Emperor Ming Dynasty

In the early morning, just after Yin time, the dew had not cleared and the sun had invaded the entire Beijing city. Some early morning shops in the market opened one after another.

Shops selling fabrics and the like are usually closed in the morning, and the wooden boards (equivalent to rolling shutter doors) inlaid on the facades by the roadside are being removed, and the day's business has not yet started.

However, a large number of breakfast shops started to operate during the ugly period, specially prepared for those officials who went to court.

Some famous foods even accept reservations from dignitaries, and they have to be delivered in advance, otherwise it will be too late.

Therefore, most of the people in a hurry on the street are servants of various mansions, which is also a great view of the capital.

Wealthy people have the best face, the servants who come and go compare clothes, etiquette, generosity, theatrical troupe, and even those who can read and write.

The biggest feature of the prosperity of the market economy is that food, clothing, housing and transportation are all as fancy as possible, and everything can be bought with money.

Many people with a little money like to come to restaurants and teahouses, order a pot of tea, a few trays of snacks, and listen to storytelling with two or three friends.

Today is especially lively, it is the day when the Great Ming Gazette is issued.

"Isn't it monthly?"

Song Guang runs several silk and satin shops, and the daily business is handed over to the shopkeeper. He himself communicates with his partners from time to time to eat and maintain personal connections.

Drinking in the East Mansion, drinking tea in the West Mansion, yamen, nobles, and peers all need extensive communication.

The teahouse, which is slightly elegant and full of culture and customs, has become the first choice.

He spends more than a hundred silver dollars on these meals and drinks every month.

But compared to the sale of silk and satin shops, this expense is nothing.

"You don't know, but now it's changed to a bimonthly magazine."

The clerk in the teahouse said attentively: "There are news from all over the country. I heard that your accent is from Nanzhili? This is the right time. I heard that there is a list of Nanzhili's rural examinations in the bulletin!"

"Oh?" Song Guang became interested: "Then I have to listen carefully."

After saying that, he sat down on his own, and ordered Xiaoer to serve some snacks.

Although the Nanzhili family is divided into three, it is hard to leave, after all, it is a friendship of more than 200 years.

It's like the Anhui governor's yamen, who has been staying in Nanjing, forcing the imperial court to issue an edict to let it return to Hefei as soon as possible.

The representative of the broken root is the Nanjing Gongyuan.

Scholars from Anhui Province, Jiangsu Province, and Yingtianfu all participated in the provincial examination in Nanjing Gongyuan and selected Jie Yuanlai.

That's right, these three places are fighting for a Jieyuan, and they are very introverted.

The imperial court also had no intention of dismantling it. In fact, the three places are Wenxiang. If Anhui were set up separately, the number of candidates would definitely increase, which would not be conducive to national unity.

The Jiangnan Guild Hall in Beijing treats the three places equally and does not separate families.

After a while, two business partners came one after another.

One is engaged in embroidery, and the other is in lacquerware. They are both wealthy owners. They live with him in their hometown and help each other on weekdays.

At this time, standing next to the desk in the center, a loud Xingmu "pop" sounded, attracting everyone's attention:
"Starting from today, the Ming Gazette will be published every half a month. You are blessed, and the little old man is also blessed by the imperial court, and I will explain to you one or two..."

"This year's Jiangnan Rural Examination has attracted worldwide attention, and it happens that the imperial court has recovered Liaodong. The timing is very good!"

"That's not right, isn't the provincial examination Qiuwei? Why is it in June?"

Some people raised doubts, and the teahouse was also full of curiosity.

"The bulletin said that the provincial examination will be changed to autumn, so the township examination is scheduled for the beginning of June, two months in advance, in order to prepare for these provincial examinations to be able to take part in the provincial examination!"

The storyteller explained with a smile.

The development of the provincial examination, because it directly confers official positions, scholars, and Juren can sign up, the gold content has greatly increased, and it has also been favored by Juren.

And Ju people are so enthusiastic about the township examination, in addition to the convenience of the annual examination, the greater reason is the competition of Jinshi.

In the past, most of the county magistrates were awarded to Juren and Jiansheng, but now Jinshi have gone to the county to practice and compete for their official positions.

Can't compete with Jinshi, Juren can only take the provincial examination, and take the exam with the scholars.

But many Juren can't pass the provincial examination, they always want to give it a try, and they can't miss the provincial examination.

In the scorching summer, it became the time for the provincial examination, which happened to be the same time as the college entrance examination for later generations.

Only then did everyone resolve their doubts.

"Jiangnan Jieyuan, whose name is taboo Xia Wanchun, has an ancient character. This year, he is only [-]. He is from Huating County, Songjiang Prefecture. He has been known as a child prodigy since he was a child. He knew the Five Classics at the age of five, and he was able to write poetry at the age of seven..."

"His father is Xia Yunyi, who is also a famous scholar in the south of the Yangtze River. He was a Jinshi in the tenth year of Chongzhen (1637). He has successively served as magistrate and head of the Nanjing Ministry of Officials..."

For a while, the teahouse was full of exclamations, and it was inexplicable that Xia Wanchun won Jiangnan Jieyuan at the age of 21.

As we all know, the style of writing in the south of the Yangtze River is prosperous, and its talents are comparable to those of other provinces, so that the situation of imperial examination immigrants was born.

Getting Jiangnan Jieyuan also means that this young man will become a popular candidate for the general examination and palace examination in the next year.

At that time, he was only 23 years old, and his future was limitless.

"Songjiang Mansion is gradually catching up now."

The lacquerware friend shook his head, not happy, but worried.

"It's okay, who am I afraid of in Suzhou?"

Song Guang was calm. Since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, only Suzhou has won nine champions, making a splash.

Of course, according to historical development, there were 26 champions in the Qing Dynasty, which is even more exaggerated.

Talking along the way, people became very excited, chattered constantly, spit flying, mouth dry, tea business boomed.

The guys are so busy, the shopkeeper is laughing like a chrysanthemum, and a pot of tea can get a lot of money.

The storyteller continued, from Jieyuan, Yayuan, to the third, fourth, and fifth Jingkui, and No. 6 was Yakui, with relish.

The explanation of the township examination in Shuntianfu also aroused everyone's interest.

The rural examinations in other provinces were directly ignored.

In the end, the storyteller continued to read: "The Yamen of the Chief Secretary of Fujian will start this summer to allow the common people to use sweet potato flour to pay grain taxes, and every ten catties will be worth one catty..."

Many people don't know much about sweet potatoes, not to mention that they are only from Fujian, so no one cares.

In the imperial study room, Empress Sun Xueniang walked outside the inner door, only to see Zhu Yixi was still processing the memorial.

There were many memorials on the case covered with a yellow tablecloth, but they were all neatly placed there. The emperor wore a bright yellow round-neck robe, and looked very calm, with elegant and unhurried movements.

An eunuch next to him saw the queen, bent down beside the emperor and said a word, and then withdrew with a few others.

Zhu Yixi also looked up at the queen with a smile and said, "Is the queen okay today?"