In mid-July, Wuchang City.

Wuchang City is the place where the political envoy of Huguang is located, and there are four major yamen: the governor's yamen, the political envoy's yamen, the inspection envoy's yamen and the capital department's yamen.

In addition, the most noble in Wuchang City belongs to the Chu Wangfu that fell here, although the military power and political power of the vassal kings in various places after Yongle were cut, but after all, they are Tianhuang nobles still enjoy many privileges, which are not something that the local yamen can manage.

According to historical records, Wuchang City first began in the Three Kingdoms period in the second year of Huangwu in Eastern Wu, Wu lord Sun Quan in Jiangxia Mountain, that is, the northeast of Snake Mountain, built an earth and stone city, named Xiakou City.

However, the city is only two or three miles in circumference, and it is actually a military fortress with dangerous terrain.

In the fourth year of Hongwu in the Ming Dynasty, Jiangxiahou, one of the founding nobles of the Ming Dynasty, expanded the city of Wuchang Mansion, expanded the city to the south of Snake Mountain, increased the city wall to more than 20 miles, and increased the city gate to nine:

That is, there is the big east gate in the east, the new south gate in the southeast, the security gate and the Wangze gate in the south, the bamboo gate in the southwest, the Pinghu gate in the west, the Hanyang gate in the northwest, the Caobu gate in the north, and the small east gate in the northeast.

Since the Song Dynasty, Wuchang City has been the water hub of the Yangtze River, which has made Wuchang City prosperous and commercially developed.

As the township examination is approaching every three years, the streets of Wuchang City can be seen everywhere wearing blue robes.

It is reported that every year, there are thousands of students who participate in the township examination in Huguang area, but unfortunately there are only 85 places for the lifter.

In addition, Huguang people over the years have also gathered in Wuchang City, to know that it is not an easy thing to participate in the examination, not everyone can go to the capital to take the exam, only those who have passed the selection examination are eligible to go to the capital to catch the exam.

Taking Huguang as an example, there are 200 places for those who take the exam, which means that those who want to take the Huguang exam in Beijing must be in the top 200.

According to the order of the Ming court, those who participated in the three sessions of the examination and failed the list will be awarded official positions by the court to become the official officials of the imperial court, so as to encourage those who fail to make the list.

As for those who failed to participate in the examination, although they can also be officials, they are all those official positions that do not enter the stream, such as the county official history, post station and other minor officials, although the officials are small, they are also the officials of the imperial court.

For most of the students who come to Wuchang City to take the exam, the inn is the most commonly used foothold, after all, the transportation is inconvenient in ancient times, so there are very few students with relatives and friends in Wuchang City, so the students who are rushing to take the exam from other places can only choose the inn.

The Li family naturally had relatives in Wuchang City, so several candidates from Baihe Town, including Li Hongyi, lived in that relative's house.

Since Li Hongqing, who came to Wuchang City in advance, has already purchased an industry in Wuchang City, then Li Hongyu naturally has to live in Li Hongqing's newly bought house, accompanied by Liu Dongfu.

Zhao Xin did not choose to live with Li Hongyu this time, but went to the branch of the Fuxiang in Wuchang City, compared to the township examination, Zhao Xin has a more important task, that is, to be familiar with the business of the Wuchang branch of the Fuxiang number, anyway, the imperial examination is just for her to play.

"Hongyu, I have already given our cloth to the cloth merchants in Wuchang, they are all very interested, we should be able to take a lot of orders."

At the banquet for Li Hongyu, Li Hongqing said to Li Hongyu happily that the cloth dyed with new dyes quickly conquered the cloth merchants in Wuchang, and they all inquired about cooperating with him.

"There's Brother Lao." Li Hongyu smiled when he heard this, he had long thought that those cloths would open the market in Wuchang, and then occupy the market in the central and southern regions of the Ming Dynasty through Wuchang.

"Brother Dongfu, what do you think of these cloths?" Then, Li Hongyu smiled and asked Liu Dongfu, who was sitting at the wine table and looking at a few horses dyed with new dyes to make cloth.

"Brother Li, did you dye these cloths with a new method?" It was the first time for Liu Dongfu to see such a brightly colored cloth, which was more dazzling than the best cloth on the market, so he looked at Li Hongyu in surprise.

"The dyeing skills of the Ming Dynasty are too backward today, and I discovered a new dyeing method from an ancient book in the Western Regions, and the dyed cloth is not only bright but also not easy to fade."

Li Hongyu bowed slightly, and raised the wine glass in his hand to Liu Dongfu with a smile, "As long as we are willing to work, with this craft, we can lay a big sky in the fabric business." ”

"Brother Li, you really impress me!"

Liu Dongfu was slightly stunned when he heard this, he didn't expect Li Hongyu to have such a grand ideal, and then came back to his senses, hurriedly picked up the wine glass and touched it with Li Hongyu, and said with emotion, the current Li Hongyu is like another person in him.

"Brother Dongfu, people change, I walked before the ghost gate last year, and many things have already been seen." Li Hongyu smiled and drank all the wine in the wine glass in his hand, making an excuse for his transformation.

