After He Zhiyuan participated in several literary meetings, he was no longer interested in this kind of so-called literary meeting that talked about his experience in taking the exam. Now there are less than ten days left before the ninth exam in August, and he decided to take advantage of this rare leisure time to have a good time in Jinan City.

The main city of Jinan in the Ming Dynasty is smaller than the Licheng District in later generations, and the most prosperous place is around Daming Lake, and on the south bank of Daming Lake is the holy place in the hearts of countless candidates - the location of Jinan Gongyuan. The surrounding area of Daming Lake was also a place where countless literati and scholars gathered in the Ming Dynasty.

The inn where He Zhiyuan lives is called Wenkui Inn, which is one of the best inns in Jinan City. Not only the facilities of the inn are first-class, but the service is also first-class. I heard that He Zhiyuan was going out to play, and Xiao Er sent food boxes, oilcloths, umbrellas and other necessary utensils for travel early.

Seeing that only the master and servant were traveling, the shopkeeper asked cautiously, "This Xiucai Gong, where are you going to play today?" Do you want to call a carriage for the little one? ”

"No, we'll just walk around the city, and we won't need a carriage." He Zhiyuan replied.

The shopkeeper said respectfully to He Zhiyuan: "Son, this is the first time you have come to Jinan, right?" The weather in Jinan at this time is still very hot, if you walk on the street and sweat at noon, you will lose the dignity of a scholar, right? ”

After Xiao Er said this, He Zhiyuan felt that it made sense, since he went out to play, he didn't care about this little money, so he asked Xiao Er to call a carriage.

Xiao Er saw He Zhiyuan so happy, presumably the one who could live in such a high-end inn must not be the master who was short of money, so he was even more careful to serve their master and servant. Through the sales promotion just now, the second child of this shop has at least thirty or forty yuan in his account.

The shopkeeper continued to ask: "Dare to ask where is Childe from?" Why don't you travel together? ”

"I'm from Juzhou, so I don't have any companions because I left late, and I haven't seen my fellow villagers since I lived here." He Zhiyuan replied truthfully.

The little two thought to himself, how many scholars can afford to live in such a high-end inn? It's strange to meet fellow villagers here. At this time, Xiao Er remembered something and hurriedly asked: "Some time ago, two Zhao Gongzi and Xu Gongzi from Qingzhou Mansion came to the store to inquire about Juzhou Xiucai He Gongzi, and dared to ask this son, but the surname of this prince who participated in the Autumn Festival is He Gongzi?" ”

http:// starter

"I am!" He Zhiyuan said suspiciously: "But I don't know Zhao Gongzi and Xu Gongzi you just said. ”

When the junior heard this, he immediately saluted respectfully and said, "It turns out that you are the famous He Gongzi of Juzhou, and the strange little clumsy eyes didn't recognize you." The two sons were also Xiucai who came to take the exam, one was from Linzi and the other was from Zhucheng, and the two of them said that if He Gongzi from Juzhou lived here, they must be informed that they must come to visit. ”

After speaking, Xiao Er took out two famous cards from his body and handed them to He Zhiyuan, He Zhiyuan glanced at the two famous cards, one of the two was Xu Feng from Zhucheng, and the other was Zhao Nai, a native of Linzi. Xu Feng he has never heard of, he is very familiar with the name Zhao Nai, in history Zhao Nai is the Xie Yuan of this township test, but unfortunately I don't know why Zhao Nai has not been promoted after he was lifted, he is very strange why this is so. In this case, he must meet these two people.

So, He Zhiyuan decided to change his itinerary and no longer go out to play, asked the little two for the addresses of the two, and got into the carriage and went directly to the Minghu Hotel where the two lived.

When he arrived at the Minghu Hotel, under the guidance of Xiao Er, he went directly to Zhao Nai's room and knocked on the door, He Zhiyuan first saw a middle-aged man about thirty-five or sixteen years old, this person was not tall, wearing a square scarf, wearing a long shirt, his face was black and yellow, he had a long beard on his chin, his figure was very thin, and there was a helpless and decadent look in his eyes, and he seemed to have a lot of sorrow buried in his heart. He Zhiyuan guessed that this person must be Zhao Nai, so he clasped his fists with both hands and said: "Brother Dong Qiao, junior brother He Zhiyuan of Juzhou, I heard the second child in the store say that Brother Dong Qiao and Brother Xiwen went to visit the day before yesterday, and it was very unfortunate that I participated in a cultural meeting the day before yesterday, and I was not in the store, so I came to visit today." After speaking, he took out his name sticker and handed it over.

Zhao Nai excitedly took the name card and glanced at it, and immediately said: "It turned out to be Brother Wen Yu, I have admired your name for a long time, and the last time I took the liberty of disturbing Brother Xiwen, it was too abrupt." ”

Saying that, he was busy making tea for a while, and at the same time asked Xiao Er to call back Xu Feng and Wang Yun, two Qingzhou fellows.

He Zhiyuan really thought that Zhao Nai was an old man in his fifties, and he had no intention or ability to participate in the examination after passing the exam, otherwise he really couldn't explain why he was taking the Xie Yuan exam, and he didn't succeed in the exam. Now it seems that Zhao Nai is in the prime of life, and it is not unusual for many people to participate in the imperial examination in this era. Could it be that he, like Tang Yin, did something happen in the exam that caused him to fall off the list?

