Emperor Qianlong: the beginning of his glory

Chapter 20
The two sent Qianlong away, and immediately returned to Zhigongtang. Seeing that everyone had not dispersed, Yang Mingshi said: "Let's go back to each room first, and I will discuss with Mr. E before releasing the dragon gate." They also called Li Shiyao to come in.At this time, Li Shiyao's arrogance was completely swept away, and he knelt down when he entered the door, and said: "Teachers..." He didn't know what Qianlong wrote on his paper, but his voice was trembling.

"Do you still dare to look at no one now?" E Shan asked.

"Don't dare anymore." Li Shiyao's face was pale, "I don't want to enlighten the teacher on those little tricks. It's Shiyao's introspection, ignorance and incompetence, and being obedient and embarrassing in front of the Holy Lord. The habits of celebrities have misled me a lot! To tell the truth. I Entered school at the age of 12, was the No.1 scholar in the county examination, and was the No.13 Jieyuan in the township examination at the age of 1. Only the Gong students failed in three subjects in a row! Talking about the affairs of the world is one of the great joys in life, but who would have known that the test would be so difficult! The defeated generals dare not speak out, and would like to go back to their hometown and study for another ten years!" E Shan said with a smile: "It seems that there is no need to be so discouraged. Shengde Like the sea, it is also a blessing to have a bath. You go, we will read your papers before we can discuss."

Yang Mingshi had been reading Qianlong's poem all the time, and seeing Li Shiyao go out clutching his buttocks, he sighed: "This man is blessed, he is a true Jinshi!" E Shan smiled and said: "Mr. Song, how is his ranking ranked?" Yang Mingshi said: "He was originally in the test. Fouls should have been punished. The emperor punished him 'not to be an Hanlin' and went to Shanxi as a general judge. The general judgment is from the seventh rank, and the official brand Jinshi is only distributed for this position. Considering the Sacred Heart, it is absolutely impossible to be ranked in the "Tong Jinshi". Therefore, it is advisable to rank around the sixty or seventy." He picked up the copy that Qianlong had changed, and said: "This is naturally the first volume. .”

"That's it." E Shan said, "The emperor's corrected test paper! What about the Henan Wang Zhenzhong's?" Yang Mingshi couldn't help laughing, and said: "I dare say that we preside over this subject to dredge the joints the least. Unexpectedly The emperor actually personally selected three tribute students. This is an anomaly. Since Wang Zhenzhong’s paper has been unsealed, there is no need to transcribe it, and it should be placed in front of Li Shiyao.”

The two chief examiners had a secret discussion on the list of recommended papers for a while.Apart from these three volumes, nothing else has changed.Both of them used private seals on it, sealed it with wax paint, covered it with the customs of the Gongyuan, and placed it in front of the Confucius tablet.At that time, Yang Ming ordered the examiners of the Eighteenth House to pass on. The chiefs of the Second Hall and the Second Hall of the Five Institutes came to the Zhigong Hall, kneeled three times and kowtowed nine times to the Confucius tablet, and handed over the sealed list of tribute students to the dean of the tribute and immediately handed it over to the Ministry of Rites.So far, the Enke Grand Ceremony has come to an end.Yang Mingshi led a group of officials out to the court, looked at the bright red sunset in the west, and said with a sigh of relief: "Open the dragon gate and let him go!"

There is a fixed number of places for Gongsheng students in the examination, since two new ones have been added, two must be squeezed out.Although this Keenke did not cheat, the examiners recommended the ink scroll to the Supreme Court, who would not want favors?Le Min took the exam at Beijing No. [-], and felt that the three essays were done flawlessly. The examiner revealed that they were recommendation papers, and they were expected to be successful.

