Starting from a thatched cottage, the farmer embarked on the road to wealth through imperial examina

The news that Ye Changyan passed the examination and became a scholar spread like wildfire and soon spread to the surrounding area.

Before the Ye family had finished their lunch, people came to congratulate them.

That afternoon, landlords and gentry from the surrounding villages, as well as old friends and acquaintances of Mr. Ye, came one after another.

Although everyone knew that the Ye family was in mourning and could not hold a banquet to celebrate, these people still came with gifts to congratulate them. Afterwards, Ye Changyan instructed Wu Lang to use a separate notebook to record these interactions.

When brothers Ye Xiaowen and Ye Xiaowu arrived with Dalang, Erlang and Silang, the Ye family's courtyard and main hall were full of people who came to congratulate them. Seeing the main hall piled with gifts, everyone in the old house stared with their eyes wide open.

Even when the old man celebrated his 60th birthday, there weren't so many people coming to celebrate and giving gifts. What's more, these are people who came to congratulate him as soon as they got the news. In the next two days, I'm afraid that there will be a constant stream of people coming to congratulate him, and these gifts will be like flowing water, pouring into the house.

When Ye Xiaowen, the eldest son of the Ye family, saw so many people coming to congratulate him, he knew that this was definitely not a good time to talk about business, so he winked at the second son and several nephews and nephews. They hurriedly put down the gifts they had brought, and acted like hosts, helping to greet the guests who came to congratulate them.

Everyone in the Ye family was a little surprised when they saw this, but they found that except for a few guests who were not clear about the situation of the Ye family, the rest of them seemed to ignore the people in the old house.

Ye Xiaowen and Ye Xiaowu saw that these guests who came to visit were somewhat lukewarm towards their brothers and nephews. They did not take it too seriously at first, but when they saw these people were fawning on the people from the third house, they immediately realized the seriousness of the problem.

These people who came to congratulate seemed to have seamlessly distinguished the third house from themselves. If the people from the third house were not present, these people would not have behaved so unscrupulously. Otherwise, these people would probably have given their brothers, nephews and nephews a taste of their own medicine.

Seeing this, Ye Changyan knew what was going on and didn't pay much attention to the people in the old house.

However, Ye Xiaozheng felt a little bit reluctant to see his elder brother, second brother and several nephews trying to please the cold butt. When Lian saw this, she remembered that her family was kicked out of the house, and now that Sanlang had passed the exam, she hurried over to curry favor with him, feeling very uncomfortable.

Seeing the expression on her husband's face, Lian twisted her husband's waist while no one was paying attention. Ye Xiaozheng's face was distorted in pain and he almost couldn't help crying out. He turned around and saw Lian glaring at him. He quickly retracted his expression, suppressed it, and hurried forward to greet the guests who had just stepped into the courtyard.

For two consecutive days, there was an endless stream of people coming to congratulate, and the people in the old house didn't find a chance to say a few words to Ye Changyan during these two days. It was not that Ye Changyan did not give them the opportunity to speak, but that Ye Changyan was indeed too busy. All the guests and friends wanted to get closer to Ye Changyan, and they all kept talking to Ye Changyan.

Although Ye Changyan wanted to keep a low profile as he was in mourning after all, in the past two days, many prominent people from neighboring villages and Qingshan Town had come. When the old man was a shopkeeper in the county town, he made friends with many people of status and position. These people either came to congratulate him in person or sent gifts.

Famous big businesses in Wanshou County, such as Lian Shoucheng, the owner of Lianji Cloth Shop, Sun Youde, the owner of Dexintang Pharmacy, Zhong Yunfeng, the small owner of Yunfeng Tower, Wang Zhaoyang, the owner of Mingqianchun Tea Shop, Lu Gui, the owner of Luji Grocery Store, Lin Ruoping, the head manager of Linji Pawn Shop, etc., all came to congratulate.

