Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

As soon as it dawned, the scholars were in a hurry to go out.

Everyone hurriedly rushed outside the Gongyuan, but unfortunately they were still late.

There were more people reading the results today than during the exam that day, and the whole street was blocked.

Some wealthy businessmen even came directly with their servants. They are here to rob people, not to take away the successful candidates against their will, but to compete with their colleagues for "son-in-law"!

Bai Sheng, Gu San and other followers held sticks to clear the way, shouting along the way: "Quickly give way, quicky give way, gentlemen, please watch the list!"

Seeing that they were all test takers, the other people blocking the way consciously gave way to a narrow passage.

After waiting for a long time, officials finally surrounded the subordinates and squeezed in with difficulty to post the yellow list.

The first list posted had about a hundred names.

Shi Biao was completely illiterate and could only stand outside the crowd, holding the cornucopia and waiting in a daze.

Bai Sheng had been reading for a few days, and he immediately saw "Ju Ming" at the bottom of the list. He immediately shouted excitedly: "I won, my husband won!"

"Who got hit? Who got hit?"

In an instant, more than a dozen wealthy businessmen and their servants crowded in frantically.

Officials and officials would also catch their sons-in-law, but they basically only caught those in the top three rankings. Although there is no palace examination yet, and there is no first-class ranking, most of the top three in the provincial examination are better.

Only those wealthy businessmen will eat anything they want, even old men.

As the saying goes: If you read a hundred tons of documents, you will get a blue shirt when you are old. The matchmaker asked me how old I was, forty years ago and thirty-three.

The wealthy businessman who was the first to squeeze in, surrounded Ju Ming with his servants, and explained the situation quickly: "My dear husband, my family lives in Chenliu, not far from Tokyo. There are thousands of acres of fertile land and two business houses. , and more than twenty shops. My daughter is seventeen years old this year, virtuous and virtuous, and as beautiful as a flower. If my husband is willing to marry me, I will give you eight hundred acres of fertile land and three shops!"

Another wealthy businessman squeezed in and said disdainfully: "Where is Chenliu in the countryside? You dare to come to Tokyo to beg for food. My dear husband, my family is in Tokyo. Although I have no land, I have a hotel in Tokyo. My eldest son-in-law also has a hotel in Tokyo. He was born as a Jinshi and has been sent to the county magistrate of Yangcheng. My brother is still a Dingtao academic officer. If my husband marries his daughter, he will have someone to take care of him in the officialdom in the future."

"My family owns a goods store in Tokyo, which is more valuable than that shabby hotel. My brother-in-law is a scholar from Puzhou!" Another wealthy businessman squeezed over.

At this moment, dozens more scholars shouted one after another: "I've been hit, I've been hit!"

The wealthy businessmen who originally rushed towards Ju Ming turned around and surrounded the scholars.

Bai Chongyan's book boy suddenly cheered, and Bai Chongyan himself looked at Huang Bang in disbelief. He got it, sixth from the bottom.

Li Hanzhang didn't find his name, and he was worried and looking forward to it. Maybe he was ranked higher.

The second list was posted, but there was still no Li Hanzhang.

Min Zishun cheered and shouted. He had failed four times in a row and finally won this time!

There were also wealthy businessmen surrounding him. Min Zishun, who was usually very serious, was so happy that he started joking: "I come from a humble background, so it would be a blessing if I could climb up to the rich and powerful. Everyone, just wait, I will write a letter to my family and go back. Discuss it with Zhuo Jing. If she agrees, I will marry again."

"Ha ha ha ha!"

The people around him burst into laughter, and the wealthy businessmen stopped pestering him and quickly went to find their next prey.

The three wealthy businessmen blocking Ju Ming were about to start a fight.

Ju Ming cupped his hands and said, "Thank you for your kindness. I have an engagement."

A wealthy businessman from Chenliu said: "The engagement can be terminated. If the marriage is not consummated for three years, it will be automatically annulled. There are still a few years left, and my daughter can afford to wait. Someone, take the little husband away!"

