In the early morning, when the gates of the city had just been opened, two knights in embroidered gold robes galloped from a distance, galloping all the way, waving bells in their hands, and the rapid jingling sound could be heard for miles and miles.

Pedestrians on the road have avoided it, which is a rush order to deliver urgent documents.

There is a merchant shop number on the back of the robe, these two people are the messengers of the famous Wang Kuaijiao delivery shop in the capital, the express delivery business of the Great Song Dynasty is very developed, and there are more than 20 delivery shops in the capital alone.

There are also five local delivery shops in Pingjiang Prefecture, such as Yang Ji Express in Mudu Town, which is the largest delivery shop in Wu County, which is extremely convenient for sending letters and goods.

Delivery shops are generally divided into step delivery, boat delivery and horse delivery.

Foot delivery is mainly slow delivery, ship delivery is more important for freight, and horse delivery is urgent delivery.

Since these two men were horses, it was clear that they were here to deliver urgent letters.

The most urgent express delivery is called the golden brand urgent foot order, which is dedicated to sending the urgent edict of the Son of Heaven and so on, and the private delivery shop also undertakes this kind of business, and the requirement is to travel 500 miles a day.

The general horse delivery requires a daily journey of 300 miles, and all the way you need to change horses in various branches.

In the Song Dynasty, the express delivery of horses was generally very expensive, and the volume was slightly cheaper.

For example, this trip to Pingjiang Mansion on horseback from the capital to deliver a letter will cost at least ten yuan.

If it is a step delivery, it will be cheaper, at most a few hundred dollars.

The two messenger knights rushed into the county seat of Wu County, until they came to the county office, they turned over and dismounted, ran up the steps and said to the officer: "Tell you the county order quickly, the capital is urgent and fast!" ”

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Early the next morning, Juppé's magnificent carriage stopped at the entrance of the inn.

It immediately caused a sensation among the contestants, this is the only carriage in Wu County, and it is still pulled by three healthy horses.

You must know that during the period from Song Zhenzong to Song Renzong, the Great Song Dynasty only had more than 200,000 horses, far lower than the million horses in the Liao State and the more than 700,000 horses in the Western Xia.

The limited number of horses in the Great Song Dynasty first had to meet the needs of the army, and secondly, they had to meet the needs of the imperial court and post shops, so that there were very few horses flowing into the people.

This is like the out-of-print luxury cars of later generations, and almost all the people who can ride horses are wealthy and wealthy.

The animal power in the north is basically based on ox carts and donkey carts, while the water transportation in the south of the Yangtze River is developed, and the animal power is not much, and horses are even rarer.

In the memory of many people, it seems that only the county order is riding horses in Wu County, and the rest of the horses are not visible, and there are no horses for rent even on their feet.

But today, a gorgeous carriage stopped in front of the inn, how could it not amaze everyone.

In fact, Jupei's family had two of these luxury carriages, one for the family and the other for welcoming distinguished guests.

These days, Zhu Pei competed in Wu County, and the carriage that greeted the distinguished guests was specially transferred for her use.

As soon as Fanning came out of the inn, the carriage door opened, and Jian Meizi, who was sitting on the side, beckoned to him.

At this time, countless pairs of eyes looked at Fanning, which made Fanning feel uncomfortable, he didn't want to sit in such a gorgeous carriage in front of everyone.

Fan Ning was about to refuse, but Pei Guang reacted quickly, he was afraid that Fan Ning would make Zhu Pei angry, so he gave another assistant teacher Zhang a look, and the two of them supported Fan Ning on the left and right, and pushed him into the carriage.

"Shameful to ride in my carriage?"

Jupei, who was sitting in the back row, saw Fanning's reluctance, and she glared at Fanning very dissatisfied.

Juppe spent half an hour dressing up today.

She wore a sapphire blue satin gown, a gold silk belt around her waist, a fine black gauze hat with a jasper inlay in the center, her eyebrows and eyes were picturesque, her skin was as white as porcelain, and her mouth was like a bright red cherry.

No matter how you look at it, it's a little beauty in men's clothes.

"How could I be dissatisfied with such a beautiful carriage?"

Fanning smiled and looked at the decoration in the carriage, "If others are kindly invited, you have to be polite!" ”

As soon as he got into the carriage, he immediately fell in love with the luxurious decoration in the carriage, and the seats were covered with satin cushions embroidered with gold filigree, and the walls of the carriage were actually inlaid with precious stones.

He reached out and touched a ruby, "Is it true?" ”

"Look at your useless look!"

Zhu Pei's eyes lit up when he saw Fanning touch the ruby, and he couldn't help but pout his lips contemptuously.

But she is still very proud in her heart, she likes to see Fanning expose the true face of the country baby.

"Let's go!" She waved.

The carriage started and went around the back door of the county school.

That's right! Fan Ning suddenly reacted, the county school is opposite the inn, what do you have to do in the carriage, does this girl have something to say?

He looked up at Jupe, who really had something to say.

"Fanning, it's my grandfather's sixtieth birthday in a few days, you can also participate!"

When Fanning heard her call her by her name, she smiled and said, "Is this a formal invitation?" ”

"This is a formal invitation, of course, but the premise is that you have to give me the Taihu Stone that promised me, otherwise..... Hum! Hum! ”

"I can give it to you, but you have to pay me back that Lingbi stone first!"

Fanning knows this little girl too well, and if she doesn't tell her in advance, she will change her hexagram at any time.

"I'm afraid not!"

Zhu Pei said casually: "I have already given that Lingbi stone to my grandfather as a birthday gift." ”

"Wait!"

