The sun had already risen in mid-sky, and Su Shunqin sat there a little restless.

Du Xun is a person from a small place, relying on family heirlooms of poetry and books to learn by himself, and he has not been taught by any famous teachers, so he is a little worse in knowledge. When talking to Su Shunqin, he was too restrained, which made Su Shunqin feel that it was not very interesting.

At this time, the education was far from being comparable to that of later generations, and there were very few places in the country where there were state schools, let alone county schools. Commoners study, either like the Du family, or the family has a special school, and the level of education is uneven. Scholars should have a plot of their family and country, and they also depend on the family environment and whether there are famous teachers to teach. There are none of these Du Xun, and it is not by chance that he failed in the imperial examination.

When Su Shunqin was bored, Du Zhongxiao and Han Lian came out of the shed and carried a large wine jar.

When he put down the wine jar in front of Su Shunqin, Du Zhongxiao saluted: "Official, the wine has been made." ”

Hearing this, Su Shunqin stepped forward with great interest, looked at the wine in the jar, and said, "I didn't expect there to be so much." By the way, is the sake lees still there? Take it out, and I'll see if it's the wine that has been strained out of it. ”

Du Zhongxiao promised and entered the shed with Han Lian. He took off the retort, shoveled the lees from the grate into the bamboo basket, and lifted the basket out one by one.

Su Shunqin called out to his entourage and stepped forward to look at the steamed wine lees. The lees have not changed much from before, and they are still wet. At first glance, there was no difference.

Deng Jiejie bent down, sniffed hard, and said, "General judgment, the taste of wine in the lees has faded a lot, and the rest is not much the same as before." ”

Du Zhongxiao arched his hand: "Making wine from sake lees is actually replacing wine with water." Now there is a lot of water in the dregs, but the wine is coming out. ”

Su Shunqin nodded, looked at it for a while, and said, "How do you use the remaining sake lees at home?" ”

"Official, the small family bought two pigs a few days ago, and they were both fed with sake lees."

"It's also a way, so that it can be used to the fullest." Su Shunqin nodded and arrived in front of the wine jar. "Xiucai, do you have a bowl at home? Serve two bowls of wine and taste what the wine is strained out of the lees. ”

Du Xun agreed, hurriedly ran into the house, and took a few large bowls.

With a large bowl of wine, Su Shunqin held it in his hand, looked at it and said, "This wine is very clear!" Based on this appearance alone, there is no better wine in Xuzhou, but I don't know how it tastes. ”

At this time, the water wine is fried directly from the lees, and no matter how good the wine is, it cannot be crystal clear. The steamed dregs liquor is a kind of liquor, although there are some impurities in it, and it is not comparable to the common liquor nowadays in terms of clarity.

After speaking, Su Shunqin picked up the bowl and took a big sip.

Du Xun saw it on the side and said busily: "Be careful!" This wine is so powerful! ”

Before he finished speaking, Su Shunqin coughed again and again, and for a while he only felt that the world was spinning.

Deng Jiejie saw it on the side, hurriedly stepped forward to support Su Shunqin, and sat down on the stool on the side.

After a pause, Su Shunqin said, "This wine is so powerful!" I have lived for decades, and I have drunk all the wine in the world, and I have never drunk such a powerful wine! Xiucai, this wine is just filtered out of discarded sake lees, why is it so violent? ”

Du Xun arched his hand: "The officials don't know that the method of filtering wine in the lees is a bit special, because there is little water, and the wine is extremely strong. ”

"Good, good! It's good wine! Su Shunqin eased up and nodded again and again. How could such a strong liquor be made in such a short period of time, how could it be a private brew. The officials in the county were very foolish, and they actually made such an unjust case. ”

It takes several months to make wine. In just a few hours, the Du family made wine, how could it be brewed privately. From the time of making wine alone, Su Shunqin believed the Du family's statement that they filtered wine from sake lees. Of course, how to strain wine is a secret method in their home, and it is impossible to tell others to know. Small businessmen regard this secret method as their life, and Su Shunqin has no need to inquire.

At this time, most of the officials were eunuchs, many of them had no property, and the family's food and clothing depended on money. This is the case with the Su family, they don't do business at home, and the laws of the imperial court don't allow it, so Su Shunqin has no personal interest in the secret method of making wine. This is a tradition handed down from the five dynasties of the late Tang Dynasty, when the society was turbulent, no industry could be relied on, and the official position was everything.

After calming down his mind, Su Shunqin took a few more sips and nodded again and again: "Okay, this wine is very special, and the strength is extraordinarily great." You put two jars for me, and I will calculate the money as soon as I send it, and bring it back to the state so that the bachelor can taste it. ”

When Du Xun heard this, he knew that everything had disappeared, and happily agreed. As for the money, of course, forget it.

Su Shunqin smiled and asked his entourage to pay, and carefully put away the two small jars of wine. The Du family was ruined because Du Xun went to Beijing to take the exam, and now is the time to be down, how can Su Shunqin take advantage of this.

After confirming that the Du family did not have private brewing, the atmosphere relaxed. How to clean up the county officials later, Su Shunqin already had a draft in his heart, and it had nothing to do with the Du family, so he didn't mention it anymore, just chatted about some family things.

After steaming for a long time, Du Zhongxiao was sweating profusely. When the cold wind blew out, I couldn't help but shiver.

