Let's say that Li Xianzhi saw that Governor Jin was not there, so he led his horse and walked around the street, and suddenly saw that there were notices on the wall at the corner of the street to inform the children's exams, and the end of the notices was covered with the "Admiral Poor School" guard, and the calculation date was only a few days.

Li Xian's heart couldn't help but be shocked, and he thought: "I always think about the things on the side, but I almost forgot about the business." There are five days to go before the exam, and you still need to read this sage book attentively, the so-called 'grinding the gun in battle, not fast and light', so as not to be born when you go to the examination room. As he thought, he urged the horse back. As soon as he returned home, he locked himself in his room and worked hard to read and write.

Time passed in a flash, and when it came to the date of the exam, the children in the surrounding counties and townships arrived as scheduled. There are dignified and upright, and there are slanted eyes and noses; There are young men, there are pulsatillas. All kinds of people crowded in front of the tribute courtyard not far from the governor's yamen. Shoulder to shoulder, bustling, so lively. Suddenly, after seven gongs, Zhou Xuetai arrived.

Li Xianzhi was mixed among the children and bowed together. After the ceremony, Zhou Xuetai said in an official voice: "Contemptible people are not talented, but by the grace of the emperor, I ordered a poor study and selected materials for the imperial court." You are young and promising, so you should take the exam carefully in order to make progress and contribute to the imperial court......"

Before Zhou Xuetai finished speaking, a few gray-haired "old boys" in the crowd were so ashamed that their faces were flushed, and they buried a white head in their chests, and those who had good deeds burst into laughter, and everyone laughed too.

In this way, Zhou Xuetai was furious, and the officials on both sides said: "If there is any more noise, according to the crime of disturbing the examination room, they will be driven away with me." When the officials heard the order, they knocked the water and fire sticks in their hands on the bluestone slab floor, and the crowd quieted down.

Zhou Xuetai stopped talking, and ordered the middle door to be opened, and the children carried the things in the study room for the examination, and walked in line inside.

Four or five wolf-like yacha blocked the door, and every time they passed someone, they had to search inside and out several times.

A few entrained ones were searched, dragged to the ground on the spot, beaten one or twenty rolls, and rushed home.

After all the children had entered, the yacha sealed the door. Zhou Xuetai was sitting behind the bookcase, and a minister held the roster, named them one by one, and stepped forward to take the volume from Zhou Xuetai's hand and return it to work.

clicked on Li Xianzhi, also took the volume, bowed to the school platform, and walked into the number.

After a while, after the roll call was over, Zhou Xuetai lifted the red pen and crossed out the names of several candidates who had not arrived.

Then he got up, paced the square steps, made a round, gave a few words to the two invigilators, and then went to the back.

When it was time to put the first card, some people got up one after another to hand in the papers. The invigilator entered and invited Zhou Xuetai to the front. Zhou Xuetai took the volume and sat behind the bookcase to look at it. Some are good, and some are not good, Zhou Xuetai marked them one by one with a pen.

Li Xianzhi was careful because he didn't hand in the paper until the second card was released. Zhou Xuetai took the volume, read it, and said, "Your article is quite insightful. If you go out, you will have to look at the book carefully. Li Xianzhi bowed and left.

When it was about to get dark, the exam was just finished and the venue was dismissed, and Zhou Xuetai ordered the invigilator to put away the papers and bring them back to the Yazhong. That night, Zhou Xuetai had to read the papers overnight.

The two of them are fair: "The people of Xuetai are hard, and I will do the work for such small things, so as to ensure that there are no mistakes."

Zhou Xuetai thought for a while and said, "It's okay to be tired of the two gentlemen." It's just that the papers I've read here are so good that I have to review them again. "The two of them responded one after another. Zhou Xuetai yawned and went back to his room to rest.

These two ministers are the extremely learned mountain chiefs of well-known local academies specially hired by Zhou Xuetai in Xi'an Prefecture, and they specially help to read the papers.

The two ministers were busy all night, read all seventy or eighty papers, and divided them into grades one to six.

The sky was bright, Zhou Xuetai got up and freshened up, sat behind the bookcase early, and took the withdrawn paper to read. found a few papers in the waste volume that were fairly clear, and Zhou Xuetai also enrolled them in a low school.

By noon, Zhou Xuetai finished reviewing the papers, and named Li Xianzhi the first case, and the rest of the candidates were also ranked according to their rankings, so that the two Xianggong books were listed.

