Patriarch, he doesn't want to take the imperial examinations

After Mengzhen came back from the capital, he has been resting at home without going anywhere.

I don't read much books, and spend the whole day basking in the sun in the yard with my youngest son and granddaughter.

The results of the township examination are usually released after [-] days.

On the tenth day of September, the day when the township examination results are released.

Early in the morning, Meng Hong went to the Gong Yuan in the capital to show his father the list, but Meng Zhen was still sitting in the courtyard nursing his grandson.

It rained a few days ago. In late autumn, the weather is getting cooler day by day, but the afternoon sun is just right, and it shines warmly on the body, making people feel comfortable physically and mentally. I just feel very comfortable.

Meng Zhen took a copy of "The Li Weng Conversations" to teach Meng Yuan to read. Meng Yuan is now three and a half years old and can already recite a lot of things.

Sky against earth, rain against wind.Continent to sky.The mountain flowers face the sea trees, and the red sun faces the sky.

Thunder is faint, misty, and the sun is facing the sky.The wind is high, the autumn moon is white, and the sunset glow is red after the rain.

Niu Nu Er Xinghe left and right, participating in the business of two Yao fighting west and east.In October, on the frontier of the Fortress, the garrison is frightened by the whistling frost; on the river in three winters, it is long and snowy, and the fisherman is cold.

This is the first paragraph of "The Li Weng Conversation with Rhymes" that Meng Zhen taught Meng Yuan to read a few days ago, and Meng Yuan has already memorized it very proficiently.Seeing this, Mengzhen taught him to read the next paragraph.

River to Han, green to red.Uncle Yu confronts Lei Gong.The Smoke Tower faces the Snow Cave, and the Moon Palace faces the Heavenly Palace.

……

Perhaps the afternoon sun was too comfortable, Meng Zhen had just taught Meng Yuan to read a few words, Meng Yuan opened his mouth, yawned a few times and then fell asleep in Meng Zhen's arms.

Meng Zhen looked at the child's naive sleeping face, and thought to himself, how could I coax you to stay awake at noon before, but now you just doze off after reading a few sentences.

Sure enough, the book is a good thing, an artifact to lull you to sleep.While thinking, Meng Zhen took the child back to the bed in the house, and then returned to the yard, lay down on the creaking recliner, closed his eyes and basked in the warm sun, not to mention how comfortable it was.

After being comfortable like this for more than an hour, suddenly there was a slight sound of footsteps at the gate of the courtyard, Meng Zhen opened his eyes, and saw Meng Hong walking in.

Meng Hong pretended to be calm and walked to his father's side. Meng Zhen saw his cautious look, which was very different from the previous good news, so he knew what the result of this provincial examination would be.

"It's okay, just tell me, no matter good or bad, your father and I can bear it."

Meng Hong pulled a small wooden stick and sat in front of his father's lap, raised his face and looked into his father's eyes, and said solemnly: "Father, I didn't see your name on the list, so I guess you didn't pass the exam. But you Don't be discouraged, if you fail the exam this time, there will be a next time. Or let's not take the exam at all. The sons will support you, and you can live a comfortable life for the rest of your life. Why bother to suffer the crime of the exam..."

When Meng Hong said this, he felt a little guilty, he knew why his father put all his energy into taking the entrance exam, and now he persuaded people to give up, fearing that he would be struck by lightning.

However, Meng Zhen was extremely calm, he said: "Understood, you must be tired after running for a long time, go back to the house and rest."

Meng Hong said with a smile: "Father, I'm not tired. I'm young, so running this little distance is nothing. To tell you the truth, even if I run for two days and two nights, I won't feel tired."

"Then you run." Meng Zhen turned his back to him.

Meng Hong: "This..." Then there is no need to run away, he was just talking casually, why did his father take it seriously.

"Father, if you feel bored, I'll take you outside for a walk to relax."

"It's just a rural exam, so I won't be bored by it." Meng Zhen still turned his back to him. In fact, the day he came out of the exam room, he had a faint feeling that he was not good. In the last exam, he didn't answer well the two strategy questions. ideal.

But, as he said just now, it's just a rural exam. If you don't pass the exam this time, you will take the exam next time. If you don't go well, you will feel bored. Then the road to the scientific exam will be so long, and he will die of depression.

What's more, he couldn't succeed in something as big as Feisheng, let alone a small rural examination.

