The boat floats on the water, the water flow is slow, the bow of the boat is placed with a small ebony case, three celadon cups on the case, the tea is just filled, the moon in the cup is gently swaying, Zhang Dai, Zhang Cao, and Zhang Yuan who are sitting on the table stand up together, the bow of the boat is slightly sinking, and the moon in the cup is shaking first - the girl at the head of the boat under the moon is holding a round bamboo basket in both hands, and the fruits in the basket are shining in the moonlight, round and small, the color is light, like a pearl, and the girl's voice is very delicate: "This basket of wax-skinned warbler peaches is tasted by the three ministers——"

The hair-clad boy next to the girl handed over another basket and said, "This is a peach door date, and my girl will try it for the three ministers." ”

Zhang Cao took the basket of wax-skinned peaches, Zhang Yuan took the peach bezoars, Zhang Cao smiled and said: "I'm ashamed, I said that Cao Ying Cao Ying is here, the Xiuwei girl is really like a fox fairy, and she appeared without knowing it." ”

The girl king smiled and said: "The little woman longs for the three ministers, she is really looking forward to it, and she is resentful, and when she sees that the three ministers are not coming, she will send fruit to show her goodwill, and the three princesses understand the little woman's intentions, right?" ”

At this moment, Zhang Cao had nothing to say, Zhang Yuan and his eldest brother Zhang Dai glanced at each other, and said in their hearts: "I was teased by this girl in person." ”

Zhang Dai said: "Xiuwei girl, please come to this boat, taste tea, admire the moon, and discuss poetry, how about it?" ”

The three-oar-wave boat is much taller than the boat, the girl has a face up, her hair is simple, her forehead is broad, her eyebrows are trimmed, her lips are red and her teeth are white, and she said with a smile: "Don't dare to disturb, the three ministers are going to take the exam tomorrow, and the little woman will send some fresh fruits from Jinling to talk about her heart, so go back and wish the three ministers success in their studies." ”

The boat swings the oars, although it is against the current, but the driving is not slow, and soon disappears on the Qinhuai River under the bright moon, but there is a ghostly sound of the hole flute coming from the water, the moonlight dissolves, the water flows deeply, and the sound of the hole flute gradually disappears - even Zhang Cao, who is in a hurry, waited until he couldn't hear the sound of the hole flute before asking: "Is this hole flute played by Wang Wei?" ”

No one answered, not sure.

Zhang Dai said leisurely: "On the moonlit night of the twenty-fourth bridge, where can the jade teach?" ”

Zhang Yuan smiled: "This girl has come to tease us again-"

Zhang Cao said: "Jie Zi's heart is itchy? ”

Zhang Yuan smiled "hey", picked up a waxed peach, this kind of peach has a pale yellow skin, and the entrance is extremely sweet, and praised: "It's so sweet." "Let Mu Zhenzhen and Xiao Wu come to try it, and ask Laifu and Xiao Wu how the search for renting a house is?

Laifu said: "There is a courtyard near Jiming Temple that is clean and spacious, there are bamboo flowers and trees in the courtyard, there are about two acres of size before and after, but the owner of the house refuses to rent for half a year, saying that he wants to rent for a year, and the rent is thirty taels of silver a year, which is too expensive. ”

Twenty taels of silver can ensure that a family of five has no worries about food and clothing for a year, and renting a house costs thirty taels a year, which is of course too expensive in Laifu's opinion.

Zhang Yuan said to Zhang Cao: "Ming said that the third brother went to Jiming Temple to see the house, it is really a good place to live, so he will not fight for those few taels of silver, rent for half a year to pay him eighteen taels, and he is always willing to rent, and when making a contract, he must find a nearby chief or a chief as a guarantee, so as not to cause unnecessary trouble." ”

Zhang Cao doesn't have to take the exam tomorrow, and he will be admitted directly the day after tomorrow.

