However, becoming famous had little impact on Su Ze for the time being. He continued to attend lectures at the county school the next day. In the afternoon, Hai Rui spent half a day asking the four people to ask questions he had raised during his self-study and answered their questions one by one.
He gained 20 points of imperial examination experience by listening to lectures for two hours in the morning, and gained 20 experience points by answering questions for two hours in the afternoon. Now Su Ze's imperial examination skills have reached level 3, 105/300, which is much faster than studying at home.
Got it!
At this rate, Su Ze will soon reach LV5, which is the level of a scholar.
After the afternoon Q&A session, Chen Chaoyuan, Xiong Yue and Lin Qingcai took Su Ze and went to the county town for a walk.
Unexpectedly, as soon as the four of them walked out of Lingxing Gate, they saw a simple pavilion set up in front of the county school. A young man in brocade clothes was sitting on a horse, drinking tea boredly.
Behind this man, there were two soldiers of the Ming Dynasty standing as servants.
When the man in brocade clothes saw Su Ze, he immediately grinned and walked forward quickly.
Chen Chaoyuan, Xiong Yue and Lin Qingcai quickly got out of the way, only to see this man in brocade clothes say directly to Su Ze:
"Sir, you have a wonderful calculation! Can you please give me another divination for Yu?"
The person blocking the door was none other than Yu Zongyuan, the second son of the Yanping Guard commander.
The last time Yu Zongyuan set up a card outside Nanping City to force donations, Su Ze calculated a fortune for him, and when he returned home, he was caught by his father, Yu Jian, the commander of the Yanping Guards, and was severely beaten.
If I hadn't followed Su Ze's instructions, begged for mercy in a timely manner and confessed my crime sincerely, I would have been beaten to death by my father.
After Yu Zongyuan was beaten, he felt that Su Ze was a clever man and a really capable person!
Yu Zongyuan originally came to the county school yesterday, but even though he was the son of a third-grade commander, he did not dare to go to the county school. After all, Hai Rui had a good reputation and was a fierce man who dared to challenge even the prefect.
Later, Baizhi County came to inspect the county school, and Yu Zongyuan immediately went back home. Today he stayed in front of the county school all afternoon again, and finally waited until Su Ze came out.
Seeing the young commander's difficulty in walking, I knew he must have been beaten.
Su Ze deliberately left the news that he was going to the county school last time just to catch Yu Zongyuan. Seeing that he took the bait, Su Ze deliberately said:
"Young Commander, you can't calculate this hexagram randomly. Every time I calculate a hexagram using the Plum Blossom Technique, it will reveal the secrets of heaven. If you are too deeply tainted with the cause and effect, your life span will be shortened."
Su Ze refused to tell fortunes, but Yu Zongyuan felt that he was a wise man and was extremely enthusiastic towards him.
Although Chen Chaoyuan, Xiong Yue and Lin Qingcai did not know Yu Zongyuan, they knew that he must be a big shot in Nanping City when they saw that he was very impressive and well-dressed.
The fact that such a person respected Su Ze so much made the three of them feel that Su Ze was extraordinary.
Yu Zongyuan rolled his eyes and said, "If it hadn't been for Mr.'s clever trick last time, I'm afraid I would have been beaten to death by my father. Mr. Su, I'm preparing a banquet at Yaoyue Tower. How many gentlemen will go with me?"
Yao Yue Lou is a famous restaurant in Nanping County. Chen Chaoyuan, Xiong Yue and Lin Qingcai have only heard of it. This man in brocade clothes was so generous when he first came out. He just wanted to ask Su Ze for a fortune?
Su Ze did not refuse, but agreed decisively.
After Su Ze was invited, Yu Zongyuan was in a good mood. He patted his head and took out four white greeting cards from his sleeves and handed them to the four people.
A greeting card is a business card from the Ming Dynasty, with your identity and name written on it. When you meet for the first time in daily interactions, you will send a greeting card first.
