Du Zhongxiao's purpose of studying is very clear, that is, to participate in the imperial examination and enter the jinshi, and then become an official. Hearing Fan Zhen ask like this, he couldn't cry or laugh.

After thinking about it, Du Zhongxiao arched his hand and said: "Back to the county minister, students study, naturally they want to participate in the imperial examination and serve the imperial court." It's just that I have lived in the countryside since I was a child, and I lack the guidance of famous teachers, so I can't enter the door, and my writing is rougher. ”

Fan Zhen smiled: "It's not that your composition is rough, but it doesn't match the format of the imperial court." Since the saint is pro-government, the recent imperial examination policy and theory have been much more important than before, but the first one is still fu. The imperial examination is determined to stay one by one, and if the assignment is not good, then there is no hope of ascending to the top. ”

Du Zhongxiao said yes again and again, looking like he was serious about learning.

At this time, the imperial examination is different from the examinations of later generations, poems, fu, treatises, strategies, as well as scriptures and Moyi, not a few unified to see the results, but from the fu, one by one down to brush people. If the assignment is not good, even if the other items are full marks, most of them will have no chance, because the examiner will brush it down after reading the assignment. If the candidates do well, the imperial examination will be nine times out of ten. As for the final scripture and Moyi, it actually has no practical effect, as long as it is not particularly outrageous and wrong, it will not be counted in the score at all.

After the current emperor was in power, he increased the weight of the political paper such as policy and theory, and only after reading the fu, then looking at the policy theory, and then deciding to stay, the most important thing is still the fu. The method of the imperial examination determines the extreme importance of the first examination.

Seeing Du Zhongxiao's humble attitude, Fan Zhen nodded secretly, took out a booklet from his sleeve and said: "I have a copy of "Fugue here", which is nothing in the capital, but it is difficult to buy in the following prefectures and counties. If you take it back and study it carefully, it will be helpful in the imperial examination in the future. ”

Du Zhongxiao was overjoyed, hurriedly took it, and thanked him again and again.

This is the examination tutorial book of this era, which is specially designed for the imperial examination, from many aspects such as sentence structure and rhyme, combined with model texts, to explain in detail. The Great Song Dynasty was only established for more than 60 years, and the time for the imperial examination to be the main form of selecting officials during the Taizong period was even shorter, and the content of the imperial examination was changed again and again, and everything was not finalized. Scholars prepare for the imperial examination, but in fact there are no rules to follow, that is, to read more books and see each person's understanding. There are very few special tutorial books for the content of the scientific examination, and many of them do not even know what to take in the examination room.

At this time, there were nearly 10,000 candidates in the provincial examination in the capital every time, and four or five hundred Jinshi were admitted, and there were more subjects, and the overall admission rate was only one percent. Looking at Jinshi alone, the rate is even lower. One out of ten out of twenty people seems to have a slim chance of passing the exam, but it is not. Among the nearly 10,000 people who rushed to take the exam, most of them were like Du Xun and went to make up the numbers. Those who are well prepared for the exam have a very high chance of actually succeeding. This is the reason why the quota is allocated according to the state army, but those who really pass the Jinshi examination are mainly distributed in Kaifeng Prefecture, Henan Prefecture and Yingtianfu Prefecture, as well as some prefecture capitals such as Fujian Road and Jiangxi Road. The more jinshi in the examination, the richer the experience accumulated, and the later people will study in a targeted manner, and the local advantages will become greater and greater. And in some places where there are few jinshi, the move to the top is really a natural choice.

Imperial examination reference books such as "Fugue" and "Poems" have been sorted out since the Tang Dynasty, but they are not widely circulated. There is only the best place in Kaifeng Mansion, which can be easily bought, and it is rare to see it in local states and counties. With these reference books, as long as you work hard, read more and memorize more, it is not difficult to make a stable article.

The first taboo in the imperial examination is not to rhyme, not to use forbidden words, not to have typos, and so on, which are called miscellaneous crimes. As long as the paper is clean, there are no mistakes, and the content meets the requirements, it can be released from the state. Those who can make splendid articles in the imperial examination are all literary masters for a while, and Du Zhongxiao does not have that ambition. What he wanted was to use his experience in exam-taking education in his previous life, and work hard to become a jinshi. This requires that all kinds of rules be memorized, and just fill in the sentences according to the requirements.

Due to the development of commerce, the literacy rate in the cities of the Song Dynasty was quite high. However, reading and reading does not mean that you can participate in the imperial examination, which is a special learning path. The Jinshi examination is the understanding of the current affairs and classics of the court, as well as the ability to write articles on an impromortulous basis, and the more important examination is the superhuman memory.

In some areas where the atmosphere of the imperial examination is not so strong, especially in the countryside, there are not many people walking on this road. In this era, it is not as difficult as Du Zhongxiao thought in his previous life. It is precisely because of this that Du Zhongxiao dared to firmly embark on this road.

Carefully put away the "Fugue" sent by Fan Zhen, Du Zhongxiao arched his hand and said: "In the future, if the students have any questions, please also ask the county minister for advice." ”

Fan Zhen nodded: "If you study with your heart, then you should naturally be." ”

Du Zhongxiao thanked him again and again. Fan Zhen was originally a Shu person, and when he was young, he was met by Xue Kui, the then prefect of the CD, and brought to the capital, where he has been studying in the pavilion for many years, and is quite famous. It was not until this session that he participated in the imperial examination, and everyone regarded him as the champion, but he was arrogant and gave up the champion in his hand. This kind of character is willing to give some advice, but he can't ask for it.