Liu Dongfu naturally knew that what Li Hongyu was talking about Li Hongqing pushing him into the water, nodded and drank the liquor in the glass, it seems that the incident at that time gave Li Hongyu a lot of stimulation.

"Brother Dongfu, do you want to be nominated for the laurels?" While Liu Dongfu was pouring himself wine, Li Hongyu remembered something, so he asked with a smile.

"Of course I think about it, that's a matter of honoring the ancestors." Liu Dongfu smiled when he heard this, and then shook his head, "But I am self-aware, and I didn't even get in, so if I am in the middle school, I will wait for the rest of my life." ”

"This is an article I did, if you can pass the admission course hosted by the student in a few days, then this article will help you in the township exam, and maybe you can get what you want." Hearing this, Li Hongyu smiled and took out a piece of rice paper stacked together from his body and handed it to Liu Dongfu.

This is one of the articles he selected from the Qing Dynasty according to his memory, the specific year and the source have been forgotten, the content is relatively smooth and has a wide range of applications, he believes that Liu Dongfu will be recognized by the examiner if he uses it, you must know that the eight strands of the Qing Dynasty are more than the Ming Dynasty.

Li Hongyu did not just want to help Liu Dongfu, but also to see if Liu Dongfu could really win the promotion because of this article, if that is the case, then the imperial examination system of the Ming Dynasty has undoubtedly hindered the development of society, and the so-called national election has naturally become an empty word.

As for whether Liu Dongfu can be qualified to participate in the township examination, Li Hongyu is not too worried, compared with the fierce competition in the scientific examination, the difficulty of recording the subject is much lower.

Generally speaking, most of the inmates who participated in the recording after the mid-to-late Ming Dynasty were inmates from all over the country, and mainly the inmates who donated to the prison, and the level was uneven, so it was not possible for Liu Dongfu to really stand out from it and get a place to participate in the township examination.

The source of the prisoners was originally more serious, but after the middle of the Ming Dynasty, the imperial court allowed the people to obtain the status of prisoners by donating property, which was called "regular prisoners", and was also called "donation prisons".

Because the prisoners who donate to the prison are obtained through money, they are ranked the lowest among all the prisoners and are the most looked down upon by the outside world.

The vast majority of the prisoners who donate to prisons are the children of wealthy families, but there are also ordinary people who smash pots and sell iron to obtain the status of prisoners, so Liu Dongfu's ability is not guaranteed to hit a place in the admission department, no matter what, he also passed the county examination, and most of those who donate prisons are uneducated and unskilled, which gives Liu Dongfu a chance.

In fact, people like this who can't get fame through the child test get the opportunity to take the township test by donating to prison, and there are many people who finally win the examination in history, which can be described as "saving the country by curve".

"Brother Li, did you make this article?" Liu Dongfu opened the rice paper and looked at it, and then a look of surprise appeared on his face, and he looked at Li Hongyu in surprise.

I have to say that Li Hongyu's eight-strand essay is unique, exquisite, smooth and smooth throughout, and can be described as a superb masterpiece.

"I hope I can help Brother Dongfu." There was a faint smile on the corner of Li Hongyu's mouth, and he replied quietly, if Liu Dongfu really said it in this article, then he would definitely follow him with all his heart in the future.

It is worth mentioning that many people in the imperial examination have asked someone to write a few articles in advance, and once the article is close to the examination question, which one will be used, this opportunistic method can be described as the most commonly used cheating method in the imperial examination.

Therefore, some people who have become officials through the imperial examination actually have no talent, but just seize the "opportunity".

"Brother Li's great kindness is in my heart!" Liu Dongfu was suddenly moved in his heart when he heard this, and solemnly said to Li Hongyu, his gratitude was beyond words.

"Brother Dongfu is serious, if we are classmates, I will naturally help if we can help." Li Hongyu laughed, raised the wine glass in his hand and said, "Come, drink." ”

Liu Dongfu also laughed, as Liu Youcai said, he met a nobleman, otherwise he would not have thought about turning over in this life.

At the same time, the Fuxiang Wuchang branch.

"What's going on? Why is there such a big deficit on the books! In a room, Zhao Xin shook a few books in his hand, and looked at a middle-aged man standing in front of him expressionlessly, this middle-aged man was Yang Xing, the big shopkeeper of the Wuchang branch.

"Shao Dong, last year, the general number intervened in our branch one after another, and lost money in several businesses, so these losses occurred." Yang Xing smiled bitterly and said to Zhao Xin.

"Total?" Zhao Xin was slightly stunned when he heard this, and seemed quite surprised, it stands to reason that the general number usually does not easily meddle in the case of the semicolon, and it is very rare to intervene in the semicolon business several times like this.

"Young owners, I think they are coming for the owners, and they want to take the opportunity to eradicate us all." Yang Xing pondered for a moment and replied, the owner in his mouth naturally refers to Zhao Xin's father Zhao Deyi, so he is obviously Zhao Deyi's person.