Bachelor

Chapter 198 Autumn is coming soon, the examiner has been appointed
Liulichang is located in the southwest of the outer city of the capital. Compared with the bustling inner city, it has not been developed accordingly. There are barren hills and river forks everywhere, and the vast white reeds are everywhere. When the wind blows, the sky is full of white flowers.However, as long as you walk along the avenue for a mile, you can see a sprawling building complex, with traffickers coming and going, like a bustling market.

It turns out that because of the low land price and the proximity to the inner city, since the Shanxi Guild Hall settled here, the Shaanxi Guild Hall, Shandong Guild Hall, and Sichuan Guild Hall have successively moved their headquarters and warehouses from the inner city where every inch of land is expensive. Stores in the city remain open.

Because so many guild halls have been relocated here, the Liulichang area has become a new commercial area.

Sun Dan has been thinking about whether to buy a piece of land here and build a new house.As far as he knows, Liulichang only gradually became prosperous in the middle of the Ming Dynasty, and it is now one of the largest commercial districts in the capital.If you can buy a piece of land here and pass it on, it can be regarded as leaving an asset for future generations.

Last time, he and Bi Yun set up Ping Qiuli together and got 10 taels of silver.Now, the Lu Family Bank also receives several thousand taels of silver every month, and it can be considered a wealthy household in the capital.In ancient times, he didn't have much expenses. Three meals a day, basic necessities of life, food, housing and transportation didn't cost much. It was useless to put so much cash in his hands. It was better to buy some properties, speculate in real estate or something.

For investment, there is no project with more capital increase potential than the land here in Liulichang.

Therefore, early in the morning, he hired a carriage and walked out of the inner city slowly, planning to ask some profiteers from the Shanxi Guild Hall for help, to see if he could enclose a piece of land.

It was already the end of July, and the weather was extremely hot. The sun had been shining for more than ten days in a row, and the ground turned white. As soon as the carriage passed by, a high cloud of dust rose up, making people want to cough.

After reading Dao Zang for more than two months, although Sun Dan still has no understanding of Taoism, Lao Zhuang has read a lot, and his personality is much calmer than before.Even though it was so hot that I felt irritable, I still sat quietly in the steamer-like compartment, with a relaxed and casual face, but there was no drop of sweat on my ordinary face.

On the other hand, although Chen Rong was holding a volume of "The Doctrine of the Mean" in his hand, his sweat was falling like raindrops.His body was shaking with the bumps of the carriage, and his face was full of pain.A lot of sweat was also sprinkled on the book in his hand, and he was so pinched that he couldn't feel it. He murmured: "It's so hot today, it will be Qiu Wei soon, and when I enter the examination room, I will offend you." .”

"Shu Zhi, it's cool to be calm." Sun Dan said quietly.

"No, no, I don't have Mr. Jingyuan's energy-raising skills, so I can't calm down." Chen Rong glanced at Sun Dan with admiration, and sighed in his heart: I have read sage books all my life, and when encountering major events, I can't calm down. Still flustered.It's Mr. Jingyuan who has mastered kung fu and is so calm.However, Mr. Jingyuan will definitely pass the provincial examination next month.If even he can't hit it, that would be a strange thing.That being the case, sir, there is nothing to worry about!

Sun Danzheng's mouth was parched and he didn't want to talk much. When Chen Rong said this, he only smiled lightly, but felt very helpless in his heart.

Ever since he knew that he was Sun Dan, this Chen Rong even entangled him, and came to him all day long to ask for advice, not to mention respectful, but still insisting on the discipleship, and already regarded Sun Dan as his teacher .

It feels very bad to be treated as a teacher by someone older than himself. As a modern person, Sun Dan would rather treat Chen Rong as an ordinary friend.

Because of the unbearable annoyance and missing his family, Sun Dan simply returned to his home in Shibei Hutong from Baiyun Temple.However, you can hide for a while, but you can't hide for a lifetime.Within a few days, this Chen Xiucai took a car and drove over from Baiyun Temple with a large cart of books. He wanted to stick with Sun Dan, and said that he had no money and wanted to stay with Sun Dan for a few months.

Gentlemen have the friendship of making money. If both Sun Dan and Chen Rong win the Shuntian Prefecture Examination, they will be in the same year.The same-year relationship is the most reliable interpersonal relationship between scholars, which is a bit like the friendship of soldiers in modern times.This kind of relationship stays with you for life, and you will support each other and take care of each other when you become an official in the future.

