On the afternoon of the next day, he rushed to the prison of the Ministry of Punishment again to "persuade" Zhou Xingyuan.

I don’t know whether it was because he took a reassurance pill yesterday or because he had wine and meat to eat, but Zhou Xingyuan was in high spirits, and he looked completely different from when he first met yesterday afternoon. Han Xiufeng had been working in the Yamen Gang for so many years, and he had seen too many well-dressed people.

The hypocrite actually admires a real villain like Zhou Xingyuan, but the more we talk, the more speculative he becomes.

"I knew that I would be able to eat well no matter where I went. I didn't expect that as soon as I came to the capital, I became the head of the Chongqing Guild Hall. Zhou Mou admires me!"

"What's so admirable about this? The head of the guild hall may sound nice to say, but in fact it's just an errand to serve others."

"It also depends on who you are serving!" Zhou Xingyuan put down the wine bottle and said with a half-smile: "Brother Han, it's not like I've never stayed in a guild hall, so I know very well that this is not something anyone can do if they want to.

What you are dealing with now are either the big or small officials from the Chongqing Prefecture, or the candidates from the fourteen prefectures and counties of Chongqing Prefecture who came to Beijing to take the exam, as well as the civil and military officials who came to Beijing as candidates. If you serve these people well, you will not only have a prosperous official career.

, and I will be able to benefit from it when I return to my hometown in the future, and even benefit my children and grandchildren.”

"Don't be afraid of Brother Zhou's jokes. Our literary style in Chongqing and even in Sichuan as a whole is not prosperous. We don't have many officials in the capital, and there are even fewer high-ranking ministers."

"There are advantages to having less. If there are more, can you take care of it and fawn over it? As for not having a few high-ranking officials, it is not a bad thing. Brother, you are a smart person. It is impossible not to know that adding icing on the cake is not as good as providing help in times of need. It is only

This way you have a chance to burn the cold stove."

Han Xiufeng couldn't help but smile and said, "That's true."

Zhou Xingyuan took a sip of wine and asked curiously: "Brother Han, it's almost spring, is there anything new outside?"

As long as he is a scholar, no one cares about Enke who is about to take the exam. Besides, he is not only a scholar, but he has also passed the exam three times, but he just failed. Han Xiufeng thought about it and sighed: "I went to the provincial library a few days ago to transfer.

After a while, Director Zhang of our provincial library said that there were six to seven thousand people taking the exam today, and all the examination halls in Beijing were full, and many who came late and passed the exam could only stay in inns or rent houses outside.

I heard that a Taiwanese candidate died in a storm while crossing the Taiwan Strait, and a Hunan candidate died when his boat capsized while crossing Dongting Lake! Our candidates in the 14 prefectures and counties of Chongqing Prefecture were okay, and nothing happened on the way to Beijing. It’s just that there was no accident on the way to Beijing.

There is a candidate who is not accustomed to the local environment and fell ill as soon as he arrived in the capital. I just asked the doctor to go to the guild hall this morning to have a look and prescribed some medicines for him. I don’t know if taking some medicines will help him get better."

"This is normal. Every time there are people who abandon the exam due to illness." Zhou Xingyuan thought for a while and asked: "Brother Han, you are the head of the association and you should know something about the candidates in Chongqing Prefecture. What do you think this time?

Are there any candidates who can learn Chinese?"

"Brother Zhou, I'm not an examiner. How do I know who will win and who won't? Besides, I haven't studied for a few years. I really don't understand how well their articles are done."

"It's different from whether you know how to write an essay." Zhou Xingyuan touched his chin and smiled: "All those who can come to the exam are Juren, and they have all taken the reexamination before coming. Everyone can do the essay. Those who don't do well,

You Sichuan academic administration will not let them come either."

How could Han Xiufeng not hear the implication of Zhou Xingyuan's words? Thinking that he had been secretly guessing who was more likely to pass the exam these days, he couldn't help but smile bitterly: "We have eight candidates in Chongqing Prefecture this time, one is sick and one is old.

