The master and servant duo went out of the yellow gardenia trail, on the road, last night's rainstorm, the air is fresh, only wearing a single clothes is a little cool, this is the Dragon Boat Festival cold, Jiangsu and Zhejiang around the Dragon Boat Festival often appear a few days of low temperature weather, this so-called low temperature is of course relative to the summer season, in fact, it is cool, but if the Dragon Boat Festival cold lasts for a long time, it is not good for early rice-

Zeng Yu didn't feel the cold of the Dragon Boat Festival, he began to sweat before he walked to Qingtian Village with more than forty pounds of luggage, Sixi said: "Young master, my leg doesn't hurt anymore, I'll carry a backpack." ”

Zeng Yu said: "Don't stretch the blood scab, there is Qingtian Village in front, ha, I saw the wine flag on the treetops of the village." ”

The two of them just walked to the intersection of Qingtian Village, but they encountered three big cars driving out of the village, Zeng Yu thought that this was the car of Lu Yuan to pick up the female nun Lu Miaoxiang's mother and daughter, so he and Sixi let go to the side, staring, he sympathized with the fate of the beautiful female nun, and also wanted to know who the person who could crush him with a little finger said by Granny Yan Daoyan, curiosity hurts people-

There was a middle-aged man dressed in a beautiful dress walking next to the carriage at the back, and when he saw Zeng Yu looking at him, he stopped and asked, "Where are you going?" ”

Zeng Yuzuo said: "I'm going to catch the exam." ”

The middle-aged Xiucai was surprised: "Fuzhou, the Fuzhou Academy Examination is today!" ”

Zeng Yu said: "I am going to Yuanzhou below." ”

The middle-aged Xiucai said with relief: "I see." ”

Although this is not the boundary of Yuanzhou, but it is already commonplace for candidates who live in other places to rush back for scientific examinations, and middle-aged Xiucai does not feel that there is anything unusual about meeting candidates in Yuanzhou here, seeing Sixi walking with a limp, Zeng Yu carrying a heavy book and burden, so he said: "Don't go to Huwan to buy books, if you don't dislike it, just go with you, how about it?" ”

Huwan is thirty miles west of Jinxi County, which is the only way to Fuzhou, Zeng Yuxi said: "Thank you, thank you, Mr., under the surname Zeng, dare to ask Mr. your surname?" ”

The middle-aged Xiucai raised his voice to beckoned the carriage to stop, and said with a smile: "No, it's a native of Anren County, Raozhou Prefecture, surnamed Jane, my party kid is crazy Jane, Ha Luha, Zeng Xiaoyou, put all your luggage in the car, you scholar also sat in the car, you fell and injured yourself, come, get in the car." ”

The leading carriage has two servants of Jian Xiucai, Sixi got into the middle carriage, Zeng Yu and Jian Xiucai sat in the car at the back of the most Lu, the two chatted, Zeng Yu learned that this Jian Xiucai is famous, the word Sixuan, the people of Anren County, Raozhou Prefecture, Anren County is the Yujiang County of later generations, adjacent to Yingtan, Jian Zhen Mansion opened a bookstore, selling all kinds of books, the engraving and printing of Huwan Town, Jinxi County is known for its excellent engraving, the name is spread north and south, the price is double that of the books engraved in other places, and the readers with a wealthy family love to buy Huwan books, Also known as Jinxi Book, Jian Zhen went to Huwan to traffic the subset of the history back to Anren County to sell, stayed in Qingtian Village last night, and set off early this morning, to rush to Huwan more than 60 miles away at dusk -

Zeng Yu also briefly talked about his own situation, did not mention that he was going to make up for the exam, Jian Zhen said: "Xiaoyou now lives in Guangxin Mansion, it is not far from Anren County, and there will be a chance to be a guest at the Humble House in the future, the Humble House is near the Jianshan Academy in the west of the county. ”

Jian Zhen is in his forties, his eyebrows are sparse, and his speech is quite free, Zeng Yu arched his hand and said: "I must go to Anren to visit Mr. Jian if I have the chance." ”

Scholars get together to talk about eight shares, Jian Zhen asked Zeng Yu for a list of old works, Zeng Yu took out his own book of eight shares of essays from the book, a total of forty articles, about 20,000 words, Jian Zhen read three articles on the bumpy carriage, patted his thigh and said: "Zeng Xiaoyou, you must be successful in this subject, there is no reason for such a text not to be hit." ”

Zeng Yu said with a smile: "Thank you Mr. Jian for your good words, you must work hard." ”

