Liu Xu walked out of the door of the hall and stretched heavily: "Oh, I fooled two people in a row for a day, one idiot and one strong woman, it's really not easy!" ”

Liu An was still guarding the door, not daring to leave an inch, and when he saw Liu Xu going out, he immediately stepped forward: "Gong, Gongzi, Wang, Su, and Zhou are here, and they say that they want to discuss with you about going to Beijing to participate in the imperial examination!" ”

"How did I forget this stubble!" Liu Xu patted his head in annoyance, and shouted in his heart, the carpenter master Ming Xizong Zhu Youxiao had just died, and although the newly succeeded Chongzhen ascended the throne under the urging of the ministers many times, this year is still the seventh year of the Apocalypse, and he has to wait until the New Year to change the Yuan Chongzhen. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 infoThe new emperor succeeds to the throne and the emperor's wedding is often to open the imperial examination, which is called "Enke".

No, a few good literary friends came to him to discuss when to go to Beijing to take the exam.

In modern times, it takes only five or six hours to take the high-speed train from Songjiang Mansion (now Shanghai) to Beijing, and the transportation is not developed in ancient times, so this section of the road can not be said to have to walk for a month.

Speaking of the imperial examination, there is a small story. The Ming Dynasty Gongyuan is the place where the imperial examination is held, since ancient times, the examination room is surrounded by the hotel service industry, there is a "donkey hoof alley" is because there are too many candidates from the south to the north, and the donkey riding is named after stepping on the bluestone slab out of the donkey's hoof print. As for the "Liyu Hutong", there is a Henan buddy who is too poor, and others take the imperial examination for the southerners to take boats and northerners ride horses, and he is the "11th Road" all the way to Beijing. When I arrived in Beijing, I was already overcrowded, and I had to spend the night at an old man's house, but it rained heavily at night, and there were white carps falling from the sky, and others said that it was a sign of "carp jumping over the dragon gate", and finally this person was really high school.

From this story, it can also be seen that it was not easy for the ancients to rush for the imperial examination, and it was much more troublesome than what independent enrollment and IELTS and TOEFL transfer exams were in later generations. If you pass the exam once, it's just that, but if you don't pass the exam until you are seventy or eighty, it will be too miserable to toss it every three years.

From this, we know that although Fan Jin was ecstatic after the lift, after all, he had not yet suffered such a thing in Jingshi, and he still suffered less.

No matter how much the scholars of the Ming Dynasty suffered, Liu Xu knew his own family affairs, and the spring festival was generally from February to March every year, and it was just the right time to rush over now. But no matter what month the imperial examination in the first year of Chongzhen is, he really can't take this half bucket of water, although he is a good hand at writing pun literary poems, but the four books and five classics can not be memorized.

A gentleman does not stand under a dangerous wall, and a wise man does not ask for hardship.

However, the few literary friends who came to visit were all from the Jiangnan family, and most of them were good friends with the Liu family, so there was no good reason to send them away.

Liu Xu immediately used his brains, ready to find a good reason to fool the visiting literary friends.

"Young master, young master?" Seeing Liu Xu's frowns, Liu An couldn't help but ask worriedly, "Isn't it that the young grandmother has taught you a lesson again?" If you want me to say that the young grandmother is also a lot of things, a merry and talented person like the young master walks around the Qinhuai River and travels to the Goolan Courtyard is an ordinary thing, it's really a big fuss! ”

Liu Xu smiled bitterly when he heard this, it turned out that his cheap wife was not only talented, but also vinegary.

"No, I get along well with your young grandmother, tell people not to chew their tongues in private!" Liu Xu taught Liu An a lesson: "Where are the three Wen brothers?" Take me there. ”

"The three sons are listening to Yuxuan tasting tea, and they heard that the young master is talking to the young grandmother, so they don't dare to disturb the young master."

The domineering of his wife is even afraid of the sons of the family!

"Oh, let's go, take me there." Liu Xu didn't care about these little things, so he didn't say more. After walking a few steps, he suddenly remembered something: "By the way, there are many scholars in this Jiangnan scholar, but what about the young master's scholars?" ”

"Young Master forgot? Before the young master got married, he originally had a scholar named Liu Ming, but after marriage, the young grandmother said that Liu Ming was bewitching and not a decent person, so she swept him out of the house. Liu An secretly wondered how his young master had forgotten these things, but he still answered the question seriously out of respect.

Liu Xu is completely out of temper this time, women have to take care of it, they are not allowed to go to brothels, men have to take care of it, and there are no scholars, this Chen Peier is really a lion in Hedong, a hundred years of old vinegar!

But then again, the end of the Ming Dynasty is corrupt, men and women are not taboo, you don't see even Ximen Qing in "Golden Vase Plum" has nothing to do. Most of the scholars of Jiangnan Shizi are prostitutes, grinding ink and warm books during the day, and nephrite is warm and fragrant at night, such as Zhang Dai's "good house, good beauty, good children, good fresh clothes, good food, good horses, good lanterns, good fireworks, good pear orchards, good propaganda, good antiques, good flowers and birds" is a two-way plug, one of the best.

Thinking about it this way, it doesn't matter if you don't have a scholar, at least you don't have to explore another possibility of your sexuality.

Thinking of such a powerful wife at the end of the Ming Dynasty, Liu Xu only felt powerless, but once he came, he could only be at ease, and he couldn't play a "drunk golden branch".

Liu Xu followed Liu An to the mansion to listen to Yuxuan, there were already three young scholars sitting inside, they were talking to each other over tea, and there were several richly dressed servants standing behind them, probably servants brought from their own homes.