Fan Ning suddenly heard that something was wrong, and hurriedly said: "Since you have already given a birthday gift, why do you still need Taihu Stone?" ”

Zhu Pei covered her mouth and snickered, and said seriously: "I asked you if you want Taihu Stone as a birthday gift, I want to participate in Doushi, little guy, understand?" ”

Fanning rolled his eyes, why!

The favor she owes her has been paid off, the Taihu Lake stone is so valuable, she thinks it is a stone on the side of the road, and she can pick up as much as she wants?

Of course, she is a wealthy lady, and dozens of taels of silver are similar to roadside stones in her eyes, but why doesn't she think about it for herself?

Zhu Pei observed the words and looks, and immediately saw that Fan Ning was unwilling, she also understood Fan Ning, the more he used strong means, the less he would give in, and he had to use gentle means to make him obediently hand over the stone.

She went against the ferocious normal, put on a delicate appearance, and said softly: "A-Ning, I don't want your stone, there will be a stone fight every grandfather's birthday, I just want to participate in the stone fight, and I will return it to you after the fight, a broken stone, do you think I will be rare?" ”

At this time, the title has been changed to A-Ning again, how much this little girl wants that stone.

However, Fan Ning had another idea, Zhou Liang told him that the fighting stone is held in a small circle, and outsiders can't enter, this little girl wants to participate in the fighting stone, which is an opportunity for herself.

Thinking of this, he pretended to be silent for a long time before he said slowly: "The stone can be lent to you, but I have one condition!" ”

"Stinky boy, you still have the conditions?"

Zhu Pei blurted out, she suddenly came to her senses, she had to use gentle means, and she said stupidly: "You say, what conditions?" ”

"I also want to participate in Doushi, you bring me, on this condition."

Zhu Pei's heart was relieved, and she smiled happily: "Then we will make up our minds, and I will have someone send you an invitation card after we go back." ”

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There were not many students participating in the second round today, and there were only six students in total, representing three schools.

Yanying School, County School Affiliated School, and Evergreen School, all three schools are the winners of each group in the first round of the competition in Region B.

Although they are only a deputy team, their strength is really not weak, and they even surpass the main team, like the Evergreen Academy, they put the first and second places in the joint entrance examination in the deputy team.

Although there are few students today, there are many examiners, there are six examiners, the chief examiner is called Zhang Ruoying, an elderly person about 60 years old, and one of the four chief professors of county studies.

In addition to the examiners, the team leaders of the three schools are also allowed to observe, but they are not allowed to do any prompting, otherwise it will be regarded as cheating in the competition.

"I'm afraid there will be bias in today's game?"

Juppe glanced at the seating arrangement, leaned forward and whispered to Fanning.

"How can you tell?"

"Just look at the seating arrangement, you can see that the county school affiliated school is actually arranged in the middle, as far as I know, many county school professors have taught them."

Fan Ning looked at the two contestants in the county school affiliated school, these two people looked relatively thick, at least about twelve years old, both of them were wearing white scholar uniforms, wearing flat scarves, judging from the back, they were almost adults.

The two of them had the advantage of fighting at home, and they both had an irrepressible sense of superiority on their faces, and they looked at the other two schools proudly.

Today, Yanying Academy is seat three, opposite is Evergreen Academy, contrary to the county school, the two students of Evergreen Academy are very low-key, both of them are not tall, fair-skinned, handsome like two little ladies, wearing the same cyan scholar's clothes.

From the moment they entered, they were very quiet.

"Boom! Boom! ”

The bell rang for the official start of the game, and the two team leaders who were talking outside the door hurriedly walked back to their seats and sat down.

At this time, Chief Examiner Zhang stood up, his eyes swept around the crowd sternly, and then he said slowly: "Everyone knows the rules, I won't waste time, but today I want to explain that since the leaders of the three schools are present today, I hope that there will be no form of communication between the team leaders and the students, otherwise they will be judged to cheat, which will affect the final results of the school in this competition." ”

After the examiner finished the warning, he said, "Let's start!" The first round of questions! ”

The boy who sent the question stepped forward with the title holder, and each of the schools drew a lot.

Zhu Pei rolled up her sleeves, revealing her white wrists like small lotus roots, and she picked for a long time before pulling out a lottery.

"See how lucky you are today?" She grinned and handed the sign to Fanning.

Fanning slowly unfolded the question, his eyes lit up, and he smiled: "It's actually a riddle!" ”

"Let me see!"

Zhu Pei hurriedly stepped forward and looked closely, it was really a riddle, and she immediately smiled.

"Today, Ben Yanei opened the flag victoriously and captured an enemy spy alive!"

The riddle is a 'firefly' word, a word for shooting.

Fanning's heart moved, this riddle is in "Dream of Red Mansions", what a coincidence.

The question clearly called for a written answer, and Fanning whispered a word in Juppé's ear, Juppé nodded, took a pen and wrote down the riddle on the paper, and then folded it.

The other two teams, the county school affiliated drew the Five Classics crossword, and the Evergreen School drew a poem with the title Shangyuan.

Although Master Liu couldn't make any eye contact with his students, it didn't prevent him from having a tacit understanding with Fanning, at least Fanning looked relaxed, and Zhu Pei smiled, he knew that this question was not difficult.

And Zhu Pei quickly finished writing the answer, which means that this question has been answered, and the master of Liu Courtyard breathed a sigh of relief.

However, Courtyard Master Liu had another concern, just now he communicated with the Fei Academy Master of the Evergreen Academy, and they were very worried that the Affiliated School of the County School would score eccentricity.

In the home game, the examiners are all from the county school, and the county school professors often go to the affiliated school to take classes, and the students who participate in the affiliated school are naturally their favorite apprentices, and it is strange that they are not partial.

"Dang!" There was a crisp chime, and the examiner shouted: "When the time comes, please stop writing immediately for the three teams." ”

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[There will be a new chapter at noon]