[Red House] Ban'er's Road to Imperial Examination

"Suppression? Why bother? If you can produce an eight-year-old scholar under your lord's rule, it is also a part of your political achievements if you say it. Why bother, maybe you will be blamed by others, and it will be thankless."

Some people objected to another examiner's idea of ​​suppressing him, but immediately someone nodded in agreement and said: "My lord has good intentions and wants to suppress him. This is for his long-term consideration, but not everyone People can recognize a good heart. He is afraid that he will not appreciate the kindness of adults, and later he will complain that adults block his future, and he is a wicked person for nothing, why bother?"

Under the hall, there is a general judge from Shuntian Mansion, named Fu Shi, who was originally a student of Jia Zheng's school. He is usually proud of the Jia family's reputation. He knows a lot about the Jia family.

He had heard rumors before that Mrs. Wang had a relative who was just eight years old this year and had already passed the county examination. He was very favored by his teacher. Asking about homework, this time he took the government exam, the teacher even gave him the yard under his name to live in for exam preparation, and sent a room of servants to serve him, it can be said that he was very dedicated.

Not only the teacher and his wife valued him very much, even the old lady in the Rongguo Mansion liked him very much, and Jia Baoyu, the phoenix egg of his family, also looked at him differently, which was different from others.

Although Fu Shi was Jia Zheng's protégé and was valued by Jia Zheng on weekdays, he was not as serious as his relatives.

Although sometimes apprentices are closer than their own sons, but those are serious direct disciples who have kowtowed and drank tea, and they are not comparable to disciples like Fu Shi who cast themselves under other people's sects.

Fu Shi didn't know that Wang Yue was just a close relative of the Wang family's Lian Guozong, but he only regarded him as a serious relative of the Wang family, and he valued him even more in his heart.

Fu Shi has been in the officialdom for so many years, so he has a very clear view of the Jia family's situation.

Although the Jia family was one of the four kings and eight princes who were entrusted with the four kings and eight princes at the founding of the Communist Party of China together with several other princes and nobles, and the exchanges between the various families were very close, but the four families who could really entrust their trust were the four families who came from Jinling City.

Among the four major families, the Xue family need not be mentioned any more.

Although the historian of the old lady's natal family of the Rongguo Mansion is a double lord, she has no title, but the military power has long been taken away by the emperor.

There are only noble titles, and there are a lot of nobles in the capital who have no real power. Not to mention the marquis, even the prince has a basket.

Today, historians are only able to gain a foothold in the capital and not be squeezed out only by relying on the affection of the past and the care of the Wang family, who is also one of the four major families.

The situation of the Jia family is similar to that of the Shi family. Although Jia She has inherited the title of first-class general, the title of first-rank general is nothing more than common in the capital.

Furthermore, the head of the Jia family has always stayed at home and played with women, and he never showed up except when he was required to appear. If there is such a head, if it is not because the old lady is still alive, and there is a powerful family like the Wang family. With the existence of his in-laws, the Jia family has long since become invisible in the capital, and they have fallen into disrepair.

And the Wang family seems to have taken the top spot among the four major families, but anyone who is a little smarter knows that the Wang family is only supported by Wang Ziteng now, and the other children are basically useless. As long as Wang Ziteng also retreats , the Wang family is afraid that it will collapse in an instant.

Therefore, the four major families can still occupy a place in the court today, relying on only Wang Ziteng. Zhichabian, after leaving the capital, the influence of the four major families in the capital is not as good as before.

This shows the importance of Wang Ziteng to the four major families, and the importance of talents to support the four major families with his own strength can be seen from this.

It's no wonder his teacher valued this junior so much. If he is trained, he will be another prince Teng in the future, and the Jia family will have no worries for another two generations.

In addition to Jia Zheng's attention, it is conceivable that when Wang Ziteng returned to the capital and saw such a rising star in the Wang family, he would definitely devote all his efforts to nurturing this younger generation.

After all, everyone knows that Wang Ziteng has no son, and the only male in the Wang family is his elder brother's only son Wang Ren.

As the general judge of Shuntian Mansion, Fu Shi knew the ridiculous things done by those dudes in the capital that Fu Shi had been in charge of all the year round. He naturally knew what kind of guy Wang Ren was.

Needless to say, the importance of this eight-year-old examinee to Jia and Wang's family, Fu Shi knew very well that he was born in a poor family, and what he relied on to gain a firm foothold in this Yamen of Shuntian Prefecture.

