The next day, Zhao Fujin found that the bed had been replaced with the old sheets from before, and his wife even took the newly bought quilt sheets on the bed and sold them, and not only did he not sell all the things he bought for the newlyweds, but he happily told himself that the quilt cover was not a loss, because he was the old man Xie Yuan, so many villagers felt that this bed sheet stained with the breath of Wenqu Xing could bless their children to study well.

Later, the Chen family sold everything that the family could sell, and when Zhao Fujin left home, the family was really empty, and even the last rice and noodles were packed in a small bookcase, which means that in the next period of time, the family can only eat some wild vegetables to satisfy their hunger, and maybe when the farmland is not busy, his wife can still do some female work to earn a little rice and noodles.

"Buckle, buckle."

There was a soft sound outside the door, and Zhao Fujin hurriedly put away the money bag before going over to open the door. As soon as the door opened, it was the old woman of the shopkeeper's house, and the old woman saw Zhao Fujin and said, "Young man, have you had dinner?" ”

Zhao Fujin hurriedly said that he had eaten, and the old woman glanced into the house, only to see the book on the table and half a cake on the side of the bowl, and gently asked Zhao Fujin if he would eat this. After getting a positive answer, he said that the old man in the family asked her to come up and ask, if she didn't eat, let Zhao Fujin go down and eat more.

Zhao Fujin thanked him repeatedly, saying that he had eaten it.

After a while, the old man also came up and asked Zhao Fujin to go down and drink two cups, and finally Zhao Fujin, who couldn't refuse, sat down at the old couple's dinner table, and there was a teenage boy at the dinner table.

Not long after the meal was eaten, the old couple said their intentions, it turned out that the boy's parents were out running business when it happened to be raining heavily, and the child's mother slipped down the cliff, and the husband reached out to save him.

The old man generously took out a few taels of silver, this money may not be much for others, but it is a huge amount of money for Zhao Fujin, the old man means that he sees that Zhao Fujin is also a loyal person, so he wants to entrust him with some things, the grandson has no parents, and there are no other close relatives, I hope to give Zhao Fujin some money, in exchange for Zhao Fujin to get ahead after the sun rises, he can take care of the grandchildren who stay after the old couple goes.

It seems that he is afraid that Zhao Fujin will refuse, and the old man said that he didn't expect such a little money to let others raise children, and the two of them are still in good health, and there will be no problem in living for another ten or eight years, just looking at Zhao Fujin's shabby clothes, he must also need money, which is considered an exchange, I will fund you today, and we can take care of our grandchildren after the death of the old couple in the future.

Except for a few scholars who met in the autumn and could recognize Zhao Fujin, others only heard his name and didn't know him, and the old couple didn't know each other, just hoping to find a scholar with a good temperament and maybe be able to take the exam for an official and a half-job, but they never thought that they would meet Zhao Fujin who went to the champion.

Zhao Fujin was very moved by these taels of silver, he didn't even bring a tael of money when he came, accept it, if he is an official in the future, what should this family do if they have any rude requests.

Refuse, Zhao Fujin is reluctant, it's not that he loves money, but there are a lot of talented people participating in this Chunqiu, he can guarantee that he is on the list, but he is not sure to get the first place at all, he knows that he has a good talent, but he knows that he is not the only one with good talent, and the environment and teacher level of that group of people are better.

At this time, he didn't have much money and food, if he spent time on the road to earn money to eat, he would inevitably delay his homework, he had long been inspired to fight for the canonization of an emperor for the lady waiting at home, and the champion lady of the empire could get the title of county monarch canonized by the imperial court.

This is a supreme honor for women, and I haven't heard of a champion lady being canonized over the years because many talented people who participated in the Spring Festival are still unmarried, and some of them are young ladies of powerful families, many of whom already have titles, so there is no need to be sealed again.

Zhao Fujin has never been a pedantic person, after going upstairs and thinking for a long time, he decided to accept this funding, but he wrote a letter of commitment in black and white, and asked the old couple to sign it, which roughly means that Zhao Fujin does not bear any obligations to the child, but only takes a hand when needed in the future, and the old couple and the child cannot make any requests that violate their conscience.

When Zhao Fujin also signed his name, the two old men saw the word Zhao Fujin, and when they asked again, they knew that this young man was actually a very famous cloth talent.

Zhao Fujin never accepted the reputation of funding, the old couple knew that this was a young man who was forced to have no choice, so he took out a few taels of silver, and gave him a small donkey at home to travel, Zhao Fujin accepted it after a little thought, after all, with a little donkey, you can read a book while rushing to the road.

On the way back to the house, Zhao Fujin was blown by the night breeze, and Zhao Fujin was shocked in his mind, and suddenly remembered that he actually owed a trace of debt in his heart just now, and it was nothing to owe a little donkey, and then he slowly returned to such an idea, which made him wake up, this is the mental process of some officials who were just greedy for a few taels at the beginning, and then how they were greedy, anyway, what happened, and then ......

