The time for the examination (state examination) in the Song Dynasty was not fixed. Generally speaking, the further away from the capital, the earlier the examination time was, making it easier for scholars from remote areas to come to Beijing to take the examination the next spring.
Although Yangzhou is not far from Kaifeng, the exam time is the same as Chengdu, more than two months ahead of schedule.
Arriving outside Deyangzhou City, Li Hanzhang said goodbye to everyone. He was going to Xingyuan Mansion alone to participate in the imperial examination.
After taking a few steps, Li Hanzhang turned around again and pulled Zhu Ming aside: "Dalang, you will definitely pass the test, and even if you fail, you will still be able to solve it. So, don't worry, just relax and take the test."
"Can you figure out the solution even if you don't win?" Zhu Ming was a little confused.
Li Hanzhang explained: "My father and Yang Zhizhou can recommend scholars to issue explanations directly. As long as the number of recommendations is not large, the Zhongshu Province will generally not reject it."
Is there such an operation?
Ju Ming really doesn’t know!
In other words, even if Zhu Ming does not take the local exam, he can still be sent to the capital to take the exam.
This is a kind of "recommendation power" for local officials. In principle, it requires the approval of the central government. In fact, the central government is too lazy to take care of it. In the Song Dynasty, there were no special privileges for candidates. No matter how many candidates the local government recommended, the central government could only read a few more papers.
Without real talent and practical knowledge, recommendations are useless. If you should fail, you will fail again.
Li Hanzhang added: "Although the recommendation is convenient, it is not as good as the exam. Dalang can write an article to let my father get familiar with handwriting. My father... is the examiner of the Yangzhou Interpretation Examination."
"No need." Zhu Ming declined politely.
The back door is already open like this, and it is really too humiliating to ask the examiner to help.
Before Wang Anshi reformed the imperial examination, prefecture magistrates took charge of the Jinshi examination, while those who recorded affairs and joined the army took the examination of various subjects. After the reform, state judges still took the examination of the Jinshi subjects, and those who recorded affairs and joined the army took the examination of the non-permanent Mingfa subjects.
Compared with the Ming Dynasty, it seems very informal and formal. The examiners in the Ming Dynasty were the academic envoys (Taoist examinations) and the supervisory censors (rural examinations).
But again, there is no privilege in the Song Dynasty, so what can you do if you cheat?
After Li Hanzhang left, Ju Ming and other scholars went to the cultural supplies store to buy paper.
You need to pay for the test paper by yourself.
"A few young gentlemen are invited in!" the bookstore owner greeted warmly.
Fatty Zheng said: "Each person has a set of test strips, and I will pay for them."
Wang Chang was unhappy: "This is my family's bookstore. Who wants you to pay? One set for each person, and I will record it in my account. I will give you two more to write the family certificate and the guarantee certificate."
Ju Ming is too embarrassed to buy ink sticks anymore. Once he asks, it will definitely be free.
Everyone was in the bookstore, writing all kinds of petitions.
The contents of the family report include name, age, family status, three generations of ancestors, whether and how many times they have been elected, etc.
Guarantee means that the candidates guarantee each other that the information on the family certificate is true. If it is found to be false, the other two guarantors will also be guilty.
After finishing these things, everyone went to the state government together.
Even Fatty Zheng went there. It didn’t matter whether he passed the exam or not, the important thing was to participate.
The etiquette clerks are very efficient in their work and there is no need to get stuck. After all, most candidates cannot afford to offend them.
The family status and warranty will be stamped by the government after verification.
It was supposed to be necessary to show the household registration book, but Zhu Ming didn't bring it with him, but the clerk didn't care. He was a scholar after all, so he could just swipe his face and put two big seals on it.
The test paper is also stamped, with the name written on it, and then returned to the candidate. This thing must be kept well. If it is damaged, you will not be able to take the exam this year.
Ju Ming put the test paper at the bottom of the book box, weighed it down with a few books, and didn't take it seriously. He took part in the imperial examination purely to experience life, and he found reasons to refuse the emperor's conquest.
Anyway, there will be a rebellion from now on!
However, Bai Chongyan was very careful and prepared a bamboo tube, rolled up the test paper and put it in. After closing the lid, he wrapped it in oil paper to avoid being damaged by rain.
He then said to Ju Ming: "Da Lang, there are many bamboo tubes here. If you leave them like that, they will easily break."
