Good son-in-law of the Ming Dynasty

"It's too hard, it's too hard!" Governor Weng cried while shaking his head: "Everyone, I won't take the exam, I won't take the exam. Just let me be a little regular eighth-rank official!"

Governor Weng is a nice person. When Su Mu first joined the Experience Department and was excluded by everyone, he was the only one who talked to Su Mu.

Seeing him crying so sadly, Su Mu stepped forward to comfort him: "Old man, you are too nervous. Don't be on duty in the office tonight, go home to take a shower and change into new clothes. Get up early tomorrow morning, Blow the warm air and look at the sun, and you will have strength. You will find that, in fact, everything is just asking for trouble."

Everyone nodded silently when they heard what Su Mu said.

The weather has completely warmed up, and the wind blowing into the hall from the outside also carries a hint of spring.

Turning around, I saw a group of wasps in the corner of the wall coming in and out of the hole in the gap between the bricks, and the peach clump was so gorgeous that it couldn't open any more.

Governor Weng was still shaking his head, with tears all over his face: "It's useless, Ziqiao, you don't have to comfort me. This old man shouldn't have come to the capital. If he was still in Henan, he would be a country gentry. After so many years in the capital, It’s still a breeze. Everyone has no family background, have you ever thought that if you go to the general examination, you will not be able to do the job of the Secretary of General Administration.”

Governor Li interjected: "Governor Weng, what you are talking about is the closure of the hall, that is for officials with first-level experience."

It turned out that if the principals in the major yamen or the officials who were in charge of the real power were to participate in the examination, they had to make a report and hand over the work to others.In the future, if he is selected as a Jinshi, the court will naturally make other arrangements. If he is not selected, he will still return to work in the original department.

Governor Weng cried: "We are not high enough to seal the hall. If we want to take part in the examination, we can only ask for leave. However, everyone has signed up for reference, and the test is nine days long. How can the superiors let us all go? No way. Alright, once we enter the examination room, the official documents will arrive, and we will be relieved of our official positions. Our family has no money and no duties, so why not go to drink the northwest wind?"

Hearing this, everyone's expressions changed drastically, and only then did they understand what Governor Weng was crying about.

To be honest, everyone is suffering haha.As long as you have money on hand, you can study your homework in a chic and unrestrained manner, so why do you use it as an errand in the Secretary of General Administration, and it's not just to mix up some salary and money to support the family.

If, as Governor Weng said, everyone went to the exam together, the commotion would be too great, and they might lose their official positions.If you win, naturally one good and one hundred good.If you fail to win, you will even lose the official position you depend on for your livelihood. At that time, the problem will be serious.

Now, I can only use one sentence to describe the minds of the governors of the experience department: advance is also worrying, and retreat is also worrying.

Of course I was nervous. As for the matter of entering the examination room, there were still [-] days for everyone to make a choice. In addition to reviewing homework, the General Secretary had to take care of the daily affairs.

First of all, Su Mu and Wu Shiqi had to arrest the affairs of Dibao.Especially now that the mouthpiece of the imperial court is divided into two, the workload has increased.

More importantly, Zhengde was pro-government, and the new people had a new atmosphere. The Qingshui Yamen, the Tongzheng Secretary, had to put on a show, and sorted out all the documents and files from the 16 years of the Hongzhi Dynasty. This task naturally fell to the head of the experience department.

Therefore, Wu Shiqi personally led the team and worked.

Looking at the documents piled up in several rooms, the governor was not happy, so he asked Su Mu to talk to Mr. Wu.It is said that there are still 20 days until Chunwei, and it is too late for everyone to prepare for the exam, and there is no need to be busy with such meaningless things, it is simply exploiting everyone's tutoring time.

Su Mu knew Mr. Wu's temper. This man was a pedantic man. In his mind, the rules were as big as the sky.Once you have determined the truth of death, even if you say it a hundred times in front of him, it will be useless.

Let me comfort everyone by saying that instead of wasting time on this, it is better to hurry up and handle the affairs at hand properly.Otherwise, I will do the paperwork and filing, and you will help move things, exercise your muscles and bones, combine work and rest, and change your minds.

Everyone was happy when they heard it.

It turned out that as the exam period approached, everyone became more and more nervous, and the strings were extremely tense. Reviewing homework at this time would not be effective.

So, with a shout, everyone rushed out of the hall to move those documents.

It is almost March in Yangchun, and the weather is getting hotter day by day.Spring covers autumn and freezes, the winter clothes on my body are still on, and if I move a little, my whole body is covered with sweat.There is no such thing as using your brain to record things, and pure physical labor is purely a kind of relaxation for everyone.Under the soak of sweat, talking and laughing, everyone only felt that their brains, which had become rusty due to long-term study, were gradually becoming flexible.

Even Governor Duan, who always spoke sarcasticly in front of Su Mu, had a surprisingly cheerful smile on his face.

When I am in a good mood, I am very efficient in doing things. It only takes one day to complete the tasks that used to take three to five days to complete.

However, something unpleasant happened.

At four o'clock in the afternoon, it was time to go home, and everyone's interest remained unabated.Governor Niu suggested that everyone join in and go out for a drink.

To be honest, Su Mu was already desperate for the food at street stalls in Ming Dynasty, but he still actively participated in it.

