Chapter 84 Exam
Since Liang Lao Da's family was unable to go to the city to set up a stall, they have been quiet for a while and the whole family has been staying at home quietly.
The main reason is that the court is in urgent need of talents now. The emperor has issued a sacred decree to hold an extra examination this year. County examinations, prefectural examinations, and academy examinations will all have another chance.
The county and prefectural examinations will begin in the next two days. The private school teachers asked the students to review their lessons at home and they no longer need to go to the private school to attend classes.
After the county and prefectural examinations, the candidates who have obtained the quota for Tongsheng this time will participate in the next academy examination together with the Tongsheng from the previous time.
The Liang family has high hopes for Liang Wenzhi. During this period, the family has been quiet and no one has made any trouble. No one wants to let household chores disturb Wenzhi's studies.
When Jiang Lin's mother heard that he would be able to take the imperial examination this year, she took good care of her son's diet and daily life at home. She said to Jiang Lin earnestly, "Son, it's a rare occasion that the emperor has made an exception to hold the imperial examination. You must study hard and try to pass the examination this time. Then I can be proud of you."
"Well, I understand, mother, don't worry, I will study hard and strive to pass the exam. Mr. Liu has always disagreed with my relationship with his daughter, but this time he said that as long as I pass the exam, he will agree to my marriage with Yingying, and will also support all my future study expenses and the cost of going to Beijing to take the exam."
"Son, you have to work harder. As long as you can get engaged to Miss Yingying, we can get on the Liu family's money tree, and we won't have to worry about your future education expenses. Liang Laoer's family made money from these sugar-roasted chestnuts, and I regret letting you and Qianhuan break off the engagement. If we hadn't broken off the engagement, Qianhuan could have given us some of the money they earned. Now that Mr. Liu has agreed, I feel better."
"Mom, don't worry, your son will definitely pass the exam. Don't mention Liang Qianhuan, that uneducated village girl. Even if her family made some money, it can't change the fact that she is a fool. Besides, the money her family earned from the stall was eventually given to the Liang family's old house when the relationship was severed. They still live in a thatched hut now, which is worse than ours."
"Son, you are right. In our village, only the poorest families still live in thatched houses. Although the other families live in mud houses, at least they have tiles on the roof. I heard that Liang Laoer spent more than ten taels of silver to re-set his leg. Just looking at the leg, it is estimated that their family's wealth must have been emptied."
"Her father's leg may not be healed even after spending a lot of money, and now he is still lying at home every day. She is an unmarried girl, but she goes out in public all day long. She is not a good wife and does not have the upbringing of a girl. She is not even worthy of carrying Miss Liu's shoes." Jiang Lin's face was full of disgust when he mentioned Qianhuan.
The mother and son were talking to each other, and they were very excited about saying bad things about Qianhuan.
I really didn't expect that Jiang Lin, a scholar, would be like a gossiphead, fond of gossiping about other people's private affairs and talking behind their backs. It's really a waste of his time reading the books of sages.
No matter how good Ren Jianglin is at studying, he is destined to be led astray by a mother with such distorted values.
Qianhuan and Liu rested at home for several days. Qianhuan drank some medicine for a few days and her body gradually returned to normal.
Liu had been making new cotton-padded clothes and trousers for her daughter at home these days. She had half a tael of silver left over from the time she ordered custom furniture, and she used it to go to the town to weigh a pound and two taels of cotton and buy a few feet of cloth.
She knew that her daughter usually had to dress as a man and couldn't wear bright or flashy colors, so she simply tore off a few feet of bluish-white cloth and planned to make a thick cotton jacket and trousers for her daughter.
Sewing a set of cotton-padded clothes and trousers is much more troublesome than making a robe with a collar. It takes at least seven, eight or ten days to make it. The weather is getting colder day by day, and her daughter has a cold, so she has to speed up the production.
The county examination and the prefectural examination were held as scheduled. Unfortunately, Liang Wenzhi, the grandson that old man Liang favored the most, did not pass the first level of the county examination, so he was not qualified to participate in the subsequent prefectural examination and the imperial examination.
