Everything is calm.

The second young master of the Lu family did not ask someone to come to Yang Dayuan and Zhao Qi.

Zhao Qi and others also gathered together to discuss and did not go to find the second young master.

Yang Zhishui took two days off, and Chen Ji and Yao Ran were still very committed. Apart from eating, drinking, tea and resting, they were like two strict teachers, staying at Yang Dayuan's house all day to provide guidance.

Time flies and it is evening again.

Zhao Qi was still the chef. Although there was no pork, he and Xiaozhu caught a lot of frogs in the pond and the nearby rice fields ditch in the afternoon. They peeled and washed four or five kilograms, then stir-fried a plate, and stewed the rest. In addition, two or three kilograms of loaches were caught in the fish cage, and the strong aroma of stewing them with perilla and green onions. When the sun was about to set, Ermazi ran over excitedly, and a colorful cauliflower snake was twisted in his hand.

At first, Zhao Qi felt a little shabby, and he was very happy with this snake. He ordered Ermazi to peel and wash it, and then stew it in a pot with ginger and pepper ingredients.

When Chen Ji and Yao Ran came to have a meal after class, they saw this pot of snake meat and were immediately drooling with excitement.

Snake meat can be said to be the favorite of Lingnan people, especially those in Guangnan East Road, who especially like to eat snakes.

It is stewed, cooked, fried, roasted, and even used snake meat to cook it into snake porridge.

Legend has it that when Grand Secretary Su was demoted to Huizhou, Guangdong, the locals offered Grand Secretary Su a tender white flesh. At that time, the one who accompanied Su was his beloved concubine Wang Chaoyun. This little loli, who was attracted by Grand Secretary Su on the Willow Dike of West Lake at the age of twelve, is now a woman in her thirties. Although Grand Secretary Su's officialdom has been ups and downs throughout his life, his servants and concubines were scattered around him, only Wang Chaoyun has always been with him.

After arriving in Huizhou, Wang Chaoyun was not in acclimatized with the land and was in poor health. The white meat offered by the locals was very delicious after it was prepared. Wang Chaoyun ate a lot, but the next day when she learned that it was snake meat, she immediately vomited darkly and died a few days later.

Wang Chaoyun's death was a big blow to Grand Secretary Su. Because the two met West Lake in Hangzhou, Su Shi buried her on the banks of West Lake in Huizhou, and then lived there to spend her old age. He even wrote many poems of nostalgia.

Of course, the story of Wang Chaoyun's death because of eating snake meat is just a legend.

But from this we can also see that Guangdong people love snake meat for a long time, and they have always regarded snake meat as a gift, otherwise they would not have given it to Grand Secretary Su.

You should know that Su Shi's fame was already at its peak at that time. If it weren't for the continuous struggle between the new and old party that made him wandering in the officialdom throughout his life, according to the appreciation of his poems by Emperor Shenzong of Song and Empress Dowager Xuanren, he would have been safe and secure in the capital city for the rest of his life and would never have fallen to such a desolate level.

With this snake meat, it also added a lot of color to the dinner, which made the two candidates from Guangdong very happy and satisfied.

Eating snake meat, drinking yellow wine, and frogs and loaches with equally wonderful taste, the two students who only ate this meal were so happy.

At this pleasant dinner, the two students also talked about Mr. Su, the concubine Wang Chaoyun, who was unswervingly in the death of Hongxiu, and were talking about this folk rumor that was widely circulated in the southeast.

After listening to this story, Xiaozhu, who was happy to eat, cried and ran back to the cave with a bowl, saying that she would never eat snake meat again.

"Oh, it seems we said the wrong thing again!" Yao Ran was full of regret.

"It's okay, it's okay, Xiaozhu is still ignorant, but I just feel uncomfortable in Wang Chaoyun's death. The snake meat is delicious, how can I not eat it?" Zhao Qi shook his head indifferently and continued to pick up a piece.

"Although Xiaozhu is young, Wang Chaoyun was only twelve years old when he met Grand Secretary Su. He is about the same age as Xiaozhu. Brother Zhao teaches and trains it well. It is also a great choice to stay and accompany him in a few years. I think Xiaozhu is also pure and sincere to Brother Zhao. Don't let him down!" Chen Ji said while gnawing on the snake meat.

Zhao Qi:...

"By the way, Brother Zhao, there is no one else at the moment. I don't know whether to say it or not?"

Yao Ran ignored Zhao Qi's thoughts and thought it was natural for Zhao Qi to take Xiao Zhu as his concubine in the future, so he said while eating and drinking.

"Brother Yao, it's okay, I'll listen carefully!" Zhao Qi came back to his senses from surprise.

"Today and last night, Brother Chen and I carefully taught you this brother, but it didn't seem very good in my opinion. I said, Brother Zhao, don't be angry. Your brother is more serious, but his mind is not enough. He understands many of the originally simple scriptures and meanings. Although the examination is simple, the focus is on some simple scriptures in the Four Books and Five Classics. If you feel difficult even these, you are afraid that your future achievements will be limited..."

Yao Ran did not say the following words, but obviously told Zhao Qi that Yang Zhishui did not have enough understanding and was afraid that it would be difficult to get into a scholar with his own skills.

After hearing this, Zhao Qi sighed slightly and said, "Thank you, two brothers. I just don't want to disappoint Uncle Dayuan. At the same time, I also want to do my best to help him. Whether success or not depends on him. Since both brothers think that he cannot become a talent, I will give up this matter!"

