The Prosperous Era of Longwan

It is also possible to go from Jiujiang Prefecture to Nanchang by water.

You can enter Poyang Lake by going around the mouth of the lake from Jiujiang, and then sail to the mouth of the Ganjiang River and go up the Ganjiang River to reach Nanchang Fucheng.

The water surface of Poyang Lake is wide. Although it is an inland lake, there are times when the wind is high and the waves are rough, so the sand boats are sent out for insurance.

However, Wei Guangde and his party went smoothly this time, and soon they arrived at the mouth of the Ganjiang River.

I don’t know when it started to be called Ganjiang, but at this time, Ganjiang was still called Zhangjiang, and Nanchang Prefecture was once called Zhangjiang City.

Going up the river, we arrived at Nanchang Fucheng in a few days.

After getting off the ship at the pier, Wu Dong gave the ship's steward a small ingot of silver as a tip, which was an official position of a general flag. It was not a big deal, but he was well cared for along the way, so it was inevitable to give him some small favors.

Although Jiujiang Wei is located in Jiangxi, it is not under the jurisdiction of the Jiangxi Dudu Commandery Si Yamen. It is directly under the jurisdiction of the former Military Dudufu, so there is not much contact with it.

After the people were sent to Nanchang Mansion, the boat was about to go back.

When he came back, he took the water route. When he went back, Wei Guangde wanted to go sightseeing all the way back.

Nanchang Gongyuan is located in the east of Nanchang Fucheng, not far from the East Lake.

There was originally a large peach forest directly north of the Gongyuan, for examination scholars to watch and rest. To the west of the peach forest, there were stakes for candidates to tie their horses. This is the origin of the current place name "horse tying stake".

After leaving the pier and entering the city, Wei Guangde and Zeng Yuanrui were both visiting Nanchang Fucheng for the first time, so naturally everything they saw was new.

However, Zeng Yuanshu and Wu Dong had been here before, especially Zeng Yuanshu, who was here for the second time.

He failed the two college examinations. Although Zeng Yuanshu was cheerful and very relaxed along the way, Wei Guangde guessed that if he continues to fail this year, Zeng brother is afraid that he will leave a psychological shadow. In the future college examinations, he will only It will be even harder, and there’s no telling if I’ll only be able to wear the hat of a “tongsheng” for the rest of my life.

Wei Guangde was thinking that if Zeng Yuanshu failed the exam this time, it would be better for his family to spend some money, bribe the Jiujiang magistrate, prepare an addendum, and directly participate in the Jiangxi Township exam. He might as well try his luck, and he might win. ?

In ancient imperial examinations, chance, that is, luck, was really important.

Tang Bohu, whom Wei Guangde was familiar with, didn't seem to be a scholar. It's just that legend has it that he was kicked off because the academic official hated him for visiting a brothel. But the historical truth is whether he didn't have enough knowledge or he was really kicked off because he was dissolute in a brothel. Down, who knows?

Everyone involved in this matter has passed away, so everyone can only spread rumors.

As for Brother Tang's success in the Southern Zhili Township Examination, this does not actually mean that he can pass the college examination. Chances still exist. Maybe the examiner does not like his article and insists that he does not pass.

However, this memory also reminded Wei Guangde that at least before the results of the imperial examination are released, he must not go to a brothel. Who knows which little girl you snatched may be the favorite of the examiner, and he will have a grudge to remove you.

In fact, scholars in the Ming Dynasty still liked to visit romantic places. Wei Guangde also wanted to see them, but he always suffered from lack of opportunities and small money.

After walking in the city for a long time, we walked through the streets and alleys and came to a prosperous place. In the distance was a lake.

"The bridge in front is called the Zhuangyuan Bridge. I don't know if any number one scholar has passed by it, but every time the candidates take a college or rural examination, they have to walk there to get good luck. Behind it is Gongyuan Street. This time the college Take the test over there."

At this point, Zeng Yuanshu stopped, pointed ahead and introduced Wei Guangde and Zeng Yuanrui.

"Yuan Shu, did you settle the bill with the inn where we stayed last year? I also prepaid the room there."

At this time, Wu Dong suddenly spoke.

"It's not settled, but the shopkeeper also recorded it in the small book. You paid for three days' rent. According to what we said at the beginning, it was reserved before the hospital examination. If you don't arrive the day before, you can rent it out. You There should be two days left for those three days’ rent.”

Zeng Yuanshu smiled.

"If you win the exam, you have to reserve the room fee for the provincial examination, otherwise you won't be able to find a nearby inn for you to stay."

Wu Dong said, and after speaking, he led the way and took Wei Guangde and the others to an inn according to his own memory before stopping.

"This is it."

Wu Dong smiled and asked Zeng Yuanshu that he had not been here for two years. There were many inns in the market here. Although Wu Dong was somewhat impressed, he was afraid of walking into the wrong door.

"Good memory."

Zeng Yuanshu smiled and cupped his hands.

When we entered the inn, a waiter came over to greet us.

"Several young gentlemen want several guest rooms. Now that the college exam is coming, the shop only has two guest rooms for the young gentlemen to live in."

Hearing what the waiter said, it was obvious that there were a lot of people in their group and he was afraid that there would be no guest rooms for them to live in, so he said this.

"Haha, do the guest rooms reserved last year count?"

When he heard that there were two more guest rooms, Wu Dong smiled and asked.

"Reserved? Sir, what's your surname? I'll look through the ledger."

When he heard about reserving a guest room, the waiter knew that a regular customer was here.

In Nanchang Mansion, whether it is a college examination or a provincial examination, candidates are actually not afraid of not being able to find a guest room. After all, this is the capital of Jiangxi, so how can it not even be able to provide accommodation for candidates.

However, if you want to live nearby, it depends on who arrives first. The one who arrives first will get a house, and the one who arrives later will have to live further away.

Soon the shopkeeper came over. He was still a little impressed when he saw Zeng Yuanshu, but his impression of Wu Dong faded a lot.

Similar to what Zeng Yuan said, Wu Dong's room fee reserved earlier was indeed recorded, but it was only one day instead of two days.

It actually doesn't matter if there is one more day or one less day. The four rooms are considered complete.

Originally, Zeng Yuanshu reserved a room, and Wu Dong's was still a few days away from the hospital exam, but he also calculated that several merchants in the store would check out in two days, so there were still three rooms left, so just squeeze them in first. .

I asked the shopkeeper to set up a table of wine and food, and a few people started eating near the lobby.

"In this way, you and Guangde will live in a room, and I will live in a room with Yuan Rui for the next few days. When the store has a room, I will move out."

After the guest room matter was settled, it was natural to make arrangements to see how to stay there.

The luggage that the four of them carried with them was first moved into a guest room, but it was just a temporary storage, and they had not yet decided how to live in it.

"Okay, let's stay like this for a few days."

Zeng Yuanshu didn't care about this. When he came to Nanchang City for the college examination for the first time, he arrived late. He didn't greet the store in advance like he did now, so he walked around two streets and couldn't find a suitable room.

In the end, there was still an empty room in this house, so the two of them squeezed into the same room, and then they both lost.

"After dinner, we will move the luggage into the room. We will take them out for a walk and walk across the Zhuangyuan Bridge."

Zeng Yuanshu continued.