At the end of the Ming Dynasty, there was a very strange phenomenon, if people were in the north, seeing the mountains and rivers broken, the people's livelihood withered, starvation all over the wilderness, and the crowd of people swarming, they would definitely say that this is the end of the dynasty, and the Ming Dynasty is afraid that it will be over, and the world will change.

But if you are in the south, but you see the prosperity of business, singing and dancing, it is a prosperous scene. In the same country, the gap is so big that people can't help but sigh.

The late Ming Dynasty was a turning point in Chinese society, but this transition and social evolution were mainly concentrated in the Jiangnan region, and the northern parts were still in the traditional agricultural society.

The evolution of society requires the accumulation of wealth, the improvement of the mode of production and organization, and the evolution of Western society is to complete the primitive accumulation of society by plundering overseas colonies, and the Ming Dynasty is big enough, and the evolution of Jiangnan is to a large extent to absorb the wealth of the northern provinces to complete the evolution of society.

At the end of the Ming Dynasty, there was a scene of large-scale cotton planting in Henan and other places, in fact, it was all over the north, which gradually became an economic colony in the south of the Yangtze River.

The Ming Dynasty was a country with a huge population, although Jiangnan had smuggling trade with the outside world, but the Ming Dynasty itself was a huge market, and the social evolution of Jiangnan relied on his dominant position in the economy within the Ming Dynasty to achieve and maintain his prosperity.

This uneven regional development is also true today, so people who are born in the south and north of the Yangtze River will give people a completely different feeling.

In the fifteenth year of Chongzhen, the north was turbulent, but the vast area south of the Yangtze River was still very peaceful, the people listened to the songs, the drama was watched, the princes and grandsons were angry and angry, and the scholars and literati were still romantic.

Wuchang Mansion, in the golden autumn season, the city is full of chrysanthemum fragrance, the area of the mansion is bustling, all kinds of good selling sound competitions seem to come and go, the street is crowded, full of noisy sounds. Obviously, it has not been affected by the erosion of the situation in the north, and the city is still alive and well.

At this time, in front of the wall outside the school, there was a crowd of people, and a group of scholars in Taoist clothes and scarves were tiptoeing to look inside. A boy dressed as a scholar, flexibly burrowed into the crowd, looked up at the list posted in front of the wall, looked a little anxiously from the left to the right, and followed the gaze in his heart silently, "The first Xia Rubi ~ the fifth Wang Fuzhi." Ah, the third son is hit! ”

The scholar's face was excited, and he exclaimed, but he did not leave, but continued to read silently in his heart, and this time after dozens of names, he saw a familiar name, and the scholar couldn't help but exclaim: "The fortieth Wang Jiezhi, the eldest prince is also hit." ”

After being happy, the scholar's face became a little anxious, he had already read more than half of the entire list, but he wanted to see the name, but it still didn't appear.

As he got further and further back, the scholar's forehead began to sweat, and he was already a little desperate, but at this moment, his eyes were fixed on the last name, and the whole person immediately jumped up excitedly and cheered loudly, "Ah! My son-in-law is in! My son-in-law is in! ”

Although it was the last place, but after all, it was a middle move, and the scholar was so excited that he danced, which attracted the attention of the scholars next to him.

"Hengyang Wang's family, this time I hit three people at once, and it will inevitably become a good story."

The surrounding scholars were talking, but the scholars hurriedly broke out of the crowd and hurried along the street.

A month later, in the south of Changsha Funan, a young scholar in his twenties, wearing a Taoist uniform, wearing a scarf, a fair appearance, and good physical talent, said goodbye to his old parents standing in front of the family with tears.

"Father, mother, the child will not be named on the gold list this time, and he will not return home!"

