Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

Lu Shi joined the army, also called Da Lu and Du Cao, and was in charge of the judiciary and discipline inspection of a state.

In addition, it also assists the state magistrate in obtaining household registration and tax books. Together with other departments, he is also in charge of the Food Institute (salary and military pay) and the Military Treasury (military supplies).

The real powerful minister was responsible for many things, and he could even have a hand in the imperial examination.

Tu Hongyu was a Jinshi from Jiangxi who recorded affairs in Yangzhou and joined the army. Needless to say, he had knowledge of classics and history.

Tu Hongyu found it boring to correct dozens of papers in a row. The overall academic level of Yangzhou scholars was too low. Just like this, if you are placed in Jiangxi, you will be beaten. Among the hundreds of people, at most one or two will win.

Picking up the tea cup, Tu Hongyu took a sip of green tea.

This thing has become popular in yamen. At first, it was just an arty thing, but gradually I found that green tea is really convenient.

In the government, it's just an office drink, don't talk about being a gentleman.

Especially for the affairs officers and subordinate staff, they had a lot of paperwork to do. Drinking Tuancha was too troublesome, and the steamed loose tea was too astringent. Green tea is just right, just brew a cup and let the handyman come and add water at any time.

After drinking it for a month or two, Tu Hongyu was completely obsessed with green tea and began to dislike Tuancha for not being fresh and natural enough.

"Tu Du Cao, let's take a look at this paper." Si Li joined the army and came over with the answer sheet.

Tu Hongyu said: "Let it go."

The manager joining the army also managed prisons and prisons, and was on the same level as the recording officer joining the army in judicial terms. If the prisoner refuses to accept the crime and refuses to do so, the two judicial officers will conduct a cross-examination and supervise each other.

In addition, the manager also has the right to review a completed case.

It can be roughly understood that the state magistrate supervises and checks and balances the magistrate. The magistrate who joins the army takes away some of the financial power of the state magistrate. The manager who joins the army allocates part of the judicial power to the magistrate. The magistrate has the right to assign managers to join the army to work.

Supervision at all levels, checks and balances.

This kind of decentralization can be seen everywhere, and the higher the level, the more obvious it is.

Tu Hongyu took it over and took a look: "I have heard that there may be virtuous ministers in the faint king, but I have never heard that the British master promoted the treacherous prime minister. There are many virtuous ministers, but there are different kinds of treacherous ministers. This is the habit of chasing the superiors. The sages have said that the king is wise and the ministers are straight. , Pei Ju was loyal to the Tang Dynasty because he was loyal to the Sui Dynasty. It was not because of a change in his nature. If the ruler is evil and hears his faults, he will turn loyalty into a traitor; if the ruler is happy and hears his uprightness, he will turn sycophancy into loyalty. This is how a person who knows his ruler behaves, and a minister Scenery, when the expression moves, the scenery will follow..."

Essays for local examinations were limited to two to three hundred words. Zhu Ming could not express himself freely and had to go straight to the topic and write clearly.

He even quoted a passage from "Zi Zhi Tong Jian". Anyway, this thing has only been around for a few years, so it is estimated that not many examiners have read it carefully.

Tu Hongyu really didn't see the quoted part. After reading it, he slapped his desk and praised: "This guy's talent is quite good. He should be ranked first among all the volumes!"

"I'm afraid that it might be suspected of insinuating the official family." Si Li joined the army and said.

Tu Hongyu pretended not to notice and said: "This article only talks about the Sui and Tang Dynasties. It focuses on Tianbao's treacherous phase and mentions Pei Ju. How can it allude to today's saints? You are worrying too much."

"Indeed." Si Li joined the army and smiled.

Tu Hongyu is also a member of the New Party. The elder in his family used to have a good relationship with Cai Jing.

In recent years, the New Party has split, and Cai Jing has been frantically excluding dissidents. Regardless of the New Party or the Old Party, anyone who hinders his ability to seize power will be dismissed. Tu Hongyu was also implicated by his elders, and he hated Cai Jing to death, and even hated the emperor. Ju Ming's article wrote this deeply in his heart.

