The thirty-first year of Qin Shi Huang, the first day of the second month.

The hair was scattered, and the Confucian scholars Shen Sheng and Lu Musheng, who had long since lost their previous pride, held heavy wooden shackles in their hands, and left the dim and damp prison.

Half a month has passed since their township school was arrested for drumming, and in this half month, more than a dozen Confucian students were sent away one after another after paying a fine of 1,000 yuan.

Only Shen Sheng and Lu Musheng were sentenced to prison, not only for gathering crowds to discuss, but also for spreading rumors and slandering the government, and convicted of "Huang Sikou......

Black noodles are tattooed on the face, and then ink is used as a sign of crime, which can never be scrubbed off in the future.

For ordinary people, this is already a great humiliation, let alone a Confucian student who believes in "the body is skinned, and the parents dare not hurt it"?

What's even more ironic is that the two were imprisoned for boycotting the same text, and the vicious-hearted county guard Heifu playfully made people carve Qin seals on their faces!

Now, the two seal characters "Si Kou" on their faces have become a nightmare that they can never erase!

This is not over, the labor pain on his face has not dissipated, and Ersheng was taken out of prison by a Xiaotun chief named Liu Ji, who spoke Huaisi dialect, and wanted to escort the two to the place of service: "Chengshan", which is located in the easternmost part of Jiaodong.

Chengshan, also known as Chengshanjiao, is the easternmost part of the known world of the Central Plains people, the end of the world in this era. The sea is boundless, the wind and the sun are blowing, you can imagine how miserable it will be to go there to do the hard labor of "Sikou".

Lu Musheng didn't expect the price to be so heavy, and he regretted it a little, but Shen Sheng cheered him up and said:

"Even if it is Confucius, there are times when he is trapped between Chen Cai, he does not eat for seven days, but he can still sing and drum, and he has not tasted the sound. We may be tortured, but we must not be discouraged! ”

Shen Sheng did not give in, he was still angry in his heart. Although Qi is dead, the Qi people still retain the memory of that beautiful and peaceful era. However, if these memories are not passed on to the next generation through words and language, they will fade away sooner or later.

In his opinion, Qin Yan is difficult to hear, how can it be as beautiful as Qi language, how can Qin words be clumsy, how can it be as elegant as Qi words, and the ancient meaning will last forever. They must be kept in mind and never forgotten.

People who have died in the country and become subordinate concubines, as long as they firmly remember their language and writing, it is like holding a key to open the prison door!

In the middle of half a month in prison, this is how he encouraged himself to persevere.

Shen Sheng said to Lu Musheng earnestly: "The extinction or immortality of Qilu is no longer a decision-making in the court, not a battle on the battlefield, but depends on how long we can keep Qi's words, writings, and history secretaries!" ”

"Even if you reach Chengshan, you can't forget it! Let's just be Boyi and Shuqi who don't eat Zhou Su! ”

Before Lu Musheng could nod, the two of them were whipped!

"What kind of gossip, if it weren't for you, Naigong wouldn't have had to be arranged by the county guard to go to that ghost place with only bird droppings."

After Liu Ji and Cao Shen finished handing over the Fu Festival and inspecting the pass, they scolded and scolded the two of them a few times, venting all the grievances of this period on the heads of the two Confucian students, and urging them to leave quickly.

"Nai Gong sits in the car, you wait, if it is too slow, you will tie you to a rope and drag it away!"

In this way, he staggered out of Qincheng and entered Jimo City, and people came and went outside, and when they saw Shen Sheng and Lu Musheng, their eyes glanced at the tattoos on their faces.

Shen Sheng held his chest high, took the tattoo on his face as his medal, and smiled with his head held high.

Lu Musheng was used to being decent, uncomfortable, and he couldn't wait to find a crack in the ground to get into, but the matter had come to this, and he just wanted to leave Jimo as soon as possible.

But it backfired, Liu Ji didn't take them directly to the east gate, but walked south for a while, and when they arrived near the most lively township school, they heard a few drums!

"Knock knock!"

Hearing the sound of drums, Shen Sheng and Lu Musheng were taken aback, they had been locked up for too long, they didn't know what was going on outside, and they thought that they had friends playing drums in the township school, gathering the people, and fighting for themselves?

