Idle courtiers

Chapter 397 Almost the last cough

Seeing Zhou Nan rushing in with red eyes, Granny An hurriedly stopped him, begging, "Master, you can't go in!"

Zhou Nan: "I went to see my wife, why can't I go in?"

Granny An: "It's unlucky for a woman to give birth to a child. It's unlucky. Master, you have to enter the examination room today... Ouch!"

Before he could finish speaking, Zhou Nan kicked him to the ground.

"Go away!" Zhou Nan found that his voice had become hoarse.

Seeing their master's red eyes and murderous look on his face, no matter how he dared to stop him, everyone froze with trepidation.

Entering the room, I saw Xun Fangyu lying on the bed, sweat pouring out of his body like a spring: "I won't give birth, I won't give birth again, don't touch me, let me die!"

Beside, Wen Po shouted profusely with sweat: "Madam, hold on, it's coming soon, it's coming soon!"

"Fang Yu, what's wrong with you?" Zhou Nan stepped forward to grab her hand, feeling that the little hand was shaking violently.

"Master, why don't you take the exam?" Xun Fangyu hissed when he saw Zhou Nan.

Zhou Nan: "I, I, I..." For the first time, he felt bewildered.

In ancient times when medicine was underdeveloped, a woman gave birth to a child and passed through the gate of hell, and many people died because of dystocia.Thinking of this possibility, his hairs stood on end.

"What me, me... hiss..." Xun Fangyu gritted her teeth and tried her best to endure the unbearable pain: "I'm fine, master, you go, or it will be too late."

Zhou Nan picked up a wet towel and wiped the sweat from her forehead affectionately, and smiled wryly: "You are like this, how can I still have the heart to take the exam? Besides, you may not be able to pass the exam if you go."

Xun Fangyu suddenly shouted: "What are you talking about, man, how can there be any reason to retreat in the face of battle? Go, go, master, do you want me to die? Come, come, bring me The master went out to eat and sent him to the examination room."

Zhou Nan: "Fang Yu, are you really okay?"

Xun Fangyu gasped: "Women can give birth without pain, and the Bodhisattva will bless me. Master, are you a doctor or a stable woman, what use are you here? Your fame is related to our family, It is related to the child who is about to be born. I think that the child does not want his father to be a deserter without responsibility, go for the test!"

Several servant girls rushed into the room, surrounded Zhou Nan and turned towards the outer circle.

Only then did Zhou Nan calm down: "Fang Yu, you will be fine, I believe."

"Yes, I'll be fine." When Zhou Nan went out, Xun Fangyu felt severe pain, his whole body was twitching, and he held onto the edge of the bed tightly with his hands.

Seeing her soaked in sweat, Grandma An's eyes were full of tears: "Madam, if it hurts, just scream, it won't hurt anymore."

"No, I can't call, the master hasn't left the house yet, so don't disturb him. Today's matter is so important to him and our Zhou family." Xun Fang said in pain for a long time, feeling that there was not much strength in her body, her lips and face were in a mess. Shabai: "The examination room is the master's battlefield. This is my battlefield. We can't lose. Mother-in-law, I'm hungry. I asked someone to cook a bowl of poached eggs with more sugar. I won't admit defeat, I won't admit defeat."

All the maids were crying.

An Po was furious, wiped her tears, turned around and scolded: "Shut up, if anyone disturbs the master, the family law will handle it. Are they all deaf? Didn't you hear that Mrs. Ru is hungry?"

……

"What, ma'am, did you eat?" Zhou Nan asked.

A servant girl replied: "Yes, just now Mrs. Ru was hungry and ate twenty poached eggs in one go."

"Eat so much?" Zhou Nan took a breath: "Is this useful?"

As far as he knows, oil and sugar should be put in poached eggs.Like this kind of high-calorie sweet food, he can eat up to four.Xun Fangyu's operation really eats like a tiger!
Granny An: "Going back to Master, women are very tired after giving birth, so naturally they should eat more. Don't worry, Master, it will take half an hour to give birth no matter how fast it is. If you encounter difficulties, call for a day." There is also a night."

Zhou Nan: "Grandma An, have you ever given birth? How long did it take?"

Granny An: "I was born once, but it was a pity that I didn't raise it up. I died of panic in two months. I am a rough girl, not so expensive. I was working in the field at the time, and my stomach suddenly hurt. After squatting by the field ridge, it was pulled out, and it took only two breaths."

Zhou Nan was amused by her: "It's really vulgar." However, hearing them say that Xun Fangyu ate a lot, he felt more at ease.After eating two pieces of cakes indiscriminately, surrounded by soybeans and wotou, he got into the sedan chair and headed all the way to the Shuntian Mansion Gongyuan.

Fortunately, Zhou Nan got up early today and arrived on time even though there was a delay at home.

When they reached the ground, the sedan chair was stopped by soldiers.

It turned out that the small square in front of the Gongyuan was under martial law, and only candidates were allowed to pass.

After checking Zhou Nan's "examination admission ticket", the soldiers pointed in the direction and said, "So it's from Miyun County, you go over there and wait, you're about to enter the venue."

It turned out that candidates from each county in Shuntian Prefecture were organized into squares according to their hometowns, and waited for the candidates from the next county to be put into the examination room.