This guy is a local tycoon from Chenliu. He brought many servants with him, and he was so impatient that he grabbed them directly.

He saw six servants rushing toward him, and Zhu Ming immediately kicked out, knocking the one at the front until he doubled over and screamed in pain. Then he punched out another fist, knocking the second servant unconscious on the spot.

The remaining four servants were too scared to move and looked at Ju Ming stupidly.

"Get out!" Ju Ming shouted.

Bai Sheng immediately boasted: "My brother led the troops to suppress thieves. He killed eight hundred thieves with one shot per person and disarmed them!"

The three wealthy businessmen, fearful of Ju Ming's force, chose to give up and turned around to catch other tributes.

Suddenly screams came from the crowd: "I am fifty-six this year, and my two sons are already married... Let go quickly, my sleeves are torn... What a shame, what a shame!"

Someone else is saying: "Old sir, don't worry. My daughter is eighteen this year. She is a good match for me. She will definitely be filial to her aunt when she gets married."

What a pity for this old gentleman, he was carried away directly by his servants.

The scholar who was not yet sure that he had been selected shed tears of envy on the spot.

The third yellow list was posted, but there was still no name of the Yangzhou scholar, and Li Hanzhang became more and more anxious.

The fourth yellow list is still missing.

After reading the fifth and last picture, Li Hanzhang was instantly stunned.

Among the ten scholars from Yangzhou, including Li Hanzhang, there were eleven in total, and three of them were admitted to the provincial examination: Zhu Ming was ranked last, Bai Chongyan was sixth from last, and Min Zishun was ranked 197th.

Li Hanzhang, Ling Guxu, Wang Chang and others...all failed.

And in the entire Lizhou Road, no one passed the exam.

Qin Hui looked at the list, his body trembling. His ranking was extremely high, exactly seventeenth.

The powerful people have already begun to take action, uniting to drive away the wealthy businessmen, and asking the winners one by one about their specific circumstances.

"Master Shiro, this man is not yet married, he is of the right age, and he even ranked 17th in the provincial examination!" a servant shouted.

Wang Zhongke rushed to Qin Hui: "Is he really unmarried?"

Not knowing the details of this person, Qin Hui was a little uneasy and replied: "I am not married, and I have no engagement."

Wang Zhongke asked again: "How old are you?"

Qin Hui replied: "Twenty-five years old."

Wang Zhongke asked again: "Who else is at home?"

Qin Hui replied: "My father died young and served as a county magistrate. I also have my mother and younger brother living in my uncle's house."

Wang Zhongke looked at Qin Hui carefully, and the more he looked, the more satisfied he became: "It's you, take it back!"

Qin Hui exclaimed: "Wait a minute, wait a minute, may I ask who you are?"

Wang Zhongke asked his servants to carry Qin Hui away, and then he said, "My father is the Duke of Wang Bagui, haven't you heard of it?"

Qin Hui, who was still struggling at first, was overjoyed when he heard that he could be the grandson-in-law of the late prime minister: "Father-in-law, let go of my son-in-law. I just agree."

In this way, Qin Hui became Li Qingzhao's cousin-in-law.

As for Qin Hui and Cai Jing being brothers-in-law, this is mostly unofficial nonsense.

First, there is no official history or epitaph record; second, the age difference is too big; third, after Qin Huizhong became a Jinshi, he was not promoted by Cai Jing.

Qin Hui met his father-in-law here, and then went to meet Zhu Ming and others to congratulate each other on their high school.

After the guy left, Li Hanzhang said sourly: "It is really enviable that a commoner from a poor family can become the prime minister's grandson-in-law in a blink of an eye."

Zhu Ming smiled and said nothing. Just Qin Hui, the Wang family, and Jin Bing all came to be traitors.

Ling Guxu cupped his fists and said, "Congratulations to all three of you!"

Zhu Ming, Bai Chongyan, and Min Zishun returned the gift at the same time, and other fellow scholars also came to congratulate him.

