first step on the road to the imperial examination!
Are you talking about this idiot Sun Zhigao now?
What a damn bad luck!
…
After Wei Chen was brought into the county government's ceremonial room, after waiting for a while, a clerk from the ceremonial room came forward.
The scribe asked whether anyone in the three generations of Wei Chen was engaged in prostitution, elites, slaves, slaves, or untouchables, whether they were in the Dingyou period, and whether they applied for the exam at the place of household registration...
And so on, a total of more than a dozen questions were asked. After recording them all one by one, he wrote down Wei Chen's physical characteristics on a piece of paper: "Short body, round face, white face, no beard, very good appearance."
The clerk put the paper on the back of the examination card and asked Wei Chen to put his fingerprints on the front of the examination card.
Registration for the county examination requires a joint guarantee, that is, five candidates from the same county who take the examination at the same time guarantee each other.
If one person's identity is false, the other four people will be implicated, and the risks are self-evident.
Another option is to ask a senior citizen to act as insurance, so that you can avoid the risk of accidents.
Originally, Wei Chen had negotiated with Chen Jun and several other volunteer students to provide mutual protection, but since he was called in in advance, the county government must have made other arrangements.
Sure enough, after a while, the little official who led Wei Chen in came back and said with a smile on his face: "Mr. Wei, the county official has found a good villager to be your guarantor. Please come with me."
Wei Chen suddenly realized that this must be Wang Xuezheng's influence at work.
It's only February now, and Wang Wenqing won't leave office until June. After all, Wei Chen is also a talent Wang Wenqing is optimistic about. Magistrate Feng can win Wang Wenqing's favor by giving him proper care during the county examination. It can be said that it is a favor without any cost.
