Start with the humble bridegroom

Chapter 323
The inner city of Chang'an is divided into three counties: Jingzhao, Linshang and Ruiping, all of which are under the jurisdiction of Chengtian Prefecture.The population under the jurisdiction of the three counties and one prefecture is nearly 200 million, and there are 7000 people in total at the two county and prefecture levels.

Every time the rankings are released in the palace examination, Chengtian Mansion will send 800 people to the Ministry of Rites to listen to them, and to announce the good news to the newly promoted Jinshi all over the city.

So on this day, the streets were full of government servants in red and colorful clothes running around quickly, attracting countless people to watch.

On the side of Zhuchi Xiaoyuan, Zhang Zhe and the others had just sent away some good news for Huo Bingcheng, and they were still waiting at the gate, looking in the direction of the alley.Jiang Shangyang was a little restless, but Zhang Zhe and Huo Bingcheng forcibly pressed his shoulders: "No hurry, no hurry!"

Suddenly there was a sound of gongs, and Jiang Shangyang was shocked, and several newspapers were beating the gong loudly and yelling as they passed by the alley: "Congratulations, Mr. Li Wu of Gaoqian County is the No. 11 No. [-] in Jinshi Division!"

Jiang Shangyang sighed secretly, and suddenly another burst of gongs and drums came from another direction, and the two groups of newspapers met each other at the entrance of the alley in Zhuchi Xiaoyuan.

Baozi has a particular point, that is, only walk in the middle of the street, and if you meet your colleagues, you have to "make a fuss".

I only heard that the two sides refused to give in to each other, each raised their voices and yelled, and the sound of the gong became louder and louder, and the pedestrians on the road began to boo loudly.Jiang Shangyang listened carefully, and it was not him who was reported in another wave of reports, and the loss was palpable.

The two waves of people had a quarrel, and the second wave of newspapers finally gave way to the first wave of newspapers. After all, they reported the top three, while the first wave was the second.

Jiang Shangyang didn't notice that the expressions of Zhang Zhe and Huo Bingcheng were very interesting, because the name of the top three Jinshi was "Wuling County Zhou Ziying Langjun!" Zhou Shi also won the number? !Wuling County has won three people in this subject, and the history of the county's middle and high school judges may become more and more vivid.

"Before I only looked at my own results, but forgot to check whether my fellow villagers were on the list. Did my elder brother exchange news with my fellow villagers?" Seeing Zhang Zhe's question, Huo Bingcheng sneered.

"After getting out of the competition, Brother Wei met a few fellow villagers from this province once. That guy was full of sneers, and what he said inside and outside the words was that Brother had bad luck, which was extremely disappointing. A certain person knows a lot People refused to accept me, so they simply stayed in the room all the time, but didn't go out to socialize. I don't want to be so lucky this week?"

When it comes to Zhou Yan, Huo Bingcheng is also happy.

"The three of us have all won Jinshi, and the provincial road has rewards for both county and county levels. Not to mention the high school judgment in the county, he is already old, and I am afraid that he will not leave Wuling. And Han Jiaoyu in our county , I’m afraid I’m going to be promoted to one promotion, and it’s really rare to have three Jinshi in one county and one department!”

Huo Bingcheng couldn't hide his words in front of Zhang Zhe and the two of them. Now that Han Jiaoyu was involved, he quickly brought up the topic of Han Yueqin who was familiar with him.

"It's strange to say that the sister of the Han family is the most proud and arrogant person. Ever since she fell into the water and came back from the gate of hell, she has changed a lot. We, the officials and eunuchs, said earlier that if Dressed up in men's clothes, sister Han is even prettier than Funiang. After that incident, the sisters of the Han family have dressed up every day."

Lao Huo glanced behind him quietly, and found that Meng Xiaowan was probably still in the inner courtyard, so he laughed softly.

"If anyone in the county dares to say that it's not good to believe, the sister of the Han family will be very relentless!"

Zhang Zhe rolled his eyes, he is not afraid of bad gossip, and this old Huo is not afraid of ruining his girl's reputation.The Huo family and the Han family are still family friends, and this kind of family friendship is too shallow.

Jiang Shangyang listened to it, but didn't care.In his opinion, it is very common to be admired by others with the talent of the second brother's trust.