It was very strange for the two Xianggong to see that there were a few children who were ranked inferior by them on the school list, so they asked Zhou Xuetai: "The articles of these children are carefully read by the two of us, and they are really not qualified to enter the school, why did the students of Xuetai bring them up?"

Zhou Xuetai said: "This place is located in the border area, the people are fierce, and they often make extralegal moves, it is rare to have this heart to learn, slightly carry some, have a fame to hold them, and set an example for others." There are always a few more unsuccessful talents who are better than a few bandits who are not involved in the industry. ”

When the two ministers heard this, they bowed again and again, and said: "The villain is short-sighted, and he never thought that the people of Xuetai were thinking about the society and the people's livelihood."

Zhou Xuetai waved his hand and said, "In this way, the two gentlemen will be on the list, right?" The two princes received the order, and after a while, the book was ready, and the two princes were found to stick on the wall of the tribute courtyard.

The case was issued, and those who went to school were to come to the Gongyuan to see them as usual. Li Xianzhi was at the head of the case, the first to enter, saw Zhou Xuetai, bowed, and stood aside.

Zhou Xuetai said: "The artistic conception and insight of your articles are really there, and it is because of this that Mr. Jin admires you." But you must not be complacent, if you want to be proud in the field, you still need to work hard to temper the words. Seeing that a new department is imminent, we must not relax. Li Xianzhi thanked him deeply and withdrew.

Zhou Xuetai called in the talents who had entered the school one by one, and ordered the article. After the meeting, it was already evening, Zhou Xuetai rested for a night, and set off the next day with a guard of honor. All the talents came to the Tribute Courtyard to see each other.

Li Xianzhi had a relationship with it, so he rode a horse and sent it ten miles away. Zhou Xuetai saw that no one was coming with him, so he ordered the sedan chair to be stationed and called Li Xianzhi to come closer. Li Xian got off the horse and greeted him in front of the sedan chair.

Zhou Xuetai said: "The teacher is in charge of the country's affairs, and I am under the emperor's order, so I can't delay on both sides, and I can't say goodbye in person." As he spoke, he took out a letter from his sleeve and continued, "This is my farewell letter to my teacher, and you will present it for me when his old man returns." Li Xianzhi took the letter and put it away.

Zhou Xuetai said again: "Just because I am carrying the emperor's order, I am afraid of gossip, and I have never been close to you." However, after reading many of your articles, I also know your belly, and your fame will be far better than mine in the future. I'll go back to the provincial capital and wait for you to come to the township to test. ”

Li Xianzhi listened to Zhou Xuetai praise himself, and he was busy thanking him. Zhou Xuetai got up in a sedan chair, and Li Xianzhi returned home from the horse.

At this time, everyone in the Li family's mansion knew that Gongzi had ordered the case, so they were naturally happy. The old man Li Mingshan was even more overjoyed, and was busy pointing to the pomp and circumstance that the servants were preparing to celebrate.

After Li Xianzhi returned home, he came to see his father first. He had traveled almost the entire courtyard before he found his father, who was busy among the servants. stepped forward to greet Anbi and said, "The child is just going to school, so he can't make such a show."

Li Mingshan said with a smile: "This is a major event that our Li family has not had for several generations, and we still want to celebrate it." Go back to your room, you don't have to worry about it. ”

Li Xianzhi saw that his father's interest was undiminished, so he stopped talking. Li Xi'er, Ruyi, Han Chuan'er, and Jin Shun'er surrounded and begged Li Xianzhi for money.

Li Xianzhi took out all the pieces of silver in his purse and distributed them to the four scholars. The four took the money, and went to work with joy. When he was ready to stop that day, he put wine in the house, invited all the people in the city who knew each other well, and celebrated the whole house until late at night.

Li Xianzhi toasted the wine in the middle of the night, his tired bones were scattered, returned to the room, fell asleep, and slept until three o'clock in the morning.

A few days later, Governor Jin returned home on a tour of the border. Li Xianzhi went to Yazhong with gifts and brought Zhou Xuetai's letter with him. Seeing Governor Jin, Li Xianzhi kowtowed and offered a letter.

Governor Jin opened the letter and hurriedly glanced at it, it was full of words of resignation, so he put the letter aside and said to Li Xianzhi: "You ordered the head of the case, not only the article is well-written, more or less, but also my face is in it." The next year is the year of the township test, and you still need to study hard. ”

Li Xianzhi said respectfully: "Students should remember the teachings." The teacher and student talked some more gossip, and Li Xianzhi got up and said goodbye and went home.

