[Comprehensive History] Clothes are all over the world

Yingtian Mansion has been expanded and rebuilt many times, so there is no strict distinction between squares and cities, and there are many squares and cities in Jinling City.

What Mu Bai and others are currently in is a mixed commercial and residential area.

In order to save time, they divided into two teams to look at the house separately, and specially chose a restaurant between the residential area and the downtown area as a meeting point, so that they could have a meal together and exchange information, and it was convenient to continue watching after the meal Room, kill two birds with one stone.

Judging from the current situation, there are not a few people who have the same thoughts as them.

After meeting candidates from Sichuan, who were also from Southwest China, Mu Bai and others met candidates from Guangdong and Fujian with local accents. They all had the same purpose—to find a house.

Candidates from these two places arrived earlier than Mubai and the others, so they also understood the local conditions better, so everyone knew that their current predicament was not caused by "natural disasters" (too many candidates this time), but Man-made disaster (someone does something).

However, everyone, like Zhu Yuanzhang in the palace, could only curse, because those who caused trouble did not violate any Ming laws, what they did was throw money at others, and most of the students present were Those who are relatively tight can't fight with them.

This is very frustrating.

Mu Bai and the others are alright, despite the big cats who are on a blind date, they can still live in Fu's house after all. The Fu's house not only provides accommodation but also provides hot water and meals, which saves them a lot of expenses .

And these students had no relatives in Yingtian Mansion, so they had to live in a hostel.

In addition to having to endure the terrible environment, the rent is also an extremely heavy burden.

While everyone was exchanging information, several students had already taken out their books, studied ink and copied books, and they needed to sell these copied books to bookstores to earn living expenses.

Because of the special situation this year, there are not many students who have the same distress. After the increase in labor supply, the purchase price of the bookstore will naturally decrease. Therefore, the students have to seize every minute and every second to keep copying.

"It's not a solution to go on like this." A Guangdong candidate said to one of his friends who were copying books, "If you keep copying books like this, where will you find time to study? If you delay homework and exams, wouldn't it be putting the cart before the horse?"

It is true that you can rely on rote memorization to fool you in the provincial examination, but the general examination and palace examination are all about the candidates' understanding and application ability.

However, the examinee's blind copying of the book can easily affect his thinking ability, and the most important thing is - "There are many mistakes and omissions in this book."

A student pointed to the original that he had copied, a little worried: "If this goes on and I copy it a few more times, what if I also recite it wrong?"

This is indeed a big problem.

The reason why the former candidates were not easy to encounter this kind of situation is that they would deliberately choose unfamiliar books when copying books, and they were also learning while working, and the students and the bookstore also made mutual achievements.

If it was placed in the previous dynasty, if the students who copied the books jumped into the dragon's gate, it would be a very embarrassing thing for the bookstore.

But the current situation is that there are too many monks and too little porridge, and the bookstore is not as easy to talk to as the predecessors at that time.It's good to have a job, why is there any reason to pick and choose?As a result, the process of copying books has changed from enjoyment to suffering.

For them, it is good luck to copy a correct book, but more of them are wrong books with omissions, and every student can't help but want to alter the mistakes and omissions in copying, but copying is a big taboo It's random alteration, so for the sake of the little money they get, the students can only endure this desire to correct, and make mistakes.

Over time, this wrong paragraph will easily become a hurdle in the candidates' minds. The more you pay attention, the easier it is to make mistakes, and even later it is easy to have memory confusion and no distinction between right and wrong.If this defect is brought to the examination room, isn't it the end?

It is not forbidden to alter the test papers of the general examination, but there are also implicit paper scores, which can also be called favorability.

For the omission of these few words, the examinee may have to pay the price of dropping dozens of places-this is still the result of being a top student, and it is more likely to fail the ranking directly.

Therefore, most of the students have been advised by their teachers not to copy books before referring to them, so as not to disturb their memory, and the gains outweigh the losses.

However, form is better than people, and the gentlemen never imagined that they would encounter such a situation.

Candidates themselves are of course aware of this problem, but the problem for everyone now is to put down the pen. They may have to go back to their hometown immediately, but they may still have the strength to pick up the pen.

We have already come here, and if we don’t fight hard, we will not be reconciled.

"But the problem is that there will be more candidates flooding into Yingtian Mansion in the future, and the job of copying books will not be able to continue." A Fujian candidate looked sad. His handwriting is not very good, and it is difficult to accept it now to live.

He hugged his head and wailed: "I have been studying for more than ten years, and I have earned a small amount of money. I didn't expect that I would lose because of poor handwriting."

Everyone looked at him sympathetically.Fujian is a major province in the publishing industry today, and there are a large number of local engraving masters. While you can buy suitable books at a lower price, it also means that candidates in Fujian do have less money-making work of copying books than others.

Don't look at everyone's pickiness about copying books at this time, but this is indeed a very precious practice opportunity for students from less affluent families.