When he came back from watching the list at Tiananmen Square, Le Min's legs were limp.Zhuang Yougong ranked first in high school, and Ji Xiaolan ranked fourteenth among those who served at the Gaojin Restaurant.Qian Du, the one who stands out the most, he and He Zhi are all famous.What now?The exam is over, and there are no more like-minded friends to chat and comfort each other; the town hall is closed, and there is no way to borrow money; where can I go to play the game?Even when I returned to Wuchang, my family had already been separated.What face does Le Min, who has vowed not to take fame or return to his hometown, have any face in front of his family?
After standing on the scorchingly hot square for an unknown amount of time, Le Min realized that all the people watching the list had left, leaving him alone.He touched the sleeve subconsciously, and there was a string of small money in the mouth of a tiger, which was secretly stuffed by the kind fifth aunt when he left home.With such a little money, even the cheapest small wooden house in Dalangmiao could not live for ten days.Le Min was hungry right now, sitting on a stone slab under the big locust tree, thinking about where to go next.But I saw a man coming to take a rest with two barrels of rice wine.The man put down the wine barrel, pulled up the single cloth shirt to wipe his sweat, took out two stick noodles and a piece of salty mustard lump from the bag on the lid of the barrel, and ate it with relish, until the pickles clucked Boom.From time to time, he took half a scoop of wine from the barrel and drank it.Seeing Le Min staring at him in a daze, the man smiled and said: "You can tell at a glance that you didn't get a lottery in this subject. Come on, scholar, don't be so dead like an old lady, let's talk when you are full with wine and food !” As he spoke, he sent a pastry, tore open half of the pickles and handed it over, while scooping up wine, he said, “I don’t want to go home when I’m full, and don’t feel sad when I’m drunk, come on!”

"This..." Le Min was already hungry, so he took it hesitantly, and said, "Why is this so embarrassing?" The man smiled boldly: "Where do we not meet each other in life? The wine belongs to his mother's shop, and if you don't drink it, you don't drink it." The pancakes are not even worth a penny, and you are already poor, so how poor are you?" Le Min thanked again, ate the pancakes and drank half a scoop of wine.The man selling wine shouted to a fat old man who sold meat opposite: "Butcher Zhang has a piece of braised meat without hair. Come over and have some wine, our boss—fuck his grandma, this is the wine Not a bad job!"

Butcher Zhang promised in a loud voice: "Success! I'm hungry now—my mother-in-law is out of control today, and she still hasn't asked Xiaoyu to bring me food!" He said and cut a piece of fat. He ran over happily, and said with a smile: "Which boss finds you, it's bloody bad luck. Liuliu, get another pancake—this scholar, how is this subject?"

"Ashamed..."

"What's there to be ashamed of?" Although Zhang butcher was doing the business with a white knife in and a red knife out, he was kind-hearted. He shook off the mulberry paper and spread the meat on the stone strip, and said with a smile: "Thousands of people come in." Beijing, how many people are proud of the spring breeze? Is it worth it? Come, eat, eat! ——Look at your outfit, are you a bannerman? You are a person who eats the emperor’s food, what kind of worry do you have to worry about!”

Le Min couldn't help feeling sour, and said vaguely: "Our family is in trouble at the hands of Lord Yongzheng. Banner people are also divided into different classes..." He didn't speak anymore, just ate meat and drank like hell.The three of them seemed to realize their respective identities at this time, so they stopped talking.I ate drunk like a wind and a cloud.

Everyone left, but Le Min was still sitting alone on the stone slab, not making up his mind on where to go.Suddenly I felt a dull pain in my stomach, melon, rice wine, pickles, cornmeal, and fat all stirred in my stomach.He touched his hot forehead, only to realize that he didn't sweat at all.Le Min was startled and stood up. His waist was not tight all the time, and his stomach was full of food. He felt extremely uncomfortable, and he couldn't hold it anymore when he bowed his body. There was a sound of "wow--", dirty and dirty The thing spewed out, smelling the breath was even more disgusting.He beat his chest until he spit out the sour and bitter yellow water, and then he felt a little bit better.Just when he stood up straight, Le Min's eyes were shining again, and his hand holding the locust tree was so soft that it sagged like mud.Without even staggering a step, he passed out...

