Wei Chen caught a glimpse of Xu Shizheng's slightly proud eyes, and couldn't help but frown secretly.
Normally, he would really not want to start such a meaningless dispute with others, so he would just laugh it off.
However, it was at the Luming Banquet at this time, and the literati from the province gathered here. Even to protect his own dignity as Xie Yuanlang, Wei Chen had to stand up and respond.
At that moment, Wei Chen stood up and bowed to Wang Wenqing, then looked around the crowd and read loudly: "The books are as affectionate as old friends, and the joys and sorrows of each other in the morning and evening are close to each other. There are three thousand words in front of my eyes, and there is not a speck of dust in my chest. Living water flows everywhere. , The flowers and willows in the east wind are new every time. The golden saddle and jade are looking for fragrance, but you don’t believe that there will be no spring in our house."
Wei Chen's voice was clear, and everyone heard it. Walrus, who was sitting at the top, held up his palms and praised: "What a poem, what a sentence. The golden saddle and the jade are looking for the fragrance. If you don't believe that there will be spring in our house, you will have a farewell." While everyone here is reading, If I couldn’t bear the loneliness, how could I have achieved the success I have achieved today?”
Most of the people here have achieved fame and are very familiar with the hard work of ten years in a poor family. Especially the dozens of new imperial examination candidates who have just climbed out of the torment of studying and taking exams still have fresh memories.
Especially those old talents who have failed many times, who has not suffered from the incomprehension of family and friends?
They say that they are just doing useless work and wasting their family's money by reading and writing articles. It is better to give up early and enjoy themselves in time.
But what now?
By virtue of studying the scriptures and articles, they jumped over the dragon gate and became a high-ranking master!
How can such a feeling of infinite scenery be experienced by those idle people who are lost in playing with things?
Therefore, after listening to Wei Chen reciting this poem, everyone felt the same way. Several old men who had just passed the exams had their eyes reddened when they thought of how they had not been understood during their decades of scientific examination career. For a while, they burst into tears. .
At this point, it is already obvious which of the poems written by Xu Shizheng and Wei Chen is better.
Xu Shizheng's poems are nothing more than a pavilion style of praising virtues. Although the words are gorgeous, the emotions are thin and pale.
On the other hand, Wei Chen's poem tells the story of his own mental journey while studying hard in a cold window. It was written with real feelings and immediately resonated with all the readers present.
Comparing the two, making a judgment, even a fool knows who to choose.
Unknowingly, except for a few Suzhou scholars who had old friendships with Xu Shizheng, most of the neutral scholars who were watching the excitement turned to Wei Chen's side.
At this time, Wang Wenqing raised his wine glass and saluted Wei Chen from a distance: "Xie Yuanlang is really a genius in poetry. I would like to give you a drink!"
After speaking, Wang Wenqing took a sip.
"Thank you, mentor."
Wei Chen held the cup with one hand and covered his sleeve with the other, and drank the wine in one gulp. As for Xu Shizheng who provoked him earlier, Wei Chen didn't even look at him.
Everyone saw that Wei Chen was still so calm despite being in such a big limelight, and they couldn't help but admire him secretly.
As expected, poetry is just like the person he is. Wei Chen's demeanor of being praised by the world without admonishing him, and being criticized by the world without being discouraged is something they cannot imitate.
Such a comparison makes it even more apparent that Xu Shizheng, who took the initiative to stir up trouble earlier, is narrow-minded and intolerant of others.
Soon, Wei Chen's song "Guanshu" was copied several times by good people and circulated to everyone. While everyone was appreciating it, they commented in detail and did not hesitate to praise it.
Hearing the praise of Wei Chen from the people around him, Xu Shizheng, who was sitting in his seat, felt his face was hot and he was very embarrassed. If all the superior officials were not here, he really wanted to find an excuse to leave the table early.
After Wei Chen, the other new imperial examination candidates also composed poems on their own.
