The Happy Life of Small Officials in Northern Song Dynasty

The bewildered Yan Biyun was dragged back from the shop by Xiao Sui Er. Seeing Xiao Sui Er's tears streaming down his face, Yan Biyun, who didn't believe it at first, believed it a little bit.

The two entered the courtyard and rushed to the study room. When they reached the door, they saw Su Jin pacing with his hands behind his back, reading articles aloud, and from time to time, he would stop and stare up at the sky in a daze.

Xiao Sui'er stomped her feet and said, "Miss Yan, look, what has become of this, what can I do?"

Hearing the voice, Su Jin turned around and saw Yan Biyun standing at the door with a concerned face, hurriedly threw away the book, stepped over and dragged Yan Biyun in three steps, and said in his mouth: "You came just in time, I'm just in time going to find you."

Yan Biyun looked into Su Jin's eyes carefully, and asked with concern, "Are you okay?"

Su Jin said: "What can I do? Why do you look at me like a monster."

Xiao Sui'er said: "My lord, are you okay? Seeing that your behavior is not normal, the little servant thinks you are being forced to study, and you are so lost in reading."

Su Jin scolded with a smile: "You just lost your mind and went crazy. Everyone in this world is crazy, and I won't be crazy; I have made a major discovery, so I am ecstatic. Come on, come on, I will follow you!" Tell me about it; Sister Yan will help me analyze it and see if my findings are correct or not."

At that moment, Su Jin explained the rules she discovered to Yan Biyun in detail, and Yan Biyun was also a little dazed. She picked up the classification table drawn by Su Jin and looked at it carefully several times, and said with a frown: "That's really true. It seems to be such a rule; but you have been studying behind closed doors these days, are you just looking for these rules, I don’t want to spoil your interest, the way of reading should be erudite and memorized in a down-to-earth way, so that you can do well when you take the exam. If you want to rely on these so-called rules to hit the big luck, you are going crazy and going astray."

When Su Jin was poured with cold water, he immediately felt bored. Although he knew that what Yan Biyun said was reasonable, he always didn't like the feeling of preaching with a straight face; what's more, the imperial examination system itself was not a scientific and rigorous thing. The college entrance examination system has also been severely criticized. Before the college entrance examination, experienced teachers will also delineate the key points and help students guess the questions. Under the model of exam-oriented education, these may not be a good way to improve the test scores. Why? It's called madness.

Yan Biyun saw that Su Jin's excited mood was obviously depressed, and she felt a little regretful; she said this because she regarded Su Jin as her husband, but as smart as she was, how could she not understand Su Jin's character? When she could take a shortcut, Su Jin would never choose to take a long way.

Su Jin's character is full of adventurous factors. If there are two roads to reach the destination, one road will definitely reach the destination, and the other may not, and the road that can be reached will take a long, long time And Jing, the other may be accomplished overnight, so Su Jin will definitely choose the latter path to try, and will never be willing to follow the first path honestly.

"Well... but I think this law really exists. The time is so short, and you don't have more time to study the book. I think you might as well give it a try." Yan Biyun, who is as smart as a fool, will not know his mistakes like a stupid woman change.

"You really think so?" Su Jin's eyes lit up.

"My family thinks that we can focus on some and take into account others; the day of the big exam is coming, and there is not much time to study the books. Originally, we want to focus on one category. It's not luck, but it has to be so."

Su Jin nodded and said: "That's true. If I had enough time, I wouldn't have to look for any rules, wouldn't I be forced? But if the rules were a coincidence, those are too unbelievable. I want to come up with a question. People must follow a certain system, which is not necessarily impossible."

Yan Biyun thought for a while and said, "My uncle said that in the previous imperial examinations, the answers to the provincial examinations were all prepared by the ministers appointed by the Holy One and the famous contemporary Confucian scholars. One set of exam questions, one set is the main question, and the other two sets are spare, in case the questions are leaked."

Su Jin frowned and said: "In this way, the content of the question is actually decided by the emperor? The Ministry of Rites is actually just handling it."

Yan Biyun nodded and said: "That's natural. The imperial examination is a major national event. Doing so can also prevent cheating. The three sets of examination questions selected by the emperor are all sealed and sealed. They are only opened and announced before the examination. On the day of the examination, the official examiner of the Ministry of Rites can do it." It will be opened together with the local and state government Tixue and others."

