On September 14, the ecliptic is in the north, making it a good place to travel.

After hurriedly participating in the lackluster Luming Banquet and spending the Double Ninth Festival without relatives, Fang Zhongyong was about to enter Beijing to take the exam.

In fact, whenever he heard the word "entering Beijing to take the exam", Fang Zhongyong felt inexplicably like laughing. After all, all the impressions of Fang Zhongyong in later generations about entering Beijing to take the exam came from scripts, operas or miscellaneous conversations.

The rough routine is the same, they are all poor scholars, entering Beijing to catch the exam, meeting a rich lady on the road, the two will secretly have feelings, after a sea vow, there will always be a harlequin with white ash on the nose comes out, or the bully snatches love, or the evil mother dislikes the poor and loves the rich.

The poor scholar made bold remarks in the crying of the young lady, vowing to be named on the gold list and live up to the grace of the beauty. Later, the scholar really won the top prize in high school, returned to his hometown and slapped a group of villains in the face, hugged the beauty, and had a happy ending.

Of course, there are also horror stories that win.

Qing Pu Songling's strange novel "Strange Tales from Liao Zhai" mostly ended in a thriller and tragic ending. The monster painted a beauty's skin on his face, and the ghost came to trap and kill the scholar, even if it was a poignant Xiaoqian, the end was not very good, and it really made people dare not have too much hope for the encounter on the way to Beijing to catch the exam. Maybe Pu Songling felt that he didn't have the opportunity to enter Beijing to catch the exam anyway, so he used these murderous ghosts to scare the people who were full of unhealthy thoughts.

The male protagonists in these stories all have one thing in common, which is also the most incomprehensible place for Fang Zhongyong. You are all about to enter Beijing to take the Jinshi exam, and to put it more elegantly, you have become a member of the scholars, how can you lack servants and entanglement, so that you are reduced to staying alone in the temple?

A magistrate said, you think that everyone has a skill set to use in the afterlife like you, and can make a lot of money very easily?

Not to mention, it was really easy for scholars and doctors to make money in ancient times.

Taking the Ming Dynasty, which was the most harsh on scholars, for example, after having the fame of Xiucai, all taxes and labor could be exempted, and those with excellent grades also had a certain amount of rice and grain supply (six buckets of rice per month for the staff of the Liao Diet).

When it comes to the level of lifting people, it is unbelievable, although in "The History of Confucianism", as soon as Fan Jingang was lifted, there was Zhang Jingzhai who sent silver and houses to the ground, but the people have initially had the qualifications to be officials. Not to mention the unspoken income of Bing Jing and Tan Jing, the land donated by the villagers in order to exempt him from harsh taxes and miscellaneous taxes is enough for him to have fine clothes and food. Because the land of the eunuch is not taxed, even if you have to give some land rent to the lord every year, it is much more cost-effective than paying taxes yourself. Therefore, accepting the donation is not a kind of exploitation of the township by the scholars, but a kind of care for the villagers. As for the lack of a large number of tax sources for the country, who cares?

In the Tang and Song dynasties, when the literacy rate was less than 2 per 1,000, especially in the Zhao and Song dynasties, which advertised "sharing the world with scholars", theoretically speaking, scholars and doctors who had the qualifications to jointly govern the world - those who made more than one person famous, and their lives were even richer.

The salaries of officials in the Song Dynasty can be roughly divided into three categories: "Zhengyu", "Jiayu" and "Zhitian".

According to the records of the "History of the Song Dynasty and the Records of Officials", the prime minister and the high-ranking officials at the level of privy envoys paid 300,000 yuan (i.e., 300 guan) per month, 20 horses of silk, 30 horses of silk, 100 taels of cotton in spring and winter, and 100 stones in the month of Lusu; Local state and county officials, the county order of large counties (more than 10,000 households) is 20,000 per month, the county order of small counties is 12,000 per month, and the month of Lusu is 5 to 3 stones. In addition to the main salary, there are also various subsidies, such as tea, wine, kitchen materials, salary, artemisia, charcoal, salt, forage for horses, and clothing and food for accompanying errands, etc., the amount is quite considerable, and they are all paid by **. Combined, these benefits are spectacular, much higher than the monthly salary.