Since it was the same year, it was a very normal thing in ancient times to live and eat together, and the rich one paid the bill. Even if they lived in each other's home for a year or so, it didn't matter.

There is no way, Sun Dan can only ask someone to clean up a room and arrange for this guy to live.Last time at Baiyun Temple, he also kindly gave him 20 taels of silver for a while. He thought that with this money, this guy would be able to support him for a year or two, but who would have thought that as soon as Chen Rong got the money, he would exchange it all for I bought a book, bought a big car with a lot, and spent all the cash on my hands.When I was ashamed of my pockets, I went to Sun Dan's house to grab a meal.

When meeting Chen Rong, Sun Dan could only do nothing.

Sun Dan was very annoyed by such a nerd, and every time he met Chen Rong, he would come over to ask for advice.Sun Dan just asked him to write an essay with a random topic, and when Chen Rong finished writing the essay, he just muttered a few words and finished.

It's strange to say that Chen Rong's article became more and more sophisticated after seeing Tiantian's stereotyped essay and Sun Dan's guidance.In the past, Chen Xiucai was somewhat talented.But after being educated by Sun Dan's exam-oriented education system such as format and placement, the aura in the text is gone, replaced by a stale air that is rarely seen in the Ming Dynasty. At first glance, it looks like an old scholar in the Qing Dynasty .

And Chen Rong became more and more stunned.

The exam period is approaching, and there are still ten days until Qiu Wei, so Sun Dan doesn't care, Chen Rong has been so nervous that she can't sleep for several days, and she sighs all day long, saying that her mind seems to be embroidered, and she writes a composition , I just feel that the writing is jerky, and the writing of the article is like clear soup and water. I feel bored looking at it, let alone the examiners who review the papers.

Sun Dan smiled and said: "It's right to write the article like this. Don't worry about Shuzhi, just write it according to this method, and I guarantee you will win the exam."

Chen Rong naturally believed in Sun Dan's words, and began to cheer up.On this day, Sun Dan said that he would come to Liulichang to buy land. Chen Xiucai was bored with reading these days, so he acted as Sun Dan's tail and ran over to watch the excitement.

Hearing that Chen Xiucai said that he was flustered, Sun Dan comforted him and said, "Don't worry about Shuzhi. I was lucky to win, but I lost my life. I didn't finish the exam. No one knows what the final result will be. It's better to be upset than to be upset now." Have fun and relax."

Chen Rong smiled wryly: "Mr. Jing Yuan is right, maybe it's because it's too hot, I feel a little panicked."

Just as he was talking, the carriage entered the complex of buildings, and besides the roiling heat waves, there were loud cries of sales.Hearing the commotion, Chen Rong frowned.

Fortunately, the carriage turned a corner and arrived in front of the Shanxi Guild Hall.

There is a forest in front of the Shanxi Guild Hall, and many scholars are sitting on the grass inside to enjoy the cool air, and they are all reciting loudly.

At this time, a gust of breeze blows, and the coolness suddenly arises, making people feel refreshed physically and mentally.Chen Rong was a little happy: "This place is not bad, I finally heard the sound of reading."

Sun Dan smiled and said: "In a few days, there will be more scholars here. Brother Shuzhi will like it even more when I build a house here in the future." Branch.Now it is the end of July, and the ninth day of August is the provincial examination, and the general examination will be held in February next year.In ancient times, transportation was inconvenient, and the provincial examination was held in the capital of the province without any trouble, but the general examination had to be held in the capital, and it took half a year to travel to remote provinces.

As a result, many Juren did not go home but lived in the capital after taking part in the Jinshi department, and waited three years before taking the exam.Those with a good family background bought a house to live in the capital directly, while those with a poor family background lived in various temples and Taoist temples in the capital.

Of course, there are also many people who live in the guild hall of the province where they live.

Since they can go to Beijing to take part in the general examination, the candidates all have the honor of juren, and they are the elites of the province. The people in the guild hall treat them with great respect.

It is also because many Juren lived in the Liulichang area before they became officials, and when they developed later, they naturally bought land and property here. This is also an important reason why Liulichang became a famous dignified residence in the capital in the future.

Shi Ji Wanquan, the representative of Jinshang, was naturally very respectful when he saw Sun Dan. Hearing that Sun Dan said that he wanted to buy tens of acres of land here to build a house, he immediately patted his chest and said that this matter was on his own, and he would definitely help Sun Dan. Fengshui treasure land, the price is much lower than the market.As for the workers needed to build the house, he can also help Sun Dan recruit them.

