Chapter 196: Autumn is coming, and the examiner has been decided

Liulichang is located in the southwest of the outer city of Beijing, compared with the lively inner city, here has not been developed accordingly, everywhere there are barren hills and river forks, full of white reeds "swing", the wind blows, the sky is full of white flowers. However, if you walk a mile down the avenue, you will see a sprawling complex of buildings filled with peddlers and pawns, like a bustling street market.

Originally, because of the low land price and the proximity to the inner city, since the Shanxi Guild Hall settled here, Shaanxi Guild Hall, Shandong Guild Hall and Sichuan Guild Hall have successively moved their headquarters and warehouses from the inner city where every inch of land is valuable, and only the shops in the inner city are still open.

Because so many guild halls have been relocated here, it has also made the Liulichang area a new commercial area.

Sun Dan has been wondering whether to buy a piece of land here and build a new house. As far as he knows, Liulichang has only gradually prospered since the middle of the Ming Dynasty, and now, it is one of the largest commercial areas in Beijing. If you can buy a piece of land here and pass it on, it can be regarded as leaving an asset for future generations.

Last time, he and Bi Yun set up Pingqiuli together and got 100,000 taels of silver. Today, Lujia Qianzhuang also has thousands of taels of silver every month, and it is also a wealthy family in the capital. In ancient times, he didn't spend much, three meals a day, food, clothing, housing and transportation, and he didn't spend a few dollars, so much cash in his hands was useless, it was better to buy some industries, speculate in real estate or something.

To make an investment, there is no project with more potential for capital increase than the land here in Liulichang.

Therefore, early in the morning, he hired a carriage and walked out of the inner city slowly, ready to ask a few "traitor" merchants from the Shanxi Guild Hall to help him see if he could enclose a piece of land.

It was already the end of July, and the weather was so hot that the sun had been shining for more than ten days, and the ground was white, and as soon as the carriage passed, a high cloud of dust was raised, which made people want to cough.

After reading Taoism for more than two months, although Sun Dan still didn't understand Taoism, Lao Zhuang read a lot, and his "sexual" personality was much calmer than before. Even if he was so hot that he was irritable, he still sat quietly in the steamer-like carriage, with a relaxed and casual face, but there was no sweat on his ordinary face.

However, although Chen Rong next to him was holding a volume of "The Mean" in his hand, sweat fell like raindrops. His body shook as the carriage jolted, and his face was full of pain. There were also a lot of beads of sweat on the book in his hand, and he was pinched and wilted, and he didn't feel muttered in his mouth: "It's so hot that it's evil 'sex' on this day, and it's going to be autumn soon, and when the time comes, I will be offended when I enter the examination room." ”

"Shuzhi, the heart is calm and naturally cool." Sun Dan said quietly.

"No, I don't have Mr. Jingyuan's qi cultivation skills, and I can't calm down this heart." Chen Rong glanced at Sun Dan with admiration, and sighed unconsciously in his heart: After reading the sage books all his life, he still panicked and 'chaotic' when he encountered major events. It's still Mr. Jingyuan's kung fu to get home, and he is so calm. However, in next month's township test, Mr. Jingyuan will definitely be successful. If even he can't hit it, that's a weird thing. That being the case, Sir has nothing to worry about!

Sun Danzheng was dry and didn't want to talk much, but when he heard Chen Rong say this, he only smiled lightly, but he felt very helpless in his heart.

Since he knew that he was Sun Dan, even if this Chen Rong had entangled him, he came to him all day long to ask for teaching, his attitude was respectful, and he was still holding the disciple ceremony, and he had already regarded Sun Dan as his teacher.

It feels very bad to be treated as a teacher by someone older than himself, and as a modern person, Sun Dan prefers to treat Chen Rong as an ordinary friend.

Because he was annoyed and missed his family, Sun Dansuo returned to his home in Shibei Hutong from Baiyunguan. However, if you can hide for a while, you can't hide for a lifetime. Within a few days, this Chen Xiucai took a car, rushed over from Baiyunguan with a large cart of books, and wanted to stick with Sun Dan alive and dead, and said that he had no money and wanted to spend a few months here with Sun Dan.

The gentleman has the friendship of wealth, this Shuntianfu Township test, if Sun Dan and Chen Rong are both successful, the two will be the same year. And the relationship between the same year is the most reliable interpersonal relationship between scholars, which is a bit similar to the comradeship of being a soldier together in modern times. Such a relationship will accompany each other for life, and in the future, as officials, they will support each other and take care of each other.

