As the years passed, Yan Fu and Yan Jingwen passed the joint examination and palace examination two years ago and entered the court as officials. Yan Fu was ranked 19th on the first list, and now he is working as an editor in the Hanlin Academy and is in the seventh rank. Yan Jingwen is ranked sixth on the first list. Now he is appointed as the general magistrate of Jiangzhou on Jiangnan West Road, and he is also in the seventh rank. This kind of treatment made Li Hao feel that someone in the court was easy to do.
Yan Fu and Yan Jingwen have also been sending letters back to Yangzhou in the past two years to greet Master Qin and Li Hao. Yan Fu also specifically mentioned the soap business in his letter, saying that he did not expect that the 20% members could have so much money. His parents even praised him for this, and classified the members as their own after becoming a Jinshi. Private property.
By early morning in February of the second year of Zhihe, when the sky was dark, Li Hao's family had already begun to get busy. Because today is the big day for Li Hao to take the county examination, the whole family got up early to prepare food and clothes. In order to make it easier to enter the examination room and search, they also had to cut all the food into small pieces. Mrs. Wei also specially checked whether the clothes she brought were There is a mezzanine, whether there is writing on it, it can be said that everything is fine.
When everything was ready, he set off to the county examination site, watching people gather all the way, like hundreds of rivers returning to the sea, converging at the entrance of the county examination site. Li Hao said goodbye to his parents and entered the venue with the test basket in hand. After searching, I found the designated seat and sat down, then waited for the yamen servant to hold up the examination question board to display the answers.
Li Hao is no stranger to all these processes. After all, there are too many people around him who have participated in it, and he knows all the details of their experience. Answer the questions step by step, and you can leave the examination room and go home on the same day.
The first session of the county examination is the main session, and admission is very loose. Those who pass can take the prefecture examination, but naturally they will not be ranked well.
Naturally, Li Hao couldn't be so careless, so he took five exams all the way. Coupled with the requirement that those with outstanding scores in the county examination be promoted to the imperial examination, Li Hao took the next four exams all the way under the nose of the invigilator. Just like the feeling of sitting on the edge of the podium in modern class, it is extremely uncomfortable.
When the county examination results were released, Li Hao and Fu Deng ran to see the results, while Wei and Li Jian were waiting for the news at home. Although Li Hao knew that he would definitely be able to enter the imperial examination, he was still very concerned about his ranking. After all, although I have not been in the limelight in recent years, my reputation as a water tune singer has spread widely over the years. If my ranking is low, I will not be able to live up to my reputation.
When the list was posted, Li Hao's name was the first one written. When Li Hao was still happy, he heard Fu Deng call: "Master, you are the head of the case." Everyone around him looked at him.
After hearing this, Li Hao looked around and said: "The young master should be the head of the case, isn't it right? There is nothing surprising, just calm down."
After saying that, he pretended to be indifferent and took Fu Deng back home. When Li Jian and Wei got the exact news, they were also very happy.
Later, in order to prepare for the government examination in April, there was no fuss. The content of the children's examination is roughly the same, but there is no need to bring anything with you for the April government examination. You only need to bring the examination voucher to participate, and all other things will be prepared by the government office. This is really something Li Hao is not used to. However, he still managed to pass the exam with ease, and after the results were released, he got the first case.
So Li Hao was determined to win the first case of the college examination. After all, the big three yuan was too difficult, so getting the small three yuan first was a consolation prize. So for the college examination in August, Li Hao started a round of surprise questions, asking Master Qin to find questions from previous college examinations, and carried out crazy question-sea tactics during these four months.
Of course, after such careful preparation, Li Hao got his wish and won the first prize in the hospital examination, thus starting his Little Three Yuan achievements. So far, Li Hao has gloriously become a scholar, and he can be regarded as the bottom among the gentry class.
The Wei family was very happy and rewarded all the servants in the house with two months' worth of money. After Li Hao was happy for a while, he went to the Qin Mansion to discuss with Master Qin about participating in next year's provincial examination. Because after Yan Jingwen went to Bianjing, Li Hao went back to live in his own house, and Master Qin no longer went to the academy. Later, he taught Li Hao at his own house.
After learning that Li Hao had been selected as a scholar, Cheng Shi personally brought people over to deliver a bunch of congratulatory gifts. It can be said that Cheng Shi was now regarded as one of the few big businessmen, and his business spread over most of the Song Dynasty through the sale of soap. What a wealthy businessman.
When Li Hao came back, he saw Cheng Shi and chatted with him for a while, then went back to the house.
