After walking out of the county school, Sheng Changbai came up with a smile and congratulated: "My dear brother, I am honored to be recommended by the owl. Congratulations!"
Wei Chen glanced at him lightly and said angrily: "Did you already know this?"
Sheng Changbai smiled slightly: "I just heard that Duke Luo and Duke Yan had a close relationship, and I saw that Wang Yaochen was arrogant and arrogant, unlike a disciple of Duke Luo, so I had a vague suspicion in my mind that Duke Luo would take this opportunity to suppress me. student."
Wei Chen nodded: "This kind of thing is not easy to do as a teacher, but it is more effective for an outsider like Feng Zhixian to do it. Mr. Luo really has good intentions."
Chen Jun, who was standing by, saw Wei Chen and Sheng Changbai standing there in a daze. He immediately had a question mark on his head and hurriedly stepped forward and asked, "What are you talking about? Why can't I understand?"
Wei Chen raised his chin towards Sheng Changbai and asked him to explain to Chen Jun.
Sheng Changbai laughed and then said: "Brother Chen, do you know that Wang Yaochen's teacher was Luo Bingkun, Mr. Shouxi, who was the number one scholar thirty years ago?
Chen Jun nodded: "Of course I know this."
"The county's respected teacher is Mr. Yan Xiren, a mountain farmer who is known as a master of poetry and painting. Do you know?"
"It seems that I have heard about it a little bit."
"Then do you know that Yan Xiren and Luo Bingkun are both called Yama, and they are the Taishan Beidou in the literary world at that time, and they cherish each other and have a close friendship?"
"This... I haven't heard of it. It seems I am ignorant."
Sheng Changbai chuckled and said, "I don't blame Brother Chen. After all, the time when these two people were most famous was thirty years ago. At that time, you hadn't been born yet, so naturally you wouldn't know."
"I see."
Chen Jun showed an expression of sudden realization, and then he seemed to have thought of something, and asked: "Thirty years ago, Brother Sheng was not born yet, so how did you know about it?"
Sheng Changbai was slightly startled by the question and didn't know how to answer.
Wei Chen on the side sighed and answered for him: "The Sheng family has a long history of learning. There are two Jinshis among the three generations. My brother has a wide network of friends and a wide range of knowledge. Naturally, he is not comparable to the Han family children like you and me."
Wei Chen was filled with emotion when he said this. Although he often talked about "Being a farmer in the morning and ascending to the emperor's hall in the evening", in fact, he also understood in his heart that children from poor families were pulled away by children from aristocratic families at the very beginning. A lot.
This gap cannot be made up by the increase of wealth, but the foundation accumulated over several generations.
Obviously the admission rate of Jinshi in the Great Zhou Dynasty is so low, but a scholarly family like Haijia and a family with imperial examinations can gather Jinshi from generation to generation, and can even achieve the unparalleled achievement of "one discipline and five Hanlins". This is the foundation of strength.
The so-called family origin is really not just an empty talk.
For example, Sheng Changbai, whose father Sheng Hong is the general magistrate of Yangzhou, naturally has a much wider range of information than Wei Chen and Chen Jun. With a little inquiry, you can know the secrets in the eyes of many people.
When this topic comes up, the atmosphere among the three people with different backgrounds suddenly becomes a little heavy.
Chen Jun lowered his head and said nothing. Sheng Changbai was also a little embarrassed and didn't know what to say.
Wei Chen smiled, patted Chen Jun on the shoulder and said: "The so-called Qingliu family and scholarly family are just a few Jinshi from our ancestors. If we can leap over the dragon gate and be named on the gold medal list, then we will be Why should a family rely on the shadow of its ancestors? Maybe, when I see you, Brother Chen, I will respectfully call you the ancestor of the Chen family!"
"Brother Wei is joking."
Chen Jun was stunned when he heard this. He was soft on the outside but strong on the inside, and he was not a self-pitying person. After Wei Chen enlightened him like this, his mood was obviously much better than before, and he was more determined to work hard.
