"Ahem, by the way, are the pen, ink, paper, and inkstones ready?"

For the care of irresponsible parents who have been late for more than ten years, and the care after discarding his father, Shen Shi coughed and directly changed the topic.

"It's ready, it's ready, it's the best inkstone. Husband, husband, I asked you to prepare the pen, ink, paper and inkstone the day before yesterday. Sure enough, Shen's mother didn't let Shen's father be idle.

Shen Shi didn't go to see his father. The father's expression, how to look so lonely.

Shen Shi immediately nodded and said, "Now that you're ready, let's go." ”

The people in Bianjing City all know that today is the day of the opening of the examination, but anyone who sees the scholars dressed up, many roadside vendors, and passers-by are quite enthusiastic to congratulate them on the successful examination of some scholars.

This is also the characteristic of the feet of the Son of Heaven. As the saying goes, at the feet of the Son of Heaven, the land of all goodness.

And the people also think that if the scholars they have congratulated can be admitted to Xiucai, they can also bring good luck to themselves. Therefore, it is not only scholars who get up early on this day, but also a large number of people who want to get lucky as scholars.

In the propaganda of the Great Song Dynasty, the scholar was a star in the sky.

As for whether it's true or not, then hehehe.

However, this simple folk style is really very good, and it is better to be red than passers-by in a lifetime.

When he came to the front of the Gongyuan, there were already a lot of children gathered here, not all, there were too many people, and there were thousands or tens of thousands of children in the entire Bianjing City. They can't take the test when they get together, so this has already been diverted, and there are also so many people in the county near Bianjing.

There were young teenagers, middle-aged people in their thirties and forties, and even he saw a few old boys with gray temples.

These old boys have been admitted to this job, but in fact, it is impossible to be successful again. Both energy and attention have reached a low point in their lives. The reason why I still came to participate was actually for the emperor's grace.

Every time he takes the exam, if he is so old and hasn't been admitted yet, the emperor will always give a few favors. And these places are the motivation for them to participate.

Otherwise, after the test for the rest of your life, you will lose your name, not to mention your family, it is yourself, what kind of courage and perseverance you have to persevere.

In the vicinity of the Gongyuan, there are many hawkers, selling pen, ink, paper, inkstone, all kinds of food, and even some people open a bet to press who can be admitted to Xiucai and who has a higher ranking.

Of course, this has nothing to do with Shen Shi. Here, he's a stranger. There was not a single acquaintance.

On the contrary, the nearby scholars make friends with each other, mix familiar faces, and leave a little affection. If you win, it's the same year.

Time flies, and it's almost time.

The hour is the time when the Gongyuan opens its door, and all the candidates must enter the Gongyuan to prepare for the examination.

"Ah! Brother Shen Family. ”

I just said that there were no acquaintances here, and then I saw acquaintances.

"You're here. Shen Shi saw Zhu Xiaolian and Meng Longtan. Both of them carried baskets for exams. But Shen Shi remembered that they were not from Bianjing. Shouldn't I go back to my hometown to take the exam?

"Big brother, it's Xiaolian's contribution that I can participate in ......," Meng Longtan introduced.

The Meng family was cheated of money because of business, and the family was in the middle of the road, and Meng Longtan couldn't study anymore.

Scholars were a very special class in ancient China. This class is not as simple as other classes, such as farmers are farming, blacksmiths are iron, bricklayers are building houses, and craftsmanship can be directly exchanged for money. As for the reader, no one will pay him a salary immediately after reading, and he still needs to transform it, do something concrete, serve others, and then benefit himself. Therefore, in ancient times, people who were known as scholars were distributed in all walks of life and did everything. Among them, there are some typical industries, which generally only belong to readers, and there are also some industries where readers are dominant and the number is the majority. "The Outer History of Confucianism" is a book for scholars, and it is natural to write about their professions. To sort it out, there are probably the following:

