Before the third day of August, old man Xie Chang from Champion County had made up his mind not to go to the official temple to listen to the votes. But when that day came, I found that many boys in the clan had gotten up early in the morning and they all ducked out. Those who go out today, why not go to the official temple? In order to wait for people from the countryside to enter the city, the county has already announced that the county magistrate will not start reading the votes until noon! The patriarch doesn¡¯t care about these monkey cubs who have forgotten their origins! The old man cursed and cursed in the courtyard all morning, and his wife and daughter-in-law couldn't bear it and hid themselves out. He still had unfulfilled feelings and couldn't find anyone to vent to. Seeing that time was running out, the old man stomped his feet, gritted his teeth, and walked step by step towards the official temple. After walking a few hundred steps with his head lowered, and thinking of the embarrassing scene of being discovered by his juniors eavesdropping, Xie Chang suddenly blushed, paused suddenly, and turned back to prepare to go home. Just when he turned around and saw clearly the figure who was lowering his head and moving in small steps dozens of steps away, he was stunned for a moment. It wasn't until the other person took two more steps forward that he said hello: "Clan. Chief!" When the other party heard the sound, he looked up and it was indeed him. Nephew of the clan, Xie Su, the head of the Xie clan in Champion County! Seeing Xie Chang, the other party was also surprised. He blushed and stammered, "Uncle, why are you here?" How should I answer this embarrassing matter? Fortunately, the old man had quick wits and opened his mouth and said: "The younger members of the clan often go to the official temple to listen to the votes, but you don't care about anything. I want to go find them and order them to go home." In this way, if you want to find your clan members, it is definitely not to listen to the county magistrate's vote!" Without the last sentence, who would know that he was guilty? Xie Chang glared at him dissatisfied, gritted his teeth and asked, "Going together?" "Going together! Going together! Uncle please!" So. The uncle and nephew raised their chests. He strode towards the official temple. The outer grounds of the official temple are spacious. However, at this time, there were already a sea of ??people, and there were a lot of livestock near the horse posts. Some of them were temporarily tied up under the surrounding trees, and there were some urchins hanging on several big trees. Xie Chang saw a wooden platform more than ten feet high built in the center of the venue, with crowds surrounding the platform. Judging from the appearance, the crowd was getting more and more crowded as they went in. Under the high platform, dozens of officers armed with swords and sticks surrounded and blocked the crowd with the civil servants. This prevented the crowd from crowding in and crushing the wooden platform. There were also civil servants who stood on a high platform and kept shouting to the crowd, asking the young and old not to stand too far forward to avoid being squeezed or stepped on. Seeing this scene, Xie Chang and Xie Su both stared. How could they find twenty or thirty junior members of the Xie family among thousands of people? Xie Chang looked back at Xie Su: "Separately look for people!" "No!" He went into the crowd separately. Xie Chang looked around. There were too many people and he didn't find any familiar faces. He sighed and stopped hiding his ears. thought. He stood at the outside and waited. After a while, he felt that the head in front of him was blocking his view. I can only stand on tiptoe quietly and look at it. Fortunately, their uncle and nephew arrived late, and they did not wait long before noon arrived. Several officers first moved to the high platform to carry straw mats, tables, an open empty box, and a large upright wooden board. There are some vague words and lines written on the big wooden board, but unfortunately it is difficult to see clearly from a distance. After that, the county magistrate and the meritorious officer Shi worked together to move a wooden box with a seal on it to the wooden stage. The principal held the scroll in his hand, and the county magistrate took the inkstone, pen and ink, and followed him on the stage. The chief clerk first knelt down and sat on the bench behind the desk. Two more supervisors came on stage to check that the seal was correct. They then touched the inside of the empty box next to them and each put their fingerprints on the chief clerk's document. The county magistrate then waved and asked a servant to bring an ax to the stage. Gong Cao Shi tore open the seal, and the county magistrate personally used an ax to pry open the nailed wooden box. After that, the county magistrate and the meritorious officer