Prime Minister

Chapter 295 Episodes
On the second day of Zhang Yue's No. [-] Scholar, the matchmaker Mrs. Zhuang brought a draft post to Wu's house to ask for marriage.

The Wu family also changed posts.

After changing the post, according to the customs of Bianjing, the man can send a female family member to visit the future bride.

At present, the eldest sister-in-law Yu Shi was entrusted to visit Wu Mansion in person.

The Yu family was also born in a wealthy merchant's family in Jianyang, and his family was a tea merchant. He married the Zhang family at the beginning because they thought the Zhang family was a scholarly family and a wealthy family in Pucheng, so they married.

Therefore, the Yu family can be regarded as having seen the world, but when he arrived at the Wu Mansion, he was still shocked by the magnificence of his mansion.

After Mrs. Yu was invited into the inner courtyard, she sat there holding her breath, and saw that the screens, tables, chairs, and lanterns were all exquisite in their own way, and the maids and servants in the house all behaved according to the rules.

Yu Shi thought to herself that she was also Zhang Yue's eldest sister-in-law, and she was considered half a mother, so she still had to put on airs in front of her future sister-in-law.

Just as Yu sat down to drink tea, he heard the curtain move and saw a sixteen or seventeen-year-old woman come out.

Yu put down the teacup, stood up unhurriedly, raised his eyes and said to his heart, Saburo is very lucky to have found such a person.

Although Mrs. Yang and Mrs. Yu had said that Seventeen Niang was beautiful before, after a closer look, Mrs. Yu still felt that it was too simple to use the word 'beautiful' to describe it.

Mr. Yu has been in charge of the family for more than ten years, he can be called virtuous, and he has a strong temperament both externally and internally.

But when he saw the other party, he bowed to Yu Shi and said: "I have seen Mrs. Zhang."

Yu Shi smiled and stepped forward to help Seventeen Niang, saying: "Don't be too polite."

Seventeen Niang sat down in front of Yu Shi, with very considerate etiquette, she regarded herself as a junior.

Mrs. Yu looked at it and admired it sincerely. As expected of a noble family, the women she brought up are really extraordinary, but will women of such a family in the future...

After thinking about it for a while, Yu Shi had to say some things in advance.

So she said: "Miss Seventeen, our two families have already exchanged posts, and I don't treat you as an outsider anymore. You come from a noble family, and you are well-clothed and well-fed..."

Shi Qi Niang heard what Yu said, and she already guessed what the other party said.After Equal's finished speaking, Seventeen Niang said: "Ms. Zhang, I read a little of the Book of Changes at home. The female teacher taught me that men are masculine and feminine, and women are feminine."

"The cadre is on the top and the bottom is on the bottom. Yin and Yang can also change and complement each other. There is no solitary yang and no solitary yin. Women should regard softness as virtue and not argue as beauty."

Yu Shi listened and nodded.

When they met for the first time, Mrs. Yu was very satisfied with Shi Qi Niang. Such a woman can be married to a home and a room.

Although the draft post was posted, the man and woman are still looking at each other, and they can stop discussing marriage at any time.

After drinking tea, Yu said goodbye and left. When parting, Yu took off the gold hairpin from her head and handed it to Seventeen Niang, saying, "A little heart."

Seeing this, Seventeen Niang bowed her head and thanked her with a smile.

According to the rules of Bianjing, if the man is satisfied with the woman, he will leave a golden hairpin, and if he is not satisfied, he will leave a piece of colored silk to express his abandonment.

Yu's gift of the golden hairpin to Shi Qi Niang means that he agrees.

The next day Mrs. Zhuang came to the door with a detailed post, which listed Zhang Yue's birth date, Yishi's betrothal gift, etc., while the detailed post from Wu's family needed to be more detailed, such as the dowry.

As for Zhang Yue, he is also very busy now, busy with matters related to the set.

Jiji is a relic left over from the imperial examinations in the Tang Dynasty.

In the Tang Dynasty, after being a Jinshi, he had to rent a house next to the examiner’s house for a period of time, and then invited the examiner and fellow Jinshi to eat and drink. In fact, it was to win over official relations.

Eating and drinking seems to be a very casual thing.