One is to be an official. "The dynasty is Tian Shelang, and the twilight is in the Tianzi Hall. "The necessary condition for changing identities is to study. It is natural for you to study to be an official, and governing the country and the world is just a signboard. How can there be so many major national affairs that need to be governed by them, and there are not so many worlds that need them to be pacified. They only need to be officials, glorify their ancestors, eat fragrant and spicy food, and scare the people of Shengdou by the way. After the Sui and Tang dynasties, the imperial examination system was implemented, and officials no longer had to fight for their background, nor did they have to rely on martial arts and killing, as long as they studied the books of sages and sages, they had the possibility and opportunity to ascend to heaven in one step. In the future, becoming an official without studying for exams is not the right path, and it is shameful to be ridiculed. The era described in "The Outer History of Confucianism" has reached the Ming Dynasty, and almost all officials are from Bagu. Zhou Jin, Fan Jin, Wang Hui, Dong Zhixian, etc., once they forge ahead, they are all complacent and superior. But this part of the population is only a small part of the reader. Below the top of the pyramid are countless nameless people who are doing the foreshadowing.

The second is to do the museum, that is, to teach. Ancient enlightenment began in private schools. Generally, large families like to invite a famous Confucian to teach their children, which is called a private school. In the countryside, many families can't come up with so much money, so they pool money together and invite a teacher to come. It is only natural that a reader should switch from reading to teaching. There is a great difference in the income of the teacher, and when he meets a generous owner, he eats and drinks well, and he has a lot of silver, and the owner of a small family can only make do with his husband. When Zhou Jin was not successful, he was in the Xue family collection hall, and his life was quite tight. After Fan Jin was admitted to Xiucai, he also worked as a museum, earning a few taels of silver every year to support his wife and wife. And Yan Jiansheng's two eldest brothers, Wang De and Wang Ren, are also talented, but they are "very prosperous and famous".

3. Be a staff member. Being a staff member is also called a museum, but the target of the service has changed. In the general concept, the staff members make ideas behind the chief officer, but in fact, this is only one aspect. In ancient times, most of the officials appointed by the central government were bare-bones commanders, and they were not assigned assistants. These officials had no choice but to hire a bunch of people to be helpers at their own expense, and to arrange some work according to their strengths.

Most of the staff read the books of the sages, and when they encounter various affairs, they can only deal with them according to their personal understanding and talent, so there is a great contrast between them. Among the more outstanding staff, there are also opportunities to fly solo as officials, such as Zuo Zongtang and Li Hongzhang, who originally served as Zeng Guofan's staff, and later became members of the imperial court.

The fourth is to be the editor-in-chief. In the Ming and Qing dynasties, the publishing industry was developed, and the eight shares prevailed, and the editor-in-chief of various anthologies came into being. This profession is relatively rare in other wild or official histories, but it has appeared many times in "The Outer History of Confucianism", Mr. Ma Er, Kuang Chaoren, Wei Tishan, etc., all eat this bowl of rice. Most of them are invited by bookstores to edit and select books, and some of them start their own businesses, edit and sell books.

The fifth is to be an accountant and an accountant. A typical example of this kind of person is Yang Zhizhong, who was born in liberal arts and does science work, which seems to be related to reading, but in fact, his major is seriously wrong.

Sixth, be a craftsman. When Kuang Chaoren, a down-and-out scholar, returned to his hometown from Hangzhou, he saw that his father was seriously ill and began to do a small business to support his family—killing pigs and grinding tofu;

There are also some scholars with better family conditions who have become landlords and earn a living on rent. Like Yan Jiansheng, Yu Huaxuan, Du Shaoqing, etc.

However, none of the above were done by Meng Longtan. In other words, Meng Longtan has no livelihood.

If you don't make a living, you can't study. Reading is very expensive, and it is not as written in the book, just bury your head in the hard work.

Whether it is an official school or a private school, there is no one who does not sigh for money.