Chapter 047 Xiajiang Examination Hall
To be honest, Shen Yichen had never expected such a scene to happen. It was like a gangster worshipping a big brother...
The reason why he dared to act so arrogantly today was that he was betting that Chengguogong Zhu Yong saw his potential value and would not punish him because of the fight between several close relatives.
This is often the reality. Even between father and son, they have to demonstrate their own value in order to gain recognition from each other.
However, since they were willing to acknowledge him as their eldest brother, Shen Yichen naturally would not refuse. The reason was that although this group of people seemed to be uneducated and had no hope in the imperial examinations, they were actually children of military families, and there was no .
Why did Duke Chengguo Zhu Yong choose to let them enter his private school? It was simply to win over their fathers as his confidants. This group of people would most likely be the future military generals of the Ming Dynasty. Why couldn't he win them over in advance?
Shen Yichen had no intention of joining the army, because the Ming Dynasty system determined that civil officials were the kingly way. But if he could have his own trusted connections among the military officers, Shen Yichen would not refuse.
After all, a great man once said that political power comes from the barrel of a gun. When the crisis comes, whoever has guns and soldiers will be the final winner!
"Okay, since you recognize me as the boss, then I will take the lead."
Shen Yichen simply admitted it, but when Li Da heard it, he felt that something was wrong.
I just acknowledged my relationship as Shen Yichen's younger brother, and I didn't give up the position of the head of the outer courtyard private school. Did these people have any misunderstandings?
But now that things have come to this, even if there is a misunderstanding, Li Da cannot explain it clearly with his mouth. He can only choose to accept it with a depressed look on his face.
"It's impossible to have a good meal at Zuixianlou today. Since I'm already your eldest brother, let's go to the stalls on Nanshi Street and I'll treat you to a meal of Sui Han Sanyou."
It is rumored that when Zhu Yuanzhang was still begging, he fell ill one winter day. The beggars traveling with him asked for some rice and pig offal, and just stewed them together. Unexpectedly, after Zhu Yuanzhang ate them, his health miraculously recovered.
So he said happily that people often call pine, bamboo and plum the three friends of winter. Today's dish of pork liver, kidney and stomach can also be called the "three friends of winter".
Therefore, in the Ming Dynasty, many vendors and stalls began to sell pig offal, which was given an elegant name "Three Friends of Winter".
"Brother, are you just going to eat the Three Friends of Winter?"
The fat white man Zhang Qi felt a little disgusted. After all, the difference in quality from the jade dishes of Zuixianlou to the pig offal on the street was really too big.
"It's good enough to have something to eat, why are you complaining about it?"
Shen Yichen was somewhat dissatisfied. There were six or seven people in this group, and they were all teenagers with big appetites. They would spend dozens of coins on one meal.
If he wasn't the eldest brother, he would have to show some appreciation, otherwise Shen Yichen would not be willing to spend the money.
"Brother, I dare not."
In the past, Zhang Qi relied on Li Da to bully others, but now the former boss has become his younger brother. In addition, Zhang Qi still remembers Shen Yichen's decisiveness, so he dare not provoke him at this moment.
"Then let's go."
Shen Yichen didn't waste any words. There was an important event like the county exam tomorrow, so he couldn't delay it too late today.
The group marched to Nanshi Street in a mighty manner, found a roadside stall selling pig offal, sat down, and after a few mouthfuls of hot food, they felt refreshed.
They started by talking about the fight in Zuixianlou, with everyone boasting about how powerful they were. Then they talked about the fun things that happened in the academy, exposing each other's embarrassing stories, and all the grievances in the past were just jokes...
A night passed, and the day of the county examination came. Shen Yichen got up early and called Zhao Hongjie and Li Da.
The reason why they were called along had little to do with what happened last night. The main reason was because of the five people who came forward to act as guarantors, namely Zhao Hongjie and several other classmates from other colleges.
The group ate something at the inn and then hurried to the examination venue - Xiajiang Examination Hall.
Xiajiang Examination Hall is one of the largest examination halls in Yingtian Prefecture. It is called Xiajiang because it is located in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River and most of the candidates are from Jiangsu. There is also Shangjiang Examination Hall, but most of the candidates there are from Anhui.
When Shen Yichen and others arrived at the entrance of the examination room, the place was already crowded with people, filling the entire open space in front of the courtyard.
The soldiers and servants of Yingtian Prefecture were working hard to maintain order in the examination room, and were loudly calling out to the examinees from different places and academies, asking them to find their admission badges and then line up neatly and wait.
As for these pre-exam procedures, Shen Yichen and his friends could be considered veterans of county examinations. Even without being told, they knew what to do, and they soon found the right positions.
However, under the entrance card of the private school of Duke Chengguo's Mansion, Shen Yichen saw a group of "old acquaintances", including Zhu Qingyu and others who were beaten up in Zuixianlou last night. They were also going to take part in the county examination today, and even arrived earlier than himself.
