In March, Chang'an was very lively, and in a few days, the imperial examination, which had been interrupted for 25 years, was about to start again, and this important decision of the imperial court touched the hearts of thousands of scholars.

In the past 20 years, the culture of the Tang Dynasty has wandered in the dark, the slogan of "everything is inferior, only the practice of martial arts" has been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people in the north, martial arts dominate, literature is monopolized by the family, county and state studies are gradually replaced by family studies, and family studies have a strong family politics, so that the Tang Dynasty has gradually appeared in the Wei and Jin dynasties.

The reopening of the imperial examination has been called for many years, but it has always been opposed by the family and the Guanlong group, but under the vigorous promotion of the crown prince Li Shi, all parties made a compromise, and finally the Tang imperial examination was reopened after a hiatus of 25 years.

However, more than 20 years of silence still made it difficult for ordinary poor children to climb the steps of the imperial examination, which was actually a competition between the big gate families and the small and medium-sized local wealthy.

More than 70,000 scholars recommended by the state capitals from all over the country gathered in Chang'an, they will compete for 120 places, this year's imperial examination will be co-sponsored by the Ministry of Rites and the Guozijian, Guozijian Jiu Wang Kuan as the chief examiner, and Yan Zhenqing, the waiter of the Ministry of Rites, as the chief inspector.

More than 70,000 scholars gathered in Chang'an, which also brought huge business opportunities to Chang'an, especially Pingkangfang, where Qinglou taverns gathered, were brightly lit day and night, and the hustle and bustle and laughter continued.

It was not yet dark, and the Taibai Liquor House was full of scholars, in addition to paying homage to the Mobao "Will Enter the Wine" left by the poet immortal Li Bai on the second floor, and then they wanted to taste a famous Meishou wine that shook the capital, everyone got together to drink and chat, talk about current affairs, criticize the shortcomings of the imperial court, and guess the topic of the first scientific examination.

"I heard that the Tibetan envoy is coming to the imperial court, what does this mean?" A gentleman from Longyou said loudly.

"Hasn't Tubo always been fighting with the Uighurs for Tochar and the river? Why did he turn to Datang again, could it be another attempt. ”

"It's hard to say, I heard that the relationship between Tubo and Tuyuhun has a tendency to rupture, I guess the Tubo army can't be recovered, and it may have to join forces with Datang to clean up Tuyuhun and kill Tuyuhun with the hands of Datang."

"After killing Tuyuhun, won't the Tang forces control Hehuang again? Would Tibet do such a thing? ”

"Huh! You don't understand, the Tang army can't go to the plateau, at most control Hehuang and Lintao, but the Tuyuhun army is adapted to the plateau, they are a greater threat to Tubo, originally a dog raised by themselves, how do you know that this dog wants to eat the master, of course it has to be killed. ”

"Recently, the imperial court has made a big move on the frontier, and has also restored three surrendered cities, is the imperial court going to consolidate the frontier and start to clean up the local feudal forces?"

"Shhhh Don't talk nonsense, drink! Drink! This Meishou wine is really good, I will buy two bottles and take it home to honor my father. ”

There was a middle-aged man sitting in the corner of the first floor of the restaurant, he listened to the comments of the scholars, shook his head, called the bartender to come and settle the bill, and got up to leave.

This middle-aged man is Xue Tao's father Xue Yun, he was originally a Langzhong of the Ministry of Rites, and now he is transferred to the East Palace to serve as the crown prince's horse washer.

Xue Yun was born in a famous family in Hedong, but he is not a son-in-law, he can only be regarded as a distant side branch, his family background is not too good, he has no house in Chang'an, he can only rent in Yongpingfang in the west of the city, and every month's rent costs him nearly half of his Yulu, which is also the dilemma of most of the middle and low-level court officials, the rent in Chang'an is too expensive, and they can't bear it a little.

Recently, I heard that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is planning to build a number of small-scale official residences in the south of the city to provide them for middle- and low-level officials of the fifth, sixth and seventh grades to live in, which makes Xue Yun look forward to it very much, he is a fifth-grade official, and he has been an official for more than ten years, so he should have a chance.

Xue Yun has a strong personality, he has to stand up and speak about things he is not used to, and he doesn't know much about the rules of officialdom.

Xue Yun has no children under her knees, only a baby daughter, Xue Yun has raised her as a son since she was a child, and taught her to read and write poetry, so that Xue Tao's personality is also very refreshing, and there are few girls who twist and behave.

However, Xue Yun's wife Han is a little philistine, Han is the daughter of his mentor, and his mentor Han Wendao is a famous Confucian in Luoyang, who likes Xue Yun's talent and character, so he gave his daughter Han to him.