The articles have been selected and it is not yet known who wrote them.

At this time, the local examinations were not divided into Shifang and Yifang. Whoever was better at the subject would get the test papers.

Hundreds of people's papers, a total of more than 10,000 short essays, were all marked in less than ten days.

The chief officials of Cao State took the papers and ran to find the magistrate and magistrate of the state, and they all dismantled the name together.

Zhizhou basically doesn't care about the examination room, but he occasionally participates. There are no clear regulations on invigilating, presiding, and grading. It may be that the magistrates and magistrates are in charge of the exams, and the Cao officials are in charge of the exams, or it may be the opposite, and they are also doing the grading.

Being so casual makes it easy to cheat.

Yangzhou is pretty good. It's hard to get a Jinshi even if you rank first in the exams. If you spend money to bribe the examiner to cheat, you might as well ask the examiner to recommend you.

Cheating is really common in Jiangnan. There are too many candidates who are expected to win Jinshi, and the competition for candidates' places is too fierce.

The officials compared the ink scroll with the ink scroll and quickly announced: "The title of "The Analects of Confucius" is ranked first by Bai Chongyan!"

Then he announced: "Min Zishun is second in the Analects of Confucius!"

Ju Ming only took the third place in "The Analects of Confucius".

Yang Zhizhou compared the three-part paper and said: "Ju Ming's article ranks first in terms of argumentation, but unfortunately his craftsmanship is still a little lacking."

Li Tongpan took it over, nodded and said: "That's true, after all, I'm still young. It's my first time in the examination room, and it's commendable to be able to write like this."

To put it bluntly, when Ju Ming wrote the classics and meanings, his thoughts and intentions were higher than his classical prose skills. In some places, his performance was not very good, and he needed to practice writing more short compositions.

Yang Zhizhou said: "Let him be the third in The Analects of Confucius."

Next, I opened the "Mencius" volume. Min Zishun came first, Zhu Ming came second, and Bai Chongyan came third.

It can only be said that the eight-part essay is extremely effective. In previous years, Bai Chongyan's results were outside the fifth or sixth place in exams, but now he is always ranked in the top three.

In the imperial examinations of the Song Dynasty, what really mattered was strategy!

After taking apart all the policy papers, Zhu Ming was rated first in all three strategies and one theory. This was due to his excellent keyboard warrior skills.

Li Tongpan drew a circle on Zhu Ming's name and said with emotion: "This Zhu Chenggong is worthy of being a scholar of the Eighth Elements. He may not win this year, but he will be on the gold list in a few years."

Yang Zhizhou smiled and said, "You are lucky enough to be his host."

Li Tongpan said: "It's just a test, where does the teacher come from?"

The people who were elected in the Song Dynasty really didn't pay attention to their teachers, otherwise they would have too many teachers.

Yang Zhizhou said: "The passion for incense is still there."

Yang Zhizhou had received the transfer order and stopped talking about the imperial examination. He made an appointment with Li Tongpan to have a drink, and left all the remaining matters to Cao Cao.

The ink scrolls of the successful candidates must be sealed and sent to the Ministry of Rites in the capital for preservation. The red scroll was kept in the local government office, and another copy was copied and posted.

The next day, the results were released.

Fatty Zheng borrowed his father's carriage and drove Ju Ming and Bai Chongyan straight to Gongyuan. Zheng Yuanyi and his sister-in-law also went out together.

Outside the Gongyuan, there were quite a lot of people watching the excitement, but it was far inferior to the scenes of people being elected and released in the Ming and Qing Dynasties.

"Sisters from the Li family, sisters from the Wang family, sisters from the Min family..." Zheng Yuanyi waved to the female relatives in the distance.

The female relatives all accompanied their husbands or brothers to see the list, and they were all dressed up and looked very happy.