But before the two of them could be moved, Liu Ji sneered: "Don't think about it, this is the county guard and the sacrificial wine beating the drum, and the first exam of the public school will be released today!" ”

……

It turned out that although the township school was reopened, it had become a place for the government to announce things, and a stone wall was built where the scholars discussed politics, which was more than one zhang wide and eight or nine feet high. Whenever there is a new decree, it will be hung and posted here, guarding two Jiaodong scribes, specially for the illiterate people to recite and explain, and there will not be too many onlookers.

But today, the township school is surrounded by water, and on the stone wall, there is a piece of paper brushed with red paint, which is very eye-catching, and you can see it from afar, and there are several columns of names written on it!

The public school is divided into a school and a primary school, among which, the disciples of the school learn Qin Yan, Qin characters, and laws, and have now been enrolled in school for more than half a month. After the first trial test, among dozens of students, the top three in the two courses of "Reading and Writing" and "Listening and Speaking" can be on the red list, and the list will be changed from the exhibition in the township school to the next exam.

It is said that the first place will also be rewarded with 50 gold!

Liu Ji didn't urge them anymore, and sat in the wine shop opposite the township school and drank, obviously having been instructed to deliberately let Ersheng stay here.

Shen Sheng and Lu Musheng looked at the unrecognizable township school with complicated expressions, and when they heard the officials start singing, their faces changed greatly!

Why? Just because the one who got the first place in reading and writing was actually a disciple of Fuchubo, a classmate named "Laisheng"!

"Shaft!"

Shen Sheng almost crushed his steel teeth, and Laisheng's family was poor and could barely afford to pay the shackles. But as early as half a year ago, he was discovered that he was secretly learning Qin characters, probably because he wanted to be an official and eat with a mouth, and was reprimanded by Shen Sheng and others at that time, and Lai Sheng had to admit his mistake.

But that day, when they gathered everyone and went to the township school to play drums together, Laisheng excused himself with abdominal pain and disappeared.

The first three people who read and write finished reading, followed by listening, and the best person who heard was the son of the Yan family in Gaomi County, Yan Hua. And after that, the two of them were actually disciples who had listened to Fu Chubo's lectures!

Shen was so angry that he shouted: "He is not a Qi person!" We can beat the drum and attack it! ”

But Shen Sheng's anger was quickly extinguished by Lu Musheng's low words.

"In order to save our lives, the master had to become the third elder of the county of the government, since the master has also succumbed, what reason do the disciples have not to be strong?" Lu Musheng's face was full of remorse.

Bai Sheng and others, who had a better family background, locked themselves in their homes after they were released from prison. Disciples who have a poor family background and need to rely on knowledge in exchange for food, what can they do except take refuge in the government, mix up an official position, or prepare for legally teaching private studies in the future?

Shen Sheng was speechless.

That's right, although Jiaodong is big, it can't accommodate a free bookcase!

……

At this time, the people of the city gathered more and more, and they talked about it, and whenever a person's name was called, they would shout a few words of good-and-good.

At first, the voice was scattered, after all, in the eyes of Jiaodong people, it was not a glorious thing to say that Qin Yan wrote Qin characters.

But later, when the county guard Heifu and the sacrificial wine Xiao He appeared, followed by two scribes holding wooden plates, everyone suddenly became excited, and the applause became louder and louder!

Ordinary people actually don't care who gets the first, they care more about whether the government will fulfill the promise made half a month ago and give fifty taels of gold to the two people who won the first place!

"That's fifty gold, in exchange for rice, enough to eat a year between eight bites! If you say that Qin Guohua speaks well and writes well, can you really get it easily? “

Everyone is suspicious, and people from other places cannot be trusted, which is the consensus of Jiaodong people.

But the government did not disappoint them, after the roll call, the county guard Heifu personally went out and loudly announced that the government had a word half a month ago, and the two people who were the first in the exam would receive the reward immediately and never break their promise!

After that, he turned around and uncovered the wooden plate held by the scribe, and under the red cloth, there was a row of golden cakes, shining brightly in the sun!

"Tsk, it's gold!"

"Maybe it's copper ......"

