Chapter 24: Strange Man
Chapter 24: Strange Man
After some pleasantries, Magistrate Wu asked, "What do you want to see me about?"
Xu Qing: "I want to ask the teacher for advice on eight-legged essay."
Magistrate Wu couldn't help but smile: "Your writing skills are good enough to pass the imperial examination. What else do you need me to teach you?"
Xu Qing knew that Magistrate Wu was also a smart man, and too many twists and turns would be boring and not in line with his young personality, so he simply said, "Master, I want to be the first in the Central Government Examination."
Magistrate Wu was stunned for a moment, then said, "With your level, if you write another essay for the county exam, you may win first place."
Xu Qing: "It's a pity that the student has been preparing for two months and only has this one essay. I'm afraid I won't be so lucky in the provincial examination."
Magistrate Wu: "That's true, but I'm not from the Dongzhou School, so I'm afraid I can't help you this time."
It turned out that the current Jiangning prefect was from the Dongzhou school, which was different from the school of Magistrate Wu. The exam questions and writing styles that Dongzhou liked were naturally not what Magistrate Wu was good at.
Moreover, among the literati, heretics are more hateful than political enemies.
To defeat a political enemy, at most one would drive him out of office; but as for different schools of thought, they would wish to wipe out the entire school of thought of the other party and would not stop until they had criticized it thoroughly.
It was impossible for County Magistrate Wu to use the same test questions as Prefect He.
Magistrate Wu thought highly of his disciple Xu Qing, so he explained the details in detail.
Moreover, he is currently presiding over this county examination. Among the students who have passed the examination, Xu Qing has the greatest hope of passing the exam. Even if he cannot use it in the future, it will be a connection that his descendants can use.
Xu Qing came with the mentality of giving it a try, and did not hold out much hope.
"Thank you, Master. It seems that I can only do my best."
Magistrate Wu also felt a little regretful. If Xu Qing had won the first place in the prefectural examination, he might have won the first place in the imperial examination as well, and he would have been able to get the top three places by then.
The county magistrate was originally responsible for local education.
The emergence of a small three yuan is definitely a political achievement worthy of special mention. It also shows that Wu attached great importance to culture and education during his tenure in Qingshui County.
It seems that a credit may not be achieved.
At this moment, County Magistrate Wu, who was obsessed with fame and fortune, was even more worried about the case than Xu Qing himself.
At this time, the military strategist Qian came.
He heard that Xu Qing was coming to visit County Magistrate Wu, so he hurried over to accompany him.
I arrived a little late, but I still heard the general idea of what happened.
Dong Weng's role can only be shown when there is a problem. Moreover, Li Dianshi has given many benefits to Master Qian, and has taken the initiative to give Master Qian the credit for some ideas. Master Qian sees that the Li family is becoming more and more prosperous, so how can he not return the favor?
"Mingsir, I think this first place in the provincial examination is a piece of cake for you."
Xu Qing secretly complained, "Master Qian probably likes to read novels, and he always acts like a strategist."
Don't mention it, County Magistrate Wu fell for it.
If the person who gives the advice doesn't have confidence himself, how can the lord be confident?
In the Battle of Guandu, Yuan Shao had the advantage over me. Xun Yu won four games and lost four. According to Guo Jia, it was ten wins and ten losses, making it seem like it would be unjust if Cao Cao didn't win.
As for the result, just ask whether you win or not.
Anyway, if you win, it makes sense, and if you lose, it means there is something wrong with your operation.
Master Qian looked so confident that Xu Qing secretly complained but tried hard to memorize the contents. He planned to stay until he got home and learn each part frame by frame using his powerful memory.
Master Qian was talking eloquently: "My Lord, have you forgotten that Mr. Feng Xifeng, the teacher of the Yan clan school, is a graduate of Dongzhou College?"