After talking about the imperial examination, Fan Zhencai casually asked: "I heard from the judges, you have a way to make wine from wine lees?" ”

"Not bad. The little one accidentally learned this method from a wandering Taoist, and could filter out the wine from the lees. ”

Fan Zhen said: "With this method, how many catties of wine can be made every day now?" ”

"Back to Xianggong, the student's family buys wine lees from the 'Yao Jiazheng Store' every day, which can make one or two hundred catties."

Hearing this, Fan Zhen suddenly smiled slightly: "You strain wine from the lees to sell, have you ever paid taxes?" ”

Du Zhongxiao was stunned for a moment, and after a while, he said embarrassedly: "Don't hide it from the officials, there are no laws in the official palace for making wine, and they have never paid taxes specifically." ”

The commercial tax of the Han family's foot shop is still paid, but the liquor tax is not paid. In the past, they paid wine on credit from "Qixiangju", and the liquor tax was paid by the restaurant, and the foot shop only paid the commercial tax. Now selling Du's family-made liquor still continues this rule.

Fan Zhen said: "Wine is a specialized thing, if you don't pay the wine tax, it is inevitable that you will be gossiped about in the future." A few days ago, the big family in this county said that you brewed privately, although it was untrue, but you can't run away from tax evasion——"

Du Zhongxiao's heart tightened, and he hurriedly said: "The current wine is made in a way that did not exist before, not because I don't want to pay taxes, but because I don't know the official law." If the magistrate of the county sets the rules, the small ones must pay their taxes on time. ”

Fan Zhen saw that Du Zhongxiao's appearance did not seem to be fake, and nodded happily: "It is best if you can figure out this section." Remember, you've paid the county taxes so that you can't stop the crowd from happening again. How to pay taxes, I will make a clause and inform you. ”

Du Zhongxiao hurriedly gave up his hand: "Students are waiting." With the clause, the previous taxes are also exhausted as much as possible. ”

Fan Zhen smiled: "You don't have to worry too much, this official is not a person who exploits the people, as long as he pays taxes in the future, he will not chase the past." The Wu family, who had embarrassed you before, was related to Dr. He in the capital. Dr. He and Su Tong are Jinshi in the same year, it is not easy to refute his face, the matter is over, don't have a mustard in your heart. Don't worry, if the Wu family is looking for trouble with your family again, just come to the county to complain, and I will be your own decision. ”

Du Zhongxiao hurriedly thanked him. The dynasty is extremely strict against officials forming factions, and the teachers and protégés of the imperial examination are strictly prohibited, but there is no restriction on the same year. Therefore, in this era, the same year of the imperial examination is the most closely related. Su Shunqin had He Zhongli, a cousin of the Wu family, interceding, but because of the love of the same year, he did not treat Wu Kejiu poorly. It is precisely because of this that after watching the brewing that day, there was no one looking for the Du family.

What can Du Zhongxiao say? I had to thank Fan Zhen. The rich have distant relatives in the mountains, as long as they are rich and powerful, who does not have a powerful and status relative, they can find out if they don't have it. The relationship between the He family and the Wu family is actually far away, but He Zhongli is a junior high school jinshi, and he walks there from time to time, and the relationship quickly warmed up after two years.

Seeing Du Zhongxiao's face, Fan Zhen sighed: "The world is like this, you don't have to go to your heart." Dr. He in the capital has made it clear to the Wu family that if he causes trouble in the township again, he will not dare there, and it will be good for your family to do business with peace of mind in the future. ”

Du Zhongxiao agreed, a little unhappy.

Fan Zhen said again: "I came to you today, and there is one more thing I know to you." In the past, in addition to the vinegar made from the lees of the official liquor service, the lees of the other two restaurants in the county were thrown away in vain, which is a pity. Since you will give porridge to the poor after you have collected the sake lees and filtered wine at home, it is better to give you all the sake lees from the other two families and filter the wine to sell. ”

Du Zhongxiao listened and hurriedly said: "Official, the other 'Qixiangju' is the Wu family's restaurant——"

"What about the Wu family? It's always inappropriate to throw away the lees in vain. The county government will come forward and ask them to send the daily lees to your home, and you can count the money. There is only one thing, after you make wine, don't forget to give porridge. ”

Du Zhongxiao hurriedly surrendered his hand: "Rest assured, the students will definitely do a good job in this matter." ”

After thinking about it, Du Zhongxiao said again: "Official, in this way, there will be more wine produced, but in a few small foot shops, I am afraid that it will not be sold out." The places that sell alcohol in the city have been divided between two restaurants and the official liquor business, and this matter-"

Fan Zhen thought for a while and said, "It's better to be like this, the county allows you to open a restaurant, but you are not allowed to make wine, and you only filter wine from the lees to sell." In this way, the county is easy to manage, and it is convenient for you to do business. If you can't afford to open a shop, you can temporarily allocate a property from the county government and wait until the end of the year to pay the rent. There should be a seat of wine utensils, but you have to buy it yourself. ”

At this time, the official is the largest landlord, regardless of the state city and county, and even Kaifeng Mansion, there are a large number of properties for rent. Linying County also has a lot of real estate, which is rented to the people to collect rent, and it is not difficult to allocate a place.