"Okay." Zhu Ming followed the good advice.
"Success or failure depends on one move!" Bai Chongyan cheered himself up. According to popular saying, the son of a rich country man like him can already be called a "poor scholar".
Ju Ming cupped his hands and said, "I wish you high school."
Zheng Hong didn't think about the exam at all. He was so bored in the mountains that he just wanted to have fun when he returned to Yangzhou: "There is no sumo show today, but you can go to my restaurant to watch a drama."
Ju Ming said: "The luggage hasn't been put away yet."
"I'll send someone to take it back!" Zheng Hong immediately called for a donkey cart and took Zhu Ming and Bai Chongyan to a restaurant to watch a show.
When they arrived at the restaurant, they asked their attendants and coachman to take their luggage to Zheng's house.
Bai Chongyan was afraid of losing the test paper, so he held it in his arms and refused to hand it over.
This restaurant is quite large, with two floors.
Zheng Hong introduced as he walked: "In the past, there were only many guests in the restaurant when we were eating. Since the introduction of Junzi Tea, there have been more guests drinking tea. It is really a pleasure in life to drink tea and watch a show at the same time."
There were also tea shops in the Song Dynasty, but most of them were very low-end and provided loose tea to ordinary people.
There are also high-end teahouses, but they are rare and mainly found in big cities.
Zheng's restaurant is considered a high-end consumption place in Yangzhou. Customers are generally not used to drinking loose tea, and group tea is more troublesome and cannot be brewed repeatedly.
The emergence of green tea has filled the market gap.
Nowadays, there are always performances in the restaurant, and occasionally there is sumo wrestling. Even if it is not meal time, there are still customers. The rich drink first- and second-class green tea, and the poor people drink third-class green tea.
Even third-grade green tea is expensive here, 20 cents a bowl, and the amount of tea is larger.
You can watch the theater for free, and you can watch it for half a day with a bowl of tea, and the ticket price is all in the tea. The repeated brewing function of green tea provides the possibility of continuing to drink tea and watch the theater.
It was mid-afternoon and the restaurant was almost full.
No matter how poor Yangzhou's business is, it is still the second-largest city in Lizhou Road and there is never a shortage of wealthy people.
Zheng Hong chose a table near the front, made three cups of first-class green tea, and ordered some candied fruits.
"The person who plays Yang Guifei is Wang Shounu, a famous actress from Yangzhou, and Emperor Ming of Tang Dynasty is her husband." Zheng Hong introduced the actor while chewing candied fruit.
Ju Ming curiously asked: "Are they husband and wife free?"
Zheng Hong said: "The imperial court no longer keeps official slaves, and it also advises the people not to keep private slaves. In fact, it doesn't matter whether they are slaves or not. It is not cost-effective to keep slaves. They have to feed and drink them. It is easier to sign a contract. For five years, there are
For ten years, when the time limit is up, no one owes anything to the other."
This is a social change brought about by economic prosperity. It is more cost-effective to hire actors on a contract basis than to raise a group of actors as slaves.
In the Song Dynasty, there were no Kun classes, and women could still appear on stage. There were a lot of famous female stars, and their incomes were even much higher than those of small businessmen.
The bigger the city, the more people prefer girls over boys.
In Kaifeng in the Northern Song Dynasty, "the middle and lower households did not give birth to boys, but when they gave birth to girls, they cherished them like holding jade and jewels." In Hangzhou in the Southern Song Dynasty, "the customs were extravagant, and the wealthy people were happy to have girls, but did not raise them (throw away male babies) if they gave birth to boys."
The reason is very simple. Urban residents do not farm, so it is useless to raise so many boys. On the contrary, it is easier for daughters to find jobs, and the cost of marriage is not that high.
"Ha ha ha ha!"
The audience suddenly burst into laughter, but it was a joke on the stage.
This drama is adapted from the short story "Yang Taizhen Gaiden" of the Northern Song Dynasty. Most of the lines are in the form of spoken words, and they are suddenly sung as they are acted, with many jokes mixed in.
This was the first time for Zhu Ming to watch a Song Dynasty drama and he found it quite interesting.
After one act is performed on the stage, there will be a series of performances in the middle.
Two actors were doing somersaults there, and there was also a matchmaker-like appearance. The male actor was wearing makeup and makeup, laughing and cursing, which was a bit like a stand-up comedy.
