Making money, taking exams, and raising a family in rural imperial examinations

After the nine-day exam, almost all the candidates in the exam room lost weight.

And he has a beard and a stinking sweat all over his body.

Those who are unlucky to sit next to the toilet bucket are even more tormented in this hot weather. Anyway, every time Lin Ze goes to the toilet, he will find that there is one less examinee next to the toilet, which is probably smoked. Dizzy away.

When going to the toilet on the last day, Lin Ze found that there was only one candidate with a strong body still standing firm, but looking at the other person's face, he was afraid that a heavy shadow had been left, and he felt inexplicably sympathetic to that candidate.

After the exam on the last day, almost all the examinees left the Gongyuan with their hands on the wall, breathing the air outside, as if they had gone from hell to heaven.

The nine-day Gongyuan Examination has reached the extreme for everyone's physical and mental training, and they walked out of the gate of the Gongyuan.

There are crying and laughing among them.

But all the candidates had no energy to think about how they were doing in the exam, so they rushed back to the inn with only one purpose, and that was to sleep.

It doesn't matter what washing your face or body odor, if you don't take a good rest, they will probably die suddenly.

Lin Ze and Han Yuanqing did the same. They walked out of the Gongyuan without saying a word, went back to the small courtyard where they stayed, and then fell into a deep sleep after entering the room.

This drowsy sleep lasted for a day and a night, until they opened their eyes again, they were in the mood to take a bath, change clothes, shave, take care of their appearance, and then eat and discuss the exam situation.

"Brother Lin, you are right. This time the focus is really on arithmetic. Although I temporarily hugged the Buddha's feet, I am usually very negligent in this regard. I am afraid that it is hopeless, but it doesn't matter. Fortunately, this time it was En Ke, I can continue to come next year... but Brother Lin, you are afraid that this time you are just trying to get something out of your bag?"

Han Yuanqing knew his ability, and the test results were already counted, but he was not satisfied. This time the test questions were tricky, no wonder they didn't work hard.

But Lin Ze, he has always known that Lin Ze has a lot of research in mathematics, and Zeyu Private School also has a special mathematics class, which is completely Lin Ze's forte.

Needless to say, policy theory is also Lin Ze's specialty. Anyway, I feel that apart from poetry and essays, even if Lin Ze is not proficient in other aspects, he still has a bit of ink.

"I don't dare to take things out of the pocket, and I have seventy to eighty percent certainty in the exam."

Lin Ze nodded, but he was not humble. He was indeed confident, but he was not too complacent towards outsiders.

But it is enough to be congratulated with a seventy-eight percent confidence in the statement. Han Yuanqing was very happy to hear that, and congratulated him in advance.

"Brother Lin is too modest, Yuanqing is waiting to hear good news from Brother Lin's high school."

"Auspicious words from Brother Han."

Lin Ze smiled, and it was rare for him to be civilized with Han Yuanqing. In normal times, he would definitely have an embarrassment.

……

At the end of the exam, the students had all kinds of heated discussions. They felt that they had passed the exam and laughed heartily. They invited their friends to celebrate in advance in brothels, brothels or teahouses. Those who knew that they had nothing to do would be dejected and hurried home with their burdens on their backs. .

Lin Ze felt that he did well in the exam, but he was not very familiar with the students in Qingshan County, let alone the others in the provinces and counties.

Besides, brothels and brothels were places he wouldn't go to, and teahouses and restaurants were not very interesting to him. Instead of going against the other students by drinking, reciting poems and drinking tea, he might as well let him play with his good son.

So after a two-day short rest, Lin Ze returned to Qingshan County immediately after recovering from the tortured spirit in the Gongyuan.

Han Yuanqing has some good friends, so he stays in the provincial town to meet friends for the time being.

Dust-ridden, eager to go home.

Zhang Yu, who had been waiting for Lin Ze to come home, did not ask any questions about the exam. He made him a bowl of shredded pork noodles, boiled hot water, let him eat well, washed him up, and came out. Besides.

For Father Lin, Lin Ze is now very promising. He used to look forward to his son taking the imperial examination because he didn't want his son to suffer in the fields like him. Now that Lin Ze has done it, the family no longer cares so much about the imperial examination results.

