my grandmother

Chapter 6

Ever since the day Li Yuzhu rented cattle and people from a neighboring village to plow the land, uncle Li Wencai's frown has never been loosened.

These dead girls rent both cows and people. Where did they get so many copper coins?
Last fall, Jinzhu's dead girl went to pay the food by herself. He asked the county food book, and after the calculation, it was worth a penny. If the penny was paid for Xuedong's tuition, there must be nothing left. She will be renting cattle and people for a while, where did she get the copper cash?
Yuzhu and Yinzhu are busy in the fields, Jinzhu, Xuedong, and that little girl are all gone!Where did you go?
From the day when he found out that the three Jinzhu siblings had disappeared, the third cousin ate and squatted in the village with a bowl to eat. He just wanted to see why Jinzhu, that damn girl, was there.

As soon as Li Jinzhu led Li Xiaonan around the corner, Uncle Santang saw it, looked left and right but didn't see Li Xuedong, his brows furrowed even tighter.

San Tangbo hid behind the tree, watched Li Jinzhu and Li Xiaonan pass by, and continued to squat at the entrance of the village to wait for Li Xuedong.

When it got dark, Li Xuedong didn't wait.

Uncle San Tang walked home slowly with his hands behind his back.

This brood of dead girls must have something to hide from him, so I have to inquire about it.

Where can I find out?
Gaocunji is definitely not good. Back then, when he was still studying in the school, he had a problem with someone surnamed Gao, so where did he go?
The third uncle stopped, looked left and right, thought for a long time, but couldn't think of where to ask.

After standing there blankly for a while, Uncle Santang quickened his pace and went back home.

Tomorrow, I will go to Lijiaji and ask my elder brother. His elder brother has a lot of thoughts. Even if the elder brother doesn't know about this matter, he can help him point out the direction and give him an idea.

The next morning, the third uncle Li Wencai went out with a few dried cowpeas, and arrived at his elder brother's house around noon.

His sister-in-law took the few cowpeas and threw them on the stove without looking at them.

His elder brother Li Wenxi just came back from the field, and when he saw the face of his third brother from the few cowpeas, he frowned, "The field is busy at the moment, why are you free?"

"He's never landed before." His sister-in-law answered in the kitchen.

"Haven't you eaten yet? Give him a bowl of rice for Third Uncle." Li Wenxi frowned and yelled towards the kitchen.

The sister-in-law came out with a bowl of rice, which was thrown into Li Wencai's hands.

Li Wencai didn't mind. His sister-in-law was a hot-tempered woman with a sharp mouth and a heart of tofu.

Li Wenxi is a frugal person. The rice is hard rice, and the dishes are too simple. One roasts dried bamboo shoots and the other stir-fries Luosu. Li Wencai picks and chooses back and forth between the two dishes.

After eating, watching the eldest daughter-in-law take away the bowls and chopsticks, Li Wenxi looked at his younger brother and asked, "What happened?"

"It's not a big deal, just a little bit of trouble. I miss you, come and have a look." Li Wencai is a scholar after all, and he pays attention to being decent.

"I'm busy here, if you have nothing to do, I have to go." His elder brother stood up and was about to leave.

The field was very busy, and he didn't have time to talk nonsense with this useless brother.

"Brother, why is he so irritable? I'm getting old, and I need to cultivate myself." Li Wencai stretched out his hand to hold his elder brother.

"Speak up if you have anything to say!" Li Wenxi's throat thickened.

He didn't like this younger brother since he was a child.

"In our village, Li Wenshan, who died a few years ago, left behind four daughters and a sick son. It seems that he has made a fortune this year. This is a bit strange. His family Copper tin, where did it come from?" Li Wencai had no choice but to temporarily put aside his gentleness and speak directly.

"Get rich? What did you get rich for?" Li Wenxi frowned.

"Last autumn," Li Wencai paused, swallowing the fact that Li Jinzhu paid the food himself.

His eldest brother disapproved of the idea of ​​distributing his own grain tax to each family in the village, and then taking some hard-earned money from each family according to the rich and poor, but he is a righteous man, so he can't do it for nothing, right? The grain book in the county , They all have rations too!

"I mean, last autumn, the sick young man went to Gaocunji to go to school again, and he had to pay for copper coins to go to school, and it's not cheap to go to school!
"At the beginning of the month, his family rented a healthy ox from Zhaozhuang, and a cattle driver, who used it for several days. His eldest daughter and her younger siblings walked away for seven or eight days. I just came back.

"I'm worried. Their family is full of unmarried young girls. Tell me, will they do something that is offensive to public morals? If so, the reputation of our Li family will have to be ruined by them!"

"Li Wenshan's solo seedling is called Li Xuedong, right? That Li Xuedong, in February this year, took the third place in the county exam. Don't you know about this? I'm not at home for seven or eight days. I'm afraid he went to Pingjiang Prefecture for the exam. ? You don’t know?” Li Wenxi looked at his younger brother with an indescribable expression.

"Xuedong is so stupid!" Li Wencai blurted out, "He came third in the county test, that's impossible!"

"After taking the third place in the exam, his elder sister pushed him in a small car and came to Lijiaji to ask the clan to give him copper coins for his studies. There is no such copper coin in the clan." Li Wenxi glanced sideways. his brother.