Thinking of this, Meng Zhen really felt much better.He waved to Meng Hong, asking him to go back to his room.

Meng Hong didn't intend to leave, he knew that although his father said he didn't care, he must be feeling uncomfortable.Although he hasn't read much, he also knows that the township exam is taken every three years. If his father didn't pass the exam this time, he would have to wait another three years. But his father is already at this age, and there are a few three years that are enough for him. .

"Father..." Meng Hong just yelled, but was interrupted by Meng Zhen, "Your father and I are sleepy, I want to sleep for a while, you go."

Meng Hong couldn't hold on any longer, and when he was about to get up and leave, there was a sudden cry of a child.

He raised his head and saw Meng Yuan was standing under the eaves of his father, crying at the top of his voice, looking dazed, unable to open his eyes, he must have just woken up.

Meng Hong came over, knelt down and asked him, "What's wrong with you, why are you crying?"

Meng Yuan: "Woooo...I want to pee."

Meng Hong: "You child, you can urinate whenever you want, why are you crying? Come..." He took Meng Yuan to a jujube tree, wiped off his pants, "Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhh."

"Hush..." Meng Yuan cried while urinating, and when he finished urinating, he also finished crying.Only then did he open his eyes, fully awake, and when he saw clearly that the person in front of him was Meng Hong, he said, "Second brother, I'm hungry."

Meng Hong was speechless, he was hungry just after urinating, it is likely that the urination took up his stomach, now his stomach is loose, and he started to look for food again.

But there was nothing he could do about it, so he said, "Okay, what do you want to eat, the second brother will take you to find it."

"I want candy!" Meng Yuan gestured in front of him, then narrowed his eyes and laughed.

"What's so good about sugar? If you eat too much, it will damage your teeth, and you won't grow taller." Meng Hong knew that he was either really hungry or hungry. Thinking of the sweet-scented osmanthus cake he made at home yesterday, he said to take him Go eat sweet-scented osmanthus cake.

Meng Yuan hurriedly nodded: "I want osmanthus cake, which is delicious." Meng Hong took his hand and walked towards the gate of the courtyard, but Meng Yuan said, "I want to ride a horse."

Riding a horse means sitting on the neck of an adult.Meng Hong let him sit on his neck before, who knew he was addicted to sitting, once or twice, three times, four times and countless times, Meng Yuan always sat on his neck every time he went out.

But he didn't know that although this child looked small, he was used to touch people's temper, and Meng Hong was good at spoiling him, so he dared to sit on people's neck.If the person in front of him at this moment is Meng Qing, Meng Yuan would not dare to say that he is sitting on someone's neck.

Meng Hong didn't say anything, bent down to hold the man's armpit, lifted him over his head, and put him on his neck.Then he waved to his father and went out.

Meng Zhen got up from the reclining chair, watched the two brothers go out of his courtyard, and sighed to himself.

It is the season when sweet-scented osmanthus is fragrant. It rained a few days ago, and the petals of sweet-scented osmanthus were wet and knocked off. When the wind blows, I don’t know which yard sent a burst of sweet fragrance.

Because the sweet-scented osmanthus blossoms are in bloom when the township examination list is released, and "gui" is a homonym for "gui", so the township examination list is also called Guibang.

This precious word means rare, not only reflected in the difficulty of taking the exam, but also the preciousness of time. If you fail this time in the township examination that is held every three years, you can only wait until the next time in three years.

It has been four years since Mengzhen came here. He is 53 years old now, and he will be 56 years old in three years. If he fails the exam again, he will have to wait another three years...

But a person's life is limited, and the original body, with its withered body, can survive for a few three years.

So when will he be able to ascend.

He called the system out to ask, but of course the system didn't know.

"I remember when I meddled in the family affairs of Deng Yuming's family before, you once said that if you get the Dao Xing before you become a Jinshi, you will lose my luck. I don't know if what you said is to lose my luck in this provincial examination."

It wasn't that Mengzhen was making excuses for not passing the provincial examination, it was actually the system that had said this before, and he asked it today just to confirm it.

System: [That's right. 】

Meng Zhen asked again: "Then when can I pass the Jinshi exam?" He felt that the system was unpredictable, and he should know when he passed the Jinshi exam.

However, the system did not inform him.

Just say: [The secret of heaven must not be leaked. 】

"Then can I pass the exam before I'm 60 years old?" Meng Zhen didn't give up, thinking that it's okay to know the general range, but don't fail the exam until death, wouldn't it be a waste of all his years.

