Chapter 41 College Examination
Jia Cong also learned about the follow-up of Xue Pan's case from his master. As he had guessed, the young master of the Marquis' Mansion was directly reported to the censor and his idle position as the Dragon Guard was taken away. Even Wu Qing, the head of the Dongchuan Marquis' Mansion, was reported for not managing his household properly!
Although he did not move his bones, he was reprimanded by Emperor Longxing in the court, which was considered embarrassing.
After that, Jia Cong's life became uneventful again. He read books every afternoon to enrich his knowledge and accumulation, wrote articles for Wei Qi to judge, occasionally went to Jia She's room to greet him, talked about articles with Jia Zheng in his free time, and visited his master every few days to ask for advice in person.
In addition to reviewing lessons, most of the morning is spent practicing boxing and kicking.
After nearly a year of practice, his physical fitness improved greatly. He even asked someone to make him a spear weighing dozens of kilograms, which he wielded with the same vigor and vitality.
However, most of them were just showing off, without any real fighting experience, and did not have the legendary murderous aura. Of course, their aura had increased a lot.
As for the sisters, he only occasionally asked the maids in the room to deliver some things to them, but he rarely visited them directly, and at most he would go to Yingchun's place to sit for a while. After all, he was not Baoyu, who could shamelessly hang out with the sisters all day.
Jia Yun helped with most of the chores outside. Jia Yun was loyal and meticulous in his work, which made Jia Cong very impressed. The maids in the room each had their own duties, but Xiao Que'er would mostly hang out with other maids in the girls' rooms when she was free, and occasionally Xiangling would follow her. Qingwen became the real housekeeper of the room.
Baochai still comes once a month to settle accounts with Jia Cong and give him money. This year's ice business is better than last year. By the end of this summer, Jia Cong will probably have accumulated a net worth of nearly 100,000 yuan.
Before I knew it, two or three months had passed and the Mid-Autumn Festival was here!
The Jia Mansion was naturally decorated with lights and lanterns, and the atmosphere in the whole mansion became cheerful. Jia Cong gave Jia Yun and the maids in the room some red envelopes as rewards, and sent them out to have fun. He himself only went to the grand banquet hosted by Jia's mother on the Mid-Autumn Night to greet all the elders. The rest of the time, he stayed indoors and studied hard.
As for Wei Qi, Jia Cong had visited him a few days in advance. Wei Qi treated him very well, so he had to be polite.
The reason why it is so hard is that August 19th after the Mid-Autumn Festival is the day for the college entrance examination.
The process of the academy examination is similar to that of the county and prefectural examinations, but it is divided into two sessions. In the first session, twice the number of scholars is selected, but the names are not written on the examination papers, and the examiners circle the seat numbers on the spot. In the second session, the names are written and sealed, and half of them are selected as the scholar's achievements.
Moreover, the academy examination was presided over by the local education commissioner, who was appointed by the emperor and served as a Hanlin.
In addition, in order to prevent cheating, the court added a guarantor, that is, in addition to the original guarantor, a guarantor was assigned by the court. Only after the two guarantors confirmed the admission ticket could the candidate be issued. If there was any omission, everyone would be guilty.
Master Wei Qi naturally helped to arrange the rest of the matters, and another guarantor also led Jia Cong to pay a visit.
On the day of the imperial examination, Jia Cong and his guarantor arrived outside the examination room early. When the other guarantor arrived, Jia Cong went forward to greet him and waited on the side.
The guarantors sent by the court were to take care of five candidates, so before long, the other candidates also arrived and waited quietly outside the examination room.
At the hour of Mao, three cannon shots were fired, and the gates of the examination hall were opened! Luo Yongyuan, the academician, personally took the list and began to call the roll.
The candidate who is called will be accompanied by a guarantor and will be allowed to enter the examination room after inspection.
When Jia Cong's name was called, the three of them stepped forward and said, "Student Jia Cong, hello to the academician!"
Luo Yongyuan looked at Jia Cong and nodded slightly, and asked the clerk beside him to check. After checking, it was found to be correct. After Jia Cong saluted the two guarantors, he entered the examination room.
Jia Cong naturally passed the first draft easily, but there were a large number of fewer people taking the re-examination, leaving only more than 400 people!
You know, although Shenjing is not a major province for imperial examinations like Zhejiang, it is located in the capital area. At the beginning of the examination for students of higher learning, there were as many as six or seven thousand people, which is enough to show how low the admission rate is.
In the second re-examination, Jia Cong was even more attentive, and his choice of words and sentences were carefully crafted!
After three days, Jia Cong finished writing the last word, checked for omissions, and finally breathed a sigh of relief! He believed that with his writing, at least it would be no problem to be selected, but the ranking was uncertain.
After returning home, taking a bath and changing clothes, he copied the article he had written and then visited Jia Zheng and Wei Qi.
Wei Qi was extremely impressed by Jia Cong's articles. It could be said that this scholar's fame and fortune were already secure in his hands.
After resting for two days, when the results were announced on the third day, Wei Qi sent Yuan Chen to accompany Jia Cong to see the results early in the morning. Jia Zheng originally wanted to ask for leave and wait for news at home, but he was busy with work in the Ministry of Works, so he had to go to the yamen first.
In the afternoon, a colleague from the Ministry of Works came to Jia Zheng's room and congratulated him as soon as he entered the room. "Cun Zhou, it would be unacceptable if you don't host us this time!"
Jia Zheng looked bewildered, "Tongguang, I wonder what happened?"
"Haha, your Jia Cong actually won the first place again. This is a small third place, much more valuable than a juren. Do you think it's worth a treat?"
Jia Zheng stood up in a panic, stepped forward, grabbed his colleague's hand and asked, "Tongguang, is this true?"
" Of course it's true. The results have already been announced, and the news has spread to all the ministries. I got here early, and I'm sure my colleagues from the Ministry of Industry will come to congratulate you soon."
As he was speaking, someone else came in and congratulated him. Finally, even the superior from the Ministry of Works came over to talk to Jia Zheng. Jia Zheng felt elated. Although he was not Cong'er's father, he was his second uncle. With such a young man in the family, he would have to speak louder in the future when he was in the government office and among his colleagues.
As for the few meals that Jia Zheng promised to host, he didn't care at all! Compared with the joy of the little Sanyuan, he would be happy even if he was asked to treat him for a month.
His superiors granted him special permission to go home and celebrate first. Therefore, without waiting for the end of the yamen, Jia Zheng hurried out of the yamen, got on the carriage and headed home.
When he entered the yard, he grabbed a servant and asked, "Where is Cong?"
"Reporting to the Second Master, Third Master Cong has just returned from paying respects to his teacher, and is now in the old lady's courtyard!"
"Did Cong really win the case?"
"That's right. The one who brought the good news arrived early. The old lady was so happy that she even gave all the servants three months' salary!"
"Okay, okay, okay..." Jia Zheng casually took out a piece of silver and stuffed it directly into the boy's hand, "Here's a reward for you!"
Having said this, without waiting for the servant to thank him, he trotted straight to Lady Jia's courtyard.