However, Lin Ze himself is very confident. He is [-]% sure about Han Yuanqing, and [-]% sure about his family.

"If there are no accidents, we can start preparing things for Beijing now..."

"Okay, okay, Boss, Dad already knows that you are promising, and the descendants of the Lin family will no longer have to plan food in the soil in the future."

Father Lin stopped Jiang Rongniang, and was relieved to see his grown son.

Zhang Yu also laughed. He knew that Xianggong still wanted to go to the capital, but because he and Dongdong father and son were safe and didn't want to go to the muddy water, he didn't regret being able to take a stroll in the capital while taking the imperial examination.

But the road to the capital is far away, and the delay in the exam will take at least a year. Before leaving, you must arrange your family affairs smoothly, and there are still some things that need to be done quickly.

"Master, before we leave, do we have to do something else?"

Zhang Yu pointed to Lin Xiaolian and Wang Maozi who were sitting next to each other, and smiled jokingly.

Lin Ze was stunned for a moment, then stretched out his hand to pat his head, "Look at my memory, it's time for my little sister to have a wedding..."

For more than a year, Wang Maozi worked very hard in the private school. Although his academic talent was not as good as that of the students in the private school, his hard work was definitely no worse than that of any student in the private school.

So far, the other party has not only slipped away from Nanyang language, but also learned the characters of Daji Dynasty. I don't know how much hard work I have put in during this period.

Of course, Wang Maozi is also very concerned about marrying a daughter-in-law. Taking advantage of Lin Ze's advantage of being close to the water, he chased Lin Xiaolian, and made those outside who wanted to take advantage of Lin Xiaolian's relationship with Lin Ze stomp their teeth in anger. itch.

Lin Xiaolian didn't expect that Wang Maozi would like her. In her heart, Wang Maozi was very good, so he fell in love with her?

At that time, she was panicked and pleasantly surprised. She was afraid of encountering the previous incident again, but seeing that Lin Ze held Wang Maozi very seriously and got along day and night, she found that Wang Maozi was indeed a pretty good guy, so she naturally agreed shyly.

"Brother Lin, just tell me what you want. I, I, I want to marry Xiaolian as my wife. I think she is very good. Although I have no money now, I can earn. I will let Xiaolian take care of everything I earn in the future. Both parents agreed, they said that the eldest daughter-in-law should be the housekeeper..."

When he finally got the words from the Lin family, Wang Maozi was very excited, and of course he was a little apprehensive.

The Lin family was originally better off than his family. Now Lin Ze is very likely to be a candidate, and he may be the champion in the future. Since his family has no special source of income for more than a year, it is not much different from ordinary villagers. Marrying the daughter of the Lin family It's not a bad idea to say Gao Pan.

He really wanted to marry a wife now, but he was afraid that his family's situation would make the girl miserable.

But Lin Xiaolian didn't mind this, she shyly helped him speak, "Brother, I am also willing, it doesn't matter if Brother Maozi doesn't have money, he has skills, we can earn together when we get married..."

"Long love concubine, family background is clean, if I beat mandarin ducks with a stick, won't I be resented? You can see for yourself, what to do when you are optimistic."

Lin Ze smiled and had no objection, Wang Maozi had already tested him.

It doesn't matter that the other party is inconspicuous now, the days will be long in the future, Lin Xiaolian's temperament is much better than marrying someone she likes, and Lin Xiaolian is not careless about her.

Father Lin and Jiang Rongniang had long thought about Lin Xiaolian's marriage. They had already prepared everything for the dowry, and they were just waiting to find the right person to marry.

The Wang family also saved the money for their son's marriage a long time ago. As soon as the Lin family let go, the Wang family happily invited a matchmaker to propose a marriage date.

In this era, Wang Maozi is not too young. Many children of his age have started to jump up and down. Not to mention that the Lin family can't find a good marriage even with lanterns. No matter how poor the Lin family is, as long as the son is willing to marry Yes, the Wang family's parents have no objection.

When the news got out, many people sighed, thinking that the Lin family's temper was really weird.

There are so many masters in the town who ask matchmakers to propose marriage to their young masters. The Lin family refuses to agree, but now they are looking at the poor boy of the Wang family. What is the Lin family thinking!