…… Early in the morning of June 18th, after eating Jinling wontons, Zhang Yuan and his eldest brother Zhang Dai and Wuling, Mingyan and several servants rushed to Nanjing Gongyuan, the new Guozi Supervisor entrance examination was held in the Gongyuan, co-hosted by the Nanjing Ministry of Rites Shangshu and Guozi Supervisor Wine - Zhang Cao let Laifu lead him to the vicinity of Jiming Temple to see the house, sure enough, quiet and elegant, the front yard is planted with flowers, the backyard art bamboo, in the middle is three small buildings arranged in the shape of a product, Zhang Cao is more satisfied, just their three brothers each have a building, when even if he talks about the deed with the owner of his house, the owner of the house is surnamed Xu, Seeing that it was a prisoner who came to rent a house, it seemed that he was a child of a rich family, and he was willing to pay eighteen taels for half a year, so what else did he have to say, "The rent for half a year can be paid at one time." ”

Zhang Cao said: "Who is impatient to discuss the rent with you every month, and it doesn't hurt to pay it for half a year, but you have to find a Lijia as a guarantee, otherwise who knows if this house is yours, if you take my money and run away, then I won't be wronged." ”

The owner of the house surnamed Xu even said, "How can this be reasonable", but said: "It's right to make a deed to guarantor, but the guarantor has no money or material benefits, who is willing to be a guarantor, the gift of five coins of silver is always wanted, and the five coins of silver must be paid by you." ”

Zhang Cao was too lazy to talk to the owner of the house, and promised to give the five dollars of silver, and the owner of the house surnamed Xu took him to find the local chief to make a deed of protection, set up a contract, pay the rent, and the three parties each drew a mortgage, each holding a copy, this small courtyard under the Jiming Mountain is the temporary residence of the Zhang brothers, Zhang Cao ordered the servants to wait for the servants to remove the dung and sweep, he rushed to the Gongyuan to see Zhang Dai and Zhang Yuan have been examined?

…… Nanjing Gongyuan in the Hongwu years is the township test, the place of the examination, after Yongle moved the capital to Yanjing, here is only used for the Nanzhili township test, the scale of the establishment is grander than the general provincial Gongyuan, at the beginning of the hour, Zhang Yuan and the eldest brother Zhang Dai entered from the Longmen of the Nanjing Gongyuan, and saw that there was a square on the left and right, respectively, "Ming Jing Shishi" and "for the country to seek talents", because the officials have not yet arrived, these supervisors to be examined are standing on both sides of the Mingyuan Building, waiting for the arrival of Li Weizhen, the secretary of the Nanjing Ministry of Rites and the priest of Nanjing Guozi, Gu Qiyuan, the new prisoners are lined up in two rows, There are more than 200 people in the year of tribute, election tribute, eunuch, shadow prison, although the Nanjing Guozijian is not as prosperous as before, but the perennial prison students are still maintained at about 3,000 people, far from the government school, the county school can be compared - Mingyuan Building up and down three floors, there are six zhang high, for the examiner to condescendingly monitor the candidates of each house, of course there is no shelter on all sides, although it is the morning, but the June sun is also very uncomfortable, wait for about two moments, only to see a group of officials under the official escort into the tribute courtyard, then Li Shangshu looks almost seventy years old, Slightly chubby, with a smile on his face, Gu Saijiu is about fifty years old, medium in stature, his eyes are a little sunken, and his expression is more serious - passing through the downstairs of Mingyuan, in front of him is the "Zhigong Hall", Li Shangshu and Gu Saijiu and some other officials sat down in the hall, and the newly admitted prisoners stood under the hall, this Li Shangshu was not verbose, first let the scribe collect and check everyone's admission license, and then said: "Today is the entrance exam, only one question of four calligraphy, as long as the art and calligraphy are not too bad, you will not be deposed, but those who are good at art can enter Chongzhi Hall, Guangye Hall is taught, and the next class can only be read from the Hall of Justice-"

At this time, I suddenly saw an official of the Tribute Court come up to the hall and said, "Lord Dean, Prince Ryukyu Shangfeng has asked to take the exam today, please show me." ”

Tomorrow night's officialdom title, Shangshu called the dean, this Dean Li said to Gu Qiyuan: "Didn't this Ryukyu prince arrive at the beginning of the year, and he has been studying for a long time, why do you ask to come to the exam now?" ”

