Good son-in-law of the Ming Dynasty

Since the beginning of autumn, the weather in the capital has been surprisingly good, the sun is shining brightly every day, and there is not a trace of cloud in the sky, and it is as blue as washed.

However, it is not hot, and the air is full of coolness, which means that the air is refreshing in autumn.

It was already the sixth day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar, and there were two days before entering the township examination room.

Outside Chaoyang in the capital city, many candidates from Beizhili have already settled down. Needless to say, they all went to Tongzhou to take the exam.

Chaoyangmen is the east gate of the capital city. This is the end of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, and there is a large wharf.The capital was originally the center of the world, and it has a population of several 10.The daily food and clothing costs in the city are huge, so if it was in the past, the goods here would have been piled up like a mountain.

However, after more than a month of drought, the water here was too shallow to pass through, and the huge pier suddenly became empty, and there were no porters in sight.

Many cargo ships have run aground on the river, and the air is filled with the smell of vegetable waste and the smell of livestock feces--the candidates all choose to take a car because they can't sail.

I saw that there were green zijins everywhere, and the sounds of Russian groaning were also mixed with the neighing of livestock.

There are many people and few cars, and there is no unified organization, so the gate of the city is in chaos.

These days, donkeys and horses in the capital are in short supply. If a trip to Tongzhou is normal, the toll is only two or three taels of silver, but now it has soared to six taels. Just like this, it may not be possible to hire them.

Therefore, Su Mu saw that there was nothing that a scholar could do, so he paid a lot of money to hire a bearer.Of course, the price of a sedan chair is much more expensive than a car, which is not affordable for ordinary people.In addition to the car and sedan chair, among the crowd, Su Mu also saw two camels standing abruptly, so surprised that his eyeballs almost fell to the ground.

If it wasn't for Mu Sheng and Sun Chen who made the reservation half a month in advance, if it was delayed until these two days, everyone would have to wait.Most of the scholars in Baoding don't work hard and don't know the five grains. If they are asked to walk seventy or eighty miles, when they reach the field, they may be too tired to write.

The weather was so dry that the ground was covered with dust, and the air became chaotic after being trampled by so many talented people.

A gust of wind blew, and Su Mu was choked and coughed uncontrollably, waking up the drowsiness.

Looking around again, Mu Sheng and Sun Chen's heads and bodies were already yellow.

There were six scholars who went to Tongzhou with Su Mu. The dust was so heavy that everyone jumped out of the donkey cart and slapped their heads continuously, making the air even worse.

Together with Su Mu came the guide Wu Lao Er, after all, they were all foreigners and there was no boat to sit on. This way to Tongzhou, no matter which way, he needed to be guided by him, a local snake.Moreover, going out in ancient times was a very troublesome thing.Whether it's shooting at the tip, staying in a hotel, or bargaining with related people, someone has to come forward.

As the saying goes, if you are innocent, you should be killed if you are not guilty. Scholars are not ordinary people. They have traveled this way, but they don't know how many troubles they will encounter.Since Wu Lao Er has taken care of all these things, he is also happy to be at ease. He is a small gangster in the first place, and he has a clear path in the world, so no one can deceive him.

In the past few days, Wu's second son has also shown his skills, handling all matters large and small very properly, which also made everyone very satisfied.Sun Chen even jokingly said to Su Mu: "Where did you find this rascal, but he is quite capable. If I become a Jinshi in the future and become an official, it would be great to have such a capable villain at hand." gone."

Su Mu smiled wryly, and said in his heart: If this kind of bastard really entered the public school, it would be strange if he didn't cause trouble for you?It's too late to hide, dare to use it?You are just a scholar, how can you survive this kind of old world?

Indeed, Wu Er Er's complexion seemed to be much better in the past few days. He ate and drank with Sun Chen and the others every day, his sallow complexion turned rosy, and he seemed to be taller.He also changed into a brand new robe, as if he had changed into a different person.

No need to ask, it must have been deprived of some benefits while doing business.

No wonder this kid is very caring about what he does.

As early as a few days ago, everyone made an appointment to meet at Sun Chen's place today, and then go directly to Tongzhou by car.

But just last night, Su Mu and the others got a piece of news.

It turns out that according to the usual practice, when scholars take part in the provincial examination, the local officials will hold a farewell ceremony of "jumping over the dragon's gate", send some money, and wish the local scholars high school success.

This rule has been implemented since the Hongwu period, and it has been more than 100 years today.

But because many previous candidates did not return to their hometowns after failing the rankings, but simply lived in the capital, studying and preparing for the exam at the same time.Therefore, every year of the big competition, the local officials will personally go to the capital to distribute money to the candidates and see them off.

Today's Dragon Gate Ceremony is held outside Chaoyangmen.

This is not only the case in Baoding, but also in several other prefectures in Beizhili.

Several colorful dragon gates were erected on the pier early, and candidates from all over the world gathered in front of the dragon gates according to their regions.

There is no way, Su Mu and the others can only wait here.

The people from Baoding Mansion didn't know when they would be able to come, so Su Mu coughed a few times, then simply lay on the donkey cart, closed his eyes and fell asleep.

It was exhausting and the last four days had been hell.

Since Ms. Wu personally came forward to guide her homework that day, Su Mu also knew that the opportunity was rare, and coupled with the tight exam period, he continued to review without sleep.

In fact, even if he wanted to sleep, there was nothing he could do.During the day, Su Mu had to listen to Ms. Wu's lectures.At night, Wu Juren, who had slept all day, woke up and began to scold his mother. This scolding lasted for several hours, and you couldn't fall asleep at all.

However, after Wu Juren woke up, he was not so full of energy, and his tone was more self-pity and self-pity, saying that he was incompetent, ruined the family property, and made the family suffer.He also said that his body was weak, even if he wanted to cheer up, he was powerless.

If he scolds Su Mu, Su Mu will not be afraid.But hearing his desolate words, Su Mu couldn't bear to say anything.

Su Mu had no choice but to get up again and continue to review his homework. He waited until the dawn light, and then went to bed and stared in a daze for a while.

The total daily sleep time does not exceed five hours, and the rest of the time is spent in reading.

Up to now, Su Mu's eyes have been boiled red, and when he closes his eyes, all the shiny black Chinese characters are flying in front of his eyes.

My right hand also suffered from a lot of pain from writing a lot, and I had to use all my strength to bend my finger joints slightly.

When I left home in the morning, because I was going to take an exam in another place, Xiaodie couldn't send it, so I gathered the drafts written by Su Mu during these days and set them on fire in the small courtyard.It was more than two feet thick, and the flames burned a small courtyard red.

Su Mu was surprised, he didn't expect to write so many articles.

However, after doing a large number of exercises, Su Mu felt that he had completely passed the test in terms of theory and strategy.This stuff is just that, the key is still in the stereotyped essay.

Living was so tiring that Su Mu fell asleep as soon as he lay down.

He had another dream, dreaming that he was in the examination room.

It's just that this time it's not in the college entrance examination room, and the candidates around are all ancient people of Eguan Qingjin.

I don't know how long it took, he was awakened from his sleep by a burst of cheers, staring at his blood-red eyes, it turned out that people from Baoding Prefecture School came to see the candidates off.

Su Mu smiled wryly and rubbed his eyes: It seems that in addition to the college entrance examination in modern society, the future nightmare will have to include the ancient imperial examination.

Exams are not a pleasant memory for anyone.