But no matter what, Lin Xiaolian's marriage has been delayed for such a long time, and it was decided very urgently. The two families agreed to rush the time before Lin Ze left.

Although the parents don't need the eldest brother to be the officiant of the younger sister, Lin Ze's status is different. With him appearing on the occasion, the marriage is even more important.

On the contrary, the matter of the imperial examination results was left behind by the Lin family, and they really didn't care much.

Such a performance made everyone feel that Lin Ze was neither arrogant nor impetuous, calm and calm, and he deserved to be a gentleman who opened a private school.

Unlike some other talented people, who have passed the exam before the exam results come out, they just look like they have already passed the exam, but they don't know that the more this kind of person, the more embarrassing they are when the final results come out.

Cohen had just passed the exam, and before the results came out, it was the focus of public discussion and attention.

And the provincial, county and city government offices are also in full swing. Several examiners have to read thousands of test papers within a month, and select the best among them, and then rank them at the end.

Except for the fixed reciting and arithmetic questions, there are no standard answers to the scientific examination questions, so it takes a lot of energy.

If it were in previous years, examiners from all over the world might read the characters first, then the poems, and then the policy theory.

Because characters are like people, poems are like ideas, and even basic calligraphy and poetry can't be written well, how can we talk about other excellences?

However, this year's imperial decree stipulated that His Majesty strictly stated that the Enke this time was to fill in the vacancy of the imperial court for direct selection of talents, and it was due to "according to position matters", so the marking habits were all changed.First, no dossier should be ignored with calligraphy.Second, poetry should not be used as the key point of judgment in the test paper.Third, policy theory and arithmetic are the most important, and those who dare to speak, dare to answer, and do it are the best.

To put it bluntly, His Majesty's opening of Enke this time is just a follow-up action for the previous court shake-up. I am afraid that it is simply to choose a group of dare-to-say and dare-to-do leaders as bargaining chips to contain the remaining veterans.

To put it bluntly, with the support of His Majesty, these inexperienced, idealistic, and aggressive young people will definitely make the old foxes in the court scurry, and then show their feet and let His Majesty grab the pigtails.

But these are things that will come later, and now His Majesty's request is really difficult for the chief examiners of Enke in this world.

With His Majesty's imperial decree, it means that everyone will not have the slightest chance to be lazy in marking the papers this time. You must read each test paper slowly, and then select suitable pillars for Your Majesty.

***********************

Now is the time when the court is trembling, His Majesty beheaded several ministers, even the princes.

On the cusp of the storm, the courtiers below have been cautious recently, and have received the imperial decree to mark the papers. The examiners from all over the place did not dare to be sloppy, and they showed their utmost energy to grade the papers day and night.

Because the topic of policy discussion this time is a relatively sensitive topic, it is inevitable that some of the students' answers will involve offense.

In the past, these test paper candidates would have been pulled out and imprisoned for disrespect, but this year, with the imperial decree, the examiners cannot do this. , we use it as the assessment standard.

This exam is looking for talents who can do practical things. As long as they don’t offend on principled things, speak out their opinions boldly, and can justify themselves in policy theory, they will basically be favored in the first examination papers.

Due to the limited number of places in the final exam and the ranking, there will be a second and third re-reading.

Repeated marking later depends on the real strength of the candidates. If you want to stand out from so many competitors, you must show enough talent.

The ten examiners in the provinces and counties checked the selection carefully, picked out two test papers, and had a dispute over the ranking of No.1.

"I think the position of Xie Yuan should be given to Sun Zhouxing. This examinee has a clean family background, and his policy theory is very in line with His Majesty's requirements. What's more rare is that he has rich rhetoric, and his explanation is very reasonable... Although Lin Ze is doing well now, what he did before is really a bit unacceptable. Rules and arrogance."

"No, I think this Lin Ze is better. Although his words are not fancy enough, his explanations are self-sufficient, and what's more rare is that they are more practical. On the other hand, although Sun Xiucai is outstanding, he is a little less hot, and his theories are quite good. There is suspicion of talking on paper."

"But Lin Ze's background is not clean enough. His family is in business. Although it appears that the business belongs to his husband, everyone knows the truth behind it. It's really hard for a businessman to become a great player. With his talent, he can do well. But the position of Xie Yuan is not good..."

