On April 22, the new science and technology jinshi gave a banquet in Qionglin Yuan, and each person was given a copy of "The Mean", and Zhang Zhibai lectured in front of the jinshi. Since then, it has become customized, and "University" and "The Mean" have taken turns to reward new science and technology scholars, and Qionglin Yanzai has personally lectured and read them, thinking that they are the righteousness of the exhortation.

On April 28, he re-entered the palace and was given an official position. The first class of six people will be used as prisoners, and the state will be sentenced. The first class is the Dali judge, and the county magistrate. The treatment of the rest of the people has been reduced one after another, and all departments are only selected for low-level people.

Xu Ping will be appointed as a prisoner, and Yongzhou will be sentenced. At the beginning, the family only cared about being happy, and suddenly ascended to the high branches, and the official was a high-ranking official in the sequence of Beijing officials, and the future was infinitely bright. As for which corner of Yongzhou is in the north and south of the world, where do Xu Zheng and Zhang Sanniang know?

The great difference between the first and second classes can be seen from the first rank. Although from the point of view of official rank, there is only one order between the eunuch and the Dali judge, but according to the rules at this time, the Jinshi was born and moved to the official position beyond the rank, and the eunuch entered the court official sequence after a move, and was the prince Zhongyun. However, the Dali commentator has to move again in the sequence of officials in Beijing before he can become a court official.

The selection of low-level officials from the lower level to the Beijing official is the biggest threshold for low-level officials in the Song Dynasty, not only according to seniority, but also a certain number of people to promote, and the imperial court has a quota every year, about 100 people. There are many places where you can't get enough to protect people after being a petty official in a local area for one or two decades, and everyone has become accustomed to it.

The second threshold is to transfer from a Beijing official to a court official, and from then on, you can directly deal with the emperor, which really opens the door to your official career.

Jinshi crossed the low-level selection and directly awarded the Beijing official, and then it was a super-level transfer, leaving other competitors far behind from the initial stage. The first class gets rid of the other ranks, and when the official is changed, there is no need for senior officials to be promoted, and when the number of years is reached, he will be naturally promoted, showing the advantages of the protégé of the Son of Heaven. Moreover, they generally take the position from the second or third term, and the speed of promotion is accelerated again, and they can reach the middle level official in ten years.

Xu Ping naturally knew where Yongzhou was, but the Queen Mother had an opinion about him, and deliberately chose such a remote place for him to suffer. In fact, it can't be said that the Queen Mother is targeting him, the status of the two sides is far apart, that is, no matter how small a woman's heart is, she will not stare at such a small person, at most, she can only say a word or two at an important juncture, and the people below will naturally understand. Just like the current emperor has a good impression of him, at most he has a good impression, and it is impossible to add up his blue eyes, when he is a wonder from heaven. The status difference is so far that it's remarkable to be able to remember his name.

Yongzhou is the capital of Guangxi in later generations, Nanning, but at this time it is still a miasma land, the place under its jurisdiction is thousands of miles away, but the population is less than a county in the south of the Yangtze River, which is extremely desolate. The station of the Guangnan West Road transfer envoy was not there, but in Guilin, which was later established in Guizhou, and the station for punishment was in Yulin, which was later established in Yulin Prefecture, and Yongzhou was just an ordinary frontier prefecture and county with an important status.

After a few days, Zhang Sanniang finally knew where Yongzhou was and what kind of place it was, especially the more others talked about it, the more terrible it became, eight out of ten people who went there as officials couldn't come back, and even let her prepare for the aftermath say it. Zhang Sanniang cried every day, asking Xu Ping to ask someone to change the official, even if it was to be a county magistrate in the mainland, and not to go to the frontier to suffer.

Xu Ping also did not have the consciousness to dedicate himself to the Great Song Dynasty, but he went to the Inquisitor's Court and tried to ask and came back in disgrace. People only said one sentence, during the Taizong period, some officials were unwilling to go to Lingnan as officials, and directly seized the official and sent them to Shamen Island, did Xu Ping go to Shamen Island or Yongzhou?

Zhang Sanniang knew that it was impossible to change the official, so she changed her practical idea, anyway, there are still a few months to go, let Xu Ping be more careful, and be sure to let Lin Suniang conceive the blood of the Xu family before leaving, so as not to break the incense. Xu Ping really annoyed his mother, so he simply agreed to come down and went back to the countryside with Lin Suniang.

Lin Wensi was awarded the professor of Chengwu County, Shanzhou, Jingdong Road, not far from Jinxiang County, Xu Ping wrote a letter to Shi Yannian, asking him to take care of it, which was considered to be out of his mind.

The imperial court asked the new officials to start taking office in May, and there was a time limit in all places, and everyone went back to their hometowns to visit their relatives, and then they had to start their careers as eunuchs in a hurry. Guangnan is no longer than other places, delayed for three months, and Xu Ping still has a few months to stay in Kaifeng Province. And it is necessary to count a good day, and wait until it is winter to enter Lingnan and avoid the miasma at its worst.

Only Zhao Yi served as the governor of Kaifeng Prefecture in the new science and technology jinshi, and the others all went to serve in other places, but Xu Ping and Zhao Yi were not familiar with each other, and they went back and forth twice politely, and they were busy with their own work.

As soon as it entered May, the people he knew were suddenly scattered, and Xu Ping only felt bored, so he simply put down his mind and concentrated on arranging the future of the country grange.

A third of the alfalfa planted three years ago has been harvested, and this year it is the harvest season to switch to wheat. Because the land is barren, Xu Ping plans to plant wheat once every three years, and plant alfalfa to cultivate soil fertility at other times, which can be regarded as another kind of fallow.

