Not far away, Zheng Guang saw the red Fuzi lantern, and walked over, there were already a lot of people gathered, everyone carried the lantern, gathered together in twos and threes, talking, relieving their emotions, Zheng Guang walked over, it attracted the attention of many people, seeing the county's famous head of the case, Wu County candidates regardless of age all saluted Zheng Guang, called "senior brother". Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

Zheng Guang also smiled in return, before Zheng Guang lived in a simple place when he was studying, and rarely communicated with the same county readers, so everyone knows Zheng Guang's name, but few people know Zheng Guang, Zheng Guang had an accident after the county examination, although he was fine after that, but he also stayed at home for two months, and he didn't come out.

Zheng Guang returned the salute one by one, saying that he had no problem, and his humble performance won the praise and favor of many students, and the first feeling of meeting for the first time was very important, and they all felt that Zheng Guang was really a good person, worthy of such a good reputation.

"Well, senior brother, do you have any extra shoes on you? I asked many classmates, but I didn't see anyone who had more. Zheng Guang suddenly heard someone ask himself like this, so he looked at the person who spoke, and saw a young student in disheveled clothes smiling stupidly at himself, with one shoe and one no shoes, and his hat was crooked. ”

There are regulations in the exam, and those who are not neatly dressed are not allowed to enter the examination room, so the students who take the exam will generally prepare a second set of equipment for emergency, this guy should be unlucky, or inexperienced, or the family has no money, and cannot prepare the second set of equipment, most of the candidates here are also difficult to protect themselves, and they can't help him, Zheng Guang is not short of these things, and is naturally willing to take them out to help him, this guy was immediately overjoyed, and moved: "Thank you brother for help!" Great kindness and great virtue to the youth are toothless and unforgettable! ”

Zheng Guang said with a smile: "A pair of shoes is not a great kindness, there is no need to be like this, everyone is a fellow villager, and it is natural to help each other." ”

Xiang Qing thanked him again, and then everyone gathered in twos and threes to talk, most people were more interested in Zheng Guang, who let Zheng Guang go deep into Jane before, hide at home to be the best otaku, and don't go out to communicate with fellow literati, but everyone rarely sees his people, but his name is like thunder, you can hear it once every few days, and the teacher of the family is still the famous Mr. Jing Chuan, which is enviable.

After a conversation, everyone also has a lot of understanding of Zheng Guang, Zheng Guang also has a general understanding of the level of his group of fellow villagers, in the officialdom, it is normal to form a faction, unless you really achieve a high enough position, in order to avoid the emperor's suspicion to be a lonely minister, otherwise, forming a gang is the first element to ensure safety, among them, the natural formation of regional relations as the first choice.

In the boundaries of Suzhou Prefecture, the same Wu County is the reason for the close relationship, in the boundary of the South Zhili, the same Suzhou Mansion is the reason for the close relationship, in Beijing, the same Jiangnan people can become the reason for the close relationship, of course, the people of the South Zhili are still relatively close, so whenever there is a party dispute, what Zhejiang Party Jin Party and other parties divided by region have appeared.

These regional relations are sometimes more solid than other political alliances, because everyone is a fellow countryman, at this moment of the Ming Dynasty, the local concept is not generally strong, the dispute between the north and the south and the east and the west and so on have also lasted for a long time, or where there are people, there are rivers and lakes, and there are disputes everywhere, which is not only helpless, but also sad.

Tang Shunzhi's earnest teachings have left an indelible mark on Zheng Guang's heart at this moment, living in this world, if you are not satisfied with this world, you can't change, you can only compromise, you count on the emperor to solve it, in fact, the emperor does not have boundless power, you count on Shoufu to solve it, Shoufu can't say a word, then, the two most powerful people can't solve it, who else can you count on?

The heart that wants to fight gradually cools after understanding everything, leaving behind a full stomach of "survival wisdom", Zheng Guang doesn't know if Tang Shunzhi has really compromised, but Zheng Guang has never given up that slightest desire while accepting this thought.

The sky is getting brighter.

The official in charge of the examination appeared at the gate and began to call out from Taicang Prefecture to the candidates from various counties and prefectures to prepare for admission, and at this time, the candidates who saw the errand in charge of the examination room also took out a little bit of their parents' hard-earned money in accordance with the long-standing unspoken rules, handed them to the errand officers, and asked them to help put their examination equipment in a better position, so that they could occupy some advantages during the exam.

Zheng Guang followed Zheng Jiang's instructions, found an errand officer, and said to him: "Student Wu County Zheng Guang." ”

The errand officer was obviously taken care of, and hurriedly saluted: "Little minister, right?" Please hand the basket to the villain, and the villain will do it for you. ”

Zheng Guang thanked him, handed him the test basket, and then lifted the food box on his hand: "Can I bring this food box with me?" ”

The errand servant is embarrassed: "The test basket only has pen and ink inkstones, and you can also bring it in advance, if you eat the box, it must be tested, the little minister, the villain also wants to do things for you, but once the mansion asks the guilt, the villain ......" Seeing that the errand officer looked embarrassed, Zheng Guang did not force it, and smiled slightly: "Then it won't be troublesome, thank you." ”

The errand officer obviously didn't expect Zheng Guang to have such a good cultivation, bowed again and again, and went to find a good position for Zheng Guang, but seeing the back of him leaving, Zheng Guang felt a little uneasy in his heart, is this another form of injustice? These unspoken rules that have appeared for a long time, convenient for the children of rich families, satisfy the rich candidates, satisfy the examination room errand workers, and obviously satisfy more people, for the common interests of these people, the high-ranking officials will not care about these small things.