"The clan didn't give it, so where did he get the copper tin? It's renting cattle and walking away for seven or eight days?" Li Wencai stared at his elder brother.

"You are in the same village as his family, and you don't know, but I know?" Li Wenxi snapped back, "Where did his family get the copper coins? What's your business? What's your plan?
"How many times have I told you, don't keep thinking about taking advantage of others, you are the right person, you have to be fair!
"I have to go to the field, you can go back." Li Wenxi didn't want to look at his younger brother, stood up, and walked out with his hands behind his back.

Li Wencai followed out, and when they reached the gate of the courtyard, they turned around and went in again, standing in the courtyard and shouting, "Sister-in-law, have you pickled salted duck eggs this year? Bring me some. The salted duck eggs pickled by sister-in-law are the best. They are all made of oil. You can buy them outside." not."

"Bring him some!" His sister-in-law's voice was full of disgust.

After a while, the eldest daughter-in-law came out and handed Li Wencai a lotus leaf bag containing four or five salted duck eggs.

Li Wenxi walked half a street, turned around and entered the ancestral hall.

Just after eating, the patriarch was sitting in the porch of the ancestral hall talking with several elders.

Li Wenxi nodded in greeting one by one, pulled up a bamboo chair and sat down, stretched out his head and said, "I heard that Xiao Lizhuang, who is a student of calligraphy, went to the examination office to take a test. He was busy with the farming, and the family was renting cattle and renting people." , it seems that this family is very well off, and they have to go to the clan to beg for copper coins, which is true!"

"Passed the test?" The patriarch asked with concern.

"Look at what you're asking, if you pass the exam, it must have been sent to us with drums and gongs! The county test hits the top of the Universiade test, there are many things, and the government test is not so good. .” Li Wenxi pouted.

The patriarch leaned back in his chair in disappointment.

Li Shikuan, the clan elder who was sitting against the wall, leaned over from Li Wenxi to Xiao Lizhuang's schoolboy, and chatted with the clan elder next to him, as if he didn't hear what Li Wenxi said.

Before and after dinner yesterday, he received a letter from Mr. Gao saying that Li Xuedong's mansion took the No. 18 exam, passed the exam, and now he is going to go to the Hangzhou Examination Institute in July to take the exam.

"The third child of my family came over just now, talking about the school of calligraphy, saying that there shouldn't be so many copper coins, worried that the four girls in his family are not under the control of the elders, don't do anything outrageous for the copper coins, Hurt the face of our Li family, should we guard against this matter?" Li Wenxi frowned worriedly.

"I remember, four years ago, when the family held a big sacrifice, each house gave out an equal share of copper coins. There were two households in Xiaolizhuang, one was your third brother's, and the other was the one you mentioned. A family who learned calligraphy?" Li Shikuan asked with a smile.

"I remember, it's his house." The clan elder next to Li Shikuan answered the phone and confirmed.

"There are not many families in our clan who can produce copper coins according to the same amount. Such families can always afford to take a test in Pingjiang City, don't you think so?" Li Shikuan looked at the patriarch and smiled.

"Insatiable greed!" The patriarch spat, "The family is obviously not short of these copper coins, but they still come here to cry for poverty!"

"That's right, that's what I mean." Li Wenxi changed his tone hastily.

"Let's not talk about that, it looks like this year is going well." The patriarch changed the subject.

Everyone talked for a while, and went back separately.

....................................

Copper tin: copper coin;
Luosu: Eggplant.

　A few small things about the imperial examination:

　　One is why Mr. Gao didn't see Li Xiaonan and Li Xuedong, because the rules of the children's test are that one test is a day, and the test starts at dawn, and the test is not allowed to turn on the lamp until dark.

　　In the past, there were no electric lights, and lanterns were used for lighting. You can imagine the brightness.

　　Li Xuedong's two classmates are taking the exam intensely, and it is impossible for them to sit very close to each other, and they will not appear together, so there will be no chance to watch them up close.

　　The imperial examination room also checks appearance, but they are all descriptions, such as how many feet tall, thin or fat, white face without beard, long face with high nose, round face with small eyes...

　　[-]. The imperial examination is to test for scholars first, then for candidates, and then for Jinshi: for scholars, there are three examinations, namely the county examination, the government examination and the courtyard examination.

　　Generally speaking, the county test is taken in February, and the county magistrate takes the test in the county seat. If you pass the test, you take the prefectural test in April, and you take the test in the state capital (similar to the current area), and the magistrate takes the test.

　　For example, in the text, Kunshan County belongs to Pingjiang Prefecture, and the examination of that prefecture is in Pingjiang City.

　　After passing the government examination, you can go to the examination institute, which is held in July and August, and the examination place is the provincial capital in today's terms.

　　Only those who have passed the college examination can be regarded as qualified as a student, which is commonly known as a scholar.

　　The process of the exam and the test questions are as written in the article, only the subject of Gezhi in the article, only Emperor Guangxu took the test at that time in history, and Xiao Xian replaced the subject of hadith with Gezhi.

　　The above is from "Records of Imperial Examinations in Qing Dynasty"

　　
　
(End of this chapter)