Hui Niang is a person who can't be idle, the Chamber of Commerce and the Silver Horn are on the right track, her work is a little more leisurely, and she immediately starts to take care of the business of opening a wine shop.

She was born in a pharmacy, but she has no experience in the catering industry, and she can only be the behind-the-scenes owner of the wine store, not only to hire a man and a chef, but also to hire a shopkeeper who can also serve as a bookkeeper.

When Hui Niang opened a wine shop in Zhangluo, Shen Xi was immersed in hard study, and this time he really studied hard.

This year is the year of the academy examination, if he can be admitted to Xiucai, Shen Xi will be able to advance to the scholar class with this, and he has to pay more attention to this exam. In the past, he had a lot of perfunctory study, but this time he needed to memorize and master a large number of books when he was approaching the exam, "Four Books" and "Five Classics" were necessary, "Four Books and Chapters and Sentences Collection Annotations" and "Five Classics Commentary" must also be memorized well, "Primary School", "Filial Piety Scripture", "Sexual Theory" and so on are essential, and even Cheng Wen has to memorize a lot.

Feng Huaqi not only showed Shen Xi the collection of excellent contemporary texts such as "Jinghua Daily Copy" treasured at home, but also borrowed the latest forbidden current literature booklets such as "Literary Essence", "Model" and "Tips" from outside, many of which belonged to the rare books lost in later generations, and many were even unique books, which Shen Xi had never heard of before, and this time it was also an eye-opener.

Shen Xi swam in the sea of questions every day, at first Feng Huaqi only gave him one homework a day, and later, Shen Xi had to write four books and five scriptures every day.

Coupled with reading, Shen Xi often stayed up vigils.

“…… Han Wa'er, my mother heard that those who have the ability to hang their heads on the beam and stab the strands, or the mother will also learn to get you a rope, you tie your hair and hang it on the beam, and then put an awl under your buttocks, how about it? ”

Although Shen Xi refused, it also forced him to stay up late every day to rest, and the next day he had to get up early to go to school, so he could only sneak up for an hour while his husband was not paying attention.

Shen Xi felt that this was a crime at all. If you can sleep until you wake up naturally, you can study hard during the day, why do you have to stay up late? Didn't the ancients know that when you have a good rest, you can only get twice the result with half the effort by reading?

End of February. It is the last routine examination before the college examination.

Zhou urged again, for fear that Shen Xi would fail in this routine school examination.

Just when Shen Xi was nervous about preparing for the exam, Hui Niang brought back a message on this day, saying that Master Fujian Jinxue Dao would go to various prefectures and counties to inspect the examination room of the current year's college during this time, so that Shen Xi would have a chance. Follow Su Tong to visit the chief examiner of the college exam.

Since the orthodox years of Yingzong, Jin Inspector Xuedao is responsible for the local imperial examination supervision within the Thirteen Political Envoys, also known as Tixue Dao, which is equivalent to the official position of the Qing Dynasty.

The Tingzhou Provincial Court Examination is conducted by Fujian Provincial Court as the chief examiner, and from April, the Provincial Academy Examination was presided over by the Provincial Examination.

Inting Prefecture is located in western Fujian, the farthest away from the provincial capital of Fuzhou. Therefore, the Tingzhou government examination will also be later than other state capitals, the middle of the hospital examination involves the details of the examination and the release of the results, and there may be obstacles to the road between the provinces, the Tingzhou government examination is tentatively scheduled to be held in late June, and the specific time is still uncertain.

From the beginning of April, candidates from all counties in Tingzhou will gather in Changting County to prepare for the exam, when the city will become very lively, the morale of scholars is high, and even there will be literary meetings every day, and teahouses and restaurants will often be chartered by some rich readers.

February 24. At the appointed time, Shen Xi met Su Tong and Zheng Qian in a teahouse not far from his home. This time, the two did not call back and forth, and acted extremely low-key, because on this day they were going to meet Liu Bing, the deputy envoy of the Fujian Procuratorial Envoy Department and the Taoist of Justice.