When Xue Yun returned home, his wife Han took off his robe for him, frowned and said: "I'm going to drink again, the family is nervous this month, and I have to pay three months' rent, so my husband should save a little, otherwise I have to go to Luoyang and ask my father to borrow money, how embarrassed!" ”

"I see, let's not take it as an example."

"You always say no."

Han Shi complained and asked again: "You go and inquire, is it the official mansion that has been allocated, I heard Mrs. Yang say that it seems that their family is on the list." ”

Mrs. Yang is the wife of Yang Lin in the Tobu Langzhong, and the relationship between the two families has always been very good, and Han often chats with Mrs. Yang.

"Don't listen to those gossip, you have to wait for the official announcement of the imperial court to count."

Han complained: "I know that when the official announcement is made, everyone is looking for a relationship channel behind the scenes, but you don't do anything, will you have your share?" By the time the announcement came down, it was too late. ”

"What do you want me to find?"

Xue Yun raised his voice abruptly, and said very dissatisfied: "Am I the kind of person who drills camps and shoots horses?" If I want to be like those villains all day long, I'd rather not have that house. ”

"That's it! All right! Everyone in the world is drunk, but if you wake up alone, I'll just say two words, what are you doing when you're angry? ”

Xue Yun also realized that he shouldn't be angry with his wife, and said in a soothing tone: "Actually, I am very satisfied now, I used to offend too many people in the Ministry of Rites, and I was ostracized everywhere, although I am a little more idle in the East Palace now, but following the prince, the future prospects are good, and it is too late for others to envy me!" ”

Han muttered in a low voice: "I don't think it's any good, Qingshui Yamen, there is no oil and water at all, if you are in the Ministry of Rites, now the imperial examination, the threshold of our family should be broken." ”

Xue Yun didn't bother to talk to his wife about this issue, so he diverted the topic and asked, "How is Tao'er?" ”

Speaking of his daughter, Han suddenly remembered something, and hurriedly took out a small bag from his arms, opened the small bag, and inside was a sapphire the size of an apricot.

"Husband, look at this, I found it from Tao'er's room, can you see if it's worth it?"

Xue Yun glanced at the gem, suddenly startled, and hurriedly took the gem to take a closer look, his eyes widened, "You say..... Is this Tao'er's? ”

"Anyway, it was found from her room, she put it in a bookcase box, I stumbled upon it, what, is it valuable?"

Xue Yun was shocked for a while: "His Royal Highness the Crown Prince also has the same gold-inlaid sapphire on his waist pendant as this one, he told us that this is the top sapphire in the world, and such a gem can be exchanged for a five-acre mansion in Chang'an, how can Tao'er have such a thing?" ”

Han's eyes suddenly lit up, this gem could actually be exchanged for a five-acre Chang'an mansion, but fortunately he didn't sell it cheaply.

"I don't know, it's in her bookcase box."

Xue Yun sighed and said, "Hey! Don't mess with the things in the waves, the things in her bookcase are her beloved things. ”

"Being able to change a house is, of course, my beloved thing, and now it is also my beloved thing."

Xue Yun had no choice but to take his wife, so he had to say: "Give her back the gem first, and then ask her where she came from, if she is willing to give it to you, it doesn't hurt if you take it to change the house." ”

..........

Xue's house is a very ordinary small courtyard, inside and outside, covering an area of seven points, more than a dozen rooms, the outside is where the old housekeeper and five or six people live, and the inner house is the residence of the husband and wife and their daughter Xue Tao, such a yard is near Pingkangfang, the rent is at least ten yuan per month, but Yongpingfang is a gathering place for low-level people, the rent is slightly cheaper, but it also costs five yuan a month.

Xue Yun's Yulu plus various subsidies, only twelve yuan a month, the rent accounted for nearly half, their family is relatively poor, but after all, they are an official family, and there are a few subordinates, the old housekeeper has been with Xue Yun for 30 years, two little maids have been bought since childhood, and there is a cook, who was brought over by the Han family.

Xue Yun is the most books, several rooms in the inner house are full of books, under the influence of his father, Xue Tao likes books very much, unlike other little ladies, she has no rouge, and there are not many clothes, but there are more than a dozen boxes of various books, Xue Tao is sitting at the desk practicing calligraphy, in front of her is a piece of pasted calligraphy, it is the poem "Linjiang Immortal" written by Guo Song, in fact, this poem is the work of Xue Baochai in "Dream of Red Mansions".

Although Guo Song can't write poems, his calligraphy is excellent, vigorous and powerful, quite popular, Xue Tao is copying Guo Song's calligraphy.

At this time, there was a knock on the door outside, and her father's voice was heard, "Is Tao'er asleep?" ”

Xue Tao hurriedly put away Guo Song's words, and then said, "I didn't sleep, father, please come in!" ”