Wei Chen looked at Sheng Changbai again, raised his eyebrows at him and said: "Brother, the government examination is coming soon. What is going on in it? You, a member of a noble family, must tell us clearly. You are not allowed to hide anything!"
Hearing Wei Chen's words, Sheng Changbai's heart finally relaxed. He couldn't help but reveal a happy smile on his face, cupped his hands and said, "Brother Meng Xian will not give up, but Brother Fool should do his best!"
"That's great!" Wei Chen smiled and clapped his hands, "With my brother here, we are like half a family, and we will never be mute or deaf on this scientific expedition road in the future."
…
Wei Chen was named as the head of the case by Magistrate Feng, which surprised many people. For a while, Wei Chen became the most talked about name among the people in Youyang City.
However, the enthusiasm of the people of Youyang for Wei Chen did not last long and quickly dissipated.
This year is the year of the Great Competition. After the palace examination on March 15th, I don’t know how many scholars will be on the gold list and jump over the dragon gate. Compared with the honor of being a Jinshi, the number of district and county examination cases will seem insignificant.
However, Wei Chen's mentality is very good. There are less than two months left before the imperial examination. He is eager to disappear from the public's sight as soon as possible, so that no one can disturb him and he can concentrate on preparing for the imperial examination.
Two days later, Sheng Changbai received news that water thieves had been rampant in Jiangning recently, and the waterway to Jiangning was probably not easy to travel. If he went there close to the government examination period, he might delay the exam.
So they discussed it and decided to set off early and take the land route to Jiangning City.
Jiangning City.
In the Huagaifang where dignitaries gather.
In a deep courtyard, the word "Shengfu" hangs high at the front door, and there is a plaque saying Tanhua Mansion.
This is the mansion that old lady Sheng left behind when she split up her family. Because Sheng Changbai's grandfather completed the transition from a merchant to a scholar, before marrying Miss Hou Fu, the old lady placed her second son's house in Jiangning City.
The Sheng family lived in the capital all year round. Later, after Sheng Hong was released as an official, his family spread all over the world. Therefore, the house in Jiangning City had been vacant for many years, with only a dozen loyal old servants left to guard it.
This time Sheng Changbai returned to Jiangning Mansion for an interview, so he happened to put this house that had been idle for a long time to use.
The three of them took a carriage all the way to Shengzhai. There were more than a dozen old servants waiting at the door of the house. An old man-like steward came forward and knelt down to salute.
"Young men, please welcome the second young master back home!"
Then the row of servants and servants in the back all knelt down and kowtowed, and the shouts were also uniform.
Wei Chen and Chen Jun both saw this kind of battle for the first time. They looked at each other with surprise on their faces.
Sheng Changbai, however, was no longer surprised. He waved his hand for everyone to stand up, then nodded to the leading steward and asked him to lead the three of them into the house.
The steward was very excited when he saw Sheng Changbai and kept mumbling: "I haven't seen the second young master for many years. I am really happy!"
Wei Chen heard a bunch of compliments and felt his ears buzzing from the noise. Fortunately, after arriving in the main hall, Sheng Changbai dismissed a group of people and was able to calm down.
After settling in, Sheng Changbai took Wei Chen and Chen Jun to the study room, took out ten papers from the cabinet and handed them to them.
"These are all Cheng Mo from Shenfu Terrace that I had people collect."
Sheng Changbai said solemnly: "Shen Futai was a Jinshi in the second year of Jingping. Before he was elected, he inherited his career from Zhao Ziyu, one of the nine sons of Anyang. His writing has the essence of parallel prose, and his words tend to be parallel and changeable.
During the government examination, if we can follow the example of the Six Dynasties, pay more attention to the presentation of words, and write beautiful four- and six-parallel prose, our ranking will definitely not be low. "
Wei Chen and Chen Jun were shocked when they heard this. They understood that this was Sheng Changbai sharing precious test information with them. At that moment, their faces showed extremely serious expressions, and they hurriedly took the paper and looked at it carefully.
