The boys were young and strong. After a whole day's rest, they woke up the next day full of energy.
Chen Cui and Lao Buyu were already considered middle-aged people in this era, and compared with the transportation in later generations, the comfort of the carriage was really slow and tiring. The two still looked a little listless the next day.
The house was not very spacious after accommodating them, and they could hear each other's noises when they came in and out, so the boys discussed it and decided to go to the teahouse at the entrance of the alley in the morning, allowing the two of them to stay in the house and rest for half a day.
As Cui Fei said, the "Zhuangyuan Teahouse" at the entrance of Shusheng Lane is particularly lively.
Although there were still three months to go before the provincial examination, quite a few scholars had already gathered there.
After the Dragon Boat Festival, the weather had become hot. People like Mu Erpang who lived in Shusheng Lane were better off as they could just walk over here. However, many people lived far away and it took them a lot of effort just to get here, making them sweat all over.
The teahouse is divided into main hall, elegant seats and private rooms. The food is not expensive. The most common large bowl of tea costs five cents a bowl, and the covered bowl of tea costs ten cents a bowl. You can order any bowl and sit for half a day without anyone asking you to leave.
Because Mu Erpang and his friends also came to listen to the news, they chose a seat in the hall. Six people just sat at one table.
As for what kind of tea to drink, since Wei Shu, who loves tea, is here, he will take on the task of making tea, so no one else needs to worry about it.
Although it is a teahouse, perhaps because it is full of literati, even though there are more and more people, no one is talking loudly or making noises.
Mu Erpang and his friends each brought a book to read. Since they were all familiar things, everyone read very quickly.
After reading, they pass the book to other people in a clockwise direction.
After two rounds of this, a scholar suddenly rushed into the hall and saw his acquaintances, "Brother Zhang, Brother Li, there is news from the inner and outer curtain officials!"
The whispers in the teahouse lobby suddenly stopped, and it was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop. It was obvious that everyone gathered here early in the morning and had the same idea as Mu Erpang and the others.
The so-called inner and outer officials refer to two types of officials - the inner curtain officials work in the examination room and are mainly responsible for invigilating and marking papers, including the chief examiner, deputy examiners, co-examiners, room officials, internal supervisors, internal supervisors, etc. The outer curtain official works outside the examination room and is mainly responsible for managing the affairs of the examination room, including supervision, external inspection, external examination supervision, receiving papers, sealing, transcription, and reading.
What everyone is most concerned about is naturally the selection of the chief examiner and deputy examiner.
The imperial court would directly announce such matters to the world, and within half a month, everyone in the provincial capital would know about it.
Therefore, even though the scholar knew that everyone was listening, he did not hide anything and said it directly.
The chief examiner this time was Shangshu Wang from the Ministry of Rites, and the three deputy examiners were all Hanlin scholars, with the surnames Qian, Pan and Zhou respectively.
Part of the reason why he was willing to speak out directly was because that was all he knew, and there was nothing more to say.
However, although the summary was only one sentence, it was already crucial news to the scholars who were preparing to take the next stage. Many of them left the teahouse immediately after hearing it, probably to inform their classmates who did not come today.
Mu Erpang and the others sat there until lunch, but they didn't hear any relevant news, so they went back together.
Chen Cui and Lao Buyu each rested for half a day and now they both got up.
Chen Cui didn't have the energy to cook, and since it was hotter in Linnan Prefecture than in Qingzhou Prefecture, she used her money to buy some meat dishes outside and also made some vegetable soup.
When they come back, it's time for dinner.
At the dinner table, Mu Erpang and the others told each other the news they had heard from outside.
Lao Buyu said, "From now on, you can just stay at home and prepare for the exam. I will take care of the information. I can just order a cup of tea and sit outside. It's not hard work and I won't distract you."
Mu Erpang and the others carefully observed Lao Buyu's expression, and seeing that he did not look unwell, they all agreed.
After dinner, they cleaned up the main room together and continued to review their lessons.
Lao Buyu did as he said, took the job of getting information, and went to the teahouse outside.
After all, he is older and has experienced more things, so he has better ways of dealing with this aspect than the teenagers - he is not like the teenagers, waiting for news in the teahouse, but trying to find ways to deal with people.
Ever since Wei Shu transferred to another school, Lao Buyu’s lack of charm has been made up.
Over the years, he has become more and more like a famous teacher, with a natural affinity. It didn't take much effort for him to find out the name and resume of Shangshu Wang.
The chief examiner, Shangshu Wang, was the third place winner of the first imperial examination of the Xin Dynasty. At that time, everything was in ruins and the court was short of talent. However, scholars have always been required to have integrity. At that time, the dynasty had just changed, and many famous talents did not get a chance to take the exam, but waited and saw.
