Chapter 1421: The First Thousand Taels

Jiang Hao was always cautious in doing things. He wanted to test the details of the Hu family, but instead of going there immediately, he decided to spend a few days preparing and draw more Taoist charms so that he could easily deal with any situation if something happened.

At five o'clock in the morning, it was still dark outside. Jiang Hao stopped sitting cross-legged to meditate, got up and went to the courtyard to practice the magical power of Vajra Indestructibility.

"The roots of a dead tree are entwined, the moon is fished from the bottom of the sea, the Arhat lifts the cauldron, the Vajra has angry eyes, holds the moon in his arms, the cranes meet their wings, and heaven and earth meet..."

After practicing a set of movements, I felt that my muscles and bones were open, my spiritual power was mobilized, and a layer of golden light suddenly rose up on my body, reaching a thickness of two inches.

Back in the world of 'Swordsman', I obtained this magical power of diamond body protection, which emitted only an inch of golden light. After practicing in several worlds, my protective power has now doubled.

A ray of purple sun from the east penetrated the mist of the mountains and shone in the Jiang family's small garden. Jiang Hao faced the morning glow and absorbed this ray of purple energy from the east, feeling warm in his Dantian.

As the sky brightened, Jiang Hao ate something and asked Zhu Guang to look after his house. He walked on the path to Qingxi Town. Today was the day to go to the county town to register. He had made an appointment with Cui Sheng two days ago. In the morning, he was at the intersection out of the town. gather.

When he reached the entrance of the town, Jiang Hao saw Cui Sheng and Zhao Licheng already waiting there. The two sides greeted each other. After a short time, Han Yi and Li He also came over.

"Have you brought all the registration documents and certificates?" Cui Sheng asked.

"Bring it, bring it all."

After getting ready, the five of them walked to the county seat together.

Qingxi Town is eighteen miles away from Lanxi County, which is not too far. They can get there in an hour by foot, and they can come back in the evening after registering, so they don't need to bring any travel supplies.

A few people were chatting on the road, and Zhao Licheng said: "Last year, the candidates at the table next to me were all boys of thirteen, fourteen, or five years old, a few years older than my husband. I was sitting there, feeling extremely embarrassed. I don't know what this year will be like. "

Among them, Zhao Licheng is the oldest.

Li He smiled and said, "Don't worry, we are one year older and it will only become more and more embarrassing."

The county examination is the first step in the long march of the imperial examination. The imperial court stipulates that those who are over twelve years old can take the examination. From this time on, many children will take the examination every year.

There are also people who are still taking exams until they are 30 or 40 years old, so in the examination room there are situations where people in their twenties, thirties, and thirties are taking the exam at the same time, and there are even cases where fathers and sons are taking the exam at the same time.

Zhao Licheng sighed, "I am already twenty-six this year, but I can't even pass the county examination. I will give it a last try next year. If there is no hope, I will be a clerk in a store in the second half of the year. Seeing that my two children have grown up, Now that I’m old enough to go to school, I, as a father, can’t always spend my family’s money, so I have to prepare for them.”

Cui Sheng looked at Jiang Hao, "Brother Jiang, your three-year period of filial piety has expired. Have you studied your studies carefully during this period? Are you sure about the county examination?"

After hearing Cui Cheng's question, Jiang Hao smiled and replied: "I haven't put it down in the past few years. I have already memorized the Four Books and Five Classics."

Han Yi next to him suddenly said: "It's useless to memorize everything. We just study stupidly and study hard. I've heard people say that in fact, the county magistrate and department instructors have already decided who can pass the county examination every year. Those of us who don't have Money, you can never pass it in your life.”

Zhao Licheng was silent for a moment and sighed: "I also heard people say this, so I felt that the imperial examination was hopeless, so I gave up and continued to take the exam."

"In Lanxi County, based on the population, there are thirty-two people who can pass the county examination every year. I heard rumors behind my back that the bottom twenty-two will each have to pay one hundred taels, and the top nine will each have to have two hundred taels of silver. , As for the first case leader, it costs one thousand taels of silver."