After that, Li Xianzhi kept in mind the instructions of Governor Jin and Zhou Xuetai, and buried himself in the mansion every day to study, prepare for the township examination, and did not ask anything else except for often going to the governor's yamen to meet Governor Jin.

One day, Li Xianzhi took a car home from Fuya. Suddenly, I heard a neighing of horses outside the sedan car, lifted the curtain and looked out, and saw more than ten knights whistling by. At a quick glance, I vaguely saw that the leader was dark-skinned, twenty-four or five years old, born with big shoulders and a round waist, sitting on a horse, like an iron tower.

Li Xianzhi didn't ask about the world, and he didn't know who this person was, so he asked left and right. Left and right replied: "This person's surname is He, celebrity Long, not good at reading, specializing in martial arts, a few years ago I was a martial artist, and I served as the general in the barracks, and I often shouted that I would be a general in the future." ”

When Li Xianzhi heard He Renlong's name, he couldn't help but be shocked in his heart, and muttered: "This is what he wanted." ”

Left and right asked, "What did Childe say?" ”

Li Xianzhi said: "It's nothing, go home." ”

He said lightly, but there was a slight stir in his heart. Over the years, he has read the books of sages every day and devoted himself to his work, forgetting that in the troubled times, he still needs to learn some martial arts and strategies.

When he returned to the house that day, Li Xianzhi went to see Xiao Jiaotou, who was in charge of the tea caravan in the house, and asked him to teach him martial arts. This Xiao is famous in the world, has a kung fu of riding and shooting, in his early years, he should pass the Wuxiang test, but his luck was not good, he failed to win, and he had no food and clothing, so he joined the Li Mansion to be the head of the businessman.

According to the "Da Ming Law", people are not allowed to use arrows privately, so Xiao Shiqian usually carries a cloth bag with 100 lead bullets, and his ability to play marble can be described as a must.

Xiao Shiqian listened to Li Xianzhi's explanation, and immediately shook his head like a rattle, and said: "The master is looking forward to the son's hard study, and the middle master will come back to shine on the lintel, if you know about this, how can you spare me?" ”

Li Xianzhi said: "Now that the world is not very peaceful, I just bury my head in reading every day, and I have no power to restrain the chicken, how can I settle down and serve the country?" My father has me to say, Xiao just don't worry. ”

Xiao Shiqian still didn't dare to promise. Li Xianzhi said again: "Xiao Jiaotou has traveled south and north in recent years, and he must know that the bandits are more than one day a day, and such a huge family business as the Li family will be targeted by thieves sooner or later. Therefore, not only do I want to learn martial arts from you, but I also want to select smart and capable people from the Zhuang Ke and Jiading to learn together, so that if something happens in the future, I can also keep my family safe. In this way, wouldn't it be a good thing to ask Xiao to teach martial arts in the mansion and pay you more to support your family? ”

Xiao saw that Li Xianzhi was bored reading every day, but he had such insight into the world, and he admired it very much, and when he heard that he could make more money, his heart moved a little, but he wanted to have Master Li above, and he always felt that he was hesitant to make a decision.

Li Xianzhi knew what Xiao Shiqian was thinking, so he said: "I'll go and discuss with my father, if I agree, please don't excuse Xiao's head." ”

Xiao Shiqian immediately said: "If the master agrees, I will be dispatched." ”

Li Xianzhi immediately went to his father to discuss. At first, Li Mingshan did not agree, Li Xianzhi insisted on lobbying, and promised that he would never waste his career, and he would definitely come back. Li Mingshan was relieved.

Li Xianzhi immediately found Xiao Jiaotou and asked him to teach him martial arts. and called Li Xi'er, Ruyi, Han Chu'er, and Jin Shun'er together. There are many families in the Li Mansion, and there are no less than four or five hundred households connected to the merchants, tenants, villagers, and families. Li Xianzhi also recruited more than 100 young and strong people around the age of seventeen or eighteen to serve as nurses and follow Xiao Shiqian to learn martial arts.

At this time, Xiao changed his head to a teaching head, wore a well-fitting suit, held an eyebrow stick in his hand, carried a hard bow on his back, and tied a cloth bag containing bullets under his ribs.

Due to the suddenness of the incident, it was not possible to prepare the horn bow for a while, and more than 100 nursing homes each prepared a Qi Mei stick to practice short soldiers first. Li Xianzhi practiced archery with four scholars and several leading family members, and also learned short soldiers.

Since then, Li Xian has ordered everyone to practice diligently every day, and at the same time asked craftsmen to make horn bows and sharpen stone bullets. In less than a month, more than 100 hard bows were created, so that all the families practiced together.