Chen Peter, Zeng Ziying, Sun Tianjing, Jiang Xi and others first spent more than ten days riding a carriage from Mocheng to Kaffa City, located in the north of the Black Sea.
Here in the city of Kaffa, they switched to a large ship, and after several days of sea voyage, they arrived at the Port of West Pole on the east side of the Black Sea.
"Uh~"
As soon as he got off the boat, Peter Chen couldn't help but vomited, but there was nothing left to vomit, because when he was on the boat, he had almost vomited and was about to collapse.
For Peter Chen, who was taking a boat for the first time and was prone to seasickness, this trip was definitely a nightmare journey and experience. The feeling of seasickness was really difficult.
Fortunately, we have now arrived in Nanyun Province. Once we arrive in Nanyun Province, we can start taking the train directly to the capital.
"Brother Chen, are you okay?"
Zeng Ziying, Sun Tianjing, Jiang Xi and others also smiled when they saw Chen Peter's embarrassed look.
"It's okay, it's okay~"
"It's really hard to get seasick."
I will never take a boat again.
After arriving on land, Chen Peter slowly recovered, and then asked worriedly: "Will you get motion sickness when taking the train?"
"I heard people say that some people get motion sickness when riding in a car. Will they also get motion sickness when riding on a train?"
"Haha, brother Chen, you can rest assured that very few people will get motion sickness when taking the train. And when the time comes, we can buy first-class sleeper tickets and sleep directly on the train. After a short sleep, we will be far away. Sleep, sleep
We’ll arrive in the capital soon.”
"And the train is very stable. Reading, playing chess and the like on the train is no problem. Nowadays, everyone likes to take the train when traveling far away."
"Yes, yes, when I immigrated to Black Earth Province, I took the train. It was very comfortable and relaxing. If it were a carriage, it would probably fall apart."
"Let's go, let's have a good meal first. I heard that the wine in Nanyun Province is very good. You must try it. I have already asked the book boy to buy train tickets."
"I heard that there is a Confucius Temple here in Xijigang. Back then, a local scholar named Li Bai from Xijigang passed the imperial examination and passed the imperial examination. The emperor specially gave permission to build a Confucius temple here in Xijigang."
"We must visit and worship. We are all disciples of saints. We must go to the Confucius Temple to worship."
"Brother Sun is right. I heard that many famous talents have come out of Nanyun Province this year. I don't know if they have already set off for the capital. Otherwise, I must get to know them."
"That's right, that's right. We need to get to know each other well. We are in the same year now. If we can go to high school, we will have many contacts with each other as officials in the same court."
After arriving at the West Pole Port, Chen Peter, Zeng Ziying and others were not in a hurry to leave, but chose to rest here for a few days.
The time for the imperial examination has already been revised.
Because the territory of the Ming Dynasty is so vast. To the west is the Black Earth Province, which is thousands of miles away from the capital of the Ming Dynasty. It takes nearly two months for students from the Black Earth Province, such as Chen Peter and Zeng Ziying, to travel to the capital.
, this is because transportation has been greatly improved now, with a large number of cement roads and railways.
In the past, simply riding to the capital would have taken much longer, and it might have taken at least half a year to reach the capital.
If you are a poor scholar and can only walk to the capital, you don't know how long it will take you to walk.
Of course, in today's Ming Dynasty, people who can afford to attend traditional private schools are from well-to-do families, so buying a horse will definitely have no problem at all.
To the west is the Golden Continent. Students from the Golden Continent have to go back to Daming to take exams. They need to cross the vast Pacific Ocean. Not only is the journey very long, it takes more than a month by boat, but it is also filled with quite a lot of traffic.
The risks of sailing at sea are not as high as those on land.
To the south, in Nanyang, Ming Dynasty, if students from Australia want to return to the capital to take exams, the journey is also very long. Even though there are faster ships now, it still takes almost 2 months to return to the capital of Ming Dynasty from Australia by boat.
It is very far away, and only those who have experienced it will know how difficult the journey is.
Therefore, taking these factors into consideration, the imperial court also postponed the imperial examination to autumn. In the past, the provincial examination was called Qiuwei because it was taken in autumn, and now it is called Chunwei because it is taken in spring.
Now the examination has been postponed to autumn, and it will be held at the end of autumn. This is to allow students from all over the Ming Dynasty to have enough time to travel and have a good rest after arriving in the capital.
Chen Peter, Zeng Ziying and others set off early, with plenty of time. They were also planning to visit various places in the Ming Dynasty while heading to the capital.
Xijigang is the capital of Nanyun Province, and it is also the most prosperous and lively city in Nanyun Province. It has a population of over one million and is very lively. Naturally, you have to visit here.
