The daily life of the prime minister of the Qing Dynasty, thick black

Chapter 97

The boss in the court only gave his two sons a word, wait for another three years.

So day after day, year after year, spring, summer, autumn and winter, cold and summer...

Three years at the snap of the fingers, long and boring.

In the 32nd year of Kangxi, both Zhang brothers failed.

In the 33-year examination, Zhang Tingyu's old friend Zhou Daoxin made it directly to the examination, and became the No. 11 No. [-] in the Jiaxu Ke Palace Examination Gold List.

Zhou Daoxin wrote a book to Tongcheng and sent a pot of champion red.

Although he was not the number one scholar in high school, he said that the title of the gold list is a joy in life. Zhang Tingyu was not selected, but he also gave him some credit.

The words in the letter were quite rude, Gu Huaixiu read it and only scolded him for being complacent, but Zhang Tingyu and Zhou Daoxin had a good relationship, he only said that he had good intentions, but he opened the seal of the champion red and drank it with Gu Huaixiu.

Life in Tongcheng was quite difficult, although there was news from outside, Gu Huaishu gradually didn't want to see it.

It's nothing more than the prince's big wedding, how about the princess Shi Shi; Lin Jia's Yaofang finally got pregnant last year, and the fourth elder brother Yinzhen didn't know what the purpose was, so he sent another finger to hide the news in the finger Li told her.Xiao Chen gave birth to the first son of the Zhang family's Yuzi generation, named Zhang Ruoting, and now he is alive and kicking.

Although the Wu family didn't like Gu Huaixiu, they hadn't seen each other very much in the past two years, and sometimes they wrote to Zhang Tingyu to take a concubine, after all, Gu Huaixiu had nothing to do for a long time.She has always disliked Huaixiu, but now that Mrs. Chen is by her side and she has more grandchildren, she is naturally very happy.Even the fourth son, Zhang Tingyu, is about to get married...

Everyone has a good home, but she and Zhang Tingyu were trapped in Tongcheng.

The small sky of Tongcheng framed their great ambitions.

This kind of ambition never diminishes with the passage of time.

On the contrary, water drops penetrate stones, knives and axes...

Day by day it got deeper and deeper.

This kind of life is even more unbearable than when Gu Huaixiu worked hard and plotted against Gu Yaofang.

Three years passed through the ink pool that Zhang Tingyu washed and dyed black, passed through the chess pieces gradually smoothed by Gu Huaixiu, engraved on the whetstone that was sunken day by day from the small stone square, and passed away from the maidservants. Jump past the novelty jewelry that we change from season to season...

The tea farmers in Tongcheng picked the last batch of tea this year, but they brought the Mingqian tea that had been roasted a while ago to the second master of the Zhang family.

When the tea farmer arrived at the door, he was told that Second Master Zhang and Second Young Mistress had gone to Jiangning. Seeing that it was time to rush for the exam, this time they left early.

The summer of Kangxi's 35th year was hotter than other times.

It was not the first time Zhang Tingyu and Gu Huaishu walked by water, they were both familiar with the road.

The two sat together and played chess as usual.

Zhang Tingyu said: "The account book of Luo Xuanwen came back the day before yesterday. It was already 16, but there was a deficit of [-] on the last page. I'm afraid something happened to the river."

"That's 13, think about how to spend the money..." Gu Huaishou touched the chess piece, and picked up a thirst-quenching sour plum to eat.

Others don't know that the couple is actually rich now.

Among the wealthy merchants in the south of the Yangtze River, more than one hundred thousand taels of silver is nothing, and a single hair on the waist of a salt merchant in Yangzhou is thicker than them.

But after all, what is the difference between Zhang Tingyu and Gu Huaixiu's family status? They both came from official backgrounds.

There are so many now, all earned by Luo Xuanwen.

In the past few years, Zhang Tingyu never asked him how he got the money.

Anyway, Luo Xuanwen was the one who was exhausted, and Zhang Tingyu was the boss sitting behind him. Even if Luo Xuanwen died one day, the money would still belong to Zhang Tingyu.

For this reason, Gu Huaishu called him a "black-hearted boss" many times, but Zhang Tingyu said that he saved Luo Xuanwen, and now it is only natural for the other party to report back.