Among these eighty candidates, there are those like Sheng Changbai and Wang Yaochen who are quick-thinking and can recite excellent works, and there are also those who can only write articles and are not good at poetry. When it is their turn, they just stand up and say they are ashamed, saying that their poems are not enough. , Wang Wenqing was magnanimous and did not blame him.
More than two hours later, the banquet was coming to an end. Under the leadership of Wei Chen, the new imperial examination candidates sang the Deer Ming Poem again in unison.
As the last word fell, the sound of elegant music gradually became fainter and even disappeared, and the Jiangnan Deer Ming Banquet that God blessed for five years came to an end.
The governor, prefect and other officials stood up and left. Before Wei Chen and the new imperial examination candidates left, scribes came to distribute exquisite small gifts to them.
As Jieyuan, Wei Chen not only received the honeysuckle cup and plate that everyone had, but also a silver ink cartridge and a white jade pen holder.
The honor that these gifts carry is far greater than the actual value. For some families that have only had a successful family for several generations, they can be offered as family heirlooms and serve as the goal for future generations to work hard for.
After bidding farewell to the examiner and all the room masters, Wei Chen silently followed the crowd and walked out. When he reached the entrance of Fuyamen, he was stopped by a clerk who called him to go over and register the registration.
Wei Chen was confused. He asked the scribe a few questions and then he understood the reason.
It turns out that the Deer Ming Banquet is not only held to celebrate the passing of candidates, but also has an important function, which is to distribute travel expenses for the examination.
Although ten taels of silver is not a lot, it is enough to support the food and lodging expenses of a scholar on his way to Beijing to take the exam if he lives frugally.
Wei Chen took the money and went out, and Wang Yaochen and others followed him: "Xingyun, when are you and Zicheng going to Beijing?"
Wei Chen thought for a while and said, "In two months' time, I still want to go back to Youyang for a short stay. By the way, how did you do with the things I asked you to do?"
Weng Dingfan smiled and said: "After the provincial examination, many scholars knew the name of our Jingxi Club, and many people came to ask me about joining the club."
Tang Henian also smiled and said: "Yes, during the dinner, when I talked about the Jingxi Club holding a community gathering, everyone heard that our Jiangning Seventh Son would be giving lectures at the community gathering. They were all very interested and said that they would definitely call out friends on that day. , come and watch and listen.”
Chen Jun scratched his head and said with amusement: "It seems that our Seventh Son of Jiangning has great appeal!"
Tao Dazhi glared at him: "What's wrong with you being at the bottom of the list? People come here just to listen to Xie Yuanlang and Jing Kui's lectures!"
】
Chen Jun was unconvinced and said: "What's wrong with the bottom of the list? The eightieth is also a candidate!"
"OK OK."
Wei Chen didn't know whether to laugh or cry, so he had to stand up for justice: "What's there to argue about? What does the ranking in the provincial examination count? To put it in the most tacky way, the ranking in the imperial examination is the most valuable. The rankings in the boy's examination and the provincial examination can only be said to make people happy. These are actually just fake goods."
"That's true."
Tao Dazhi and Chen Jun thought about it for a while and felt that what Wei Chen said made sense. In the final analysis, the rural examination is a qualification examination before the general examination. As long as you can pass the Jinshi examination, there is no essential difference between the last place in the rural examination and the first place.
Seeing Chen Jun become happy, Wang Yaochen curled his lips at the side.
There is indeed no difference between Chen Jun, who is ranked last, and Tao Dazhi, who is ranked fifty-two, but the difference from Wei Chen, who is ranked first, is huge.
The promotion of the Yuan Dynasty in each province will not only attract the attention of the entire province, but will also occupy the focus of public opinion in the capital during the conference and palace examinations in the coming year. This will have an invisible bonus to the rankings in the final conference and palace examinations.
In particular, Wei Chen is the Jieyuan of a province like Jiangnan that is strong in imperial examinations, and will definitely become a popular candidate for Huiyuan and No. 1 Scholar in the coming year.
However, these words had no meaning except to hit Chen Jun again, so Wang Yaochen kept silent.