But no matter how he tried to ask, the system still said that: [The secrets of heaven must not be revealed. 】

After asking for a long time, he couldn't find a reason, so Mengzhen simply gave up the lazy question.

Originally, this matter was over like this, and Meng Zhen also planned to study hard next time, and take the exam after three years.

But when it was time to eat at night, Meng Qing kept buzzing in his ears again.

Meng Qing originally disapproved of his father taking the imperial examination, so it was exactly what he wanted to fail.

So he persuaded: "It's fine if you don't pass the exam. Dad just drops out of school and doesn't need to go to school. Our family is not short of money, and Dad doesn't need someone to take care of him. He is exhausted every day. What do you do with that thing? If Dad wants to be glorious If we are at the door of Meng’s family, don’t we still have a little four and a little five? They still have time to cultivate when they are young, let them take the exam. Dad doesn’t have to do anything, just enjoy the happiness at home, hug his grandson, play with flowers and plants for a walk , or raising a dog, is always better than studying for an imperial examination.”

Meng Qing spoke in such a long tone that everyone else in the room held their breath and did not dare to say a word. Meng Hong was even more worried about his brother. His father did not pass the provincial examination this time, so there is nowhere to vent his sulk , but Mengqing rushed to bump up, didn't he understand that he was scolded?

Sure enough, the next moment Mengzhen spoke: "You can't stop your mouth even if you eat, and if you don't say these few words, will you be suffocated to death?"

Meng Qing was choked for a moment, he didn't say anything, but he just advised his father not to be so tired from studying, wouldn't it be good to take care of his grandson at home? Is it long?

"Father, I'm doing this for your well-being. I'm afraid that I'll tire you out when I said these words after studying so hard, but you blame me for treating your filial piety as a donkey's liver and lungs. How can I show filial piety to you in the future. "

Meng Qing was not reconciled to being scolded by his father for no reason, so he insisted on defending himself a few more words.

Meng Zhen also knew that what he had said was too much, but he couldn't bow his head to admit his mistake to his son, so he just said: "Okay, let's go back to our respective houses after dinner, and don't talk about studying in the future, it's something I've decided. None of you can persuade you, otherwise you will make yourself unhappy, and you can't get good things through hard work, why bother."

"It's okay, dad. My sons are not as narrow-minded as you think. It's only natural for my son to be scolded by me. As long as dad feels at ease, he can scold him whatever he wants."

Meng Qing lowered his stance and didn't dare to argue with his father anymore, the main reason is that his father is old, he pays attention to calmness and is not easy to get angry, if he gets sick from anger, it will be sons like them who make trouble in the end, so the gain outweighs the loss, It's not worth it.

Since that day, no one in the family has tried to persuade Meng Zhen to give up studying.Meng Zhen still leaves early and returns home at night to go back and forth to the county school, but not every day, but every now and then, most of the time he studies at home by himself.

There were more than 3000 candidates for the Shuntianfu Township Examination this time, and only a hundred or so were admitted. Only four of Meng Zhen's batch of students who entered the county school passed the examination, and the others who failed the examination either had to pass the examination. Resting at home, or entering school every few days, there are very few students who can enter school on time every day.

This is a common phenomenon among old students. Instructor Yang did not demand too much from the students. They are all in their twenties, and there are even a few fathers in their [-]s and [-]s. Studying is the student's own business. There is no need for him to follow him every day. Staring behind the ass, the students still have their own things to do, most of them are for a living, and the same is true for studying at home.

A few days passed like this, and soon it was the end of September, the end of autumn and the beginning of winter, the weather was getting cooler day by day, and there was a chill in the morning and evening.

In the afternoon of this day, Meng Zhen was sitting in the study writing an article, and Ah Qing was beside him grinding ink, Meng Qing walked in suddenly, holding a letter in his hand.

"Father, the letter from Suzhou, didn't I tell you before that the youngest son of my cousin's family also took the provincial examination this year, and he passed the examination. He wrote to come to our house for a period of time, and by the way, he will take part in the Spring Festival next year." will try."

Meng Zhen put down his pen and thought about it, Meng Qing came back from Jiangnan in the first month of last year, and he did say such a thing.

"Also, the person has already come out of the house. If there is no accident, it will arrive at our house in mid-October."