Since it was the same year, eating and living together, the one who had the money to pay the bill was a very normal thing in ancient times, even if they lived in each other's homes for a year and a half, it didn't matter, which was also the basic law of interpersonal relations for scholars at that time.

There was no way, Sun Dan could only let people clean up a room and arrange for this guy to live. Last time in Baiyunguan, he also kindly gave him twenty taels of silver, thinking that with this money, this guy could support him for a year or two, but who would have thought that as soon as Chen Rong got the money, he would exchange it all for books, buy a big cart full, and spend all the silver in his hand. When he was shy in his pocket, he went to Sun Dan's house to eat.

When he met Chen Rong, Sun Dan could only cry out in vain.

For such a nerd, Sun Dan is very annoyed, and every time he meets Chen Rong to ask for questions. Sun Dan casually came up with a topic for him to compose, and when Chen Rong finished writing the article, he casually said a few words.

It's strange to say, after seeing that an eight-strand essay was written, and with Sun Dan's guidance, Chen Rong's article became more and more spicy. In the past, Chen Xiucai was a little talented. It can be educated by the system of examination-oriented education such as Sun Dan's format and placement, and the aura in the text is gone, replaced by a stale atmosphere that is rare in the Ming Dynasty, and at first glance, it is also a bit of the taste of old scholars in the Qing Dynasty.

And Chen Rong became more and more stunned.

The examination period is approaching, and there are ten days left to be autumn, Sun Dan doesn't care, Chen Rong has been so nervous that he has insomnia for several days, and he sighs all day long, saying that his mind seems to be embroidered, and he writes an essay, but he feels that the pen is jerky, and the article is like a clear soup and little water, and he looks at it and is disgusted in his heart, not to mention the examiner who examines the papers, and it is estimated that this subject will be brushed down.

Sun Dan smiled and said: "That's right, don't worry, Shuzhi, just write it according to this method, and I'll take you for it." ”

Chen Rong was naturally convinced of Sun Dan's words, and his spirits began to cheer up. On this day, Sun Dan said that he wanted to go to Liuli Factory to buy land, and Chen Xiucai was bored with reading these days, so he became Sun Dan's tail and ran over to see the excitement.

Hearing Chen Xiucai say that he was in a panic, Sun Dan comforted him and said: "Shuzhi, don't worry, I am fortunate to have it, but I have lost my life, and if I don't finish the exam, no one knows what the final result will be." Instead of being upset right now, it's better to have fun and relax. ”

Chen Rong smiled bitterly: "Mr. Jingyuan is right, maybe it's because it's too hot, I'm a little panicked." ”

As he spoke, the carriage entered the complex, and was greeted by nothing but the rolling heat and the clamor of selling. Hearing this noise, Chen Rong frowned.

Fortunately, the carriage turned around a street corner and arrived in front of the Shanxi Guild Hall.

There is a forest in front of the Shanxi Guild Hall, and there are many cool scholars sitting on the grass inside, all of whom are endorsing loudly.

At this time, a gust of wind blows, and the coolness is suddenly born, which makes people feel refreshed physically and mentally. Chen Rong was a little happy: "This place is good, I finally heard the sound of reading." ”

Sun smiled lightly: "In a few days, there will be more scholars here, and when I build a house here in the future, Brother Shuzhi will like it even more." "It turned out that after the new monarch succeeded to the throne, the imperial court issued a decree to open Enke. It is now the end of July, and the ninth day of August is the township examination in each province, and the general examination will be held in February next year. In ancient times, the transportation was inconvenient, and the township test was held in the provincial capital of the province and did not feel any trouble, but the test was held in the capital, and when it met a remote province, it would take half a year to walk on the road.

As a result, after participating in the Jinshi course, most of them did not go home but lived in the capital, and waited for three years to take the exam. Those with good family backgrounds directly buy houses and live in the capital, while those with poor families live in major monasteries and Taoist temples in the capital.

Of course, there are also many people who live in the guild halls of their provinces.

Since they were able to enter Beijing to participate in the examination, the candidates were all famous and famous, and they were the elites of a province, and the people in the guild hall were also very respectful to them.

Also because there are many people who lived in the area of Liulichang before becoming officials, and when they developed later, it was natural to buy land and property here, which is also an important reason why Liulichang became a famous dignitary residence in Beijing in the future.

