Chapter Twelve: The County Examination

  New book online, continuous naked running, collecting recommendations!

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  What he is most concerned about now is the [Anan Breaking Knife], which is a superior martial art. The martial arts in this world are different from what he understood in his previous life, especially the high-level ones, which generally have their own focus, including internal energy cultivation methods, heart-moving methods, and techniques. Therefore, many martial arts end with words such as knife, sword, fist method, palm, etc., of course not all, for example, the [Ditiansui] of Ning Wangfu, which is a bronze-level treasure, mysterious and abnormal.

  [Anan Breaking Knife] is a martial art that takes the knife as its main focus. As a superior martial art, the internal energy cultivation method contained within it is naturally much more advanced than the Longqing Jue Wang Guanlan had previously practiced. At Wang Guanlan's current level, although there are still many parts of this martial scripture he can't understand, it doesn't hinder him from practicing the most basic methods within it.

  Compared to the Long Qing Jue, Ananda's Broken Precept Knife's internal energy method was much more brilliant and complex. Even the most basic method made him study for a whole night until dawn broke, before Wang Guanlan finally shifted his gaze away from the book.

  "It's indeed worthy of being a superior martial art. Without mentioning the methods to break through the Qi Refining stage, even this introductory internal energy cultivation is so profound. Unfortunately, I won't be able to delve deeper into research for these few months!!"

  He doesn't have time now, soon the child will be born, although Wang Guanlan used to be a well-read scholar, but he can't bear it now that Wang Guanlan is a stick ah!!

  His extreme enthusiasm for martial arts and his apathy towards literature were a complete reversal of the old Wang Guanlan. Fortunately, after crossing over, perhaps due to the fusion of spirits or perhaps because this body originally possessed an extraordinary memory, Wang Guanlan was now almost able to memorize everything at a glance. Adding on the confidence he had cultivated from being in a country that valued exams before crossing over, he still had some assurance for the small children's exam.

  In the following months, the instructors at Jing Wu Tang all became those original martial artists again, and no one like Wei Cheng who had reached the realm of Zhou Tian appeared anymore, which made people in the Wang Fu feel a sense of loss.

  As for the Seventh Lady and Wang Guantiao, after going through this matter, their power in the Wang Manor greatly diminished, and they were severely injured. Moreover, they heard that Wang Guanlan had suddenly enlightened to the Buddhist supernatural powers and gained the appreciation of Wang Bizheng. Who would dare to have any more evil thoughts? As for the Fourth Housekeeper, a few days later, he was sent by Wang Bizheng to a remote estate far away, never having the opportunity to return to the Wang Manor again.

  Qing Song Garden's status within the Wang Manor also quietly rose, of course, all of this seemed to have nothing to do with Wang Guanlan, he wholeheartedly practiced literature and martial arts, never taking a step out of Qing Song Garden again.

  Time flies, and soon it was the day of the county exam.

  Although the county test is the lowest level in the examination system of the Great Qi Dynasty, it is also the most basic one. It is an entrance exam, and according to the law of Qi, every county in the Great Qi Dynasty must have a county test, so it is also the most examined.

  Going through a county exam is enough to eliminate tens of thousands of children at the same time, and it will also give birth to a new privileged class.

  Every time Wang Guanlan thought about this, he couldn't help but feel a little amused. In his previous life, he often read some old stories and novels, where there were many talented scholars and beauties. The biggest feature of these stories was that there were many poor scholars who came to the capital to take the imperial examination, but they didn't know that those who had the qualifications to take the exam were at least holders of the "jinshi" degree. In the Ming dynasty, even a "xiucai" could be considered a member of the privileged class in their local community, as long as they weren't complete failures. How could they become underprivileged groups? This is like the usual plot of online novels, where the protagonist is often written as a loser who suffers bullying and then rises to power. The usual formula is to first suppress and then rise, which is where the thrill comes from.

  However, those were the successful scholars who had obtained honors. The ones gathered at the county yamen gate now were some unplaced young students, and there were also some poor scholars among them. At the county yamen gate, the examinees were clearly divided into two groups. One group of scholars were all dressed like Wang Guanlan, in fine clothes and luxurious attire. Another group wore clothes that looked somewhat shabby, but whether they were shabby or luxurious, or even patched up, they all had one common characteristic: cleanliness.

  For everyone here, today is an extremely special day. The poor scholars want to use today's imperial examination as a stepping stone to rise to the top, and the aristocratic children also want to take this opportunity to improve their status within their families. It's no wonder they attach great importance to it, even Wang Guanlan, the illegitimate son of the Ning King, is coming to participate, which can illustrate the weight of today's examination.

  Yes, the news that Wang Guanlan, a son of the Ning King, is going to participate in this county examination has spread throughout Nanhuacity. As the ruler of the three southwestern states, the influence of the Ning King's mansion in the three southwestern states is much stronger than that of the imperial court, not to mention the core city of Nanhuacity. In Nanhuacity, the Ning King's mansion is like heaven.

  But even if it's heaven, cheating in the imperial examination is impossible, and even a small county test can't be done.

