Begging in late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 43 But a few thin sheep
These few are estimated to be students of the county school. In the Tang Dynasty, the scholar was the most difficult to pass the exam. Those who could be called a scholar could almost sit at the prime minister level, but in the Ming Dynasty, the scholar became the most basic level. If you pass the township examination, you can become a scholar recognized by the state. If you study in a county school, not only will the state provide food, but you will also have a monthly salary of one or two taels of silver.

And now it is the last reign of Ming Dynasty, Wei Zhongxian has really tossed about thoroughly, the imperial examination has long been messed up, the general examination in the capital, the palace examination has become a product of the party and government, before the examination, whose disciple should be the number one scholar, For the second place, Tanhua has been pre-determined, and the list of fellow Jinshi has also come out.

The local provincial examination is a place where rich and powerful families make money. Even illiterate dandies are called scholars. When selling roasted sweet potatoes, they walk birds and tease dogs. Song Qingshu has seen a lot of talented scholars here.

He just took a fancy to the purses of these second-generation ancestors. Like this elegant and pretentious small shop, white-collar workers of later generations, literary and artistic youths flock to it, what they want is this kind of petty bourgeoisie, an atmosphere full of artistic bacteria, entertainment projects of this era Except for cockfighting and dogfighting and listening to music and visiting brothels, Song Qingshu is full of confidence. The new gadgets he fiddled with will definitely open the eyes of these bumpkins who have never seen the world before. I can't push it away.

Wiping the saliva from his mouth, Song Qingshu was full of confidence and enthusiastically introduced to a few Ming Dynasty college students who were pushed to sit at the table and were still confused.

"The main business of the small shop is the dishes passed down from the other side of Xifan, and the monks from Xifan Kingdom preached for everyone, telling the new things that happened in Xifan Kingdom, which is definitely something that few scholars have never seen! "

After the introduction with a red face, Song Qingshu snapped his fingers like a chef, and ordered Caiwei: "Brother, I will go to the back kitchen to cook, Caiwei, you are responsible for greeting the objective, Xia Xiaoer, please come over to Priest Yang !"

He didn't like the name Xiaoer very much, Lao Gao with his scarred face twitched, he strangled Song Qingshu's back as he went to the kitchen, and then went to the second floor to invite the foreign monk who had moved over, Caiwei was full of enthusiasm. Excitedly, Song Qingshu handed over the fancy and hand-painted menu without PS, but at the first glance, the faces of the two sour talents, brother Feipeng and brother Baizhang, immediately turned pale.

Seeing that the four of them had the same expressions, Caiwei couldn't help but feel a little guilty, scratched the bun on the back of her head delicately, and explained with a sneer: "My shopkeeper brother's price is yes, it's a bit expensive."

What is a bit expensive, it is very expensive!A glass of water costs twenty copper coins, a plate of snacks costs fifty copper coins, and the cheapest dish costs a hundred coins. After a meal, their monthly salary probably won't be enough for this month, full of anger, that word Fei Peng, a skinny scholar in his twenties, slapped the table angrily, his mustache curled up.

"What black shop! Idiots come here to eat, if you don't eat, let's go!"

Caiwei was dumbfounded, and the four scholars were about to go out while slapping the table, but at this moment, a cold snort came through the door.

"The four poor people can't afford it, and they can't afford it. They still slander other people's stores for what they are doing. If you don't have money, don't come in. It will affect my mood!"

The four scholars looked over angrily, but it was a stocky Shanxi old Xier wearing a jacket with drooping ears, and there were two people behind him, but they were dressed more noblely than him. One was wearing a green gown made of Shu brocade, embroidered with rich and noble flowers. Although the man was so fat that he looked like a green watermelon, the aura of a local tyrant came to his face. The other was a little dark, tall and tall, wearing a suit Confucian Taoist robes may seem quite ordinary, but upon closer inspection, the exquisite pine and crane embroidery does not reveal a sense of elegance.

There is no machine embroidery in this era, and those who can wear embroidery are either officials or rich landlords. The three of them swaggered in, but they frightened the four scholars. Already leading the curious two people to sit down at the table next to her, the native Xier greeted the dazed Caiwei a few times with an air of air.

"Sister Caiwei, don't worry about the two being poor, go and tell your brother, brother, I brought two old friends here, let him quickly set a table for us!"

"Hey, some poor scholars, why don't you leave?"

Brother Baizhang, who was treating the guests, almost choked to death on this sentence, and roared furiously: "This quiet place has been contaminated by a few vulgar businessmen covered in bronze smells. It's disgusting. Brothers, let's go!" !"

Just now, a silly hat and another vulgar businessman, this time sitting beside Qu Botao, the two of them couldn't sit still anymore. The 30-year-old Confucian scholar in green shirt frowned and arched his fists and said, "Xie Liuyan, the Juren of Huizhou, Wanli 33 In [-], Huizhou prefecture and township examination won the first place. I don’t know where a few dear friends can get high? Maybe there are some acquaintances in the same list!”

