The fierce peasant woman is busy farming

"Auntie, you are joking. I heard you say that ice can be made with saltpeter?

That's why I decided to stay and ask, how to make ice?

If it can be used, my mission of delivering ginseng will not be so urgent.

It can make ice to keep food fresh, so I guess it won’t be a big deal if we delay it for a day.”

"Uh, Master Song's ears are pointed.

It's nothing, it just uses the principle that saltpeter absorbs a lot of heat when it comes into contact with water.

I wonder if saltpeter is expensive nowadays?"

"I don't know, kid, but I know it's sold in the pharmacy."

"Well, why is there saltpeter for sale in a drugstore?"

“Aunt, you don’t know that people are now rich and elixirs are popular. Saltpeter is needed to make elixirs, so the pharmacy sells saltpeter of very high purity.

If auntie can make ice with saltpeter, I will go to the county to buy saltpeter and come back for you to make ice.

With this ice, the ginseng will be very fresh when we bring it to Beijing."

Although Song Yuan's family is poor now, he has seen the world.

The wealthy families in Beijing often use ice to cool down in summer.

He has also eaten it several times.

However, ice is very precious and we cannot afford to buy or use it at home.

"Don't worry, Auntie. I can avoid you when you make ice. I won't learn your method secretly."

Seeing Zhou Yue hesitate, Song Yuan added.

"Oh, oh, no, I'm not afraid that you know this method.

I was wondering, is the saltpeter you mentioned really available in pharmacies?

Purity ok?

I am surprised, not trying to hide it."

"Then the auntie agreed?"

"Agree, no, agree to what?"

Zhou Yue thought about those predecessors who had traveled through time and made a fortune by using the method of making ice, and wondered if he could also give it a try.

Qing Mo was worried about the difficulty of doing business and always wanted to open a shop in the county.

Although I have many ways, I don’t have enough money.

Of course, if you want to sell ice cream, you have to go to big cities.

Not to mention Liangcang Town, even in Yi County and Yizhou Prefecture, I guess few people would be willing to buy ice.

Such high-end luxury business can only be done in the capital or the wealthy areas in the south.

You're thinking too far ahead. Since Song Yuan wants to use ice to preserve ginseng, this is an opportunity to see how our dynasty's saltpeter works.

“Oh, oh, you said saltpeter makes ice, I agree.

My donkey cart is slow, so I have to trouble Lord Song to ride a horse to the county to buy some saltpeter.

You don’t need to buy too much, just 10 to 20 kilograms.”

Is this still considered little?

Song Yuan thought that he would probably have to go to Zheng’s pharmacy to buy it, and only with the help of his relatives could he buy it.

It is said that saltpeter can be used to make gunpowder. The imperial court had a special firearms camp that developed firearms and used gunpowder on the battlefield.

Buying too much of these controlled goods can easily arouse the seller's suspicion.

Fortunately, I knew Zheng’s pharmacy, otherwise I would have to reveal my identity to buy so much saltpeter.

"Don't worry, this saltpeter is not disposable, it can be reused."

Zhou Yue thought Song Yuan was distressed that so much saltpeter was used in one go, so he tried to comfort him.

"Oh, okay, okay, it can be reused?"

Song Yuan came back to his senses and said quickly.

After seeing Song Yuan and his subordinates off, Zhou Yue put the ginseng in his room and hid it.

Cui Da, who was sent by Old Man Cui, also came.

He came to pick up Xuanmo to study at Mr. Cui's house in town.

I told Cui Da that he could come earlier for lunch, as today's staple food is bread and cake.

Cui Da left with Xuan Mo in a daze.

Cui Da now follows his master to eat many things that he has never eaten before.

Xuan Mo now rides back and forth with Cui Da every day, and often rides for a while on his own along the way. With Cui Da as his master, his riding skills are gradually improving.

Among the family, Shu Junmo is growing fast, while Shu Xuanmo is making great progress in his abilities.

