Good son-in-law of the Ming Dynasty

If Su Mu was still present, he would definitely scream in fright: Damn, give money to the speaker, isn't this the old birthday star who hanged himself and got impatient?

What are officials? What they do is gossip and nitpicking.

In the Ming Dynasty, the most unofficial and even least contactable people were the envoys of the Metropolitan Procuratorate. When they saw them, not only could they not approach them to please them, but they had to take a detour as soon as possible.Otherwise, you may be noticed by others.

Since Emperor Hongzhi came to the throne, he felt the bad example of factory and guard monopolization, restricted the power of Jinyiwei and eunuchs, and reused civil officials.As a result, the power of civil servants has been greatly expanded.

Most of the imperial envoys were from Jinshi background, and their rank was not high, only seventh rank, but they had a privilege, they could talk nonsense without taking any responsibility.And because they controlled the direction of public opinion in the court and the public, each of them even called the wind and rain in the court.

Everything from the state affairs to the personal morality of officials is within their scope of supervision. Even if the emperor did not say a word right and slept with a woman who shouldn't be sleeping at night, they dared to point at the nose of Long Live God and yell.But in such a situation, the emperor didn't dare to get angry, so he could only silently wipe away the saliva on his face, and retracted his head.

In a sense, a speech officer is an officer who punishes people.

Although this group of people are poor, but because they are used to being poor, and they have been in the Qingshui Yamen for so many years, they are all a little perverted, and they have a strong personal preference for gaining personal fame.At the end of the Ming Dynasty, some people deliberately contradicted the emperor, which made Long Yan furious and had a meal.

As long as the emperor beats him like this, the speech officer can gain a good reputation as a straight-talking minister.As an imperial envoy, if you don't get beaten by the emperor, you don't seem to be a real gentleman or a pure celebrity, and it's not easy to greet people.

Therefore, the imperial court has a vivid name for this malicious act of gaining fame: cheating the court staff.

In the end, the emperor also woke up.When encountering a tougher monarch, such as Jiajing: You have to ask for a beating, so that you can be beaten to death directly.

As for the mild-mannered emperor, he just rolled his eyes: If you want to lie to the board, I will not fulfill your wish.Pass it on, as long as anyone from the Metropolitan Procuratorate comes, they will not be seen.

……

Hu Baihu, if you give money to the inspector, maybe you will give it to the front foot, and the back foot will announce these gifts to the public to show that you are an honest official who will not take anything.

The imperial court sends many inspectors to inspect places every year. The officials finally got such a chance to do it alone. Naturally, they want to seize every opportunity to gain fame for themselves. A small army officer from a hundred families just happened to use it to perform surgery.If things really develop like this, Hu Baihu will definitely become a buffoon, and he will have no face to live in the world in the future.

Of course, Su Mu didn't know all this.

He had an imperial examination in his heart, and wanted to learn from Shaotai nearby, so he was not in a hurry to leave Hu's house.

The time has come to the middle of March, the spring rain has been falling continuously, and the whole world is shrouded in hazy moisture.

The government examination is scheduled for the first day of April.Most of the other children in the school are enrolled this year and do not need to take this exam.

Shao Tai has always valued Su Mu, and he also knew that he was determined to win this exam, and his supervision on Su Mu was much stricter than before.

At the same time, the number of scholars in Baoding City seemed to increase all of a sudden. When I asked, I found out that they were children from various counties who came to take the exam.

Baoding City has sixteen counties under its jurisdiction, and thousands of children flock to the prefectural city for each prefectural examination.Because the journey is far and near, the farthest Shulu is hundreds of miles away from Baoding, and it takes three or four days to walk.

If you don't arrive at the mansion city in advance, if you are delayed on the way, you will have to wait another year.Coupled with the long journey, physical and mental adjustments are also required. Many candidates will arrive half a month in advance to review their homework or exchange knowledge with colleagues.

The government offices of Qingyuan County and Baoding Prefecture are both in Baoding Laocheng, and Su Mu can avoid the risk of exhaustion on the road. On the day of the exam, he only needs to walk three miles, and he can reach the school office in Baoding Prefecture in ten minutes.

The government examination is the same as the county examination, and you need a janitor to act as a guarantor before you can sign up. However, with Mr. Shao present, Su Mu also saved a lot of trouble.

In the past few days, Hu Baihu and accountant Lao Li went out again, and at the same time, Hu Jinxue and several Hu family's children followed, saying that they were going to go to Maguan again.There was a lot of luggage, and two ox carts were fully loaded.

Maybe Hu Baihu and Lao Li listened to their own advice and went to deal with the patrol. Although Hu Baihu is hateful, I hope he can get through this test safely.Su Mu thought so.

