Promotion and fortune in Song Dynasty

The scholars were either writing hard and writing, or racking their brains, hesitating, and Yushi Zhongcheng Liu Yun, as the official inside the curtain of Quanzhi Gongju, was doing nothing.

He sat alone in the capital hall, with small curtains on both sides of the curtain, and there was no one around him.

He looked out by himself, and through the gauze curtain, he could only see the vague figures of candidates.

The small examiners who walk around outside are not allowed to approach at will if they have nothing important to report.

After sitting for an hour, he didn't see anyone coming up to invite him. While he felt relieved, he inevitably felt even more bored.

If you can't see clearly, you can only rely on listening.

Due to the connection of the seats, the gap between the candidates in the test center is fully exposed: those who are confident can rely on reading through thousands of books, and write as if they have a god, writing calmly, rubbing the pen tip against the paper, revealing The rustling sound of spring eating leaves; those who only know a little bit, but don't seek a deep understanding, will be blocked in writing, difficult to write good sentences, write intermittently, and there is silence for a long time, only when rubbing off some waste paper to make a loud noise...

Liu Yun closed her eyes and listened for a while, and couldn't help smiling.

Among the applicants this year, the most outstanding one was obviously the youngest Lu Jieyuan who gave a speech at the group meeting.

It was highly recommended by the chief supervisor during the examination, and out of curiosity when he locked the courtyard, he deliberately turned out the other party's public paper and read it a few times. So sophisticated that it doesn't look like the article of a young gentleman who is not yet a weak crown.

But it's not like he hasn't read more excellent articles than that in previous years. To be honest, what impressed him the most was the beautiful and neat handwriting.

If Lu Jieyuan could still maintain that level of handwriting during the provincial examination, even after Feng Mi, Liu Yun would have no doubt that anyone would easily recognize his paper.

Of course, besides Lu Ci, there are also several outstanding young talents.

Among them, Cai Qi and Xiao Guan, the two from the south and the north, are the most famous and talented.

However, considering that there are many courtiers from the north in the court and the south is still weak in comparison, Liu Yun is not very optimistic about Xiao Guan.

Between Cai Qi and Lu Ci, Liu Yun thought from the bottom of his heart that Lu Ci had a better chance of winning.

Who let everyone know that the officials are happy to have a good story about "knowing pearls with sharp eyes and discerning talents with sharp eyes". What about my husband?

In addition to being good at promoting young people, officials always like to look at handsome men, which is another big advantage of Lu Jieyuan.

After all, compared with Lu Jieyuan's rare and handsome face, Cai Qi, who was originally handsome and handsome, can be overshadowed.

As long as this Lord Lu Xiaolang stumbles due to being too nervous and his level plummets, then he can be sure that the other party will be able to enter the list safely.

Liu Yun had nothing to do, pondered for a while, and came to such a conclusion.

But he couldn't stay in a daze any longer: it was only because there were old and frail people in the arena, who couldn't bear the severe cold, and after several violent coughs, they passed out on the ground with a blue face.

As soon as they fell down, they were swiftly carried out by the inspectors, and they were sent to the medical officer for diagnosis and treatment as soon as possible, so as not to affect other candidates.

Even if they were fast enough, they still caused a little commotion in the act of responding intently.

In order to prevent interested people from taking this opportunity to whisper to each other and give and accept privately, Liu Yun walked out from behind the curtain, silently filling in the vacancy temporarily left by the inspector.

Seeing the director's gaze looking around sharply, the small thoughts of those who were about to move were forced to be suppressed the moment they met the other party's eyes.

After the patrol officer sent the man to the medical officer's office, he immediately turned back, and respectfully invited Liu Yun to go back to sit behind the curtain.

After Liu Yun nodded in satisfaction, he walked back slowly.

Just halfway through the walk, he caught a glimpse of a slightly impressive figure out of the corner of his eye, and couldn't help turning his head slightly to take a closer look.

It was none other than the Mizhou Jieyuan, Lu Ci, whom he was extremely optimistic about.

While other people couldn't help looking around, and even the reserved ones were somewhat distracted, he was still able to maintain a state of concentration.

--it is good.

Liu Yun didn't notice the tampons that Lu Ci used to plug his ears, so he couldn't help but admired secretly in his heart.

He saw that Lu Ci obviously didn't notice the little commotion here from the beginning to the end, he never raised his head, never looked around, and his back was as straight as measured by a scale.