When the representative of Jin Shang, Shi Ji Wanquan saw Sun Dan, he was naturally very respectful, and when he heard Sun Dan say that he wanted to buy dozens of acres of land here to build a house, he immediately patted his chest and said that this matter was wrapped up in himself, and he must help Sun Dan circle a piece of feng shui treasure, and the price was much lower than that on the market. As for the workers needed to build the house, he can also help Sun Dan recruit them.

Sun Dan was happy in his heart and asked how much it would cost to build the Tonggong and how long it would take.

Shi Wanquan roughly calculated and replied that it would take more than 10,000 taels to buy land, and as for repairing the house, it was difficult to say, it depended on the scale and materials, but it would cost 100,000 taels anyway.

Chen Xiucai was bored listening to it next to him, as soon as he heard this astronomical figure, his jaw was about to fall to the ground, he didn't expect Sun Dan to be so rich.

Sun Dan smiled: "You don't need to build it too well, let's fence the land first, and build some yards casually for the house, don't be too public." After all, I am a little showman, and it is not appropriate for the house to be built too well. ”

Shi Wanquan said to Sun Dan flatteringly: "Mr. Sun, you are modest, with your talent, this autumn, no matter how you say it, you can also be a lifter, even if the Jinshike in the future is for you, it is a snail with three fingers--- and you can hold it steadily." ”

"That's not easy to say, the matter of the imperial examination, three points of hard work, seven points of providence. is as talented as Tang Bohu, after winning the Yuan, he took the exam for four consecutive years, but he didn't get a jinshi. If he is unlucky, Sun Dan is afraid that he will not even be able to lift people. Sun Dan casually said a few words of modesty.

"Otherwise, otherwise, I expect Mr. Sun to be successful in this subject." Shi Wanquan smiled mysteriously.

Sun Dan was a little surprised: "Old Shi, you are too sure, right?" ”

Shi Wanquan laughed: "Mr. Sun, don't tell lies in front of the Ming people, who in the capital doesn't know that you are the son of the Sun family of the Marquis of Huichang." ”

"Yes, I'm from the Sun family, but what does this have to do with this year's autumn season?" Sun Dan felt strange.

Shi Wanquan smiled: "Actually, Mr. should have known a long time ago, it is the villain who has a lot of mouths, cough, my mouth!" As he spoke, he pretended to slap himself and said, "I heard that the examiners of this year's Shuntianfu Township Examination, Qiao Yu, the secretary of the Ministry of Officials, and Sun Henian, the right attendant of the household department, are the chief and deputy examiners. ”

Sun Dan was stunned, this is a big deal!

He also knew what meaning was hidden in Shi Wanquan's smile, perhaps, in the eyes of this "treacherous" businessman, he was a child of the Sun family, and Sun Henian was the deputy examiner of this year's Shuntianfu Township Examination. In this way, he can be very cheap when he participates in the autumn festival.

However, Sun Dan also knew that this matter might not be a good thing for him. He has a huge database in his head, no matter who is the examiner, it is the same for him, and he is also confident that he will get the first place to be dismissed.

Listening to Boss Shi talk about this year's autumn festival in Shuntianfu, Chen Rong, who was still distracted just now, also came to his senses and pricked up his ears.

Sun Dan smiled bitterly: "Sun Dan's fame is all based on his real skills, and whoever is the examiner is the same." It is true that the Crane Year Gong is my grandchild's ancestor, but if the grandson is faint and falls into Sun Mountain, he will naturally be laughed at by others. But if you are successful, you will be suspected of fraud and fall into the hands of others. Whether it is in or not, it is not a good thing for Sun Dan. Speaking of this, Sun Dan was a little depressed in his heart. Knowing this, he shouldn't have come to the capital with the Sun family in the first place, staying in Shandong honestly, with his own ability, it is not as simple as drinking water?

Shi Wanquan was very disapproving, in his opinion, it is natural to take advantage of the advantage, even if there is no way, he has to find a way out. Relationships like Sun Dan and the examiner can't be asked for by others, why is this Mr. Sun upset?

"Otherwise, Mr. Jingyuan is a sincere gentleman, and it is understandable to have this kind of thought. But ......" Chen Rong said with a smile: "When Xiao Yang was the top student, it was his father Yang Ge Lao who read the papers, that is, the father and son were teachers and students, but the world didn't think there was anything wrong. Because in everyone's opinion, if a great talent like Mr. Yang Shen can't win the championship, it is a very strange thing. In the same way, if Mr. Jingyuan does not raise it, he is afraid that Shilin will be in an uproar. On the contrary, it seems that the Crane Nian Gong is bent on avoiding suspicion and deliberately does not take his own children, which is a hypocritical person. Therefore, I expect Mr. Jingyuan to be successful in this subject. ”

"Ah, that's the reason, it's really a reader, and he sees the problem more thoroughly than me." Boss Shi praised the festival: "The villain is here to wish Mr. Sun success." ”

Sun Dan could only smile bitterly, and said secretly: These two people are outside, their eyes are limited, and they can only see one side of the problem, but how do they know the doorway here. Today's Keshun Tianfu Township Test may not be a good thing for my Sun Dan.