Su Jin patted his thigh and said: "This is close to ten. Originally, I thought that the examination questions were drawn up by the chief examiner of the Ministry of Rites, so this five-year round rule is probably just a coincidence. If the title is specified by the emperor, it is very likely that the royal family will be the one who has chosen the title." It has its own rules, from the beginning of the Taizu, all dynasties have followed this system, and outsiders don't know about it; I think that when the emperor collected the questions, he must have concealed the real type of questions, and asked the ministers of the court to come up with a question. It should be that each person gave five questions."

Yan Biyun said: "My lord uncle did say that he would submit one question for each of the five categories. It seems that your consideration is really reasonable."

Su Jin laughed and said, "That's right, your husband's brains are at least worth a few hundred."

Yan Biyun blushed and glanced at Xiao Sui'er who was standing by the side, and spat: "The emperor's evaluation of a face with a thick wall is really pertinent."

Su Jin laughed and said: "Thick skin is not a shortcoming, but an advantage. You all don't understand that the emperor is praising me."

Yan Biyun and Xiao Sui'er smiled wryly at each other, this man is really hopeless.

"You guys hurry up, I'll have a good time when I have the focus, Sui'er, don't be surprised next time, I won't read like a madman, you go too, I don't have to wait on you."

Yan Biyunfu turned around and walked out, suddenly remembered something, reached out his hand and took out a piece of plain paper from his sleeve and handed it to Su Jindao: "My family almost forgot, someone sent a letter to the shop on Bianshui Street. You were originally handed over to Treasurer Qian, but Treasurer Qian was so busy that he couldn't get away, so he asked the servant to bring you."

Su Jin's heart skipped a beat, and he stretched out his hand to take it, pretending to be indifferent, and said, "Who is it? You also wrote to me."

Yan Biyun smiled, and said slowly: "Who knows, this letter smells like powder, maybe it's a girl's letter."

Su Jin put the letter paper under his nose, sniffed it and said with a smile, "Not to mention, it really has a scent, but it doesn't smell like rouge, it's just the smell of paper and ink."

Yan Biyun smiled and said: "My family has never read a book, but I don't know that paper and ink are also fragrant. After my family left, I still have a lot of things to do, so I won't bother Mr. Su to read books and read letters."

After finishing speaking, Tingting turned around and left.

Listening to the conversation between the two, Xiao Sui'er seemed to understand something in her heart, looked at Su Jin warily and said, "My lord, whose letter is this?"

Su Jin said: "Children, why are you asking around? Go and play by yourself, the master is going to study."

Xiao Sui'er pouted and walked out, muttering: "Don't think everyone else is a fool, Miss Yan doesn't know how sad she is, the young master can't even look down on the little maid."

Su Jin pretended not to hear, but she also hesitated in her heart, Xiao Sui'er could see it, let alone Yan Biyun, she didn't say anything, she was not sure what to think in her heart; this matter is really tricky, it seems to be Find a way to find an opportunity to make it clear to Yan Biyun, otherwise, in the end, there will be a fire in the backyard, and it will be out of control by then.

While thinking about it, Su Jin opened the plain paper, took out the letter, and it turned out to be Xia Siling's letter, which wrote in a few words without thinking: "Mr. Su Taijian, at the second watch tonight, we will meet at Junyi Bridge House , if there is something important to discuss, the servant will sweep the couch and wait for you!"

Su Jin was stunned for a long time, and the words "sweeping the couch and waiting" were like a gentle little hand, tickling his heart, and Xia Siling's beautiful face appeared in his mind.

Su Jin read the letter paper carefully twice, feeling a little puzzled; it was a little unusual to ask her to meet in the middle of the night, saying that she had something important to discuss; it stands to reason that if there is an urgent matter, Xia Siling can come to find herself during the day as the landlord , or sent someone to ask him to go to the shop to discuss, is there something hidden in it?

Su Jin shook her head with a wry smile, and put the plain note into her bosom. The beauty has an appointment, so naturally she can't miss the appointment. You'll know when you go in the evening, so you don't have to worry about it now. It's better to study hard for the exam. Time is really running out.