The people on the edge are like the moon, and the frost and snow are condensed on the wrists.

The cold wind of the late autumn evening blew on his body as if he were holding a knife. Du Zhongxiao shrunk his neck, and couldn't help but smile when he saw the Han family's foot shop selling wine in front of him.

Stomping his feet, Du Zhongxiao entered the Han family's foot shop.

Han Yueniang, who was holding her cheeks behind the counter, heard the movement, raised her head and saw that it was Du Zhongxiao, and said with a smile: "The eldest brother of the Du family is delayed for something, but today is a little late." ”

Du Zhongxiao put down the basket he was carrying, and said with a sigh: "I stayed up longer today, and I walked slowly on the road." ”

Han Yueniang got up, made a bowl of wine, turned out of the counter and said, "It's windy outside, it's really cold." This bowl of wine was drunk by the big brother to warm his body. It's still early and there are no guests. ”

Du Zhongxiao thanked him, brought the wine, and swallowed it in one gulp.

The wine is water wine, and there is no hot feeling in the lower stomach. I swallowed it cold, but I shivered.

Han Yueniang saw it and hurriedly said: "But I forgot, fry the wine for the eldest brother." ”

Putting down the bowl, Du Zhongxiao said: "Where are you so particular, take a sip of wine, and it will be warm after a while." ”

After speaking, Du Zhongxiao uncovered the cloth covering the basket next to him and said, "The sheep's trotters I bought today are fat and sparsely cooked, and the taste is all in it, and it must be delicious." It's hot now, so my sister might as well eat one and try it. ”

"But I don't eat the greasy stuff." Han Yueniang smiled and turned back to the back of the counter.

Du Zhongxiao shook his head slightly, sat down at the table, rested, and warmed up.

It's late autumn, and the weather is getting cold every day, and it's about to be winter. The leaves outside have long since withered and yellowed, and from time to time there are stumps and fallen leaves, falling from the trees with the autumn wind, flying in the wind. There are not many pedestrians on the road, and most of them are in a hurry.

Looking outside, Du Zhongxiao was a little distracted.

At this time, it was the late autumn of the second year of Baoyuan in the Northern Song Dynasty, and the northwest was under the auspices of Fan Zhongyan and Han Qi, and the world was initially decided. After many years of fighting, the seemingly powerful Great Song Dynasty spent countless money, but in the end it was unable to quell the rebellion of the Northwest Party. Both the government and the opposition, whether it is the government or the people, have long been miserable. When the remarks of peace came out, in the end, there were still many supporters.

Du Zhongxiao also heard the news of the peace negotiations in the northwest, but there was an indescribable taste in his heart. His soul does not belong to this era, a few months ago, I don't know what happened, a dream traveled through a thousand years, came to this seemingly prosperous, but in fact it was an era of cooking oil with fire, and became an ordinary peasant boy in Linying County, Xuzhou. For a soul of the Hereafter, negotiate peace? Du Zhongxiao couldn't help pouting when he heard these two words, how miserable the Great Song Dynasty was by these two words in history.

As soon as I arrived in this world, before I could plan a grand blueprint for my future, the burden of life came to my face.

The second year of Baoyuan is the year of Dabi, and Sima Guang, who was famous in Du Zhongxiao's previous life, was the Jinshi of this year. The Du family didn't know how to repair the blessings, and Du Zhongxiao's father, Du Xun, also had to solve the problem and go to Kaifeng Mansion, which is not far from here, to take the exam before the New Year.

's father is a man, and according to Du Zhongxiao's experience in his previous life, his starting point is so high. Unbeknownst to him, the nightmare of the Du family began here. From the moment Du Xun left Linying with a patchwork of entanglements, the Du family quickly fell into disrepair.

The Du family is just an ordinary peasant family who is barely fed and clothed, because the previous generations of people who have been officials have passed down poems and books from their families, which can be regarded as farming and reading heirlooms. Du Xun scraped together the cost of the trip to Kaifeng Mansion, borrowed a lot of debts, and exhausted his family funds at once.

This time, Du Xun's luck in the imperial examination was not good, and he didn't pass the provincial examination, so he fell to Sun Mountain. The family was poor and the gold list was unknown, and Du Xun fell ill in Kaifeng Mansion. Forced to return to his hometown from Kaifeng Mansion, his condition became more and more serious, and when he walked to the county, there was no news of him at home.

The mother waited left and right at home, waiting for her husband to come back. After autumn, the crops in the field were harvested, and Xin Yiheng rushed to the county with Du Zhongxiao and lived here to check the news of her husband.

In order to entangle Du Xun to enter Beijing, the Du family has long been a family with four walls, what does it cost to live in the county? After renting two houses for a while, her mother washed and sewed to make some money, and asked Du Zhongxiao to visit around. In only half a month, Du Zhongxiao and his mother ate the last meal without the next meal.

Thinking of this, Du Zhongxiao couldn't help but sigh secretly. He had a thousand years of more knowledge, and when he saw that it was not a way to go on like this, he thought of a way to make money. The most eaten by the people of the Song Dynasty was mutton, and the butchers had a large number of sheep's trotters every day, and the price was extremely cheap. Du Zhongxiao went to buy sheep's trotters at a low price, asked his mother to clean up the brine at home, and went to these small foot shops selling wine on the street, and sold it to the drinkers, so as to help make up for the family.

