The time for the township test has finally arrived. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

The time of the Ming Dynasty township examination is basically the ninth day of August, but the roll call starts from the eighth day of August, and as soon as it gets dark, the candidates will leave their residence and rush to the Gongyuan.

The night was hazy.

Since Fan Jin entered the city, he has admired the autumn night of Guangzhou countless times. Subject to the times, no matter how prosperous it is, it is not comparable to the international metropolis of later generations. There are a lot of so-called fun places, that is, the whole city is already familiar with the appearance of the chest, and I don't care about anything in particular.

But the night of the eighth day of the eighth month of the year of Wanli Bingzi is destined to be unusual. As soon as it got dark, Liang Pandi, Sister Hu and more than a dozen maids with a taste of fragrance hugged Fan in front of the lantern and went straight to the Gongyuan.

The businessmen obviously knew that tonight was a good opportunity for themselves to make a fortune, and many itinerant vendors set up stalls, and sold snacks, tea, stationery, lanterns, and everything that could be related to the imperial examination. On weekdays, it is common for students to buy things without giving money, stealing things and fighting, but today no one dares to cause trouble again. The debts are repaid quickly, and when they pay more than ten times or even twenty times the price to buy things, they are actually paying for their previous misdeeds.

These storefronts are basically lit with lamps and candles, and some students who do not have lanterns have to take advantage of these lights to walk towards the Gongyuan.

The scale of this township test exceeded 3,000 people, and in terms of numbers, it was possible to form a battalion of new troops. These candidates are actually the biggest unstable factor in the city of Guangzhou. I often have to take some of it with me when I buy something, and when I find out, I have to move my fist.

And once a scholar fights with a businessman, the scholar who passes by will come over to help him, regardless of whether he knows each other or not. In addition, every time I go to the township test, there will always be some cases of damage to the woman's name, or theft of the landlord's property. For the residents of Guangzhou merchants, they love and hate scholars, and for Yamen, they are looking forward to sending away the plague god after the exam as soon as possible and seeking peace.

But the prestige of scholars on weekdays can't be talked about today. The scholar who was unattainable in the past is like a prisoner who has been assigned tonight, yawning and shallow at the same time, and marching towards the Gongyuan. Since the entrance is organized by county, students will form teams according to their hometown relationship, regardless of their relationship on weekdays. Famous people who are usually famous will spontaneously become leaders at this time, leading other students forward.

Guangzhou's Tribute Courtyard is built in Dashi Street, the former site of Xizhu Temple at the foot of Yuexiu Mountain, and it is expanded and built on the basis of the original temple, covering an area of both wide and magnificent. While walking, Liang Pandi instructed Fan Jin.

"In this pocket, there are lotus paste mooncakes, as well as orange cakes, lotus rice, and round-eyed meat...... By the way, there is also ginseng sent from the countryside by the aunt, you give it to the aunt, and her old man is reluctant to eat it, so she still wants you to eat it. Brass cho, trumpet top, door curtain, stove, candle holder, candle scissors, roll bag...... Do you remember these things? ”

Fan Jin smiled and said, "Then how can you forget?" At the beginning, we had just rented a small yard, and the third sister bought these things, but I said that I didn't need them, and the third sister also said that my children didn't know anything. Those things would be expensive to buy now, but if they were bought at the time, they would be cheap. ”

Sister Hu coughed, suddenly grabbed Fan Jin's arm and said, "Brother Jin, brother Jin, I also have it, I have prepared ham, square meat, and the cake I personally baked for you......"

Fan Jin said with a smile: "I have drunk all the champion porridge, and my stomach is not so hungry." There is only one day in total, and at night they are given two candles, and if they can't finish writing, they will be kicked out, where are they eating so much? By the way, eldest sister, you don't know about Gongyuan, I'll tell you it's very fun. ”

Sister Hu's eyes widened, waiting for Fan Jin's introduction. Fan Jin was like coaxing a child, telling her the little gossip in the science field.

"Although the Gongyuan is a place for the imperial examination, it is not used in ordinary times, and no one cleans it up, only sends soldiers in to clear the field before the examination, and many places can't take care of it. It's also very common for some small beasts to hide inside. The Gongyuan is not a fun place, but the imperial examination is a fun thing. I heard Ling Zhijun say that tonight, the secretary of the political secretary will kneel and invite the Three Realms Demon Emperor Guan Shengdi to enter the field to suppress it, and invite Zhou Cang to enter the field to patrol the field. Please invite the Emperor of Qiqu Wenchang Kaihua Zitong to enter the main test, and invite the master Kuixing to enter the field to shine. We, the candidates, still have to worship God, guess which God is tested"

Sister Hu tilted her head and thought, "Is it Zhuge Liang?" ”

"Isn't it almost the same, Zhang Fei."