Facing everyone's envious gazes, Ju Ming consoled him: "There are still palace exams to be taken. If you are still ranked at the bottom, I don't know how many years will be wasted. It doesn't matter whether you win the Jinshi or not."

This is the truth. In the middle and early stages of the Northern Song Dynasty, only three to four hundred people were admitted to Jinshi in each session.

During the reign of Emperor Zhezong of the Song Dynasty, the number of people exceeded 500.

When Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty came to power, the Empress Dowager also only admitted more than 500 people.

When Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty came to power, the number of scholars became overwhelming. 671 people were admitted to the first class, and 731 people were admitted to the second class. The number of Jinshi increased dramatically.

The rank of Jinshi has also increased from only third grade to fourth and fifth grade.

After passing the Jinshi exam, you still have to take the Guanshi exam.

Only those who pass the customs examination can hold office.

Nowadays, with more people and fewer officials, it is becoming more and more difficult to assign officials and be promoted.

New scholars who are promoted to county captains are very lucky.

Many Jinshi can only be teachers of state studies, and they stay there for several years.

If you do well in the national examination, you can become a state school principal, but you may not be able to move for many years.

For example, Qin Hui has been the principal for eight years.

Lin Xun, a scholar from Guangnan whom I met when setting up a stall, was even worse. He had been a principal for ten years.

Because he failed the examination, Li Hanzhang was depressed for a while. At this time, he figured it out and said calmly: "Don't worry about success. With the advice of a good brother, you will definitely get the first or second place in the imperial examination."

"Haha, I hope so." Ju Ming smiled.

The imperial examination is really dark, and it is the hardest hit area for imperial examination fraud.

Historically, in the next imperial examination, the emperor took the lead in cheating.

The favorite son of Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty was King Zhao Kai, who was proficient in all kinds of music, chess, calligraphy and painting. Song Huizong felt that this son was similar to himself, and even considered changing to the prince.

A prince who was more than ten years old actually ran to take part in the imperial examination and was selected as the number one scholar.

Probably Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty felt that this was too outrageous. After his son was ranked first in the roll call, he ordered the second place to be changed to the number one scholar, and his son was demoted to second place.

Don't think that the limelight was stolen by Jiawang Zhao Kai, the top pick seemed to be in such a miserable state. This guy is a "official man". He can directly become an official with the help of his father's kindness. If he is admitted to Jinshi, he can be initially awarded a higher official position.

It was the first time since the founding of the Song Dynasty that an "official" won the first prize.

Moreover, the third place is also "an official".

In other words, the next palace examination will be the darkest moment of the imperial examination in the Song Dynasty.

Among the top three, one is a prince and two are "officials". He has such a special background. Who would believe that he wasn’t cheating?

Song Huizong and his favorite officials broke through the lower limit again and again.

Back to the inn, they drank and celebrated. Some people were happy and some were sad.

Li Hanzhang went to Zhu Ming alone to chat: "Oh, things are unpredictable. I usually write better articles than brother Juncai. This time he passed the exam, but I failed. It's time and fate. I don't plan to take the exam again. My father I have a family friend who is a general in Huangzhou. Now that the Northwest War is going on, I plan to join Shishu, and maybe I can get some military glory."

"The sword has no eyes, but brother Zhen, be careful." Ju Ming reminded.

"Haha, if you die, you will be unlucky." Li Hanzhang said with a smile.

This guy really likes the military. It would be good to join the military. Anyway, he can take the exam again in the future. Even if you become a military commander, you can take the imperial examination and become a civil servant.

This time, three Yangzhou scholars passed the examination. Ju Ming was an accident, and Bai Chongyan was also brought out by Ju Ming. Min Zishun was the only one who truly won the Jinshi award based on his own ability, which was very consistent with the basic situation of Yangzhou - one Jinshi was awarded in more than 20 years.

Ju Ming has decided that if he passes the examination and is assigned to be a principal or teacher, he will go directly back to Daming Village to count balls.