The women gathered together, and the men gathered together, each chatting about topics of interest to each other.

Several policemen came running and the crowd moved out of the way.

There is only one list of candidates, with only eight names. This is already the total quota for the three counties of Yangzhou.

In the early Northern Song Dynasty, there were very few scholars and admission was based on the proportion of candidates.

Now in the late Northern Song Dynasty, there are too many scholars, so we can only rely on quota admissions.

Kaifeng Prefecture has the largest number of candidates, and the candidates there are all Tianlong people!

Eight names, the winner can be seen clearly at a glance.

Zheng Yuanyi shouted in surprise: "Brother Zhu is the number one Jie Yuan!"

The female relatives all looked towards Ju Ming, laughing and whispering.

They were so courageous that even those who were married formed a group to surround Ju Ming and ask him various questions.

What about whether a man and a woman will have sex or not?

Shouldn't the woman she agreed to show up in public?

Ju Ming could only keep bowing and deal with these women carefully. He was about to become a friend of Yangzhou women.

"Congratulations to the successful brother!" Min Zishun held up his hands and smiled, feeling a little disappointed. He had been the first in the previous sessions, but now he was the second.

Ju Ming returned the greeting: "Same joy, same joy."

The score for the policy essay was too serious, and Bai Chongyan only got fifth place in the exam. The third place was Ling Guxu, and the fourth place was a candidate named Wu Changxin.

The two brothers Wang Chang and Wang Wei who studied under Chen Yuan all failed the examination.

But Wang Chang's knowledge was higher. The Wang family paid for his connections, and the magistrate and magistrate jointly recommended him to Beijing to take the examination.

The policeman also asked for some wedding money, but did not break down the door.

If he gets smashed every time he wins, the door of Min Zishun's house will have to be replaced every three years.

The common people only came to watch the fun, and no one gathered around him to go home. There have been no Jinshi scholars in Yangzhou for more than 20 years, and people have long been numb and don't think there is anything strange about being promoted.

Ju Ming was the first to solve the test, but he seemed to have no limelight, so only a group of female relatives favored him.

The officers also posted the articles on the people's election, and the scholars raised their necks to read them, nodding their heads from time to time to express their admiration.

After Ling Guxu finished reading Ju Ming's policy, he came over and bowed: "Brother Chenggong's article is really wonderful, I admire you very much!"

"It's easy to say," Zhu Ming cupped his hands and said, "Brother Linggu's strategy is also well written."

Ling Guxu's policy theory was really good. He only ranked sixth in the thirty questions on classics and meanings, but he relied on his policy theory to draw points to solve the exam and ranked third.

To be honest, Ju Ming felt that Ling Guxu's actual talents were probably far beyond those of Min Zishun, Bai Chongyan and others.

It's just that Ling Guxu is usually boring and doesn't talk much, so he doesn't seem to be very outstanding.

The other scholars, regardless of whether they were successful or not, came over to talk after reading Ju Ming's article.

Some people even copied it on the spot, intending to take it home and study it.

"Bang bang bang bang!"

Farewell to everyone, Zhu Ming and Bai Chongyan took the car back, and the Zheng family set off firecrackers to celebrate them.

"Two wise nephews, please go to the front door." Zheng Lan came to greet him personally.

The old gentleman was very envious. It would be great if these two young men were his grandchildren.

The Zheng family also has many children and grandchildren, and they have been cultivating them since childhood. Why can't they produce the seeds of reading?

Not to mention the banquet that day, after eating and drinking, Zheng Hong asked his servants to bring two brand new boxes and cages for them to go to Beijing to take the fashion exam and change their clothes.

Zheng Yuanyi put her hands on her lower back and said with a smile, "I picked this myself. If my two brothers carry it to Tokyo, they will definitely be able to become Jinshi in high school!"

"Thank you, little lady!" Bai Chongyan said with cupped hands.

Ju Ming said: "She looks very beautiful. My sister is interested."

