Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

In the city of Kaifeng, only those eight poems were circulated.

In this Yangzhou Academy, people also heard about Ju Ming's understanding of the classics and Lu Rong's high evaluation of this scholar.

Ling Guxu showed great enthusiasm and took out the dried meat from the box: "Brother Chenggong, please try it. I brought this from home."

Ju Ming looked at those meat jerky and thought of his college life. Every time I go back to school after the Chinese New Year, my roommates also bring snacks from home. You leave them with me, and I share them with you. You don’t have to buy any more snacks during those days.

"When did Brother Zinuo arrive?" Bai Chongyan asked as he packed his luggage.

"I went back to the academy two days ago," Ling Guxu greeted Bai Sheng and Shi Biao to eat meat and said with a smile, "The mountain chief invited a famous southern scholar and said he would give lectures here in March before leaving."

"A famous Confucian in the South?" Bai Chongyan was very interested. "What's your name?"

Ling Guxu said: "My name is Chen Yuan."

Bai Chongyan shook his head: "I haven't heard of it."

Ling Guxu said: "I've never heard of him being Mr. Guishan's son-in-law."

"Who is Mr. Guishan?" Bai Chongyan asked.

Ling Guxu said: "I don't know."

Zhu Ming chewed the dried meat in his mouth: "Mr. Guishan's name is Yang Shi. He is a disciple of Luo School and was taught by Er Cheng himself."

This Mr. Guishan is so famous, he is the protagonist of "Cheng Men Li Xue".

However, in today's Yangzhou, he seems to be unknown. One is because the official suppressed Luo Xue, and the other is because Yang Shi was mainly active in Jiangnan.

As for Chen Yuan, a native of Shaxian County, he ranked first in the exam at the age of eighteen. At the age of twenty-six, he sent a letter to meet Yang Shi. Not only did he become Yang Shi's disciple, he was also recruited as his son-in-law.

His uncle Chen Guan, a famous official of the old party, once criticized Cai Jing, Cai Bian, Zhang Dun, Andun and other new parties. Naturally, he ended up being miserable. He was repeatedly transferred twenty-three times. Every time he took office, before his butt was even hot, he would be transferred to another place to serve as an official. He would waste half his life on the way to his appointment, and was forced to travel through most of China.

His brother Chen Zhenghui is working together to overthrow Cai Jing.

Ling Gu Xu was surprised and said: "Success is indeed knowledgeable, even famous southern scholars know about it."

"I'm from the south." Ju Ming smiled.

Bai Chongyan asked: "Which scripture does Chen Yuan come to the academy to teach?"

Ling Guxu said: "I'm just giving lectures in March. I don't know what to say. Anyway, the students from outside can go and listen." The mountain chief highly praised him. He stayed with him personally these days and allowed him to browse the books at will. You can also borrow books from the Min family library at will."

"It seems that he must be a famous Confucian." Bai Chongyan said.

After packing and saluting, Bai Chongyan took Zhu Ming out, saying that he would help him find a temporary dormitory.

Ju Ming asked curiously: "Can outsiders also live in the dormitory of the academy?"

"Dalang is so famous that he can definitely live there," Bai Chongyan pointed to his boys, "but they can't. Yangzhou Academy has a strict academic style, and boys can't live in it, and students here are not allowed to have servants. I This book boy will return to his hometown in two days."

Ju Ming said with emotion: "No wonder it produces the most Jinshi in the entire Lizhou Road."

The two came to the student management office. Bai Chongyan introduced to the administrator: "This is Zhu Chenggong, a scholar of the Eight Elements. Lu Tixue praised him highly and wanted to stay in the academy for a few days."

The administrator, who is also a member of the Min clan, looked at it carefully and took out a wooden sign: "Since you are a scholar of the Eighth Line, you can live in the academy."

"Thank you for taking me in." Zhu Ming cupped his hands.