The slender neck is slightly curved, the black hair is tied up meticulously, and the black hair on the sideburns makes the side face as elegant and clean as a crown jade. It is indeed a pleasing appearance.

His lips are slightly pursed, but his brows are stretched, the corners of his lips are slightly raised, and the tip of his pen keeps gliding across the paper, which shows that he is very sure.

When Lu Ci entered the door, he was wrapped up in a thick suit, but because of the flow of writing and thinking all the way, he rarely paused while writing, and gradually became hot and sweaty.

After writing the fu, he moved his lower ten fingers again, and after using half a bottle of honey water, he began to take off his fleece coat with envy when he was still shivering and sniffing his nose in most gestures. Then slowly start writing provincial poems.

"...The soft wheels are beautiful, and you can kneel down and use the difficult talisman," Lu Ci didn't know that the chief executive who was supposed to be sitting behind the curtain was staring at him with interest, and felt that the more he wrote, the more he felt at his fingertips, so he wanted to go all out and save the money The inscribed poem was completed: "...a picture of the emperor's grandeur."

After writing the last sentence, Lu Ci breathed a sigh of relief, but didn't stop writing in a hurry, and counted the words directly. After confirming that there were no shortages, he reread it several times before marking it as "Unpainted Note B".

As for the naive idea of ​​rewriting Fu, it is gone now.

Although there is a lot of time left, once I think about rethinking and writing, it is impossible to call it sufficient.

Furthermore, apart from his sudden uneasiness, this rhyme not only has no errors or omissions in the official rhyme, but also reads extremely smoothly throughout the whole text, which is less likely to destroy the overall integrity, and more likely to be superfluous. Leave it as it is, let nature take its course.

Maybe it's because the questions given by the director this time are particularly easy.

Otherwise, how could a person like me, who is at the upper-middle level, write so easily?

After Lu Ci thought about it, he stopped looking for trouble, took out the honey water bottle that had become cold again, and drank the remaining half bottle of honey water in one gulp.

The sweet taste spread in his mouth, and Lu Ci's mood also improved.

——Fortunately, he was not allowed to look around in the examination room, otherwise his leisurely posture would have been pierced by jealous eyes.

Long before Lu Ci raised his head, Liu Yun smiled with satisfaction and went back behind the curtain where the boss should be staying.

The time in the examination room always passed quickly. Except for Lu Ci who performed supernormally and finished it a long time ahead of schedule, most of the people were in a hurry to finish it with great difficulty.

Some have no inspiration from the beginning to the end, staring at the proposition, fearing the continuous passage of time.In the end, there is nothing to wait for, only to fill in anything casually, and there are not a few people who hope to pass the test smoothly.

This is no wonder for them: it is even more difficult to find inspiration to write poems when the mood is already extremely tense.

Zhu Shuo and others, who have undergone special training by Lu Ci, feel great benefits at this moment.

Because of asking questions for each other and doing too many questions within a limited time, it is difficult for them to feel too much tension when they face familiar pressure.

However, although the proposition this time is not uncommon, when it is actually written, it is not easy.

Liu Qi and Zhu said that after a long time of deliberation, they finally had some inspiration, and quickly wrote down the pen before it faded away, and finished it within the time limit.

Teng Zongliang was even more hesitant when he wrote the pen, and finally thought that he had produced a normal level, but he didn't expect to impress the examiner.

The ones who thought they were unsatisfactory in the exam were Zhong Yuan, who had the worst foundation, and Yi Shu, who was inexperienced.

Zhong Yuan had expected this, so his attitude was very calm.

He has always believed that the reason why he can pass the solution test once is already regarded as smoke from the ancestral grave, and he really can't expect too much.

This time rushing to the provincial examination, including his parents, all they had was the idea of ​​visiting the capital for a while and seeing the world, and did not expect him to be on the list at all.

As far as his elm head is concerned, Zhong Yuan wisely thought that it would be good to pass the exam within ten rounds.

The same is true of Yi Shu's family.But Yi Shu has always had high demands on herself, and she works extremely hard during her studies.Now I entered the first round of the provincial exam with great ambitions, but when I came out, I only felt that the exam was not satisfactory, and it was inevitable that I was a little disappointed.

But because he didn't want to spoil his friend's happiness, he forced a smile on his face.

As soon as Lu Ci left the examination room, he didn't care whether the surroundings were full of mourning or joy, and these people were not allowed to talk about the examination-related matters.

