The Red Mansions Across the Four Seas

Chapter 66
The imperial examination system of the Dade Dynasty has become relatively complete on the basis of inheriting the previous system.

Among them, the township examination is held every Ziwu Maoyou year.

The calendar at this time is based on the sixty Jiazi cycle.A, B, C, D, W, Ji, Geng, Xin, Rengui have ten heavenly stems, plus the twelve earthly branches of Zi Chou, Yin, Mao, Chen, Si, Wu, Shen, You, Xu, and Hai.A group of stems and branches represents a year.

Therefore, it is generally taken every three years.

Such an examination is called a formal examination.This year is the year of Bingzi, which happens to be the year of the scientific examination.

If there is a major celebration event such as the emperor's enthronement or longevity, in order to show the mighty grace of the emperor and buy the hearts of the world, you can also add an exam called Enke.

If Enke collides with Zhengke, and it happens to be in the Ziwu Maoyou year, then this year will be changed to Enke.It turns out that this year's main course will be held one year in advance or one year later.

The test centers of the township examination are in Shuntian Prefecture and other provinces.The test center of the imperial capital belongs to the test center of Shuntian Mansion.It is generally called the northern chamber.

Those who take the exam here are generally students, tribute students and supervisors from Zhili, Fengtian and other places.

The specific examination room was held in the Gong Yuan.

The township examination is held in August every year, so it is also called Qiuwei. It is divided into three sessions.

The vast majority of candidates, especially those from other places, will rush to the imperial capital in advance to prepare for the exam.

Pre-examination preparation is the main homework, but you also need to prepare for things other than homework.

Some are visiting relatives and friends, and some are digging holes to find connections.Or to seek help, or to inquire about exam questions.

Of course, there are also a lot of fun.

There are many rich people among the candidates, and the best place to have fun is Dajinmen.

Here, not only can you have fun with beauties, show your talents, win the favor of beauties, but also leave a good story.

At the same time, you can also make many like-minded people.

Meiyuelou, of course I have to go.Shen Bingyi, the headliner of Meiyuelou, is naturally the one that many candidates are willing to meet.

As a result, the song "Poppy Poppy" spread among the students in the imperial capital at the fastest speed.

Although they liked this poem very much, they were also very depressed at the same time.

Because such a masterpiece through the ages was not written by any of them, not even by those Jinshi in the past.

It was written by a businessman.

There are also many businessmen who have read books, and many of them can also write a few poems.

However, this businessman had never read a book before.Although I have started to study by myself now, it is only a matter of a month or two.

After reading the book for only one or two months, you have written such a masterpiece. How embarrassing are you to make these high-spirited, self-proclaimed elites!
They naturally heard that Jia Min wrote this poem, and they also found out Jia Min's old background. He was from the Rongguo Mansion and an expert in business.

What happened to the people in Rongguo Mansion?Your ancestors are capable, and now you are a noble family, with the shadow of your ancestors, if you don't enjoy it, what kind of words do you write?Come and grab a job with us?
What happened to the master of business?If you don't earn your money well and come to our territory to slap your face, will you give us a way to survive?

They naturally have a way out, because things soon turned around.

Clearly or secretly, multiple sources of information prove that these poems by Jia Min are likely to be plagiarized.

These news were even confirmed by Jia Min's own family members in Jia's mansion.

Since it is plagiarized, it makes sense.

Scholars who have studied hard for many years can't write such poems. How can a person who has only studied for a month or two write it?
It is said that Luo Hanlin of the Wenzong of the World has already spread the word that he wants to gather some people to test Jia Min face to face on the birthday of Old Madam Shi, the head of Jia's mansion, so as to expose his true colors.

With the collection of news, the candidates found out that this Jia Min was actually a rebellious person.

He even dared to say that he would sell his three-acre watermelon and three-acre apple for 5000 taels of silver.

These two things not only need to be sold for 1 taels, but also specially sold to those candidates who come to the rural examination.

what does he mean?Are you provocative?Are you taking us for fools?
Although most of the candidates are not good at farming, they also understand that this is absolutely impossible after visiting melon and fruit farmers.

So they connected in series one after another, and made an appointment to go to Yeduju together when the time came. If everyone didn't buy it, just see how he sold the watermelons and apples.

Not only watermelons and apples, but this lunatic even said that he can grow Ganoderma lucidum. Have you ever seen such a joke?
Even his own family members didn't believe it, so they made a bet with him, do you think it's reliable?
It is said that this Jia Min also released rumors that on that day, he would compete with 1000 candidates for poetry by himself.If anyone can beat him, he will offer 10000 taels of silver.If he wins, he won't get a penny.

What is he doing?Isn't this clearly contempt for all scholars in the world?
What's even more ridiculous is that he even said that there will be auspicious signs in his place at that time.What auspicious sign?Keep it a secret now!You'll know when the time comes.

