Red Mansion: Seizing Jiangdong, starting with pirates

Chapter 131: The Dark Side of Scientific Expedition

The first day of March is the day when the imperial examination results are announced.

This is a preliminary list, which only ranks local candidates.

Because Fang Yong used A and B to distinguish the rankings, the list is also called the A and B list.

There is a second exam after the A and B lists.

The top candidates in each city will be organized to go to Huaizhou to take the final examination, and the top two places will be determined.

Fang Yong will take care of all his food, clothing, housing and transportation along the way, and this move has earned Fang Yong a very good reputation among the scholars.

Of course, even if one is unable to take the second exam, one can become an official as long as one is ranked A or B.

Among them, the top 200 people in each city can become various basic officials, such as clerks, inspectors, military instructors, etc.

Those in the second list can also become officials, but their positions are lower. They are usually transferred to towns and villages to serve as teachers in villages, town and village clerks, statisticians, warehouse officers, etc.

These official positions were not high-ranking and they had basically no power. The only benefit was that they received a share of "imperial grain" and were guaranteed a stable income regardless of drought or flood, which was still very attractive to ordinary people.

At this time, Song Yun stared at the list that had just been released, searching for his name bit by bit.

1、2、3……199、200。

Impossible, how could there not be one? I was clearly ranked 100th last time!

Song Yun couldn't believe it.

Maybe I missed it.

Holding on to the last glimmer of hope, Song Yun read it again from the beginning, looking for his own name, 200 names, one by one...still not finding it.

In fact, the reason is very simple.

During the last imperial examination, Fang Yong had just taken over Huaizhou and other places, and many talented scholars were still waiting and watching, and did not choose to take the exam. Most of those who took the exam were poor scholars, so Song Yun could still be ranked 100th.

And now, Fang Yong occupied the entire Suzhou and Huizhou in just one year, and the imperial court was completely unable to stop him. His momentum was already established, and those scholars naturally took action when they saw this.

However, Song Yun was unwilling to believe it.

He looked at List B with trembling body. Compared with List A, List B had more names and the characters were written in smaller sizes.

Song Yun took a quick look and saw his name and hometown on the second line.

At this moment, a young man next to him suddenly cheered.

"Found it, I won!"

Song Yun's pupils shrank: "It's him!"

The boy who sold calligraphy before, the boy who couldn’t even write the word fern!

I am a man of great learning, but how could I be on the same list with him?
Song Yun's eyes went dark, and due to being hungry for days, he fell to the ground and fainted.

Soon, Song Yun was carried to the medical hall by the staff who announced the results.

This was the government-run medical organization established by Fang Yong before. It was initially established to deal with the incident in which Shanguogong abused and injured civilians. After Shanguogong's death, the medical hall was not abolished, but was vigorously developed by Fang Yong and opened in many places. It gradually evolved into a place for civilians to treat diseases.

After Song Yun was sent to the medical clinic, the doctors there diagnosed him and quickly came to a conclusion.

This person is hungry!
After this conclusion was reached, people in the medical hall became very curious.

Both the doctors present and the sick people were very puzzled. Under the rule of Marquis Huaiyin, although everyone might not be rich, at least no one would starve. How could this man with hands and feet end up in such a situation?
Is the diagnosis wrong?
Other doctors also came to diagnose Song Yun, hoping to find some disease in him. In the end, they were disappointed because they were really hungry.

The medical hall happened to have some leftover porridge from the morning, which was the rice residue stuck to the bottom of the pot when the porridge was cooked. Now that there was no shortage of food, and these doctors, both big and small, were officials, they did not eat the porridge.

Now is the perfect time. Add some water, mix it up, and give it to this person to eat.

Soon, after eating the porridge, Song Yun gradually woke up.

When he savored the taste, he felt a hint of bitterness in the fragrance, and a hint of sweetness in the bitterness. So he asked the doctors around him what they had just given him.
The doctors didn't know where to start, and the patients around them were laughing.

At this time, a vendor who came to see the doctor said with a smile:
"It's Moyun Soup!"