Gu Qiyuan said: "Shang Feng is the second son of the King of the Ryukyus, he is good at learning and progressing, he didn't let him take the exam when he first entered the school, and he must want to pass the entrance exam and enter the prison like other tribute students." ”

Li Weizhen nodded and said, "It's rare for a barbarian to have such ambition, let him in." ”

The officials in the hall spoke, and Zhang Yuan heard it clearly, secretly surprised, and said in his heart: "Did the prince of the Ryukyus also come to Nanjian to study, I remember that in the late Ming Dynasty, the Ryukyus had been controlled by a certain island domain, and it should not be there yet, otherwise the prince of the Ryukyus would not have come to Nanjing to study." He also thought: "Even if Ryukyu is not controlled by the island domain now, I am afraid that it will be a few years later, Ryukyu is a subject country of the Ming Dynasty, and the Ming Dynasty is Zhengshuo, and the Ryukyu is invaded, but the Ming Dynasty is powerless to save it, which is a pity." ”

After a while, the official of the Gongyuan led three people in, lacquered scarf shirt, jade silk cloth, wide sleeves soap edge, waist soap silk, it is the uniform clothing of the Guozi prisoner, the appearance of the three people is no different from the Han people, one of the middle is about twenty-four or five years old, five feet tall, fair skin, high forehead, high nose bridge, and his expression is quite resolute, this person should be Shang Feng, the second son of the Ryukyu King, from the left and right two deliberately keep a half-step distance from him, it can be seen that his status is noble - Li Shangshu called Shang Feng and the three Shang Feng to the hall to praise a few words, Let the official send the candidates to enter the number room to start the examination, and the papers must be handed in before noon without delay.

This Nanjing Gongyuan house and Zhang Yuan to participate in the county examination, the government examination shed is very different, this house is a single room, to "heaven and earth Xuanhuang universe flood" this thousand words to sort, Zhang Yuan's house is "summer" number, there is pen and ink paper in the house, the paper is printed with the words of Nanjing Gongyuan and the word "summer" imprint, this Guozijian entrance examination is of course not as strict as the township test, the gate is not down, and the body is not searched when going to the dragon gate first - Zhang Yuan is grinding ink, hearing the errand exam questions, it is the four-book question "Fan Chi asks to know", from the " Analects? Yongye", is about the knowledge and benevolence of the discussion, this kind of topic for Zhang Yuan said that there is no difficulty, immediately slowly grind the ink, to wait for an inkstone to grind thick, a four-hundred-word four-book title eight strands of the manuscript has been done, not busy to write out, first familiar with the house, he will take the Guozijian entrance examination as a rehearsal, next August he will participate in the Hangzhou Gongyuan Township Examination, the Gongyuan house regulations are almost the same, this house is about six feet high, three feet wide, four feet deep, if it is fat, this kind of house is afraid that it will not be able to squeeze in, there are no tables and chairs in the house, There are only two wooden boards, stacked bricks for support, one on the top is a table, and one is a stool below, which is very simple, in order to prevent exam fraud - the house is short and occluded, this hot summer weather, it is very stuffy inside, fortunately, the township test is August, if it is in the hot summer test for three days in June, it will definitely have heat stroke, there are many mosquitoes in this place, Zhang Yuan only sat for a while, and a few red blisters were bitten on his calf - this is not a place to stay for a long time, Zhang Yuan raised the pen with a small block upright "Fan Chi asks to know" This eight-strand essay was written on the examination paper of the Gongyuan, and the inspection was correct, so he lifted the wooden board, took the examination paper and walked out of the house, the number house was in a row, and there was a narrow alley in the middle, and the official messenger of the guard asked Zhang Yuan to hand in the paper to the "public court", when Zhang Yuan walked through the "frost" house, he saw that the eldest brother Zhang Dai also walked out of the paper, so he chuckled: "The eldest brother is so comfortable, in the frost room, but the younger brother is in the summer number, and it is very hot." ”

The two brothers laughed in a low voice and walked to the "Zhigong Hall", but saw that the Ryukyu prince Shang Feng had also passed the exam, and while walking, he showed his scroll and smiled.

(To be continued)