In the past two months, a lot of major events have happened in the capital.

At the beginning of June, Emperor Jiajing and his entourage finally arrived in the capital, as long as they entered the imperial city, they were officially the son of heaven of the Ming Dynasty. But at the moment when he was about to enter the city gate, a great event happened, a group of bureaucrats led by the cabinet deputy assistant "Mao" Ji, Jiang Mian and the Ministry of Rites Shangshu "Mao" Cheng stopped Zhu Houxuan at the city gate and asked him to enter the palace from Dong'an Gate and live temporarily in the Wenhua Palace.

This is already a provocation to Zhu Houxuan's naked "naked" and "naked", because according to the imperial court etiquette, entering the city from Dong'an Gate, and then living in the Wenhua Palace, waiting for the throne, that is the route taken by the crown prince to ascend the throne, and there is something wrong with the emperor's path.

At that time, the future Emperor Jiajing was furious and immediately replied that he was going to go through the Daming Gate and enter the Fengtian Temple.

Unfortunately, this sentence immediately stabbed the hornet's nest, and hundreds of courtiers blocked Jiajing's road, "forced" him to succeed to the throne according to the pre-designed route.

Among them, the one who shouted the most and dealt with the most was Sun Henian in the first branch of the household, speaking of excitement, Sun Dan, the elder of the Sun family, even stretched out his hand to hold Jiajing's royal bowl, and he didn't let go of life or death. Sun Henian's move also earned him a reputation as "upright and upright" in Shilin.

It's a pity that Zhu Houxuan, who had already received the information from Sun Dan from Wang Li's mouth, had already made up his mind, and when he saw Sun Henian and the ministers being so tough, he immediately said angrily: "Okay, I'm not going to Damingmen, I'll go back to Anlu." "I'm not going to do this emperor, you can find whoever you like.

So, after a long confrontation, the ministers succumbed and honestly welcomed Zhu Houxuan into the palace according to the Son of Heaven. Next is the new monarch's accession to the throne, and then the funeral of Emperor Zhu Houzhao of Daxing.

After two months of tossing, it finally came to an end.

Originally, Emperor Jiajing had always wanted to take time to meet Sun Dan. It's a pity that because the affairs are too busy, the emperor has just succeeded to the throne, and he has no chance to see Sun Dan. had to let Lu Bing come to Sun Dan on a special trip, gave him a lot of property, and said that when he was free and straightened out the major affairs of the court, he would let Sun Dan go to face the saint.

Sun Dan was preparing for the imperial examination during this time, and he didn't really want to meet the future boss, and besides, he didn't think about what to say after meeting him.

Before Lu Bing left, he stopped talking, and asked Sun Dan if he had any misunderstanding with Huang Jin for a long time. The day before entering the capital, when everyone was discussing how to deal with the hundred officials on the second day, everyone decided to use Sun Dan's method to confront the officials, but Huang Jin said that Sun Dan's idea of returning to Anlu was simply nonsense, which was too risky. If the ministers don't comply, won't the prince go back to Anlu in disgrace.

And said, "Sun Dan has this bad idea, and his heart can be punished!" ”

If Jiajing hadn't thought Sun Dan's idea was good, he would really have an opinion on Sun Dan.

Sun Dan also felt strange, he now knew that Huang Jin was the golden yellow shopkeeper in the past, he had no festivals with him before, and everyone didn't say a few words when they met, why did this Huang eunuch have a problem with him?

However, because I don't understand the specific situation, I can't think about it, and I don't think about sex.

After these two major events are completed, according to the practice of the imperial court, it is time to open Enke and amnesty the world.

It is said that this is Enke, a gift from the Son of Heaven, and all dynasties have attached great importance to this kind of examination. Because the Son of Heaven has just ascended the throne, it is necessary to discover talents through the imperial examination. , but as far as Sun Dan knows, the two examiners in this section are Yang Tinghe's people. Qiao Yu, the secretary of the ministry, stood firmly on Yang Shoufu's side in the future controversy over the big gifts, and gave the emperor many problems. As for Sun Henian, he was Yang Tinghe's protégé, and he embarrassed the emperor fiercely when Jiajing entered the palace. Because of this credit, Sun Henian was actually promoted to be the right attendant of the household department, which was naturally the result of Yang Shoufu's strong recommendation, and it is estimated that Jiajing also knocked out his front teeth and swallowed blood, pinching his nose and nodding.

