In the second year of Wuping in the Northern Qi Dynasty, this year was a relatively quiet year in the troubled times, at least on the surface. The monarchs and ministers of the Northern Zhou Dynasty fought with each other, and Yuwen Huzheng was full of strength to remove Yuwen Yong from the throne; Southern Chen Junchen has obtained the support of the Northern Qi Dynasty, and is now vigorously fighting his troops, gathering 100,000 soldiers and horses one day earlier, and pointing at Jiangling; And the West Liang in the corner of Jiangling is still lingering, and everyone in the world can see that they are just dry bones in the mound, and they can't become any climate...... However, there is still an undercurrent lurking underneath......

In times of peace and prosperity, there will also be bloodshed. The assassination of the two ministers just shows that the peaceful scene of this empire is still very fragile, and it is maintained by today's forces, after the current government, there are two different voices in the empire, different from the previous situation of Xianbei Lord's family, this kind of voice, just injected an unprecedented vitality into the Northern Qi Dynasty, whether it is the Wenxiang Emperor Gao Cheng or the Xiaozhao Emperor Gao Yan have failed to do this, the dragon that has been raging on the Northern Qi chessboard for more than 20 years is about to be stopped and ...... broken!

The emperor gathered the whole city, all the meritorious families and families are under supervision, but it is very strange that the ministers with a tough attitude in the past have changed their normal, unexpectedly silent, in the face of the butcher's knife shown by the emperor, although they are not comfortable in their hearts, but there is no other way, the silence shown by the Xunmen family means that the group that has dominated the country for more than 20 years has been weakened, and it may still be a huge force enough to deter the world, but in the face of the emperor's knife, There were still a few times of temptation, and they couldn't afford to resist at all, anyway, the emperor and those civil servants did not fundamentally threaten their interests, these ...... All of them can be regarded as trivial matters, and they can be overdone......

Some of the interests in the DPRK were cut off, which is nothing, and Xishikou killed another four or five hundred people, which is nothing, and the days will go on after all.

And for the people, it is even more so, the turbulent court situation has nothing to do with them, and it has nothing to do with them how many rebels the emperor has killed, what they care about is actually their own firewood, rice, oil and salt from beginning to end.

Of course, the people of the Northern Qi Dynasty did find that today's days are different from the past, the shadow of the war in the past years is still shrouded in the hearts of some people, annoying not only the soft knife to cut the meat of the land rent and national endowment, floods and droughts and locust plagues, but also the plundering of Xianbei thugs, illegal businessmen, the tyranny and oppression of the wealthy clan, these are deeply rooted in the memory of the people, it seems that it has been like this since each of them was born, the soft knife kills, and they are used to it when they are cut slowly, not born in a rich and noble family, living in the world is to suffer, The oil pot is slowly tormented, boiled until the lights go out until people die, and life passes like this.

But this year is different, in the past, there will always be Xianbei surnames or slaves to plunder horses, there will be rampant rampant lawlessness, but this year there is no more, the emperor's clear decree, those who dare to violate the law have been put into prison, they also heard that in the court, a group of ministers are discussing to slightly reduce the taxes of farmers and encourage agricultural production, which makes the people overjoyed......

Everyone says that the Ming monarch rules the world and has its own prosperous atmosphere. The emperor and the princes of the court will govern the country in an orderly manner, so that the people are obedient to the bottom, and gradually there are some peaceful scenes in the ordinary season, the famous ministers care for the people inside, and the fierce generals will bring armor outside, this Gao clan temple, the vast Guanshan, the north of the moat, for a time there are fewer people who tend to profit and attach to the power, and there are many more generous and sad people, and the good sons and daughters are vying to consider how to go down in history, and in this troubled era, there are not many people who go to care about their lives.

On February 15 of the second year of Wuping, the March examination officially began to apply for the examination, and people with lofty ideals from all over the world gathered in Yecheng.

On this day, on the Zhangshui, a small canopy boat is drifting down, at this time it is spring, the Zhangshui water is clear and the waves are slow, looking from the boat, you can see the fertile fields on both sides of the river, the houses are few, the rain is dark, the person dressed as a scholar on the boat looks left and right at this beautiful place, sighs, "It is said that Gao Qi sits on the land of the essence of the world, I didn't believe it in the past, but now I can see it with my own eyes, I just believe it......" The scholar who spoke was born tall, his clothes were clean and simple, although he was dressed as a scribe, but there was no sense of weakness, It seems that there is still some Xianbei blood, the eye sockets are slightly sunken, the nose is hooked, and when the line of sight sweeps over the eagle falcon, there is a rebellious atmosphere.