The few scholars in Wang Haocai almost fainted. He is a Juren, the first in the provincial examination, and the local government can even directly send officials. They are also among the scholars who have the qualifications to go to Beijing to catch up with the examination. They are just struggling in the turn There are thousands of scholars who have just made their debut, and they can be looked down upon as clerks in the county government. Compared with others, they are far away.

And just now I laughed at them for being vulgar!
The round green watermelon saw that Xie Liuyan was still courteously dating the four poor scholars, so he simply waved his hand impatiently: "Brother Xie! What can we do with them? There are too many of them in my shop. Five days a month Two silvers, why do you want to do it, come, sit, ignore them, I am curious now, what kind of delicacies this old man can invite!"

Smiling, Xie Liuyan didn't say any more, and turned around and sat down. Seeing the three of them enjoying themselves, the four scholars whose lungs were about to explode couldn't sit or walk. After dawdling for a while, Wang Hao finally decided to He gritted his teeth fiercely: "Let's sit too! Xiaosheng wants to see, what kind of delicacy, if there is no real good thing, he should make fun of these three copper stinky people!"

"But Brother Baizhang, this price is too..." The scholar named Feipeng was still hesitating, but Wang Haocai had already snorted viciously.

"We are scholars, how can we lose our position in front of this group of copper stinkers, I will pay any amount of money, sit down! Little girl, let us order whatever they order!"

The four scholars sat down on the chairs like fighting spirit, and they were stunned for a long time before Caiwei came back to his senses under the urging of Wang Haocai, and hurriedly ran to the back kitchen.

Glancing at them sideways, the green fat man snorted disdainfully again, and Qu Botao, a regular customer, stretched out his hand to greet them very familiarly: "It's still the old rule, first serve three cups of Donghai Tao, and then worry about the country's worries." Min, what about spaghetti, pork chops, cream of mushroom soup, and finally some dim sum that I often eat!"

"I want the same one!" Scholar Wang Haocai gritted his teeth and shouted, and Caiwei's crisp answer came from inside.

"Good!"

After a while, Caiwei, who was dragging a large tray, wobbled out again, and the four people's eyes were straightened by what they were dragging.

The seven glasses of water are all blue and crystal clear. At this time, the glasses are still valuables. Song Qingshu can't afford them, so he simply burns them with sand. To be honest, the burnt glasses are not so good. Even in modern times, they are fake and inferior products. I have to return, but in the eyes of people who have never seen it in ancient times, it looks noble and magnificent, and the glasses of water are blue, which is amazing to see.

The four cups of water cost only one hundred yuan, and the four scholars drank so much that they trembled, but the fat green man was amazed at the sight. Seeing Qu Botao sucking it up with a straw, he followed suit and took a few sips , but slapped his thigh: "Isn't this the taste of tangerines? How can you drink tangerines in this pass?"

Listening to his inconceivable words, Qu Botao couldn't help revealing a complacent expression, and that honest and somewhat frustrated old face actually carried a look of a bit of a fish baited and a successful trick.

After drinking water, the foreign monk came late, Song Qingshu tricked him into preaching in the store, he really came here, and saved Song Qingshu a doorman, holding a cross in his hand, chanting While reading the Gospel, the foreign monk was also conscientiously teaching the four guests the etiquette of praying before meals. Sure enough, as Song Qingshu expected, the Chinese are always so curious about foreign things, even if Juren Xie Liuyan and the other four scholars are all Stomach crossed his chest curiously, and muttered prayers that he couldn't understand.

After praying, the foreign monk was fooled by the scarred face and went to the round table reserved there, holding a "Bible" and began to preach, but he spoke all in Latin, and he couldn't understand a sentence, but he had a special kind of lofty The feeling of being big, the lingering atmosphere made several guests nod their heads.

After a while, Caiwei, which opened for the first time, was full of excitement and brought up Song's western food. If the pasta is seen by people who often eat western food in the future, they will definitely jump on their feet and curse for being cheated, isn't it? Tomato and egg battered noodles?But in this day and age, tomatoes are also a novelty, and there are not many Ming people who have eaten them. Asking about the sour and eggy smell, several guys can't help but sniff their noses.

Worrying about the country and the people is the spicy duck head, or the name Qu Botao gave Wen Cranchi after eating it, and there are pork chops, creamy mushroom soup, all half-baked Western food, which Song Qingshu used to make for himself at home. It's something these people have never eaten, and the four scholars and two foreign businessmen who ate a meal all cried out.

In the end, he ate Song Qingshu's specialty butter cream class, and the few scholars who were angrily shouting at the black shop just now rubbed their bellies comfortably, but after a while, when it was time to pay, they became chaotic again.

"What happened?"

After working in the back kitchen for a long time, he didn't eat a bite. Hearing the noise of quarreling, Song Qingshu ran out sadly, but saw that the four scholars were not at all gentle, especially Wang Haocai, who had one leg Standing on the table, screaming furiously.

"Black shop! Black shop!"

(End of this chapter)