It's also funny to say that these two people became examiners, and they will be the mentors of the new imperial examination people of Shuntianfu in the future. will take the test in the future, and it is estimated that the examiner will still be Yang Ge's old person. It's also funny to say, a good Enke, all the scholars on the list have become protégés of the Yang Party. Yang Tinghe is really scheming, and he actually grabbed talents with the emperor.

Sun Dan admired, but he was a little bored in his heart, it seemed that he was going to be Sun Henian's protégé. In the final analysis, no matter how he Sun Dan said, he is also a dragon hero, and now, he is the emperor on one side and the master on the other, which is really difficult to get along with!

Thinking of this, Sun Dan naturally had no intention of staying here with Shi Wanquan any longer, chatted casually for a few more words, looked at the map of the glaze factory that Shi Wanquan took out, drew a circle on it randomly, and said, "Just buy this area!" He hurriedly took his leave.

Because of something in his heart this way, Sun Dan couldn't calm down anymore, he only felt that the carriage was very hot, sweat rained down, and his whole body was soaked, as if he had just been fished out of the water.

When she got home, she saw that Sun Dan was hot and tired, and Zhiniang was very distressed, and she couldn't stop complaining, saying: "Sun Lang, you have lived in the Taoist temple for so long, and now you finally go home, but you run outside all day long, and you can't see a single shadow." It's such a hot day, it's really hot, but how can it be good? ”

Hurriedly called for water to come over and wipe Sun Dan's face.

Sun smiled and said to Zhi Niang: "But you miss me." ”

Zhi Niang's face turned red and said, "Who misses you, it's better for you to run and die outside!" ”

Seeing her red face and bumpy figure, Sun Dan's heart was moved, and she was about to hold her in her arms to warm up, when a girl came to report: "Master, has anyone from the Hou Sun Mansion of Huichang come to see the master go home?" said, if you have already returned home, please go over, the second master wants to see you. ”

"Sun Henian wants to see me?" Sun Dan frowned unconsciously, now is not the time to see him, there are still ten days before the autumn season, and now I go to see the examiner, I am afraid that I will fall into the hands of others.

Zhi Niang said: "Sun Lang, the second master has already sent several groups of people to ask, saying that you must go over, if you have something important." ”

"How many times have you been here?" Sun Dan was a little stunned, and couldn't help but feel a headache. Sun Henian is about to say something, he should be able to guess nine is not far from ten, nothing more than ......

Forget it, it's still not good.

Sun Dan said to the girl: "If you go back, just say that I haven't gone home yet." ”

"By the way, at noon, someone handed in a film, saying that it was from Yang Ge's hometown, and that it was a person named Yang Shen, please come over and talk."

Sun Dan's head was "buzzing" and "chaotic", Yang Ge Lao's group of people came together, it was really unbearable, it was estimated that he saw that he was now famous, and wanted to pull himself to join.

In Yang Ge Lao's opinion, he Sun Dan is the person of Emperor Daxing, and he has nothing to do with today's son. It's just that they didn't know that Sun Dan had already been in contact with Zhu Houxuan.

"Forget it, I can't afford to provoke it, can I hide well." Sun Dan smiled bitterly: "Zhiniang, it's about to be autumn, I'm going to find a cleaner place to study, and I won't be at home for the next ten days." If someone asks you, you say you don't know. ”

"Ah, I'm going out again, I'll prepare some luggage for you, by the way, do you want to bring a few attendants from the family?" Although Zhi Niang was unwilling, she nodded and agreed. There is always a reason for his own man to do things.

"No, I'll find a secluded place to live with Chen Rong, and I'll bring the letter back when I get to the place, anyway, it's in the capital, it's not far away."

Sun Dan found Chen Rong and asked if there was a secluded place. Originally, Baiyun Temple was a good location, but recently the news that he was studying in Baiyun Temple was publicized by Wang Li, and it was already known to passers-by, but it was not easy to go to that place again.

Chen Rong thought for a while and said, "There is an inn that is very clean and a good place to go. However, there are a lot of people in that place, and there are a lot of Xiucai who have participated in the township test recently, and there are many people. ”

"It's okay, it's hidden in the city, just go there."