After talking nonsense, Jiang Shangyang's mood also settled down.

At this moment, several small flags floated into the alley, and a dozen people walked in.

At the head is a clerk holding a document, and behind him are two yamen servants in colorful colors carrying a big gong, and another two yamen servants, one on the left and the other on the right, are holding a gong hammer wrapped in red cloth, beating rhythmically.

The sound of this kind of big gong was dull and melodious. Later, seven or eight people held a small flag, embroidered with various words such as "the second best", "the fifth in the world", "handpicked by the emperor's order" and so on. .

When this group of people passed by, they were seen by another group of passing newspapers. They immediately stopped their voices and stopped to let these people pass first.This is the No.5 undergraduate course, and it was hand-picked by the emperor, so it is naturally different from the treatment of ordinary people.

Seeing this group of people coming in, Jiang Shangyang gave Zhang Zhe a look in disbelief. He first wondered if the second brother had failed the exam, so he got fifth in the exam.But the next moment, when the scribe saw the place, he sang loudly from a distance.

"Congratulations to Mr. Jiang Shangyang, Jiangling County, hand-picked No. 2 of Jinshi Division [-]~~~!"

Hearing that it was Jiang Shangyang, Zhang Zhe's face relaxed unconsciously. In fact, he was also very nervous.On the other hand, Jiang Shangyang trembled and almost collapsed. "Hand-picked No.5!"

Huo Bingcheng was overjoyed and supported Jiang Shangyang: "Congratulations, congratulations, the third child, the hand-picked No.5, according to the system, he will also enter the Shizhong Temple!"

The clerk remembered Jiang Shangyang's age, and among the three in front of him, only Jiang Shangyang was the most suitable, so he smiled and stepped forward to hand over the document in his hand: "But Mr. Jiang is in person? Congratulations, great joy!"

Jiang Shangyang was emotional for a while, and tears fell, and he was stunned for a while after receiving the mountain-heavy documents.Fortunately, Zhang Huo and the others invited these people into the yard for wine and food for him, and a lot of scattered silver was also sent up in a dustpan.

Zhang Zhe knew very well that the leading scribe had spent a lot of favor and effort to get this job, so Jiang Shangyang naturally couldn't be stingy.So he asked Sanqi to push three fifty-percent official tickets in front of the clerk.

The scribe frowned, but he was a little surprised.He originally thought that this time it was only the benefit of fifty strings, but it has tripled!This person led his subordinates into the table, looked at the table and found that the dishes were also good dishes from the big restaurant, a group of people immediately began to eat and drink politely.He just ate a few mouthfuls, and one of his servants noticed that tables and chairs were also being set up in the yard next door. One could tell from the specifications that they were for entertaining outsiders. He took a peek and found that the utensils were even better than here.

The scribe secretly bit his ear when he got this man, and there was some displeasure in his eyes.The owner here is so ignorant, setting up a banquet in the yard, it is natural to invite them who are happy to have a drink, because serious guests have to eat in the living room.

In his opinion, Jiang Langjun, the second in the second class, is already a very high ranking. If the person who announces the good news to him can't eat the best noodles, it will break the rules of Chang'an city over the years!

"I'm afraid that the master's family has passed the test," the clerk deliberately lowered his voice, "but he doesn't understand the rules in Beijing, and he only cares about congratulating himself with the best. It is clear from the resume that Mr. Jiang Lang is a temporary Sojourn here, everyone should keep quiet, and eat and drink first, and when the table is ready, we will speak up in secret, and we can have another table with him!"

All the people bowed their heads in hesitation, chewing their mouths three minutes faster, and only ate good food, and they didn't even use much food, and they turned their eyes to the courtyard next door from time to time.

Sanqi had discovered the actions of these people a long time ago, and at the beginning it was just a custom in Beijing and didn't care.But as the food started to be served in the yard next door, the smiles on these people's faces became more and more weird, which made Sanqi feel that something was wrong.

Just looking at the way these people eat and drink, it's clear that they didn't try their best to eat and drink, and they deliberately kept their stomachs.

"How strange are the customs in Beijing?!" Sanqi caught Xiao Zhaoping and complained, "Could it be that these people think that the table next door will let them eat again?"