After these performances, the matchmaker somersaulted and left, deliberately removing the ball of cloth stuffed in her chest. The matchmaker was about to leave after somersaulting, and hurriedly ran back, picked up the ball of cloth, stuffed it back into her chest, and returned her hands.
He asked and winked at the audience.
"Ha ha ha ha!"
Zheng Hong was so amused that he slapped the table and laughed. He is a layman and likes to see this kind of thing.
Bai Chongyan also watched it with gusto. In the countryside, opera troupes would only be invited to perform during festivals, weddings and funerals. He usually didn't have much entertainment in the academy, so he didn't hate this kind of performance.
After the matchmaker left, Concubine Yang returned to the stage again, changed her outfit and sang while walking.
As he watched, Ju Ming felt something was wrong. Some of the dialogue on the stage seemed to be insinuating that Cai Jing was a traitor?
Ju Ming asked: "How many years has this drama been performed?"
Zheng Hong replied: "It has been decades. This year, a famous dramatist from Xingyuan Prefecture made some changes to the "Yang Taizhen Gaiden". It is more funny and interesting than the old drama before."
Ju Ming did not ask any more questions. He could already confirm that someone was deliberately mocking Cai Jing.
This kind of drama is still considered pediatric, and Kaifeng Zaju is more ruthless.
The content of that drama is——
Cai Jing's younger brother Cai Bian wanted to bring his father-in-law Wang Anshi up and rearrange the seats when offering sacrifices to Confucius.
Confucius asked Wang Anshi to sit down, and Wang Anshi asked Mencius to take his seat.
Mencius declined and said to Wang Anshi: "The seats should be arranged according to the title. I am a duke and you are the true king. You should sit in front of me."
Wang Anshi invited Yan back to his seat again.
Yan Hui said: "I am just a common man in a back alley and have not made any achievements. You are the true Confucian in the world."
So Wang Anshi took his seat, ranked only below Confucius.
Confucius couldn't sit still anymore, so he quickly stepped aside and asked Wang Anshi to take his seat.
Wang Anshi declined in fear.
Zi Lu was outside and was very angry when he saw it. He ran to the ceremony room to find Gongye, the son-in-law of Confucius. He dragged Gongye out of the Confucius Temple and cursed him.
Gongye said in confusion: "What mistake did I make? Why are you scolding me?"
Zilu pointed to the palace: "You don't know how to protect your father-in-law. Look at someone else's son-in-law (Cai Bian)."
That drama brought Cai Jing, Cai Bian, and Wang Anshi to such extremes that it was first performed this year.
In order to consolidate their status, Cai Jing and Cai Bian persuaded Song Huizong to pursue Wang Anshi as King of Shu last year.
Before that, Wang Anshi had already worshiped in the Confucius Temple.
As soon as the title is changed, the seat order should also be changed. Confucius and Wang Anshi are both kings, while Mencius, Yan Hui and others are all dukes.
Word spread among the people that Wang Anshi was going to be ranked second in the Confucius Temple. The scholars were so indignant about this that they wrote a drama to satirize the matter without giving Xianggong Cai any face.
The incident at the Confucius Temple was one of the main reasons why Wang Anshi was cast aside by Confucian scholars, and the rumors became more and more true as they spread, and even the great Confucian scholars of the time expressed their objections.
The current "Yang Taizhen Gaiden" satirizes Cai Jing overtly and covertly, and it is probably also affected by last year's Confucius Temple incident.
If Wang Anshi knew about it underground, he would probably open up the coffin board, run out and give Cai Jing a good beating.
Time gradually passed, Fatty Zheng ordered some food and drinks, and the three of them ate and drank in the restaurant.
Until evening, we went to Zheng's house together.
The guest room has been arranged and the luggage is in the guest room. Zhu Ming lives in the east wing and Bai Chongyan lives in the west wing. They are all in the same courtyard.
As soon as I moved out of my chair and sat down to chat in the yard, someone suddenly came in.
Zheng Yuanyi was dressed up, not only with hair accessories on her head, but also some jade ornaments hanging on her body, making it look like she was going to worship Buddha.
"Isn't the second brother here?" Zheng Yuanyi seemed to have come to see Zheng Hong, but she kept staring at Ju Ming and said in surprise, "Oh, brother Zhu is here too!"