Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

In the Song Dynasty, the examination time (state examination) was not fixed. Generally speaking, the further away from the capital, the earlier the examination time was, making it easier for scholars from remote areas to come to Beijing to take the examination the next spring.

Although Yangzhou is not far from Kaifeng, the exam time is the same as Chengdu, more than two months ahead of schedule.

Arriving outside Deyangzhou City, Li Hanzhang said goodbye to everyone. He was going to Xingyuan Mansion alone to participate in the imperial examination.

After taking a few steps, Li Hanzhang turned around again and pulled Ju Ming aside: "Da Lang, you will definitely pass the test, and even if you fail, you will still be able to solve it. So, don't worry, just relax and take the test."

"Can you figure it out even if you don't win?" Zhu Ming didn't understand.

Li Hanzhang explained: "My father and Yang Zhizhou can recommend scholars to issue explanations directly. As long as the number of recommendations is not large, the Zhongshu Province will generally not reject it."

Is there such an operation?

Ju Ming really doesn’t know!

In other words, even if Zhu Ming does not take the local exam, he can still be sent to the capital to take the exam.

This is a kind of "recommendation power" for local officials. In principle, it requires the approval of the central government. In fact, the central government is too lazy to take care of it. Anyway, there were no special privileges in the Song Dynasty. No matter how many candidates the local government recommended, the central government could only read a few more papers.

Without real talent and learning, recommendations are useless. If you should fail, you will fail again.

Li Hanzhang added: "Although the recommendation is convenient, it is not as good as the exam. Dalang can write an article to let my father get familiar with handwriting. My father... is the examiner of the Yangzhou Interpretation Examination."

"No need." Zhu Ming declined politely.

The back door is already open like this, and it is really too shameful to ask the examiner to help.

Before Wang Anshi reformed the imperial examination, the prefectural magistrates took charge of the examinations for Jinshi subjects, and those who recorded affairs and joined the army took charge of examinations of various subjects. After the reform, the prefecture magistrates still took the exams for Jinshi subjects, while those who joined the army to record affairs took the exams for the Mingfa subjects, which were not permanent.

Compared with the Ming Dynasty, it appears to be very informal and formal. The examiners in the Ming Dynasty were the academic envoy (Taoist examination) and the supervisory censor (rural examination).

But again, there is no privilege in the Song Dynasty, so what can you do if you cheat?

After Li Hanzhang left, Ju Ming and other scholars went to the cultural supplies store to buy paper.

You need to pay for the test paper by yourself.

"A few young gentlemen are invited in!" The bookstore owner greeted warmly.

Fatty Zheng said: "Each person has a set of test strips, and I will pay for them."

Wang Chang was unhappy: "This is my family's bookstore. Who wants you to pay me? One set for each person. Keep it in my account. Give me two more to write the family certificate and the guarantee certificate."

Ju Ming was too embarrassed to buy ink sticks anymore. Once he asked, it would be free.

Everyone was in the bookstore, writing all kinds of petitions.

The contents of the family status include name, age, family status, three generations of ancestors, whether and how many times they have been elected, etc.

Guarantee means that candidates guarantee each other that the information on the family certificate is true. If it is found to be false, the other two guarantors will be guilty together.

After finishing these things, everyone went to the state government together.

Even Fatty Zheng went there. It didn’t matter whether he passed the exam or not. The important thing was to participate.

The etiquette clerks are very efficient and there is no need to get stuck. After all, they can't afford to offend most candidates.

The family status and warranty shall be stamped by the government after verification.

Ju Ming was supposed to show his household registration book, but he didn't have it with him, but the clerk didn't care. After all, he is a scholar of the Eighth Line, so he can just swipe his face and stamp two big seals on his face.

The question paper is also stamped, with the name written on it, and then returned to the candidate. This thing needs to be kept well. If it gets damaged, you won't be able to take the exam this year.

Ju Ming put the test paper at the bottom of the book box and pressed it with a few books, but didn't take it seriously. He participated in the imperial examination purely to experience life and found reasons to refuse the emperor's conquest.

After all, there will be a rebellion from now on!

Bai Chongyan was particularly careful and prepared a bamboo tube, rolled up the test paper and put it in. After closing the lid, I wrapped it in oil paper to avoid getting damaged in rainy days.