After the scholar finished speaking, he knelt down and kowtowed, and the old father in front of the door supported his tearful old wife, while telling the scholar not to worry about the family, while complaining about his wife, "Why are you getting older and more ignorant, Shiheng is entering Beijing to participate in the Spring Festival, this is a good thing, what are you crying about!" ”

The old mother wiped away her tears, "Son, mother just hopes that you will come back as soon as possible." ”

The scholar bowed to the ground three times, said goodbye to his old parents, took the scholar Ah Chen, carried a large box of sage books, and left the house.

Behind him, the two old men saw his figure slowly disappear from view, and the old father turned around, secretly wiped away his tears, and then helped his wife back to the yard.

This scholar's surname is Wang, his name is Yan, and his name is Shiheng, he is the same brother of Wang Fuzhi, and he has followed Wang Fuzhi for many years of learning, and he has failed several exams, but this time he has won the battle and won the fame.

Originally, he and his cousins Wang Fuzhi and Wang Jiezhi had made an appointment to enter Beijing for the exam together, but Wang Yan's family moved to Changsha earlier, and Wang Fu's family was still in Hengyang, and it would take a while for them to come over.

Wang Yan only brought some silver, a few books, and a scholar, Ah Chen, and set out on the road to Beijing to catch the exam.

In this era, the transportation is inconvenient, and it is a year and a half to go out of the far door, which can torture people to death, but Wang Yan is quite convenient to go out of Hunan, he got on the boat from Changsha, along the Xiangjiang River into Dongting Lake, and finally entered the Yangtze River, all the way smoothly, in less than half a month, Wang Yan has arrived in Nanjing.

In fact, you don't need to see the stone city where the tiger is standing on the dragon, Wang Yan already knows that he has entered the boundary of Yingtianfu, and he came all the way before, and the shore is full of houses and pastorals, chickens and dogs smell each other, and there are occasional boats passing by on the river, but the closer to Nanjing, there are more towns on both sides of the river, all of which are big houses with blue bricks and green tiles, and there are thousands of sails competing on the river, and the sound of silk and bamboo comes from time to time on the boat.

Wang Yan and the scholar Ah Chen went ashore at Dasheng Pass, and from time to time there were boats on the river approaching the dock, and groups of white-faced scholars walked off the boat, laughing and laughing, most of them were also going to catch the exam, which made Wang Yan look a little pale and knew that the competition was fierce.

After coming ashore from Dasheng Pass, Wang Yan and Ah Chen walked to Nanjing City, and found that the closer they got to Nanjing City, the smoother and wider the roadside became, the roadside was full of peaches and plums, and the pond was full of lotus lotuses. Now the season is not right, Wang Yan can't see a beautiful scenery, but the reader is angry, and he has imagined the picturesque beauty of the suburbs of Nanjing between spring and summer.

Entering the outer Guo of Nanjing, the city of Nanjing is more prosperous, the road is enough to accommodate ten carriages and drive, the road is bustling with vehicles, groups of caravans loaded with grain, charcoal, cloth, tea, paper inkstone, pork, fresh fish into the city of Nanjing, for the city to send blood.

Wang Yan and Ah Chen walked on the road, only to see that there were gardens on both sides, with pink walls and fine willows, and heavy cornices, and there was no open space. In these forest gardens, the attics are one after another, and the laughter of the young ladies and maids inside is heard outside the hospital from time to time, so that Wang Yan, a scholar who has never seen the world, can't help but stop, look up at the courtyard building, and listen to the sound of the piano inside.

Changsha and Wuchang are both big cities, but compared with Nanjing, none of them can catch up with Nanjing, and even compare with Waiguo.

Wang Yan was shocked by the prosperity in front of him, not to mention his scholar Ah Chen, he looked east and west like a dirt bun, staring at the shops on both sides, and every time he walked a section, he let out a sigh, "Hua Sun Di, this is better than Changsha before entering the city, and the city is still there?" ”

Wang Yan came back to his senses, retracted his gaze to the sides, saw that Ah Chen had never seen the world, and found that many people were looking at them, and couldn't help but blush, he patted Ah Chen's head and said angrily, "Don't look around when you walk, don't lose the face of our Chu people~"