Writing is very ruthless, and there is no shortcut other than practicing diligently.

"So now, we have to find a way to find a job that doesn't require so much writing, can use our brains, and can make money..." Mu Bai, who had been listening for a long time, rolled his eyes and said, "I have an idea, that is I wonder if you would like to try it?"

All the students looked up at this year's youngest examinee -- if nothing else happened, he might be the youngest genius in the next few decades. Their eyebrows and eyes were full of doubts.

Two days later, in the downtown area of ​​the market, a small stall suddenly appeared at the door of a bookstore with an excellent location but which always sells unremarkable books.

Pedestrians can't help but look there when they pass by this small stall, and their expressions are like-minded curiosity.

Because there are too many people walking around this stall!many!up!There are more than 20 young people walking around here.

The weirdest thing is that so many young people are still listening to a child who seems to be only half their height, and hang various things up and down according to his requirements, which is really strange.

However, these people just looked at it strangely, and after confirming that the little man was a baby and not a dwarf (hey), the passers-by scattered and left.

In the early morning, everyone is also very busy, and there is no time to wait for the new store to be released.

The sun is rising, the temperature is gradually rising, and there are more and more people on the street. At this time, the small stall is finally decorated.

The red ribbon wrapped around the wood looks very festive.Ju balls made of colored paper hang high and low on the shelf.

And the most conspicuous ones are two red lanterns fluttering in the wind.

Careful people soon discovered that there was still a bunch of small scrolls hanging under the lantern.There was nothing on the table under the lantern, and there were four young people sitting behind it.

——So what exactly is this store for?

Passers-by involuntarily slowed down and looked at the stall several times.

I saw the four young men lined up in this line, all with white faces and beardless, very handsome, and uniformly dressed in blue cotton shirts, wearing square scarves on their heads, they looked like scholars.

The most important thing is that the eyes of these four young people on the crowd of the fathers and villagers, especially the eyes of several aunts looking up and down, actually lower their heads shyly, which makes people look at it very rare.

There are still pens, ink, paper and inkstones in front of the young people.Could it be that the scholar came to help write the letter?

Although it is not polite to say this, even in Yingtian Mansion, the capital of Ming Dynasty, there are still a large number of illiterates.If these people want to send letters to their relatives far away or read letters from relatives and friends, they have to ask scholars for help. These pen fees are also a major source of income for poor scholars.

But it's not necessary to engage in such a big show, right?Could it be free?

Not to mention, more and more people stopped when they thought of the possible advantages.

Most mammals have a habit called conformity.

Once you find a crowd gathering, even if you don't know what they are doing or whether you are interested in it, human instinct will still urge them to approach there, so more and more people gather.

But the strange thing is that after a long time, no one knew what this stall was for.

The bookstore was originally located in a downtown area, so the crowds here naturally attracted the administrator's attention.

The deputy commander of the Nanbing Masi happened to be patrolling the street as usual, and immediately came over when he saw the movement.When he saw the name of the shop, his eyebrows raised.

The Wucheng Bingma Division is composed of five departments in the southeast, northwest, and middle. Their main responsibilities are to protect the civil safety of the capital, clear ditches and sewers, fight fires, and balance prices. It is equivalent to modern police plus urban management.

Of course, to do these tasks well in Yingtianfu, it is absolutely impossible not to find out the personal connections behind the shops and stores in the city.It's not that I want to do anything to bend the law for personal gain, but some unnecessary troubles can still be saved.

For example, now, the deputy commander was full of anger, but when he saw that the accident happened at the bookstore, most of the anger in his stomach was extinguished immediately. Then he saw that the Fu family brothers who were the masters behind the bookstore were standing on the sidelines and watching. , and put all the fire down.

He flicked the iron ruler, and greeted him with a modest smile on his face.Recognizing a person is recognizing a person, and it is his duty to inquire about a large group of people.

That's right, this bookstore that always sells messy books in the hearts of many scholars is the private property of Fu Youde's family.

How to choose books for opening a bookstore is also a science. The category of books shows the taste of the owner of the bookstore. Therefore, for some literati, they will have their favorite bookstores. It is important to say.

As for the Fu family, although they bought a bookstore property in a prime location, they prefer to sell some travel notes and stories compared to the sages and sages of the Four Books and Five Classics, so one can imagine what the image of this bookstore is in the eyes of scholars.

But now, this bookstore, which mainly sells all kinds of low-end works, has put on a posture of making troubles. How can it not make people curious?

Just when everyone was discussing and feeling irritable, a child stood in front of the shop and bowed to everyone, and the four young people who were sitting behind the stall also bowed to everyone. same action.

Seeing this, everyone nodded in return.Realizing they were about to speak, the crowd fell silent.