So he also knew that he had to keep this eight-year-old candidate, and it was best to help him walk on Qingyun Road, otherwise the backer he relied on in the past would abandon him if he couldn't say it.

So after thinking about it for a while, he opened his mouth and said: "I am not like the previous dynasty. I need to suppress those rising stars. Besides, I heard rumors a while ago that there are no child prodigies born in my dynasty. , but because His Majesty did not receive the destiny..."

Before Fu Shi finished speaking, someone stood up impatiently and shouted: "Absurd! It's really absurd! How can anyone believe such absurd words? Master Fu, how dare you say such disrespectful words? Don’t be afraid of His Majesty’s questioning!”

Facing the questioning from the person opposite, Fu Shi smiled unhurriedly, waved his hands and said, "It's just a retelling of the rumors in the market, and I didn't say this, Mr. Zhou, don't be so urgent. A big hat was put on my head."

The examiner known as Mr. Zhou was about to come forward to refute, but Song Pingzhang clapped his hands and motioned him to sit down. Seeing this, Fu Shi frowned. Everyone knows who he is closer to, and he stops him like this, just to protect and circle around.

However, he also thought that Tongjuan was originally a position set up by the imperial court to separate the power from the magistrate, and that the discord between the two of them was in line with the imperial court's intention. Thinking of this, he suppressed the slight discomfort in his heart and pretended not to Seeing Song Pingzhang's actions, he smiled and said: "As Master Zhou said, these are just absurd words, and they can't be taken as true at all. However, the common people are always a little ignorant, and those who are interested will spread it a little bit, and there will be people. Follow along. Your Majesty has a lot to do every day, so naturally you can't take care of such a small matter. This requires us, the courtiers, to help your majesty solve problems. But it is also your majesty's blessing. As soon as there are rumors in the market, this eight-year-old little scholar came out , isn’t this an opportunity sent from heaven?”

Hearing this, Song Pingzhang's brows and eyes moved slightly. Although he has always been at odds with Fu Shi, Fu Shi's words are true. If he can combine this eight-year-old examinee with the rumors in the market, he will give a memorial to His Majesty , will surely win His Majesty's favor.

Perhaps he could take this opportunity to leave the damned prefect of Shuntian Prefecture.

"I heard that the examinee's name is Wang Yue, and he is related to Mr. Jia Zheng, Mr. Jia of the Rongguo Mansion. I also heard that Mr. Jia seems to be Mr. Fu's teacher. Your relationship... Mr. Fu, you should avoid suspicion." Bar?"

The smug smile on Fu Shi's face froze for a moment, but soon he recovered, and said with a smile: "According to the court's law, he and I are not on the list of avoiding suspicion, Mr. Zhou is too worried."

Although Fu Shi refuted Zhou Xuan's words back, Zhou Xuan's words undoubtedly left traces in Song Pingzhang's heart, and extinguished the small thoughts that had just arisen in his heart.

It has always been extremely difficult to be a magistrate in Shuntian Prefecture. Although it looks very beautiful on the surface, it is the only one in the whole world who can go to the court with the rank of magistrate.But behind this glory also means a heavy responsibility.

In this position, either make a strong order, then offend the powerful, and be regarded by the emperor as an abandoned son to appease the anger of the powerful, and end up in a tragic end.

Either be a smiling Buddha, no one will be offended, but no one will be offended, and the emperor will be kicked out of power in the end.

It can be said that in this position, I don't know how many people have become cannon fodder, and only a very small number of them can survive alone and end up with a good end.

When Song Pingzhang first received the appointment, many people thought that he was on the rise and came to curry favor with him. There were also many discerning people who immediately drew a clear line of relationship with him, lest they would be implicated by him in the future.

But Song Pingzhang knew that the latter kind of thinking was right, and he was afraid that he would not end well.

But fortunately, Song Pingzhang was very cunning, and he sat in the position of prefect of Shuntian Prefecture for two years, but all was well.

But Song Pingzhang knew that this was just a situation he had tried his best to suppress, and he would not be able to suppress it for a long time. Once a conflict broke out, he would become cannon fodder to appease the anger of both parties.

In the past two years, he has been using tactful means and equally tactful words to resolve the conflict between the powerful and the common people. Those common people are the easiest to dismiss. As long as they give a little money and a little blood, he can make him tearful.