Little Zhao Ping shook his head: "Impossible, the lord must be Yijia. I heard from the eldest lady that the people who came to the door were also officials from the Ministry of Rites. The banquets are all the specifications for receiving officials, and they must have the courage to do it!"

The banquet in the courtyard next door was set up, and the scribe gave everyone a wink, and Shi Shiran stood up and prepared to walk to the courtyard next door.

It happened that Sanqi was going to the front door, and several servants were stunned for a moment and didn't stop them, so they all went into the courtyard next door.

A group of yamen servants were about to laugh at the servants of the Zhang family, and then rushed to sit down.

Someone else let out a hoot, and he found that the dishes here were all Wuling stir-fried dishes that had been passed down to Chang'an not long ago.This dish is precious, it is a recipe sent by several big restaurants to ask for a lot of money from Wuling, they have only seen it before, but no one has tasted it!
"Slow down!" The leading scribe hastily called to everyone who pulled out their chairs to take a seat.

These people looked at the scribe in confusion, but the clerk hurriedly began to pull these people: "Quick! Go back, go back! Don't move these things!"

"Cao Li, what's going on here?" Some people were dissatisfied, "This best dish must be eaten by us, otherwise if it spreads out, all the colleagues in the city will say that we have broken the rules!"

"Rules?!" Cao Li was sweating profusely, pointing at the strange chairs on the main seat and scolding him, "It's a pity that you are still the grandfather's side, who can sit on what kind of chairs, you have forgotten?"

Hearing this, the man lowered his head and looked at the chair he was pulling in his hand, and immediately felt as if he had been stung by a wasp.

This kind of chair is a public chair for officials to sit on in formal occasions. When a group of people were wondering, suddenly a companion hurried in.

"Everyone, this family is setting up an incense table at the front door. Don't ask Meng Lang, let's go!"

Hearing the word "Xiang An", a group of people rushed out and returned to their seats.

Little Zhao Ping just heard the news, but found that only a few chairs in the yard were moved, and he was relieved.

Just as Cao Li sat down again, he was very puzzled and angry, and his mind was spinning rapidly.

He was originally a member of Chengtian Mansion, so he was familiar with the grounds in the capital, but he had never heard of Zhuchi Xiaoyuan.There are no high-ranking officials living in the surrounding area, just an ordinary alley.What's more, Jiang Shangyang registered as "stayer" on the shoe sticker, and he carefully checked here before coming here.

The surname of the owner of Zhuchi Xiaoyuan is Shen, and the surname of the previous tenant is He. Recently, the surname has been changed to Meng, but there is no pilot surnamed Meng in this subject.But why did this family even set up an incense case? !
Zhang Zhe and others had already arrived at the door, and even Meng Xiaowan was helped out with a big belly.

While the Cao officials were eating and drinking, the officials from Ruiping County were the first to announce their congratulations and congratulated, "Congratulations to Mr. Zhang Xinzhi of Wuling, he has hand-picked the number one undergraduate student~!" Then came the officials from Jingzhao County and Linshang County. Newspaper.

It's just that none of the three people involved in these three cases were serious announcers from the Ministry of Rites, they just sold the number one scholar as a favor according to the custom, so none of the people in these three cases beat the gong or yelled loudly.

They all congratulated the No. [-] Scholar family in a gentle manner, and they each took a lot of rewards and quietly stood aside, waiting for the official news from the Ministry of Rites.

After a while, the good news from Chengtian Mansion also came, and it was announced that the team from the Ministry of Rites would arrive in a short while, and Zhang Zhe's family was asked to arrange an incense table immediately, which meant kindness.

As soon as the incense table was set up, Meng Xiaowan was also helped out, and a team of hundreds of people waving banners appeared at the entrance of the alley.

The leader is a doctor of the Ministry of Rites, an official of the sixth rank.

This man just got off the sedan chair at the entrance of the alley, and walked ahead with a white horse. Behind him were the banners from Ouchi, Taichang Temple and the Ministry of Rites. Flag: "Hand-picked No. [-] Scholar Zhang Xinzhi", followed by a red flag of "five yuan in a row".

