The fragrance of osmanthus floats back and forth, Ma Binwang leans on the carved railing alone, holding a bottle and holding a pot, drinking by himself.

He raised his head and looked at the bright moon. Suddenly, light clouds covered him lightly. As the gradually dim moonlight turned, Ma Binwang's eyes became blurred.

This is the best time and the worst time.

If Mabin Wang had been born 1,200 years later, he would definitely agree with this immortal saying of British writer Dickens.

More than 40 years ago, Emperor Wen of Sui Yang Jian ruled the world, and the Sui Dynasty unified the country, ending the nearly three centuries-long split in the Chinese region.

Subsequently, in order to break the monopoly of the clans over officials and achieve the purpose of changing the old system, the two emperors of the Sui Dynasty established the imperial examination system that lasted for thousands of years.

Emperor Yang of Sui, who was eager to achieve success, even ignored the advice of his ministers and dismissed the selection of powerful families and nobles. In the process of dividing the subjects and selecting scholars, he gave priority to promoting the children of ordinary people with outstanding talents and knowledge.

However, this seemingly successful move greatly harmed the interests of the clans and became an important factor in the rapid decline and even demise of the Sui Dynasty.

Later, Li Yuan, the inheritor of the Sui Dynasty, did not give up because of the choke. The Tang Dynasty he founded not only inherited the imperial examination system of the previous dynasty, but also made many far-reaching improvements.

One of the most critical measures is to change the material selection model that has not yet broken away from the "result system" in the past, and use test scores as the core standard for admission.

At this point, taking the imperial examination has become the most important way for poor people to realize their ideals and ambitions.

However, the Li Tang Dynasty learned some lessons from the previous dynasty, and in order to avoid repeating the same mistakes, it also added a so-called compromise method - even if candidates achieve excellent results, they still need to be recommended by officials and officials to be qualified to enter the officialdom.

Therefore, the officials and famous scholars who were originally from aristocratic families naturally controlled the imperial examinations and monopolized the officialdom as usual. Those poor people who were born to be weak did not seek official positions without seeking official positions without seeking aristocratic families or becoming officials, no matter how hard they work, they would not have the opportunity to obtain an official position.

In this way, although Ma Binwang was well-educated, he was still ruthlessly rejected by the imperial examinations because he came from a poor family and was not recommended by the ministers.

As for Ma Binwang's experience as an official and a subordinate of the state, it can be described as a small matter. The whip that the governor of Bozhou ordered people to whip him has become an indelible scar in his heart...

As his thoughts flew, Ma Binwang missed his parents who died in troubled times in the early years. If there were no classics and historical books left to him, if he had not studied hard for more than ten years, but had been working hard to farm peacefully, would he still be in a desolate situation where he was penniless and wandered on the streets of Chang'an now?

Although the banquet is beautiful, where should I settle down after the song ends and everyone is dispersed...

Ma Binwang was feeling sad from his heart when a faint sigh suddenly came from beside him.

When Ma Binwang turned his head and saw that the person sighing was a strong man in plain and short brown, with a square nose, a tiger's back and a bear's waist, and was almost like him leaning on the carving railing, carrying a wine pot, drinking at the moon long. He looked unruly, but his face was faintly filled with a deep fatigue and loneliness.

The two were so close that they didn't even talk a word, just drank.

Before they knew it, both wine pots were empty. Although they were slightly drunk, they felt that they were still unfulfilled.

Just at this moment, two slender jade hands each carrying a wine pot suddenly appeared between the two. Then, the cold voice of the owner of Mingyuan sounded in their ears: "One person has a wine pot, please pick it up for yourself."

Ma Binwang and the strong man hurriedly put down the empty pot, bowed and thanked each other, and then they each picked up the wine.

Li Yao glanced lightly at the two people who were slightly restrained in front of him, and first asked Ma Binwang with a smile: "Is this gentleman the man who was alone when he was young and taught himself. He was once a resignation and was insulted by Jun Yi Order and was angry at Ma Zhou and Ma Binwang who traveled to the capital in the west because of his insults?"

Ma Zhou was suddenly shocked and looked at Li Yao with some surprise. He was only famous in Bozhou and had only been to Chang'an for a few days. But the female crown in front of him had already known his general origin. In addition, she could have a luxurious mansion in the capital at such a young age. She felt that the other party had a great background. Maybe she was a wonderful woman who had achieved success in practicing Taoism like Wei Huacun, the first generation master of the Shangqing School, who was the real person of Nanyue.

Thinking of this, Ma Zhou couldn't help but become cautious and replied respectfully: "I feel very ashamed, it's Ma."

Li Yao nodded, then narrowed his almond eyes, looked at the short brown man, and asked, "The surname is Gao Lie?"

Her tone was a strong negative meaning, and the strong man was shocked slightly.

The strong man returned to normal in an instant and replied calmly: "Yes."

Li Yao said lightly: "Although I am just a practitioner of Taoism, I also know that there are only a handful of people who can accidentally pull the three-stone strong bow in this world."

As she said that, she suddenly raised a playful smile, her voice was soft and low, but it was clear: "Zixia was born in Wuyi, Jizhou, and settled in Shiping. When she was young, she followed her father Ling, who served as the Sui general, to fight on the battlefield. After Lin Xian's father unfortunately died, she led her troops to defeat the Qinghe rebels, personally killed the thief king, and then defeated the rebels in Handan. As for the glorious deeds behind her, do you still need to continue talking about them?"

"No."

Ma Zhou next to him seemed to be still confused, but his face turned pale. His fists were clenched unconsciously, and the blue veins on the forehead were even raised, as if he was ready to kill someone at any time. He said in a deep voice: "The Taoist priest knows a lot."

Li Yao smiled again. Under the bright moonlight, a smile seemed extremely evil, and she heard her say earnestly: "If you want to hide your name well, you shouldn't use the surname of Ling's father and his own name. If I can't guess this, that would be a strange thing."

"Gao Lie" sneered: "The Taoist priest is really very smart, but it's a pity that he is not very sensible."

Li Yao said: "Don't be nervous. Who is the one in the past? It has nothing to do with me. On the contrary, I admire the talents of me and Ma Langjun. If you don't dislike me, you can always live in Mingyuan. Such delicious wine and food are just a common place tonight."

As soon as these words came out, Ma Zhou's originally blushed face immediately turned a little more red, and he hurriedly refused: "Although Ma is poor, even if he is desperate, he will not want to bear the reputation of not being a son."

The murderous aura between "Gao Lie"'s eyebrows immediately dissipated, which was obviously a mistake.

He is a family member. For the past six months, he has a family that he has not returned, so he is sorry for his wife. If he has been married outside, he doesn't know how he will face his ancestors in the future. He can't help but say seriously: "The Taoist Master's love is my dear, but the minister under the Taoist Master's skirt will never do it."

"Ha? The minister under the skirt?"

Li Yao looked at the two big bosses who were so optimistic about their opinions with a look of inconsistency. Ci Yan said righteously: "You two are completely wrong. I just want to invite you to be your disciples. You are not a congratulatory person. Do you understand?"
Chapter completed!