"Sun Zhou's policy theory is too idealistic, which is even more flawed."

"I choose Lin Ze."

"I choose Sun Zhouxing."

In the position of Jieyuan, there was a fierce quarrel among the examiners in the provinces, counties, and cities. They had different ideas but it was difficult to make a choice.

Half of the people think that Sun Zhouxing is good. Although the policy theory is too ideal, it is suspected of talking on paper, but young people have little experience, which is unavoidable. As long as they have enough experience for a few years, they are a good talent. The most important thing is that the farming generations in the family are clean and honest. ah.

On the contrary, Lin Ze is talented, but he is a businessman who seeks profit by nature.

The other half thought that Lin Ze was better. Although his family was involved in business, Lin Ze's talent was beyond doubt.

The whole test paper can be rated as a perfect score. The math is good, the problem solving is novel, and the language of the theory is simple, but the words are precise, the needle hits the nail on the head, and the solution is more realistic. He is a talent who can be put in a position to do things right away.

Moreover, Lin Ze not only opened a private school at a young age, but also shocked everyone with his absolute teaching results in the children's examination not long ago.

That Sun Xiucai is good, but compared to his talent, he is still somewhat inferior, that is to say, his family background is more clean and simple than Lin Ze.

"Since everyone can't hold back and supports each half, why don't we ask another question to see who really deserves the position of Jie Yuan?"

There has been a stalemate, and finally one of the oldest examiners made a suggestion.

This is the usual method used by everyone in every township examination, and it is often the case that two outstanding candidates cannot be selected as No. 1.

The other examiners nodded in agreement, "The question is how to test?"

"Those who support Sun Xiucai are against Lin Xiucai's businessman's pursuit of profit; those who support Lin Xiucai are questioning Sun Xiucai's practical ability, so let's compare these two places..."

"it is good."

***********

On the other hand, Lin Ze didn't know that the examiners were worrying about his rivalry with another scholar.

After returning home after the exam, he resumed his old life, going to private school to teach every afternoon; in the morning, he was free to arrange, read books and then discuss the academy with Mr. Jiang.

The academy was planned by Lin Ze a long time ago, but it has been unable to be implemented due to various reasons and environmental constraints.

Although the private schools of all sizes saw Zeyu’s goodness and rare Zeyu’s unique teaching courses when they were exchange students, they still couldn’t get out of the shackles of the old-school thinking and accepted Lin Ze’s proposal to integrate the private schools into an academy.

But this time Tongsheng tested the children's spirits, which gave him a great reputation, and made everyone witness the absolute efficiency of Zeyu's private school teaching.

In just two years, he has trained those dandy young masters who were once despised by everyone, and those peasant children with weak foundations into children's studies, and directly crushed other children's test candidates in Qingshan County. What kind of achievement is this?

Even if it is a trick, it is very awesome.

Therefore, under Mr. Jiang's lobbying, the masters of private schools of all sizes finally relented and were willing to follow Lin Ze's deployment and integration to build an academy, so that everyone could share Lin Ze's unique teaching method.

However, an academy is no better than a private school that can be opened just by finding a house at random. It needs a lot of material and financial resources, as well as manpower to build it.

To use a simple metaphor in modern terms, a private school is a training institution, and an academy is a regular school.

Therefore, the academy cannot be established in a day or two, and Lin Ze doesn't have much time to spend on it at present. What he is discussing with Mr. Jiang now is only the construction of the academy, and other details have to wait for him to come back.

He had already thought of the address, it was on a hill near Nanyang Town.

He is from Nanyang Town. If there are good things to do, of course, he must start from his own land first, and he bought so many fields and hills for investment. Could it be that it is for good looks?

Schools and commercial streets are important indicators of local development, and Nanyang Town and Qingshan County are the base camps in his plan.

However, the money needed to build the academy is not a small amount. Although Lin Ze has money, he has not yet spent tens of thousands of taels on charitable causes such as schools. His other businesses need working capital.

And even if he had it, he wouldn't take it out. How long did it take for the Lin family to be able to take out so much money? Isn't that a clear way to tell others how profitable his business is?

At that time, others will not praise him for his kindness, but call him a profiteer!