After taking the wooden sign and going out, Bai Chongyan said happily: "This is a school sign for Shangshe students. Food and accommodation are free, and you can borrow books."

Zhu Ming took a closer look and saw that there was a number on the plate and the two seal characters "Shangshe" were engraved on it.

Zhu Ming looked at the huge school buildings and asked curiously: "Does Yangzhou Academy really rely entirely on donations?"

Bai Chongyan said: "Whenever the gentry and merchants in Yangzhou want to expand their reputation, they will donate money to the academy and send their children to study. It does not all rely on donations. Both internal and external students have to pay tuition. Ten guan per year, and accommodation costs more than 20 guan. If you fail the entrance examination, you have to pay extra. For example, the fat guy Zheng Hong, his family also donated money, but his knowledge is too poor, so he has to pay more money when he enters school. .”

Well, there are also bargaining students.

In fact, there are bargaining parties in official schools at all levels, including Taixue.

The number of bargaining students in Taixue was initially only a few dozen, but has now been increased to 100, without occupying the number of regular students. Since the imperial court paid more and more attention to Imperial College, those who wanted to be bargaining students had to give extra gifts, and most people could not afford to pay to study.

Zhu Ming took Bai Sheng and Shi Biao to a vacant dormitory where Bai Chongyan's book boy could also stay temporarily.

There was dust on the bed and table, and I had to clean it up myself.

Bai Sheng helped make the bed and said, "It's really comfortable here, much better than in the countryside."

"It's Yangzhou after all." Ju Ming smiled.

The tuition and accommodation fees add up to thirty-four dollars per year, which is not affordable for ordinary people. Bai Chongyan's family background can only be considered a middle-lower class here.

Poor scholars can't even step through the door!

Ju Ming asked: "Fat Zheng also lives in the mountain?"

Bai Chongyan said: "He often goes home and lives in the city. The academy takes the exam in March. If he fails the quarterly exam three times in a row, he will be demoted. If he drops to the lowest grade and still fails the exam, he will be expelled from the academy. .Zheng Hong has never passed the exam. After each quarterly exam, he has to pay for admission again."

Ju Ming couldn't help but sigh: "This can be considered a talent!"

The bedding was borrowed from the school. After tidying up the bed, Bai Chongyan took Ju Ming to visit his friends.

Li Hanzhang hadn't arrived at school yet, and there were two other scholars in the dormitory.

Bai Chongyan introduced them and took Zhu Ming to find Zheng Hong.

Zheng Hong lives in a dormitory for foreign students. The so-called foreign students are either new students or students who have been demoted and repeated grades. As soon as I entered the dormitory, I had a different impression. It was messy like a pig's nest, and several repeaters were eating and drinking there.

Fatty Zheng was actually here. He had just returned to school and was lying on the bed having a lively chat with his roommate.

Seeing Zhu Ming come in, Zheng Hong got up and got up and introduced: "This is my good friend Zhu Chenggong, a scholar of the Eighth Route Army, both civil and military, and highly praised by the scholars. The "Journey to the West" I talked about is It’s a story written by successful brothers.”

A student immediately stepped forward and asked: "Brother Chenggong, have you finished writing "Journey to the West"? Zheng Hong talked about it again and again, but he only talked about Tang Monk leaving the capital. When did Sun Wukong escape from Wuzhishan?"

"Yeah, it's good if you come. Tell me the rest of the story quickly." Another student couldn't wait.

These guys were all wearing silk clothes, and they looked like they came from wealthy families.

To be able to live in the same dormitory as Fatty Zheng, they are probably all poor students who are dragging down the class. When I met the Eighth Route Army scholar, I asked him not about knowledge, but he wanted to hear stories.

Zheng Hong introduced: "This is Min Ziran, also named Shizhi, the son of the Min family in Yangzhou. This is Zhu An, also named Kangtai, the same family as Dalang. This is Yang Fang, named Meiying, the same as my family, Yang Home is also a business.”

Ju Ming did not dislike these dandies, and greeted them one by one, paying special attention to the Min family.