Jiang Hao had passed the imperial examination and understood why the case cost one thousand taels of silver. According to the court regulations, the person who was first in the case, unless there was any major incident, did not need to take the imperial examination all the way to the college examination. He could enter school as usual and obtain the title of scholar.

In other words, the county case head is equivalent to a guarantee, and one thousand taels can directly buy a scholar.

As for the top ten, there are also benefits. The top ten are called "Top Ten in the County", which is an honor. When it comes to the provincial examination, you need to mention the seat number, which means that you will be assigned a seat according to the number, so that you will not sit next to the toilet.

Li He's eyes widened and he shouted: "One thousand taels of silver, my God, if I had one thousand taels, wouldn't it be good to build a big house and buy sixty or seventy acres of land?"

Han Yi shook her head slightly, "If I had one thousand taels, I would definitely spend money to buy a case head. Unfortunately, one thousand taels is a huge amount of money that is beyond the reach of poor people like us."

"If all these quotas are sold, then the county magistrate can receive five thousand taels of silver. No wonder our county magistrate is so fat and big-eared. It seems that he is really well-fed." Li He said.

Cui Sheng was a little angry when he heard this, "Why has the world become so dark? Is there no way out for poor scholars like me? Isn't there a good official in the court who can take care of it?!"

"Being an official for thousands of miles is just for money. That's the way the world is. Brother Cui, don't be angry. It's useless." Han Yidao.

These people have known each other for many years, so they dare to talk about these topics, and there are not many taboos. If it is with a stranger, who dares to say these words, for fear of being overheard, and he will be jailed in a minute.

Jiang Hao remained silent and listened to their chat, but he frowned slightly. If he relied on his true ability to take the exam, Jiang Hao would not be afraid. He had a photographic memory and had passed the exam before, but he was still afraid of a small county exam.

But now it seems that it is not a question of knowledge at all. The county government office faces south, so don’t come in if you don’t have money. The county magistrate has clearly marked the price for the county examination places. If you have money, you can pass. If you don’t have money, let’s stop talking.

Jiang Hao thought about it. If he wanted to pass, he might need to think of other ways.

As they chatted, they soon arrived at the county town. Lanxi County is located on the bank of the Lanjiang River, connecting the Jinhua River and the Qujiang River. The ancient waterway was the Gold and Silver Road, so Lanxi was considered a prosperous and wealthy place. The county town was very lively, with rice shops, cloth shops, restaurants and teahouses lined up.

The five people did not dare to delay and went directly to the yamen's etiquette room. There were two officers standing at the door of the yamen. Cui Sheng stepped forward and bowed, saying, "Two officers, let's come to register."

The two officers looked at the poor scholars, all wearing coarse blue robes, all washed white, and sneered in their hearts. Such guys, don't they know the rules of our master? If they want to take the imperial examination without money, they may never pass the county examination in their lifetime.

One of the officers waved his hand disdainfully, "The registration point is the second room in the south, go in."

The five people came to the etiquette room. There were already many scholars filling out forms in front of them. They could only wait. After half an hour, it was finally their turn. Several people filled in their names, ages, places of origin, physiques, and facial features.

At the same time, fill in the life and death records of three generations of great-grandparents, grandparents, and parents. The adopted person should write the three generations of his biological parents.

Then take out the mutual agreement document and hand it to the clerk. A clerk took Jiang Hao's resume and the document certificate and checked it carefully. He checked Jiang Hao's appearance and asked, "Your resume records that your mother died three years ago. The mourning period is really over. You can't hide it. Otherwise, it will be a serious crime. If you find out, you will be sent to prison and exiled?"

"It's been more than half a year." Jiang Hao said.

The clerk nodded, opened a test certificate and handed it to Jiang Hao, "Okay, let's go. Remember the test date, February 12, don't waste time."