"Huh? Zhang Fei? Isn't that person like Daddy, who kills pigs? What does it have to do with exams? And about the Holy Master coming in to play the pressure, and Zhang Fei is the god test, why don't you see Emperor Liu? ”

"Yes, the Taoyuan brothers are short of one, and this is also the fun part of the science field. It is said that two flags will be erected, one red and one black, the red flag under the ghost, and the black flag under the ghost......"

Sister Hu listened attentively, and when she heard the haunting, she became scared again, and shook her head again and again:

"Into the brother, into the brother, is it really haunted? Wait a minute...... I'll look for it, I've heard people say that cinnabar wards off evil spirits, do I have cinnabar on me...... I remember there was a stall selling cinnabar. ”

"Cinnabar, I think you're still killing pigs." Liang Pandi said angrily: "Jinzi is in Luoshan, thousands of people have done it, why don't you care about any resentful ghosts." When the ghost came, he was also afraid of him, and there was no reason for him to be afraid of ghosts, so he left and went in for the exam. ”

After a few more steps, several lanterns moved quickly towards them, and someone shouted loudly, "Brother Fan Ren...... Brother Fan Ren, I'm Zhang Shilu. We are dear brothers, we should go together, don't worry, wait for me. ”

Accompanying Zhang Shilu were Chen Shaodian, the grandson of Chen Ziweng, as well as Wei Haogu, Zhou Bijin and other local scholars from the South China Sea. These people all belong to the rich group of candidates in the South China Sea, and they are also famous, but most of them rely on financial resources and family power to operate, and the real level is not high. If you have to go with Fan Jin, you naturally have your own plans.

Zhang Shilu said: "In the past few days, my little brother wants to visit Brother Fan, but he is always blocked by your subordinates, saying that you can't see outsiders when you study your homework, but in fact, everyone is a close brother, how can you be considered an outsider, are you right?" This time, the younger brother bet twenty taels of silver to bet on your high school solution, which is also the dignity of our Nanhai people, but we must fight for it back. Our Guangzhou section has become a joke, the head of the government case ran away, and the head of your county case was brushed off, and when the harvest was made, the first name was taken away by Shunde Zai. At this time, it's up to you to fight for face and come back. ”

"Brother Zhang, everyone should be scholars, not gangsters, don't be like grabbing territory. The people of the South China Sea and Shunde are all Cantonese in the final analysis, so don't be so xenophobic. ”

"This is not the same, the number of lives of the scholar is in the fame, when will the fight not be fought at this time? Slowly, it is a meat man, even a clay man is now in the time of being earthy. Usually it's good, but at this time, I'm afraid I won't have to give an inch. ”

As they spoke, the crowd had entered Stone Street, where the darkness of the night had become brighter. Hundreds of lanterns are scattered in clusters, illuminating the entire street. The dim light illuminated the faces of righteous men and gentlemen both hideously and distorted, as if hell had opened the door, sending countless evil ghosts and Shura to the world at one time to enjoy blood and food.

Even people with the courage will inevitably become nervous in this environment. Sister Hu just heard Fan Jin tell the story of the evil ghost, and she felt a little panicked. As soon as Zhang Shilu and Fan Jin spoke, she and Liang Pandi naturally fell behind, only to feel that there was always a cool breeze blowing on her neck behind her, as if an evil ghost was blowing air on her neck.

Looking around, all she could see was the ugly and hideous faces of the future pillars of the imperial court, which made Sister Hu feel creepy, and suddenly ran a few steps quickly and came to Fan Jin's side. Even though Fan Jin's face was as terrible under the light, she still threw her head into Fan Jin's arms regardless of it, grabbed Fan Jin's arm with both hands and said, "Brother Jin...... We're not going to take the test, let's go home......"

Zhang Shilu and others had long been clear about the relationship between the two, so they had to smile a few times at this time, and it was hard to say anything. Fan Jin patted Sister Hu's head and whispered comfortingly: "Don't be afraid...... It's okay. You see, this has already arrived at the Tribute Courtyard, and I said that there is nothing to be afraid of when it comes to the Holy Emperor watching the scene here. Besides, before the exam, the monks and Taoists in this city will fast for three days and nights, praying for God's blessing, how far the demons and monsters have run. As for the evil ghosts, good ghosts, and so on, they only look for the victims, not others. Look, the big torii has arrived. ”

On the left and right of the gate of the Gongyuan is a tall archway, the words on it are very large, one side is "Ming Jing to take scholars", the other side is "for the country to seek talents". Sister Hu doesn't know much about words, and it's dark, except for the words "take and ask", the other words are really unrecognizable.