Zhou Nan thanked, and walked over with the test basket to meet those so-called "fellows from the same village".

There are more than 100 examinees from Miyun County this time, all of whom are previous students, and they are not young.The oldest has gray hair and beard, and the wrinkles on his face are horribly deep, and the youngest is in his early twenties.Things like entering the examination room at the age of twelve or thirteen and being on the top of the list can only happen in the economically developed Jiangnan area, which is also very helpless.

Everyone is from the same line of scholars in the county, and Zhou Nan is well-known, so everyone came up to greet him, which seemed very affectionate.Zhou Nan looked at the fellows one by one, but did not see a familiar face.The last time I tried it, it seemed that no two people passed the test, just thinking about it made people sigh.

Zhou Nan's human nature is sophisticated, and in a short while, everyone is familiar with it.An old student said to him: "Zimu, the magistrate of the county magistrate is greedy for ink and deducted your travel expenses. This is disrespectful to my scholars. Everyone is indignant. Please write to the court to express your feelings. I would like to join hands."

Hearing that the magistrate of Miyun was greedy for his travel expenses, Zhou Nan was annoyed, who is so bold as to steal my money?

Immediately came to the spirit, asked: "What's wrong?"

Several scholars came forward and said: "Old Gao, don't make trouble, it's not that serious, such nonsense will make people laugh."

That Gao Xiucai said angrily: "If the road is not leveled, others will shovel it. Why do we study? Isn't it to promote the righteousness of the world?"

"Yes, yes, senior, what you said is right, this matter can be discussed later, the exam first." All the scholars laughed and pushed him to the side of the team.

Seeing Zhou Nan's puzzled face, a scholar told Zhou Nan the reason with a suppressed smile.It turned out that this Gao Xiucai was a strange person in Miyun, who was able to study well, but he couldn't pass the exam even if he died, and he took the exam for 30 years.

In order to study, he only read so much that the family was exhausted, and the whole family took the exam. The rice he studied in the county was half hungry and half full.

Miyun Mazhi County saw that he was too old, and it was not a solution to fail to pass the exam after studying in Xuexian County for 30 years.County school students are fed by the state's finances, and the number of places is limited. If you don't leave, others won't be able to get in.Moreover, the number of juren in each county is directly linked to the performance of the local officials.You old man just stands in the latrine and doesn't shit, it's nothing more than blocking the way for others to make progress, and it's absolutely intolerable to affect the achievements of half-adults.

Therefore, Mazhi County deliberately drove Gao Laoxiu out of the county school.

Knowing the seriousness of the problem, Gao Xiucai was very angry and turned on Mr. Ma.

According to the rules of the Imperial Examinations of the State Dynasty, every autumn examination, the local officials will hold a farewell ceremony called "Yuelongmen", host a banquet for the examinees, and send a sum of travel expenses.

According to the distance of the journey, it ranges from six taels to two taels, which is a lot of money for poor students.

As an official of the imperial court, Zhou Nan was busy with affairs, so it was impossible for him to go to Miyun to attend the ceremony, and he didn't bother to collect the travel expenses.

Gao Xiucai heard that Zhou Nan was a sixth-rank official with a great reputation, so he came to instigate him to find Mazhi County's bad luck, so as to vent his hatred.

After listening to everyone's words, Zhou Nan suddenly realized: This Gao man is purely insane, and for a mere few taels of silver, how could my lord turn against the magistrate and not make people in the officialdom laugh when the news spread?

Besides, although the travel expenses are customary, they are paid by the magistrate himself. It is a favor to give you, and it is reasonable not to give you.

Zhou Nan began to diverge his thinking again. More than 100 candidates came today. Based on the travel expenses of three taels of silver per person, the county magistrate paid 300 taels out of his pocket this time, which is how much he earns a year.Isn't this forcing officials to embezzle? The Ming Dynasty's low salary system is really problematic!

At this time, suddenly, there was a burst of gunfire in front, and there were at least a dozen guns.

Amidst the roar, the air trembled.

"It's started, it's started." Someone shouted.

They all rushed forward, and the phalanxes huddled together.

In the light, Zhou Nan accidentally squeezed with a candidate.Just as I was about to say sorry, a scolding came from my ear: "Good dogs don't get in the way!"

Zhou Nan looked up in astonishment, only to find that this person turned out to be his old friend Xu Yangda.

Zhou Nan was furious and was about to curse back when two soldiers rushed over and beat the examinees with sticks: "Line up and don't mess up. Otherwise, you will be kicked out of the examination room."

Only then did Zhou Nan and Xu Yangda separate, and at the same time cleverly hid in the crowd.

The cannon rang, and on the archery tower of the Gong Yuan, the governor of Shuntian Prefecture threw down a command arrow.

On the ninth day of August in the 41st year of Jiajing, the Shuntianfu Township Examination officially started.

It has been 81 years since the September 80 disaster, and it is only the last cough.Chinese style, even if he officially squeezed into the ranks of scholar-bureaucrats and became a member of the ruling class, Zhou Nan took a deep breath and tried his best to calm himself down.

But how to calm down, even if there are troops trying to maintain it, candidates still flood into the tribute courtyard like a tide.

(End of this chapter)