As the date of the scientific examination in the Renxu year of the fifteenth year of Hongzhi is getting closer, the entire capital has begun to become lively again. Scholars from the south and north of the Great Tomorrow gathered together, and naturally there was a lot of writing and writing among each other.
At the same time, as in previous years, brothels, restaurants, teahouses, inns, hotels, etc. in the capital also held various literati events.
You must know that Wangyuelou, the most famous restaurant in the capital, quickly became famous in the Ming Dynasty by holding such poetry gatherings, and became the most famous restaurant in the capital.
The prosperity of the capital city and the emergence and development of capitalism have also led to the prosperity of the entire capital city's commerce. Naturally, more and more merchants are holding various poetry gatherings to attract these scholars to come and compete in literary and ink writing. If they can
The emergence of one or two masterpieces that will be passed down through the ages can also make your industry famous.
The Wangyue Tower in Beijing is naturally the leader. The boss is willing to spend money, and the reputation of Wangyue Tower lies here. There are also many scholars who come to Wangyue Tower. Almost every day, people come here to drink, talk and write.
words etc.
As for the well-known brothels in the capital, such as the most famous brothels in the capital, Huamanlou, they also spend a lot of money to hold various poetry gatherings every night.
While the poetry festival was being held, the oiran competition was also held at this time. The oirans selected were specially used to support these scholars who came to the capital to take the exam.
The meaning inside makes many cash-strapped readers extremely excited. It is packed almost every day and attracts a lot of popularity.
As for other large and small merchants in the capital, if they are rich and powerful and want to improve their reputation, they will naturally spend a lot of money to attract scholars to come to their place to drink tea, drink wine, write poems and lyrics, and so on.
of.
Merchants who don't have much strength don't dare to be lonely. Many inns, hotels and the like also have to spend money to get a first couplet, and then have someone come to check the second couplet. For this pair of upper and lower couplets, room and board are free during the imperial examination.
type of offers.
There are also some merchants that have launched some word puzzles. As long as you guess the word puzzle correctly, you will get rewards, discounts on purchased goods, etc.
The entire capital was immersed in the joy and bustle of the imperial examinations. Everywhere, groups of scholars could be seen walking in and out of bustling and bustling places in the capital with their heads held high.
In the Ming Dynasty, being a scholar was a symbol of identity and status.
If there are still poor scholars, those who can pass the imperial examination and come to the capital to take the imperial examination are all people with real status and status, such as the imperial examination master.
Even if these candidates fail to pass the exam this time, they still have official positions. No matter how poor they are, they can still enjoy the preferential policies for scholars. Their life is far beyond what ordinary people can compare with.
If I can go to high school, I may be very successful in the future.
Therefore, the old and young men in the capital have become accustomed to the way these scholars have their nostrils turned upward, and the status of scholars is indeed not comparable to that of ordinary people.
Because of the arrival of these scholars, the place became even more lively and noisy, with all kinds of news coming out every day.
Why did a certain master leave a masterpiece today? After everyone read it carefully, they all immediately praised it and praised it.
Why tomorrow, a young lady from a certain house meets a certain poor scholar, and they are destined to be together forever. The poor scholar promises to propose marriage immediately after high school.
The day after tomorrow, someone came across a certain merchant's letter asking for a large amount of money, and suddenly received a bounty of several thousand taels of silver. People couldn't help but be envious and jealous.
The day after tomorrow, a rich man set up a ring in front of his house. As long as he was not married, any scholar under thirty years old could go to the ring. As long as he could beat his own daughter, he would marry his daughter to the other party, and he would also marry his daughter.
Give away all your wealth together.
In short, there are so many different things going on that the Tomorrow Morning News is no longer good for a while, and sales are on the decline, because everyone is too busy, busy watching the excitement in various places,
I was busy chatting with people about the anecdotes that happened yesterday.
On this day, another grand poetry gathering was held at Wangyue Tower in the capital. Anyone who was taking the imperial examination in Renxu could go to Wangyue Tower to participate in the poetry gathering.
Well, in order to attract everyone to attend the poetry festival, Wangyue Tower provides free wine and food. You can eat whatever you want and make whatever you want, as long as you go.
This naturally attracted many scholars to attend the poetry meeting. There were free wine and delicacies, and it was also the best Wangyue Tower in the capital. No fool would not go there.
The entire Wangyue Tower also put down all business and specially prepared for this poetry meeting.
On the first and second floors of the six-story Wangyue Tower, everyone can watch the poetry show. The competitions above are always about children passing on the news, which also attracts a large number of guests.
