Chapter 052: First in the County Examination
"Case...case...case...case!"
When he confirmed that it was Shen Yichen's name, Li Da began to stutter.
It's not that he is inexperienced and was so surprised when facing a county examination case, but Li Da would never have thought that Shen Yichen really has the ability to take the lead.
You have to know that just half a year ago, Shen Yichen and I were both at the bottom of the private school. Why is the gap so big after so many years?
"What first place? Who do you think is the first place?"
Zhao Hongjie had not yet squeezed to the front, but he vaguely heard Li Da say the two words "first in the case".
As one of the three musketeers who always ranked at the bottom of the private school, Zhao Hongjie also did not realize that the first place in this case would be Shen Yichen.
"The first person in the case is Shen Yichen, our eldest brother!"
Li Da was completely shocked now. He no longer used the title "good brother" that he used to like to address him, and started calling him "big brother".
"Brother Da, stop joking. We've only just finished the first exam, and the top candidate didn't come out so soon. Are you dazzled?"
Zhang Qi didn't quite believe what Li Da said about the first case. He even suspected that Li Da was drunk and had not sobered up yet, so he even read the name wrong.
And speaking of which, generally speaking, after the first round of the exam, only the candidates who passed the Intermediate Court exam will be announced, and the first place in the case will not be announced directly. After all, the exam has not been completed yet, who knows if there will be more powerful candidates later?
"If you don't believe me, come and see for yourself. The name is circled in red with a red pen. How could I be wrong?"
Faced with all kinds of doubts, Li Da became a little anxious. It was bad enough that he no longer had the status of the boss, but now even his words were so unconvincing?
Hearing Li Da's repeated emphasis, the fat white man Zhang Qi became somewhat skeptical. He used his weight advantage and slammed hard into the crowd in front of him.
It's true that the large tonnage is indeed useful. Amidst the cursing, Zhang Qi was squeezed to the front row.
With Li Da's reminder, Zhang Qi now looked directly at the top of the list. Sure enough, the first place was Shen Yichen's name, and his name was circled in red ink, which was the sign of being the first.
"Brother really won the first place in the case, and ranked first in Jiangning County!"
When Zhang Qi shouted, the students who were watching the list all looked at him sideways, wanting to see who the "big brother" he was talking about was and how he could be so talented that he was chosen as the top candidate in the first county exam.
Shen Yichen, who was still squeezing towards the list at this moment, also heard Zhang Qi's shout. If he heard correctly, it seemed that the first place in the case he was talking about was himself?
To be honest, Shen Yichen was still very confident about passing the county exam. After all, he had been studying hard during this period, and with the tireless teaching of his two teachers, if he could not pass the county exam, it would only mean that he was not suitable for the imperial examination.
But being chosen as the first in the case was something Shen Yichen had not expected, and he didn't even have any hope for it.
Because Shen Yichen knew very well that winning the first place in the case required not only talent, but also a little bit of luck, or other unspeakable relationships.
Even if we ignore the last two points and only talk about talent, the last trial poem in the three questions of the county examination was not written very well, so it is normal to lose points.
To sum it up in one sentence, not being the first in the exam was expected, but being selected was a pleasant surprise!
With the joint efforts of several classmates from other colleges , Shen Yichen finally made it to the front of the list. He looked at his own name circled at the top of the list. At this moment, everything was settled and he had indeed become the top candidate in the county.
"I said it after the exam yesterday, big brother is an unparalleled writer, and this time he will definitely be the first! Did you see that? Did you see that? Who dares to question me?"
A young man named Wu Rong from the outer courtyard was taking credit with a smug look on his face, as if he was the one who got the first place in the exam.
"Bullshit, I also said that Big Brother is the incarnation of Wenquxing, isn't that more exaggerated than you say?"
Another younger brother refused to accept the mistake and ruthlessly exposed the other party's true identity.
"You guys know nothing. Are we competing to see who can blow harder? We are competing to see who can blow more accurately!"
Zhang Qi stepped forward at the right time and educated his two classmates with righteous words that there is a science to flattery.
Originally everyone was still amazed at the fact that Shen Yichen got the top spot in the exam, but these few funny guys messed it up and turned it into a flattery exchange meeting.
Facing this scene, Shen Yichen shook his head helplessly, and then quietly withdrew from the crowd. He was not a person who liked to be high-profile, and now he felt that he could not afford to lose this person.
At the same time, he felt a little regretful in his heart. He had thought of recruiting these guys as his younger brothers so that he could have some connections with military generals in the future. Was this decision useful?
Can such a group of funny second-generation officials really be of great use in the future?
However, the words of this group of funny people also triggered discussions among other candidates, and their attention shifted from the list of successful candidates in the county exam to Shen Yichen himself.
"This Shen Yichen's name sounds familiar, I seem to have heard it somewhere before."
One of the candidates kept muttering Shen Yichen's name, and he always felt inexplicably familiar with it.
"I have this feeling too, I don't know where it comes from."
A schoolboy nearby echoed that he felt the same way.
"I remember that at last year's Winter Solstice Poetry Festival, there was a student who won over the crowd. I think his name was Shen Yichen!"
"Yes, it's Shen Yichen, he is really talented!"
"I still remember that some people made fun of Shen Yichen's schoolboy status. Now it seems that he deserves the title of first place in the case today."