And with the complexity of the official system of the Song Dynasty, when a variety of positions such as officials, dispatches, inheritances, and graces were added to a person, it was by no means just for a few more words on the name, and each position had a corresponding salary. If the Qing Dynasty paid salaries according to the standards of the Song Dynasty, the salaries of dozens of positions on He Shen would be enough for Emperor Qianlong to drink a pot.

There's no way, Emperor Zhao Song is so generous, with a high salary. Therefore, "three years of Qing prefect's mansion, 100,000 snowflakes of silver" may be a satire of corruption in other dynasties, but in the Song Dynasty it is just a simple statement of facts.

As for Su Shi's "Cold Food Post", which stated that the officialdom of the Song Dynasty was "boring for officials", "the hut is like a fishing boat, and the water is cloudy. Cook cold vegetables in the air, and burn wet reeds in the stove. In fact, it is just an extreme discomfort from a gold-collar executive to a janitor.

In history, after Su Shi received his salary, he put a string of Baiwen on a beam and used it every day with a bamboo pole. Purely in terms of purchasing power, Baiwen is equivalent to about one hundred and fifty yuan in later generations. Although five or six people are not rich, food and clothing are still enough, but it is impossible to return to the life of a drunken beauty and a dog and horse. Therefore, Fang Zhongyong felt that that guy was suspected of selling miserably.

Fang Zhongyong, who has been honored to become a member of the scholars, is not short of money, with nearly a thousand friends in hand, although he dare not say that I have it in the world, but it is enough to ensure that he does not sleep in the wilderness on the way, and his life in the capital can be more comfortable.

Although there may be less opportunity to meet beauties, Fang Zhongyong is already racking his brains at this time to think of a way to enjoy the blessings of all people, and he really doesn't dare to ask for extravagance. Therefore, when Yan Juhou chartered two painting boats, one for the Yan family and one for Fang Zhongyong and the Zeng brothers, Fang Zhongyong insisted on paying the boat fare.

In addition to being rich, the scholar doctor also has another characteristic, that is, he has his own team, and Fang Zhongyong basically already has it - they are still two old acquaintances, Uncle Zhong and Li San. I thought that Zhang Panlong, who came to see him off, would be a little unhappy, but who knew that Zhang Panlong would solve all the problems with a sentence of "I have prepared it for you a long time ago". In the "Cheng Yi" that gave Fang Zhongyong a hundred guanzi, he also intimately sandwiched Uncle Zhong's deed and Li San's letter of appointment.

As for the big bear, he temporarily refused to follow him on the grounds that his mother's illness had not recovered and he should not stay away. Although Fang Zhongyong felt regretful, the ancient adage of "parents are here, don't travel far" is also a very powerful reason, and there is no saying that others will not be filial piety.

Fang Zhongyong had no choice but to say to Da Xiong, who looked very ashamed: "Serving your mother is filial piety, you don't need to feel embarrassed. If one day you want to look for me, you can go to Yan Mansion and inquire about my whereabouts. Usually you should work hard, don't waste it and let you live up to what you have learned. After I leave, you can go to the carpentry shop to work for the support of the Lingtang. If you have any difficulties, you can also go to the Yan Mansion for help, I have told the Yan Mansion Steward to take more care of you. ”

Da Xiong said with red eyes: "The son will repay the kindness of the subordinates!" ”

Fang Zhongyong said: "I don't need you to repay anything, I just feel that today's eventful season is the time for you to show your strengths." You seem to be rude, but in fact you are brave and resourceful, and it would be a pity if you buried it in vain. Do it yourself! ”

The eye of the heart is actually very strange.

If you think too much, others will say that you are careful, such as Yan Juhou's evaluation when paying the boat fare; If you think less, others will say that you lack heart and eye, such as Zeng Ye's evaluation that Fang Zhongyong spent a lot of effort and did not succeed in attracting Da Xiong.