The captain stood at the stern of the boat, there was a little bit of a rocking oar, at this time the weather was still a little cold, such a cold day was still barefoot, most of the water begging for life, he occasionally raised his head, looking at the wide river, between the mist has faintly revealed the shadow of Yecheng, the captain said: "Guest, there is another section of the road is Yecheng......!" ”

"Well, okay, when you get there, you can stop directly on the shore, I have something urgent to do......" The gentleman took out some money from his sleeve and threw it into the hand of the little boy beside him, the little boy looked left and right, frowned in embarrassment, and showed it to the captain, who was silent for a while, and said slightly apologetically: "Guest, your money is not ours, we don't charge such money......"

"Da Zhou's money can't be used here?" When the scholar frowned, his eyes narrowed slightly, and he looked quite angry, and the little old man was frightened for a while, and said boldly: "It was okay, but now it doesn't work, and we can't spend this money at all......

It's really hard for a penny to beat a hero, and when the gentleman was wrinkling his eyebrows and secretly complaining, a woman's voice came from the cabin: "Cicada, go to my baggage and find some money to pay the bill." Immediately, a little maid who was only twelve or thirteen years old came out with a string of copper coins, paid the bill, and the little old man saw it, it was all five baht coins of Daqi Changping, and while thanking him, he thought that this pseudo-Zhou Lai person was really strange-tempered, and he looked extraordinary, how frizzy and frizzy, it was not as good as his lady who thought about everything...... Then the boat came to shore.

Not far from the river bank is Yecheng, north of Zhangshui, east and west seven miles, north and south five miles, from a distance to look at the past, you can see the continuous palace, the houses are like, everything is in order, the weather is majestic, worthy of the title of the world's male city, the scholar carried a woman wearing a conical hat to get off the boat, the woman's belly has been revealed, the action is quite inconvenient, "the lady slow down ......", the woman did not appreciate it, gave him a white look, and directly called the little maid in green clothes just now to come over and hold her, and the mouth was not forgiving: "I dare not ask you to hold it, In case you don't pay attention and let me fall, your son is gone, see you go there and cry! ”

The gentleman showed a helpless wry smile, knowing that his wife was alluding to his carelessness and not even preparing the money first, which was indeed his fault, but the man was ambitious in all directions, and he had big things to consider, how could he pay attention to such a small thing? Shaking his head, he entered Yecheng, there was already a long dragon patting there, looking at the dress of scribes, a large group of people blocked the city gate, stretching their necks and looking at the end of the row.

"So many people?"

The gentleman was stunned, and his lady gave him another look, knowing that this was something that the old man had not considered. So he let go of his voice and said:

"Nonsense, this is an examination, the world is the only one in the country, how many people point to the carp jumping over the dragon gate! It's no wonder that there are fewer people! What do you think...... Aren't you here for that? ”

He didn't care, nodded, and said: "Lord Qi is so courageous, this move can win the hearts of the world's poor scholars!" ”

"Don't think about these useless things, think about waiting there to find a place to stay, there are so many people, the inn will definitely be difficult to find."

“…… The lady said ......"

“…… I really can't figure you out, why do you have to come to Daqi, you don't have any connections and foundation in Daqi, isn't it ten times more difficult to get ahead than in Dazhou? After lining up at the door for a while, his wife was already tired and weak, and at this time she couldn't help but say what she had been thinking about for days.

The scholar hurriedly hugged his wife, took out a handkerchief to wipe the sweat beads on her forehead, and said apologetically: "I'm really sorry for you, I'm pregnant and have to run away from me, I can't stand you...... Zhou Guo doesn't have to think about it anymore, now that the emperor has lost power, seeing that this Great Zhou will soon be Yuwen Hu's old thief, my father died at his hands, how can I bow down under him? ”

“…… Originally, I was going to take refuge in Gongyu Wenxian of Qi State, but Yu Wenxian lost his position in a blink of an eye and was thrown into prison by Yuwen Hu, sooner or later it will be eradicated, I can't see hope in Da Zhou, it is better to come to Qi State, I heard that the Lord of Qi is a lover and ambitious, and I just happened to show what I have learned in my chest, and my life is not wasted......"

When it came to his father who was killed, the scholar's eyes were gloomy, and his wife patted him on the shoulder worriedly, and then said, "You are too stubborn, why don't you bow your head...... My brother is now being used by the side of the Lord of Qi, and it just happens to be a help from you, but you can't pull off the shelf, and you refuse to see him when you come to the Qi country, I really want to be angry with you......"

"Hey, lady, you talk about this again, I, I don't mean anything else, I just want to make a name for myself with my real skills, besides, your brother Yang Su is a person...... It's not that I say, I put on a stinky face all day long, as if I owe him money for his virtue.

"If I beg him, maybe I have to put on a face with me again, sneer, hum, I won't beg him, he's just a martial artist, he can be a nobleman, I'm different, I'm both civil and military! Lady, you will see, in the future, I He Ruobi must be ...... better than him! ”

"Stop bragging, it's our turn!"

"Oh oh......" Then he reacted and pouted: "There are so many people, you can't be gentle with your husband......"