For the scholars, the Gongyuan they are about to enter is their battlefield. Even those optimists, who are usually known for their good manners, are now mostly serious. And this kind of environment can infect each other, and those who were not nervous are inevitably in a heavy mood now. Fan Jin and Sister Hu talked and laughed, in such an environment, it is natural to become an outlier. Sister Hu's scared remarks, coupled with Fan Jin's statement that he only seeks the subject of the matter, are actually a big taboo for other scholars, and they belong to the category of forbidden sentences.

Several scholars looked at him angrily, but fortunately, Fan Jin was surrounded by Zhang Shilu, Wei Haogu and others, who were quite famous scribes in the local area, and other scholars did not dare to make mistakes. Fan Jin smiled at Sister Hu and whispered: "You see, these people are unhappy, in order to prevent them from beating people for a while, I will go inside first, and you and the third sister can go home first." The township exam has to be taken for one day, there is no need to wait, it is very boring here. ”

"I'll wait, I'm not afraid to wait until late."

Liang Pandi walked over, took Fan Jin's hand, and only said, "Take the test well, don't think about anything." "Say no more. Zhang Shilu and the others shouted Fan Jin, and went straight to the second gate with the crowd, and they inevitably said some things on the list to compliment each other.

The martial arts cultivation during this period of time made Fan Jin's physique far stronger than that of ordinary scholars, and it was not difficult to rush the road in the crowd. Since there is no one here, there is no order, and who can pass or can't actually fight by themselves. This is somewhat similar to the later exams, where everything is on your own.

The second gate of the Gongyuan is called the Dragon Gate, and for these scholars, this is indeed everyone's Dragon Gate. All the carp have to jump over here, and if they don't do it once, they will jump again in three years, and no one will stop until they become dragons or fall completely into the dust.

There are four entrances in the dragon gate, take the meaning of "Yu Shu open four gates". Jinyi guards and officers and soldiers guarded the four gates respectively, and the students took the county as a unit, waiting for their names to come forward and be searched. If you don't get past the gate and miss the time to call for a search, there is a high chance that you won't be able to enter.

Even friends who are very familiar with each other, at this time, they have no idea and courage to talk, everyone keeps their mouths closed, silently grabbing the Kaolan in their hands, and most of their hearts are begging for blessings from the gods and Buddhas in the void, looking forward to their smooth passage. And a long shout sounded at this moment.

"There are meritorious parents of candidates!"

"Grace ghosts enter, resentful ghosts enter!"

The clerk's office of the chief secretary set the paper money on fire, and the wind blew up, and the paper ashes swirled and rose, as if the soul had heard the call of the world and really came to enjoy the sacrifice. The so-called meritorious parents are the ancestors of the eunuchs who were officials, and naturally have nothing to do with Fan Jin.

And as for the ghosts and ghosts...... Fan Jin floated in front of his eyes, the broken battle flag of Nanao, Luo Shan's angry faces, and the sound of golden drums shouting and killing seemed to sound in his ears. Further on, there were hundreds of heads of the Hong family, and the woman's mournful cry.

There are too many ghosts, and the field can't be recruited, Fan Jin thought so, then shook his head, and the ghosts scattered without a trace. Under the lights, Liu Yaoxu, the chief of the Guangdong government, sat outside, monitoring the soldiers and checking for personal abuses. Not long ago, the two were still drinking at the same table in Luoshan, and his name was also written down by Fan Jin and engraved on the Huabiao stone in the future. At the moment, the two had to pretend not to know each other.

"Wronged! I was wronged! That's not ...... That's not mine...... Someone framed me. Uncle Fang, give me another chance! I've missed three subjects, give me a chance! A middle-aged scholar screamed and struggled with his bare body. But the soldier who grabbed his arms was tall and strong, and his four large hands were like vices, clutching his arms so that the book could not be played.

In the hands of the soldiers who followed, held aloft the evidence that the scholar had entrained, a white cloth shirt covered with words. "This person wrote the text on the underwear, and found it under the mark, please look at it!"

Before the soldier handed the cloth shirt to the public case, Liu Yaoyu just shook his head, "If you don't do the right thing, it's insulting!" Pull out the flail for three days, within three sections, you can't get off! ”

Unlucky people like this, and then a few more appeared, and it was found that the search of this section had intensified, and someone had quietly thrown away something. Zhang Shilu looked at Fan Jin, his gaze obviously wandering, and Fan Jin nodded at him, encouraging him with his eyes.

"Nanhai candidates enter!"

With the shouts of the soldiers, Fan Jin and the others began to walk forward, ready to be searched. Liu Yaoyu commanded two sentences to his side, and the secretary immediately shouted: "Uncle Fang has an order, search carefully, don't be careless!" ”

Under the personal attention and advice of Lord Buzheng, the officers and soldiers at the gate searched more strictly, and did not let go of any clues, until the last Nanhai candidate entered, and no one was found to be entrained, which was perfect.