"Indeed."
The benefits of participating in the Winter Solstice Poetry Festival and gaining fame began to show at this moment. If this kind of early selection as the first place was put in the previous county examination, it would easily cause controversy.
But when it comes to Shen Yichen, it is simply indisputable!
The reason is very simple, that is, he was able to surpass all the scholars and juren as a schoolboy and win the spot to sing at the Winter Solstice Poetry Festival. Who dares to say that he can be better than Shen Yichen?
When your strength is just a little bit higher than that of your competitors, you will be envied and jealous. But when your strength completely crushes your competitors, you will only be admired and worshipped. This is what Shen Yichen is like now!
As more and more candidates showed up, the news that Shen Yichen was chosen as the top candidate naturally spread more and more widely.
Under the admission card of Zhaowen Academy, a group of examinees looked unfriendly and stared at Shen Yichen who was surrounded by the crowd. Among them was Xu Donghai who was almost selected as the top of the list.
"Oh, he was just chosen as the first in the case. Look at his proud look."
One of the students was indignant and couldn't help but make a sarcastic remark.
"Isn't it because he has a father who is a Duke? Otherwise, he would have been chosen in advance?"
Another person echoed that according to convention, there must be something fishy about picking the first case in advance, and the biggest background of Shen Yichen is naturally Duke Chengguo Zhu Yong.
"I was able to snatch the spot of the East Sea No. 1 Scholar disciple because of Duke Chengguo's relationship, right?"
Originally Xu Donghai's expression was relatively normal, but when he heard these words, his expression instantly turned a little ugly.
Last year, the top scholar Lin Zhen came to Zhaowen Academy to teach. Many talented scholars and writers went to attend his lectures, and many of them wanted to become his disciples.
Among them, Xu Donghai has the most popular voice.
Considering his status as the nephew of Minister of War Xu Qi, and his own outstanding talent, it is not surprising that Lin Zhen would also do him the honor and accept him as his disciple.
But many problems in the world lie precisely in the word "unexpected". Lin Zhen allowed Xu Donghai to attend his lectures, but did not agree to accept him as a disciple. The reason he gave was that he would not accept students as disciples unless they passed the imperial examination.
Originally, there was nothing wrong with this reason for rejection, and Xu Donghai gladly accepted it. However, he did not expect that not long afterward at the Winter Solstice Poetry Conference, he would hear the news that Lin Zhen accepted Shen Yichen as his disciple.
You clearly said that you would not accept students as your disciples, and Shen Yichen is also a student. Doesn't this clearly show that your previous words were just an excuse?
According to the thinking of Xu Donghai and his group of officials, Lin Zhen's choice must have been influenced by other factors. In the case of Shen Yichen, it was undoubtedly the Duke of Cheng, Zhu Yong, who had taken care of him. Otherwise, how could a student born to a maid be qualified to worship the top scholar as his teacher?
Because of this incident, Xu Donghai and Shen Yichen became enemies.
However, the two parties usually had no interaction with each other, and they didn't even know each other. Even if Xu Donghai felt dissatisfied, he could only let it go.
I didn't expect that in today's county examination, I would be defeated by Shen Yichen again!
"Dong Hai, do you think that County Magistrate Zhou's selection of Shen Yichen as the first candidate for the case may be a conspiracy behind the scenes?"
"I have no idea."
Xu Donghai didn't dare to talk in depth about this topic, because he knew very well that his family members had also used the back door.
"That shouldn't be the case. After all, Shen Yichen is quite capable."
Another student from Zhaowen Academy said this hesitantly.
Although he was reluctant to admit it, Shen Yichen's two poems were already famous all over the world. If someone were to accuse him of having no talent, probably no one would believe it.
Sure enough, after this statement was made, no one else refuted it.
To be frank, this kind of gossip behind the back was mostly out of jealousy among scholars for Shen Yichen to be accepted as a disciple by Lin Zhen. As they were originally students of Zhaowen Academy, they did not have this opportunity.
This feeling was like the meat in one's bowl was snatched away by Shen Yichen .
After a commotion, the gate of the Xiajiang examination hall opened wide. The second preliminary review was about to begin, and the candidates were ready to enter.
In fact, as Shen Yichen was directly selected as the top candidate in the case, theoretically he could have skipped the next four county exams and jumped directly to the prefectural exam in April.
However, Shen Yichen was born into a family of nobles, so he had some basic political sensitivity. He was chosen as the first in the case in advance, and he was in the limelight at the time, so his every move would be magnified and paid attention to.
If he did not participate in the next four examinations, people would say that he was arrogant and carried away. The entire literary and official circles did not like such people who were too proud of themselves, which would affect the reputation of the subsequent imperial examinations.
So even if it was just for show, Shen Yichen planned to finish the remaining four exams!
Everything went the same way as yesterday. Shen Yichen first entered the main hall to meet the chief examiner.
However, this time when Shen Yichen saw County Magistrate Zhou, he not only had no expression on his face compared to yesterday, but also had a very dark and ugly face. There was no trace of the appreciation on his face that he had chosen as the first choice.
Faced with this scene, Shen Yichen became uneasy. What was going on? Did he misunderstand again?
Why does Zhou Zhixian look like he was kidnapped and was reluctantly picking me as the first in the case?