Zhang Zhe supported Meng Xiaowan, his hands and feet were a little stiff.Meng Xiaowan patted him secretly, and said with a low laugh: "Husband, be more careful, don't drop the concubine and the child."

The doctor of the Ministry of Rites laughed and walked forward, and someone from Chengtian Mansion introduced in a low voice: "Zhuangyuan Lang, this is Cheng Lang of the Ministry of Rites! Behind him is Eunuch Liu of Ouchi who is holding the imperial edict."

Zhang Zhe and Meng Xiaowan were about to greet each other, but they were immediately stopped by Cheng Langzhong.The lady of the Zhang family is pregnant, so he already intended to make friends, so how could he really let them meet.

After accepting the blessing list, Cheng Langzhong immediately stepped aside, Eunuch Liu came forward with the will, and the Zhang family all knelt down in front of the incense table.Seeing that Meng Xiaowan had a big belly, Eunuch Liu kindly reminded her.

"Big lady, just kneel down, just keep your head down, don't bend down."

Eunuch Liu's decree was read out very quickly, which is the exclusive decree of the general champion.The emperor issued a decree to reward Zhang Zhe's parents and wife.Zhang's father was posthumously awarded the fifth-rank Fengxun doctor, Zhang's mother was also awarded the fifth-rank Yiren, and Meng Xiaowan was promoted to the sixth-rank Anren.

It is very rare for a family to seal three members in a row and become the number one scholar.But everyone didn't think there was any difference. Who called the number one scholar in Jinke named Zhang Xinzhi?

Cao Li and others who were announcing the decree in the front and drinking in the back were dumbfounded.

Who would have known that the famous Zhang Xinzhi turned out to be a "tenant" in his wife's name. How could these people have the desire to continue to eat and drink, and hurriedly asked the servants of the Zhang family, and walked away from the side door with their heads in their arms.

Cheng Langzhong and Liu Eunuch were invited to be seated, but Cheng Langzhong and Liu Eunuch only ate a few chopsticks politely and then praised "good food and wine", then got up and left.

It's past time, and it's time for Zhuangyuan Lang to parade across the street on horseback.

Red goose feathers, Kuixing gauze cap, sauce red large-sleeved water-pattern champion uniform, black official boots and white trousers, when Zhang Zhe reappeared after being dressed up, there was a round of applause from around.

Cheng Langzhong personally led the horse for Zhang Zhe, and after sending him on the horse, he gave him another hundred paces, and then he was replaced by two team leaders who were familiar with the nature of horses, and a group of people marched towards Yujie with banners and banners .

The No. 300 team gathered at the entrance of Yujie, the No. [-] Li Zhaofeng and Tanhua Chen Yuanchen, and the parade grew to a scale of [-] people.The team has to pass through Yuema Street first, and then turn into Royal Street.This route naturally has its implication. Yuema Street is where ordinary people live, while Royal Street is lined with high-end commercial buildings and treasure shops. This route is the meaning of "from the people to the government".

Zhang Zhe led the horse, and behind him were Li Zhaofeng and Chen Yuanchen on horseback.

Both sides of Yuema Street were crowded with spectators, countless people pointed at Zhang Xin and shouted loudly.

"Zhuang Yuanlang is here!"

"What a Zhang Xinzhi, he really looks good~!"

Chengtian Mansion and the three counties had prepared "entrustment" earlier, which immediately heightened the atmosphere, and arranged for people to continuously throw colored paper, and the champion was accompanied by drums and music everywhere.

The entire street was buzzing with people, and some bold people rushed out of the obstruction of the yamen servants, ran to the champion's horse and touched the hem of Zhang Zhe's clothes.

Although the person was dragged away immediately, the person laughed loudly, raised his hand and shouted: "I've touched it, I've touched it, it's my child's academic success!"

This person's success made many people jealous, and it took only ten sticks to get caught. Some people began to squeeze in violently.All the yamen servants were so angry that they had to call out the names of those people, and then they stopped desperately!

One of the yamen servants was pretending to wrestle with the man in front of him. Seeing that Zhang Zhe had arrived behind the yamen servant, the man blinked, and the yamen servant pretended to be unsteady on his feet, and whispered: "Brother-in-law, hurry up!"

