After late autumn, although there is no snow, the cold is getting heavier day by day.

This is enough to feel the harshness of winter from the long ice edge under the eaves of every household in Yujing City, which is as thick as a child's arm, crystal clear, and as sharp as a sword.

Yujing was the capital of the Daqian Dynasty.

The Daqian Dynasty was prosperous and prosperous, with a vast land and vast resources, vast and broad, with a population of tens of thousands, and was the upper state of the Celestial Empire.

And this year marks the 60th anniversary of the founding of the country. Dingding the world's first Jiazi!

In the past 60 years, the four emperors of the Daqian Dynasty have come to a prosperous era of flowers and fire.

"Wu Wenhou" mansion is in the southeast of Yujing City, covers an area of 100 acres, the terrain is open, a pair of red lacquer stone carved unicorns with three people high at the gate, the vermilion gate, the shining copper nails, the copper ring, the door is brightly dressed, full of energy, the eyes are sharp, etc., can show the status of Wu Wenhou.

"Marquis Wu Wen" is a prominent figure of the Daqian Dynasty, surnamed Hong, and his name is Xuanji.

This person is not only a grand knighthood, but also a very popular minister, an official residence cabinet scholar, and the crown prince. Both civil and military, when he was young, he could open a nine-stone strong bow and even shè, and ride a big horse to kill hundreds of enemy soldiers. {One stone in the Daqian Dynasty is one hundred catties, and nine stones are equivalent to nine hundred catties}.

At the age of twenty-two, after making great achievements, he gave up martial arts and literature, the title of the gold list, and the high school flower. Conferring official positions and participating in government affairs. It has been once won by the four generations of emperors of the Daqian Dynasty that "the horse can govern the army, and the horse can calm the people." "Cross top rating.

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"Heaven sees itself as the people, and the sky listens to the people as it hears..."

Early in the morning, the sound of reading came from the small remote courtyard in the northwest corner of the Marquis Wu Wenhou's mansion.

Hong Yi opened half of the window, lit a charcoal fire in the room, and was reading on the edge of the table, looking ready to deal with the scientific examination and figure out the scriptures.

He was dressed in a green shirt, with clear eyebrows, and was between fifteen or sixteen years old, with a slightly thin body.

The inside of the room is very simple, the pot for burning the fire is an iron basin, and the charcoal is also ordinary charcoal, not the jīng Zhidingjiao copper basin used by the big families of Houmen to make fires, and the "beast charcoal" in the shape of various beasts is carved.

When he was studying, there were no scholars around him, and the maidservants studied ink and laid paper. All this shows that Hong Yi does not have a high status in the Hou Mansion, but he still has time to study, and he is not the kind of slave.

"Whether or not you can correct the name of the dead mother depends on the Enko of Chūn and the entrance examination of the autumn. First in the exam, then in the Jinshi, the title of the gold list, and the three generations of seals... The court will issue a decree to canonize my mother as a lady. The mother's grave can be brought into the ancestral grave of the Hong family, and the spiritual seat can also be enshrined in the ancestral hall. ”

Hong Yi opened a book and read two sentences, but he remembered his mother who died when he was seven years old.

Before Hong Yi's mother married "Wu Wenhou", she was a famous talented woman in Yujing City, who was familiar with piano, chess, calligraphy and painting, and her poetry and songs were even more eloquent.

said that she was a talented woman, but in fact, she was a "cheap person" in Qinglou. After joining the giants, the status is very low.

What's more, when Hong Yi's mother married into the Hou Gate, Wu Wenhou already had a regular wife and a flat wife, and she was a concubine.

The law of the Great Qian Dynasty, one wife, two flat wives, and four concubines. The status of concubines is very low, and some wealthy nobles and scholars also give concubines to each other for fun.

When the concubine is eating, she must not sit down, but must stand like a maidservant.

As the son of a concubine, Hong Yi has no right to inherit the title and family property at all. The only way out is to pass the imperial examination.

Hong Yi also knew very well in his heart that if he could be admitted to the Jinshi, not only would he be able to get ahead as an official from this Hou Mansion, but the most important thing was that he could add the title of "Mrs." to his mother.

The Great Qian Dynasty emphasized the imperial examination, and once the title of the gold list was inscribed, it was possible to add three generations.

The title of "Madame" is not simple. Now there are three ladies in the Hou Mansion. This is also a special gift from the imperial court after the repeated great achievements of the Marquis of Wenwu.

Among the ordinary wealthy nobles, only the wife is a "lady".

Among the dignitaries, the court rewarded the wives of the family as wives, but it was a great honor, and it was more kind than adding officials to the knighthood.

"If I am a jinshi, if I am a jinshi, the court will crown my mother as a wife. When the time comes, I don't know what kind of expression Mrs. Zhao has in the main room?"

Hong Yi muttered two sentences, "Mrs. Zhao, Mrs. Zhao..."