He then said to Ju Ming: "Da Lang, there are many bamboo tubes here. They are easy to break if left like that."

"Okay." Zhu Ming followed the good advice.

"Success or failure depends on one move!" Bai Chongyan cheered himself up. According to popular sayings, the son of a rich country man like him could already be called a "poor scholar."

Ju Ming cupped his hands and said, "I wish you high school."

Zheng Hong didn't think about the exam at all. He was bored in the mountains. When he returned to Yangzhou, he just wanted to have fun: "There is no sumo show today, but you can go to my restaurant to watch a drama."

Ju Ming said: "The luggage hasn't been put away yet."

"I'll send someone to take it back!" Zheng Hong immediately called for a donkey cart and took Zhu Ming and Bai Chongyan to the restaurant to watch the show.

When they arrived at the restaurant, they asked their attendants and coachmen to take their luggage to Zheng's house.

Bai Chongyan was afraid of losing the test paper, so he held it in his arms and refused to hand it over.

This restaurant is quite big, with two floors.

Zheng Hong introduced as he walked: "In the past, there were only many customers in the restaurant when we were eating. Since the introduction of Junzi Tea, there have been more customers drinking tea. It is really a pleasure in life to sip tea and watch a show at the same time."

There were also tea shops in the Song Dynasty, but most of them were very low-end and provided loose tea to ordinary people.

There are also high-end teahouses, but they are rare and mainly found in big cities.

Zheng's restaurant is considered a high-end consumption place in Yangzhou. Customers are generally not used to drinking loose tea, and group tea is more troublesome and cannot be brewed repeatedly.

The emergence of green tea has filled the market gap.

Nowadays, there are always performances in the restaurant, and occasionally there is sumo wrestling. Even if it is not meal time, there are still guests coming. The rich drink first- and second-class green tea, and the poor drink third-class green tea.

Even third-grade green tea is expensive here, 20 cents a bowl, and the amount of tea is larger.

You can watch the theater for free, and you can watch it for half a day with a bowl of tea, and the ticket price is all in the tea. The repeated brewing function of green tea provides the possibility to continue drinking tea and watching movies.

It was mid-afternoon and the restaurant was almost full.

No matter how depressed Yangzhou's business is, it is still the second-largest city in Lizhou Road and there is never a shortage of wealthy people.

Zheng Hong chose a table near the front, made three cups of first-class green tea, and ordered some candied fruits.

"The person who plays Yang Guifei is Wang Shounu, a famous actress from Yangzhou, and Emperor Ming of Tang is her husband." Zheng Hong introduced the actor while chewing candied fruit.

Ju Ming asked curiously: "Are they husband and wife free?"

Zheng Hong said: "The imperial court no longer keeps official slaves, and it also advises the people not to keep private slaves. In fact, it doesn't matter whether they are slaves or not. It is not cost-effective to keep slaves. They have to feed and drink them. It is easier to sign a contract. For five years, there are For ten years, when the time limit is up, everyone will owe nothing to each other.”

This is a social change brought about by economic prosperity. It is more cost-effective to hire actors on a contract basis than to raise a group of actors as slaves.

In the Song Dynasty, there were no Kun classes, and women could still appear on stage. There were a lot of famous female stars, and their incomes were even much higher than those of small businessmen.

The bigger the city, the more the people prefer women over men.

In Kaifeng in the Northern Song Dynasty, "the middle and lower households did not give birth to boys, but if they gave birth to girls, they would cherish them like holding jade and pearls." In Hangzhou in the Southern Song Dynasty, "the customs were extravagant, and the wealthy people would be happy to have girls, but would not raise them if they gave birth to boys (throwing away male babies)."

The reason is very simple. Urban residents do not farm, so raising so many boys is of no use. On the contrary, it is easier for daughters to find jobs, and the cost of marriage is not that high.

"Ha ha ha ha!"

The audience suddenly burst into laughter, but it was a joke on the stage.

This drama is adapted from the Northern Song Dynasty short story "The Biography of Yang Taizhen". Most of the lines are spoken in spoken form, and they are suddenly sung as they are being acted, with many jokes mixed in.

This was the first time for Ju Ming to watch a Song Dynasty drama and he found it quite interesting.

After one scene is performed on the stage, there are also performances in the middle.

Two actors were doing somersaults there, and there was another one who looked like a matchmaker. The male actor was wearing makeup and makeup, laughing and cursing, which was a bit like a stand-up comedy.