To be honest, Shen Yichen had not expected to see them here, because the registration for the county exams in the inner and outer courtyards was not unified. In addition, Shen Yichen subconsciously believed that the inner courtyard students were at least scholars, so how could they need to take the county exams?
The reason for this way of thinking is that Shen Yichen has completely put himself in the position of an outer courtyard. After all, only the best students who pass the examination for scholars in the outer courtyard are qualified to study in the inner courtyard.
But the problem is that the Zhu clan members in the inner courtyard do not need the ticket to become a scholar. They can enter school based on their bloodline.
Besides, these military sons in the outer courtyard have no interest in studying and have failed to pass the examination to become a student for many years. How much better can these wealthy and dissolute sons of clan relatives in the inner courtyard be? They may be even worse when it comes to eating, drinking and having fun. So it is not surprising that they meet Zhu Qingyu and others taking the county examination.
It is said that when enemies meet, their eyes turn red with envy! Zhu Qingyu and his gang also saw Shen Yichen and the others, and anger immediately surged in their hearts.
Zhu Qingyu was just about to make a fierce expression towards Shen Yichen to gain the upper hand in momentum, but the scar at the corner of his mouth was pulled, and he immediately grimaced in pain. His expression was as embarrassed as it could be.
The other Zhu family disciples in the inner courtyard were not much better, either with panda eyes or blush on their faces. In terms of fighting ability, they really couldn't even compare to the outer courtyard martial arts students.
"Yi Chen, they won't cause us any trouble now, right?"
The impulse of last night had passed, but the "afterglow" of his identity as a member of the inner courtyard clan was still there. Seeing them again, Zhao Hongjie felt a little nervous and leaned against Shen Yichen and asked carefully.
"Won't."
After saying this, Shen Yichen thought about it and expressed it more accurately: "At least not now."
This is the entrance to the Xiajiang examination room. Fighting is strictly prohibited in this important scientific examination area. Anyone who violates this rule will be disqualified from taking the exam.
The relatives in the inner court are not the biological sons of Duke Chengguo Zhu Yong, so how could there be so many places for the imperial examination? They just have stronger family conditions. If they really want to make great achievements in their official career, they still have to rely on the imperial examinations.
Even if they didn't plan to take the exam and were ready to "die together" with Shen Yichen, this behavior was equivalent to ruining the county exam for the military generals' children in the outer courtyard private school.
As the saying goes, cutting off someone's financial resources is like killing their parents. In ancient times, if a class of imperial examinations was cut off, the hatred value would definitely not be lower than the financial resources. At that time, the fathers of these military generals' sons and daughters will definitely seek justice from Duke Cheng, Zhu Yong!
Normally when children fight, Zhu Yong might favor his own relatives, but when it comes to major issues like right and wrong, the importance of his official cronies is far greater than that of his close relatives.
With the rationality of Duke Chengguo Zhu Yong, there is no doubt about what choice he will make!
Just as Shen Yichen predicted, even though Zhu Qingyu was extremely dissatisfied, he had to hold it in under such circumstances, and both sides stood clearly under the order cards.
Compared to Zhu Qingyu's indignation, Shen Yichen, as the winner of the fight last night, naturally did not feel so aggrieved.
Therefore, he didn't care about Zhu Qingyu's look as if he wanted to eat him, but looked around with interest to see the grand occasion of the Jiangning County examination today.
Looking around, he saw a crowd of people in front of the examination room. Shen Yichen thought that a veteran like himself who had failed for several years would be considered older among them.
It turned out that he was wrong. With just a casual glance, he could see several middle-aged students, who were estimated to be at least thirty years old.
Of course, there are many , but in comparison, Shen Yichen's age is not considered to be a very old candidate.
The reason why he had the illusion that he was a "veteran" was that Shen Yichen was relatively young when he entered school, so he had to take so many exams.
On the other hand, the educational resources of the Chengguo Mansion's private school were too excellent, and many young scholars had emerged from it, which led Shen Yichen to mistakenly believe that it was easy to pass the exam for a title like Tongsheng Xiucai.
In fact, unless one comes from a family of scholars or is very wealthy, it is rare in this era for one to be able to leave home and receive a good education at a young age like Shen Yichen did.
Many students in private schools in the countryside had to study for several years with a teacher who had never been to school. As for the more advanced reference books on solving problems in eight-part essays, they were so expensive that they could not afford them.
With this kind of environment and educational resources, how is it possible to pass the examination and become a scholar easily?
"It's true that no matter what era, educational resources are unequal."
Faced with this kind of scene, Shen Yichen couldn't help but sigh. When he took the college entrance examination in his previous life, he wished he was a student from one of those advantaged areas.
Now it seems that after traveling through time, my dream has come true in a sense?
After a lot of random thoughts, the bailiff in the examination hall called out the entry card of the Duke of Chengguo's Mansion. Shen Yichen and others hurriedly took out the "official seal of identification" and prepared to be called out and identified by the soldiers, as well as to be searched to confirm that they had no cheating items.
Only after passing this level can you officially enter the Xiajiang examination hall.