Sending greeting cards is a trend among scholars. Yu Zongyuan is not actually from the circle of scholars, but his father is a third-grade commander, and the Yu family is considered a prominent family in Nanping City, so Yu Zongyuan also brings the greeting cards in an artful manner.
.
On the contrary, Su Ze and the other four people had no money to buy invitations because they had no fame and poor family background.
Yu Zongyuan, who was illiterate, used greeting cards, but Su Ze and the other four serious scholars did not use greeting cards. It is very reasonable. This is the Ming Dynasty.
When the three of them saw Yu Zongyuan looking at the young master of Yanpingwei's commanding family, they all kept a distance from Zongyuan and were filled with fear in their hearts.
You must know that the reputation of Yanpingwei in Nanping City is basically the same as that of bandits and robbers.
As for the reputation of the Second Young Master, in Nanping City it is not just for stopping children from crying, but also for being hated by people.
The three of them accepted the invitation and already wanted to escape back to the county school. They didn't know how Su Ze knew someone like Yu Zongyuan.
Su Ze held the white sign in his hand and said it was white, but with the papermaking technology of this era, it was actually a little yellowish.
However, the paper used by Yu Zongyuan is the highest grade and whitest signature paper, and the price is quite high.
Paper in the Ming Dynasty was always not cheap. Changningwei still has no money to buy pens, inks, paper and inkstones. Su Ze used a sandbox to practice calligraphy in Changningwei. In the past few days, he only used this paper at the county school and improved his calligraphy skills to level 2.
,150/200.
Su Ze heard about the price of paper from Hai Rui. One hundred pieces of paper cost nearly one tael of silver. It was so difficult for a poor family to study.
You must know that Jiangxi Qianshan and Fujian Liancheng are famous paper producing areas in the country, and the price of paper is already much lower than in the north.
Su Ze couldn't bear to buy paper to practice calligraphy, let alone Yu Zongyuan's extravagant use of paper to make greetings.
The invitation to pay homage has become a huge burden for literati. At that time, when people attended different occasions, they had to prepare greeting invitations of various forms and contents.
I heard that in North and South Zhili where the most popular greeting cards are, you need to prepare more than 20 kinds of greeting cards before going out.
Moreover, greeting invitations not only require white paper, but also red paper, and even gold-gilded red paper, which ordinary scholars cannot afford.
Yu Zongyuan brought Su Ze and the others to Yao Yue Tower. The young master from the family of the commander of the Yanping Guards directly booked the top floor of Yao Yue Tower. The generous offer made the three of them even more cautious. This was located under the second young master.
He spent all his money just to let Su Ze count?
Is Su Ze so good at fortune telling?
Su Ze was neither condescending nor overbearing when talking to Yu Zongyuan. He did not show off and discriminate against Yu Zongyuan like other scholars, nor was he timid like the three of them. Instead, he communicated with the second young master on an equal footing, which made Yu Zongyuan very happy.
The three of them admired Su Ze's magnanimity even more, but when they thought that Su Ze could talk eloquently to Baizhi County, it was not surprising that he could talk to Yu Zongyuan, the son of a military commander.
Yu Zongyuan asked someone to bring some fine wine. At this time, rice wine was generally used for banquets. Chen Chaoyuan, Xiong Yue and Lin Qingcai soon fell down on the table from the strength of the wine.
When Su Ze was running for funding with his mentor, he drank half a kilogram of white wine. This low-alcohol rice wine was not enough for Su Ze.
Yu Zongyuan felt that Su Ze was so arrogant that he wished he and Su Ze could burn yellow paper and sworn brotherhood on the spot.
When it was almost time to eat and drink, Yu Zongyuan said:
"Brother Su, can you tell me another fortune?"
What Su Ze was waiting for was Yu Zongyuan's words. He sighed and said: "If you eat people with soft lips and short hands, brother Yu should just give you a number."
"eight!"
Su Ze pretended to calculate again, then opened his eyes and said, "Brother Yu, I'm afraid there's going to be a disaster in your house!"