There are not a few people like Ma Yuanxiang who came to the capital early, and it is not easy to live in the capital, and if there is no benefit, these scholars will certainly not enter Beijing early.

The biggest benefit is fame. At the beginning of the new year, all kinds of poetry meetings and literary gatherings are prevalent, there are elegant gatherings organized by the three giants of Zechang Academy, Zhangyi Academy and Guozijian, there are gatherings organized by scholars from various states, and there are banquets convened by the princes and nobles of Beijing to enjoy the scenery and enjoy the wind and moon.

In the first year of Jianwu, it was originally going to open Enke, but it coincided with the year of the imperial examination, and the combination of the two subjects seemed to be of great significance. In the first year of Jianwu, the princes of various states entered Beijing, intending to bring the scholars of the state, and held literary meetings one after another while they were in Beijing to promote the reputation of the students in the state.

The more famous gatherings are the Fuxue meeting convened by Wei Youcheng in the Yinxian Pavilion on the second day of the first lunar month, the Jianwu Poetry Meeting held by the tenth prince in Yanshan Manor at the first month of the first month, and the North and South New Year's Greetings Speech Meeting held by King Anyang in the palace on the 16th day of the first month, as for Zechang Academy, Zhangyi Academy, and Guozijian each held several literary meetings, and even conducted several literary fights in the form of invitations, and even the budding Huangyang Academy also held a Spring Festival party in Wangyuan Building, and many people's names stood out and became the lively figures of this year, including Hu Lixing and Shen Zechang of Guozijian, Hua Lingzhi and Fang Xiandao of Zechang Academy, Ai Qingqing and Chen Baisi of Zhangyi Academy, and there are as many as 100 people who are as famous as Ma Yuanxiang.

Thresholds are everywhere, and these assemblies are not for the people who want to go to the exam. Most gatherings will limit the number of invitations, for example, the prince's Yanshan Manor Jianwu Poetry Club, who in Beijing does not want to participate, but unfortunately there are only 200 invitations, and Ma Yuanxiang misses it. Fang Xiandao of this Hui Zechang Academy won the prince's eyes with "Jianwubin", Ma Yuanxiang watched "Jianwubin" afterwards and felt deeply regretful, if he was present at the time, the person who the prince praised should be him.

Opportunities are hard to find, Ma Yuanxiang is busy going to the meeting from morning to night every day, but the level of contact is not high, except for Wei Yuma's Fuxue will be more high-grade, and he has only been in some small gatherings in the next few months, although his reputation has risen, but compared to Hu Lixing and others is still far behind, Ma Yuanxiang has heard someone disdain to say that Huazhou is a border and wild land, what kind of talented people can be produced.

Angry is angry, and if you can't receive important invitations, you can't raise your eyebrows in a crowd of people. Seeing Ma Yuanxiang sighing with a sad face, Qiao Tiantong came up with an idea and said: "Yuanxiang's talent is not known to the world, why not write the poems and texts on weekdays into scrolls and send them to the princes and scholars in Beijing for recommendation. ”

Ma Yuanxiang said with a smile: "Brother Qiao woke up the little brother with a word, it is really better to go to those ministers and seniors to participate in those literary meetings every day." ”

The wind of the scroll began in the Great Wei Dynasty, when the examiners wrote their proud poems and texts into scrolls and sent them to the dignitaries, who would give more support and guidance to the descendants who presented the scrolls, adding their reputation in the Shilin, and even recommending them to the ministers in power, and many people in the Great Wei period were thus defeated.

After the Zheng Dynasty Wei, the imperial examination implemented the system of vague names and transcriptions, which greatly reduced the role of the papers, but the style of the papers was still prevalent, because the scholars with significant literary names would more or less make the examiner notice, especially after the examination, there was also the palace examination, and the important factor in determining the ranking was often the reputation of the scholars.

Jiang Anyi entered Beijing to take the exam that year, and brought the fame of Fan Ziyan's "Yunshuitan Words", coupled with the appreciation of Shen Guogong in Wangyuanlou, and finally won the champion thanks to Princess Anshou's sentence "Father, you are a wise and martial artist, how can you not have the champion of Lianzhong Sanyuan", and the root of it is Jiang Anyi's poem on Wangyuan Tower that moved Princess Anshou.

If you want to make a scroll, of course, you have to inquire in advance about the dignitaries in Beijing and the famous scholars who are willing to bring up the younger generations, Ma Yuanxiang bought the "Xingjuanlu" from Xiaoer for one or two pieces of silver, and the names were densely written on it. Xiao Er is used to this business, and said with a smile: "A few sons, this is a new version that has just been updated this year, you get what you pay for, and in the future, don't forget to reward a few small articles after high school." ”

Qiao Tiantong had an idea and asked, "Little Second Brother, is it possible that you are on the list of examiners this year?" ”

The appointment of the chief examiner of the examination was drawn up by the Son of Heaven on the first day of the fourth month, and the chief examiner was one of them, and the civil officials from the third rank or above or the scholars of the Jixian Hall and Chongwenguan were served, and the deputy chief examiner was mostly served by the officials of the fourth grade, of course, there were exceptions, and the deputy chief examiner of Jiang Anyi Nake was from the middle section of the criminal department of the fifth grade, and there were twenty examiners, mostly composed of officials from the national Zijian and the six departments and the nine kings and above the fifth grade. There are many well-informed people in Beijing, who can analyze some useful things from daily clues and make guesses about the chief examiner in the mind of the Son of Heaven, for example, there is a legend that Wei Youcheng, the son-in-law of the Son of Heaven, is very likely to become the same examiner.