As a vested interest and enjoyer, Zheng Guang feels that he is unhappy for those poor people who can't enjoy all this, and there is quite a bit of insulting meaning in it, and it is easier to be said to be cheap and obedient, after all, he has no objection to these practices, and he is also a member of the convenience brought by them, so what kind of face does he have to say all this? Shaking his head and smiling self-deprecatingly, Zheng Guang returned to the queue.

In the future, if you are lucky enough to hold some power, what can you do for these people who are not taken care of......

Wu County is very rich, can get this two taels of silver people are not a few, but obviously this is not a small amount, ordinary farmers may not be able to spend two taels of silver a month, according to the current situation of the Ming Dynasty, the purchasing power of one or two taels of silver is about equal to the purchasing power of 200 yuan, and so far many people in remote areas can not spend two or three hundred yuan a month.

The southeast is rich, wealth has always been a big concept, the Zheng family is very rich, Zheng Guang admitted, counting the Taihu Lake paddy fields, grain stores and cloth shops in the city, deducting monthly expenses, Zheng Fu's monthly silver income is about 2,200 taels of silver, the simple standard of living is of course rich, but Xiang Qing, who also lives in Suzhou City, is obviously not a child of a wealthy family, seeing the villagers one by one with the silver to find the servants to dredge up the relationship, the envy and unwillingness in his eyes, Zheng Guang can see it very clearly.

To help or not to help, this is a science, a kind of learning.

Money, Zheng Guang is not short, there are five taels of silver on hand, the third uncle gave emergency use, ordinary pocket flowers and the like, Zheng Guang is not short of money at all, because he likes to read and doesn't like to go out to spend money, Zheng Guang has also saved a lot of net worth, and feels that it is more appropriate to use it when necessary, but for Xiang Qing, who is poor, one or two silver is a lot of money, and he was forced to accept his shoes before, but now this is not a very urgent need, will he accept his own one or two silver?

Will his self-esteem, his self-esteem as a scholar, allow him to accept his own help as a charity? The good intentions imposed are malice, and the bad grasp of good intentions is also evil, and there is food for the sake of the ancients, so today, why is there no silver that is taken? For scholars who have studied hard in the cold window and have not yet become officials, it is insulting to give money rashly, even in modern society, not to mention the social elites of the Ming Dynasty, the saint disciples who grew up in the traditional atmosphere of heavy agriculture and suppression of business?

After thinking about it, Zheng Guang took the silver back into his pocket, and walked towards Xiang Qing with a smile: "What? Why don't you go to some errand to help you find a good position? ”

Xiang Qing's face flushed, and when he saw that Zheng Guang's smile did not look like ridicule, he laughed at himself: "Senior brother said that I am laughing, my family is not rich, my parents work hard every day to make a living, and they have to support me to study, it is already very difficult, how can I be here, be extorted by these insatiable little officials to take away my parents' hard-earned money, no matter what, I can't do this kind of thing." ”

Zheng Guang looked at those errand officials, remembered some practical problems he had said when chatting with Tang Shunzhi in his memory, and said: "In this world, everyone has their own difficulties in life, as big as the emperor, and they can't do whatever they want, if there is a slight inappropriateness, the ministers resist it, and there are not a few people who are disgraced, as small as a peddler's pawn, they have to work hard for three meals a day, and if they are a little lazy, they will have no food to eat at the next meal."

These little officials are only a few dollars of silver per month to support the family, the family has a large population, they can't afford to support the family, they are the servants themselves, the wife of the family has to do some other work to manage the family, otherwise the children will not be able to live, they can not eat, they are the same as Lingzun Lingtang, but also hope that the family will live better, this is not wrong, there is no fault at all, I hope that the family will live better, right, and should be done.

The money we give, they will take it and divide it, become the family's rations, become the wife's red makeup, become the child's maltose, they did not do evil, we pay, they take the exam basket for us, occupy a good position, in case there is an unforeseen situation in a day, this two silver, comparable to 120,000 taels, the only thing that is inappropriate is that not every student can take out this money, and those who can't take out the money may have got a good position, but they can't get it.

But let's think like this, they take money for position, these money comes from their parents' hard work, in exchange for their children's splendid future, is the greatest wish of parents, no one does evil, no one does wrong, if someone does wrong, then everyone is wrong together, because in this world, always study to be an official is the most important, everything in front of you is just an accessory to reading and being an official, can you say, we study to be an official, the ardent expectations of parents, is it wrong? ”

Xiang Qing was stunned, and when he looked at Zheng Guang, his eyes were filled with the same color, and after thinking deeply, the hand holding a tael of silver also trembled.

"The biggest expectation of parents is that their efforts can be rewarded, this two silver, can be exchanged for passing the exam, can be exchanged for a splendid future, that is the greatest expectation of parents, money is just the process of achieving the goal, in this examination room, there has never been a distinction between rich and poor, if you want to help those who can't take out the money, keep this in mind, get a jinshi, become an official, bring to the ability, do not forget the original intention, do something for them, that is the best, and the only thing we can do."

Under such words, Xiang Qing walked towards those errand officials, and Zheng Guang's ears once again sounded the words that Tang Shunzhi had said.

The reason why I compromised with them was because I finally understood what Yang Ming Gong meant by what he said, if you want to change this injustice, you have to accept everything about this injustice, melt into it, become a member of it, and have the power to change, if you can't even do this, then you can only be a hermit in the mountains.

What is a corrupt official? Those are the people who give up the last insistence in the process of compromise, what is a capable official? That is in the compromise do not forget the original intention, stick to the bottom line, no matter what, do not forget the heart of the person in his heart, if you want to achieve the realm of the unity of knowledge and action, just adhere to the integrity is not enough, only do not forget the original intention, out of the mud without staining, is the only way.