Chen Peter, Zeng Ziying, Sun Tianjing and others were able to eat, drink, have fun and rush to the capital along the way. As long as most of the journey was over land and most of them were connected by trains, the journey was not so urgent.
, but candidates in other places are not so comfortable.
Golden Island is here in Penglai City.
"Crackling~"
Accompanied by the sound of firecrackers, Tian Erniu's son Tian Yuanshan embarked on the long journey to the capital to take the exam with the hopes and blessings of his family.
In the provincial examination in Beihuangzhou last year, Tian Yuanshan lived up to expectations and became the master of high school education. Tian Erniu was so happy that he couldn't help but say that he finally had a scholar in the Tian family.
Tian Yuanshan's status in the Tian family has also risen sharply. He was originally just the son of a concubine of Tian Erniu and had no status in the family. Now, even his mother's status has been improved.
Tian Yuanshan rode in front, followed by several slaves. These slaves also rode horses and pulled four-wheel carriages, carrying Tian Yuanshan's luggage, books, pens, inks, papers and inkstones, as well as a large box full of gold, silver, jewelry, and silver notes.
and a large number of local specialties from Huangjinzhou.
Because he was the first person in the Tian family to be elected, Tian Erniu was very happy, so he gave Tian Yuanshan a large sum of money to take with him, including the expenses for his exams and the money he would use when he became an official in the future.
Of course, the most important thing is that there is a large amount of money and gifts to bring to the capital to give to Liu Jin.
If Tian Yuanshan can go to high school, he will be an official in the future. Even if he does not have high school, he can still be an official. As long as Liu Jin helps, he can get a good position. In the future, he can be promoted and promoted at will. From now on, Tian Yuanshan
There is a bright future.
In addition, when Emperor Hongzhi and Liu Jin came to Huangjinzhou, they stayed at his own home for a while. Tian Yuanshan also left a very good impression on Emperor Hongzhi.
This time when I went to the capital, I also brought a lot of local specialties from Huangjinzhou. I will send them to the palace and give them to Emperor Hongzhi to try the dried salmon, bison meat, northern ginseng, and fish from Huangjinzhou.
Wait and so on.
Although the things were not valuable, they also showed an attitude. More importantly, they wanted to leave an impression on Emperor Hongzhi, so that Tian Yuanshan's future career as an official would be much smoother.
So this time, Tian Yuanshan brought a lot of things and needed several slaves to help transport them.
Fortunately, the Tian family was wealthy and had many slaves under their command. They brought some slaves with them to carry these things.
When Tian Yuanshan left home, he gathered with a dozen scholars from Penglai City, and they all headed to the capital to take the exam.
According to the itinerary, Tian Yuanshan needs to spend a few days from Dongpenglaicheng to Xipenglaicheng, and then takes about 35 days to take a boat from Xipenglaicheng to reach the Tianjin Port of Daming Dynasty.
The entire trip didn't take too long, but it was all spent at sea, so the days were naturally not going to be easy.
Here in Nanyang's Jiaozhi Province, Nguyen Van Hao also said goodbye to his family, mounted his horse and prepared to head to the capital to take the exam.
In the past, the Ruan family was considered a wealthy and powerful family here. Even the king of the Hou Li Dynasty could not do anything to them. However, Liu Jin led an army to sweep Nanyang back then.
A key attack was carried out on the local noble families in Jiaozhi, not only cutting off their military power, but also repeatedly weakening and attacking their land, families, etc.
A large number of ethnic groups were moved to other places, and at the same time a large number of Han immigrants moved here, which greatly changed the situation in Jiaozhi.
The Ruan family is no longer a noble family, but a skinny camel is bigger than a horse. The Ruan family is still very rich and provides a large number of family children with education. It is hoped that someone can stand out and reproduce the glory of the Ruan family.
Ruan Wenhao is the most outstanding person of this generation. He was only in his 20s and he already passed the high school examination last year. This year he is going to the capital to take the imperial examination. As long as he can pass the high school, someone in the Ruan family can become an official.
With a few bookboys, Ruan Wenhao also embarked on a long journey. According to the plan and itinerary, he needed to reach the seaside port on horseback first.
Then it took more than ten days to take a boat to Songhu. Here in Songhu, he changed to take a train and spent a few days to get from Songhu to the capital.
The whole process takes about a month, not too slow, but not fast either. If there were no ships and trains getting faster and faster, the journey from Jiaozhi to the Ming Dynasty capital, just by walking, would probably not take more than a few months.
It would be impossible to reach the capital in such time.
Rushing for the exam is a huge test for these candidates, a physical and mental test. Fortunately, now that transportation is becoming more and more convenient, rushing for the exam has become much easier.
pS: Suppose you were a scholar in ancient times who was rushing to take the exam. You went from Yunnan to Beijing to take the exam and walked the whole way. Would you go or not?