"I am from a peasant family, and I will speak up and do things for the poor in this life, and I will be a public servant in my life." The young man stood outside the door for a long time, and after secretly vowing to go back to the house and continue studying.

Before dawn the next day, the young man got up to pack his things, said goodbye to the two old men, and then rode a little donkey on the road.

According to the rules, the highest academic institution of the empire, Dongxu, opened the library to the public a month before the Spring Festival, and many people from ordinary families would take this opportunity to check some materials that they could not access on a daily basis, and Zhao Fujin was one of these people.

……

After the soldier Langzhong entered Qinglin Road from Yunyue Road, Li Lingzhi returned to Yunyue City after saying goodbye to everyone, and along the way, the young man with good looks and family talents thought about a lot of things, the most important of which was his future, whether to stay in Yunyue City or go to a higher place to see the world.

Li Yuan, the governor of Yunyue Dao, was always in a daze when he saw his nephew come back, and after thinking about it, he probably understood his thoughts, and that night, Li Yuan called his nephew Li Lingzhi, who was quite important, to the study.

Seeing that the young man who had grown up was quite like his brother in the past, and then he was blown by the wind, so that the middle-aged Governor Li felt a little like tears, and he was afraid that he would lose face in front of his nephew, so Governor Li turned his head slightly and turned his back to the young man who entered the door.

"Lingzhi, go to the capital, I recommended you a martial arts, and you will leave for Beijing in a few days."

Li Lingzhi was stunned, he didn't expect his uncle to suddenly mention this matter.

"There are no outsiders here, so there is no need to hide anything from your uncle and you, you are older, the situation in the court should be almost over, the crown prince and the vassal kings of various places stand together, and it is the royal power that supports the wing king.

If the Winged King finally ascends the throne, he will inevitably frantically cut down the feudal clan and desperately suppress the local tycoons, and at that time, the feudal kings in various places will not sit idly by, and may raise troops to overthrow his throne. If the crown prince ascends the throne, local forces will once again infiltrate the imperial city, and eventually threaten the imperial rule.

So this is a dilemma, and it is also the reason why the emperor canonized the crown prince but did not let him move into the prince's mansion in the East Palace, because the emperor is also considering the gains and losses, looking at the current form of the court, presumably he has not yet found a way to maintain the balance of power between local forces and the royal family. ”

"Will the emperor select a group of local scholars to suppress other scholars? With the strength of the royal family, at most the three percent of the family can easily swallow the remaining seventy percent. ”

Li Yuan, who turned around, nodded, shook his head again, and sighed: "The royal family has teamed up with some of the Shi clans to carve up the other Shi clans? It seems to be a good way, but you must know that in this strategy, the coalition army can easily destroy seventy percent of the family, but the remaining thirty percent of the family will grow into a larger force, after all, they will not join forces with the royal family if they don't give meat, which is also a strategy to drive away the wolf. ”

Li Lingzhi was slightly stunned, then nodded.

"Go ahead."

The young man turned to leave, and when he arrived at the door, his uncle's voice came from behind him: "Go to the capital and have a look, you are different from a few of them, I am an official elected by the family gate lord of this Yunyue Dao, then my sons can only stand with the gate lord clan in this place." ”

In the night, the young man walking in the courtyard echoed in his mind the last words of his uncle, who had always loved him very much:

"You go to the capital to find your own way out, you don't have to stand with me, you just vote for the Wing King, it's okay, if one day the Wing King is defeated, I still have some face in front of the Yunyue Dao family, I can protect you from death, if one day the knife is erected on the head of my Li Mansion, you are not allowed to intercede, just pass on the blood of my Li family."

The young man knew what his uncle meant, and his uncle wanted him to vote for the king of wings, and if one day the prince won, everyone would be happy if they were still alive; If one day the Li Mansion is destroyed, as long as he is still alive, then the Li family will not be considered a dead end, and he will also have an explanation for his ancestors.

The handsome Li Lingzhi looked up at the moon and said softly, "Can't you put your eggs in one basket?" ”

……

In the Snow Mansion of Fengge City, the capital of the Lingyuan Empire, a maid-like woman carried a wooden box through the elegant courtyard at night.

"Squeak!"

The finely carved wooden door was gently pushed open, and the gentle maid Ning Xiaoxi held a box, walked to the table and put it away, and then turned to close the door.

"Chi Chi, I brought you your jewelry." Although Ning Xiaoxi is a maid, she rarely cares about Xue Chi Chi calling Miss in private, most of them are called by name, and the two have known each other for many years.

Xue Xue, who was lying on the table by the window in a daze, was rarely quiet, and turned her head suspiciously to ask what kind of jewelry it was, some light eyebrows, big eyes that were not stained with impurities, pink lips, and a slender figure.

"I'm going to attend the Qinglu Mountain Festival the day after tomorrow, have you forgotten?"

Ning Xiaoxi said that he remembered it after the snow was over, nodded slightly, and Ning Xiaoxi continued: "Madam has prepared a brand new set of jewelry for you, so that you can clean up and cheat a man." ”