Therefore, the number of people admitted to the special examination was much higher than that of the regular examination, and the value of the admission was not that high.
However, this Shangshu Wang was the top three scholar in the imperial examination at the age of sixteen, so his talent and knowledge are definitely beyond doubt.
Mu Erpang calculated Shangshu Wang's age in his mind, "Master Wang is so old, and he has to travel such a long distance to supervise the exam. It must be hard work."
Lao Buyu took the opportunity to explain it to him.
The examiners of the provincial examinations had a hard time indeed. Not only did they have to travel quickly, but after arriving at the place, they had to hold a "curtain-entering and horse-mounting banquet" on the sixth day of August with other officials selected from the place. After the banquet, all the officials had to enter the examination room, and the invigilator would seal the door, and they could not go out again. Even the inner and outer curtain officials were not allowed to have any contact with each other, and they could only talk behind the door curtain if there was anything.
But in addition to the hard work, the imperial court would also give a considerable travel allowance, and local officials would also give tributes, which was equivalent to giving Beijing officials a legitimate opportunity to earn extra money. It was a lucrative job!
"And I also heard that Minister Wang proposed to retire and return home a few years ago, but the current emperor refused. Minister Wang's hometown is naturally not here, but in a prefecture in the next province. After he presides over the provincial examination here, he can go back to his hometown in five or six days. This is also a way for the current emperor to comfort his homesickness."
Now that we have covered Shangshu Wang’s resume, it’s time to talk about his life’s works or his likes and dislikes in poetry and articles.
Unfortunately, it was too long ago that Shangshu Wang took the imperial examination, and he did not stay in the Hanlin Academy for long before going to the Ministry of Rites to do an official job, where he stayed for several decades. Currently, no poems or articles written by him can be found outside.
Lao Buyu gave them a look that urged them not to give up. "There is still time. I will try to find out later. If I really can't find out, then it means that ordinary people generally can't find out either. We are all the same."
After they finished talking, Shen Cui found Lao Buyu and asked him what the specific characters of Shangshu Wang's name were.
After asking, Shen Cui searched in the system's [Library] and matched the year, dynasty and name, and actually found a collection of poems and essays.
However, they are all collections, and Wang Shangshu’s own poems and articles only account for a part of them, but it is better than nothing.
After that, Shen Cui thought about how to get the book out. After all, Lao Buyu had been outside for three or four days without finding out anything, but she easily found Shangshu Wang’s early works, which was really unbelievable.
Chen Cui thought about it for half a day, and in the evening Lao Buyu came back hurriedly from outside.
After returning, he asked Cui Fei to get familiar with the servants and carriages of Linnan Prefecture. "I just heard that Shengshi Bookstore has a new collection of poems and essays by the successful candidates in the imperial examination. Everyone in the teahouse who heard the news is rushing there. Send someone to take me there quickly."
Cui Fei was about to agree, but Chen Cui said, "I'll go over there. The children are still studying. The teacher must be tired after running around all day. I'll take the others over there."
She has always been in charge of logistics, so Lao Buyu and the others are very relieved.
The only one who was worried was Mu Erpang, and he also wanted to go along.
Chen Cui didn't give him a chance to speak. She immediately put the silver in her pocket, ordered someone to get on the carriage.
While in the carriage, Shen Cui felt that Shengshi Bookstore sounded strangely familiar.
After careful recollection, I remembered that in the original book, Gao Zhanyuanzhu and Mu Yunchuan cooperated with this bookstore.
No wonder he has such omnipotent abilities.
The driver knew the matter was urgent, so he drove much faster than usual.
Unfortunately, when they arrived at the bookstore, it was already crowded.
The waiter at the door smiled apologetically: "Please don't push in anymore, they are all sold out. Wait a few days, there will be another batch!"
Chen Cui did not let the driver follow her. She went to the door and saw that some people who had arrived earlier had bought the book and started reading it eagerly. She followed them and took a few glances. She knew that this book was the same as the one in the [Library].
This was very easy to handle. Shen Cui stayed alone for a while, and when no one was paying attention, she took the book out of the system. After returning, she just said that she had spent some extra money to get it from someone else.
What Lao Buyu and the others are concerned about right now is not the origin of the book, but the content inside.
After receiving it, they immediately started to read it.
Then several people received some "bad" news. Shangshu Wang's poems were much better than his articles. Moreover, when Shangshu Wang wrote these poems, he was still very young.
My son already had such attainments in poetry and prose at that time, and now he has naturally become more proficient in it.
This examiner is actually good at writing poetry and prose.
After everyone understood what was going on, they looked at Mu Erpang unconsciously. Mu Erpang smiled and said, "If you love poetry, then love poetry. As long as you don't love writing about poetry or prose, then love that... It's fine. It's impossible for everyone to be Liu Xuezheng, right?"
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