Zheng Yuanyi smiled even more happily: "I spent a long time choosing it. It's fine if my brother likes it."

The sun is very hot today, and everyone is sitting in the shade of the tree drinking tea.

"Meow!"

A female cat ran over with several kittens.

Zheng Yuanyi hugged the cat and petted it twice, then let the cat play by itself.

Playing around, the mother cat picked up the kittens one by one, placed them all at Zheng Yuanyi's feet, and then ran away happily.

Zheng Yuanyi complained: "This raccoon slave is very lazy. He doesn't know how to raise his own children. He always throws them in front of me."

Ju Ming joked about popular science: "The cat treats you as a family member, so it asks you to help take care of the child. When you have a child one day, the cat will also help you take care of it. It is very powerful."

"Really?" Zheng Yuanyi reacted suddenly and blushed, "I'm not married yet. Even if I have a child, I won't let the cat help look after it."

Zhu Ming casually picked one up and put it on his lap. The kitten still wanted to resist, stretching out its tender paws to scratch it, but it stopped after being turned over and pressed down.

Bai Chongyan, who had great experience in rushing for the exam, reminded: "When you go to Beijing, you can bring one or two slaves with you and let them carry tea leaves. Everyone can ride on the trains and boats at the post stations along the way for free with the post ticket. When you pass by the check card, you can also check the check card. No tax will be levied on those cars and ships. But don’t bring too many slaves. Two is best. Three will make the postmaster and postmaster unhappy."

"Understood." Zhu Ming nodded.

Carrying people and goods through the toll station does not enjoy tax-free privileges. What is truly tax-free is the station, trains and ships.

This situation changed somewhat in the Southern Song Dynasty. In the Southern Song Dynasty, candidates from all walks of life in Sichuan and Shaanxi were truly tax-free. It was crazy at that time. Juren from Sichuan were transporting whole ships of goods to the south of the Yangtze River for sale, and there were even people in the grain business. Once you pass the Sichuan-Shaanxi Juren Examination, businessmen will rush to cooperate, and you will definitely make a fortune.

It's not like now, when Juren brings at most one or two servants and carries a small amount of light goods to Beijing.

There are also eight immortals crossing the sea, each showing their magical powers, and everyone carrying local specialties. In Yangzhou, there is tea, and in other areas there are brocade, silk sand and other items.

The juren in Jiangnan were even more interesting. They went to the Lianghuai Salt Fields to buy private salt, and then transported the salt to the capital as juren.

There were so many people in the south of the Yangtze River that during the Jinshi year, a large amount of illicit salt would come to Beijing, prompting the imperial court to issue repeated orders not to bring salt into Beijing for sale.

Bai Chongyan said: "My family has not sold a pound of the best tea this year. I have saved it all and plan to sell it in Tokyo. I haven't paid taxes in the process and can earn two to three hundred guan!"

"Hahaha, Brother Juncai is in business." Ju Ming laughed.

Bai Chongyan said: "I'm just selling goods by the way. Things in Tokyo are too expensive. If you eat better, you can spend at least a hundred cash a day, and you can spend a few hundred cash. If you stay in Tokyo for a month, you will lose dozens of cash. If you pass the exam, If you are a Jinshi, the expenses will be even greater. Before the salary is paid, I am afraid that the poor children will have difficulty even eating."

Ju Ming said: "Then I will take some dried shiitake mushrooms to Tokyo. I'm afraid Junzi Tea will not be easy to sell."

Bai Chongyan added: "There are many streets in Tokyo where you can set up stalls, but the real business is on those streets. You must get up early every day and choose a suitable location. Do not set up stalls in the middle of the street. I tried it, but the business is not as good as at both ends of the street. There are other things to pay attention to..."

Two scholars who had just passed the imperial examination actually talked about business and the secret of setting up a street stall.

Fatty Zheng was filled with envy when he heard this. Only at this time would he regret that he did not study hard and missed the opportunity to make money by bringing goods into Beijing duty-free.