"It is true, but Feng Xifeng never taught the Dongzhou School's knowledge to outsiders. He only taught ordinary eight-part essays. He once said that Dongzhou knowledge was difficult to understand, and he would never teach it unless it caught his eye. Many powerful gentry in Jiangning Prefecture paid him a large sum of money to teach him the real knowledge, but he refused." County Magistrate Wu knew that he had indeed forgotten about this and hurried to make up for it.
And what he said was true.
Feng Xifeng is aloof and noble, and does not flatter the powerful.
My senior fellow student has been the prefect of Jiangning for a year, but I heard that he has never visited the prefect once. He even said that he is only a scholar, while the prefect is a second-class Jinshi, and their status is different, so he is too embarrassed to pay a visit.
Master Qian: "If anyone else goes to study, Feng Xifeng will definitely refuse. But if nephew Xu goes, it will be different." He told the reason without waiting for Magistrate Wu to ask.
Feng Xifeng used to teach in a private school. He wanted to accept a student as his disciple. That student happened to be Guo Zhuang's brother-in-law. However, Zhao Bao hired someone to break his legs before the county exam, and he has been crazy ever since.
For this reason, Feng Xifeng went to the county government to file a complaint many times, but in the end, due to lack of evidence and the perpetrator's voluntary confession and compensation, the case was eventually dropped.
This is the biggest regret in Feng Xifeng's life.
Xu Qing and Li Dianshi happened to help Feng Xifeng resolve this hateful matter and relieve the burden in his heart.
What's more, Xu Qing was the top candidate in the case and was young, so he could barely be considered a child prodigy. He took the initiative to come to Feng Xifeng to seek teaching, so there was no reason for Feng Xifeng to refuse.
Then Master Qian volunteered, "Mingsir, Feng Xifeng and I are drinking buddies, so I will take Nephew Xu to see him."
Magistrate Wu naturally agreed.
...
...
Xu Qing and Master Qian then went to the Yan clan to study.
He recalled that Yan Shan, a student he had met during the county examination, was a member of the Yan family.
When Xu Qing arrived at the clan school, he happened to see Yan Shan coming out, looking a little dusty.
"Brother Yan." Xu Qing naturally couldn't ignore it, so he greeted him directly.
"Brother Xu, are you here to see me?"
Xu Qing was a little embarrassed. He couldn't just say no, so he just stammered and said that he came to the Yan clan school for something, and would visit Yan Shan after he was done. He didn't expect to meet him by chance.
Yan Shan heard the tribesman next to him whispering that he recognized Master Qian, so he realized, "Brother, are you here to seek advice from Mr. Feng?"
"Ah."
Yan Shan showed an expression of understanding, patted Xu Qing on the shoulder, and whispered: "If you are here for the government examination, be prepared, brother. I just got rejected."
Xu Qing: "Thank you for the reminder, brother. I won't force it. I just want to try my luck."
Since Yan Shan also came for the provincial examination, Xu Qing was no longer embarrassed.
In fact, if it weren’t for Xu Qing, Yan Shan might not be willing to come.
However, he lost the first place in the county examination. After returning home, the elders in the clan revealed the relationship between Feng Xifeng and Prefect He, and encouraged him to give it a try. Yan Shan was not a pedantic person, so he decided to give it a try, but in the end he didn't even get in.
Xu Qing and the others walked into the clan school. Yan Shan, for some unknown reason, wanted to see what would happen to Xu Qing, so he followed them in.
In the courtyard, there was a sound of poetry: "Three thousand pieces of writing, a million soldiers in my heart..."
The song contains the sound of desolate drums and horns, the spirit of war and battle, and is not the style of an ordinary scholar...
Master Qian was not surprised and reported directly: "Old Feng, Xu Qing, the nephew of Li Dianshi of this county, is here to visit you. Open the door quickly."
Yan Shan thought: "This Mr. Qian is ignorant. With Mr. Feng's temper, he won't even give face to the county magistrate, let alone the registrar."
As soon as the thought flashed through his mind, the door opened.
Yan Shan was stunned.
"Ah this!"
(End of this chapter)