Just when Li Zhongren was sitting on the ground.

Du Rusong, who was beside Li Zhongren, also changed his face greatly.

He is not thirty, but he is already twenty-eight, and there are only two years left before he can pass the exam.

But he doesn't matter.

Mainly his brother, Du Ruchong!

This is the hope of the Du family in Anhua Town, Chongning County, Chengdu Prefecture.

In the former Qing Dynasty, the eighteen-year-old Xiucai and the twenty-five-year-old Juren, if nothing else, Anhua Du's family was famous.

But now.

If you are over 30, you can't take the test.

Isn't that?

His genius brother, the hope of the Anhua Du family, can't he be tested?

"Brother Li, where is my brother? Where is my brother now? ”

Du Ruchong asked eagerly.

At this time, Li Zhongyi saw Du Ruchong, who was also thin and took off his image, and he didn't recognize him very well.

"Oh, Brother Du, Brother Du, you are here." Li Zhongyi said and removed an envelope from his arms.

"This is what your brother entrusted you, and it contains a letter and a cheque from the Royal Bank."

"Checks? Where did my brother go? Did you get caught in jail? When Du Ruchong heard that there was a check in the letter, he was shocked.

"No, no, your brother is now one of the six gentlemen who are famous in the world, and now he has set up a [gentleman's newspaper] in Guangzhou." Li Zhongyi shook his head and said, arched his hand at Dongfang and said, "That master has let out the words, six gentlemen, no one can be an official!" ”

"That master" Du Rusong was silent.

Who else can say this?

This is not the time for the Ming and Qing dynasties to fight.

You don't want to go this way.

Now all the official shops in the world are surnamed Zhu.

The big bosses all said that they don't want you to be an official, then you can't be an official.

"Brother Du don't have to worry, your brother's [Junzi Daily] in Guangzhou is thriving, famous for his outspokenness and daring to admonish, many policies of the imperial court, [Junzi Bao] has some criticisms, and now your brother is called "Doctor Yu Shi in the wild". ”

"No matter how much the imperial doctor is, he is also in the wild."

Du Rusong smiled bitterly.

Together with Li Zhongyi, he helped Li Zongren, who was sitting on the ground in a daze, up.

"Brother Li, you can also look at the point, in addition to being an official in this world, except... In addition to being an official" Speaking of this, Du Rusong's tears flowed down his eyes.

In addition to being an official?

It's light.

Isn't the goal of their lifelong goals for these scholars to be officials in the imperial examinations?

Now after the age of thirty, I will not be allowed to take the Xiucai exam.

Whose rule is this?

There has been no such rule since ancient times.

If that's the case.

Jiang Taigong, Guan Zhong, Lu Shang and so on.

What other opportunities?

Why does this Emperor Zhu have to get along with scholars and scholars?

Just when Du Rusong was disheartened, as if all the goals of life had been lost.

Someone suddenly shouted in front of me.

"Fan Xiucai, if you want to open a little, you can't jump! Your father-in-law is a pig killer, and you won't be studying in the future, so it's good to follow him to kill pigs. ”

"yes, yes, it's a means of livelihood."

"If you want to jump, don't jump on top of my inn!"

Du Rusong followed the prestige.

I saw an elderly Xiucai standing on the roof of a dilapidated inn.

It's quite dejecting to watch.

The clothes are still the style of the front clear.

The hair on the head should have almost fallen out, and I couldn't pull it into a bun, so I had to wrap it in a green cloth.

The whole person looks disheartened and has nothing to love, it seems that it is a pig who jumped off the building.

"Isn't this Fan Jin?"

Li Zhongyi exclaimed.

"His family doesn't know where it is, it seems that he copied and wrote here in Chengdu Mansion for a living."

"Alas, I've been looking forward to the middle brother of the imperial examination for a lifetime, the glorious lintel, and now that I'm old, I can't take the exam, it's really" Li Zhongren sighed, and he was also a little disheartened, which provoked Li Zhongyi to hurriedly pull his brother's sleeve, and he was afraid that his brother would not be able to think about it for a while.

"I think of me Li Zhongren, enlightened at the age of 5, twenty-seven years of hard study of sage books, and now I can't take the imperial examination, if I don't take the imperial examination, what is the use of reading these sage books? What else can I do? I've been reading books for decades, but now I'm a waste," Li Zhongren said, his face already full of tears.

"Big brother."

Li Zhongyi opened his mouth, but he didn't know what to say.

"Looking at Fan Xiucai's appearance, he must be over 30 years old and can't participate in the imperial examination, so he can't think about ......it for a while."

"Alas, eight people died on Gongyuan Street this month, all of whom were scholars who couldn't go to the imperial examination after the age of 30, what a pitiful!"