Su Shunqin saw it and said, "Xiucai, how old are your petty officials?" Have you ever studied? ”

Du Xundao: "Back to the official, the dog is 17 years old this year. My family ploughed and read heirlooms, ancestral poetry books, and he read several books since he was a child. ”

Su Shunqin nodded again and again: "If it is peaceful today, the court advises you to study, and reading is the right way." Xiucai, your family has suffered hardship, and it is not difficult to rebuild the family business by relying on this method of making wine. It's just a small trader to support his family, and it's hard to make a living, if there is a chance, let the petty officials study well. ”

Du Xun said yes again and again. It's just that he himself has just come out of the nightmare of going to the test in Kaifeng Mansion, and he still has palpitations in his heart, and his answer is a little duplicitous. Now that he just saw hope, Du Xun didn't dare to think about reading anymore.

Su Shunqin didn't care. Through the conversation just now, Su Shunqin felt that Du Xun was not the material for Zhongjin Shi to be an official. He is indeed a scholar, and he can feel the family background in the conversation, but his understanding of the classics is too superficial and there is nothing outstanding about it. Ordinary people in the countryside have limited knowledge, and it is extremely difficult to find the title of the gold list.

The imperial examinations of this era were different from those of later generations, because there was no systematic education system and no standardized teaching materials, most scholars were timidity as soon as they entered the examination room. There is an element of chance in the imperial examination, but there is still a great inevitability in this era, and if you read books well and do good articles, it is indeed easier to be named on the gold list. That's why after Ouyang Xiu was taught by a famous teacher, he confidently thought that he must be the champion, but he was accidentally taken away by Wang Gongchen, who was in the same house. In recent years, this kind of champion story has happened many times.

Du Xun relied on the teaching of his father when he was a child, and he usually taught himself, but he was lucky enough to pass the liberation test, so he went to Kaifeng Mansion. No matter what aspect he is, it is difficult for him to get into the Jinshi. If you want to go further in the imperial examination, you must have a famous teacher to teach.

Seeing that Du Zhongxiao was standing on the side and was very well-behaved, Su Shunqin said on a whim: "Little official, have you ever made a fuss in ordinary times?" ”

Du Xun hurriedly said: "I've been reading dog books for a few years, but Xiao Ke is busy with family affairs, and he hasn't taught him to make articles——"

"That's a pity." Hearing this, Su Shunqin felt a little regretful.

The article is not written casually. At this time, the imperial examination weight poems and poems are qualified, rhymed, and customary, and must be specially taught to write qualified articles. Du Xun himself is a half-ass, how could he have the heart to teach Du Zhongxiao before.

Seeing Su Shun's somewhat regretful expression, Du Zhongxiao's heart suddenly moved, and he stepped forward and arched his hand: "Back to the official, if you talk about Shiwen, my father has not taught me, and the little one can't write any decent articles." On a whim, he wrote some nonsense, not ancient or modern, and I don't know if it can be entered into the eyes of officials. ”

There was nothing to do, it was still early, Su Shunqin said: "If there is an article written in an informal format, it is good to take a look." ”

Seeing that his father who was sitting on the side was full of nervousness, Du Zhongxiao said with a straight face: "There was nothing to do in the first two days and nights, and I wrote a fu in the next place, writing about the scene of this autumn night." Written indiscriminately, the rhythm is uneven, and I don't know if it can enter the eyes of the judge. ”

After that, he went back to his room and picked up the article he had written a few days ago.

This is an era in which scholars are respected, and Du Zhongxiao is also working in this direction. In fact, the article was not written by him, but he occasionally silently wrote the texts he had learned in his previous life. At this time, it was autumn, and when I was fine a few days ago, I silently wrote a text on a whim, which was Ouyang Xiu's "Autumn Shengfu". At this time, Ouyang Xiugang had not been in the Jinshi for a long time, and his own article style had not yet taken shape, and these famous articles that had been handed down to future generations had naturally not been written. Du Zhongxiao copied one or two articles, and he was not afraid of being discovered by the main owner.

But one thing, Du Zhongxiao is clear. The atmosphere of the times, Ouyang Xiu himself is still sinking to the lower class, and the ancient literature movement he led has just shown some signs and is far from having a profound impact on the literary world. No matter how good Ouyang Xiu's article is, it is not in line with the current atmosphere of the times, and the evaluation is inaccurate.

In this "Autumn Sound Fu", Du Zhongxiao changed the first sentence when he wrote it silently, and removed Ouyang Xiu's imprint.

entered the house, took the article he wrote silently, and Du Zhongxiao handed it to Su Shunqin with both hands.

At first, Su Shunqin didn't care, took the writing paper in his hand, and read it casually. After reading it roughly, I couldn't help but widen my eyes, and I looked at it carefully twice and closed my eyes.

After a long while, Su Shunqin opened his eyes and said to Du Zhongxiao: "You wrote this article?" But it's a little old-fashioned. ”

Du Zhongxiao arched his hand: "In the past few days, the family has suffered a lot of disasters, and the students will inevitably get old. ”

"Rare, rare." Su Shunqin nodded repeatedly. "I don't think anything of this article at first reading, but it is very flavorful when I read it carefully. However, the article of petty officials is not the way of the times, and it is useless in the imperial examination. So, I'll take it back, read it carefully, and then I'll talk to you. This article is quite ancient, and I have a few friends who have been friends for a long time, and they are trying to make ancient texts and see what they have to say. ”

Shiwen is the text of the imperial examination at this time, rearranging the ratio, re-re-rhetoric, for the trend of the moment, everyone such as Yang Yi, Liu Yun, Qian Weiyan and Yan Shu, etc., are all masters in this. Ouyang Xiu, a generation of Wenzong, failed in the imperial examination twice, and also studied Shiwen with his heart, so he was a high school scholar. The ancient literary movement was just emerging at this time, and Ouyang Xiu and other middle- and lower-class literati only appealed, but it did not form an atmosphere.