The noon sun brings a little warmth to Nanjing in winter, dispels the damp cold by the riverside, and the colorful flags flutter on both sides of the Daming Street that is more than 20 zhang wide, and the long street that leads directly to the Xiaguan Wharf is lined up on both sides, and the shops and buildings with carved beams and paintings appear to be vivid. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

Although the current population of Nanjing City is less than three percent of five years ago, but because the New Year Festival is approaching, this street still seems to be very lively, on the side of the road is full of 10 meters wide Ma Ya Road trail is full of hawkers' shouts, the same crowd on the trail is shoulder to shoulder, as for the nearly 70 kilometers wide Daming Street on the carriage is also endless.

Almost every day, thousands of people and merchants moved into the city, enriching the war-battered city and making the largest city in the south of the Yangtze River recover little by little.

For Sima Lei, who was born in Yingzhou, he has not seen the world, in fact, a few years ago, he also went to Beijing to take the exam, although he failed the list, but he also saw the prosperity of Beijing. However, walking on Daming Street, he was still impressed by the prosperity of Nanjing, just like a few days ago, he was impressed by the "Race Moon" on both sides of Nanjing Street, in fact, for the officials and their families from Wuchang, they were all stunned by the "Race Moon", that is, the electric light, before that, they could not even imagine that the lamp could not be lit oil, and it would be so bright.

Electric lights, public carriages, steam boats, etc., such new gadgets, the impact on people is unprecedented, and for Sima Lei, who comes from the hinterland of the interior, he even has the feeling that Grandma Liu has entered the Grand View Garden in Nanjing. Of course, this was only a superficial shock, and in the following days, he found that everything he touched was being affected like never before.

At the invitation of a friend, Sima Lei, who lived in the same courtyard with him, soon saw that the teahouses and restaurants here were full of Confucian students with scarves on their heads, just like when they were in the Beijing Normal School Entrance Examination, students from all over the world were in the guild hall.

It seems that the same is true here, because most of the guild halls in Nanjing were destroyed by the hands of "bandits", and without the guild halls, the scholars gathered in the teahouses and wine shops, where they talked and discussed learning. At this time, he found that the scholars were no longer talking about a subset of classics and history, but arithmetic and other Western knowledge.

It was only then that Sima Lei remembered that Nanjing's entrance examination was different from the imperial examination in the old days, and that the 5,314 places they had to compete for in the Jiangnan University Hall were not only "Jinshi", but also enjoyed 5 yuan per month during their studies in the University Hall - which was equivalent to a nine-grade salary. Of course, more importantly, after three years, they are eligible to take the civil service examination and become civil servants, that is, to become "officials".

It can be said that Jiangnan University Hall is equal to the stepping stone of "officialdom". Maybe now the Han Gong does not "open a branch to take a scholar", but this is also a disguised "open a branch to take a scholar", but the entrance examination of Jiangnan University Hall is different from the imperial examination. According to what has been announced, the assessment topics of Jiangnan University include 7 items of history, political policy, arithmetic policy, diplomatic policy, public opinion policy, physics policy and foreign literary theory. Only those who pass the preliminary examination can participate in the re-examination, and the re-examination questions include one question in Chinese and one question in foreign language.

As for the subset of scriptures and histories, it is just one of them, and for arithmetic, Sima Lei asked himself whether he was inferior to others, what is the theory of negotiation, physics, and especially foreign literature? It's not what he's good at, and that's why he wants to learn from others, this year, will be his last chance, if he hasn't passed the exam, then he will be a familiar teacher in the countryside to make a living.

But what disappointed him was that these people didn't seem to talk about anything, and most of them were also holding books such as "Atlas of the Sea Kingdom", where they imagined the West, and it was this kind of conjecture that always gave people an indescribable impetuous feeling. Talented people from all over the world tried every means to show their talents in order to attract the attention of those in high places, as the legend goes.

"The so-called foreign strategy is actually the ancient vertical and horizontal technique, and the vertical and horizontal technique is ......"

When the voices of the scholars were heard in his ears, Sima Lei heard a sigh from the side, as if for their ignorance, and he looked to the side, only to see a young man who was several years younger than himself, shaking his head and sighing from time to time as he read the newspaper.

"Hey......"

The boy shook his head as he flipped through the newspaper. Just then, he saw an advertisement in the newspaper.

"Jinling Preparatory School, specially designed for undergraduate students from all over the world to tutor political strategy, arithmetic strategy, diplomatic policy, physics policy, foreign literature theory, my president is a former official of the governor's office, and the professors are all professors who are proficient in Western studies......"

Listening to the words from the young man's mouth, Sima Lei's eyes suddenly lit up, if this is the case, then it is better to go to this school to tutor than to listen to other people's speculation here. Thinking of this, he deliberately looked at the newspaper in the boy's hand, it was "Jiangnan Times", it should be today's newspaper, and he must buy a copy when he goes back!

Sima Lei did not take the liberty to greet the young man who was sitting alone, in addition to the fact that the young man was dressed in gorgeous brocade clothes, and at first glance he was not from an ordinary family, but more importantly, he noticed that there was a person sitting next to the young man, and that person's eyes were vigilant, and he glanced around from time to time, obviously protecting this young man.