After these performances, the matchmaker somersaulted away, deliberately removing the ball of cloth from her chest. The matchmaker somersaulted almost to the end, then hurriedly ran back, picked up the ball of cloth and stuffed it back into her chest. She held it up with both hands and winked at the audience.

"Ha ha ha ha!"

Zheng Hong was so amused that he slapped the table and laughed. He is a layman and likes to see this kind of thing.

Bai Chongyan also watched it with great interest. In the countryside, opera troupes would only be invited to perform during festivals, weddings and funerals. He usually doesn't have much entertainment activities in the academy, so he doesn't dislike this kind of performance.

After the matchmaker left, Concubine Yang returned to the stage again, changed her outfit and sang while walking.

As he watched, Ju Ming felt that something was wrong. Why did some of the dialogue on the stage seem to be insinuating that Cai Jing was a traitor?

Ju Ming asked: "How many years has this drama been performed?"

Zheng Hong replied: "It has been decades. This year, a famous dramatist from Xingyuan Prefecture made some changes to the "Yang Taizhen Gaiden". It is more funny and interesting than the old drama before."

Ju Ming did not ask any more questions. He could already confirm that someone was deliberately mocking Cai Jing.

This kind of drama is still in the category of pediatrics, only Kaifeng Zaju is ruthless.

The content of that drama is——

Cai Jing's younger brother Cai Bian wanted to lift his father-in-law Wang Anshi up and rearrange the seats when offering sacrifices to Confucius.

Confucius asked Wang Anshi to sit down, and Wang Anshi asked Mencius to take a seat.

Mencius declined and said to Wang Anshi: "The seats should be arranged according to the title. I am a duke and you are the real king. You should sit in front of me."

Wang Anshi invited Yan back to his seat.

Yan Hui said: "I am just a common man in a back alley and have not made any achievements. You are the true Confucian in the world."

So Wang Anshi took his seat, ranked only below Confucius.

Confucius couldn't sit still anymore, so he quickly stepped aside and asked Wang Anshi to take his seat.

Wang Anshi declined in fear.

Zilu was outside and was very angry when he saw it. He ran to the ceremony room to find Gongye, the son-in-law of Confucius. He dragged Gongye out of the Confucius Temple and cursed him.

Gongye said in confusion: "What mistake did I make? Why are you scolding me?"

Zilu pointed to the hall: "You don't know how to protect your father-in-law. Look at someone else's son-in-law (Cai Bian)."

That drama brought Cai Jing, Cai Bian, and Wang Anshi to the forefront, and it was first performed this year.

In order to consolidate their status, Cai Jing and Cai Bian persuaded Song Huizong to pursue Wang Anshi as King of Shu last year.

Before that, Wang Anshi had already worshiped in the Confucius Temple.

As soon as the title is changed, the seat order should also be changed. Confucius and Wang Anshi are both kings, and Mencius, Yan Hui and others are all dukes.

Word spread among the people that Wang Anshi would be ranked second in the Confucius Temple. The scholars were so indignant about this that they wrote a drama to satirize the incident without giving Cai Xianggong any face.

The Confucius Temple incident was one of the main reasons why Wang Anshi was cast aside by Confucian scholars, and the rumors became more and more true as they spread, and even the great Confucian scholars of the time expressed their objections.

The current "Yang Taizhen Gaiden" satirizes Cai Jing overtly and covertly. It is probably also affected by last year's Confucius Temple incident.

If Wang Anshi knew about it underground, he would probably open up the coffin board and run out to beat Cai Jing.

Time gradually passed, Fatty Zheng ordered some food and drinks, and the three of them ate and drank in the restaurant.

Until evening, we went to Zheng's house together.

The guest room has been arranged and the luggage is in the guest room. Ju Ming lives in the east wing and Bai Chongyan lives in the west wing. They are all in the same courtyard.

As soon as I moved out of my chair and sat down to chat in the yard, someone suddenly came in.

Zheng Yuanyi was dressed up, not only with hair accessories on her head, but also some jade ornaments hanging on her body, making it look like she was going to worship Buddha.

"Isn't the second brother here?" Zheng Yuanyi seemed to have come to see Zheng Hong, but she kept staring at Ju Ming and said in surprise, "Oh, brother Zhu is here too!"