That afternoon, Xu Ping and Lin Suniang stood hand in hand in the wheat field, watching Zhuang Ke's wheat threshing.

After looking at it for a while, Xu Ping sighed: "I will take office in a few months, and you will be left alone in this grange, and I don't know if you can handle it!" ”

Lin Suniang smiled and said: "The village is full of old people, and with Xu Chang's help, what's not to deal with?" You just have to rest assured, I will take care of you at home, and you will be fine. ”

Xu Ping's expression was gloomy, and he didn't know what to say. The newlywed honeymoon between the two is the happiest time, but the fact that they will be separated in a few months is like a stone, pressing on the chest and making people uncomfortable.

Officials were not allowed to bring their families to their posts, and the implementation of Liangguang and Sichuan Shu was particularly severe. Some officials are reluctant to part with their wives, pretending to be servant girls and taking them to office, and someone is punished every few years. Xu Ping will not be wronged by Lin Suniang, and his character will not take risks, so he can only try his best to make up for it during this time.

Lin Suniang held Xu Ping's hand and said softly: "I heard that Lingnan is full of miasma, except for Guizhou, other places are perennial. When Da Lang arrives there, everything must be careful. We Central Plains people are not accustomed to the water and soil there, and we must be careful about what we eat and drink. ”

"Actually, it's all passed around, and it's not that scary. Every year, the imperial court sends officials there, and I haven't heard of a few who really died of miasma, and most of them are still weak and sick. I'm in the prime of life, and I haven't had a single illness in many years, so as long as I'm careful, I'll be fine. ”

Xu Ping came closer, put his arm on Lin Suniang's shoulder, and whispered comfort.

In his previous life, Liangguang had long since lost the hazard of miasma, and it was a legend to talk about. But if you really have to face it yourself, you have to be careful. Miasma is just a general term, in fact, the tropical places are sparsely populated, all kinds of viruses are raging everywhere, northerners have no antibodies, and they are not adapted to the climate and are prone to diseases. Xu Ping couldn't think of what Lingnan looked like now, but he clearly remembered the horror of the African rainforest in his previous life, even with all kinds of special medicines, the primeval rainforest was still easy to kill people.

At this time, the population of the entire Song Dynasty was only 30 or 40 million, which was only one-tenth of the population of Xu Ping's previous life, which was only equivalent to a medium-sized province. The population of the border areas is even smaller, and there are less than 4,000 households in Yongzhou at this time, only 10,000 or 20,000 people. The vast majority of the area is undeveloped, and some are not pristine beauty, but the ubiquitous risk that can kill people at any time.

Lin Su Niang leaned her head on Xu Ping's shoulder, and could only smile impatiently: "Da Lang is not very sick, and when he gets sick, he is scared to death!" I still remember a few years ago when you went to save me, we got lost and ran to the tomb of the Emperor of the Later Zhou Dynasty, you caused a cold, but it scared me! ”

Speaking of the past, Xu Ping also felt a little warm, and whispered to Lin Suniang: "That's right, the miasma is just like that, I'll drink a bowl of ginger soup and say it's okay!" ”

At this time, it is almost evening, the sky is full of red clouds, and a large group of red dragonflies around the wheat field are flying up and down, accompanied by the villagers shouting the trumpet in the distance, revealing the unique beautiful and quiet style of the countryside.

Xu Ping took Lin Suniang's hand and sat down on the grass by the river, snuggling up to each other to watch the flying dragonflies.

In this moment of peace and happiness, the two avoided those unhappy topics.

Xu Ping asked Lin Suniang in a low voice: "Do you want to eat sour things recently?" My mother sends plums from the capital to the village every few days, for fear that you won't be able to eat them if you are hungry. ”

Lin Suniang laughed in a low voice: "Is it so fast? You're in too much of a hurry! ”

Xu Ping only sighed: "You don't know how hard I am urged every day!" Even if she hid in the countryside, her mother still sent someone to ask every once in a while. ”

"It's not my business alone, what's the use of you forcing me to ask?"

Lin Suniang was always a little embarrassed when she talked about this kind of thing, and her voice became lower and lower.

Xu Ping has the knowledge of his previous life, so he naturally knows that the responsibility of a man who has children is greater, but Lin Suniang's shy and timid look makes him like it, and he often can't help but talk about it when no one is around.

After a while, Lin Suniang whispered in Xu Ping's ear: "I heard that there is a temple in Zhongmu County that asks for a child and is the most supernatural, and we will also go to worship in two days." ”

Xu Ping pursed his lips: "To support those god sticks and bald donkeys, it is better to work harder yourself." Wait until tomorrow to let Gao Daquan and Sun Qilang catch a few more old turtles, and let Xiuxiu stew soup for me! ”

Lin Suniang listened to it and said curiously: "Recently, I have always seen you catching turtles and turtles to cook, and that thing doesn't have two taels of meat, what do you have to eat?" Look like you're still addicted! ”

Xu Ping laughed: "This is a man's fetish, how can you understand?" I'll stay with you a few more times a night, and a few months is better than years! ”

Hearing Xu Ping say so bluntly, Lin Suniang blushed, took a sip, and ignored him anymore.

In the distance, Xiuxiu and Su'er each caught a few red dragonflies and played with them in their hands, sat on the ground, and sang songs together that they didn't know where they learned. The crimson glow shone on them, glowing faintly.

Xu Ping gently hugged Lin Suniang, blowing the evening breeze of Xixi, looking at this picturesque pastoral scenery, he couldn't help but feel a little crazy.

This is the quiet life he wants.