"Yes, they are all people who have read the books of sages for more than 20 years, and they don't know how to do anything else, so they won't be allowed to take the exam all of a sudden, how can they live......"

"Yes, how are you going to live now, after reading the sage books for half a lifetime, you can't take the exam now......"

That's when it happened.

There were a lot of scholars gathered at the scene to see the excitement.

Among them, there seem to be many old talents over 30 years old.

"It's over, it's over, it's over, it's all over this life."

Someone touched the scene.

"If you don't live, if you don't live, if you don't live, if you die, forget it"

There were also people who climbed to the top floor of the inn.

That's when it happened.

Bang!

A loud bang was heard.

Fan Jin had already jumped down.

This inn building is not very high, it is a three-story wooden building.

But he couldn't stand it, and there were bluestone slabs on the ground, and Fan Xiucai, who had his head falling down, fell on the spot and burst into his head.

Plasma, cerebral plasma.

Splashes everywhere.

Even Li Zhongyi, who was watching the excitement from a distance, had a trace of blood on his face.

"Brother Du, what are your plans next?"

Li Zhongren looked at his cellmate Du Rusong and asked.

Du Rusong sighed and said: "My family's property has been almost spent because I have to be fished out of the prison, and this time I went back, I sold other family property and went to Guangzhou to join my brother." ”

"Brother Li, why don't you go to Guangzhou with me, this official of the Ming Dynasty, don't do it!"

"To do it, to do it! Definitely going to do it! ”

Li Zhongren gritted his teeth.

"Big brother. What else can be done? Li Zhongyi stomped his foot.

How nice it is to go to Guangzhou.

[Junzi Daily] is a well-known newspaper in the world, and it can earn tens of thousands of yuan every year, and it is much better to go to Guangzhou to write articles for [Junzi Daily] than to stay in Sichuan to farm.

"I can't do it, don't I still have you?" Li Zhongren took a deep breath and said.

"Me? Eldest brother! This Zhu family doesn't want us to be their officials, we are not rare, you don't take the test, and my brother won't take the test, so we'll go back to our hometown and farm. ”

Syllable!

Li Zhongyi hasn't finished yet.

Li Zhongren's slap had already slapped him in the face.

"What bastards! You can't take the exam for your brother because you can't take the exam because your brother is too old to take the test, and you're only twenty, why don't you take the test? Not only do you have to take the test, but you must also pass the test! Brother Wei talked with many fellow inmates in prison that the first talent show exam in each province is the easiest, and then it will be difficult! In our Daqiao Town, our Li family is a scholar, and if you are a talented person in the examination, there is a high probability that the mayor of Daqiao Town is yours! Test! Be sure to take the test! ”

In fact, Li Zhongyi did not plan to abandon the exam.

Just a few days ago.

Someone in Sichuan pouted for a petition.

This time it's not the same as last time, saying that the new school will be abolished.

Rather, it is [Sichuan scholars please open a petition for the imperial examination].

This is kneeling and begging the emperor Lao Tzu to hurry up and open the imperial examination.

No more imperial examinations.

The officials of Sichuan have to be done by outsiders.

When these outsiders come to Sichuan to become officials, they will definitely not care about the ideas of the Sichuan people, and they will definitely be able to make money.

In addition, the policy that you can't take the exam at the age of 30 came.

Those who were almost thirty couldn't sit still.

I was in a hurry to get on fire.

They have signed on it.

There are also many new students from Shanghai and Guangzhou in Chengdu.

A number of "assault training courses for new disciplines" have been launched.

Many old scholars plan to temporarily embrace Buddhism and take advantage of the age of 30 to give it a try.

Li Zhongyi is no exception.

Daqiao Town is now in charge of a few officials, waiting for him to become the only talent in Daqiao Town.

Then he must be the mayor of the town.

Until then.

All the goods and land that the Li family has scattered in the past few years can be recovered!

The Li brothers and Du Rusong parted ways.

Du Rusong is going to Guangzhou to join his gentleman brother.

And the Li brothers.

I have to go back to my hometown.

Li Zhongren didn't know how he walked back to his hometown.

Although he taught his younger brother that he was talking about the head and the way.

But to say that he himself also wanted to open

That is pure is to be blinded.

How can you just think about it?

Twenty-seven years.

Read hard in the cold window.

Thirty-nine days, dog days, cold winter wax moon, hard work.

Sichuan, although it is known as the land of abundance.

But Sichuan is rich, and Chengdu is rich.

Land flowing with milk and honey.

It has always been the Chengdu Plain, not the Shankara around Sichuan.

