Yuan Keli is a serious scholar of Wanli years, although the imperial examination system in ancient times also had many drawbacks, and was even criticized by later generations, saying that it was a prison thought, which was completely the dregs of feudal society.

But everything has to talk about two sides, although the imperial examination system has flaws, but at that time, it was the only way for the country to select materials, and it did provide a lot of talents for the country, and furthermore, the imperial examination system has also become an important way for poor scholars to step into officialdom, display their ambitions, and serve the country.

These readers attach great importance to affection, and regard the reading field as the most important platform for connecting people and developing personal resources.

In today's view, this relationship is very unreliable, but in ancient times it was different, and the same year was a rare connection.

Because these new science and technology scholars will enter the officialdom, the rookies have no foundation, they can only unite to enhance their competitiveness, and it is the friendship of the same year that maintains this alliance.

If you have passed the Jinshi exam, but you don't know a few people in the officialdom, either you are a fool, or you are as unkind as Hai Rui.

Yuan Keli was able to become the elder of the Four Dynasties in the end, but he was not old-fashioned, although he was upright, but he would never be like Hai Rui, and finally became a loner, good people were offended, bad people were also offended, and in the end, no one admitted it.

Yuan Keli is a detective, the name of a detective is not something that can be achieved by one person, he must have a large number of supporters, through these supporters, in order to obtain more information, just like Li Mi used a large group of children such as Qingque'er as his own source of intelligence.

Therefore, Yuan Keli also has a lot of network resources, which is one of the reasons why he simply agreed to Li Mi's request.

Li Mi is also a resolute character, because detectives know that it is very necessary to race against time, because criminals will not be caught with their hands tied, let alone sit still.

After he followed Yuan Keli out of the mansion, he sat in a sedan chair and came to the prosperous area of Suzhou.

During the day, the city of Suzhou is very lively, with street vendors and shops, and all kinds of pedestrians, which is really dizzying, and Li Mi even saw many foreign missionaries in black robes and white hats.

However, he didn't have the leisure to pay attention to these, but Yuan Keli saw that Li Mi was calm and relaxed, and he was not used to seeing the scenery on the street, and he was a little surprised in his heart, and looked at Li Mi twice.

The two of them traveled through the downtown area in a short time and came to a Yajing manor in the east of the city.

This manor occupies a large area, the pavilions and pavilions are hidden between the green and beautiful, and the white walls of Daiwa are like hermits who do not eat the fireworks of the world.

Li Mi saw that the people of the manor were respectful to Yuan Keli, and the latter was like a leisurely stroll, which showed that the owner of the manor should be Yuan Keli's old acquaintance, and he would be so familiar with him when he often walked around.

When he arrived at the inside of the manor, Li Mi was a little eye-opener, because there was a big drying field in this manor.

This drying field is not used to dry grain, and a dozen or twenty slaves are walking back and forth, in full swing, and they are all drying books!

The whole drying field is a smell of ink, and on the other side, there are many maids and small maids moving all kinds of collections, calligraphy, paintings, gold and stone utensils and antiques, which are dazzling!

What kind of manor is this, it is clearly an ancient museum!

Yuan Keli had seen that Li Mi was not interested in the excitement of Suzhou City earlier, and he was quite surprised and disappointed, but now that Li Mi finally showed a look of surprise, he also smiled.

Li Mi followed Yuan Keli to the three-story wooden building behind the drying field, and then walked in, and there were also many people sorting out the collections.

"Dechun, you're so excited today!"

Yuan Keli greeted him like this, and a white-haired old man who was immersed in repairing and framing old calligraphy raised his head and smiled at Yuan Keli: "What kind of wind blew our Suzhou blue sky here." ”

Yuan Keli couldn't help but shake his head, and nodded at the old man, the two seemed to be old friends.

"Brother Xiang, don't tease the little brother, I've been kicked out, what's the matter, today I will introduce an interesting child to you."

Yuan Keli pointed at Li Mi, and Li Mi also hurriedly clenched his fists.

"His name is Li Mi, and he is the little brother I just met."

"Li Mi, this is Xiang Mu Laozhongshu."

When Li Mi heard this, he couldn't help but be taken aback, wasn't the honorific title a surname and an official position in ancient times, this person named Xiang Mu, had he ever made a Chinese book order?

But people with a little bit of historical common sense should know that the Ming Dynasty did not have a prime minister, since the Hu Weiyong case, the Ming Dynasty abolished the Zhongshu Province, except for the Zhongshu Sheren, all the official positions in the Zhongshu Province are gone, why is this Mu also called Zhongshu?

This is where Li Mi's unfamiliar with history lies.

This Zhongshu does not refer to the Zhongshu Order, but refers to the fact that Xiang Mu used to be an official in the pavilion.

The official position of the pavilion in the Ming Dynasty was remarkable, because there was no prime minister system, but His Majesty the Emperor had limited energy and could not act on his own, so he needed to find helpers.

Where do you find these helpers? Just look for it in the pavilion!

The pavilion turned out to be a place like the National Library, and there were university scholars in it, and the official position was not high, and it was only five grades.

