In Wang Yu's Mansion in Nanjing, Hong Xiguan was reporting to Wang Yu: "Dashuai, the hand of the north is too long, and it is even allowed to let the southern Xiucai go to Shandong, Henan, North Zhili and other places to participate in the township test!" Their lists are posted everywhere, saying that they are allowed to go to the north to participate in the township exam, and even allow Tong Sheng to go to the north to take the Tong Sheng exam! ”

"Isn't that digging into our corners?" Li Rui said angrily, "The township test is each province's own examination, and each province shows its talents to participate in the provincial township examination, how can there be a reason for the cross-provincial township examination?" ”

Wang Yu sneered: "Our southern Xiucai can enter the yamen to do things, and the officials are reformed, and Xiucai will have the opportunity to be promoted." If some scholars are still not satisfied and still want to go to the north to become officials, why should we stop those scholars whose hearts are not on our side? Let them go! Anyway, Wu Yingqi and Wu Shifan didn't have a good heart, and the scholars who went to the north, if they didn't listen to them, they probably didn't end well. ”

……

Xuzhou is the dividing line between the southern and northern garrisons, out of Xuzhou to the north is the territory of Wujiajun, because the north opened the imperial examination, the northern Yanzhou Mansion, Jining Mansion and other places accept the southern failed to be admitted to the qualification of the show to participate in the children's examination, so there are a lot more people who go to the north during this time.

At the gate of the city, two soldiers of the Qiongzhou Army who had changed their guards sat in front of a small tea stall, drinking tea and eating breakfast, and the two soldiers were chatting. According to the military discipline of the Qiongzhou Army, soldiers are not allowed to speak when they are standing guard, they must stand motionless, standing like a stone carving, even if someone comes to tease them, they can't move, which is as strict as the guards standing at the gate in later generations. After the change of guard, the two soldiers came to the tea stall to eat and chat.

"Some people are also well-fed, and they live so well in the south that they can become officials if they take the test casually, but they want to go to the north." A soldier said.

Another soldier said: "Everyone has their own ambitions, and some people want to soar overnight, so let them go." ”

At the gate of the city, several people who looked like scholars appeared, and they wanted to pass through the gate to the north. The soldiers at the gate stopped the scholars, and they needed to check the way or fame. Although the Qiongzhou Army did not implement a strict road guidance system in the south, it needed to be inspected at the junction of the south and the north, as well as at important locations such as ports and terminals, and stations. Those who do not have fame need a guide, and those who have a reputation above Xiucai can not use a guide, as long as they can show a certificate of fame.

"We have a reputation." Several readers said.

"Then please show your fame, whether it is a talent or a person, there are documents issued by the government, if you can't show it, who knows if it is a child or a person with merit?" An officer-looking man said.

Several readers had no choice but to show the documents honestly.

"What about you? Are you a talent or a lifter? The officer turned to a scholar on a donkey.

"I'm a child, but I have a guide from the Suzhou government." The reader blushed and took the guide from the package.

The officer looked at the scholar and saw that he was about forty years old, and his clothes were shabby. The officer took the road and took a look, only to see that there were words such as Suzhou Tongsheng Fan Jin written on it, as well as the seal of the official government.

"Why are your clothes so torn? Is it the Confucian shirt that was hidden before shaving your hair and changing clothes, and you took it out and put it on after the Ming Dynasty recaptured Jiangnan, right? One soldier laughed.

Another soldier said: "It has been more than ten years since the Ming Dynasty recaptured Jiangnan, maybe he did it after the Ming Dynasty recovered Jiangnan." It is normal for clothes that have been worn for more than ten years to be torn. ”

The officer smiled and said, "Where are his clothes that have only been worn for more than ten years?" At least thirty years! It must have been left over from before the shaving of the hair, and maybe it was changed before. Perhaps, the Tartar came, and he changed the Confucian shirt to the style that the Tartar requested; As soon as we came, he changed back. ”

"Hahaha!" The soldiers around him and the few people who passed by laughed.

The old boy named Fan Jin was flushed, took the road guide, and rode over the donkey quickly. Speaking of which, the clothes on his body are really changed, when the Manchu Qing ruled Jiangnan before, he wore the Confucian shirt style prescribed by the Qing court. When the Ming army recaptured Jiangnan, he changed his clothes to the style of Han Confucian shirts. changed to a wide robe with big sleeves, and he had to add some more fabric to his clothes, for which Fan Jin, who was poor, was distressed for a long time.

Fan Jin has been taking exams in the south for many years, and he can't even pass the Xiucai exam. This time he wanted to try his luck in the north, so he borrowed two silver dollars from his father-in-law to go to the north to participate in the imperial examination, and the donkey was also from his father-in-law's family.

A group of scholars went out of the Xuzhou City Gate and went north along the official road. After arriving at Yanzhou Mansion, Fan Jin inquired about the government and learned that he could participate in the Yanzhou Mansion's children's exam, and he finally breathed a sigh of relief: "The government in the north didn't lie to me, I can take the Xiucai exam here, this trip is not in vain." ”

Two days later, Fan Jin took the Xiucai exam, and the exam went well, and he felt that the exam questions were much easier than the children's exam in the south. In fact, it is not much easier, it is all his psychological effect, because if he is admitted to Xiucai in the south, he can directly enter the yamen, or various official institutions, and he is already an official of the imperial court, which makes Fan Jin under great pressure.

After the exam, Fan Jin went back to the hotel where he lived for a night and rested in a two-piece copper plate, and three days later, he went to the yamen, looked at the name on the big red list, looked down from above, and never saw his name, his heart twitched. But soon he saw that his name was last on the list.

"Finally in the show!" Fan Jin was overjoyed, "With Xiucai, this trip is not in vain, it's a big deal to go back to the south, and you can also enter the yamen as a petty official, and you don't have to look at the faces of your wife and father-in-law every day." ”

"You're too unambitious, aren't you?" A scholar next to him said, "I've all won the show, why don't you go to the exam?" If you win the lift, you can enter Beijing to catch the exam! If you win the jinshi, you can become an official in the capital, and no matter how bad it is, it is a county order. If you go back to the south now, starting from a petty official who is not in the grade, I am afraid that it will be more than ten years to be the ninth grade, and you will have to be the seventh grade county order, and you can only do it in the year of the monkey? Even if there is no Zhongjin Shi, if you have the qualification to return to the south, you can say that you are a nine-rank official. ”

Fan Jin thought about it for a while and felt that it was the same, so he set off to Jinan to participate in the township test.

On the day of the release of the township test list, two officials came to the cheapest inn where Fan Jin lived to report the good news and congratulate Fan Jin on his promotion.

"Silver?" Fan Jin cried with a sad face, "Where did I get the reward?" Do you think I have any silver in me? Can the two grandfathers wait a few days? ”

An official sneered: "Master Fan, you are now a master, we are just on an errand." The north here is not as good as the south, and if you become an official, you are a petty official, and you can take it. The officials here don't have a salary, so they rely on this reward to support their families, you are all a big man, you can't pull out a dime. ”