For example, Li Zhongren's hometown of Daqiao Town.

It is a small town in the mountains on the edge of the Chengdu Plain.

Such townships.

According to the local chronicles.

In history, from the Ming Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty, and then to the current Ming Dynasty.

In the Communist Party, there have been 17 talents - including Li Zhongren.

In the past few hundred years, there have only been 17 talents.

It's really not easy.

So.

Ten years ago.

When he Li Zongren returned to his hometown in high school.

It is also a high-headed horse, wearing red and hanging colors, parading the streets and alleys, and the scenery is infinite.

And the Li family in Daqiao Town was also officially promoted to the home of the gentry.

In Daqiao Town, it is not that there are no big families with more land than the Li family.

But.

The big families and the gentry are different.

No matter how much Otoda has, it is also a "ruled" class.

When paying land taxes and miscellaneous payments, it may be possible to pay less than small and medium-sized households.

But it's still a heavy burden.

But Li Zhongren won the show.

That's different.

That meant that Li Zhongren became a member of the Qing court's official reserve and a member of the ruling class.

In the laws of the Great Qing Dynasty.

Although since the implementation of Emperor Yongzheng's policy of "officials and gentry pay grain in one".

Most people are no longer legally exempt from taxes.

But.

The burden of the Qing Dynasty was not just a land tax.

There are also various miscellaneous pies.

This miscellaneous card belongs to a gray area, not a tax for the imperial court, but a means for local officials to make money, and it should not be collected in theory.

But the Qing court could only turn a blind eye to this.

After all, they still have to rely on the gentry to rule the village.

"The officials and gentry pay grain in one body", and it does not say that "the officials and gentry pay in one miscellaneous faction".

And in the Qing Dynasty.

This miscellaneous party is more than twice as much as the regular tax.

Therefore.

After the high school showmanship.

The miscellaneous cards of the Li family in this bridge town are exempted.

It's not enough to get rid of the miscellaneous pies.

Here's another bonus.

Since then.

Where can the Li family in Daqiao Town find a short price to pay for grain, but this time it is at least half.

Even if it's normal tax payments.

Then you only need to pay about one-seventh of the original field tax.

But all the landlords of the landlord class are grande.

Even so.

The gentry still had a way to avoid taxes.

After Li Zhongren became a Xiucai.

His family had the privilege of helping collect taxes.

According to convention.

The officials of the Qing Dynasty did not go directly to the countryside to collect taxes.

Instead, the local gentry collected the taxes on their behalf.

In each place, there is an approximate amount of tax to be collected.

After putting it away.

How much the imperial court gets, and how much the officials at all levels share profits, are all within this amount.

As for saying.

Can the local gentry collect more and put it in their own pockets?

Absolutely.

As long as there is no civil unrest.

Anyway, the illiteracy rate is so high now.

There are very few ordinary people who can calculate how much tax they have to pay, so they are not left to be bullied by the local gentry.

Precisely because of this.

In just a few years of talent in Li Zhongren High School.

The Li family in Daqiao Town has become the leading family in Daqiao Town.

And this.

is to make a fortune by relying on the imperial examination.

Under the influence of the imperial examination system.

The epitome of a family's rise from the bottom.

A showman.

In the eyes of the big men in the court.

It's just ant-like.

It's nothing at all.

Not even an official.

But for those families who relied on this talent to make a fortune and become one of the gentry class.

This.

That's where it all began.

Get fame.

The family will grow.

Loss of fame.

Loss of privileges.

Loss of privileges.

Lose everything.

Of course.

Now the Li family in Daqiao Town has not yet reached this level.

Although Li Zhongren can't take the test.

But there is still hope for his younger brother Li Zhongyi.

If Li Zhongyi can "show off his talents in high school", then the Li family will still be a well-known gentry in Daqiao Town.

Li Zhongyi's goal in life, or in other words, before the age of 30, is to take the imperial examination high school.

But what about Li Zhongren?

After he returned to the village.

began to think about his future - this is also the meaning of Emperor Zhu's must stipulate that he cannot take the exam at the age of 30.

For Emperor Zhu.

These talents.

In fact, it is the local "elite class".

Their brains are active, and to a certain extent, this imperial examination is an intellectual game, and smart brains are more likely to naturally go to high school.

These smart brains, if they have been reading the Four Books and Five Classics all their lives.

The smartest part of a nation has been studying all their lives.

It's a hell of a waste of manpower. It's a waste of brainpower.

You can't take the test at the age of 30.

It is also a smart person who forces Li Zhongren to show off his talents in high school at the age of twenty.

Make the most of your ingenuity.

Only by building a new Ming Dynasty can we do a good job.

(End of chapter)