After Cao Sanxi had money, he did not live a very luxurious life, but invested it in the development of other industries, in our modern terms, to expand reproduction. So his business soon developed into the grocery industry and the pawnbroking business. With the prosperity of the local area, the population of Santa Village is increasing day by day, and the government has established the Chaoyang County system here. There is still a saying in the local area: first there is Caojiadian, and then there is Chaoyang County. The Cao family's business continued to expand, gradually expanding from Chaoyang to Shenyang, Jinzhou, Japan and other places, and finally established its strong commercial base in Northeast China at the end of the Ming Dynasty. When the Qing soldiers entered the customs, the Cao family's business also developed from outside the customs to inside the customs, first returned to Taigu to set up a number, with Taigu as the center to radiate to the major cities in the Central Plains, and dominated most of China, not only that, but also stepped out of the country and went to the world.

Cao's ticket numbers have reached as far as Tokyo in Japan, Pyongyang in North Korea, Irkutsk and Kyakhta in Russia, Ulaanbaatar in Mongolia, Berlin in Germany, Paris in France, New Delhi in India, and as far as London across the English Channel. Spanning the two continents of Europe and Asia, spanning tens of thousands of miles, it has created immortal glory not only in the business history of Shanxi people, but also in the business history of Chinese. In the Qing Dynasty, the Cao family's business developed to its peak, with more than 640 businesses, assets of more than 10 million taels of silver, and a total of 37,000 employees.

However, at this time, Cao Sanxi was far from reaching this scale, and he had just gained a foothold in the Northeast. However, he was quick to think and judged that the Ming Dynasty was about to fall, and only the Manchu Qing could enter the Central Plains. On the one hand, he provided logistical support for the Manchus through his commercial strength, and on the other hand, he also established espionage agencies in the interior through his own commercial network to provide the Manchus with intelligence on the Ming Dynasty. Cao Wan'er is an extremely important chess piece he laid in the mainland.

After Fan Yubin returned home, he immediately prepared four gifts: a beautifully decorated mirror; a set of sparkling glassware; a red cashmere women's waistcoat; (The style of the vest was hand-painted by Fan Yubin, and the cashmere cloth is the latest product of the Fan family.) The production, of course, is arranged by the housekeeper to find the best tailor to do it. What, women's? Of course. Fan Yubin knew from the first time he saw Cao Youming that she was a woman dressed as a man. There's also a wool carpet with flying motifs. In addition, Fan Yubin also specially prepared a basket of potato flour and attached a detailed method by hand. He instructed the housekeeper to personally send them to the Yueming Building after the things were ready.

On the ninth day of August in the eleventh year of Chongzhen, at the end of the ugly hour, Fan Yubin got on the carriage with the lantern with the word "township test" and rushed to the Gongyuan. Along the way, there were carriages with lanterns with the words "Township Test" hanging everywhere, and they, like Fan Yubin, galloped in the direction of Gongyuan from all directions.

As soon as he arrived at the front street of Gongyuan, Fan Yubin's carriage was stopped by the soldiers guarding it. The carriage in front of it is closed to traffic, and each candidate can only bring one scholar in to help carry the luggage. Fan Yubin got out of the carriage and walked forward, Fan Wen carrying the oven behind him. They crossed the front street and came to the gate of the Gongyuan.

The Gongyuan is located in the Qifeng Street, facing the city wall and the Kuixing Tower located at the head of the city, carrying Wen Yingshui, the building is majestic, and the rules are open. Its gate is three, three doors and four pillars of stone archway are erected in front, the square amount is "tribute courtyard", and the door amount is "open astronomical luck".

As soon as the hour came, three cannon shots were heard, followed by three more. After the sound of cannons, the gate of the Gongyuan slowly opened. Fan Yubin exhaled lightly: "It's finally time to enter the examination room!" ”

Only candidates are allowed to enter the gate of the Tribute Academy. Fan Yubin carried the box alone into the gate, and inside the door was a long passage, which was the search channel for candidates to enter the examination room. Because the search is extremely careful, it can take a long time.

Fan Yubin simply found a place, put down the box, and sat on the test box. The candidates next to them looked sideways, and they secretly muttered in their hearts: It's a pity that a good pair of skins turned out to be an embroidered pillow. Can you sit under your ass in a bookcase for exams? I'm not afraid of bad luck. It seems that this life is definitely hopeless. Many candidates deliberately stayed away from Fan Yubin, for fear that they would also be contaminated with Fan Yubin's bad luck.

What about Fan Yubin? He was also aware of this, sitting on the examination box, staring at the corners of his mouth slightly upturned, dreaming sweetly. All that comes to his mind now is Cao Youming's smile, word, and move.

In fact, Fan Yubin is lonely, he crossed into this world with a heavy mission and responsibility, almost completely disconnected from this world. Although he was an orphan in his previous life, he now lives in the same house for several generations, with grandparents, father and mother, brothers and sisters, but somehow, they still make Fan Yubin feel a little strange. On the contrary, it is this Cao Youming, who is only one-sided, which makes him feel very relaxed, very cordial, and very happy. The feeling is a little strange, but it's warm. Is this what is called love at first sight?

I don't know how much time passed, and he was tapped on the shoulder: "It's your turn." A burly soldier patted Fan Yubin on the shoulder and said to him: "You, a candidate, are also bold, you dare to sit on the examination box, and you are not afraid of the anger of the saint, and the imperial examination is hopeless?" I almost fell asleep. I finally opened my eyes today. Don't sleep, hurry over, take off your clothes, shoes and socks with those people, put on only underwear, and then stand in line and wait for inspection. ”

Fan Yubin couldn't help but blush, he stood up from the examination box in embarrassment, hurriedly took off his clothes, shoes and socks, wearing only underwear, holding a coat, hat, shoes and socks in one hand, and carrying a box in the other hand, standing in a row with a group of candidates, leaning against the wall, waiting for the soldiers to come to check.

After a while, dozens of sergeants came, and they worked in pairs, one by one, to inspect them. They inspected it very carefully. The hair bun, armpits, including the private parts of the body, are checked one by one, and it can be said that they are meticulous. The bookcase was even more touched and knocked around, and the contents were slightly suspicious, either broken or cut, almost a destructive inspection.

Don't say it, these soldiers are really experienced, and the candidates will be entrained in that place, where they can hide their secrets, they seem to be able to see it, and it is accurate to check it. From time to time, candidates who were found to have entrainment were grabbed by the hair and dragged out amid the sound of these candidates crying and shouting for their mothers.

Fan Yubin also came with two wolf-like soldiers, and as soon as they pulled Fan Yubin, they were ready to check. Suddenly, one of the soldiers caught a glimpse of a special white piece of paper on Fan Yubin's bookcase and Fan Wen's special pasting early in the morning, and couldn't help but be stunned, and hurriedly made a vague gesture with the other.