Therefore, Lin Ze collected money from merchants everywhere for the college. Some wealthy members don’t mind spending money to buy some fame back home, and they can get online with Lin Ze, a promising person like Lin Ze. Not bad.

However, given the economic level of Qingshan County, there are still a few outsiders who can spend a thousand taels to play, and most wealthy households can only collect a hundred taels at most.

In this way, in the end, the construction funds for the academy were still quite short, and Lin Ze didn't dare to spend too much money on his own to attract attention, so he could only follow Mr. Jiang to visit contacts and continue to gather together, trying to solve the problem of funds before leaving.

Duan Wensai is also writing official documents, preparing to apply for a silver appropriation from the imperial court.

At this moment, a wealthy businessman with a deep family background suddenly came over and expressed his willingness to make up for the funds they lacked, but there was one condition.

"I want 100 student places in the academy..."

The wealthy businessman's surname was Qian, and he was an old businessman with a family of several generations in the neighboring county. His surname was Qian.

According to Lin Ze's vision, the academy will accommodate about 800 students after it is completed. This is determined by calculating the population of Qingshan County. It sounds like a lot, but the number of places is very tight.

Because academies are different from modern compulsory education schools, admissions are limited, and they are quite like modern universities. If you want to study in academies, you must pass strict entrance examinations.

This wealthy businessman wanted 100 places, and it was self-evident what he wanted to do with it. The scalpers had existed since ancient times, and he could do many things with the admission places of the academy.

"No, the academy is not for business, and there is no room for bargaining. All I can give you is the inscription on the stele of merit and virtue, and 3 admission places for your family as a reward for your support for the construction of the academy. Others are impossible. If Master Qian is not willing , Xiaosheng, I'm sorry..."

Lin Ze refused without hesitation.

At the beginning, he opened a private school because he was forced by life to make money, but he didn't want to make a profit from it in the academy, and even planned to subsidize it in the future.

He likes to make money, but he also has principles.He doesn't have too much ambition, but he has so much knowledge in his mind. Looking at this backward era and the hard-working people, he also wants to do something for this world, and it is not in vain for God to let him travel through a dynasty.

This kind of self-worth behavior is something that many people will have. He doesn't want the educational paradise he built with his own hands to become a bargaining chip for others.

"Lin Xiucai, think about it again. I will add another 3 taels. The quota I want is actually for the people of our county. Don't worry, I will never use these quotas for other things..."

Seeing that he refused to agree, Master Qian simply thought that he thought the money was insufficient, so he tripled the original 1 taels.

3 taels is enough to do a lot of things, the facilities of the academy are enough, and the exchange of 100 places can solve the funding problem, and few people can refuse.

Lin Ze's expression was muffled, but he was still determined.

Afterwards, Master Qian added it again, and at the same time handed over a box of unmarked gold bars, using tricks.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Qian, please go back. As the saying goes, a gentleman does not do anything. Lin Ze is very willing to cooperate with you in other businesses, but the academy... Lin Ze is responsible for every student in it."

Lin Ze flatly refused, and then invited the person away.

Those who peep at the number of places in the academy will not be able to receive funding. This kind of person is clearly out of intention to join the group and cannibalize them. If they fail, they will work hard to make wedding dresses for others.

Anyway, this Mr. Qian is from the next county, so he won't have any social relations for the time being, so if you offend him, you can offend him, and we'll talk about it later.

It's still the same old saying, he is not silver, do you still expect everyone to like him?That's impossible.

Lin Ze didn't take this matter to heart, and turned around and continued to raise money with Mr. Jiang for the academy project.

And on the night he didn't know.

Several chief examiners in the provinces, counties, and cities received the feedback, their faces showed smiles, and they nodded one after another...

……

at the same time.

A small incident also happened in Xishan Village.

That is, outside the few landlords who gave the land to the villagers this year, I don’t know what happened, and suddenly said that they would increase the rent. Although it is not too much, the villagers have rented at the old rent for more than ten years. How can they easily accept the rent increase? .

One must know that renting tens of Wen more per mu of land is equivalent to eating less meat several times a year and making fewer clothes. How much loss is it to the farmers?

The villagers made a fuss to Lizheng in Shanxi Village, and Lizheng had to come forward to solve the problem, but Lizheng couldn't help it.

