The two of them arrived too early, and it would take some time for the caravan to prepare before setting off.
While the caravan was preparing, Shen Ling and his wife also came to the west city gate to see off Shen Yi. Mrs. Shen bought a lot of specialties from Jiangdu, including a large bag full of them, and asked the servants of the Shen family to carry Shen Yi into the carriage.
After daybreak, the caravan was finally ready. After Shen Yi said goodbye to his three brothers and sister-in-law, he got into the carriage and waved goodbye to Shen Ling and his wife.
Shen Sanlang also waved to Shen Yi and said loudly: "Old Qi, take the exam well and come back early. Third brother will treat you to a drink!"
Shen Yi in the carriage also smiled.
"Don't worry, Third Brother, I will definitely come back to drink your wine!"
The carriage started slowly and left Jiangdu.
Because the carriage was half full of goods, Shen Yi and Xu Fu were a little crowded when they were sitting there. Fortunately, both of them were a little thin, so they could barely stretch out.
Shen Yi looked at Xu Fu, who was sitting opposite him, and asked with a smile: "Is this your first time out of Jiangdu? How do you feel now?"
Xu Fu was silent for a while, then looked up at Shen Yi, shook his head slightly and said, "Sir, I am not from Jiangdu."
Hearing his words, Shen Yi was a little surprised.
"You speak very authentically in Jiangdu. I thought you were a native of Jiangdu."
"I learned it from people on the street and a few younger brothers and sisters. They are all from Jiangdu."
Shen Yi nodded, hesitated for a moment, and asked: "Can I ask, how did you end up living in Jiangdu?"
"My family is in business."
Xu Fu was silent for a while, then lowered his head and said: "When I was seven or eight years old, my family took me out to do business. Later I met bandits and the adults were gone. I was small at that time and hid in the mountains for many days. , so I hid, and then I ran out of dry food and was tired and hungry, so I ended up living in Jiangdu."
When Xu Fu was talking, Shen Yi kept looking at his expression.
Xu Fu's expression didn't look like he was lying, but sometimes his words were a little shaky. He probably was hiding something and didn't want Shen Yi to know.
Shen Yi didn't ask any more questions.
He looked at Xu Fu and asked in a low voice: "Is there any lawsuit against you?"
Because the carriage has a handlebar type, it is not appropriate to speak too loudly about such a sensitive topic.
Xu Fu started wandering when he was seven or eight years old. After wandering in Jiangdu for several years, he even became the boss of a small group. He was not like a child from an ordinary family. If he was not a child from an ordinary family, it is very likely that he was living on the streets. My family is facing a lawsuit.
Xu Fu looked up at Shen Yi and shook his head firmly: "Sir, I have no lawsuit against me."
"Um."
Shen Yi nodded and said with a smile: "I believe you."
His voice is still not loud.
"After you arrive in Jiankang, you can tell others that you are my book boy. This will make things easier, but we are not masters and servants."
He looked at Xu Fu, thought for a while, and then said, "I don't know anyone in Jiankang. Otherwise, I can register you with the government, so that it will be easier for you to do things in the future."
"It's out of the way."
Xu Fu lowered his head slightly and said, "I'll just follow you."
While the two were talking, the carriage had already arrived at Shili Pavilion outside Jiangdu City. In the blink of an eye, the ten-mile journey had been completed.
Shen Yi opened the lunch box prepared for him by his third sister-in-law, took out two pastries from the lunch box, handed it to Xu Fu, and said: "You got up so early, you are probably hungry. Eat something first to cushion your stomach, and then lean on... "
Shen Yi looked back at the goods on the car. They should be cloth and the like.
"Sleep against these cloths for a while."
Xu Fu took the cake with both hands, thanked him, then lowered his head and took a bite.
"How long will the young master stay in Jiankang?"
Shen Yi smiled at him: "If it goes well, we will stay until autumn or winter. If it doesn't go well, we can go back in the summer."
When Shen Yi said smoothly, he meant that the college examination went well. If the college examination went well, he would get the title of scholar, and this year, the sixth year of Hong De, is the year of Xin Zi.
The imperial court held rural examinations every three years, in the year Zi Mao Wu You, which means that this year is the year of the rural examination. In September, the Jiankang Association held the rural examination every three years.
