"The imperial examination will be held in a few days, but you haven't submitted your certificate yet?" Lu Nan asked in surprise.
Guo Jincheng and Xue Qing looked at each other, both of them were a little confused. Xue Qing asked: "What is the certificate of surrender?"
Lu Nan hurriedly explained: "It's about whose sect you want to attach yourself to. This will be very beneficial to your future career. Most people choose Du Xiangguo, they are the ministers of the Ministry of Personnel!"
Guo Jincheng and Xue Qing shook their heads at the same time. They were Li Mi's closed disciples. How could they join other people's disciples again?
Xue Qing said without hesitation: "It is impossible for me to betray my master!"
"Hey! These are two different things. Being under the sect of Prime Minister Du does not mean that he is your mentor. This is just the rule of the officialdom."
Xue Qing's father, Xue Xun, is this year's examiner. Of course, he can't just ask for a disciple. As for Guo Jincheng, Du You probably doesn't dare to accept him as a disciple.
The two still smiled and declined. Lu Nan wanted to persuade him again, but Xiao Zhenye smiled and held him back, "They are not old enough. Even if they pass the exam, they cannot be officials. What are you anxious about now?"
Lu Nan suddenly woke up, patted his forehead and said with a smile: "I was confused!"
The minimum age to take the imperial examination is fourteen, but the minimum age to be conferred an official position is eighteen. Even if you pass the exam, you will only get a meritorious title, and you will have to continue studying at the Guozi School. You will not have the opportunity to be conferred until you are eighteen.
"Let's go! It's lunch time, let's go have a drink, I'll treat you."
"Hey! Lao Xiao has become more generous recently." Lu Nan joked.
"The old man at home gave me a sum of money to make more friends with powerful people. I don't know any powerful people. I might as well treat my friends to drinks. This is the right thing to do, right?"
Everyone laughed together, "Yes, this is serious!"
Xiao Zhenye glanced at Guo Jincheng quickly, intentionally or unintentionally.
........
Everyone found a restaurant in Chongrenfang. Now all the restaurants in Chang'an are full. Although the poor people still have one meal in the morning and one in the evening every day and do not eat after lunch, but the middle-class and above people still have to eat at noon? Or at least eat some cakes?
Nowadays, even the free meals provided by the imperial court include lunch, not to mention the rich scholars?
The restaurant is called Wangsi Restaurant? It has three floors facing the street? But it's not bad. The Tang Dynasty followed the Sui system? Except for street shops, official offices, temples, Taoist temples, and official residences, ordinary homes are not allowed to build two floors? This is mainly because
For privacy protection? If there is a rich and powerful mansion next door, and an ordinary family builds a three-story building that exceeds the wall of the courtyard next door, wouldn't it mean that they hide on the third floor every day and peek into the privacy of the rich and powerful's home?
The restaurant was almost full? Are the four of us lucky? There happened to be a few people checking out by the window on the second floor, and they got this good seat.
Xiao Zhenye was very generous. He ordered more than a dozen dishes, including the restaurant's two signature dishes, charcoal-grilled venison and secret Weihe carp. He also ordered two bottles of fine wine.
Soon, the wine was served first, and Lu Nan rushed to fill the glasses for everyone. Among them, only Guo Jincheng had never poured wine for everyone, even though he had been in the newspaper office for almost a year. Even though he was very humble, this humility was just that.
Attitude? He never flatters superiors, nor is he arrogant. The blood of superiors still flows in his bones.
Of course, at home, he would take the initiative to pour wine for his parents and several aunts, which was his obligation.
"Who is the examiner this year?" Lu Nan asked with a smile.
"It seems to be Xue Zizheng!"
Xiao Zhenye smiled at Xue Qing and said, "Xue Qing knows best. I'm not wrong!"
Xue Qing's heart skipped a beat. Who is his father?
But he felt relieved immediately. They were all from the same Xue family, how could he not know.
Xue Qing smiled and said: "I took the exam for Mingfa, and it has nothing to do with the examiner, so I don't care."
"This is my second time taking the imperial examination for Mingfa! What was the content of the exam last year?"
Guo Jincheng changed the topic in time to prevent them from embarrassing Xue Qing by talking about the examiner. You must know that the examiner is also his grandfather, and he will be embarrassed if he is asked.
Sure enough, both Xiao Zhenye and Lu Nan were interested, "What is the Mingfa Science Test?"
Xue Qing thought for a while and said: "There are two days of Ming law test. The first day is to test the regulations. It is a bit like the Ming Jing. Large paragraphs of laws are memorized and explained, mainly "Wude Lv", "Zhenguan Lv", and "Tang Lv Shu"
"Meetings", "Dazhong Criminal Code", "Kaiyuan Code" and "Kaiyuan Code", etc. In fact, this is not difficult. If you want to pass the exam, these tacit laws must be all correct. The key is the exam on the next day."
"What's the test the next day?" Lu Nan asked with interest.
"The case test was conducted on the second day. There were five cases in total, three civil cases and two criminal cases. Civil cases are usually tried by the county magistrate, while criminal cases are tried by the state criminal justice department. The most difficult question is the county and state dual trials.
Afterwards, the plaintiff was still dissatisfied and filed a lawsuit with the Circuit Procuratorate, which conducted a reexamination. Therefore, the candidates had to review the case and answer the questions as county magistrate, criminal justice secretary and circuit prosecutor. It was very difficult. Mingfa only admitted a total of
There are ten places, and more than 700 people applied for it, so the competition is very fierce."
"its not right!"
Lu Nan suddenly remembered that Xue Qing was his junior brother, and he quickly said: "Didn't you learn tea from the master? Why did you change to study law again?"