Liu Bing. The word Wenhuan, a native of Anfu County, Jiangxi, is a 23-year Ding Weike Jinshi in Chenghua.

After Liu Bing was an official eunuch, his grandfather Liu Shi was the prefect of Nanxiong, and Liu Bing himself was also born in the Jiake family and was quite famous as an official. This was Liu Bing's last year as deputy envoy to Fujian. His term of office will expire after completing this examination, so he is extremely cautious about this examination.

Liu Bing came to Tingzhou Mansion to routinely inspect the examination room, and at the same time communicate with the local prefect, the prefect of the county, the Confucian Department and others to prepare for the college examination in June.

Shen Xi, as a fresh candidate, should not have visited Tixue Dao, who was the chief examiner, but Su Tong had a relationship with the prefect An Rusheng, and the candidate's visit to the examiner was considered a bad habit in the imperial examination, so even Hui Niang and Zhou tried their best to encourage Shen Xi to behave better in front of the examiner, so that the opportunity to show off talent in the first list will be greatly increased.

“…… Brother Shen, when you see Lord Tixue in a while, you try to talk as little as possible, I heard that this Liu Tixue is a strict official, and he can't rub sand in his eyes, if you accidentally say something offensive, it may affect your college exam this year. When he was about to arrive at the official post station in the north of the city, Su Tong carefully reminded Shen Xi.

This visit to Liu Bing was carried out in secret, but he would not ask for gifts, so as not to be regarded as bribing the examiner.

But if this visit is successful, the three of them can successfully pass the Xiucai examination in the future, and the gifts that should be given will still be sent in a different way, which is also an unwritten rule in officialdom. Since you come to ask someone to do something, you can not give gifts first, so as not to attract tongues, but after the matter is completed, the number of gifts must not be less, otherwise you may be retaliated against afterwards.

When they arrived at the official post station, Su Tong bowed his name, and then the three of them waited outside.

It was approaching dusk, and there was no one outside the official station, but Shen Xi always felt that this was inappropriate, even if nothing happened during today's visit, but if he really passed the hospital exam and passed the Xiucai, others would also think crookedly, thinking that he was admitted to Xiucai because of bribing the examiner.

Anyway, Tang Yin, who went to Beijing to take the Jinshi exam a few years later, didn't he suffer a loss that was very close to the examiner?

Shen Xi couldn't help but say, "Brother Su, Brother Zheng, I see that Lord Tixue is busy with official business today, so let's leave first and come back to visit?" ”

Su Tong smiled and said: "Brother Shen is so pedantic, if you can meet Master Tixue, it will be of great help to the three of you and me to study, and it will be much more useful than you going back to read a few books." Why wait? ”

Shen Xi beat a drum in his heart, if Liu Bing was willing to see it, now it is estimated that he will also send someone out to spread the word, and if he does not see it for a long time, it means that Liu Bing does not want to be contaminated with the bad habits of these officialdoms.

After half an hour, Zhike came out of it and replied that Liu Tixue was not inside.

"Liu Tixue just returned to the post house, did he go out again?" Zheng Qian looked at Su Tong and Shen Xi with a puzzled expression.

Shen Xi sighed, this acquaintance went in for so long before he came out to spread the word that the person was not there, and it was clear that Liu Bing didn't want to see anyone. I'm still shy and left. That's just a smear on your face.

The three of them had no choice but to return home.

Walking on the road, Su Tong asked Shen Xi about his preparations for the exam in recent days. Shen Xi shook his head and said, "There are too many books to read, people are almost confused, and they can't remember those classic historical books." ”

Su Tong said with a smile: "It is said that you should come out more to breathe, brother." Look at me and Brother Zheng, we often move around. If you have the chance, you should come out and walk with us, don't worry, I will ask the prefect for help in the future. I will definitely be able to see Liu Tixue himself next time. ”

Shen Xi didn't say anything, and when he got home, Hui Niang and Zhou's side were waiting a little anxiously. When they learned the specific situation from Shen Xikou, Hui Niang frowned slightly, she felt that the situation might be a little bad.