While He Zhiyuan was thinking wildly, Xu Feng and Wang Yun also came back, it turned out that the three of them were in the same room, and the two of them were just going out for a while just now. Xu Feng and Wang Yun are both twenty-five or sixteen years old, Xu Feng has a fair complexion, a square face, a short beard under the chin, and a height of five feet and seven inches. Wang Yun looks a little obscene, with a long yellow face, a sparse beard under the chin, a height of less than five feet six inches, a pair of small eyes, no matter how you look at it, she doesn't look like a scholar.

After the four of them greeted each other for a while, He Zhiyuan had a general understanding of the situation of the three of them, Xu Feng and Wang Yun are both from Zhucheng, 26 years old this year, both of them are 21-year-old middle talents, and both of them failed to participate in the township examination once. Zhao Nai is miserable, Chinese New Year's Eve is thirty-six years old, twenty years old in the middle of Xiucai, four consecutive township examinations have not been passed, this is the fifth township examination.

After introducing the situation, Zhao Nai said sadly: "My mother is weak and sick, if I don't win this time, I will find a school to teach and support the family for this life." ”

He Zhiyuan comforted: "Brother Dongqiao, don't be discouraged, I think you will definitely go to high school this time, and your ranking must not be low!" ”

Zhao Nai shook his head pessimistically and said, "Borrow the words of Brother Wen Yu, but even if I understand the Yuan this time, I don't plan to take the exam again." ”

When the three of them heard this, they immediately asked in a loud voice, "Brother Dong Qiao, why are you doing this?" ”

Zhao Nai said bitterly: "I am not satisfied with you, I have been taking the township test for more than ten years, and I have exhausted my family's money, and I died the year before last, leaving two underage children and a mother in her sixties, and now I am in debt, and I really can't afford to go to the capital to take the exam." ”

When He Zhiyuan heard this, he finished solving the doubts in his heart, and couldn't help but be very sympathetic to this person, and thought to himself, first observe this person's character, if this person is a decent gentleman, it is also a matter of effort to help him. However, the scholars have a good face, and he may not accept the money directly given to him, and then he will have to do it.

At this time, Xu Feng said to Zhao Nai: "Brother Dongqiao doesn't have to worry about money, if Jinke High School, the surrounding people come to donate land, the debt problem will be solved, why don't you go to Beijing to try." ”

Zhao Nai shook his head and said: "Brother Wenxi is wrong, today my dynasty is becoming more and more popular, the court tax is decreasing year by year, in the long run, the court has no money to raise soldiers, and those who do not surrender will be burdened more and more, and in the end it is still the court and the poor people who are dragged down, and the benefits are those who donate the land and corrupt officials, and if it continues to develop like this, our dynasty will be in danger!" ”

Speaking of this, Zhao Nai paused and continued: "Therefore, I would rather not try than accept the contributions of those treacherous people!" In the future, even if you can't find a library to teach, no matter how bad it is, you can set up a stall to sell words to support your family! ”

Wang Yun said with a smile: "Why is Brother Dongqiao so stubborn, now that the wind of dedication is getting stronger and stronger, how can you stop it alone." If you unfortunately fall off the list, it's a pity that you have a good word! ”

He Zhiyuan listened to the conversation between the three of them on the side, and knew that Zhao Nai could write well, so he had an idea in his heart, and he said to Zhao Nai: "It turns out that Brother Dongqiao writes well, and the younger brother has built a Weijixian condiment factory in his hometown, and he is looking for someone to inscribe the name of the factory, and he also asks Brother Dongqiao to help inscribe it. ”

"Brother Wen Yu, you're out of sight, aren't you just writing a few words? How can you polish a pen for something that is easy to do? Zhao Nai said briskly.

"That's different, if Brother Dong Qiao passes the exam, your Mobao will be worth a lot." He Zhiyuan said half-jokingly, and then he said: "Brother Dongqiao will help me write a plaque first, if Jinke High School solves the yuan, I will give a thousand taels of silver as a pen, what do you think?" ”

When everyone heard this, they all burst into laughter, and Wang Yun said slightly teasingly: "Brother Dong Qiao, you have to come on, Brother Dong Qiao has already taken four exams in a row, even if it is the turn, it should be the turn." ”

This sentence made Zhao Nai embarrassed, and it was obvious that he was satirizing Zhao Nai's repeated failures.

Xu Feng saw that He Zhiyuan wanted to help him, so he said with a smile: "Brother Wen Yu's requirements are too high, it's better to do this, if Brother Dong Qiao is in the scientific examination today, the pen will be counted as eight hundred taels, and if the top three in the examination will be counted as one thousand taels, what do you think, Brother Wen Yu?" ”

He Zhiyuan himself wanted to help Zhao Nai, and he gladly accepted Xu Feng's reduction of difficulty, and said with a smile Xu Feng: "Then follow Brother Xiwen's proposal." Then he said to Zhao Nai: "Please also ask Brother Dongqiao to show his ink treasure and inscribe a plaque for me." ”

Zhao Nai knew that Xu Feng and He Zhiyuan were intentionally helping him, and he was grateful. So everyone took out the four treasures of the study, waved the ink, Zhao Nai picked up the pen and wrote on a piece of rice paper "extremely fresh" three strong and powerful lines, everyone applauded, and praised Zhao Nai's good words. This is the earth Zhao Nai's eyes flashed with excitement, as if he had just regained his confidence at this time.

Subsequently, Zhao Nai wrote the inscription, and then used the seal, and a beautiful calligraphy work was completed.