Guessing in advance that the examiner was not allowed by the court law and discipline, the shopkeeper was embarrassed, Ma Yuanxiang saw the situation of the shopkeeper and knew that there was a play, so he immediately took out two pieces of silver and stuffed them into his hand, and said with a smile: "I am waiting for the Huazhou test, I know the severity of this matter, the little second brother told me that the truth will not be spread around, and please rest assured that the little second brother will not spread it." ”

When the shopkeeper saw the silver in hand, how could he really have any scruples, the junior of more than 400 inns in the capital was probably peddling information, and if he missed the opportunity, he would have to wait for three years. The silver was put into his arms, and the "Examiner Record" was taken out, Ma Yuanxiang hurriedly took a closer look, and Chen Hanhai and Qiao Tiantong squeezed over to watch from left to right. The shopkeeper pouted secretly, he still had a celebrity guess in his arms and had not sold it, looking at the appearance of these three, he had already forgotten his existence, so let's wait for the next opportunity.

There are more than 70 names on the examiner's list, and the most lively candidate for the examiner is Zhongshulang Ma Suizhen; Then there is Song Sili, the secretary of Guanglu Temple, the reason for the election of this public is that he is about to give office, and it is rumored that he wants to accept a protégé and then retire; There are also the secretary of the right supervisor Qi Guowei, the right Cheng Huang Jiye of the Political Affairs Hall, He Yingjie, a scholar of Jixian Palace, and Du Xueqi, a scholar of Chongwenguan University. There are more than a dozen deputy examiners, all of whom are ministers who are popular in the court, and there are more than 50 candidates for the same examiner. Ma Yuanxiang smiled bitterly, this list is based on the principle of the more the merrier, and pulls in all the people who are likely to be selected, and the reference value is not great.

Chen Hanhai was like a treasure, and said with a smile: "Brother Ma doesn't have to be exhaustive, he just needs to practice according to the examiner's preferences." There are only six examiners listed on this list, and the poems and lyrics of these six princes want to be sold in Beijing, and the younger brother has been concentrating on their articles during this time. ”

Qiao Tiantong persuaded: "These lists are just speculation, if there is a mistake, it will not delay the future." ”

"Eh, Brother Qiao, you have also participated in a lot of literary meetings these days, and there are many talents in the world, competing for the index of more than 200 tributes, and the younger brother is not like Brother Ma who has learned people, and he is really empty." Chen Hanhai smiled bitterly: "Knowing that there is no hope, I might as well take a chance, wouldn't it be an accident if I can succeed." ”

Qiao Tiantong saw that he had made up his mind, shook his head and stopped persuading. Ma Yuanxiang was thinking about the list of examiners in his heart, and it was necessary to go to the homes of several examiners; Wei Juma might as well come to the door again and ask to see him; Ning Ze, the waiter of the Ministry of Works, is a native of Huazhou, and as a fellow villager, he will help; Lord Hubu Shangshu Yu is the mentor of Jiang Thorn History, and he will mention it if he thinks about it, and there are a few Huazhou officials in Beijing who just missed it, and there are actually thirty-three people in a rough calculation, plus the princes such as King Ning, King Chu'an, King Sujing, King Yongyan, and King Anyang, at least sixty copies of the line.

Gritting his teeth, Ma Yuanxiang asked Xiao Er to buy cooked rice paper, which is a finely processed paper that will not be smudged with ink. The content of the scroll should not be too much, Ma Yuanxiang chose a poem, a fu and a strategy, his words are good, just and powerful, it took three days to copy the sixty copies of the scroll, and then let the shopkeeper take it to the framing shop to decorate the scroll, and spent sixty taels of silver.

With these scrolls, Ma Yuanxiang embarked on the road of the scroll, bowed in front of the door of the magnate, and sent the scroll with a letter. He can think of the scroll, and naturally others can also think of it, Ma Yuanxiang saw five or six test children who also came to the scroll in front of the Sujing Palace. When he arrived, he handed over the scroll, and before he could say a word, the scroll was thrown into the basket behind him by the man guarding the door.

Turned around and left, walking only two feet away, there was the laughter of the gatekeeper behind him: "Old Sun, these scholars have sent a lot of scrolls during this time, and the prince is too lazy to look at them, so he told us to dispose of them by ourselves, and after a while, we will wait for the next value, and send these toys to the framing shop, and the shopkeeper I know said that each of them will be recycled for 100 Wen." ”

"Speak softly, don't let people hear it, maybe these people will become big officials in the future, and we can't afford to offend them."

"Huh, what about being an official, can you manage to come to the palace, wait for the business, I will invite you to have a glass of wine, call Li Er, this kid is the blackest, he returned more than three taels of silver in one day yesterday, let him have a treat."

Ma Yuanxiang felt sour in his heart, and really wanted to get back the scrolls he had painstakingly prepared from the hands of those men, but three or five people came to him, holding the scrolls in their hands, and walked towards the palace with an excited face. Ma Yuanxiang sighed and walked towards the next target.

After three or five days, Yu Shangshu sent someone to send a reply letter to comfort him, and Ning Shilang even sent someone to ask him to come to the house to talk, but the other lines disappeared without a reply. Just when Ma Yuanxiang felt disheartened, he unexpectedly received an invitation.

The invitation was sent by King Chu'an, inviting him to attend a literary meeting at Biyi Garden at the end of February 16, and to send off the kings with poems. King Chu An is the second son of today's son, the younger brother of the crown prince, he actually knew his name, Ma Yuanxiang was in a good mood, and he did enough work in advance, just waiting for the 16th Biyi Garden to be a blockbuster.