His calligraphy is now so beautiful that even Zhou Yue, who doesn't know calligraphy, finds those words pleasing to the eye.

In addition to regular script, he has begun practicing other scripts such as running script and cursive script.

There are several people in Beijing who are qualified to be examiners, and each of them has different interests in calligraphy.

Xuanmo will definitely go to Beijing to take the imperial examination in the future, so he starts practicing calligraphy hard now to prepare for the metropolitan and palace examinations.

Master Cui said that although the formal exam requires covering the name and transcribing.

However, after the candidates are admitted and their rankings are determined, the chief and deputy examiners still have to look at the original test papers.

At this time, everyone's level is about the same, and their preference for calligraphy will affect the impressions of the chief and deputy examiners.

Moreover, during the final palace examination, the saint must also look at the test papers personally.

A saint certainly would not show favoritism, so what he saw was the original test paper.

The sage was a calligraphy enthusiast and attached great importance to the quality of calligraphy.

He often said that the handwriting reflects the character of the person.

Although the saint himself was not good at calligraphy, it did not prevent him from being able to appreciate it.

He has seen so many good calligraphy works, and his eye for appreciating calligraphy is first-rate.

He was very proud of this advantage of his and often spent a lot of money to find good calligraphy works.

Therefore, the quality of your calligraphy in the palace examination paper will affect whether you will be the top scorer, the second place, the third place, or fall behind.

Zhou Yue rubbed his forehead and said, "You really have the guts to think like that. Now Xuan Mo doesn't even have the title of a scholar."

You are thinking of going to Beijing to take part in the palace examination.

The imperial examination of this dynasty is slightly more complicated than that of the previous dynasty.

It is divided into four levels: Tongshi, Xiangshi, Huishi and Dianshi.

The first level is the Tongshi, which is held every three years and is divided into county examination, prefectural examination and academy examination, and is presided over by the educational officials of various prefectures and counties.

After passing the academy examination, students can obtain the qualification of "shengyuan", that is, "xiucai", and then enter the prefecture, state, or county schools to study. This is also called the entrance examination. All candidates, regardless of age, are called "tongsheng".

It took Ning Xiucai more than ten years to pass this first level.

The second level is the provincial examination, which is held in the provincial capitals every three years. The chief examiner is appointed by the emperor, and only those who pass the examination will be called "Juren Laoye".

Wang Jin is at this level. He started to learn at the age of six and it took him nearly forty years to reach this level.

The third level is the joint examination, which is held in Kyoto every three years and hosted by the Ministry of Rites.

The fourth level, those who passed the joint examination, will be tested by the emperor himself in the main hall of the imperial court, also known as the "Palace Examination."

Those who passed the palace examination were called "Jinshi".

Song Yuan is at this level.

The palace examination is divided into first, second and third classes and the results are announced based on the ranking: the first class has only three people, the top scorer, the second place and the third place, who are awarded the title of Jinshi; the second class has a number of people who are awarded the title of Jinshi; the third class has a number of people who are awarded the title of Tong Jinshi.

Song Yuan was ranked 47th on the second list that year and was a Jinshi.

The examination content continued from the previous dynasty, with calligraphy, calligraphy and poetry as the examination contents.

In fact, these exam contents have great disadvantages.

But reform is extremely difficult, so things that everyone from the imperial court to students know are difficult to change.

Fortunately, Mr. Cui, the teacher, is very flexible in teaching.

After seeing Xuan Mo off, Zhou Yue started to get busy.

Start baking cakes and bread in the yard.

Mr. Ning’s legs are much better now and he uses the wheelchair less often.

He walks around with crutches most of the time.

He directed Yang Mo and Qing Mo to prepare the stones and yellow mud needed to build the fire wall.

The Ning family’s children, the girls are treated as boys and the boys are treated as animals.

Fortunately, we now have Zhou Yue, who has prepared labor protection gloves for everyone.

This will prevent children's hands from getting too rough.