Jiang Hao thanked the clerk, took the test sheet, looked at it, and put it in his sleeve. The other people had already signed up, and they walked out of the government office together.

"Do you want to go around?" Han Yi suggested.

"Why not go to the teahouse for a cup of tea? It is said that the storyteller in the teahouse is telling the story of Journey to the East, which is a fairy tale." Li He said.

Zhao Licheng shook his head, "I'm going to my uncle's house in the city. My uncle is the second shopkeeper of the Hu family store. He mentioned to me before that if I fail this exam, he would recommend me to be a clerk. I want to ask more about the situation in advance."

"Why, Brother Zhao has already determined that he will not pass the exam?" Cui Sheng said.

"Alas, without money, it's useless after all." Zhao Licheng sighed, bowed and left.

The others were silent and separated. Jiang Hao did not get together with these guys. He was ready to go around Lanxi City. When he arrived in a place, he always had to get familiar with the local situation. The previous Jiang Hao stayed at home all day and knew very little about the outside world. If he wanted to truly understand this world, he needed Jiang Hao to do it himself.

Walking in the center of the street, looking at the shops on both sides, Jiang Hao frowned slightly.

Hu's Medical Clinic, um, Jiang Hao had some impression. He saw a doctor here at the beginning, and next to it was Hu's Pharmacy.

Then there are Hu Ji Blacksmith Shop, Hu Ji Silk Shop, Hu Ji Cosmetics Shop, and Hu Ji Money House. The loan shark was borrowed from this money house.

The Hu family has a lot of businesses in Lanxi County. I think they must be powerful.

Walking into the blacksmith shop, the clerk looked at Jiang Hao's clothes. He was a scholar. He looked at his clothes and knew that he was not a customer. He did not go up to him and let Jiang Hao wander around the shelves alone.

Jiang Hao wanted to buy a sword. As a swordsman, how could he be without a sword in his hand?

"Hey, how much is this sword?" Jiang Hao pointed to a sword and said.

This sword is made of pine wood as a sheath. Half of the sword is out. You can see that there are patterns on the sword body, which are traces of folding forging. Jiang Hao himself has forged swords and can see that this sword should be made of twenty forged fine steel. It is the best goods in this shop.

"Two hundred and sixty taels."

The clerk looked at Jiang Hao and said indifferently.

It's expensive enough.

I'm sure I can't afford it.

In fact, even this sword, Jiang Hao did not take it seriously. Some of the swords he had owned were forged with meteorite iron, and some were made of super alloys, which were much better than this sword. This sword was far inferior to them.

After making a few rounds in the city and getting a thorough understanding of the situation here, Jiang Hao returned in the evening. This time he was the only one on the road. This time he did not take the official road, but went straight into the suburbs, using Qinggong to fly all the way, and it took only half an hour to return to his own courtyard.

Reading,

Drawing talismans,

Practicing.

After a few days, Jiang Hao had accumulated dozens of Taoist talismans in his space, and he felt that it was enough.

This morning, he found an old wooden box at home, which was covered with dust. He did not wipe it, put two talismans in it, found a piece of cloth to wrap it, and told Zhu Guang next to him: "I have something to do outside, you take good care of the house."

"I understand, young master." Zhu Guang replied respectfully.

Jiang Hao went out and walked towards Hexian Town where the Hu family was.

PS: I received many caring words from readers after I sent out the notice. It was really heartwarming.

"The heavy rain must have poisoned me."

"It's good now. I'm isolated and can write with peace of mind."

Thank you so much for your concern!

I'd like to tell you that it's just a common cold, no fever, but the updates are definitely unstable recently. The company has canceled all vacations, and I'm much busier at work than usual. I'm very tired when I get home, so I can only write when the situation permits. I won't wait until 12 o'clock. I'll post it as soon as it's done. Please understand the change in the release time.

Finally, I wish everyone peace and health.

The great Chinese people will definitely defeat all evil spirits.