With all kinds of eyes, Mu Bai showed a big smile, and the dark skin made the child's teeth extraordinarily white: "Everyone, happy new year! We are students who came from other places to take the exam. , just in time for the New Year, I would like to wish you all a Happy New Year, and wish you all a happy and happy New Year, and a prosperous Year of the Dog.”

Whoops, it turned out to be a scholar who came to rush for the exam!

When everyone heard this, their expressions softened a lot.

Chinese people are a little more tolerant of scholars, and these people are still here to catch the exam, so they have a little more respect.Those who can come to Yingtianfu to participate in the national-level examination are all the best in the prefectures and counties, and they have all obtained the status of juren, so they can be a small official in the local area.

The child smiled brightly, without any stage fright under the attention of everyone, and explained in detail why they came to set up the stall.The general idea is that the candidates are celebrating the New Year here for the first time, and they are infected by the good New Year atmosphere of Yingtianfu, so they also want to come and join everyone.

But after thinking about it, they didn't have any special skills, so they set up a stall to give everyone some Spring Festival couplets and spring strips.If you think the writing is not bad, you can return a few pennies for the materials fee. If you think it is not to your liking, just say a happy new year.

Because everyone has to prepare for the exam, the stall will only be set up for three days. Don't miss it if you pass by!

What he said was extremely beautiful, which immediately aroused the pride of the local people, and when they heard that these Juren wrote Spring Festival couplets for them, the crowd immediately became commotion.

It's just... What are Spring Festival couplets?

Yes, later generations have to post new Spring Festival couplets every year during the New Year. It has not yet been born at this time, and today's Ming people change something called "Peach Charm" every year.

The "new peach" in the poem "Always replace the old talisman with the new peach" by Wang Anshi, a literati in the Northern Song Dynasty, refers to the peach talisman.

Peach charms are small wooden boards made of peach wood. In the past, the names of door gods or generals were engraved to drive away ghosts and evil spirits. But at the end of Tang Dynasty, door god paintings replaced peach charms to carry this important meaning.

When it developed into the Song Dynasty, peach charms became more casual, and literati who knew how to play would engrave some "famous quotes" on them for introspection, while the general public would write blessings to express their New Year wishes.

Over time, people found that the peach wood board was not enough for them to play, so a small note appeared.However, bound by the inherent image of peach charms, these small notes are mostly leaflets.

Only a few people will write a small pair and stick it on the door.But pairing couplets is also a technical task. Even in the Song Dynasty, when the style of writing was at its peak, there were only a small group of people who were good at it, and good writing was even rarer. Therefore, couplets have never been popular.

What Mu Bai and the others seized was this opportunity!

Since the imperial examination law was enacted in the third year of Hongwu in the Ming Dynasty, it has been stipulated that the style of writing should have the beauty of the "classics and meanings" of the former Song Dynasty, and a major feature of the classics and meanings is the rhythm, which is the basis of the pair.

To put it simply, it is that Daming made the previous dynasty mandatory for the beautiful writing and made it a necessary skill for the exam, so it is not his bragging, almost every student in their small group who refers to it has the ability to do it right.

Although there are only four people sitting at the front and writing, there is a complete working team behind them.

Someone is in charge of paper cutting, someone is in charge of grinding ink, and someone is in charge of... ahem, handing out a cheat sheet, ah no, being a think tank.

For example, the student from Fujian who does not write well but has a great literary talent is a member of the think tank.

All in all, everyone brainstorms and works together with the goal - to make money!

Mu Xiaobai squeezed his fist, and raised his younger brother who ran up to him with a "da da" high.Mu Wen, who caught the opening ceremony by lottery, let out a few breaths at the little paw, and while yelling "good luck for the opening", he tore off the scroll ribbon under the lantern.

After hearing two sounds of "唰唰唰", two rolls of red paper were hung under the lantern. It looked a bit like a lantern riddle during the Lantern Festival, but upon closer inspection, it turned out that the left and right were facing each other.

On the left is written: How can every family be the same if everything is different.

On the right it says: It is today and today that the couplets are in pairs.

The little guy stretched out his hands, and the banner read: private order.

Oh, what a loud tone, the crowd suddenly started whispering.

It's time to pull a model!

Mu Xiaobai swept his eyes and was about to speak when he suddenly found the younger brother in his arms stretching out his claws towards one direction. He took a closer look and saw a middle-aged couple standing there.

Seeing the other party's appearance clearly, Mu Bai's eyes lit up immediately.

The man is strong and well dressed, and the most important thing is that his face is smiling like a flower, and he is very kind at first glance.His wife looked dignified, with kind eyes.The two supported each other, and although their hair was gray, they looked very affectionate.

Hmm... Mu Bai walked over with his younger brother in his arms. Today he specially changed Mu Xiaowen into his Cerebellar Axe outfit and a little tiger hat.

His younger brother is so cute, at this age who can still swim with his arms, he will definitely not have the heart to reject him!