Li Hao is actually very confident about the rural examination. Not to mention the nearly ten years of accumulation in his previous life, he has studied hard for six years in this life, and his foundation is very solid. Especially in the rural examination, which pays more attention to classics, meanings, and policy questions. This book That's his strength. The issue now is only the ranking. After all, the imperial examinations are all subjective questions. Understanding the examiner's preferences will have a great influence on the ranking.
The examiners of the rural examination were sent by Hanlin scholars from Bianjing City to preside over it. It was up to Master Qin's experience to help Li Hao choose how to solve the questions and answer them. Master Qin also cares deeply about his current only disciple. He personally went to Xinbianjing to help Li Hao inquire about the situation and arrange strategies.
When it comes to the provincial examination next year, Li Hao is full of confidence, plus he has laid a good physical foundation for this intermittent nine-day battle. On the eighth day of August, all members of the Li family mobilized again to send Li Hao to take the exam.
Speaking of which, this is also the advantage of living in Yangzhou City. The county examination, government examination, college examination, and rural examination are all in the city, unlike others who have to travel long distances to take the examination.
Once again, we arrived at the gate of Gongyuan. Speaking of which, this was Li Hao's third time coming to Gongyuan. However, the first two times he came to Gongyuan as gifts, this time he came to take the exam himself. Li Hao was not nervous at first, but now that he was in this position, he was still a little uneasy.
After calming down, Li Hao said goodbye to his parents, carried his things over to wait for them to be picked up, and entered the examination room. After Li Hao entered, Li Jian and Wei took the people away. This time Li Hao entered the examination room, found his room and went in. He looked around the two square meters and encouraged himself in his heart. If you perform normally, nine days is enough this time. Don’t come back again.
After three consecutive exams were over, Li Hao felt really relaxed when he came out of the Gongyuan. The closed space was so depressing that Li Hao felt tired. After meeting Li Jian and Wei who came to pick him up, he went home to rest.
In the next few days, Li Hao was really restless while waiting for the results of the provincial examination to be released. Finally waiting for the day when the results would be released, the whole family rushed to see the results early in the morning. It was too early when we arrived, and the list hadn't been posted yet, but it was already full of people. Wei had no choice but to stand outside the crowd and let Li Hao and Li Jian, father and son, and several young servants squeeze to the front. .
When the list was sent, everyone made way for the official who posted the list to come in. After the official who posted the list left, they swarmed forward. At this time, Li Hao looked up and saw that his name was the first on the list. Just then, Li Jian's voice came from next to him: "My son has passed the exam and is ranked first. He is Jieyuan." Then he laughed loudly. At this time, everyone gathered around to congratulate him.
After Li Hao and Li Jian returned the favor one by one, they took their servants back to tell the Wei family the good news. Sure enough, Mrs. Wei was extremely happy after hearing this. With a wave of her hand, she rewarded each servant with half a year's worth of monthly silver. Then I planned to go back and have a drink to celebrate.
Li Hao left alone and went to Qin's house to congratulate Master Qin.
Master Qin said: "I'm not worried about you when you take part in the examination. In the past examinations, I have never seen anyone who passed the examination fail. As long as you don't make any big mistakes, you still can't escape as a Jinshi. In addition, now Uncle Yong He will take up a post in Bianjing. I will give you a greeting card later. You can meet him after you go to Bianjing. I think he can give you some advice."
Li Hao smiled and said, "Teacher loves me the most. Did you give Second Senior Brother a greeting card when he came to Beijing?"
Master Qin smiled and said: "You monkey, you are trying to trick me. But if you say that I love you, it is true. I have no children, and I have watched you grow up since you were a child. Today I will tell you about this." In the officialdom, I am actually reassured by your temperament as an official. Although you are immature in dealing with things, you are still tactful and are not a reckless person. So I just want to give you a few words of advice about being an official in the court. , I would rather you live in the same world as the light, and don’t easily become the awl who stands out.”
"During the Qingli New Deal, many officials were demoted. That's why I got tired of officialdom and returned to my hometown. So in terms of expectations, I don't expect you to become a successful person, become a prince, or become a prime minister. I just want you to have smooth sailing and live a peaceful life. Days, so don’t be too strong in anything. In addition, I had one or two good friends in the court back then. This time I have written to Bianjing and told my old friends that they may not be able to help you get promoted, but if anything happens, you can always look out for me to protect you. Ichiban. Go ahead, I'm here to see your bright future."
After hearing this, Li Hao knelt down to thank him and left after a long time.