Hong Yi will never forget that when he was just sensible when he was seven years old, the banquet held in the Hou Mansion for the Mid-Autumn Festival and the moon was gathered, and when his father and guests were together, his father and guests were reprimanded in public because of his mother's reconciliation, and he was immediately reprimanded in public by Mrs. Zheng, "Behave frivolously, do not abide by women's morals, and do not change the habits of Qinglou." ”

When she returned that night, her mother was so angry that she vomited blood and injured herself, and she died two months later. When she died, her mother was only twenty-five years old.

"I'm pretty much ready for the exam after opening Chūn this time, but I still have to figure it out. ”

Hong Yi thought in his heart, closed the Jingyi Policy Theory, and opened a copy of "Notes on the Grass Hall".

The cover of the book is new, but the paper is very old, and it is obviously an old book that no one reads. Because "Notes on the Cottage" is not a scripture, etiquette, or strategy for the scholar's scientific examination, but an absurd and uninhibited note of gods and monsters.

Scholars don't talk about weirdness, force, chaos, and God. This kind of book is not read by people who are preparing for scientific examinations.

However, Hong Yi looked at it precisely to prepare for the scientific expedition.

Because this book is a notebook of Li Yan, the prime minister of the former dynasty, written about demons and monsters, Taoist immortals, talented and beautiful women, and female fairies and fox fairies.

Although this Caotang note is full of gods, monsters, foxes, ghosts, talented and beautiful women, fairies, and female foxes, in fact, each article is a fable, worthy of being the prime minister of the previous dynasty and the founder of the Li school. ”

"Although Li Yan has become an ancient man now, most of the officials born in the imperial court are his protégés, and the chief examiner who presided over the examination this time must also be a member of his Li school. If you think about the allegorical ideas expressed by Li Yan with the help of foxes and ghosts, and cater to the tastes of other people, you will definitely be able to go to high school. ”

"Those scholars of the sect, even if they are excellent, only know how to read to death, but they don't know that the practice of human feelings is the article, even if your paper is brilliant, and it is out of tune with the examiner's school, it will definitely brush you down. ”

Before the exam, it is extremely important to find out the examiner's school, thoughts, and preferences. Although Hong Yi is young, his heart is bright.

"A good providence is public opinion, it turns out that there is such an explanation. ”

Hong Yi suddenly saw a story, read it carefully, and was surprised.

The story goes like this:

When a daughter-in-law and her mother-in-law were sleeping at night, the wall suddenly collapsed, and the daughter-in-law slept in it, supporting the collapsed wall to death, allowing the mother-in-law to escape and be crushed to death. After the daughter-in-law died, the mother-in-law was very sad. So the people in the village comforted her, saying that she had a dream that her daughter-in-law was named the god of the city god by heaven.

At that time, Li Yan and a group of scholars discussed this matter, and a group of scholars thought that the filial piety of the daughter-in-law was good, but the language of the gods was all the wild language of the village husband.

But Li Yan tried his best to disagree with the public, saying that the daughter-in-law was a god, because the sage book has "Heaven sees itself and the people see it, and God listens to its own people", and the people think that the daughter-in-law has become a god, that is, the will of heaven, so she will become a god.

All the scholars and doctors laughed at Li Yan's reading too roundabout, but Li Yan said a great truth: "In fact, gods are just the embodiment of people's thoughts, and the reason why the gods and Buddhas in the temple can repeatedly appear is because they have received people's incense offerings and beliefs." Originally, there was no god in this world, but when there were many believers, people's thoughts gathered, and gods and Buddhas were born. It is very simple to destroy the gods and Buddhas, as long as the temple is demolished, so that people no longer believe in it, and worship it with incense, it will naturally disappear over time. ”

One of the scholars nodded, and then asked, "If the temple of the gods and Buddhas is demolished so that people no longer believe in it, what if the gods and Buddhas will be retributed?"

Li Yan said again: "The sage book says that honesty and wisdom are gods, as long as the heart of a scholar is upright and strict, his thoughts will naturally be as powerful as God, how can gods and Buddhas repay you?"

"The scholar is upright and strict, and his thoughts are strong and pure, and he is already close to the yang god and heavenly immortal in Taoism. Compared to those yīn gods who cannot manifest themselves and can only dream and retribution, they are much more powerful. ”

When the scholars heard Li Yan talking, they all admired him, so they asked him the Taoist principle of cultivating the Heavenly Immortal Yang God.

Li Yan said: "The god can travel out of his shell, he can't be seen by the human eye, he is formless and substantial, and his soul is a mess, and he can only rely on external objects to show the supernatural, while the yang god is no different from the living, manifesting all kinds of dharma, flying to the sky and the earth, and immortal." ”

When the scholars and doctors were about to ask further questions, Li Yan said solemnly: "Scholars only talk about people's livelihood, government and politics, benevolence, righteousness, etiquette and law, and completely put aside the things of gods and ghosts, and today is already too much." ”

"There are no gods and Buddhas, but they are incarnated by people's thoughts and beliefs?

Hong Yi felt refreshed, and this story seemed to open the door to mystery for him.

Bang bang bang!

Just as Hong Yi was pondering, suddenly there was a knocking sound outside the door.

There was a knock on the door, but it was loud and kicking.

Hong Yi frowned, got up and opened the door.