Shi worked together to overturn the wooden box, and thousands of tickets flowed out of it, all of which fell into the empty box next to it. After picking up the tickets that had fallen outside the box, the two of them worked together to lift the previously sealed wooden box and circle the stage to show the people below that the box was empty. After putting down the empty box, the county magistrate saluted in all directions, and then raised his voice to say something. Xie Chang was far away and could not hear clearly, but the crowd in front of him "coaxed" him back a little. The county magistrate saluted and spoke again, and the crowd retreated a little more, and the area around the high platform was much looser. More than 30 young civil servants from Taixia County filed into the crowd and took their positions. Xie Chang stood on the periphery, but there was also a civil servant standing a few steps away. After a while, the county magistrate spoke again, and the voice came out one sentence at a time from the inside to the outside of the crowd. The official who was a few steps away shouted the first sentence: "Everyone, be quiet, this county is now reading the votes to the people!" In fact, There was no need for him to send another message. The old man was not deaf and had already heard the previous one. After this sound, the surrounding area became much quieter, even the people on the trees?The naughty boys are no longer naughty and noisy. "Those who have won the vote and are present today can go to the high platform to investigate whether there is any fraud!" After shouting this from everyone on and off the stage, the county magistrate stood quietly for a moment, bent down and took out a voting ticket from the wooden box. After unfolding it, he took a look and read: "Huo Tong, a meritorious citizen of Dongcheng Tingxin Tunnel, recommended Tongting Yitun Ning Xuanning Gongdu as a village elder!" The civil servants below spread the message one by one. Taking advantage of this little time, the county magistrate will The tickets were turned around so that the county magistrate and the chief minister could see them first, and then they were walked around for everyone in front of the high platform to watch. People around the high platform, whether they were literate or not, stretched their necks to see. The Lord Bo bowed his head and wrote on the scroll, and the county magistrate also picked up his pen and wrote on the wooden board. After the voice was transmitted to the outside world, the county magistrate spoke again, and what came from behind was: "Is Mr. Ning here? Can you come on stage!" The scribes called three times in succession. After the first call was heard, a scholar in sixties hurriedly came from the county. He rushed out of the yamen, and when the third call started to be heard, he squeezed through the crowd to the center, panted and climbed onto the high platform, but it was an old county official in the county's official temple. Xie Chang has heard a little about this man. He used to be from Xiuwu County, Hanoi. After Deng Muan occupied Nanyang, he was selected as an official because he knew how to read. His family was in the east of the city, and his household registration seemed to be just a good citizen. Only civil servants with grades of seven or above can be granted the status of meritorious civilians. The county magistrate on the high platform nodded to Ning Xuan and asked him to stand aside and watch. He threw the ticket slips he had read out into an empty wooden box, took out a new ticket slip in another wooden box, unfolded it and read again: "Wangpo Pavilion" Zhang Gu, a meritorious citizen of Jitun, recommended Chen Jiao of Dongchengtingjiatun as a village elder! "Everything else is as before. This time Chen Jiao, who came to the stage with a red face, is an old guard in the county official temple. The first two recommended people are both from the official temple. Xie Chang already had some disdain in his heart. But the third one is slightly better. Judging by his name, his household registration should be Bai Zhang, the head of the Bai clan outside the city. No matter what, the Bai clan leader is the first local name he heard today, unlike Ning Xuan and Chen Jiao, two outsiders. When they heard about the registration, the crowd burst into loud cheers. It's just that Bai Zhang may not have been present and did not take the stage in the end. The cheers drowned out the voices of civil servants from all directions, and the county magistrate had no choice but to stop temporarily and shout outside. After the outermost civil servants reported their voices, they were allowed to cheer, but how could they completely stop it? The fourth vote went to Chen Jiao again, and then the fifth vote went to someone from outside the city. Although he came on stage, Xie Chang did not recognize him, and the crowd cheered. A naughty boy almost fell off a tree because he jumped and clapped