Chapter 151: The Provincial Capital 1/2

The time for the provincial examination in Jiang’an Province was set for the 20th of August.

Examinees needed to register in advance… On the first day of August, Li Qingzhi returned to Chongcheng County, intending to head to the provincial capital the next day.

Li Qingzhi and Zhu Xunmiao took Zhu’s boat back to Chongcheng County and had agreed to travel to the provincial capital together the next day. Also joining them were Xu Qifei, Mr. Li, and several other scholars from Chongcheng County.

When Li Qingzhi arrived home, it was noon, and Jin Xiaoye and the others were having lunch.

“Dad, you’re finally back! Why did you come back today?” Li Damao and Li Ermao were especially happy to see Li Qingzhi and put down their chopsticks to rush towards him.

Previously, Li Qingzhi used to come home every five days, so he should have come back at the end of July, but because he was about to participate in the examination, he didn’t return.

“Big Mao, Second Mao, Dad misses you so much! Dad was busy studying, so he came back late…” Li Qingzhi affectionately greeted Li Damao and Li Ermao for a while before taking out the steamed buns he bought on the way home and eating with Jin Xiaoye and the others.

During the meal, he mentioned his plan to participate in the provincial examination in the capital city tomorrow.

Jin Xiaoye asked, “Do you want Xiao Shu to accompany you?”

Jin Xiaoye was very concerned about Li Qingzhi participating in the examination and had inquired about some related information, discovering that most of the scholars who participated in the examination were accompanied by someone.

Some were accompanied by family members, while others hired attendants.

Even Xu Qifei had his nephew accompany him to the provincial capital.

Li Qingzhi said, “No need, I can go alone, Xiao Shu is also quite busy.” He was going with Zhu Xunmiao, who would surely bring someone along. If necessary, he could use Zhu’s servants.

Xiao Shu had been busy with boat business during this time. Wouldn’t it be a waste of time for him to accompany Li Qingzhi to the provincial capital?

Seeing Li Qingzhi’s insistence, Jin Xiaoye didn’t say more.

It was Li Qingzhi who asked, “Xiao Ye, do you want to go to the provincial capital? Do you want to go with me?”

“I want to go to the provincial capital, but I’ve been busy lately… Ah Qing, if I go with you, will it affect your studies?” Jin Xiaoye asked.

“It won’t affect. When I want to study, no one can disturb me. And when we get to the provincial capital, I probably won’t study either.”

Jin Xiaoye pondered.

That night, Li Qingzhi and Jin Xiaoye had a tender moment. The next morning, he got up early and began to pack his things.

During this month, he had exchanged several letters with Governor Zhang and even wrote several policy essays for Governor Zhang to review, then made revisions under his guidance.

These essays were written very steadily and were the type of essays that examiners liked the most, flawless in every aspect. Governor Zhang bluntly stated in his letters that with Li Qingzhi’s level of policy essay writing, there was no problem participating in the county-level examination.

After the July issue of “Anjiang Collection” was published, Governor Zhang even took the time to help him deliver these essays to Fangshan.

According to Governor Zhang… for the next several months, there should be his articles in “Anjiang Collection”.

Li Qingzhi was very satisfied with this.

But he didn’t actually like those policy essays.

Those were prepared for the imperial examination, not something he genuinely wanted to write. As for what he truly wanted to write… Li Qingzhi looked at the stack of manuscripts beside him.

Those were the articles he wrote with his left hand, signed under the pseudonym of “Qiongdu Sanren” (Lone Wanderer).

Months ago, to help Governor Zhang, Li Qingzhi wrote hundreds of thousands of words of “Record of Injustice” with his left hand.

After finishing it, he found that he had also mastered writing with his left hand.

The handwriting with his right hand was in a neat regular script, very beautiful, but the handwriting with his left hand was a bold running script, looking extremely imposing.

The two kinds of handwriting were completely different, and probably no one would think they were written by the same person.

The policy essays Li Qingzhi previously sent to Governor Zhang were very carefully worded, all of them could be considered model essays for the imperial examination, but those written with his left hand…

He followed no rules, wrote as he pleased, and then criticized all the existing problems in Daqi.

For example, the one on top was criticizing the monopoly of the nobility or excessive land occupation.

This article was a bit too radical.

In fact, Li Qingzhi had already written these articles months ago, but he didn’t send them to Governor Zhang.

He was afraid of accidents on the way that might expose them to others, and also afraid of frightening Governor Zhang.

He planned to see Governor Zhang first, then decide whether to give these articles to him.

After having breakfast at home and sending the three children to school, Li Qingzhi went to Zhu’s house.

Chongcheng County was not far from the provincial capital. If they took a boat, they would arrive in five or six hours on average.

Zhu had arranged a large boat. They set off in the morning and would arrive in the afternoon.

When Li Qingzhi arrived at Zhu’s house, he learned from Zhu Xunmiao that Zhu Qian intended to go to the provincial capital with them and take a look at his house and shop in the provincial capital.