After all, I have worked here for a month, and I have gotten to know Hu Jinxue and the others well. This place is still very good before I get the honor of a scholar.

Hu Baihu and Lao Li left, and the shadow of the inspector's political examination shrouded the Hu family's head again. The business of the Hu family's warehouse also stopped, and there was no work in the tent, and Su Mu was happy to relax.

Every morning I write the [-]-word "Journey to the West" in the tent, have lunch at the warehouse, go to school to study in the afternoon as usual, and go home in the evening to memorize the "Four Books" and "Five Classics" with a few thousand words, and read some stereotyped essays.

Not to mention, after studying under Mr. Shao for more than a month, Su Mu also has some ideas about the upcoming government examination.

Unlike the county test, which only has two stereotyped questions, the government test is more complicated.In addition to the two stereotypes, it also added posting scriptures, requiring a mastery of the three scriptures.

This is already the category of the Five Classics, the so-called Five Classics are "Book of Changes", "Shangshu", "Book of Songs", "Book of Rites", and "Spring and Autumn Annals".

"Book of Rites" and "Shangshu" are compulsory among the three classics to be selected, and one of the other three books is optional.

When Mr. Shao said this, Su Mu was really nervous.I haven't studied the Five Classics much in later generations. Modern Chinese studies first recommend "The Analects" and "Mencius", followed by "University" and "The Doctrine of the Mean".Moreover, recently, Mr. Shao didn't explain the meaning of the Five Classics in class, so he rushed to the stage, I'm afraid it would be bad.

Seeing that Su Mu was a little nervous, Shao Tai snorted coldly: "If you don't work hard at ordinary times, it's too late to hold Buddha's feet temporarily. If you fail the ranking, you can't blame others. Memorizing the Four Books and Five Classics backwards is the basic skill of our generation of scholars, and it can't be a coincidence. Yi In my opinion, if you can learn such a lesson, it will be good for your future."

Su Mu was stunned when he heard it, and suddenly felt that something was wrong: "You can memorize it backwards, teacher, can you tell me in detail how this scripture test is done?"

Seeing that Su Mu was puzzled, Shao Tai said, "During the exam, the examiner will select a passage from the Five Classics and ask you to write silently to complete the entire chapter. The test will be on your memory and calligraphy. If a word is wrongly written, or there are smudges on the test paper If there is any trace, the entire paper will be invalidated.”

"Ah, silent writing?"

Shao Tai: "Zi Qiao, your running script is very good. There should be no problem with the paper, but you must pay attention to the standard three-court style. In the examination room, you can't help wasting your talent. As for the five classics, there is no way things."

Su Mu smiled: "Teacher, don't worry, the students will definitely not embarrass you. It's just the five scriptures. Su Mu has already memorized them by heart, why don't you come up with a topic and try it on the spot."

Hehe, it is not easy to memorize the Four Books and Five Classics backwards.Although that Su Mu was not very smart, after more than ten years, he has memorized these few Confucian classics alive.If there are other questions, I, Su Mu, may really have to scratch my head for a long time, but dictation, won't this give me points for nothing?

Seeing that Su Mu was so confident, Shao Tai finally showed a smile on his pleasurable face: "That's good. If so, you've passed this level. The only thing you worry about is two stereotyped questions. I agree with the prefect. I have met him a few times, and I have some understanding of his knowledge and temperament. I have drafted twenty questions, and you can hand them over to me. After I correct them, you memorize them carefully."

As he spoke, he handed over a note full of words.

Su Mu took it over and saw that it was all sentences from "The Analects of Confucius". It can be said that the key points of this book were basically covered by Shao Taiyi.

"Could this be the legendary question?"

In fact, such things as playing questions are also normal in later generations.Any teacher will circle the key points before students take the college entrance examination, and even draw up topics for students to memorize.Whether they can accurately guess the questions of the college entrance examination is also the standard for measuring famous teachers. Huanggang Middle School in later generations has a group of such masters.

And it is not an easy task to make a question. First of all, you have to figure out the personality of the person who made the question and what is the habit of making the question.People with different personalities have different questions.Some people pay attention to basic skills, and most of the questions they ask are the most basic knowledge; while some people care about the talent and quick wit of candidates, and specialize in off-topic problems.

Therefore, especially in important examinations such as the college examination and the rural examination, once the central government sends examiners, the local gentry, celebrities and officials will try to contact them in order to find out their tempers, so that they can prescribe the right medicine and guess the questions correctly.

Mr. Shao was originally a teacher of the county school. He was born in Juren and had worked in culture and education all his life. In addition, he knew the magistrate, so he must know the thinking of the magistrate when he came up with the question.