The man immediately jumped over the crowd and rushed in front of Zhang Zhe. Just as he was about to reach out to touch him, the Zhuangyuan Lang, who might as well be right away, smiled and stretched out his hand to him.

The man was startled, but Zhang Zhe smiled and shook hands with him before continuing to gallop forward.

When the man was dragged away by two yamen servants in a daze, the people around him screamed wildly, because they were jealous.

Even the two yamen servants who dragged the man away were full of acid words: "Mu Sanlang, you are so lucky?! These ten sticks won't make you feel good!"

Mu San also reacted, he was familiar with these yamen servants, and he was not afraid at all: "Hey, just come, we are not afraid of these ten sticks, my medicine shop in Mu's family has the best golden sore medicine and stick wound medicine."

The co-author of his family is for the yamen to watch stick injuries.

Zhang Zhe didn't have the sense of alienation from ordinary people that the ancient literati had, or these people were far away from his life, but modern people's thinking made him think that shaking hands with people is just a polite way, and he didn't feel offended.

This was Zhang Zhe's subconscious reaction when he was extremely happy and excited.He might also have thought that this was probably a very outrageous move, but he didn't realize that this move was more than just outrageous. Behind him, Li Zhaofeng and Chen Yuanchen were full of disbelief, thinking that Zhang Xinzhi's move was too much. Shocking.

In their eyes, Zhang Xinzhi is an official, and the common people are the people, there is a world of difference!High and low are one of the cornerstones of the entire society, how can this be overturned at will?
However, Zhang Xinzhi's behavior greatly increased the favor of the onlookers. Many people rushed through the blockade and shook hands with Zhang Xinzhi.Of course, there were those who wanted to shake hands with Li Zhaofeng and Chen Yuanchen, which made them pale and at a loss!
Another batch of yamen servants was urgently reinforced, and the boiling crowd was brought under control.

The next moment, countless handkerchief dumplings and sachets flew towards Zhang Xinzhi from the upstairs on both sides. For a while, colorful scarves and handkerchief tassels were flying in the air all over the street.The boudoir daughters of each family showed their faces generously, yelled a few words at Zhuangyuan Lang, and then hid back in shame.

In previous years, only the daughters of wealthy families dared to throw all kinds of fragrant "hidden weapons" at the three champions, such as sachets, handkerchiefs or hydrangeas. How could it be their daughters from ordinary families?

Sanqi and Zhao Ping each carried a basket on their backs and picked up wildly all the way. The eldest lady had already ordered to throw all the things thrown to the husband's daughter's house, and put them all together and hand them over to the eldest lady!

When the parade walked out of Yuema Street, Sanqi and Zhao Ping's baskets were gone. They hired a cart to follow, and the cart was half full of all kinds of colorful objects.

Just a few steps into the Royal Street, the windows of the high-rise buildings were pushed open, and I don't know how many boudoir daughters looked over shyly.

The cries of "The Immortal is coming" kept coming and going.

"Zhang Xinzhi, do you have any poems?" A woman shouted from a tall building, which immediately aroused the sympathy of Zhou Nian's daughter's family.

Zhang Zhe had already prepared this poem, and it could only be Meng Jiao's "After Enrollment".

Although the first sentence is a bit far-fetched, Zhang Zhe believes that someone will make up for him very well.

"In the past, the filth was not enough to boast about, but now the debauchery has no limit. The spring breeze is proud of the horseshoe disease, and I can see all the flowers in Chang'an in one day!"

Hearing "See all the flowers in Chang'an in one day", the daughters all laughed coquettishly, and some of them blushed and stopped talking.All kinds of precious "hidden weapons" immediately "revenge" over.

There are sachets inlaid with gold threads, brocade handkerchiefs strung with pearls, fans connected with white jade, and hydrangeas tinkling and shining with gold.At that time, Zhang Zhe only felt that the sky was slightly dark, and the hairs on his back stood on end, but he didn't dare to dodge deliberately.

Fortunately, under the pull of the two squad leaders, the white horse under him skillfully avoided most of the "hidden weapons" that were too lethal.Sanqi and Xiao Zhaoping's smiles almost went to the back of their heads, and they picked up after the trio. The eldest lady said that most of the things here will be rewarded to the two of them in the end.