When he woke up again, Le Min found that he was half lying on the earth kang in a dilapidated small house, with only a pair of underwear left.Under the body is an old bamboo mat, under the head is a bamboo lady, and on the kang table are medicine bowls, spoons and a plantain fan.Apart from these, there is nothing else in the house.He blinked his eyes, wondering where he was, and how did he come here?Thinking about it made my head hurt and I didn't think of a clue, so I simply didn't want to.Seeing that there was tea left in the bowl, Le Min stood up with one arm and took a sip of the tea. He felt numb and cold, but it turned out to be peppermint water, and lay back down again with a groan.At this time, a boy with a shirtless arm lifted the curtain to look, and shouted outside: "Father! That gentleman is awake!"

"Hey, come here! - Maomao, you go to the backyard to help your sister clean up the pigs. Ask your mother to cook a bowl of noodles and cut them thinner!" As he spoke, he saw a fat old man wearing shorts and upper body Wearing a white waistcoat, she walked in with her chest open.He is Zhang Kuiming, the butcher, who came in and shouted out: "Maomao, tell your mother that the noodles don't need to be oily, not at all... Hehe, Mr., you're awake!" Zhang Kuiming had a tired smile on his flat face , sitting on the edge of the kang, pretending to be fanning himself or Le Min, leaned closer and looked at his complexion, and said: "You are suffering from heat stroke, and the illness is not serious but it comes in a hurry-the gate of hell is closed." It’s been a while! What’s your name, Mr. Xiang?”

Thinking about it, Le Min struggled for a while, but was held down by Zhang Kuiming, and said, "Don't, you're weak!" Then he slapped the fan again.Le Min was lying on Mrs. Bamboo, and the cool breeze came one by one, making his whole body cool. He looked at Butcher Zhang gratefully, and said, "The savior...my name is Le Min...it's Legion, the former Huguang political envoy. His son..." Then he described the situation in which his father went to Beijing alone to rush for the exam, also known as Luosunshan.

"It turns out that Master Le is a noble son!" Zhang Kuiming's eyes lit up, then dimmed, "I believe what you said. Don't feel bad, this world is like this... just listen to you, I don't even have any relatives, the next subject The first class is another three years, what do you plan to do?"

Before he finished speaking, a girl walked in from outside, holding a large bowl of noodles in her hand.When Le Min looked at her, she was tall and slender, wearing a moon-white embroidered and trimmed blouse, which was thoroughly washed, and her melon-shaped face had regular features and was very delicate, with only a few freckles on her temples.With a smile, two shallow dimples appeared on his face.Le Min suddenly remembered that he was still shirtless, and when he grabbed behind his back, there was nothing.Zhang Kuiming said honestly: "This is my daughter Yu'er."

"Don't listen to my father! Who is still sick and asks 'what's the plan'?" Yu'er was very straightforward, stacking medicine bowls, tea bowls, and spoons together, putting the noodles inside, and said coquettishly Looking at his father, he said, "If you are well, you can make any plan, but if you are not well, you can't make any plan. Didn't our landlord say that we want to find a teacher to teach his precious young master? I will recommend it! Or else I will make a note for our family." Bills or something, there are only three meals left and right, when the time comes, he should still pass the exam!" Then he shouted, "Mom! You come and feed this lord!" After clearing away the medicine bowl, he turned around and went out up.In a blink of an eye, he came in again and threw Le Min's clothes on the kang: "Put it on! It's so dirty, you probably haven't washed your clothes in your whole life!"

This girl is so rough and uninhibited that Le Min, who was sick, couldn't help smiling, and said, "Young girl is a great talent!" Zhang Kuiming said honestly, "Our poor family has no tutor, and I'm used to her——I should go The marinated pot is burning. It's hot, so don't delay. Old woman, why are you so slow?" Then an old lady came walking with her little feet twisted, and said in her mouth, "Come here, Amitabha!"

Le Min lived in this butcher's house.

(End of this chapter)