Another person who failed the exam was Hu Zhixiong, the grandson of the village head, Old Man Hu. After Hu Zhixiong failed the exam, the village head did not blame him, but comforted and encouraged him.
"My child, this year's exam was given to us by the emperor as a favor. We should treat it as an extra test and accumulate more test experience. It doesn't matter if we fail this time. We just need to summarize the reasons for our failure and find out which knowledge we didn't master well enough. If we study hard in the future, we may be able to pass the next time."
"Well, Grandpa, I understand. I will reflect on my shortcomings and try to pass the exam next time."
With the encouragement of the village head, Old Man Hu, Hu Zhixiong did not become discouraged, but became more and more motivated.
Liang Wenzhi failed the exam and was in a depressed mood every day at home, and he would lose his temper at any time.
Zhu comforted him, "Son, it must be that the examiners didn't appreciate your essay. You don't need to be so sad. Maybe next time we can meet an examiner who appreciates your essay and you can pass the exam."
Old Lady Liang also nodded and agreed with Zhu: "Yes, Wenzhi, grandma knows that you have been working very hard. If you didn't pass the exam, it must be because they don't appreciate you. I heard that many examiners will sell their quotas to those rich young men. It's a pity that our family has no money. Those people must have taken your quota. You don't need to blame yourself."
Although both of them failed the exam, the village head and the Liang family looked at the problem in very different ways. One asked the child to find his own shortcomings and make corrections, while the other blamed others for the failure.
These two different ways of teaching by example will ultimately lead the two children to different lives.
Cuihua had been married for several months, but there was no sign of pregnancy, which made Sun Wangniang very dissatisfied with Cuihua.
Originally, Sun Wangniang was concerned that Cuihua had a younger brother who was still studying, but Liang Wenzhi failed to even pass the county exam, so she started to be unhappy with Cuihua.
She rolled her eyes and sneered at Cuihua, "Some people are counting on her brother to succeed so that they can benefit from him. But her brother failed the county exam twice this year and is still dreaming about his future."
Cuihua had often looked down on the Sun family before, using the fact that her younger brother Liang Wenzhi was a scholar. She always acted arrogant in front of the Sun family, as if she was so noble just because she had a educated brother.
The Sun family thought that if Cuihua's younger brother could really pass the imperial examination, their Sun family would also benefit from it, so they let Cuihua do what she wanted.
Who knew that Liang Wenzhi couldn't even pass the county exam and couldn't even get a place as a student, let alone take the exam for a scholar. Now the Sun family will not be so accommodating to her.
Cuihua couldn't stand the disparity in treatment, so she ran back to her parents' home and yelled at her brother Wenzhi: "Why are you so useless? Jiang Lin has already passed the examination for a student and will soon pass the examination for a scholar, but you can't even pass a small county examination. You are almost embarrassed for me. We have provided you with good food and drink at home, but now you can't even get the place for a student. What's the point of studying? You might as well drop out of school and go home to farm."
He was already devastated by failing the liberal arts exam, and was further devastated by the criticism and criticism from his sister Cuihua.
In a fit of anger, he took his books back to the private school and lived there instead of going home.
Seeing that her beloved son was scolded away by a married woman, Zhu was so angry that she slapped Cuihua in the face and cursed: "How can you, as a sister, treat your own brother like this? Why is your mouth so vicious?"
Cuihua was also desperate: "You just protect him and give him all the good food and drinks. Now he can't even pass the county exam. Is there anything wrong with me asking him to come back and farm?"
"You, a married woman, should just get back to your grandson's family. It's not your place to interfere in the Liang family's affairs. If you keep nagging me, I'll beat you to death." Old Mrs. Liang put her hands on her hips and scolded Cuihua.
When Cuihua was at home, the person she was most afraid of was Old Lady Liang. When she saw Old Lady Liang really rolling up her sleeves and looking like she was going to beat her, she immediately tucked her tail between her legs and ran back to the Sun family.
Cuihua not only has a hard time in the Sun family now, but her own family also doesn't like her anymore.