"Today's matter is over today, and there are two more tomorrow and the day after tomorrow, so why bother worrying about it?"

He directly pulled the five of them to the restaurant he was thinking of, ordered a large table of dishes openly, and ordered them to eat extravagantly, so as to relieve stress and fatigue.

The corner of Liu Qi's mouth twitched, his expression was as expected.

— let him speak!

What this little glutton beat was indeed an open and honest idea to satisfy his appetite.

However, just when he was about to expose Lu Xiaotaotie's true face, he suddenly felt someone lightly pat on his chest.

The one who photographed him was none other than Lu Ci.

Liu Qi suddenly had an ominous premonition.

Sure enough, Lu Ci looked at him with a smile the next moment, and pointedly said: "Brother Liu, you haven't caught cold, have you?"

When I was leaving the examination room, I saw Liu Qi, who was dressed elegantly, still had the energy to talk and laugh when she walked out of the examination room, instead of being frozen into a popsicle like other unprepared candidates, with purple lips and trembling hands and feet...

Lu Ci already knew the answer to this question.

Facing this blatant threat, remembering Liu Qi who was still wearing a handle on him, he quickly changed his words: "Rendian, it's very good! Even if I don't mention it, I want to invite you all."

Zhu said that he was puzzled by Liu Qi's abnormal flattering tone, and couldn't help but cast him a sideways glance.

Lu Ci smiled slightly, but politely changed the subject suddenly, and said modestly: "Brother Liu is the oldest, but since he came to Beijing, he has been taken care of by you a lot. It's really not good for you to treat him. Let me come .”

"..."

Liu Qi looked bewildered.

When did he say that he was going to treat him to this meal?

Although he didn't pay attention to hear the conversation between the two, Teng Zongliang still accurately captured the key words, and said boldly: "Brother Liu has indeed contributed a lot, but to be honest, brother Yu Yu's worries are recognized the most!"

Zhu said and the others couldn't stop nodding when they heard this.

Teng Zongliang said earnestly: "Brother Yu came to Beijing, the master told me to take good care of brother Yuyu, but in the end I have received a lot of care, and I feel really guilty. If you are willing to give me face, this time Don't let me invite you! Brother Liu, don't compete with me, it's a big deal, I'll let you come next time."

Not to mention that he really regarded Lu Ci as a true friend, but just imagining Master Li getting angry made Teng Zongliang feel a little bit upset.

When Liu Qi came to his senses, there was only room for response.

He couldn't laugh or cry and said: "...OK, then I'll come back later."

The author has something to say: Notes:

1. Song Zhenzong is a face control.

When selecting the champion, Cai Qi from Shandong and Xiao Guan from Jiangxi were both candidates.Because of Cai Qi's "beautiful appearance and dignified demeanor", Song Zhenzong had a preference for Cai Qi.Coupled with Kou Zhun's bad words about the southerners, he happily named Cai Qi, the northerner, as the champion.

After that, he really liked Cai Qi's good looks and good temperament, so he ordered seven Jinwu guards, "Qing Dao summoned him to favor him".The honor of "Crossing the Horse and Parading the Street" of the number one scholar in later generations began with Cai Qi.

Also for Cai Qi, created the first of its kind in the honor of the champion "Crossing the Horse Parade"

2. This Gewu poem written by Lu Ci is quoted from the provincial examination questions in Volume [-] of Wen Yanbo's "Lu Gong Anthology".

3. The official inside the curtain "Introduction to the southern province, curtains in the hall, small curtains nailed on both sides" "Song Huiyao Collection Draft Election" [-]/[-], Miscellaneous Records of Gongju.

4. Liu Yun was the director of the second year of Renzong Tiansheng (1024), but because I couldn't find the official information of the eighth year of Dazhong Xiangfu's provincial examination, I misappropriated this year.

5. The chief department of the provincial examination is generally appointed by the emperor to send Hanlin scholars, six ministers, Zhizhigao, Zhongshu Shangren and other officials ("General History of China's Imperial Examination System-Song Dynasty Volume 218") p[-]

6. Pang Ji is not the prototype of Grand Master Pang in "Young Bao Qingtian", but he also happens to be named Pang.The prototype of Pang Taishi is actually Zhang Yaozuo (that is, the relative I said before who failed to catch the son-in-law).Zhang Yaozuo is the family member of Concubine Zhang Guifei who is most favored by Renzong, so he takes advantage of this to rise up step by step, relying on his nepotism to do his best, and is very despised...