Collection of strange powers and chaotic gods

Chapter 261 2 Interesting Anecdotes about Scientific Examination

One

During the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, there was a bachelor named Zhou Litang in Jiangxi who participated in the provincial examination in the Guimao year.

In this year's exam, there is a question titled "Excellence in learning leads to officialdom".

Bachelor Zhou Litang's literary talent is outstanding, but his writing is very profound.

Zhang, the examiner in the examination room for Bachelor Zhou Litang, could not understand it for a while, so he wrote annotations on his examination paper angrily and erased his article, so Bachelor Zhou was not included in the list of candidates.

That night, when all the examiners in each examination room went back to their rooms to sleep, Zhang suddenly started talking nonsense and even slapped himself.

Just listen to him say: "You can't tell the quality of such a good article? With your knowledge, how can you be qualified to be an examiner in the examination room?"

As he spoke, he kept slapping himself and cursing himself.

The family members who accompanied him thought he had suffered a sudden stroke and quickly called in other examiners.

Everyone felt something strange, thinking that it was not a stroke, but that he might have made a mistake in grading and offended the gods, so he said such words.

So, everyone split up to re-mark the exam papers that Zhang had reviewed.

After some inspection, everyone found that only the test paper written by Bachelor Zhou Litang had comments on it, and there were also traces of smearing.

After everyone read it, they didn't quite understand what Bachelor Zhou meant.

So, someone suggested: "Since we can't decide, why not try to recommend it to the superiors? What do you think?"

Everyone agreed.

The chief examiner at that time was Mr. Ren Lanzhi, the Minister of Rites.

After reading Bachelor Zhou Litang's article, Mr. Ren was surprised and delighted. He applauded and said, "This is a wonderful article! There is nothing better than it in the entire examination room. This candidate can be ranked first."

The deputy examiner at that time was Mr. De. He was tired from reviewing the examination papers for a long time, so he took a nap on the desk.

Lord Ren Lanzhi waited for him to wake up and informed him of what had just happened.

Lord Ren wants to be an upright official and does not want to say anything. Although he is the Chief Examiner, he still wants to discuss the matter with the Deputy Chief Examiner when something happens.

Lord De asked what Xuejie Zhou’s exam number was.

Ren Lanzhi replied: "Male number three."

Master De said: "Then I don't need to read his article anymore, just decide it as Jieyuan."

Ren Lanzhi was surprised and asked him why.

Master De said: "I had a dream just now when I was sleeping, and suddenly I saw a god in golden armor congratulating me. I asked him where the joy came from.

The man of God said: 'Your third son will be the winner. ’

As you all know, I have always treated these candidates as my own sons. Now you all recommend the test paper for the male number three. This is the test paper for my third son. Isn’t it about to fulfill what I dreamed about? "

However, after Mr. De said these words, he still read Xueshi Zhou's article carefully.

After reading it, I also greatly appreciated it.

Therefore, the two examiners unanimously agreed that Bachelor Zhou Litang would be ranked first in this subject.

After the list was filled out, everyone asked Bachelor Zhou Litang: "Do you know that Zhang, the examiner in your examination room, talked nonsense in his dream?"

Bachelor Zhou was at a loss.

Later, Bachelor Zhou Litang took part in the palace examination and won the Jinshi.

From then on, Zhou Litang rose through the ranks and served successively as governor of Fujian and governor of Nanhe.

Second

In the Bingwu year of Yongzheng in the Qing Dynasty, Jiangnan Prefecture held a rural examination.

At that time, because there were so many candidates, people from neighboring provinces who had taken the science examination with first-class scores were hired to share the work of marking papers.

These people are all young talents.

Among them was a man named Zhang Lei, who had passed the examination for a long time and regarded himself as a senior among his peers.

Zhang Lei's character is pedantic and he doesn't know how to adapt.

Every night, he would burn incense and pray to the sky, saying: "I am getting older and my studies are gradually neglected. I am afraid that I am not qualified for the position of marking papers. If there are good articles in the examination paper or there are virtuous people in my ancestors, I have not discovered it." If so, please ask the gods to give you secret guidance.”

The other graders all laughed at him for being stupid, and everyone decided to make fun of him.

Everyone prepared a thin bamboo pole. When Zhang Lei was reviewing papers under the lamp, they saw that he was not satisfied with the test papers and was about to give up. They stretched the thin bamboo pole through the paper window and took off Zhang Lei's hat.

At first, Zhang Lei thought it was because of the strong wind, so he picked it up and put it on again.

After someone outside knocked off his hat three times in a row, Zhang Lei woke up as if from a dream. He was shocked, thinking that he had missed a good article, and ghosts and gods came to remind him.

So, Zhang Lei put on his clothes and hat, walked to the courtyard, knelt down in the air, and said: "I think the article on the test paper just now is really not very good. But since the gods came to remind me, I guess it is Because the ancestors in his family have accumulated evil virtues. If this is really the case, then please ask the gods to remind me again like before."

When the other graders saw this, they laughed at him even more.

When Zhang Lei returned to the room, no so-called gods were seen picking off his hat again. When he was about to give up the exam paper, those people once again picked off his hat with a thin bamboo pole outside the window.

Zhang Lei was now convinced that the gods were giving him hints. He stopped reviewing other test papers, but stood up, holding the test paper in his hand, and walked into the hall, wanting to let the examiner make a decision.

It was already very late at that time, and the two examiners had already taken a rest. However, the stubborn and pedantic Zhang Lei could not wait until the next day, so he immediately knocked on the door and asked for an audience, and informed the two examiners about what the gods had just reminded them.

Mr. Shen Jinsi, the chief examiner, felt a little unhappy when he was woken up from his sleep late at night. However, he did not blame Zhang Lei and carefully read the test paper Zhang Lei submitted.

After reading it, Mr. Shen said: "This article is very well written. With this candidate's level, he can definitely pass the exam. Why do you have to say that it was reminded by gods?"

Zhang Lei was obedient and did not dare to refute.

After the other graders heard this, they all laughed secretly in their hearts, but they also kept their mouths shut and did not dare to speak.

When the results were announced and the list was released, the candidate from that examination paper was clearly on the list.

Everyone who was reviewing the paper was surprised, and everyone smiled and explained to Zhang Lei: "Actually, we don't know whether that paper is good or not, but when your hat fell to the ground, we made a joke with you. It’s not a reminder from some god.”

Zhang Lei said seriously: "There are gods three feet above my head! It seems that you are joking with me, but it is not the case! It is not that I am being teased by you, but that you are being teased by ghosts and gods."

Everyone didn't know how to deal with it, and they were deeply impressed by him!