As for the second place and third place?
Sanqi pursed her mouth, these belonged to the number one scholar!Unless the second place and Tanhua come to ask for it in person.

In a high-rise building, there is a stunning beauty who is eager to try. She is holding a jasper-colored object, and she is gesticulating at the head of Zhang Xinzhi who is passing downstairs.

The maid next to her hurriedly grabbed her: "Ancestor, you can't do it! If something goes wrong, Mrs. Meng and we won't quit! This fruit was given to you by Mrs. Meng. If it really falls, she will know it at a glance. You did it, I will sue you at Chengtian Mansion!"

He Linggu snorted coldly, and put down a large durian that was "shun" from Meng Xiaowan: "Such a stinky thing, and the taste is too special, I think it matches this person very well, so it's just right to give it back to him!? "

The servant girl smiled: "I shouldn't have stopped you, how far can you throw this thing with your arm strength? I'm afraid you'll hit those noble people downstairs on the street. You're fine, but we won't survive. "

He Linggu pointed to the durian: "Chu Yu, then you go and peel this fruit as soon as possible, and bring the pulp to me. In case I accidentally do something wrong with this fruit."

Chu Yu immediately grimaced, she was one of the ten thousand people who didn't want to peel durians, but her girl fell in love with it for some reason.Every time she peeled off, she felt like crying, while the girl ate with a smile on her face.

There are not many yamen servants on the imperial street, and the crowd of onlookers is relatively restrained.Some men in fine clothes raised their glasses and stepped forward to stop the horses to toast, but the yamen servants just watched from a distance with their waists bowed, and did not step forward to stop them.

The wines are all high-quality varieties, and most of the wine cups are precious treasures. Zhang Zhe has already drank three cups within a hundred steps.

And this third cup turned out to be a gold-bottomed jasper cup, and the wine in the cup was all blood red.

Zhang Zhe listened to the faint voices of surprise and suspicion around him, and then saw the faint mockery of the wine delivery man, Zhang Zhe was secretly amused.It's just wine, it probably came from the Western Regions, but he deliberately didn't explain it, he just wanted to see a joke that he had never seen in the market.

Those who are qualified to toast with the three champions are naturally not ordinary people. The children of Chen Yuanchen's family have seen red wine before. He saw that Li Zhaofeng beside him was shaking with red wine, so he knew it was not good, and was about to remind Zhang Zhe at the front.

However, Zhang Xinzhi, who was right in front of him, laughed: "What a wine!" Then he drank the bright red wine in the glass in one gulp.

At this moment, Chen Yuanchen also faintly heard the two servants of the Zhang family sneering at each other behind him.

"This kind of wine, my eldest lady drinks several bottles a month, but she has the nerve to use it to bluff people?"

The person who delivered the wine was also surprised by Zhang Xinzhi's erudition and insight, and immediately put aside his contempt: "The Zhuangyuan Lang laughed at this. This is the blood wine from the Western Regions that just arrived in Chang'an the day before yesterday. Could it be that the Zhuangyuan Lang knew that it was made of grapes?" ? Those barbarians hid the recipe of this wine so hard that they couldn't hide it from the wise eyes of Zhuangyuan Lang!"

Meng Xiaowan's favorite is wine. It is served with spicy strips and pork head meat, so Zhang Zhe has already pretended to be wine-making skills, but he has never had time to practice.

He simply said one of the prescriptions in one breath, from material selection, sun drying to next song, wooden barrel storage, etc.He was about to urge his horse to move forward, but he was grabbed by this person.

"Come here, quickly take three thousand guan to give to Zhuangyuanlang!" The man sighed with emotion, "The ruler of Chequanguo in the Western Regions would rather subjugate his country than surrender this place to the King of Ai. I don't want to have Zhuangyuanlang tell the truth. For this wine, the three thousand cavalry marched seven thousand miles and disappeared in the desert, and only now do I realize that it was all in vain.”

Zhang Zhe knew that this person was talking about the story of the former emperor, so he couldn't help but recite a poem: "Grape wine luminous cup, if you want to drink the pipa, immediately call. Lord Mo Xiao, who is drunk on the battlefield, how many people have fought in ancient times? "

(End of this chapter)