In the end, Lizheng had no choice but to turn to Sun Zhouxing, the most intelligent, knowledgeable and well-connected person in the village, for an idea to help.

The eyes of the whole village were watching, and Sun Zhouxing couldn't refuse, so he could only bite the bullet and find a few landlords who had raised the rent to reason.

For this promising scholar, the landlords still gave face and treated each other with courtesy, but they were not so easy to let go when it came to money.

Land rent is a big income for their family, and they will never be convinced without a real reason.

And Sun Xiucai came and went saying something like 'be kind and considerate to the people and do good deeds', or all kinds of righteous poems that people don't understand. It's useless nonsense for a long time.

The few landlords were tired of hearing it, and didn't want to deal with him anymore, so they just dumped out a box of silver coins.

"Sun Xiucai, we also have to eat, and we don't increase the rent much, so you don't need to worry about this matter. I'll wait until I hear that you are expected to win the exam. If Sun Xiucai doesn't mind, I will be willing to sponsor you to go to Beijing to catch up with the exam. Zhiyin, I ask Sun Xiucai to forgive me for waiting..."

Take out the white money, it can dazzle people's eyes.

The Sun family was not rich, and Sun Xiucai was a serious scholar from a poor family. The family relied on a few acres of Susukida and his parents and sisters' various embroidery labors to support him.

A box of silver is enough for the Sun family to have food and drink in the future, and they are not afraid that they will have to worry about their livelihood when they lose their reputation.

Sun Zhouxing was not indifferent when he saw Yinzi, but in the end, conscience and years of study overcame greed.

"A gentleman loves money and gets it in a proper way. Well, since the masters are unwilling, then Sun will leave..."

If the persuasion does not work, Sun Zhouxing can only return in despair.

The villagers were naturally not reconciled when the matter was not resolved. In the end, they didn't know who suggested it. I heard that Lin Xiucai from Heba Village was capable, and she was also the county magistrate's brother-in-law.

So a group of people went to Heba Village to ask Lin Ze for help.

Looking at the eager villagers, Lin Ze also had a headache. The land belonged to the landlord, and the government would not be able to control the landlord's rent increase as long as it was not excessive.

However, the Lin family is also from a poor peasant background, and he also knows the difficulty of these villagers in renting land, so he can only pick up this hot potato for a try.

"Do you still have the land lease contract you wrote earlier? Show me..."

"Yes, yes, let's go back and get it. Lin Xiucai, you must help us. We live on those few acres of Susukida. If the rent is raised all of a sudden, how will we live in the second half of the year, huh."

Although they didn't know what Lin Ze asked about the contract with Diantian, the villagers still cried and sent someone home to show Lin Ze the contract.

Although every household has a farmland contract, everyone is very unfamiliar with it, and they don't know much about it. Every time they renew the land lease, they have to go to the government to have their fingerprints stamped, and they usually put it under the box to get moldy.

But for Lin Ze, who is used to working with contracts, it is a habit to go through the contract first if something goes wrong.

Lin Ze smiled when he got the villager's land lease contract.

"It's okay, your landlords can't raise the rent for the time being. Your contract was signed for ten years at a time, and it hasn't expired yet. There are still two years left. If they raise the rent now, you can take the contract to the yamen to appeal. Report... the tenth volume of the Daji Law, Farming No. 30 and the second article are detailed records of the law."

"Then what if it goes up in two years?"

"If they really want to increase, then you can take advantage of these two years to reclaim a few acres of wasteland. Now most of the roads in Qingshan County have been repaired, and everything in the mountains can be transported to towns for sale. Farmers will never starve to death."

Rural villagers are actually the wealthiest, as long as everyone is willing to use their brains.

"Hey, thank you Lin Xiucai, then let's go back and talk to the landlord."

After getting the solution, the villagers in Shanxi Village were overjoyed, thanked them quickly, and hurried back to the village.

Lin Ze clapped his hands, closed the door and entered the room, continuing to tease his precious son.

……

That night, the provincial county government office.

When a group of examiners heard the report, they sighed, shook their heads, and were happy.

However, the name of Jie Yuan, which has been deadlocked for several days, is considered to have a master.