Although Ye Changyan had just come here not long ago, he had witnessed the huge impact that the imperial examination system had on an ordinary family in the past two days. The fame of a scholar could make an unknown commoner in the mountains suddenly famous.

Because he passed the examination and became a scholar, he was considered an official student. According to the laws of the Great Sheng Dynasty, he became a student of the prefectural and county schools and was qualified to enter the prefectural and county schools. At his current age, it is not inconceivable that he will pass the examination and become a juren in the future.

Once one passed the imperial examination and became a juren, one would officially enter the aristocratic class. According to the laws of the Great Sheng Dynasty, one would be qualified to become an official. These people were willing to come to congratulate one with gifts. Aren't they because they saw in one's potential stock and the huge returns that could be brought in the future?

On the third day, Ye Changyan went to the private school with gifts. As the saying goes, the grace of teaching is as great as the sky. Ye Changyan could pass the examination and become a scholar, which was inseparable from the teachings of the private school teacher. The teacher expressed his earnest advice to Ye Changyan, hoping that Ye Changyan would guard against arrogance and impatience and achieve better results.

On this day, Wu Jiaxing, a newly-crowned scholar from Wanshou County, held a banquet and invited several other scholars from the same list to his home.

After Ye Changyan came out of the private school, he went straight to Wu's house, but when he got there, he found that the Wu's house was actually in the county government office.

Wu Jiaxing was standing in front of the county government office to greet them. When he saw Ye Changyan coming, he warmly invited him into the backyard of the county government office.

This Wu Jiaxing is actually the youngest son of the Wanshou County magistrate.

As the official of Wanshou County and the father of Wu Jiaxing, County Magistrate Wu met with the students of Wanshou County who passed the imperial examination at the county government office.

In this college entrance examination, Yuzhou Prefecture admitted a total of 82 people, while in a remote county like Wanshou County, the number of admissions per time did not exceed five.

This year, exactly five people were admitted, which made County Magistrate Wu very happy. This imperial examination result was also the county magistrate's political achievement. Under his rule, the full quota had been admitted twice in a row, which was a major political achievement of his.

What made Magistrate Wu even happier was that this year Ye Changyan from Wanshou County won the third place in the entire Yuzhou Prefecture in the college examination. This was the first time in the history of Wanshou County. When Magistrate Wu met with the students, he could not help but praise Ye Changyan.

Because Ye Changyan's grandfather had just passed away, according to the etiquette of Dasheng, Ye Changyan was in the one-year mourning period for his grandfather. The Dasheng Dynasty attached great importance to filial piety, and those in mourning were not allowed to take the imperial examinations. Anyone who concealed the death of his grandfather and pretended to take the exam would be immediately expelled once discovered.

Therefore, Ye Changyan cannot take part in the Autumn Examination next year. The Autumn Examination is held every three years. If Ye Changyan wants to take part in the Autumn Examination, it will take at least three years. If nothing unexpected happens, next year will be his last year in office in Wanshou County.

County Magistrate Wu was very fond of Ye Changyan. If Ye Changyan could pass the imperial examination during his term of office, it would leave a strong mark on his performance, which would add more weight to his future prospects. Therefore, County Magistrate Wu felt a little regretful.

According to the Dasheng rituals, when a grandfather dies, the grandson must observe mourning for one year, during which time he must wear plain clothes and not drink alcohol or eat meat.

The Wu family was considerate enough to replace the wine with tea, and the table was filled with light and elegant dishes.

During the dinner, Ye Changyan formally got to know the other four scholars of the same exam. Among them, Bai Jun was the eldest grandson of Bai Yuanwai, a wealthy man in Wanshou County, and Li Yuanlin was a descendant of a branch of the Li family, a major clan in Wanshou County. Both of them were famous talents in Wanshou County.

The other person, Song Ruliang, was an acquaintance of Ye Changyan. He was Ye Changyan's classmate in the private school. Among those who took the exam in this private school, only he and he passed.

The other person was naturally Magistrate Wu’s youngest son, Wu Jiaxing.