Xue Qing explained with a smile: "Tai Xue does not stipulate that each student can only learn one thing. It depends on his own ability. While I was studying tea, I was also studying law. Xiao Xue was focusing too much on the newspaper, so he could only
It’s the same as learning the law, otherwise he will learn other things.”
Guo Jincheng smiled and nodded, "Brother is right. If I didn't really have time, I would like to learn construction. Building houses, bridges and cities would be quite interesting!"
Just as he was talking, two bartenders brought over seven or eight plates of dishes, and a pot of charcoal-grilled venison that was still sizzling with oil. The strips were roasted until they were brown, tender and fragrant. Xiao Zhenye held up his chopsticks and said with a smile: "Here.
!Come! Come! You’re welcome, try their signature dishes!”
Everyone ate a few pieces of barbecue and praised them repeatedly. At this time, someone shouted: "Little Master Xue!"
The younger Mr. Xue is Guo Jincheng, whose pseudonym is Xue Jin, and the eldest Mr. Xue is Xue Qing. They are brothers of the same clan, and everyone calls them that.
When Guo Jincheng turned around, he saw that it was a young scholar who lived next door to him, named Bai Juyi. The year before last, he had written a small poem in Jiangnan with the background of Chang'an Leyouyuan: Li Liyuan grows grass, one year old and one withered.
Wild fire, in spring.
This little poem caused a sensation in the south of the Yangtze River. Han Huang strongly recommended him to come to Chang'an to take the imperial examination. Last September, Bai Juyi passed the provincial examination in Runzhou. Just after the New Year this year, Bai Juyi took a boat to the capital to take the imperial examination. He happened to live next door to Guo Jincheng.
The two hit it off immediately and had a very good relationship. They soon became close friends. Guo Jincheng stood up and said with a smile: "A friend, let me go and see him!"
He walked up to Bai Juyi without haste and asked with a smile: "Didn't Brother Bai go to Xi'anmen Street to visit the Glass House this morning? Why are you back again?"
Half a month ago, a new thing appeared on Xi'anmen Street, a small building with many windows, various windows, and these windows were all equipped with glass, which "Chang'an Express" reported for several days in a row, in "Chang'an Express"
Thanks to the vigorous publicity of "The Glass House", this glass house caused a sensation in Chang'an, and a large number of people rushed to visit it, all wanting to see what this kind of glass window that could block wind and rain without blocking the sight looked like.
Bai Juyi sighed, "I went late. People start queuing up at midnight. I went in the morning and it wasn't our turn until the evening, so I had to come back."
Guo Jincheng smiled and said, "Brother Bai, do you really want to see the glass house?"
"Hey! I'm just curious. They said it's the same as the top crystal pieces. I just want to see what it looks like?"
Guo Jincheng thought for a while and smiled: "How about this afternoon! I will take you to have a look. I know the person, so you can skip the queue and enter through the VIP channel."
Bai Juyi was overjoyed, "Then it's settled, I'll wait for you at the inn in the afternoon."
Xiao Zhenye saw Guo Jincheng and Bai Juyi chatting happily, their expressions were very relaxed, and their smiles were bright. They were completely different from him when they were together.
He couldn't help but feel jealous, so he asked Xue Qing in a low voice: "What is the origin of that scholar?"
Xue Qing smiled lightly and said: "His name is Bai Juyi. His ancestor was originally from the Bai clan of Qiuci. He has lived in the Central Plains for many years. He came from Runzhou and lived next door to us. He is close to my little brother, but we have a normal relationship.
.”
"Is he a Hu?" Xiao Zhenye asked in surprise.
Xue Qing shook his head, "We can't talk about Hu people. His ancestors have been in the Central Plains for nearly a hundred years, and Bai Juyi wrote good poems, which Han Huang appreciated very much."
"Humph! Another person who relied on power to get to the position!" Xiao Zhenye said sourly.
.........
In the official room of King Jin of the Daming Palace, Guo Song calmly listened to the report of a female bodyguard.
"The two people dining with the Crown Prince today are the same as last time. Xiao Zhenye, the chief registrar of the Yushitai, and Lu Nan, the Zuozang Ling, are the guests invited by Xiao Zhenye. I feel that Xiao Zhenye is particularly attentive to the Crown Prince.
It was the same last time, he actually opened the door for the Crown Prince, maybe he didn't realize it himself, but we can see clearly, and today he is jealous."
"envy?"
Guo Song frowned and asked, "What are you jealous of?"
"The Crown Prince has met a new friend, I think his name is Bai Juyi, and he lives next door to his inn."
"Bai Juyi!"
Guo Song suddenly became interested and asked, "The prince has a good relationship with Bai Juyi?"
"The two of them hit it off immediately, and the prince promised to find a way to take him to see the glass house in the afternoon. This has never happened before, but Xiao Zhenye is a little jealous of the relationship between the prince and Bai Juyi."
Guo Song pondered for a moment, then nodded and said: "I understand, as usual, keep the prince safe and don't ask about his friends!"
"I understand the humble position!"
"Go for it!"
The female guard bowed and left quickly.
Guo Song paced slowly in the room with his hands behind his back. Although he did not interfere in his son's life, it did not mean that he did not care about it. Especially his son's special status, would someone take advantage of him?
Now it seems that my worries are not unnecessary. This Xiao Zhenye has probably discovered his son's identity and started to deliberately curry favor with him.
It's not a big problem for Xiao Zhenye to curry favor with his son. What Guo Song is worried about is whether this will become a security loophole and Xiao Zhenye will leak it to more people, especially whether he will feel hatred because of jealousy.
It seems that after the imperial examination, Cheng'er should change his life.
This reminded Guo Song of something. He had been considering establishing a Hongwen Museum, and now it was time to make a decision.
He immediately ordered: "Please quickly invite Pan Xiangguo and Du Xiangguo to come see me!"