"Mother, aunt, I can understand your feelings about hoping that I can be admitted to Xiucai, but if you go to visit the examiner like this, even if you win Xiucai, others will point fingers. They'll say it's not my real talent. This may also cause disgust among the students, and even if I had passed the exam, I would have been expelled. ”

Zhou scolded: "Bastard boy, everyone else goes to see Master Tixue, but if you don't go to see him, isn't it a loss?" Kindness as a donkey's liver and lungs! ”

Hui Niang pulled Zhou and said, "Sister, don't complain about Xiaolang, this matter may be due to my sister's lack of consideration, although there have been candidates who have visited the examiner over the years." The examiner also made it convenient for these candidates, but perhaps this Liu Tixue didn't like this set himself. If this really hinders Xiaolang's education, it is a big sin for his sister. ”

Hui Niang's face showed worry. Based on her experience in dealing with people, she can naturally see that Shen Xi touched a nail when she visited this time. But she can't remedy it at the moment, so she can only hope that the adults over there don't care about the villains, and don't take things to heart.

After Su Tong and Zheng Qian went to visit Liu Bing again, Hui Niang stopped letting Shen Xi go, two days later. Liu Bing left Tingzhou Mansion and went north to Shaowu Mansion to continue his investigation.

Hui Niang learned a piece of news from the yamen, which made her feel a little comforted...... Su Tong and Zheng Qian, with the help of the prefect An Rusheng, met Liu Bing before parting, and Liu Bing seemed to appreciate the two young talents.

Because Shen Xi didn't go to see him for the second time, and Liu Bing seemed to be very talkative, Hui Niang finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"I said let this kid go, but he didn't go. Now it's good, the adults are gone, and they don't even have a chance to make a good impression. Zhou regretted a little, she was a little scared after listening to Shen Xi's words, so she didn't dare to insist on letting Shen Xi go again.

Hui Niang smiled: "It's okay." Xiaolang has real talent and learning, and he can rely on his own ability to gain fame. ”

Zhou smiled and didn't take it seriously.

When the Zhou family was busy taking care of the children in the afternoon, Hui Niang came over and said to Shen Xi with an apologetic face: "Xiaolang, it's all because my aunt didn't think it through, if you have no hope of going to school because of this, even if your aunt dies, it's not enough to apologize." You can't blame me, do you? ”

Shen Xi comforted: "Aunt, you are also doing this for my consideration, how can I blame?" ”

"That's good, that's good. I'm afraid that you will hate me when you turn around and think that your aunt is nosy. ”

Hui Niang stroked her chest, and her words were a little resolute, "Aunt has thought about it, if you really delay your admission to school because of this, even if your aunt exhausts her family property, she will donate a prisoner to you back, and she will not let you delay the entrance examination." ”

Shen Xi could only hehe about it.

In the middle of the Ming Dynasty, because of the war against Warat, the prisoners no longer only relied on shadow and local selection, but also bought places through money.

As long as you have the status of a prisoner, you can also participate in the township examination.

Although Shen Xi didn't know how much an inmate was worth, he expected that it would be hundreds or thousands at the most. In other words, Shen Xi's hard work can actually be exchanged for silver, a talent is equivalent to more than ten years of hard study for a scholar, and it is also equivalent to accepting a few hundred taels of silver to become a prisoner.

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PS: The third update!

This chapter is written on the train.,When you arrive in Chongqing later, you may have to find a hotel to stay and find a place to have dinner.,It's estimated that there is no time to code again.,For the sake of the Son of Heaven being so diligent.,Everyone subscribe to support it! (To be continued.) )http://