According to the ledger, the husband and wife had speculated that Luo Xuanwen's business should have entered into the Salt Gang. A while ago, there was a sudden large deficit, which was quite scary, and something may have gone wrong.

But Luo Xuanwen never reported business matters to Zhang Tingyu and the others, right?Mostly to send some greetings during Chinese New Year.

In the past two years, Luo Xuanwen didn't marry a wife, so he raised two concubines.

On the other hand, his vengeance has been serious, and he has been at ease in the past two years. He was stuck at the door of the Salt Gang a few years ago, but recently it seems that a gap has suddenly opened.The strange thing is that this Master Shen has not married a wife yet, but only raised countless concubines in various gardens.

Gu Huaishu thought about these people and things in Jiangnan, and suddenly said: "The gift for shopkeeper Liao, have you prepared?"

Shopkeeper Liao is a good old man, so this time he has to celebrate.

This time Zhang Tingyu went to Jiangning so early, partly to catch up with the exam, and partly to participate in Liao's shopkeeper's Lin'er's Hundred Days.

Today is just the eighth day of the seventh month, and I have been sailing on the river for three days. I went down the river and arrived in Jiangning in a few days.

Liao Fengyuan sent invitations widely, and the [-]th day was on July [-]th. After they arrived, they still had time to tidy up the house.

Less than three years later, Jiangning is still the same here.

Their boat docked at the pier, where Shen Yang's boat that killed many people was berthed here, and Gu Huaishu also met Li Wei who robbed her jade pendant and never returned it.

Now that Li Wei is with her, he still doesn't know a single word. He calls Ade "Uncle Ade" all day long, or follows Xiao Shifang and calls "Brother Shi Fang" flatteringly. Xiao Shi Fang is too lazy to talk to him. Still the same as before.

This time Li Wei also came to Jiangning, he wanted to see his mother.

As soon as he arrived here, Li Wei thought of the days when he had no worries about food and clothing in the past few years.

The Second Young Mistress also gave red envelopes during festivals, and he even saved a small sum of money.

"Second Master, Second Young Mistress, we've come ashore. Look, Jiangning City is here!"

Just arrived at the place, Li Wei seemed to have recovered his memory, jumping around like a small country loach.

In another month, this is the place for the rural examination again.

Last time, Gu Huaixiu was not around, this time she was with Zhang Tingyu.

Whether it is success or failure, at least advance and retreat together.

The carriage arrived at the Jiangning Bieyuan amidst Li Wei's shouts, and just after arriving in the afternoon, Liao Fengyuan sent a message, saying that he and his wife would be greeted and cleaned up, and they would be invited to meet in Sunflower Garden.

For the banquet between friends, Zhang Tingyu agreed very simply.

Gu Huaishu brought Qingdai and Duofu, while Zhang Tingyu brought Li Wei and Ade.

On the way, Li Wei couldn't stop watching. There were many literati and Confucian scholars coming and going on the way.

Li Wei suddenly said: "Second Master, Second Young Mistress, I often hear them say 'Shiwen', what is Shiwen?"

Zhang Tingyu leaned leisurely in the carriage and laughed: "Shiwen is stereotyped writing."

"...What is stereotyped essay?" Li Wei asked again.

How to explain this?

Both Zhang Tingyu and Gu Huaishu were speechless.

The speed of the carriage was very slow, and no one knew who answered the sentence on the street: "Style essays are useless things?"

Hearing this, Zhang Tingyu shook his head with a smile, and lifted the curtain to see, it turned out to be a scholar selling calligraphy along the street.

Ade was driving the horse ahead, and he felt that it was inappropriate to hear this: "Schools are selected by stereotypes. Without stereotypes, what science do you use?"

The man smiled contemptuously: "Ignorant bastard!"

Seeing that Kui Xia Yuan was just ahead and met such a person on the way, Zhang Tingyu suddenly said, "Go and find out the identity of this person in a while."

"Could it be that the second master thinks this person is talented?" Gu Huaishu frowned.

Zhang Tingyu shook his head unexpectedly: "It's a big mistake."

At that time, the name of the essay was "eight-legged", but it selected a sentence from the "Four Books and Five Classics" as the topic, so that the examinees could write articles based on it, with a certain rhythm, and its form was rigid and dogmatic.

