Regarding this imperial examination, there are some who believe in it and some who don’t.

But whether you believe it or not, this incident caused a great sensation both in the court and among the people.

The only ones who really know the inside story are a few senior officials.

When the results were announced earlier, Wang Buxu also issued a hush-hush order. Even his descendants were not allowed to reveal anything before the list was announced.

Zhang Yan first returned home angrily and lost his temper.

When his grandfather Zhang Er, who was recuperating at home, learned the reason, he was also puzzled.

So someone prepared a carriage and dragged the sick body directly to his uncle Zhang Cang's home.

He knew Zhang Yan's knowledge well, and in addition there were materials left by his uncle Zhang Cang at home, and he would give personal guidance from time to time.

If the imperial examination had asked other questions this time, it would have been possible for Zhang Yan to fail.

The subject of the test was economic calculation. With Zhang Yan's knowledge, how could he fail the test?

In fact, not only Zhang Er, but also many people could not understand this imperial examination.

In comparison, everyone agrees that the difficulty of the exam has been reduced, and only the content you are best at is tested.

It stands to reason that there should be many people who can pass the exam, but reality slaps them hard.

Arriving at Zhang Cang's home, even Zhang Er had to sigh.

"Hey, this uncle is good at everything, but this is..." Zhang Er shook his head and sighed again, looking at the huge mansion, what else could he do besides sighing?

The largest courtyard in Luoyang covers an area of ​​20 acres.

This is strictly stipulated by the imperial court, and to be able to occupy a yard as large as twenty acres of land, it is not enough just to have money.

You still have to have status.

If your status is not high enough, even if you have money, you would not dare to occupy a yard of twenty acres.

Otherwise, the house of a third-ranking official plus eight ministers only has 20 acres. How dare you, a fifth-rank official, ask for a 20-acre yard?

Although there were no restrictions from the court, the people below still consciously formed a set of rules.

For those at the level of minister or above, the yard is twenty acres in size.

For level three or above, the yard is fifteen acres in size.

For level five and above, the yard is ten acres in size.

For those with grade seven or above, it is five acres.

The rest are all less than five acres, and most are one or two acres in size.

The plan of the new city is boxy, and everything inside is designed.

Zhang Er relied on his title to build a yard of fifteen acres. After all, he had already retired and his son Zhang Ao was not of a lower level.

Besides, a yard of fifteen acres is enough for living.

It's his uncle...

"Old Fu, what are you doing in such a hurry?" Zhang Er stopped the housekeeper in the mansion, who was similar in age to himself and had been following Zhang Cang for many years.

In the past, when I came here by myself, the old man would always chat with me.

But after bringing him in today, he wanted to run away in a panic.

"Second Young Master, it's not that we don't have enough room at home. It happens that there are some vacant yards nearby. The owner of the house previously told me to go to Qihou's place to have a look. If the price is right, I will buy some." Old Fu replied truthfully, don't worry about it.

What is Zhang Er's title outside, but here, he is the second young master, although the eldest young master is younger than Zhang Er...

Ah no...

Zhang Cang should be eight years younger than Zhang Er!

But people's seniority is there. Even if Zhang Cang is twenty or thirty years younger than him, Zhang Er still has to call him uncle honestly. He still doesn't dare to yell when they meet, otherwise he will be slapped.

Go up there and you have to smile and apologize.

No, Zhang Cang's youngest son is less than half a year old, and Zhang Er, who is already sixty years old, has to smile and call him brother when he sees him, I am young brother...

Another example is Zhang Yan, who had already participated in the imperial examination. When he met Zhang Cang's youngest son, he had to cry and call him "uncle"...

"No...not enough to live in? Not enough to live in anymore???" Zhang Cang looked at the old man in confusion.

"Yes, so I plan to take a look this time. If it can be cheaper, I will buy a few more seats at once. Anyway, I will use them sooner or later." The old man nodded seriously. It was considered a big order. He

I plan to have a good talk with the boys from the Qihou family.

"..." Zhang Cang looked up at the sky with a face filled with pain. Oh my God, I'm so big...

Why did Zhang Er collapse like this?

The root cause is that Zhang Cang had three yards of twenty acres in Luoyang City, and two yards of fifteen acres.

In terms of real estate, there are more properties in Luoyang than Zhang Cang. Apart from the emperor, it is probably only the developer Tian Dan.

But even so, it’s not enough to live in?

"Old Fu, how many people are behind you now?" Zhang Er looked at Old Fu desperately, not afraid of anything but comparison.

"Eighty-seven of them. No, the master of the house has recently fallen in love with a few Huns women, but they are still young. The master plans to find a yard to raise them for a few years..." Old Fu said very calmly, what is the fuss about?

of?

Anyway, he was used to this kind of thing.

And the women in the family even came up with a set of principles.

Although it sounds nonsense, if you study it carefully, you will find that it really makes sense.

That is, if you want to always be favored by the head of the family, you must first be infertile.

Why do you say that?

The reason is very simple, this is the experience summed up by predecessors.

Including Zhang Cang's first wife, after giving birth to his eldest son Zhang Kang, she never received Zhang Cang's favor again.

Some women who came later also basically followed this routine. Anyone who had been pregnant and gave birth, Zhang Cang would no longer approach them.

On the contrary, those who have never been able to conceive can often get Zhang Cang's favor.

Therefore, despite the fact that Zhang Cang now has eighty-seven wives and concubines, in fact, his total number of children is less than forty.

There are more than 20 children with premature birth syndrome alone. This is the result of Zhang Cang being able to get medical treatment because of his good family background.

The big shots in the court gave Zhang Cang the nickname "Xiao Cang", but in fact this was not groundless.

Zhang Cang was extremely stingy in the Ministry of Household Affairs, and would review and delay the funding of every government office.

Anything that can be deducted from you will never be given to you happily.

But at home, he is extremely willing to invest. With so many houses and daily food and drink expenses, it is simply not something that ordinary people can afford.

Although Zhang Cang never approached women who had given birth, he never kicked them out of the house directly.

They can still be guaranteed for the rest of their lives, at least they will not have to worry about food and clothing, but they will be sad to have to live as widows.

Well, who is my uncle's neighbor?

It seems to be Chen Ping???

Cutting grass in the nest...

Although everyone said it was a rumor that Chen Ping stole his wife, the emperor also gave a reasonable explanation.

But in this kind of thing, everyone still believes that there is no smoke without fire.

You, Chen Ping, are now a minister, among all the Han people, how many are better than you?

Even if you really did this back then, your eldest brother and sister-in-law would not dare to come forward and identify you now.

Zhang Er is still very aware of things in the upper class.

I just don’t know if that guy Chen Ping has set his sights on...

hiss……

Zhang Er couldn't help but gasp, she couldn't continue to think like this.

All of my uncle's women have been widowed for so many years, so I'd better not cause any trouble.

By the way, what am I here for?

Imperial examination...

Yes, I came here because of the imperial examination. What does it have to do with those messy things?

Even if it really happened, I couldn't say it first.

Where can I put my uncle's face in that case?

Well, do you want to remind your uncle?

Let him be prepared in advance so that he won't be embarrassed when he doesn't know anything.
To be continued...