Of course we are going to see it, not to mention the auspicious signs, even if there is no such thing, in order to expose your lies about watermelons and apples, we still have to go.

We want to expose your true colors in one fell swoop, and ruin your reputation from now on, to see if you still dare to despise scholars all over the world.

He sells his watermelon, doesn't seem to despise us scholars?
Why didn't you despise it?If he plagiarized, he despised it.

Since it is plagiarism, the plagiarized poems are also scholars' poems. This seems to be not contempt, but admiration for scholars?

Even if he did not plagiarize, we would not be able to write such poems after studying hard for more than ten years.He has never read a book, how can he write it easily?

If we are all like him, what face do we have to study? Doesn't that prove that we are all stupid?

Oh, it seems to make some sense.

The birthday banquet of the old lady of Jia's mansion is held every year.It's just that the scale is smaller all year round, and it's only in the years when the fifth and the tenth are in full swing.

Even if it is a big year, it is only limited to those circles of family acquaintances.It has never been like this year, and it has attracted the attention of the whole city before the day comes.

This attention was naturally caused by the new illegitimate son in Jia's mansion.

The topic of Guogong wine and pressure wells was brought up again.However, the focus of people's attention soon shifted to Jia Min's poetic talent and his bets.

In particular, it aroused the turmoil of the candidates who participated in the imperial examination this year, which pushed the attention to the climax.

The preparations for this birthday banquet have already started.The post has been sent out, and a budget of 3000 taels has been made.

However, the next reaction was somewhat unexpected.People who hadn't planned to invite people who had no relationship with Jia's mansion before also sent people to inquire and negotiate, saying that they would come to celebrate Shi Taijun's birthday when the day came.

When people come to celebrate their birthday, they think highly of us, so naturally they can't refute their face.So, Mother Jia took out another 2000 taels of silver from her small treasury.The birthday banquet plan has also been readjusted.

Mother Jia's birthday is the third day of the eighth lunar month, and from July 26th, a birthday banquet will be held in Rongning and Ningxia for a total of eight days.

Although the preparations were proceeding in an orderly manner, inside Jia's mansion, there was a layer of uneasiness and anxiety.

This birthday banquet brought a lot of uncertainty because of the wind and rain caused by Jia Min.

Almost everyone didn't know what would happen at the upcoming birthday party.

At this time, in a place in the city that seems to have nothing to do with Jia's mansion, something that has nothing to do with them happened.

This is the largest gambling house in the imperial capital - Liansheng Casino.

The boss of Liansheng Casino is said to be very mysterious. Even the neighbors of the casino and some guys don't know who the boss is.

It doesn't really matter who the boss is.Just know that Liansheng Casino is a time-honored brand.

It is said that Liansheng Casino has a history of more than 100 years. There are three branches in the imperial capital, and there are more than a dozen branches in Beizhili and Nanzhili.

Liansheng Casino is famous for its strong strength and outstanding reputation, but now, it has been involved in a rather puzzling gambling situation.

Someone teamed up with Liansheng Gambling House, and placed a bet on the sale of 5000 taels of silver by Fourth Master Jia of Rongguo Mansion's watermelon and apple.

This is really a gamble, a game within a game.

Niu Jizong now feels quite smug.

The bus project, after successfully pushing Jia Min out, is progressing smoothly and is advancing in an orderly manner.

This pioneering move brought him great popularity, and almost everyone who met him praised his idea.Praise him for his foresight and unique vision.

Of course Niu Jizong thinks so, but now he regards it as his own idea and has nothing to do with Jia Min.

In the past two days, the bus and carriage will open, so he is very excited.I just hope that time will pass faster and that day will come sooner.

Since starting this project, he almost forgot about Jia Min.However, the recent ups and downs about Jia Min pushed Jia Min stubbornly into his field of vision.

He is a regular customer of Liansheng Casino, and whenever he has time, he will come here to gamble a few times.

Just now, the shopkeeper told him about Jia Min's gambling game, which made Niu Jizong very interesting.

To be honest, Niu Jizong still had a good impression of Jia Min.The carriage business didn't take him, and he didn't say anything.So far, Jia Min has never come to make trouble.This made him feel a little sorry,

He even decided that when the business was profitable, he would treat Jia Min to a drink to express his gratitude to Jia Min.

However, gratitude is gratitude, business is business, and gambling is gambling.Although Niu Jizong knew that Jia Min was good at doing business, he didn't think that watermelons on three acres of land could be sold for 5000 taels of silver.

Therefore, at Liansheng Casino, he still invested 5000 taels of silver and bought Jia Min to lose.

Just as Niu Jizong was walking out, he saw several people walking towards Liansheng Casino.

(End of this chapter)