The journey of the only child of a peasant family to take the imperial examination

After chatting with him, Zhang Pingan felt that this person had a good character and was not a cunning person.

Fish cake is a specialty snack in Yingzhou City. It can be fried, stewed or boiled, and has a delicate taste. It is made from plump and fresh grass carp meat mixed with pork and white flour. The store also provides a small dish with sesame oil and peppercorns for dipping. The three of them ate until they were 70% full before slowly strolling back to the inn.

Jiang Yaozu had already regarded Zhang Ping'an as his close friend at this time. He felt that the two of them had similar family backgrounds and were of similar age. Most importantly, Zhang Ping'an would nod to whatever he said, which made him feel recognized, instead of being ridiculed by other classmates like he had been in Shangshe before.

Little did he know that Zhang Ping'an was just busy eating and didn't want to talk. The fish cake was indeed delicious!

The inn was occupied by students who came here to take the imperial examinations, and they came from all over the province. Now that the exams were over, everyone relaxed. Over the next two days, the inn quickly divided into different circles, and everyone was busy making connections. The inn was very quiet for a while.

Zhang Pingan was too lazy to move. Perhaps it was because he was too exhausted from the exam. He just wanted to have a good sleep, eat well after waking up, and regain his energy.

Seeing that he didn't go out, Jiang Yaozu simply stayed in the inn. Even if he followed him out, it would end up making others leave unhappily. He also knew that sometimes what he said was inappropriate, but he just couldn't control his mouth, and his mouth always spoke faster than his brain.

In a blink of an eye, it was the fourth day when the results were announced, and everyone gathered in the lobby on the first floor of the inn.

The announcement of good news by a scholar is much more formal than that by a student. There are special yamen runners who announce the good news and call out the names in order of rank from the back to the front, and the scene is more grand. It is not like when the students were students, where the yamen's hangers-on announce the good news, and the order of the names announced is not fixed.

When you return to the county, the county magistrate will hold a banquet to entertain you. When you go to collect the scholar's documents, the government office will reward you with five taels of silver. The county government will also send someone to the scholar's registered place in advance to announce the good news. In the county, it is quite glorious and it is also the beginning of your official entry into the scholar class.

Even Master Yang was waiting with everyone on the first floor, without joking or chatting. Zhang Laoer wanted to go and see the list, but he was worried that if his son won the prize and someone else came to announce the good news, it would not be good if there was no elder to distribute the congratulatory money, so he suppressed his anxiety and sat in the inn.

The inn where everyone is staying is close to the examination venue, so it shouldn't take long to announce the good news.

Just after half of the noon hour, everyone heard a commotion in the distance. It must be the yamen runners coming to announce the good news. Everyone looked eagerly, but these yamen runners walked straight past the inn door and went to the front.

Although everyone was disappointed, they knew that this was just the beginning and there would be opportunities later, so they cheered themselves up and looked at the door again.

After a while, there was another noise, and this time it came straight towards Hongtu Inn, which meant that someone in the inn must be on the list, and everyone was nervous.

All I heard was the yamen runner singing: "Congratulations to Jiang Yaozu, a student from Wushan County, for ranking 82nd in the college entrance examination!"

Upon hearing this, Jiang Yaozu excitedly said: "It's me, it's me, I won!"

Jiang Yaozu was accompanied by his two uncles to take the exam. They were so excited after hearing the good news that they stepped forward to give the yamen runners a piece of silver. The yamen runners weighed the coins and were quite satisfied. They praised the yamen runners profusely and set off a string of firecrackers. These were fired by the yamen and were real firecrackers. They were made of bamboo tubes filled with gunpowder, making a louder sound and sounding very festive.

Although the other students of Qingsong Academy felt very jealous, they still came forward to congratulate Jiang Yaozu. After all, these were all connections, and it was because of this guy that he actually passed the exam to become a scholar!

Jiang Yaozu was a thoughtful person, and he didn't care about the previous grudges with some of his classmates. He smiled and bowed in return: "Thank you all for your care. I will treat you to lunch later, let's have lunch together!"

Zhang Pingan also stepped forward to congratulate him. Jiang Yaozu awkwardly consoled him, "Brother Zhang, wait and see. Maybe you'll make the list too. Even if you don't, it doesn't matter. You're young and can take more exams later. I took the exam twice, too."

Zhang Pingan: Thank you for your comfort...

Jiang Yaozu's two uncles quickly pulled their nephew to sit down. Wouldn't it be annoying to stand out at this time?

More than a dozen groups of yamen runners passed by one after another, all of them were going to other inns. The roll call had already reached the 45th name, and there was no second person from Hongtu Inn on the list. Many people were already impatient and kept drinking tea.

Zhang Ping'an's heart was also tense. Could it be that he didn't get it right? This shouldn't be the case. I felt like I had answered the questions quite smoothly this time.

Thinking that he might have to go through the college entrance examination again, and might even get a bad score, Zhang Pingan secretly prayed that it wouldn't happen. He must pass! He didn't want to go through the nightmare of a bad score again!

After a while, the sound of good news came again from afar, and the sound of the gong came directly from Hongtu Inn. Everyone's heart was lifted again, and they looked forward to it eagerly.

"Congratulations to Zhang Ping'an, a student from Wushan County, for ranking 42nd in the college entrance examination." Only when I got closer could I hear the yamen runner's voice announcing the good news.

Zhang Pingan felt relieved; he had finally won! He turned around to share his joy with his father and brother-in-law, but his father's lips were trembling with excitement. He turned to his brother-in-law and said, "San... Sanlang, pinch me and see if this is true!"

Liu Sanlang was also very excited and said with a simple smile: "Dad, it's true...it's true!"

"No, I feel a little dizzy, pinch me," Zhang Laoer insisted.

Seeing the person announcing the good news getting closer, Liu Sanlang pinched his father-in-law's arm helplessly.

"Dad, what are you doing?" Zhang Ping'an rubbed his father's arm.

"It hurts a little, it's true! You really got it! Hahahahahaha", Zhang Laoer laughed regardless of other people's eyes and stood up.

Zhang Ping'an had almost never seen his father laugh so hard. Zhang Laoer was always a reserved person.

"Congratulations to Zhang Ping'an, a student from Wushan County, for ranking 42nd in the college entrance examination," the yamen runner repeated after entering the inn.

"It's me," Zhang Ping'an stepped forward and bowed.

Zhang Laoer also came to his senses and stepped forward to give the wedding money. A yamen runner generously gave him a piece of silver, the same as what Jiang Yaozu's family gave. He didn't want his son to be at a disadvantage compared to others on such a happy day.

Several yamen runners were very happy to receive the silver. They called out the names in a certain order and could not choose by themselves. They were most afraid of meeting someone from a poor family who could not give a few copper coins as a gift. Their work would be in vain, and they could not be disrespectful to the scholar, so they could only blame their bad luck.

As usual, several yamen runners said a lot of nice things and set off firecrackers before leaving.

Other students from Qingsong Academy, including Jiang Yaozu, came forward to congratulate him, and Zhang Pingan returned the gifts one by one. Zhang Laoer and Liu Sanlang were also proud of it. Parents who accompanied their children to take the exam came forward to ask Zhang Laoer how he usually taught his children, and why they were so outstanding at such a young age!

Zhang Laoer said modestly: "It's all the child's own hard work." But he couldn't suppress the corners of his mouth, and his eyes narrowed with a smile.