So, each of them scraped together fifty renminbi, went into a restaurant that specializes in buying cattle and sheep offal, cooked a pot full, and asked the boss to deliver the wine like running water.

The price of goods in the Ming Dynasty was not too high. Even in the capital, the [-] Wen that the six governors pooled together was enough to keep everyone's belly full.

It's just that this kind of offal of cattle and sheep is eaten by lower Liba people.Six eight-rank civil servants sat at a dirty table, eating so much that the corners of their mouths were dripping, which still made people feel sore.The petty officials in Qingshui Yamen are really too poor.

There are not enough seasonings, and it is full of internal organs. After eating, everyone's mouth is full of the taste of large intestines, and they can only drink one mouthful after another.

Just as he was eating smoothly, he saw a thick black woman leading two young people aged sixteen or seventeen into the restaurant with a dusty look on their faces.When the two young people saw Su Mu and the others, they knelt down in front of Governor Weng with a plop, and shouted, "Father!"

Governor Weng cried out in shock: "Why are you here?"

It turned out that the thick black woman was Governor Weng's wife, and she came to the capital with her two sons.

She looked fierce, but her voice was very gentle: "Father, it will be spring plowing soon. You are an official and can be exempted from tax. Even if you don't do anything, someone will give us a house and land to our Weng family. Last year The harvest in my hometown is not good, and it is time for the children to start a family and start a business. They have already talked about their marriage. However, the dowry money is a lot of expenses. I am thinking about it, but relying on your salary, the master, is not enough for me. How to support the family. Therefore, I decided to take over two hundred acres of paddy fields and a two-entry mansion. In this way, I can also arrange the marriage of the children. Otherwise, it would be impossible to watch Playing a bachelor with two dolls, let the Weng family have no descendants!"

It turned out that as long as scholars with the title of scholar or above can enjoy the preferential treatment of being exempted from all corvee and taxes.

The taxation system of the Ming Dynasty was not implemented in Dingkou, but only apportioned to households.Therefore, as long as you are selected as a scholar, many middle and low-level families will send their property to you and enjoy the benefits of national tax exemption.When there is a harvest, everyone will share the accounts one by one. In the end, it is more cost-effective than paying the imperial grain and national tax directly.

Therefore, as long as you have achieved fame, as long as you are willing.Even if you don't do anything in the future, relying on these benefits alone, you can live comfortably for the rest of your life.

After the woman finished speaking, she patted the dust on her body: "However, you have to go back to your hometown to do this deed. When you were studying, the land and houses in your family were sold out. Originally, you thought that if you win a juren, all the land and houses will be sold out." You can get back all your investment. But I don’t want to, sir, you want to be a Jinshi, and you have stayed in the capital for so many years. Everyone wants to be a Jinshi and become a high-ranking official, but not everyone can get it. Fate? Anyway, our three mothers are here, if you agree, we will go home together. If we go to the exam, we will jump into the Jinshui River together and die clean."

With that said, he pulled up his two sons and left.

The dust kicked up by Governor Weng's wife flew into the air, making everyone want to sneeze.

After this disturbance, the meal of wine was not interesting, and they couldn't sit still for a while, and everyone dispersed.

Governor Weng grabbed Su Mu who was walking at the end: "Zi Qiao, can you stay for a while, let's say a few words?"

After speaking, he poured another bowl of wine for Su Mu, and filled his own bowl.

The two drank a few sips each before Governor Weng said: "Zi Qiao, your poems and essays are top-notch in the world. I want to ask you, how confident are you in this spring?"

"What first-rate, I do well in poetry and novels, but the problem is that these are not tested in the imperial examination." Su Mu said: "Stupid essays, my brother is still close to success, only five or six points."

"You can't say that. The so-called mastery, poetry, novels and crafts also have something in common. Stereotype essays are well written, and they draw inferences. The so-called bloodstains of a whip, a slap and a blood, it is not too much to write other things." Poor. You are a generation of poets, and stereotyped essays can be bad. I used to read your essays, and they were very good. However, even you are only [-] to [-]% sure. Ziqiao, do you think my virtue can Are you sure you passed the exam?"

Governor Weng's words stunned Su Mu, and when he looked down, he saw that his eyes were bloodshot from staying up late.The wrinkled face could no longer see any luster, only deep tiredness.

From Su Mu's point of view, the governors of the General Administration Department are very talented, and their articles are well written.Although I don't like it, I have to admit it in my heart, especially that Duan Jiong is a master of stereotyped articles. In a few decades, he may not be able to become a character like Wang Zhi.

As for the others, they are also very good.

But compared to the rest of them, Governor Weng is indeed a little worse.At this level, there may be a possibility of becoming a Jinshi, but the probability is only a little higher than that of Su Mu. It is nothing among more than 6000 candidates, and there is no certainty of winning.

Besides, for things like imperial examinations, only monsters like Yang Shen and Tang Bohu could say in advance: "I will definitely pass this time."

As for other people, no matter how good you were before, there is a great possibility that you will lose your name.

Su Mu didn't know what to say, so he just comforted him: "Master Weng, have we been studying together for more than two months? Now there are more than ten days before we will enter the examination room. Many days have passed, and we can't wait for the exam." Not bad for a few days."