After the greetings, Ju Ming said: "Journey to the West has been written and the manuscript has been brought. It is a gift from me to Brother Zheng. You can borrow it from him."

"Hahaha," Zheng Hong suddenly gained face and laughed happily, "Dalang is really happy. I have already had people build the things you want. They are all good things and they cost a lot of money. They cost me three hundred Duo Guan.”

Three weapons, more than three hundred weapons, absolutely exquisite.

Zhu Ming also became happy: "Thank you, Brother Zheng! I left in a hurry and didn't bring much money with me. I'll bring the money next time."

"Easy to say, easy to say, they are all brothers," Zheng Hong did not take the money seriously, but said eagerly, "Please show me the manuscript of "Journey to the West" first."

Ju Ming ordered: "Bai Sheng, go and get it."

Bai Sheng immediately trotted out and quickly fetched "Journey to the West".

Zheng Hong got the manuscript and rummaged through it quickly, and then started talking about Tang Monk's departure from the capital. The other three people gathered around and listened in ecstasy. These guys don't like to study, and they are never short of money. All they want to do is have fun.

Bai Chongyan didn't like this atmosphere, so he pulled Ju Ming outside the dormitory and whispered: "These are naughty people. They are not good at poetry and writing, and they only like to have fun. Don't have close friendship with them."

"It's just a joke." Ju Ming said.

Since arriving at the academy, Shi Biao has been silent.

He, a country idiot, was completely dumbfounded. He never dreamed that such a place existed in the world.

He envied the students in the academy who could wear good clothes and play freely. He also wanted this, but he didn't know how to get it, and he felt more and more inferior in his heart.

After squatting at the door of the dormitory for a long time, Shi Biao suddenly said: "I am going to give birth to a son, and I will send him here to study."

Bai Sheng smiled and said: "Then you have to work hard with Brother Zhu. When you have money in your hands, where can't you go? I know that Brother Zhu wants to do big things, and I'm afraid he will be a tutor. We have made a proposal. If you learn it yourself, are you still worried that you will have no money in the future?"

In Bai Sheng's spiritual world, the county magistrate used to be a high-ranking official, but he could not imagine a bigger official.

Later, I learned that even the county magistrate had to be well served by the Tixue envoy, so I thought that the Tixue envoy was the real high official. He felt that with Ju Ming's ability, he would definitely be able to serve as a tutor in the future.

After hearing what Bai Sheng said, Shi Biao asked, "Can a person who is a personal follower of a scholar envoy also be an official?"

"I don't know, but I definitely won't be bullied by others." Bai Sheng said.

The two squatted at the door of the dormitory and chatted, looking forward to their future wealth. Unlike Zhang Guangdao, they never thought about killing officials and rebelling, let alone going to Tokyo to seize the bird position.

Fatty Zheng held the manuscript of the novel and told the story until Tang Monk met Sun Wukong. He suddenly laughed and said: "Haha, if you want to know what happened next time, let's listen to the explanation next time. It's getting late, let's go to the cafeteria to eat."

"No, Sun Wukong hasn't left Wuzhishan yet."

"That's right, finish this paragraph quickly!"

"This guy has a very bad heart, and he deliberately kept it secret!"

"..."

The roommates were scratching their heads in anxiety, but Zheng Hong locked up the manuscript. He knew what it felt like. He had been waiting for half a year, and he wanted to let his roommates taste it no matter what.

Zheng Hong went out and called Ju Ming: "Dalang, let's go eat!"

The three roommates were filled with indignation and wanted to pry open the box where the manuscript was locked.

These guys were full of resentment and had nothing to do with Zheng Hong, so they walked towards the school cafeteria together.

Halfway through, everyone stopped and bowed to the front: "Students pay homage to the mountain leader!"

The headmaster of Yangzhou Academy was accompanying the famous scholar Chen Yuan, walking towards the cafeteria laughing and talking.