He said: "I personally don't like it very much, but there is no other way. Just imagine, if there is no stereotyped writing, how would the Qing Dynasty select scholars and talents? In the early years of this dynasty, stereotyped writing was also abolished. Policy theory, a complete failure, can't be worse. Don't take stereotyped essays as the topic, don't take pavilions as the topic, and the answers are all kinds of strange...Since ancient times, there is no first in literature, and there is no second in martial arts. How can it be broken?"

The standpoint of this argument is different from that of others.

Zhang Tingyu is already looking at it from the perspective of the imperial court's selection, so he is naturally different from others.

The candidates hated stereotypes, but this test did give everyone a chance. If they didn't check their names, there was almost no possibility of cheating.

"I once heard a saying from the number one scholar Han Yu for 12 years that in addition to being immersed in the Four Books and Five Classics, he also dabbled in the history and knowledge of the past dynasties... Therefore, anyone who can stand out from the imperial examination is a highly educated generation."

What's more, a person with such amazing perseverance after ten years of hard work and forbearance for several years, is a person in the pool?

Gu Huaixiu only thought that Zhang Tingyu might have thought of going somewhere else, so she didn't answer.

After a while, Zhang Tingyu turned around: "What?"

Shaking his head, Gu Huaixiu said: "If you said it, I would not believe it, but now I know that stereotyped writing is not easy."

She had seen Zhang Tingyu's stereotyped essays, although they had the same rhythm as others, and even used function words stipulated in the rural examination in fixed places, but in an article of only six or seven hundred characters, he had to quote classics and allusions to express what he had learned in his life.The logic of the front and back is seamless, and a little carelessness will ruin the whole article.When the examiner is grading the paper, if there are more than three alterations on the answer paper, if you encounter someone with a bad temper, you can even tear up the answer paper and throw it away, and you will have no chance of high school...

How can all these things be said in one word?

Gu Huaishu knows how future generations will evaluate stereotyped writing. Although it is bad in every way, there is no better way to replace it now, not to mention that it is not useless.

If you haven't seen it with your own eyes, how do you know?

She held Zhang Tingyu's hand, looked at the thick calluses on the fingers of his right hand, and suddenly chuckled: "If you talk about the current Jiangning Township Examination, who is the thickest-skinned person, it must be Zhang Erye; then ask who puts his finger on the pen?" The cocoon is the thickest, and everyone said: "The second son of Gu Zhang is also."

Zhang Tingyu laughed, and poked her with a finger, "It will make you talk poorly."

"Second Master, Second Young Mistress, here we are."

Ade got out of the car, moved a small stool, and asked the two to get out of the car.

Liao Fengyuan and Zhang Tingyu hadn't seen each other for two years, and they became much more handsome. At this moment, they were already standing at the gate of the garden to welcome them.

As soon as he saw the two of them coming down, Liao Fengyuan laughed heartily: "Oh, it's been many years since I've seen you. I haven't seen Second Master Zhang for two or three years. He's still very handsome."

"Shopkeeper Liao only cares about praising him, didn't he see me?"

Gu Huaishu came down from behind, handed Zhang Tingyu his hand, and was supported by him, joking.

When Liao Fengyuan saw Gu Huaishu, he was overjoyed again: "Second Young Mistress Zhang is also here. My boy is here for a hundred days, and the people who come here are really rich or expensive. I have to talk to him carefully in the future."

As soon as he stepped aside, he led Zhang Tingyu and Gu Huaishu in.

The son was born by his wife, Mrs. Liu, and in ten days or so it will be a hundred days. When they went to meet him, they saw that the baby's face had just opened up, not the wrinkled face it was when it was just born.

Liu smiled happily: "After so many years, I finally have a child. Look at how cute he is...Second Young Madam, would you like to give him a hug too?"

Gu Huaixiu is not pregnant yet, but now seeing this child, she is a little at a loss.

She looked at Zhang Tingyu, then at Liu Shi, and finally at the little doll, and finally walked over, learning to put the child in her arms.

The nanny corrected her posture, and the doll was giggling in her arms, as if she had never seen a stranger before, and she was not even afraid.