Some people muttered in a low voice, in their opinion, the Qin officials are harsh and vicious, and they only know how to collect rents and taxes every year, forcing them to leave their homes, doing all kinds of hard labor, building roads, digging ditches and building walls, when did the Jiaodong people take advantage of this?

"The second and third sons don't believe it? Who wants to come up and try it? See if this is real gold, is it enough weight? ”

The people of Jiaodong looked at each other, no one stepped forward for a long time, and in the end, a bold businessman stood up, weighed it with the "Heng" that the government had prepared for a long time, picked up a piece of gold cake and bit it, his eyes lit up, and he announced to everyone:

"It's really good gold, fifty taels of full weight, no more and no less!"

This merchant is also a famous cloth merchant in Jimo, who has experienced countless amounts of gold, and what he said will definitely not be wrong, and everyone is in an uproar, so he believes it.

Heifu didn't explain anymore, but handed the wooden plate to Laisheng and Yan Hua, who won the first place, and patted them as a sign of encouragement.

After the second son took it, Yan Hua's family was wealthy, and he only felt that although the gold in his hand was indeed fifty taels, the weight was like this, light and fluttering, so he just said a heartfelt word of thanks.

Laisheng, who has a more difficult family, is different, he only feels heavy in his hands, he choked up, raised the golden cake, and shouted to the audience:

"Laisheng's family is poor, and my parents are frugal, just so that I can study and learn some skills, so that I can be a doctor's doorman and subordinate to subsidize the family. But after a few years, although I can memorize a few lines of poetry, I still can't achieve anything, and I am not good at farming and gardening, and it happened that my father was seriously ill, which really drove me to death. ”

"Fortunately, the government has opened a public school, and the first batch of students will be exempted from restraints. With this money, I will be able to hire a doctor to treat my father! ”

After that, he actually bowed down at the feet of Heifu, and he was embarrassed!

Laisheng's words moved the onlookers, and many people forgot that they were still scolding him for "forgetting his ancestors", and they actually cheered for Laisheng:

"Good offspring, filial piety!"

"There is no shame in rewarding you for learning and curing your father's illness!"

Seeing that the atmosphere was heated up by Laisheng's performance, Xiao He, who was sacrificing wine, took the opportunity to come out and announce: From now on, the disciples of the public school will have to attend classes for two semesters every year. In addition to this exam, in the future, there will be two mid-term and final exams in each semester, and as usual, the top three are on the list, and the first place will be awarded 50 taels!

What's even more eye-catching is that all public school disciples can be exempted from serving during school!

"From today onwards, the government's words must be believed, one is one, two is two, and it will never be changed!"

The government's words are conclusive, and they vigorously promote the beauty of going to public school, learning Qin characters, and speaking Qin dialect, which can envy ordinary people.

The benefits of going to public schools are visible to the naked eye, so that the private schools opened by Confucian scholars in those counties and townships are not attractive enough, and many people from wealthy families have begun to consider whether to send their children to public schools after half a year......

……

Looking at this scene from afar, Lu Musheng felt even more remorseful, while Shen Sheng showed a helpless wry smile.

"The weather is cold, the frost and snow are falling, and it is to know that the pine and cypress are also ......"

Thinking of his words, Shen Sheng felt ironic, in his imagination, teachers and friends are all decent, but the reality is that the pines and cypresses are a minority after all, and more are the grass on the wall!

The gentleman who guarded the bottom line was reduced to a prisoner and exiled.

The villain who gave up his dignity was rewarded with gold, and thousands of people cheered for it......

What's wrong with this world? Is this what the Master said, the turbidity and upside-down etiquette of the ruined Ji Shi?

"That's right, just like Qu Yuan said by the master, the whole world is turbid, I am alone, everyone is drunk, I am sober, I am alone, I am free!"

Shen Sheng closed his eyes in pain, two lines of tears flowed, at this moment, he just wanted to cry for a long time!

"Enough of it?"

At this time, Liu Ji, the tun chief, interrupted his emotion uninterestingly.

Liu Ji ate and drank to his heart's content, picked his teeth and walked over, seeing Shen Sheng's painful appearance, he was immediately happy:

"If you've seen enough, let's go! The road to Chengshan is still long, and there is less horse urine in front of Naigong! In the next few hundred miles, there are many opportunities to make you cry! ”