But the Ming Emperor asked these scholars to come out to assist the government and participate in political affairs, although they did not have the name of the prime minister, but they did the work of the prime minister, this is the cabinet.

Therefore, the pavilion has become a department that the new scholars most want to enter, because in the middle and late Ming Dynasty, the vast majority, and even all the auxiliary ministers, almost all came from the pavilion, and if you want to become one person under ten thousand people, you must first enter the pavilion, which has become a consensus.

This Xiang Mu can enter the pavilion, and if you look at his current belongings, you will know his ability.

Li Mi also went back to inquire later, and found out that this Mu Nai is a descendant of the great collector Xiang Bian, a descendant of the Tang and Jin clans, and has a solid family background, which is known to everyone in Suzhou City!

Seeing this posture, Li Mi also knew that there was a play in the matter of handwriting identification, so he hurriedly saluted Xiang Mu and said, "Boy Li Mi has seen Xiang Zhongshu. ”

Yuan Keli is a detective, and Li Mi is also engaged in criminal investigation, and it is okay to be cheeky and call himself a junior, but in front of Xiang Mu, he can't call himself a junior.

The title of junior is not something that can be used casually, for example, the other party is an official or a scholar, and you yourself must be a scholar before you can call yourself a junior, Lu Chongning can call himself a junior in front of Yuan Keli and the others, but he Li Mi can't.

In ancient times, there were many rules, and it was also a shame that Li Mi had the heart to pay attention, otherwise I really don't know how many jokes would be made.

Xiang Mu's vision is extremely vicious, after all, he is engaged in collection, and if his vision is not accurate, he will suffer a big loss, not only for the collection, but also for people, otherwise it is easy to be deceived.

The old man glanced up and down, and saw that Li Mi's face was not bad, and his bearing was extraordinary, although he was wearing strange clothes, especially the pair of leather shoes under his feet, which made people frown, but since Yuan Keli dared to bring him as soon as he knew him, it showed that this young man must have something different from ordinary people.

"*Friends don't have to be polite, it's always raining these days, the books are damp, the smell here is heavy, let's go to the study to talk."

When he arrived at Xiang Mu's study, Li Mi couldn't help but be surprised, because the study was clean, but the collection was very rare, except for a few large bookcases, there was only a word hanging on the wall, and it was full of collection stamps.

Xu saw Li Mi's expression, and Xiang Mu casually explained: "Not everyone can come in my study, since you are Liqing's friend, you are my friend, you don't have to be restrained." ”

When Li Mi heard this, he couldn't help but feel relieved, the three of them sat down separately, but Yuan Keli took the initiative to cook tea, which shows that Yuan Keli is indeed very familiar with this Mu, because the scholars are the most polite, and they don't even need the basic red tape between the readers, which is really like their own home.

Xiang Mu was not idle, Xu was to alleviate Li Mi's crampedness, he took advantage of Yuan Keli's time to make tea, walked to the inner room, and took out a beautiful long box in a short time.

"Little brother, I don't have any other interests, I just like to collect some novel things, a few days ago, the family from the Quanzhou maritime merchants, enough to get a Western object, but the old man doesn't know what it is, today is just right, take it out for you and Liqing to see..."

Li Mi hurriedly said politely: "The old Chinese calligrapher hides the world, and he knows the past and the present, and there are still things that the old Chinese book doesn't recognize, this is about to open his eyes..."

When Xiang Mu heard this, he couldn't help but be proud, so he opened the Nanmu long box, and Yuan Keli also came over, but he saw that the box was lined with silk, a box was placed on the left, and a carved pear wood tube was set up on the right, the thickness of the thumb, the length of half an arm, a bucket at one end, a jade mouth on the tail, and a bag similar to a sachet was attached.

"This thing should be a musical instrument, but there is no trick, it seems to be a flute and not a hole, and it is not a flute, and the old man invited everyone to see it, and no one can play it..."

Yuan Keli saw that Xiang Mu said something novel, and he couldn't help but carefully pick up the thing and look at it at both ends.

Li Mi was also excited, because he not only recognized this thing, but also longed for it for a long time!

That's right, this thing in Xiang Mu's collection is a cigarette stick!

Li Mi is an old smoking gun, but unfortunately tobacco was introduced to China at the end of the Ming Dynasty, Li Mi thought that he couldn't cure his addiction to smoking, and he always regretted it.

As everyone knows, tobacco can be traced back to the third year of Wanli, but there is no evidence, generally speaking, the academic community agrees with the historian Wu Han's statement, tobacco is about the end of Wanli years to come in.

Of course, thanks to Zheng He's seven voyages to the West, the overseas trade of the Ming Dynasty was also very prosperous, and there were a lot of imported goods.

Li Mi didn't care about this, when he thought of being able to quench his addiction to smoking, his whole body was full of smiles, and Xiang Mu saw this, and couldn't help asking, "Could it be that the little brother really recognizes this thing?" ”

Li Mi smiled without saying a word, and opened the small box on the left side of the box, but saw that it was moisture-proof yellow paper, and a fragrance came to his nose.

These tobaccos have a golden color, and they are still the best color!