Jiangnan August is still the summer and autumn handover, the so-called "July fire, September clothes", the weather is still quite hot, is the three scholars are wearing thin shirts.

Sitting on the left hand side is Wang Zhen, a Suzhou family, he wore an azure color Huaisu gauze shirt, lined with jade pigment yarn, plus he is thin and tall, his face is handsome, and the paper fan in his hand shakes when he speaks, which is really "fluttering with the sigh of a fairy". Sitting in the middle is Su He, who is short and fat, like a meat ball, and he is wearing a big red woven gold makeup flower bullfighting coat, and the whole person looks like a braised lion's head. But you must not underestimate this person because of his poor appearance, his eyes flashed during the conversation, revealing a shrewdness and vigilance, which shows that he is definitely not an ordinary rich son in Jiangnan. The last Xu Fuyuan's family background is more prominent, the great-grandson of Xu Zhi, the younger brother of the first assistant Xu Jie, he is twenty-nine years old this year, and has not yet been admitted to the Juren, but he is one of the founders of the "Several Societies", and the main member of the later "Restoration Society". Xu Fu's appearance is not amazing, especially a pair of eyes are always out of focus, giving people a feeling of being abruptly unfocused.

"Oh, the three brothers came from a long way, but the younger brother failed to sweep the bed to greet him, forgive his sins, forgive his sins!" Liu Xu stepped forward before the three of them could speak, and arched his hand: "Neizi came in and got a few catties of Yangxian tea, and after tasting it, the younger brother found that it really lived up to its reputation, and the soup was pure and clear, and the aroma was strong." It's just that the younger brother only knows a little bit about the tea ceremony, thinking that this kind of good tea falling into the hands of the younger brother is a pearl secretly cast, and the cow chews the peony, and it happens that the three brothers are coming, and the so-called 'sword is given to the hero, and the tea is matched with the celebrity' is not a bad treat for this good tea. ”

This Jiangnan scholar is absolutely unoffended, most of them have a relationship with each other, several generations of exchange and study tours have a deep relationship, provoked one of them is to stab the hornet's nest, Dong Qichang was also a local squire, prestige, just because he bullied a local student, he was attacked by the students, and tens of thousands of people were connected to deal with Dong Qichang, and even the local army did not dare to dispatch. Therefore, it is better to deal with this group of Jiangnan scholars who are not afraid of death and occupy public opinion, it is better to treat them politely, anyway, it is not worth money to say good things, and it is worth it if you can avoid some unnecessary trouble.

"Haha, Shibei three days, when you look at each other, I haven't seen you in the past few days, Boyang (Liu Xu's word Boyang) is good at lip service, but I don't know if there is a good time lately?" Xu Fuyuan was the oldest of the three, and he didn't blame Liu Xu for letting the guests wait, and took the initiative to take over the conversation.

"It's also said that in the past, Boyang only knew how to read and write all day long, and he never even swam in the Qinhuai River, but now when he looks at his mouth, he has become a character like Su and Zhang!" Wang Zhen and Liu Xu have the best relationship, and when they saw this, they also interjected and joked about Liu Xu: "It's nothing for the three of us to wait for a long time, who doesn't know that your Liu family is the most beautiful scenery in Yuxuan?" The three of us have tea to serve here, and we are very comfortable with the evaluation of current affairs, but you have to listen to the roar of the lion at home, but it is not as chic and comfortable as the three of us! ”

"Brother Wang's words are bad, this is also good for his wife, how can he say that he is worse than us?" Su He interjected with a smile.

"What do you mean by Brother Su's words?"

"I've been reading history books recently, and those who are afraid of their wives have many merits, and those who are far away are like Emperor Wen of Sui Yang Jian, Tang Dynasty Prime Minister Fang Xuanling, and now there is Yuyao, the king of this dynasty, is that not a temporary choice?" After Su He said this, he concluded: "It can be seen that it is a good thing to be afraid of your wife, and the more you are afraid of your wife and man, the more you can achieve something!" ”

"Haha!" The two of them immediately burst out laughing when they heard this, and for a while, the entire Tingyu Xuan was filled with the hearty laughter of the three of them.

Liu Xu glanced at Su Fatzi helplessly, this person has been in business for several generations, and he often haunts Goolan brothels, and he usually hands over Qingke turtles. Male, the one who makes fun of people the most.

But this kind of person can still be admitted to the Jinshi, which shows the diversity and diversity of Jiangnan in the late Ming Dynasty.

"The three brothers don't laugh anymore, if they laugh again, I'm afraid that the younger brother will be sad tonight." Liu Xu lazily argued with the three of them about whether he was afraid of the boring topic of his wife, and when the major event he directed was successful, his reputation immediately spread all over the three provinces of Jiangnan and Jiangbei, and Chen Peier would dare to turn the sky upside down at that time?

"I can't say that, the man is self-respecting, the Son of Heaven is very heavy on color, my generation of literati is to 'get on the horse to fight the crazy Hu, get off the horse to write the military book', this man still wants to be a big booster, the three of us are to cheer you up, let you compete in the boudoir." Su He didn't seem to want to let Liu Xu go, and still joked about this topic.

"Okay, okay, this family affair is still known by oneself, although the wife and concubine are gratifying, the open thrush may not be without the joy of the boudoir, and we outsiders still don't have to beak. The three of us are here today to discuss with you about next year's imperial examination. Xu Fuyuan saw that the heat was almost over, and began to turn to the topic.