Li Qingzhi felt a bit envious.

He thought he was doing well in his business, but compared to Zhu Qian, he was nothing.

“Nephew!” Zhu Qian saw Li Qingzhi and immediately greeted him with a smile. “Nephew, I heard your article was published in ‘Anjiang Collection,’ congratulations!”

Zhu Qian had no idea what “Anjiang Collection” was until Li Qingzhi’s article appeared in it.

After Zhu Qian spoke, others present also congratulated Li Qingzhi.

At the beginning of this year, when Li Qingzhi participated in the county examination, many people in Chongcheng County doubted him. But now…

Li Qingzhi was now widely recognized as the most knowledgeable young person in Chongcheng County!

They had all heard that those Jinshi in the capital city were praising Li Qingzhi!

After exchanging pleasantries with others, Li Qingzhi was pulled aside by Zhu Qian.

Li Qingzhi hadn’t seen Zhu Qian for half a month.

Half a month ago, the Magistrate Guo went to the capital city for his new post, and Zhu Qian followed. Since then, both had been busy.

Now, Zhu Qian talked to Li Qingzhi about some matters concerning Magistrate Guo.

Hexing Prefecture originally had a magistrate, who was a person of the King Jin’s faction and had always been at odds with Governor Zhang.

After Governor Zhang killed Magistrate Yan, he immediately reported it to King Jin. Later, he didn’t hesitate to speak ill of Governor Zhang in front of King Jin.

He was determined to bring Governor Zhang down and then become the magistrate of Hexing Prefecture. Unfortunately, he failed in the end.

That’s not all; after King Jin suffered a big loss, he vented his anger on him!

King Jin blamed him for not discovering the “Record of Injustice” in time and for being ignorant of Governor Zhang’s collaboration with Magistrate Lu…

This person had previously submitted a memorial, praising Magistrate Yan’s innocence, and was subsequently relentlessly pursued by Magistrate Lu. Due to King Jin’s resentment and lack of support, he was demoted and became a sixth-rank official in the capital city.

Because he left, Magistrate Guo was able to become the Assistant Magistrate Guo, and he was not only an Assistant Magistrate but also temporarily held the position of magistrate.

Assistant Magistrate Guo had been too busy to sleep lately.

“No wonder Master Guo hasn’t come to Chongwen Academy to study.” Li Qingzhi said.

After recommending some scholars from Chongwen Academy to Assistant Magistrate Guo, he had been waiting for Assistant Magistrate Guo to come and study at the academy, but he hadn’t shown up.

“The Assistant Magistrate is too busy, and his wife is pregnant again, so he has no time to spare for Young Master Guo.” Zhu Qian said.

Assistant Magistrate Guo’s wife was pregnant? Li Qingzhi was somewhat surprised, but after the surprise, he felt it was normal.

Although Young Master Guo was not young anymore, Assistant Magistrate Guo’s wife was only in her early thirties, not even considered an elderly mother by modern standards. It wasn’t surprising that she was pregnant.

While the group chatted, the boat continued forward.

At noon, they had some food on the boat.

The food was prepared by Zhu Qian before they left, including steamed buns, rice balls, and marinated snacks from Juewei Zhai.

Of course, there were also various snacks like pastries, melon seeds, and peanuts.

The servants of Zhu’s family also brewed tea for everyone to drink.

“It’s not very convenient on the boat, so just eat whatever you like.” Zhu Qian said.

Zhu Qian was definitely being modest. All the steamed buns he prepared were meat-filled, steamed until they were piping hot and extremely fragrant.

The rice balls he prepared were also delicious. The rice was cooked with soy sauce and pork fat, smelling fragrant, and filled with deep-fried dough sticks, peanuts, and pickled vegetables. With each bite, it was a mixture of sweetness and oil satisfaction.

He also bought a variety of marinated snacks from Juewei Zhai, so there was something for everyone to enjoy.

Zhu Qian prepared a lot of food, and Li Qingzhi ate a little more, but still couldn’t finish it all… The remaining steamed buns and rice balls were given to the boatmen by Zhu Qian to eat later in the evening.

The group arrived in the provincial capital in the afternoon.

Zhu Qian indeed had business in the provincial capital and had bought a house there. Li Qingzhi, just like when he participated in the prefectural examination, moved into Zhu Qian’s house.

Xu Qifei and Mr. Li also moved in, while others had average relations with Zhu Xunmiao and Zhu Qian, so Zhu Qian didn’t invite them to stay, but he arranged for them to stay in an inn… Everyone settled in for the day.

Early the next morning, they went to the yamen to register and fill out various forms.

Registering took up the whole day, until the third day when Li Qingzhi went to visit Governor Zhang’s residence.

“I’ve been waiting for you to come to the provincial capital, didn’t expect you to come so late.” Governor Zhang said when he saw Li Qingzhi, smiling.

Li Qingzhi noticed that Governor Zhang looked very spirited, and his overall condition was very good.