As for the third floor and above, it is an area exclusively for scholars. On the third floor, as long as the scholars taking the exam can go up, but on the fourth floor, you need to face an extremely difficult pair to get to the fourth floor. This is also considered as watching the moon.
A little test here.
The higher you go, the more you need to be literary and talented. If you don't have the ability, and you can't even match up, then just eat and drink here on the third floor.
The same is true here on the fifth floor. Not only do you have to match a pair, but you also have to compose a poem on the spot. Only in this way can you go up to the fifth floor and participate in the poetry meeting here.
As for the sixth floor, which is full of skills, it is not something that just anyone can go up to. Not only does it have to face a very difficult pair, but it also has to write a passable poem on the spot.
This operation of Wangyue Tower naturally attracted a large number of scholars. After all, Wen Wu was the first and Wu Wu was the second. No one would think that they were inferior to others, and they all wanted to come to Wangyue Tower to give it a try.
, but also to see how many literary talents there were in the same period.
Kang Hai and Li Tingxiang also met at Wangyue Tower. They were both well-known talents. One was from Shaanxi and the other was from Henan. They met on the way to the capital to take the exam. They were both in their twenties and they immediately became friends.
Put together.
"Brother Li, this Wangyue Tower is quite shrouded. It seems that it is not easy to get to the sixth floor."
The two came to Wangyue Tower. At this time, the entire Wangyue Tower was surrounded by scholars. Scholars from all over the world gathered together, each in small groups. When they met acquaintances, they wanted to chat with each other again.
They introduced their friends to each other, so although the poetry meeting had already begun, everyone was basically still on the first and second floors and had not yet started climbing the stairs.
Because it takes a while for everyone to get to know each other, in the entire Wangyue Tower, Brother Li, Brother Liu, Brother Wang, Brother Zhang, etc., are calling each other non-stop.
"Kang Hai from Shaanxi and Li Tingxiang from Henan are here. They are two popular candidates for the No. 1 pick this time."
Someone saw the two coming and said with a smile.
Kang Hai and Li Tingxiang are both famous talents, very famous in their respective state capitals, and they were both generous and glorious in the autumn Wei examination last year.
"As for the number one scholar, this year it must be the turn of our southern talents. The number one scholar in the twelfth year of Hongzhi was Liu Jin from Beizhili. The number one scholar in the ninth year of Hongzhi was Zhu Xizhou from Yangzhou Prefecture. One is from the south and the other is from the north.
It’s our turn in the south.”
"I heard that this time, Sun Qing from Yuyao, Zhejiang is very talented and full of knowledge, so he is most likely to be the top pick this time."
A talented man from Jiangnan shook his head slightly and said.
The imperial examinations of the Ming Dynasty have always been divided into northern and southern rankings. Talents in the south have always looked down on talents in the north. There is an imagination that the south despises the north.
Comparatively, the rankings are divided into North and South. If the exams were taken together, it is estimated that the talents in the South would be inferior to the talents in the North.
"That's not certain. Isn't there another Dongbang this time? Maybe the talents from Dongbang took away the championship. I heard that Korea and Japan also sent some talented people with great literary talents.
"
"These four Nanyang provinces, plus the three provinces of Liaodong, Grassland, and the Western Regions, there are quite a lot of talented people in the Eastern List. Maybe someone can win the first place."
Someone looked at the talented people from Korea, Japan, and those from Nanyang and other regions gathered here at Wangyue Tower and said.
"Are you trying to laugh my teeth off?"
"Even they can win the first prize. I write the character "王" backwards."
"Brother Wang, the character "王" written upside down is still the character "王"..."
"Then I'll write it horizontally. Anyway, it's absolutely impossible for them to win the championship. You don't have to look at who they are. But I heard that when I was in Nanyang last year, because there were no scholars, as long as they could
I took the test to recognize Chinese characters and write a few characters.”
"Many people used to be accountants, crew members and the like. Some of them were old scholars who could not pass the examination no matter how hard we tried in the Ming Dynasty. What's more, there were also some foreigners who wrote the Four Books and Five Classics.
Even though I don’t know how to memorize it, I have passed the examination.”
"There are also those talents from Korea and Japan. Although I heard that some of them are indeed talented, how can they be compared to the talents from the two capitals and thirteen provinces of the Ming Dynasty?"
"So, if one of them can win the championship, I will write the character "王" backwards."
"Brother Wang, if the character "王" is written backwards, it is still the character "王~"
"I'll just write it horizontally~"
"Look, there are hundreds of talented people gathered here in front of you. By then, most of them will probably only be able to compete with each other on the first, second, and third floors to see who knows more words."
"Those who can go up to the fourth floor must be talented people from the two capitals and thirteen provinces of our Ming Dynasty!"