Jian Zhen raised his eyebrows and said, "I'm not polite, when your words are hot, the grandmaster will definitely appreciate you-Zeng Xiaoyou's youth?" Only twenty years old, the future is limitless, you can go down the road of this imperial examination, not like my old Jane, in the early years, I only knew how to read eight strands of recitation of Cheng Wen, and I didn't read other books, I said a funny thing and you know, I was thirty years old to study as a supplementary student, I heard people talk about Tang poetry and Song lyrics, I don't know anything, even Li Taibai, Du Zimei, Li Yi'an, Xin Jiaxuan is who is ignorant, I was really teased by my classmates, now I think about it, I was lucky to be able to go to school twelve years ago——"

Zeng Yu hurriedly said: "Mr. Jian is too modest. ”

Jian Zhen waved his hand: "It's not too modest, people know that they are noble, I took a township exam after entering school, of course, it was a name for Sun Shan, and in the next few subjects, I didn't even have the qualifications for the township exam, and I couldn't pass the grandmaster's record." ”

Not all students can participate in the township examination, before this mention of the school master will be held in each province of the students to hold a record examination, the test results are divided into six classes, only in the first and second class are eligible to participate in the township examination, the examination in the fifth and sixth class will be punished, but after Hongzhi, the admission examination is generally only divided into three classes, the students who are in the third class can not participate in the township examination, there is no other punishment, Jian Zhen two admission examinations are in the third class, I feel very faceless, and at that time the family is not very rich, simply do not take the test, and open a bookstore in partnership with others, It is much more convenient to have a reputation as a bookseller, not to mention others, just long-distance trafficking is not afraid of official checks can save a lot of money, in just a few years, Jian Zhen has a little savings, last year he opened a bookstore alone, less disputes with others, twice a year, once to Huwan, once to Hangzhou, it is also considered a tour of the mountains and rivers, than the whole day hard to read eight shares that is 10,000 times more comfortable-

Zeng Yu said with a smile: "A gentleman sees an opportunity, a master knows his fate, Mr. Jian is also a gentleman, a master, how many young scholars in the world have been delayed in the imperial examination for a lifetime, and they are poor and poor, what is the fun of life!" ”

"Zeng Xiaoyou's words are very much in line with my intentions."

At noon, at a restaurant in Jinxi County, Jian Zhen and Zeng Yu drank half a catty of Xiexi liquor, and in the afternoon, they lay in the carriage and hurried, talked all the way, said something to get rich and enjoyable, and rushed to Huwan Town at dusk.

There is a street of bookshops in Huwan Town, the street is a mile long, both sides are full of bookshops, both retail and wholesale, Zeng Yu accompanied Jian Zhen to select books, see the carving, paper, whether there are typos, and there is bargaining, Huwan is mainly a subset of the history of printing, and the eight shares of the text are also printed, but often not timely, the bookstore in Suzhou and Hangzhou engraves the books very quickly, and the township test, the test list does not take long for the Chinese style to be listed, and the types of books in Suzhou and Hangzhou are also, all kinds of wild history novels, sketches and dramas, Most of the books engraved and sold here in Huwan are books that can be handed down-

Jian Zhen asked Zeng Yu to help him advise him on which books are easy to sell, Zeng Yu obviously has a vision for this than Jian Zhen, and selected twenty or thirty kinds of books, Jian Zhen felt that Zeng Yu's vision was secretly in line with him, and he bought them one by one, among which the eight-volume "Article Authentic" compiled by Song Ru Zhendexiu bought two hundred letters, the books here are very expensive, and the wholesale price of the eight-volume "Article Authentic" also costs six dollars of silver, and the poor children really look down on books and can't afford to read books.

That night, Zeng Yu's master and servant and Jian Zhen's master and servant six people lived in the "Xianqi Inn" in Huwan, and the next morning, the innkeeper who was entrusted by Zeng Yu came to tell Zeng Yu that there were several carriages that went to Fuzhou to sell lotus silk candy were willing to take passengers, and each person was four cents of silver, Zeng Yu felt that four cents of silver was too expensive, and personally went to negotiate with the lotus silk candy merchant about a total of six cents of silver for the master and servant, and went on the road with breakfast.

Jian Zhen sent Zeng Yu out of the west gate of Huwan Town, and said: "Jiu Li, you go back to Guangxin Mansion after the exam, please visit me in a detour, in fact, there are not many detours, but more than 100 miles, please come, I will sweep the bed and wait, you must be in this subject, I should be congratulated by wine." He gave Zeng Yu a set of ten-volume "Shuo Yuan" and waved goodbye.

Zeng Yu's master and servant sat on a carriage loaded with half a cart of lotus silk candy and shook it to Fuzhou City, sixty miles away, the carriage was filled with the sweet fragrance of lotus silk candy, Xiao Xi Sixi sighed: "This Jian Xiucai is also a good person, there are still many good people in this world." ”

Zeng Yu smiled: "Most of the people in this world are ordinary people who are not good or bad, and doing good or evil depends on chance......

The master and servant gossiped about it, and when it was dark, they arrived at Fuzhou City, which "led the rivers and lakes and controlled Fujian and Guangdong".

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