Those dignitaries were not easy to deal with. Although they were bleeding under his efforts, they reluctantly accepted this method of treatment, but it was only reluctantly.

Especially those dudes who rely on their family power to be fearless, and because of his actions, they regard him as a thorn in their side, and want to trouble him all the time.

But they have lived up to the notoriety of the dudes in their work. They have done things very well, just above the boundaries of Song Pingzhang's handling of things. If they are severely punished, not only the dignitaries will not agree, but even the emperor will not be able to handle him. Satisfied, and he will have the reputation of a cruel official for nothing.

If it is a little lighter, the reputation of the excellent Master Qingtian he managed in the past will be ruined in one fell swoop.

This made him suffer enough, so although he didn't show it on the surface, Song Pingzhang was really disgusted with those powerful children.

The first time he heard that the eight-year-old prodigy was also a son of the rich and powerful, Song Pingzhang's appreciation for him immediately waned, and he even added a bit of disgust.

In Song Pingzhang's mind, he even thought of removing him from the list immediately, but Song Pingzhang felt that this was an excellent opportunity for him to leave his position in Shuntian Mansion safely, get away and take a step forward.

Such a good opportunity is so rare that he is very reluctant.

After hesitating, Song Pingzhang weighed it for a while and said: "Whether you want to press or not, don't worry about it for a while, let's take a look first and then talk. If his article is really popular, it doesn't matter if I entrust him with it. If he The article is not hot enough, so let him go through it again, which is also what my senior taught him."

Most of the examiners here are Song Pingzhang's subordinates. They have worked with him for more than two years and know him well. From what he said, he already knows that his attitude is biased. Candidates had the idea of ​​suppressing, but they just took care of Fu Shi and didn't say it directly, leaving room for it.

The others were not familiar with the candidate and had no interest in it, so they naturally would not offend their immediate superiors for this candidate, so they naturally chose to remain silent.

As soon as Zhou Xuan waited for Song Pingzhang's words to fall, he immediately stood up and cupped his hands and said, "Your Excellency is still thoughtful, this subordinate has been taught!"

Fu Shi still had to say something, but Zhou Xuan's words had already blocked his words, and he couldn't refute in person, so he had to keep his mouth shut.

Song Pingzhang nodded in satisfaction: "That's good, you guys go out and inspect the examination room again."

"Yes, my lord."

Several examiners stood up, clapped their hands in agreement, then bowed and exited the door.

Because Fu Shi was a general judge, he was originally sitting under Song Pingzhang's left hand, so he was the last one to leave. However, as soon as he arrived at the door, he saw Zhou Xuan with a smug smile on his face, waiting for him at the door. , as soon as he came out, Zhou Xuan said: "Hmph, I heard that your teacher thinks highly of him as a nephew. No matter how important you are as a student, you are not as important as his decent nephew. If the adults suppress him this time If you keep going, you, a student, are afraid that you won’t be able to get anything from others, right? Isn’t it the Jia family that you rely on every day? If there is no Jia family, I see how arrogant you are!”

Facing Zhou Xuan's provocation, Fu Shi just sneered and said: "I have: no backer, what's your business? You should find yourself a backer first, I remember you are already 50 years old this year, and you are still an adult I have been a scribe for many years, and I haven't seen you promoted. I'm afraid that your son will only be able to inherit his father's career and become a small clerk in the future. What a pity for his qualifications! "

"you…"

Fu Shi sneered again, and stopped talking to each other, and went to the examination room on his own.

The others scattered as early as the sparks between the two of them flew. Although it was lively and beautiful, sometimes it was not visible to others.

But Fu Shi didn't go far, the sneer on his face disappeared, and a layer of worry appeared.

Above the examination room, there is no way to spread the news outside.Tonight, as soon as the papers are collected and the examinees leave, the examination room will be closed, and the chief examiners will stay in the examination room to mark the papers. By the time he can go out, the results have already been determined. pass on the news.

What Zhou Xuan said was likely to cause disagreements. No matter how important he was to Jia Zheng, he was just an ordinary student, and he was no more than a nephew who was related to the future of the family.

For now, we can only hope that this young master is talented and can convince everyone.

However, it is too difficult!

The author has something to say: This chapter is very fat today, I will add an update tomorrow, by the way, I will change the previous one, thank you for your rewards, ヾ(????)?~