Chapter 533 A Dream of Youth 65
The news that Xie Wangzhi had passed the second-class examination reached the prefectural city even later than the second steward's return to the prefectural city, and then spread all the way to his hometown.
However, Magistrate Cheng had already been promoted and left by this time, so the credit was taken over by the new magistrate who came to take office. However, he only had a little credit, and the most important credit should be attributed to Qingshan County, where Xie Wangzhi's household registration was located.
At that time, the newly appointed county magistrate Yang Yong'an was still arguing with Prefect Xia, all because of the displaced people.
Prefect Xia was thoroughly annoyed. Everyone was doing it this way, couldn't they just turn a blind eye? This guy surnamed Yang was just too annoying.
When Prefect Xia learned that Quanzhou had produced four Jinshi (successful candidates in the highest imperial examinations), he was very pleased. However, Yang Yong'an noticed that Prefect Xia seemed to pay special attention to one of the Jinshi named Xie Wangzhi.
Although he was the highest-ranking scholar among the successful candidates, Prefect Xia asked him more detailed questions and finally sighed.
Then, noticing that Yang Yong'an was still there, Magistrate Xia's face hardened again. "Magistrate Yang, I will consider your suggestion, but I am very busy with official duties..."
The implication was clear: stop arguing here, I really don't have time.
After Yang Yong'an withdrew, the advisor standing beside Prefect Xia said, "Sir, do you think Xie Wangzhi was promoted by His Highness Prince Duan, or...?"
After all, Xie Wangzhi ranked the highest, putting him far ahead of the others.
“He is a capable person. Didn’t you see his paper when he took the exam? Besides, he was the top scorer in the province. He deserved this ranking.”
Prefect Xia was also someone who valued talent. "It's a pity. I heard that he used to have very good grades at the prefectural school, but he has been wasting his time until now. It is said that he took the exam before, but his ranking was not recorded?"
"Yes, at that time he had a slight conflict with the son of the former prefect..." It was just a dispute over land and profit. It was a foolish thing for the people to fight with the officials. The former prefect was a big spender. If he hadn't gone too far later, he wouldn't have been demoted.
At that time, the imperial court was short of money, and a scapegoat emerged, so he was severely punished.
Strangely enough, although the former prefect had amassed wealth, he was still relatively cautious and did what everyone else was doing. After all, it's business, and it's normal for merchants to pursue profits. Secretly buying land is also normal.
I don't know how these things that couldn't be brought to the open, along with the evidence, ended up in front of His Majesty, which led to his subsequent demotion.
If the other party hadn't made the difficult decision to hand over a significant portion of their family fortune and smooth things over with various connections, the situation would likely have been far more serious than just demotion.
Yes, Prefect Xia was one of the people who brought down the former prefect. After all, he could only take over if he brought the person down, so he paid special attention to him.
However, none of them believed that Xie Wangzhi, a mere student, could do anything to a high-ranking official. They all speculated about which family was behind it, and Prefect Xia himself was also a suspect.
Their impression of Xie Wangzhi was nothing more than that of a hapless bastard, a hapless bastard who overestimated his abilities.
If he hadn't stepped forward during this plague and gained the favor of Prince Duan, Prefect Xia wouldn't have paid any attention to it.
"Go and deliver a gift, and also share the good news."
Regardless of Xie Wangzhi's talent or the fact that the prescription saved his grandson's life, Prefect Xia was generous in expressing his goodwill.
Even though Xie Wangzhi's current status is just a small fry to him, he has always been meticulous in his work. It's just a gift, a way to build a relationship. If the other party rises to prominence, it will become a connection, and he will never lose out.
At this time, the magistrate of Qingshan County thought the same thing, and sent the message to Shangquan Town and Xie Wangzhi's hometown, Xinghua Village, with gongs and drums all the way.
This year, due to the reform, the scientific expedition was postponed for a while, so by the time the news of passing the exam came back, it was already autumn.
The fields were a sea of golden waves, and farmers were carrying their harvested rice home. Smoke curled from the chimneys in the village, indicating it was lunchtime.
After a morning of hard work, everyone was steaming with heat. They squatted outside to eat their meals, enjoying the shade under the trees and the autumn breeze while chatting about their harvest.
Some people had smiles on their faces, clearly indicating a good harvest. Those whose harvests were poor ate silently without saying a word, or sighed and cursed the heavens and blamed themselves for being lazy.
But everyone was in a good mood because this year's harvest was good. Perhaps because last year was full of disasters, God was kind to us this year and gave us several months of favorable weather, allowing the rice to grow strong.
When Xie's eldest uncle saw that his younger brother was carrying a load of white radishes back, he couldn't help but take a look at them with his bowl in hand, and said with a hint of jealousy, "Second brother, your radish harvest is really good. They are all so big and juicy. My little grandson loves to eat those pickled radishes the most."
However, his family didn't plant any crops, since it would take up a piece of land anyway. He might as well plant some rice.
Second Uncle smiled and said, "Alright, I'll have A Qiu make some and send it to Wu Zhu later."
The eldest uncle was somewhat dissatisfied. Why couldn't they just send a load of radishes over when they had so many?
But his second uncle didn't want to pay attention to him anymore. He just picked up his load and left. His radishes didn't just fall from the sky; where would he get so many to deliver?
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