Sun Dan was happy, and asked how much it would cost and how long it would take to build.

Shi Wanquan probably did some calculations, and replied that it would cost more than 1 taels to buy land. As for building a house, it is difficult to say, it depends on the scale and materials used, but no matter how you say it, it will cost more than a hundred thousand taels.

Chen Xiucai was bored at the side, but when he heard this astronomical figure, his jaw almost dropped to the ground. He didn't expect Sun Dan to be so rich.

Sun Dan smiled: "You don't need to build it too well, let's fence up the land first, and build some yards casually for the house, don't make it too public. After all, I am a young scholar, so it is not appropriate to build the house too well."

Shi Wanquan flatteringly said to Sun Dan: "Mr. Sun, you are humble. With your talent, this time Qiu Wei, no matter what, you can win a candidate, even if the Jinshi department in the future is just three fingers for you. — Hold on tight.”

"That's hard to say. For the imperial examination, three points of hard work and seven points of God's will. The talent is as outstanding as Tang Bohu. After winning the Yuan Dynasty, he took the exam for four times in a row, but he couldn't get a Jinshi. If luck is not good, Sun Dan is afraid You can't even win a Juren." Sun Dan said a few words casually and modestly.

"No, no, I predict that Mr. Sun will pass this subject." Shi Wanquan smiled mysteriously.

Sun Dan was a little surprised: "Old Shi, you are too sure, right?"

Shi Wanquan laughed: "Mr. Sun, don't tell lies in front of people of Ming Dynasty. No one in the capital knows that you are a child of the Sun family of the Marquis of Huichang."

"Yes, I am from the Sun family, but what does this have to do with this year's autumn?" Sun Dan felt very strange.

Shi Wanquan chuckled: "Actually, Mr. should have known it a long time ago. It's the villain who talks too much. Cough, I have this mouth!" As he spoke, he slapped himself pretendingly, and said, "I listen It is said that the examiners of the Shuntianfu Township Examination this year have appointed Qiao Yu, Shangshu of the Ministry of Officials, and Sun Henian, the right servant of the Ministry of Households, as the chief and deputy examiners."

Sun Dan was stunned, this is a big deal!

He also knew what was hidden in Shi Wanquan's smile. Perhaps, in the eyes of this cunning businessman, he was a child of the Sun family, and Sun Henian was the deputy examiner for this year's Shuntianfu Township Examination.In this way, he, Sun Dan, can get a lot of money by participating in Qiuwei.

However, Sun Dan also knew that this might not be a good thing for him.He has a huge database in his head, no matter who is the examiner, it is the same for him, and he is also confident that he will be the first examiner.

Hearing Boss Shi talk about this year's autumn in Shuntian Mansion, Chen Rong, who was still distracted just now, also perked up and pricked up his ears.

Sun Dan smiled wryly: "Sun Dan's fame is all due to his real ability. It is the same for anyone who is an examiner. He Niangong is my grandson's family, but if Sun Dan's name falls to Sun Shan, he will naturally be laughed at by others. But if If he wins the exam, he will be suspected of cheating, and he will fall into the ground. Whether he wins or not, it is not a good thing for Sun Dan." Speaking of this, Sun Dan felt a little depressed.Knowing this, he shouldn't have come to the capital with the Sun family in the first place, and stayed honestly in Shandong. With his own ability, winning a man is not as easy as drinking water?
Shi Wanquan was very disapproving. In his opinion, if there is an advantage, it is natural to take advantage of it. Even if there is no way out, he must try to find a way out.A relationship like Sun Dan's with the examiner is beyond anyone's begging, why is this Mr. Sun feeling annoyed?

"Otherwise, Mr. Jingyuan is a sincere gentleman, and it is understandable to have such thoughts. But..." Chen Rong said with a smile: "When Xiao Yang was the number one scholar, his father Yang Ge was the one who read the papers, that is, father and son. There are teachers and students, but the world doesn't think there is anything wrong. Because in everyone's opinion, it is a very strange thing if a great talent like Mr. Yang Shen fails to win the first prize. I am afraid that the scholars will be in an uproar. On the contrary, it seems that Mr. He Nian is a hypocrite who avoids suspicion and deliberately does not take his own children. Therefore, I predict that Mr. Jingyuan will pass this subject."