But it is very important for Jinshi. Since the imperial examination in the Tang Dynasty, the most important thing after being a Jinshi is to eat and drink well, and the official relationship is established on the wine table.

For example, in the Tang Dynasty, the banquets that Jinshi had to attend had names.

Great acquaintance, second acquaintance, small acquaintance, Wen Xi, small banquet after the hall, apricot orchard banquet, cherry banquet, Moondeng Pavilion golf club, peony banquet, Buddha Tooth Relic Banquet, Qujiang Conference, Jinshiguan banquet.

As for not having a clear purpose, that's more.

So much banquet, where does the money come from?

Then the Jinshi must go out by himself.

According to records, "the cost of one spring is more than ten thousand guan", which is several hundred guan evenly distributed to each Jinshi.

Therefore, in the Tang Dynasty, Jinshi and Yue's family had to contribute money to their son-in-law to pave the way for banquets, which was later called ground money.Jinshi in the Tang Dynasty rarely came from poor families, but even so it caused a heavy burden.

In the Song Dynasty, most of the Wenxi banquets given by the emperor were held in April and May. Before the Wenxi banquets, it was a periodical gathering for Jinshi to participate in by themselves.The imperial examinations of the Song Dynasty witnessed what it means to select scholars without asking about family background, and marriage without asking about family background, but how poor scholars can raise money to participate in the collection has become a problem.

Zhang Yue just woke up, and Huang Lu came to his house.

Zhang Shi was very happy to see Huang Luzi again.

Zhang Yue and Huang Lu sat drinking tea.

Huang Lu said: "Jinshi Jiji has always had the first three rounds of Jinshi, who do you want to arrange for entering the round?"

Zhang Yue said: "They are both promoted to the same level. It is also my dilemma to choose between them. You help me make plans."

Huang Lu smiled and said, "I don't think it will be long before someone will entrust you, and you will be overwhelmed."

Zhang Yue also understood that although the period collection cost a lot, many Jinshi still sharpened their heads and wanted to participate.The Song Dynasty was different from the Tang Dynasty. In the Tang Dynasty, there were only a dozen or dozens of Jinshi, but in the Song Dynasty, there were two to 300 Jinshi in one subject.

How can a banquet accommodate so many people?
Therefore, it is necessary to select Jinshi and banquet by the second place of the champion, which is called entering the game.

Therefore, many people will come to ask for trust, or even ask for relationships. This is also where Zhang Yue is in trouble.

In addition, how to allocate the funds collected during the period is also a difficult problem.Period collection of money is called 醵 money, also known as 酺.In the past, it was a rule that the money for the banquet was collected by the new Jinshi according to the rank of the Kejia as a fund for the banquet.

Cai Que didn't have much money, and he wanted to participate in the periodical collection, so he borrowed a large sum of money from the bookstore, and finally...

Huang Lu said: "That's right, what I heard yesterday about Wang Junmin when I had a drink with Han Yanei in the Fanlou?"

Zhang Yue asked, "What?"

Huang Lu said: "Before I heard that Wang Junmin made an oath that he would win the number one prize, so many wealthy businessmen and gamblers in Bianjing all bet on him as the number one prize. Now, although he has won No.6, all these wealthy businessmen and gamblers have lost money. After losing all their savings, everyone blamed Wang Junmin, and some even threatened to take his life."

Zhang Yue said: "Wang Junmin will be the official of the imperial court soon, these people will not really do anything, they are just letting out the wind."

Huang Lu said: "Who knows, I also heard that the reason why Wang Kui is so sure is that an eunuch from the Imperial Medicine Academy leaked the exam questions to him. But the most ridiculous thing is that even so, he did not win the first prize from you. "

"Yes, do you know the inside story of the palace examination?"

After Zhang Yue heard what Huang Lu said, it turned out that he and Wang Kui were competing for the top spot, Wang Anshi promoted Wang Kui, and the rest of the officials unanimously elected him, and finally the officials hand-picked him.

Zhang Yue said: "So, I won the champion of Wang Junmin, doesn't he hate me deeply?"

Huang Lu asked, "Is Sanlang afraid?"

Zhang Yue laughed and said, "I can't ask for it."

(End of this chapter)