Gao, there are a few others who seem to be unsure. They are busy doing evil these days, and I am really worried about whether they can enter the examination room. There is also a person who is quite talented, but he is not a good person. He has some troubles with me and does not live in the club.

outside."

"So you're saying he's not a particularly outstanding character?"

"No, not to mention that we don't have it in the 14 prefectures and counties of Chongqing Prefecture, it seems that we don't have it in the whole of Sichuan. I went to the Provincial Museum a few days ago, and Director Zhang of our Provincial Museum also felt that this time Enke, No. 1, No. 2, and No. 3 overall will have to compete with us in Sichuan.

No chance."

Mentioning this, Zhou Xingyuan couldn't help but laugh and said: "The director of your provincial library is really whimsical. He also won the top prize, the second place, and the top prize! If I remember correctly, there were 89 subjects opened from the Shunzhi Dynasty to this year, and most of the top picks came from Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces.

, you Sichuan have none, and the same is true for the second place winner. If the imperial court hadn’t stipulated the number of candidates for each province based on the number of candidates, how many of you Sichuan could have passed the exam, hahahaha!”

The imperial court opened courses to recruit scholars, not based on articles.

If we only focus on the quality of the articles, then candidates from Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Huguang, and other remote provinces such as Yunnan, Guizhou, and Sichuan are expected to be able to take the exams, while candidates from remote provinces such as Yunnan, Guizhou, and Sichuan will probably not be able to pass the examination. Therefore, the imperial court participated in the examinations based on the provinces, Manchuria, Mongolia, Han troops, and clans.

The number of candidates for the general examination is proportional to the number of Chinese students in each province. For example, in Taiwan, if there are ten candidates taking the general examination, no matter how good the essay is, at least one will pass the exam.

Thinking that from the Shunzhi Dynasty to the present, Sichuan has not produced a single number one scholar, Han Xiufeng said helplessly: "Who makes our literary style in Sichuan not prosperous?"

Zhou Xingyuan suffered two big losses in Sichuan. Thinking that Sichuan might not be able to win the top prize this year, he suddenly felt an inexplicable sense of superiority. After thinking about it, he asked: "Brother Han, is there any news from Guangxi these days?"

"It is said that thieves captured Yong'an City and divided the kings among themselves. After the fall of Yong'an, Saishan Ajing, who was ordered to quell the rebellion, reported that "the congregation was forced to flee and broke into Yong'an City. The pursuers followed and the siege was defeated.

'. The gang of rebels had already raised the flag to rebel, and he actually called himself 'congregation' in the memorial. The battle was obviously lost, and even the city of Yong'an Prefecture was captured by bandits, but he still concealed defeat as victory, and the news spread

There was an uproar afterwards, and I heard that John Jankodao was impeaching him these days."

Zhou Yuanxing was not worried about the country, but his own safety. He murmured: "Yong'an has fallen, so the court is short of money."

"It will cost money to quell the chaos, but brother Zhou, don't worry too much, because there is good news."

"What good news."

Han Xiufeng turned around and looked at the end of the corridor, and said calmly: "When I came here at noon, I heard from the master of the Ministry of Punishment that another batch of Yunnan copper had arrived in the capital in the morning. Brother Zhou, you will have company soon."

Zhou Xingyuan was stunned for a moment, and then he immediately responded: "This is good news."

Han Xiufeng didn't want to keep Jiang Haoxuan waiting outside for a long time, so he got up and said, "Brother Zhou, it's time for me to go back. I don't know if I will have the chance to come back after this parting. Take care of yourself."

"Are you leaving now?" It was rare for someone to talk to him, so Zhou Xingyuan was a little reluctant.

"We can't talk anymore, otherwise the gentlemen outside will become suspicious."

"Yes, yes, we can't make them suspicious. Let's go quickly. We will meet again if we are destined!"

…………

ps: I stayed up late the past few days and didn't get a good rest. I had another migraine attack yesterday, so I didn't write.

I woke up early this morning to code and upload one chapter first, and the second chapter later.
Chapter completed!