"Oh, that's the reason. As expected, you are a scholar, and you see things more thoroughly than I do." Boss Shi sighed in admiration: "The villain is here to wish Mr. Sun success."

Sun Dan could only smile wryly, and secretly said: These two people are outside the scene, their eyesight is limited, and they can only see one side of the problem, but how do they know the way inside.Today's Shuntianfu Township Examination may not be a good thing for me, Sun Dan.

In the past two months, many major events have happened in the capital.

At the beginning of June, Emperor Jiajing and his entourage finally arrived in the capital. As soon as they entered the imperial city, they were considered to be the emperors of the Ming Dynasty.But at the moment when he was about to enter the city gate, an extraordinary event happened. A group of bureaucrats headed by cabinet ministers Mao Ji, Jiang Mian, and Minister of Rites Mao Cheng stopped Zhu Houcong at the city gate and asked him to enter through Dong'an Gate. Palace, temporarily live in Wenhua Palace.

This is already a naked provocation to Zhu Houcong, because according to the court etiquette, entering the city through Dong'anmen, and then living in the Wenhua Palace, waiting to be enthroned, is the route taken by the crown prince to ascend the throne. Something is wrong.

At that time, the future Emperor Jiajing was furious, and immediately replied that he would go through Daming Gate and enter Fengtian Palace.

It's a pity that this sentence immediately stabbed a hornet's nest, and hundreds of courtiers blocked Jiajing's road, forcing him to succeed to the throne according to the pre-designed route.

Among them, Sun Henian, a doctor in the first division of the household department, was the one who screamed the loudest and dealt with the most. When it came to excitement, Sun Dan, the elder of the Sun family, even stretched out his hand to hold Jiajing's Yu Huan, and would not let go.Sun Henian's move also won him the reputation of "upright and upright" among scholars.

It's a pity that Zhu Houcong, who had already received the information from Sun Dan from Wang Li, had already made a plan. Seeing that Sun Henian and the ministers were so tough, he immediately said angrily: "Okay, I won't go to Daming Gate, I'll go back Go to Anlu." I won't be the emperor, so you can go to whomever you like.

So, after a long confrontation, the officials succumbed, and honestly welcomed Zhu Houcong into the palace according to the emperor's etiquette.Next is the enthronement of the new king, and then the funeral of Daxing Emperor Zhu Houzhao.

After two months of tossing, it finally came to an end.

Originally, Emperor Jiajing always wanted to take time to meet Sun Dan.It's a pity that because the business is too busy, the emperor has just succeeded to the throne, so he didn't have a chance to meet Sun Dan.He had to ask Lu Bing to come to Sun Dan specially, bestowed a lot of property, and said that when he was free and the important affairs of the court were straightened out, he would let Sun Dan go to face the saint.

Sun Dan was preparing for the imperial examination during this period, and he didn't really want to meet this future boss. Besides, he didn't think about what to say after meeting him.

Before Lu Bing left, he hesitated to speak, and asked Sun Dan if he had any misunderstanding with Huang Jin for a long time.The day before entering the capital, when everyone was discussing how to deal with the officials on the second day, everyone had decided to use Sun Dan's method to confront the officials head-on, but Huang Jin said that Sun Dan's idea of ​​returning to Anlu was simply Come on, it's too risky.If the ministers don't submit, wouldn't the prince want to go back to Anlu in despair.

And said, "Sun faded out of this bad idea, and his heart can be punished!"

If Jiajing didn't think Sun Dan had a good idea, he would really have a bad opinion of Sun Dan.

Sun Dan also finds it strange, he now knows that Huang Jin is the former shopkeeper Huang Jin, and he has never had any problems with him before, and everyone has not spoken a few words when they met, why does this eunuch Huang have a grudge against him? Woolen cloth?

However, because I don't understand the specific situation, I can't even think about it, so I simply don't think about it.

After these two important matters are completed, according to the court's rules, it is time to open Enke and amnesty the world.

Ordinarily, this is Enke, a gift from the emperor, and all dynasties have attached great importance to this kind of examination.Because the emperor had just ascended the throne, he needed to find talents through the imperial examination. , but as far as Sun Dan knew, the two examiners in this subject were both from Yang Tinghe.Qiao Yu, Shangshu of the Ministry of Officials, will firmly stand on the side of Yang Shoufu in the future dispute over the ceremony, and has caused many problems for the emperor.As for Sun Henian, he was Yang Tinghe's disciple, and he severely embarrassed the emperor when he entered the palace in Jiajing.Also because of this credit, Sun Henian was actually promoted to be the right servant of the household department. This was naturally the result of Yang Shoufu's strong recommendation. It is estimated that Jiajing also knocked out his front teeth and Xuetun, and nodded while pinching his nose.

