Chapter 212: Hong Xiucai's Difficulties
Hong Xiucai said to Sun Shan very honestly: "The teacher asked you to go on stage temporarily because he had no choice."
Hong Xiucai looked at Sun Shan deeply and told him the reason he had to do so: "The son of Zhang Zhubo of Huangyang County is going to take part in the county examination."
Sun Shan frowned, puzzled. Zhang Zhubo's son was taking the imperial examination, so why was Hong Xiucai so nervous?
Hong Xiucai sighed deeply: "This boy, ah, often carries cheat sheets with him. He was discovered by the county school teachers several times during the monthly exams."
Perhaps Mr. Hong was not used to speaking ill of others behind their backs, so he said this very tactfully.
However, Sun Shan understood what Mr. Hong meant.
Carrying cheat sheets is actually cheating in exams. Carrying cheat sheets often means cheating often, and the county school teacher has caught me more than once.
Cheating is very serious and once discovered, the student must be expelled. The teacher is not afraid of students cheating in the monthly examination, but is afraid of students cheating in the county examination, prefectural examination, or even the college examination.
The imperial examination here is not something you can take once you sign up. You need to find someone to act as a guarantor, and the guarantor will be held responsible and implicated.
If a student is found to have cheated on an exam, the guarantor will die a miserable death.
Although guarantors make money by guaranteeing others, they usually choose students they know well and will not randomly guarantee strangers for the sake of a high price.
If a student has any problems, the guarantor will be scolded at best, or even expelled from the university at worst.
A guarantor will not sacrifice his great reputation and bright future for a few pieces of silver.
Not only the guarantor may get into trouble, but also the students who are "mutually linked" may get into trouble.
Hong Xiucai said that Zhang Zhubo's son cheated in the exam, which proved that the son had a bad character. Perhaps because of Zhang Zhubo, the county school did not expel his son.
Mr. Hong mentioned the son of Zhang Zhubo, could it be?
Sun Shan asked anxiously, "Teacher, Chief Zhang wants to cooperate with our school?"
Apart from the fact that they were in collusion with each other, Sun Shan could not think of any other reason why Hong Xiucai wanted to avoid him.
Hong Xiucai nodded, then shook his head: "Zhang Zhubo hasn't found me yet, but I received news that he is asking around to find out which schools don't have enough people."
Sun Shan understood that Scholar Hong was afraid that Master Zhang would come after him, so he wanted the students from the Hong and Huang schools to form an alliance with his son.
Therefore, he had to take the initiative and fill up the quota of students for mutual connections so that Zhang Zhubo would not be able to find him.
Hong Xiucai continued, "At present, only Hongwen and Liang Can from our Hong's school are going to take the county exam. There are only two students from the Huang's school who are going to take the county exam, so..."
Mr. Hong didn't say the rest of the words, but Sun Shan already understood.
To take part in the county examination, in addition to having academic knowledge and a clean family background, five students had to form a bond and find a scholar to act as a guarantor.
The five students must know each other well and trust each other. If one of them has a problem, not only will the guarantor be in trouble, but the other four will also bear joint responsibility and be punished.
You can’t take the imperial examination just because you want to. There are necessary conditions.
Only those in the circle are qualified. Who will guarantee you or form a bond with you?
There are two students in Hong's School and two students in Huang's School, and now there is only one student missing.
Hong Xiucai whispered, "I wanted to ask the county school who else wants to take the county exam, so that we can form a group of five people and form a team together."
After a pause, he continued, "Fortunately, I went to ask, and a good friend of mine revealed that everyone in the county school is in danger now, and they are secretly trying to find people to form a group and quickly form a group of five to find someone to act as a guarantor."
Mr. Hong didn't say anything else.
But Sun Shan already understood.
Whether they were students or scholars, they all regarded the son of Zhang Zhubo as a scourge and tried to avoid him as much as possible.
No one wanted to form an alliance with Zhang Zhubo's son, and no one wanted to be a guarantor for him.