Thinking of these, Du Zhongxiao sighed and sighed. After a thousand years at once, before he had time to adapt, the burden of thousands of pounds at home was suddenly pressed on his shoulders. There are countless ways to make a fortune, but there are few that can solve the current problem of eating. Every day when I wake up, I have to worry about today's firewood and rice, where are I thinking about anything else? The sheep's hooves are all paid on credit from the butchers, and if they sell a little less, they will lose money, which is really not idle at all.

Lift people? Scholars? Thinking of it, Du Zhongxiao only smiled bitterly. In my previous life, I learned a text "Fan Jin Zhongju", and Fan Jin was like heaven when he lifted a person. It's a pity that it was the Ming Dynasty, not the Song Dynasty. In the Song Dynasty, the qualification was only a qualification to participate in the imperial examination, and the qualification disappeared after the imperial examination unless there were special circumstances.

The lifters of the Song Dynasty basically had no privileges, and even the travel expenses for the exam were borne by themselves. For a small peasant family like the Du family, participating in the imperial examination is an extremely risky thing, and if you are not careful, your family will be ruined. Lin Ying is not far from Fengfu, Rao is like this, and the Du family has already taken all the wealth accumulated over the years, and still owes foreign debts. In those places far away from the capital, it is conceivable what kind of pressure scholars have to bear to participate in the imperial examination. It is not an exaggeration to beg all the way to Beijing to catch the exam.

The ancient times in the impression of his previous life, and the real Song Dynasty he faced, were actually two worlds, which made Du Zhongxiao very helpless. He has to get used to it slowly, and there is a big question mark about how much the knowledge in his impression can be used.

The imperial examinations of the Northern Song Dynasty, especially in the early middle and early periods, were different from the later imperial examinations in order to attract scholars. The imperial examination of this era was set up to gather the rangers and wanderers scattered among the people, and to serve these unstable elements in society. In the impression of the previous life, the court's preferential treatment of scholars was accumulated little by little over many years, and there were not many in this era.

Lifting people, for the sake of his father Du Xun, the Du family is already a family with four walls, but in the end they got nothing. In this era, for the people at the bottom, studying and becoming an official is a kind of gamble, and the probability of winning is not high. Once the examination is determined for life, once you lose the imperial examination in Kaifeng Mansion, you will lose all your capital. Therefore, after the imperial examination every year, Kaifeng Mansion always has a person who jumps into the river and hangs himself.

Looking at the fallen leaves flying outside, Du Zhongxiao rubbed his forehead vigorously. It's only been a few months in this world, and Du Zhongxiao hasn't even seen the titular father. But living with his mother every day and being infected by her, Du Zhongxiao was also very anxious in his heart, and he didn't know how much he wanted to see him.

Han Yueniang saw Du Zhongxiao's appearance behind the counter, and said softly: "Big brother misses Han Xiucai again?" Jiren has his own heavenly help, rest assured, he will definitely find his uncle in a few days. ”

Du Zhongxiao shook his head slightly and said, "I hope so, borrow your auspicious words." ”

The first step of the imperial examination in the Song Dynasty was to send a person to the state to participate in the liberation test, and if you win, you will be lifted. There is no Xiucai below the lifter, Xiucai is the honorific title for scholars, and you can be called Xiucai if you don't pass the palace test or become an official. Du Xun passed the liberation test, and he can be called a lifter, a Xianggong Jinshi, a Xuzhou Jinshi, or a Xiucai.

At this moment, the shopkeeper Han Lian came out from behind, looked at the store and said, "What, there are no customers yet?" ”

Han Yueniang looked at the gloomy sky outside and said, "The sun hasn't set yet, and the guests are afraid that they will have to wait a while." ”

Han Lian said with a smile: "It's cloudy, where can I see the sun?" You prepare the mulled wine first. ”

Han Yueniang agreed, and prepared the soup of hot wine.

Looking at the back of Han Yueniang turning to leave, Du Zhongxiao was slightly distracted.

Han Yueniang has fair skin, a good face, a quiet personality, and an excellent heart. These days, Du Zhongxiao always likes to come to her shop to sit down, consciously or unconsciously. My Fair Lady, a gentleman, Du Zhongxiao is seventeen years old, and he was attracted unconsciously. Han Yueniang doesn't hate this down-to-earth teenager with a calm personality, and the two can talk.

Du Xun is a person in the end, as long as the family situation is better, this identity will be useful. For example, many local affairs can be guarantors, the government can speak well, and the good errands in the state and county can be picked up and done first. Such a family background is considered a high climb for the Han family who sells wine.

The premise of everything is that the family situation should be better. Like now, after eating the last meal but not the next, and still owing debts, the identity of lifting people is half useless.

Thinking of this, Du Zhongxiao could only sigh. The hardest thing in the world is to get started. If the family now has hundreds of thousands of yuan, Du Zhongxiao can come up with many ways to make money. But now, from dawn to dark, every day to fill their stomachs, who has the means?

Later, even if he finds his father Du Xun and treats him, the burden on the family will only be heavier. Relying on the only five or six acres of land left in the township, where can we solve the current dilemma. You have to think of something else, preferably a business, to change the status quo at home. But doing business requires capital, where can Du Zhongxiao find capital. When Du Xun went to Kaifeng Mansion to take the exam, the Du family had already borrowed all the places where they could borrow money, and now there is no place to borrow it.

Thinking of these, Du Zhongxiao could only sigh. I don't know how much more effort it will take to change the situation. I have a long road in this world, and I don't know when I can really start.