The maid at the side seemed to know that these two were distinguished guests from the Sunflower Garden, so she gave a sweet smile and complimented: "The second young lady is a lucky person at first sight. In the past, the young master would cry when he saw the servants. Now being hugged by you, I actually laughed, which is unusual."

When you are in a good mood, everything you hear is good.

Gu Huaishu also laughed from ear to ear, and said: "The maids taught by Mrs. Liu are sweet-mouthed... but the smile of the young master is even sweeter..."

The women were chatting and laughing around the child, the middle-aged Liao Fengyuan was also happy, and suddenly caught a glimpse of Zhang Tingyu.

He was looking at Gu Huaishu who was holding the child, his eyes were uncertain.

Liao Fengyuan saw something interesting and asked him to take a step to speak.

"Second Master seems to like children too."

Zhang Tingyu walked along the corridor with Liao Fengyuan with his hands behind his back, with the laughter and laughter behind him, he could feel the purity of the Sunflower Garden.

He said: "Of course I like it, and I think she likes it too, but Yuemo is unlucky."

Liao Fengyuan only said: "There is no rush for this matter... Second Young Mistress is still young..."

"You came here to talk about this, right?" Zhang Tingyu stopped in front of the fish pond, saw a plate of fish food on the railing, picked one up leisurely, and threw it down.

Zhang Tingyu really hit the mark, Liao Fengyuan took a look?Under the gloomy sky, I just said: "This year, the rain in the south of the Yangtze River is very abundant. Seeing that the upper reaches of the river have begun to rush to repair the dams. This year, many boats capsized on the river. It doesn't matter whether they are transporting salt or tea. The loss is quite large..."

Zhang Tingyu suddenly thought of Luo Xuanwen.

Liao Fengyuan said again: "Do you still remember Shen Qi?"

"What's up with him?"

Zhang Tingyu naturally remembered that it had always been a serious problem in his confidant, but it had not been resolved.

"This person has already joined the Salt Gang and occupies a place. Now the Yangzhou Gang has been broken up by him. It looks like a mess. I am always uneasy... The bigger he is, the more afraid I am..."

It is also a crime to be rich enough to rival a country.

Liao Fengyuan and Shen Chou were on the same boat, if Shen Chou really became "Shen Wansan Second" in the end, it would be impossible for Liao Fengyuan not to be implicated.

"You've done a good job, and you've done it rightly. He's the only one to make troubles. In the end, it's the shopkeeper Liao's fisherman who will benefit." Zhang Tingyu didn't seem to take this matter seriously.

Liao Fengyuan smiled wryly, and only asked Zhang Tingyu a word: "Second Master, Liao has held back a sentence for three years and never asked you, but now he can't hold back."

"Shopkeeper Liao, misfortune comes from your mouth."

Zhang Tingyu clapped his hands and looked back at him.

Liao Fengyuan sighed: "Second Master is such a smart person, just tell me the truth, so is Luo Xuanwen dead or not?"

"died."

Zhang Tingyu lied without blinking.

Liao Fengyuan smiled: "Everyone knows that he is missing. Shen Chao has searched for him countless times, but now he has not been found... The second master told Liao the answer with such certainty, thank you Liao."

He understood, but Zhang Tingyu still didn't understand: "What happened to him and Shen Qi?"

"Recently, Shen Chao suddenly dispersed the salt merchants on the side of the Salt Gang. Something happened inside the Salt Gang. I suspect..."

Suspecting that Luo Xuanwen, who was said to be dead, became his internal response.

But if Liao Fengyuan's guess is correct, Luo Xuanwen should already belong to Zhang Tingyu.

Zhang Tingyu only said: "I will take the provincial examination again this year, and I don't care about other things."

Liao Fengyuan was helpless at last, Zhang Tingyu was a scheming fox, he would definitely not confide a word to him.

Knowing the news about Luo Xuanwen, although there are only two words, it is enough.

"Then I wish the second master a happy new year."

"Lend your blessings."

Zhang Tingyu laughed out loud and looked up at the sky.

Dark cloud cover? , the muffled thunder was rolling, and a sudden rain fell in summer, hitting the pond full of green lotus, but the lotus root canopy was already light, and the hibiscus was gone.

Jiangnan has had a lot of rain this year.

(End of this chapter)