  The Great Qi Dynasty, and the previous dynasties before it, had already formed a rigorous system for imperial examinations. In this system, everything was based on one's own abilities. Take the county-level examination as an example: every examinee's test paper would be publicly posted for people to comment on. Additionally, after submitting their test papers, examinees were required to make a copy of their work and bring it with them to verify against the publicly posted papers later on. This greatly reduced the possibility of examiners cheating. Furthermore, there were strict standard measures in place during the imperial examinations, which were even more rigorous than those in Wang Guanlan's time. It can be said that not only was a Ning Wang's illegitimate son unable to cheat, but even if an emperor's own son took part in the examination, he would have no opportunity to do so.

  However, whether or not there was an opportunity to cheat, as the illegitimate son of Ning Wang, Wang Guanlan was still the hottest topic in this county test. As soon as he arrived at the entrance of the county government office, he attracted many gazes.

  Today, Wang Guanlan was also dressed in brocade finery, mainly in red, no other meaning, today is such a day, after all, to get a good start.

  The appearance of Wang Guanlan at the county yamen gate caused a stir. The day of the county examination was extremely important for any place, so today in Nanhua City, it could be said that there were sentries every three steps and watchtowers every five steps. Wang Guanlan even saw Ningwang Fu's soldiers among those sentries.

  It is worth noting that the county government of Nanhua City was not large, and since it was also the residence of the Ning King's Mansion, the public security in the city had always been very good. As a result, there were very few yamen runners and soldiers in the county government. On big days like the county exam, when they were short-handed, they would borrow people from the Ning King's Mansion, which was a common practice. However, it was precisely this common practice that exposed Wang Guanlan's identity.

  Wang Guanlan was not very old, although he had a very special status, but the number of people who really knew him in Nanhuacheng was actually not many. Those soldiers from Ning Wangfu were not unfamiliar with him. As soon as they saw their young master appear, they all bowed respectfully, making it impossible for him to avoid drawing attention.

  "Fourteen little ones seen!!!!!!"

  As soon as Wang Guanlan appeared at the county yamen, more than one person came up to greet him. These people were old and young, all belonging to the circle of luxurious clothing, their families in Nanhuafu were considered to have status, although they couldn't be compared to Wang Guanlan, but their power was also intertwined, and among them, some people clearly knew that this young master of the Wang family had recently gained enlightenment on a Buddhist divine art, being a man of both literary and military prowess, highly valued by Ning Wang, so it was necessary to make good connections with him.

  Facing such a situation, Wang Guanlan also responded to the people who greeted him one by one, with a warm smile on his face. Although he didn't know these people, his way of dealing with others was not inferior to anyone's in his past life.

  After several rounds of courtesy, he also figured out the origin of this group of people who came to pay their respects. The most striking ones were three people. One was named Zhou Yunyi, a fat and big scholar from a famous book family in Nanhuacheng, who was a disciple of Dianzhou's great Confucian scholar Han Yunde. He should have come to participate in the imperial examination earlier, but Han Yunde passed away three years ago, so he stayed behind to guard his tomb, which is why he came today. The other two were named Xu Jing and Zhao Haiping, also from famous families in Nanhuacheng. Among those poor scholars, the most eye-catching one was a young man about the same age as Wang Guanlan, surnamed Chen, named Yu, who was a well-known prodigy in Nanhuacheng.

  This child prodigy was not very friendly to Wang Guanlan, and the gaze towards Wang Guanlan actually revealed a hint of disdain and mockery. Wang Guanlan frowned at this, but he didn't go out of his way to bother the kid. His temperament wasn't such that he would stoop to the level of a teenager.

  It wasn't long before the waiting time at the county yamen gate was over, and it was almost the time for the exam to start. The crowd of examinees also stopped their chatter, one by one quietly following the order to enter the examination hall. Although Wang Guanlan was the son of Ning Wang, he didn't receive any special treatment here, but instead quietly followed the flow of people into the county yamen.

  The county government office looks a bit old, but it's big enough. Over a thousand examinees sat in the backyard of the county government office, not feeling crowded at all.

  The county examination is held once every three years, and it is also a routine task for the local government. Therefore, everything is well-prepared, and there are precedents to follow. The examination hall is already set up, and after going through the procedures, the exam begins. The test questions are either finalized by the county official on the spot or may have been decided in advance, but this is unknown. In any case, even if the county official had decided in advance, it would not be possible for the questions to leak out.

  There were 2,850 candidates participating in the Nanhua County exam this time. According to the rules, only the top 50 would be selected, which was a daunting task. Fortunately, Wang Guanlan's physical condition had left him with a solid foundation, so when he sat down in the examination hall, opened the envelope on his desk, took out the test questions, and saw the topics on the paper, he felt relieved that they were not difficult.

  The procedure for the county examination and the provincial examination is basically the same. If your article is not bad, it will be taken by the examiner on the spot. Of course, you can't expect the county official to finish reading all the articles within a few hours. It's just that someone like Wang Guanlan, as soon as the paper is handed over, the county official will read it immediately. If the level is not bad, it will be recorded on the spot. If the standard is not good, the result will also come out on the spot. Only if you can't be admitted, it's equivalent to losing face. Therefore, the sons of the Ning Wangfu, unless they have absolute confidence in themselves, will never take a walk on the examination grounds.