It's funny to say that these two people have become examiners, and they will be the mentors of the new imperial examination candidates in Shuntian Prefecture in the future.There will be an exam in the future, and the examiner is probably Mr. Yang Ge.It's funny to say that after a good Enke, all the scholars who got on the list became Yang Dang's disciples.Yang Tinghe was really scheming, and actually competed with the emperor for talents.

While Sun Dan admired him, he felt a little depressed. It seemed that he was going to be Sun Henian's disciple.In the end, he, Sun Dan, is also a hero from the dragon. Now, one side is the emperor and the other is a teacher. It's really difficult to get along with each other!

Thinking of this, Sun Dan naturally didn't want to stay with Shi Wanquan any longer, chatted casually, looked at the map of Liulichang that Shi Wanquan took out, randomly drew a circle on it, and said: " Just buy this area!" He said goodbye in a hurry.

Because of something on his mind during the journey, Sun Dan couldn't calm down anymore, he just felt that the carriage was very hot, sweat was falling like raindrops, and his whole body was soaked, as if he had just been fished out of the water.

When she got home, she saw that Sun Dan was hot and tired, and Zhiniang was very distressed, and she kept complaining, saying: "Sun Lang, you have lived in the Taoist temple for so long, and now you have finally returned home, but you are outside all day long." If you run, you won’t see a single person. It’s really hot on such a hot day, but what can I do?”

He couldn't help calling for water to come over to wipe Sun Dan's face.

Sun Dan said to Zhiniang with a smile, "But I miss you."

Zhiniang blushed, and said: "Who misses you, you'd better run and die outside!"

Seeing her flushed face and curvy figure, Sun Danse was very moved, and was about to hold her in his arms to be tender, when a girl came to report: "Master, Huichang Marquis Sun's residence sent people to come and see the master come back." No home. Said, if you have already returned to the residence, please come over, the second master wants to see you."

"Sun Henian wants to see me?" Sun Dan frowned unknowingly, now is not the time to see him, there are still ten days until Qiu Wei, if I go to see the examiner now, I'm afraid it will be a joke.

Zhi Niang said: "Sun Lang, the second master has already sent several groups of people to ask, and told you to go there, if there is something important to say."

"Have you been here several times?" Sun Dan was a little stunned, and couldn't help but feel a headache.About what Sun Henian was going to say, he should be able to guess exactly what it is, nothing more than...

Forget it, it’s better not to see it.

Sun Dan said to the girl: "Go and answer, just say that I haven't come home yet."

"By the way, at noon, someone handed in a film, saying it was from Yang Ge's hometown, and said it was a man named Yang Shen, please go over and talk."

"Buzzing" sounded in Sun Dan's head. The family and friendship of Yang Ge's old group came together. , Entering the court as an official is their great help.

In Yang Ge's opinion, he, Sun Dan, belonged to the Emperor Daxing, and had nothing to do with today's world.However, they didn't know that Sun Dan had already contacted Zhu Houcong.

"Forget it, I can't afford to provoke you, can I hide?" Sun Dan smiled wryly: "Zhi Niang, it's going to be autumn soon, I'm going to find a quieter place to study, I won't be at home in the next ten days. If someone If you ask me, you just say you don’t know.”

"Ah, I'm going out again. I'll prepare your luggage for you. By the way, do you want to bring some servants with you?" Although Zhi Niang was unwilling, she nodded and agreed.My own man always has his reasons for doing things.

"No, Chen Rong and I will find a secluded place to live. When we get there, I will bring a letter back. Anyway, it's in the capital, not far away."

Sun Dan approached Chen Rong and asked if there was a quiet place.Originally, Baiyun Temple was a good place, but recently the news that he was studying in Baiyun Temple was publicized by Wang Li, and it was well known to passers-by, but it was not easy to go to that place again.

Chen Rong thought for a while, and said, "There is an inn that is very clean, and it is a good place to go. However, there are a lot of people in that place. Recently, there are many scholars who have participated in the provincial examination, and there are too many people."

"That's fine, I'm hiding in the city, so I'll go there."

(End of this chapter)