Knowing these questions again, the magistrate must be an expert in "The Analects of Confucius", and the scope of the questions must also be included in this book.

Knowing this, the next exam will be easier.

Su Mu heaved a long sigh of relief, his current writing in classical Chinese can be regarded as passing the test, he will not make low-level mistakes, and his writing is smooth and stable.But if he really went to the examination room, he was nothing compared to the elites in Baoding Prefecture.

With the questions given by Mr. Shao, and revised and polished by the old master, you can memorize them proficiently, and you don’t need to get all the exams when you enter the Gongyuan. As long as you guess one question correctly, you will pass the exam.

Su Mu couldn't help sighing: With a good teacher, you can avoid detours and struggle for 20 years!

There are too many topics, and it is troublesome to write.

I have no choice but to stop writing "Journey to the West" first and gather my energy to deal with it.

After writing, give it to Mr. Shao for revision.

Then send it back and recite it.

It was a matter of his own future, so Su Mu regained the state of mind he had during the college entrance examination. He only memorized these 1 articles, more than [-] words, and waited for the exam period.

Seeing that the day was approaching day by day, another six days, and nine days before entering the examination room, Hu Baihu and others came back.

It was raining non-stop, and the whole group was covered in mud spots, feeling indescribably depressed and unlucky.

Hu Baihu was sick, his face was sallow, and after returning home, he dismissed all the warehouse clerks and dismissed all the students in the school, lying on the bed alone and never getting up again.

Su Mu thought: I guess the patrol is not done, right?

He didn't like Hu Baihu at all, besides, even if he could help, he couldn't get involved.He is just an ordinary citizen, and he knows nothing about the official affairs of the Ming Dynasty.

Now that the school has been disbanded, Su Mu will not come to work here in the short term, so he will go to Lao Li to calculate his wages and go home to prepare for the exam.

Lao Li lost a lot of weight, and when he saw Su Mu, he couldn't help crying: "I lost, I lost, the Hu family really lost this time. I have stayed with Mr. Hu for 20 years, and I have already regarded this place as my own." .I thought that I would serve the master for the rest of my life and die here. But I didn’t expect that they would disperse, and the birds would go to the forest. When I leave here, the world will be big, but I don’t know where to go?"

Su Mu felt sorry for him and couldn't help asking what happened.

Accountant Li said, Hu Baihu went to Daomaguan to give money to the patrol this time, but he didn't even see him, so he just threw the money out.Hu Baihu knelt at the patrol gate all night, got caught in the rain, and developed a high fever on the way back.

"Send money, to the imperial envoy..." Su Mu stuttered, this, this, this is really home.You, an officer of a hundred households who don't even have a rank, want to bribe the inspectors sent by the central government?

Giving gifts and bribes also has to pay attention to the level. If the status gap between the two parties is too large, it is tantamount to an insult.For example, if you, a small citizen, want to give a gift to an ordinary bureau chief, he may accept it and take care of things for you.But if you want to bribe the secretary of the provincial party committee, you are courting death.

Su Mu wanted to say something, but after thinking about it, he could only shake his head and comfort Lao Li a few words.

Glancing at the Hu's warehouse at the door, Su Mu sighed: "Looks like I have to find another job."

There are still a few days before entering the examination room, in order to avoid the oolong he did in the last county examination, Su Mu decided to buy a good set of the Four Treasures of the Study.

Since I am interested in the imperial examination, there are still some things that need to be prepared, such as the basket test.

It doesn't matter that the county and government exams only take one day, and you can be admitted on the spot.But as long as you have passed the college examination or above, the examination room will be closed as soon as you enter, and it will not be closed for a day, and you will not be able to get out at all.There is no food provided inside, and all the utensils are as big as charcoal, stove, rice and vegetables for cooking, and as small as hand sanitizers, you have to prepare them yourself.

Therefore, although Kaolan is not big, it is a small sparrow with all internal organs.There are several grids of different sizes inside, and the four treasures of the study, firewood, rice, oil, salt and other sundries are placed respectively.There are also two straps on the front for easy portability.

It looks somewhat similar to the pannier on Ning Caichen's back in the movie "A Chinese Ghost Story".

This thing is sold in major bookstores, so I simply asked Boss Lin for one, and handed in the manuscript I wrote a few days ago.

I got a test basket from Lin's Bookshop and got it on the back. When I got home, I saw Xiaodie standing in the yard at a loss, with a strange expression on her face.

At the same time, thick smoke billowed from the kitchen.

"What's going on?" Su Mu was a little surprised.

"It's outrageous, a big girl's house, why come to our house? I don't think she is a serious woman." Xiaodie replied in a low voice, with an angry expression on her face.

Obviously, he thought that his young master owed some kind of romantic account outside.