When Mr. Hong received the news, he found out that he only had four students taking the imperial examination this year, and he cried out in his heart that something was wrong.
After searching for a long time, I finally thought of looking for Sun Shan.
Firstly, he has good knowledge, so he can take the exam in advance. Secondly, he is young, so it doesn’t matter if he fails, he can just use it as experience. Thirdly, his family is rich, so they can afford to take the exam a few times, and they are not the poor type.
Sun Shan didn't need Hong Xiucai to continue talking, as he already understood his predicament.
If Chief Clerk Zhang found out that he and Mr. Huang were still short of students, he would definitely send his son over.
Of course Mr. Hong could refuse, but he would have to bear the consequences.
Zhang Zhubo is the local boss of Huangyang County and also the current official of Huangyang County.
Don't offend if you can avoid it.
In order to avoid offending others, he had to fill the student body so that Zhang Zhubo would not be able to find any fault.
Mr. Hong and Mr. Huang must be very anxious, but they dare not look for students in a high-profile manner.
So Mr. Hong set his sights on Sun Shan.
Sun Shan understood very well and said, "Master, I will take the imperial examination too."
When Mr. Hong encountered such a dilemma, Sun Shan decided to help him.
If the students of Hong's School and Huang's School were to collude with the son of Zhang Zhubo, it would be fine if nothing went wrong. But if something went wrong, the students would be implicated and the reputation of the school would be affected.
Huang Xiucai and Hong Xiucai don't want to push their students into the fire pit.
Besides, he also wanted to give it a try and gain experience.
Just like the college entrance examination, you must have taken countless mock exams before.
Sun Shan regarded this county examination as a mock test to help him find his direction and work harder in the future.
Of course, I still have great expectations in my heart, hoping that I can pass it with luck.
It is best to pass the county examination and the prefectural examination, after which you can directly take the academy examination, which is the examination for the scholar.
If he passes the college entrance examination, hehe, Sun Shan’s “small goal” in life will have been achieved.
I thought so, but I didn’t dare to think so in my heart.
Just treat this as a mock exam for which you pay, and prepare yourself for the real "college entrance exam".
Hong Xiucai smiled and said with satisfaction: "You are really smart, kid. You really understand the teacher. Well, Huang Xiucai and I would like to thank you first."
Sun Shan didn't dare to let Scholar Hong and Scholar Huang express their gratitude, so he quickly said, "Teacher, I think I have enough knowledge and have wanted to take the exam for a long time, but I was afraid that you would say I was dreaming and scold me."
As soon as he finished speaking, he received a gift of stir-fried chestnuts from Mr. Hong.
Sun Shan touched his head and felt the pain from being hit by Mr. Hong.
Hong Xiucai said angrily: "With your knowledge, you dare to say enough, which embarrasses others.
Sun Shan pretended to be innocent and said, "Master, I am telling the truth."
He looks like he got something for nothing and deserves a beating.
Sure enough, Mr. Hong couldn't help it and gave him another stir-fried chestnut.
Sun Shan walked back to the classroom, and Zheng Hongwen asked with concern: "Ashan, what does the teacher want you to do?"
Sun Shan said seriously, "Brother Hongwen, it's not the teacher looking for me, it's me looking for the teacher."
Zheng Hongwen was puzzled. It was clearly the teacher who called him out, so why did he suddenly become the one looking for the teacher?
Sun Shan still said seriously: "I went to see the teacher before, and he said he would think about it. After thinking it over, he asked me to go out for a talk."
Liang Can, who was standing next to him, asked curiously, "Ashan, what do you want to talk to the teacher about? Can you tell me?"
He looked mysterious, and Liang Can really wanted to know.
Sun Shan said very seriously: "I told my teacher before that I would take part in the county exam."
This time, not only Zheng Hongwen and Liang Can were surprised, but even Hong Jian and Li Sheng looked at Sun Shan in surprise, as if asking: Ah Shan, what are you talking about? Are you saying you want to take part in the county exam?
Did we hear it correctly?