Shaoxing, Zhejiang, a water town in the south of the Yangtze River, is full of autumn and beautiful scenery.

A young man in a green cloth robe walked out of the private school and walked along the waterway, his steps hurried, looking tired.

Although his gown is very old, it is clean and tidy, and the fabric material is also excellent, and it does not look like an ordinary child.

"Zhangshou, eh, why are you walking so fast?"

Behind him, a boy of about twelve or thirteen years old was panting to catch up with him with eagerness and anticipation on his face.

The little boy wore a long blue-blue fan, a hollowed-out silk gown, cotton shoes under his feet, and a gold-inlaid jade immortal plaque tied around his neck.

The extravagant dress is in stark contrast to Brother Xun'er.

"Whoa!" Brother Xun turned around and saw the young man chasing after him, his brows suddenly furrowed, "Zijian, if you don't go home, why did you follow me?" ”

The young man's name is Zhang Zijian, the only son of the landlord of Zhangjia Village outside the city, the same age as Brother Xun, and was arranged by Mr. Shou Jingwu as the same table, so the relationship between the two is very good, and they will play and play on weekdays.

"Zhangshou, the county test started after half a year. Do you want to participate? ”

After Zhang Zijian said this, Brother Xun hesitated visibly, his eyes showed hesitation, and after a while, he shook his head and said, "I'm not going." ”

When Zhang Zijian heard this, he immediately frowned: "Why don't you go?" Since a few months ago, you have become more diligent, memorizing scriptures and reciting classics, isn't it preparing for this county exam? ”

"I ......" Brother Xun lowered his head, he didn't dare to say what he thought in his heart, because he was afraid of involving his friends.

The fall of the family and the deliberate tempering of Master Zhou made him gradually mature.

"What are you? Zhangshou, say it quickly! ”

After Brother Xun was silent for a moment, he suddenly raised his head, looked at Zhang Zijian with a firm gaze, and said in a resolute tone: "I think what we are learning now can't save the country, can't help the people, and can't resist the aggression of foreigners." ”

Zhang Zijian was slightly stunned when he heard this, and then his face changed greatly.

"Zhangshou, do you know what you're talking about? Four books and five classics, this is a saint's book! How many scholars and Confucians in all dynasties have worked tirelessly, and how many prime ministers and high-ranking officials have governed the country in this way? You actually say it's useless? ”

After that, he looked around in horror, and after making sure that no one was listening to them, he put his mind at ease and said: "You must not say this to others, if it is spread by someone with a heart, the consequences will be unimaginable!" ”

Just the verbal and written criticism of ordinary literati is enough for Brother Xun to endure, not to mention the fact that he has written a book and passed it on for thousands of years.

"I'm not saying that these saint books are useless, I just think that they are useless to us."

Brother Xun saw the reaction of this classmate, and he could already guess the reaction of the world, so he sighed and asked, "Zijian, how old are we now?" ”

"14Ah! We're in our prime of life, but you're ......"

"Stop, it's okay."

Brother Xun stretched out his hand to cover Zhang Zijian's mouth, lowered his voice and said: "Zijian, let's take the children's exam now, and at the fastest speed, we will have to study hard for ten years before we can be admitted to the Jinshi, right?" This is twenty-four or five years old.

After being admitted to the Jinshi, you have to 'wait for the officer', but the time for waiting for the official is at least one and a half years, and the elderly are one or two decades, which depends on the financial resources and family background. Your landlord, my family is broken and settled, let's count it shortly, ten years. This has to be thirty-five years old to be an official, and he is still the youngest Qipinzhi County.

Even if the official luck is prosperous, the exam is every three years, and it has passed every time.

Three years of small counties to large counties, three years of large counties to small states, so that is six years of promotion to the state.

The same goes for the governor, who was promoted to the prefect in six years.

Prefect 6th year promotion ......"

At this moment, Zhang Zijian, who had been dizzy, unconsciously repeated, "Six years, six years, and another six years......"

Brother Xun covered his mouth again, "Okay, don't say it." Good people, why do they have a mouth? ”

"That is to say, after we enter the officialdom, it will take more than 30 years at the earliest to shepherd one side, or enter the cabinet to show our ambitions to change the whole of China. At that time, we were almost seventy years old. That's it, it's still the fastest promotion, and only a few famous ministers such as Ding Wencheng and Yu Qingduan have such a special encounter in my Qing Dynasty. ”

Brother Xun looked at Zhang Zijian's eyes and asked seriously, "Zijian, do you think you can compare to them?"

Zhang Zijian subconsciously shook and shook his head into a rattle: "If I can compare to them, don't say that the ancestral tomb is smoking, I, even if I burn the ancestral tomb, my father will laugh and praise me for burning well."

In Zhang Zijian's mind, Master Zhang subconsciously grinned and patted himself on the shoulder and praised: "Good son, this ignition posture is so handsome, let Dad help you add firewood!" Don't worry about the clansmen, burn the ancestral grave, the first page of our family tree is the name of our grandfather! ”

"Hey, hey, hey......"

"Smack!"

Brother Xun rubbed his palms, and secretly said that this stupid roe deer's face was really hard.

"Stop laughing! Looking at the situation in front of us, I'm afraid that before we can change anything, it will ......"

"What do you want? It's going to ......"

Zhang Zijian subconsciously asked, then realized something, and quickly covered his mouth.

"Fifty years, we can't afford to wait, this land can't wait, and the people can't afford to wait!"

Without waiting for his friend to react, Brother Xun said to himself: "I originally thought the same as you, but the changes in my family woke me up, and my friend's words reminded me." In the past six months, I have felt the lives of the people at the bottom and understood the changes in the world through books, through merchants, and through my own eyes. ”

"The more I learned, the more confused I became, what would it take to save this land."

After saying that, Brother Xun'er's face became a little more lonely.

Zhang Zijian scratched the back of his head, Brother Xun couldn't figure it out, and he was even more incomprehensible when he was nicknamed Silly Roe Deer.

"Zhangshou, don't think about it. Let's go to your house for dinner. I love eating my mother's cooking. Woo-"

He licked the saliva from the corner of his mouth, and squeezed his eyebrows at Brother Xun.

"Okay!" Brother Xun barely squeezed out a smile and said, "Let's go." ”

Because of raising money to save his grandfather, Master Zhou sold his previous ancestral house, pawned some things that could be pawned, and the family moved to a small mansion to live.

Brother Xun looked at the doorway, which was far inferior to the ancestral house, and a gloomy color flashed on his face, and then he returned to his previous demeanor and went up and knocked on the door.

"Uncle Li, open the door, I'm back!"

Brother Xun shouted, and the door creaked open.

When Uncle Li saw that it was Brother Xun and Zhang Zijian, he immediately smiled and said, "Young Master Zhang is also here?" Come on in. Zhangshou, there is someone waiting for you today, and you will be very happy to see it. ”

"Who?"

Brother Xun put down the cloth bag containing the book and wondered.

Uncle Li smiled mysteriously, didn't speak, and walked to the house with the two of them.