his hands. Danger arose because there was a commotion in the corner under the tree, forcing the county magistrate to stop. Send some servants to chase down all the urchins from some trees. The sixth vote was for the Bai clan leader, which naturally attracted cheers. On the seventh vote, there was a big surprise. The literary official in front of him passed the news: "Liu Qing, a meritorious citizen of Tingyi Village in the east of the city, recommended Xie Chang and Xie Youming of Tingjia Tun in the west of the city as a village elder!" Affected by the sudden cheers, he could vaguely hear someone calling his name. Before he could react, he became furious. Since the coronation ceremony, in the past few decades, who has dared to call me by my name in person without the rudeness? As soon as he raised his head, the civil servant in the crowd a few steps away repeated loudly: "Liu Qing, a meritorious citizen of Tingyi Village in the east of the city, recommends Xie Chang and Xie Shuming of Tingjia Village in the west of the city as the village elder!" Hearing his voice again, the old man understood and his eyes His face suddenly turned red, and his hands and feet were trembling. Howhow did you choose me? The Yuan Dynasty was a powerful country, and there were indeed some people in the clan who ignored the clan order, served as officials, or joined the army to obtain household registration as meritorious civilians, but most of them have moved to other places! Who is Liu Qing? How do you recognize me? He was still shocked and confused when another voice came from inside: "Is Mr. Xie here? You can come on stage!" If someone is invited to come on stage, not only the civil servants a few steps away, but also the people around him will start shouting. Thinking about the shocked expressions of the clan leader and the younger members of the clan after hearing his name, the crowd around him was roaring with excitement, but Xie Chang wished that there was a crack in the ground for him to crawl through, and did he really want to stand on the stage and embarrass himself? At this moment, the old man was full of shame and anger, mixed with many inexplicable meanings. Everyone around him clearly didn't recognize him, but he just lowered his head and dared not look at anyone. "Is Mr. Xie here? You can come on stage!" The second loud blast sounded from inside and outside again, and more and more people called out. Do you want to run away? Conflicted, surprised, and ashamed, Xie Chang really wished he could be like the Bai clan leader who didn't come to the scene today, so he didn't have to suffer this crime. After the outermost sound is made, the third sound will be shouted from the inside. The old man stamped his feet and gritted his teeth and thought, I will go on stage to see what is true and false. If any junior dares to make a joke, I can¡¯t swell his face! Xie Chang raised his head suddenly and responded loudly: "In! exist! Let it go! "I just wanted to see what was true and what was true! What are you afraid of? Some people heard the voice and made room for him, but more others turned a deaf ear to it. As others shouted loudly: "Is Mr. Xie here? ? You can go on stage! "The old man trotted through the crowd, came to the high platform, found the steps, and climbed up staggeringly. When he got to the stage, he looked at the dark heads under the stage, and pairs of eyes with unclear meanings were all fixed on him. , the old man suddenly began to breathe quickly again, his hands and feet were shaking, he just felt embarrassed, lowered his head and did not dare to see anyone, and even the county magistrate nodded to him and ignored him, and went to read the next ticket. After reading the new name for a long time, his eyes were no longer focused, and Xie Chang felt more relaxed. He raised his head and looked at the large wooden board written by the county magistrate. He could not see it clearly below. It turned out that it was divided into small pieces with black lines according to each pavilion in the county. , the name of each recommended person is written under the corresponding pavilion, and his name is placed in the west pavilion of the city. But the platform is not big, and the wooden boards are limited. If all the candidates with thousands of votes are on the stage, how can they stand on it. How can the names on the board be arranged enough? Chen Jiao was recommended seven times. Amidst the cheers, Bai Zhang was also called five times. His name was Xie Chang and the county official Ning Xuan. The same thing was called three more times. The county magistrate who repeated it later just put a horizontal line under the name of the board to indicate that it was just a repetition. Xie Chang immediately understood that although there were many recommendation votes, there were still no recommendations. The number of users is not that large. (To be continued.) 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