Fang Zhongyong didn't think that he was cautious or lacking in heart. Pay the boat fare because you have money in your hands, there is no reason to take advantage of others in vain, even if you are a friend, there is no need to be entangled in money. As his quasi-son-in-law and successful life, when he really needs money, both the Yan family and the Zeng family will inevitably donate generously.

As for the failure of the big bear recruitment, it can only be said that each has its own needs, or that its potential stock has not yet become a high-performance stock that has been red all the way, and it is not worth worshipping talents at present. Didn't they all say it, real talents are tsundere, and you won't easily go out of the mountain if you don't take a look.

Whether Da Xiong is a virtuous person remains to be studied, and Uncle Zhong and Li San are probably not virtuous, maybe they can only be regarded as pickles. Once in a while, I think it tastes good, but if you eat it every day or even serve it as a big dish, it will definitely not work. Fortunately, Uncle Zhong is diligent and sophisticated, and it is enough to be a housekeeper. Li San is calm and ruthless, and occasionally doing some inconvenient things for Fang Gongzi can be regarded as making the best use of his talents.

When Zeng Ye ridiculed Fang Zhongyong's meat buns and beat the dog, the filial bear did not catch it well.

Familiar feelings, familiar smells, the big bear was on his knees, and his mother was beating him with a cane.

Da Xiong felt very aggrieved: "It's not your old man who asked me to observe Fang Gongzi's personality and then decide whether to take refuge, and you are not in good health, if I follow Fang Gongzi to Beijing, who will take care of you?" ”

His mother reprimanded: "Foolish! Serving your mother is just a small filial piety, and reviving the lintel of your Lin family is a great filial piety. Wei Niang doesn't want you to follow Fang Gongzi too early, because she is worried that he will follow Wu Qi's old story of sucking, win you over with small kindness and righteousness, and let you work hard for him. Our Xiong family only has your blood and bones, if it is easy to break it, how can you let your mother live. Today, Fang Gongzi clearly said that he pitied my son's talent, and did not take your refusal as a grievance, and arranged the life of my mother and son, and he should be a generous and benevolent person. Isn't it a pity that my son missed the opportunity to get into the league in vain? After Fang Gongzi is in high school, when he is released as an official, you must go to work as soon as possible, and you must do your best and do your best. ”

Fang Zhongyong didn't know that his generosity made the wise mother bear think that she was a person worth taking refuge in, and even if she knew it, she didn't bother to pay attention to it. Because he's busy with a big thing, making fish.

As the saying goes, if you haven't eaten pork, you've never seen a pig run.

As a pseudo-cook who has been working in a restaurant for a long time, Fang Zhongyong is dismissive of the steamed carp served by the cook. Fresh is fresh, but the lackluster taste is really not appetizing. Sweet and sour, must be sweet and sour.

There's no ketchup, that's okay, the sugar is red anyway. With the practice of sweet and sour fish cooked in later generations, a plate of sweet and sour fish with full color and flavor will be out of the pot. Coupled with the catfish with a lot of oil and water, fry it slightly in oil, and then steam it in the pot, which is tender and smooth, and there are few spines, so as not to tie my Keiko. As for who eats, of course it's Keiko from my family who eats it, Yan Juhou, Zeng Ye, etc., what sweet and sour fish do you eat?

If you want to eat fish, boiled fish to understand.

It just so happened that the boatman caught a grass carp of more than ten catties, cut it into double flying slices, thickened it, boiled the fish bones into soup, and made spicy oil. What, no chili peppers, replace them with dogwood, and put more peppercorns to remove moisture. Several people gathered around the pot, eating and talking so much that they couldn't speak. Of course, it is also possible that it is hemp.

Wang's and Yan Rongyue and other ladies ate sweet and sour fish, steamed catfish, and rice wine, and they were also very happy.

Wang also quipped: "We are all stained with Keiko's light today, otherwise Fang Gongzi is afraid that he will not cook such a delicious meal for us!" ”

Yan Rongyue said shyly: "How can there be! If you don't let Fang Gongzi make a few more and send them over, one for each person. ”