Because of this, Sima Lei would rather go out and spend a few copper plates to buy a newspaper than make people feel that he was deliberately making friends.

At this time, the people in the tavern chatted and chatted, and talked about the current affairs in Nanjing, and when they were in Beijing, the cautiousness of scholars from all over the country was different, in Nanjing, Xu because the King of Han had said as early as Wuchang that "do not scold people with words", and there are often people in the newspaper who publish articles to point out current affairs, so that these scholars are naturally happy to be "generous mountains and rivers" in public places.

"Brother Xu Ming knows that when the King of Han first arrived in Nanjing, Shi Qinggong led everyone from the military palace to persuade him to enter the ......."

The talk over there made Sima Lei quickly harden his ears, that "persuasion", as early as when he arrived in Nanjing, he had heard about it, although the persuasion was not successful, but from then on, Han Gongyi was called "King of Han", and it could be regarded as a success.

At that time, the king of Han replied: "I raised my army in cloth, and the kings and ministers met and achieved great success." Although we have Jiangnan today, the Central Plains is undecided, and when something happens, how can we sit in a corner and forget our long-term concerns! "Naturally, I don't listen to it. Five days later, the military palace held another meeting, and Shi Qinggong said again: "May Your Majesty be reunified as soon as possible, so as to comfort the hearts of the people in the world." King Han first thought for a moment, and then said to everyone: "I think: merit is not served, virtue is not fulfilled, the trend of unification has not been achieved, and the road of the Quartet is still stalked." In the past, he laughed at hypocrisy, only to get a corner, arrogant and arrogant, to perish, and laughed at others, how could he be self-effective; If there is a destiny, why bother! At that time, Shi Qinggong, Ruzhai Gong and others replied: "The ancestor of the former Han Dynasty punished the Xiang clan, that is, ascended the throne to comfort the subjects." Today, Your Majesty's merits are in heaven, and the place of the mandate of heaven cannot be violated. He did not reply, that is, he returned to the palace and sent his hand to the ministers, saying: "At the beginning, he reluctantly obeyed the words of the people, and he was already on the throne." Jinqing and others are persuaded to take the throne, and I am afraid that the virtue is not enough to deserve it, so I will think about it again. ”……”

"So far, it has been the second persuasion, if Shi Qing and other princes of the court and the central government persuade again, I think the king will not refuse the invitation of all the people in the world again!"

For these scholars, they know very well that the emperor must perform the "three pushes" ceremony before ascending the throne, which is a ritual system. And what makes them curious is why until now, no one has been persuaded again, of course, if they have the ability to write to the king of Han, I am afraid that they will also be on the table to "persuade in", and even although they are generous here, no one dares to say "together with the book to persuade in", after all, this limelight is not their turn. In the midst of everyone's discussion, from "persuasion" to the future name of the country, almost everyone believes that the future name of the country is definitely "Ming". After all, after the King of Han is the Emperor Gao, it is normal to continue the orthodoxy of the Emperor.

Listening to these things that those people were talking about, Sima Lei regretted more and more why he had wasted days in this tavern, and what was the use of chatting all day long?

"Let's go to that school!"

So he walked out of the tavern, bought a copy of "Jiangnan Times" at a nearby newsstand, and then found the advertisement.

"The monthly tuition fee is 15 yuan, which is really expensive! It's actually in the outer city! ”

Sighing at the high tuition fees of the preparatory school, Sima Lei did not hesitate.

"Let's go over tomorrow and take a look, if it's really worth the money, it's worth ......"

Although Sima Lei is a son of a poor family, but this time in order to come to Nanjing to take the exam, but also pawned twenty-five acres of ancestral land, these years, in order to take the exam, he has almost done his family business, and the reason why this exam is his last chance is precisely because he has no family business to support him to take the exam again.

"Fifteen yuan a month, forty-five yuan for three months, plus pen, ink, paper and inkstone, it is estimated that it will cost sixty yuan, and now it is ......"

As Sima Lei counted his expenses for the next few months, he looked at the newspaper again, and as he looked at it, he noticed a news item in the corner of the newspaper.

"Guo Songtao, director of the Foreign Affairs Department of the Han Gong Institute's delegation to foreign countries, and his entourage arrived at the Xiaguan Wharf in Nanjing yesterday, and accompanied by those who returned to China, in addition to the 21 officials of the Foreign Affairs Department of the delegation of the delegation, there were 39 foreign students......

This news is so crowded in the corner, in fact, in the newspaper like this kind of news is hardly worth mentioning, especially now, even if he has just come to Nanjing, Sima Lei also knows, if you want to understand the political affairs of Nanjing, you must first read the newspaper, in the newspaper you can see the hottest news in Nanjing now, what news is the hottest now?

I'm afraid it is to support and persuade forward. And this newspaper is no exception! There are also articles in the newspaper saying that the king of Han should ascend the throne as soon as possible to reassure the people of the world.

Looking at the article in the newspaper, an idea suddenly popped into Sima Lei's mind.

"Looks like it's going to be a few days......"

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