Chapter 537: Spending Money to Buy Peace of Mind

"Dong An Guo?"

Lin Zhong looked at his brother-in-law and wondered, "What's going on?"

"I heard that Yi County in Huaizhou posted a notice to apply for the imperial examination. Ask Uncle Fu for the specific brother-in-law. He is talking to Uncle Xuan at your house now?" Lin Zhong's brother-in-law Wang Chonger said.

And the Uncle Xuan he mentioned was the father Lin Xuan mentioned by Lin Zhong.

"Cousin?"

Lin Zhong must have known this person. His name was Ma Fu, and he was the only traveling businessman in Mawang Village. When he was young, he worked as a handyman for the scholar's family in the county. He received an enlightenment education and could read some words. Later, he started working as a traveling businessman. merchant.

When King Huai was still ruling Huaizhou, he often led mules and carried heavy goods back and forth between Huaizhou and Fengzhou, and occasionally went to Jiangnan. He was well-informed and was Lin Zhong's mother, Ma. cousin.

Speaking of which, after Lin Zhong settled in Mawang Village, he received a lot of help from Ma Fu.

It was about the imperial examination, so Lin Zhong had no time to chat with Wang Chonger anymore. He even put on his shoes and hurried home without even washing off the mud on his feet.

"My dear, let me tell you, the notice in yellow and black words clearly states that as long as you get the top spot in the provincial examination, you can become an official. And I heard people say that the lowest you can do is become a county magistrate. "I think Zhong'er is smart and will definitely be able to go to high school," Ma Fu said to Lin Xuan.

Although Ma Fu was just a lowly businessman, he respected scholars very much.

Hearing Ma Fu's sworn assurance, Lin Xuan took it seriously, and then asked with some confusion: "The imperial edict issued by the court some time ago said that he was going to Luonan to participate in the provincial examination. What is the situation now?"

"I don't know much about such a big shot, but when I came back, I heard an old man say that An Guogong used to lurk in the abyss, waiting for the time to move. Now the time has come, but I didn't listen too much. If you know what this means, the old gentleman will always be careless, but when Zhong'er comes back, you will know after asking him."

As he said that, the smile on Ma Fu's face faded and he pondered: "I wonder if Zhong'er has neglected his studies in the past few years?"

"Never, never"

As soon as Ma Fu finished speaking, Lin Zhong's voice rang outside the house. Lin Zhong was seen running all the way to the door of the house. He couldn't run anymore. He stood bent over, with his hands on his knees, breathing heavily. Rough air said.

"Zhong'er is back." When Ma Fu saw Lin Zhong back, he immediately stood up and walked over with a smile.

"Cousin, what's going on with the imperial examination in Yixian County?" Lin Zhong said impatiently.

"Read it yourself." Ma Fu took out a piece of freshly folded white paper from his sleeve and said, "This is the content of the Yixian notice that I specially asked someone to copy. Since you are a scholar, you will definitely be better after reading it. I know better."

Lin Zhong nodded, and after reading, the hand holding the paper was trembling slightly.

Seeing that Lin Zhong was silent, Lin Xuan and Ma Fu hurriedly asked him what was wrong.

The next second, Lin Zhong knelt down holding the paper and cried with joy: "God has not failed me, God has not failed me."

"Son, what's wrong with you?" At this time, Ma walked in with some freshly cooked corn and asked nervously when he saw Lin Zhong kneeling on the ground.

Lin Zhong, who had just vented his inner emotions, saw his mother coming in. He stood up and hugged Ma, and said with tears in his eyes: "Mom, my son is going to take the imperial examination. He will go to Yixian County to take the exam."

Two days later, Yi County.

yamen.

"Name?"

"Lin Zhong, Zhongchang Zhong."

"age?"

"twenty three."

"Where are you?"

"Mawang Village, Shan County, Fengzhou."

"Okay, you have registered. This is your ultimatum. Keep it and go to Huaizhou City on time to take the exam on August 8th. Don't miss the time." The clerk of the Yamen handed over the ultimatum from his subordinate Lin Zhong. I gave it to him, and after giving him careful instructions, he said, "Next one."

After coming out of the Yamen, Lin Zhong felt a little unreal.

From the time he entered the Yamen to the time he came out, he completed the examination in less than a quarter of an hour. The efficiency was so fast that he couldn't believe it.

Ma Fu, who was waiting anxiously outside, saw Lin Zhong coming out, and his heart skipped a beat and said, "Zhong'er, why did you come out? But you didn't pass the exam, so the money I gave you was given to the clerk. Or does the other party think it’s too little?”

As a businessman, Ma Fu knew the virtues of these officials in the yamen. For this reason, when Lin Zhong entered the yamen, he specially gave Lin Zhong a tael of silver and asked him to bribe the minor officials to avoid embarrassment for the minor officials.

Lin Zhong shook his head: "Cousin, I didn't give him any money. As soon as I entered, he asked my name and age, and said that I had successfully applied for the exam."

With that said, he showed his ultimatum to Ma Fu.

Upon hearing this, Ma Fu's eyes widened in surprise, as if he couldn't believe the authenticity of what he heard, and said, "Could it be the Yamen that fooled us?"

"Probably not. When I entered just now, I saw that the previous candidate had the same ultimatum as us." Lin Zhongdao.

"That went very well."

It went too smoothly, but it made Ma Fu feel weird.

So the two of them waited until the Yamen was released. When they saw the clerk who had registered during the day come out of the Yamen, they ran over instantly.

At this time, the two discovered that there were many others who had the same purpose as them.

More than a dozen people immediately surrounded the clerk. The clerk was startled, thinking he had met a thief, and exclaimed in his heart that this thief was too bold and dared to commit murder in front of the Yamen.

But they handed him a bunch of silver coins, calling him "adult".

After knowing the reason, the clerk was a little amused.

These people gave him silver just to make him confess the truth, because they were worried because he had applied for the exam too smoothly during the day.

To be honest, facing this white silver, the clerk was still quite tempted. If it was private, he would have accepted it, but with so many people watching and people coming and going, how could he dare to accept it.

He snorted coldly, flicked his robe, and said: "Who do you think I am? The notice posted in front of the government office clearly stated it in black and yellow paper. Things that happened during the day cannot be false. Since you have successfully applied for the exam, you should go back and review your lessons and strive to pass the exam in August."

After that, the clerk snorted again and left.

When they arrived at a place where no one was, the clerk immediately showed a painful expression, and at the same time, he felt that his behavior of treating money as dirt just now was simply handsome.

After that, he went home humming a little tune happily.

After Lin Zhong and Ma Fu returned to Mawang Village, they were still a little worried and finally decided to go to Huaizhou City.

Ma Fu said he would pay for the money on the road.

Lin Zhong was quite moved and made up his mind that if he really applied for the exam and passed the exam in the future, he would definitely repay his cousin.