Song Yun was puzzled and asked, "I've never heard of it. What is Moyun Soup?"

The vendor said, "Its color is like ink, and its aroma is very rich. It tastes slightly bitter at first, but becomes sweet aftertaste. It is the bittersweet soup, also known as Moyun Soup!"

Song Yun said happily: "Good soup, good soup!" Everyone laughed.

Song Yun didn't understand why.

The vendor joked, "This black cloud soup is divided by age. The black cloud you just drank is only a few days old, so it is low-quality. There are black clouds that have accumulated for many years, which are as thick as the back of your hand and as black as ink. If you put them in water and boil them for three days without them dispersing, they are high-quality black clouds!"

Song Yun listened and accepted the advice frankly. He thought that when he became a high-ranking official in the future, he would definitely try the taste of this top-grade Mo Yun soup.

He stood up immediately and decided to say goodbye. He looked at the doctors around him and wanted to thank them, but then he thought that the witch doctors and musicians were all inferior people, so he left.

Afterwards, Song Yun went to the government office without stopping, beating the drum to protest his grievances and denounce the shady dealings in the imperial examination.

The lawsuit was quickly accepted.

It even reached the emperor's ears and was delivered to Fang Yong.

Fang Yong dared not ignore this.

The official in charge of the imperial examination this time was still Jia Yucun, and Fang Yong immediately sent someone to check.

Logically speaking, Jia Yucun shouldn't be so stupid as to embezzle money before starting a business...

But no matter what, it is better to believe it than not to believe it. It is better to check it out.

Soon, Fang Yong got Song Yun's test paper.

The whole volume was filled with a lot of nonsense and arguments. Fang Yong tried to find something useful in it, but in the end there was nothing.

The topic I gave was, nowadays people are afraid to spend the money they save, but hide it at home. How to solve this problem?

Song Yun quoted from classics for a long time, and finally said that sharing wealth with the people was a good thing and that it should be allowed to develop.

Very good, very good, the ultimate in ingenuity is simple, what a profound idea.

Jia Yucun actually put this kind of test paper on the B list. I really don’t know what other use it has besides knowing how to read?

In response to this, Jia Yucun explained that although Song Yun did not have any practical talent, his writing skills were decent and his handwriting was also good. If he was placed in a military settlement as a teacher, he should be able to do the job, so he was admitted.

……

Soon, Song Yun's lawsuit was returned.

There is a shady deal. The sky in Huaiyin is too dark, even darker than Moyuntang!
Song Yun looked up to the sky and howled, reciting a poem:
"Huaizhou Anger"

The imperial examinations in Huaizhou were in a state of gloom, with corruption and abuse of power rampant.

The inferior ones can all rise to noble positions, while the complaints of the virtuous and good are all false.

The mediocre and incompetent rely on power to advance, and the powerful and wealthy rely on each other to commit evil.

A good horse can hardly run fast in this world, and a talented person sighs the passing years.

After reciting the poem, seeing that no one paid attention to him, Song Yun looked even more depressed.

I secretly swore in my heart:

"Just wait, I'm going to join Daxi. If you lose a talent like me, you will regret it!"

Song Yun's departure did not attract anyone's attention. A young man named Du Mai, who was in the same imperial examination as Song Yun, ranked second in the exam because of his meaningful words and was given an official position.

Even though Du Mai couldn't even write a complete character and even though Du Mai was only fifteen years old, the opinions he wrote were sent directly to Fang Yong's desk.

"People don't dare to spend money because they depend on God for their livelihood. The price of food is always changing, so everyone is unsure. That's why they save their money for future use. If the general can give everyone a stable price for food, then everyone will have peace of mind..."

It was just a few sentences, without quoting any classics, and not even filling up the entire manuscript paper.

But it goes straight to the core of the problem.

Fang Yong remembered Du Mai's name.

Du Mai's ranking was very low, and he did not even make it into the top list. The reason for this was to protect the young man from being resisted by other scholars.

Now is not the time to move on to Confucianism.

On March 3, the marriage ship sailed into Huaizhou, and the officials in charge of enthronement also arrived.

(End of this chapter)