Now that I have been selected as a scholar and have come here all the time, no matter whether I can pass the examination or not, I have to give it a try.
Of course, if he fails the college examination, Shen Yi will not be able to take the provincial examination and will have to return to his hometown in Jiangdu to continue studying.
Xu Fu nodded, lowered his head to eat some snacks, and stopped talking.
Shen Yi glanced at him and seemed to understand what this young man was thinking.
"I will stay in Jiankang for more than half a year, but you don't have to stay with me all the time. If you are worried about your guys, you can go back to Jiangdu in advance to have a look."
"Need not…"
Xu Fu shook his head slightly.
"I will follow the young master..."
………………
The caravan's carriage, because it was fully loaded with goods, did not move very fast. It could only cover forty or fifty miles in a day, and Jiangdu was nearly two hundred miles away from Jiankang, so it was not until the fourth day, which was the beginning of the new year. On the morning of October 1, the caravan arrived at the outskirts of Jiankang.
The driver, Shiba Shi, had become familiar with Shen Yi in the past few days. When he saw the Healthy City in sight, he smiled and said, "Mr. Shen, Jiankang has arrived."
Shen Qilang, who had just had breakfast, poked his head out of the carriage upon hearing this, then reached out and patted Xu Fu, who was sitting opposite him, with a slight excitement in his tone.
"Xiao Xu, look, Jiankang City has arrived!"
Xu Fu opened the curtain and looked up.
A big city appeared in front of them.
This is a large city with extremely tall walls.
Jiangdu is also a big city, but the city wall of Jiangdu is only two or three feet high, that is, seven or eight meters high. And the Jiankang City in front of you, although you haven't reached it yet, at a glance, the city wall is at least four feet high!
Shen Yi looked at the city wall and shook his head.
"The city wall is much higher than Jiangdu."
The driver, Shiba Shi, had obviously been to Jiankang many times. Hearing this, he smiled and said: "The city wall of our capital is the tallest in the world, with a height of four feet. Emperor Sejong spent more than ten years building it, and later His Majesty also followed suit. It took more than ten years and nearly thirty years to complete."
Hearing these words, Shen Yi couldn't help but shake his head and sighed: "You are really rich."
When he was sick in the past, in order to relax, he had traveled to many places and visited many historical monuments.
The walls of the Forbidden City are generally no more than ten meters.
The highest point of the Nanjing Ming City Wall in another world is only twelve meters, but the Ming City Wall in Nanjing took nearly twenty years to build.
Even the Ming City Wall of Nanjing is only twelve meters tall at its highest point, with some areas only nine or ten meters tall.
But at a glance, the capital city in front of me seems to be a four-foot-long city wall!
Such a tall city wall is very spectacular at first glance.
After Shen Yi sighed for a few words, he couldn't help but thought to himself.
It was probably because I was afraid of being beaten that I built such a high wall to surround myself...
You know, the capital of the Tang Dynasty was only two feet high!
Of course, such words that poke the backbone of the imperial court cannot be said out loud. If someone hears this and reports it to the government, Mr. Shen may fail to succeed and will be arrested by the Yamen of Jiankang Prefecture. .
While he was talking to the driver, the head of the caravan had already reached the city gate. The soldiers guarding the city began to search the cars one by one. When they found Shen Yi's car, a thirty-year-old government official glanced at Shen Yi. , with a low voice: "What are you going to Beijing for? Is there a way to guide you?"
Hearing the word "京", Shen Yi sighed slightly in his heart, but did not speak.
He took out the examination card issued by Jiangdu Prefecture from his arms, handed it to the soldier, and then said: "Brother Cha, I am a student from Jiangdu Prefecture, and I came to Jiankang Examination Academy."
After saying that, Shen Yi pointed at Xu Fu beside him.
"This is my book boy."
The soldier carefully checked the test card, then confirmed his identity, said "yes", returned the test card, and went to see the next carriage.
Shen Yi put away his test card, then waved his riding whip like a handlebar, and the carriage slowly drove into Jiankang City.
When the carriage passed through the tall city gate, Shen Yi smiled at Xu Fu beside him.