"Hey~" Yao Ran shook his head quickly, "It's not that Brother Chen and I don't want to teach, but that if Brother Zhao wants to help him, we still need to think of other solutions. I asked Zhishui that there are only 50 people who passed the college entrance examination in Yin County in previous years, and Yin County is also the capital of Qingyuan Prefecture. There are countless celebrities gathered together. There are no less than dozens of famous scholars we know. These are all juren and Jinshi who passed the imperial examination in previous years. All of them are well-known. There are many people who are close to Liangzhe Road School officials and prefectures. If Brother Zhao doesn't ask, then naturally others will ask. Besides, the court is now corrupt and selling official positions is normal. In order to have a prominent official position in the future, those wealthy families will naturally rely on their money to go to the back door. Therefore, if they want to pass the college entrance examination by their own ability, they must be the ones among the people."

After hearing this, Zhao Qi was silent for a long time with his chopsticks.

Although Yao Ranxin is straightforward and still has a good reputation, he must have two tricks to become a juren at a young age. Moreover, he and Chen Ji were both admitted by Tong Sheng, so he naturally knew the tricks and darkness behind these imperial examinations.

Besides, neither of them is optimistic about Yang Zhishui's academic level.

Then Yang Zhishui had almost zero chance of passing the college entrance examination. Even if it was recommended by Master Yang, Master Yang was just a scholar in a town. Compared with those officials from the imperial examinations and Jinshi in the Fucheng City and those wealthy families with countless property, this relationship is almost negligible. In the past, some scholars who passed the examination in Yanggong Town relied on their own abilities.

If you have the ability to enter the top ten, you are quite sure to enter the county school, but the rest depends on luck.

Yang Zhishui can be said to be Yang Dayuan’s greatest hope now, and it is also the only way for their family to get rid of their peasant status. Because once a scholar is at home, the country will be exempted from labor service and some taxes, and it has officially entered the intellectual class and has some privileges in the officialdom, such as not paying respects to officials when they see them, and they can directly sue the officials if they have any questions, etc. Then they can open a private school to recommend students to county schools. Local gentry usually chooses scholars as their preferred targets for marriage, which are almost all privileges that ordinary people cannot obtain.

If you have no money or power at home, then passing the exam for a scholar is almost the only way for ordinary people to advance, and the exam step by step is also valuable.

For example, the Song Dynasty had a rule that it would not be a rule that it would not be a Jinshi who was not from the Three-Fourth Class Jinshi, it would not be a Beijing official, nor a magistrate.

In other words, all prime ministers in the Song Dynasty must have been from Jinshi, and there was no possibility of climbing to the central position based on the nepotism of the royal relatives. However, in the end, hundreds of prime ministers and prime ministers in the Song Dynasty did not have a single royal relative, which greatly stabilized the imperial power.

It can be said that the reason why the Song Dynasty had half of its lords emerged, and that Song Huizong, a literary and artistic youth who could not be an official, could be the emperor for a lifetime. For more than 300 years, a dynasty where the royal family had fought for the throne, was a miracle in Chinese feudal history.

There were many royal families in other dynasties who had broken brains in order to fight for the throne, but only the stable group of the Song Dynasty.

All these officials who came from Jinshi could rely on the only trust of the emperor if they wanted to consolidate their power and status.

If Yang Zhishui is really a good student in studying and can pass the imperial examination step by step or even rank in the third grade, then it is not impossible for him to be appointed as the minister of the prime minister in the future.

It’s a pity that now it seems that his ability is too poor and he is not sure even in the hospital examination.

"Brother Zhao, although I don't agree with what Brother Yao said, Ruo Zhishui really wants to have some prospects in the future. It is still necessary to use favors to walk around the road. Even if we continue to re-examination in the future, it will be a lot of time. The older we are, the more fierce the competition will be. There are even fewer people who pass the examination in the prefecture, and there are only a handful of prefectures!" Chen Ji, who has a relatively steady and taciturn personality, also spoke out.

"What the two brothers said is reasonable, but I don't know anyone from Yin County's school officials. I can't find a way to rely on my relationship. As for the two Duke Chongguo and Mr. Xijian whom they mentioned yesterday, it's indeed a bit too much to disturb the quota of academics in just a county!" Zhao Qi said with a wry smile.

"Brother Zhao can rest assured. As long as Brother Zhao has this plan, we can help inquire about Tongrong. We also know several students from the same class in Qingyuan Mansion. It is not too difficult to get to the officials of the county school and the only difficulty is money, which is probably a lot of money!" Yao Ran's face became a little more joyful.

"How much does it cost?" Zhao Qi thought for a while and asked.

"This...it's probably not less than a hundred guan. If you donate a tribute student, it will be at least three thousand guan!"

"One hundred coins is not too expensive..." Zhao Qi pinched his chin and thought for a while and said with a smile.

Chen Ji and Yao Ran looked at each other, their faces a little strange.

"Brother Zhao, it's not that I despise you. You and the Yang Dayuan family are almost poor and poor. I think this hundred guan can't be collected for a while. The reason why I mentioned it now is to remind the hospital examination that there are still nearly five months, so you can discuss how to raise money. It will take only ten days for Guangzhou and Qingyuan Mansion to travel by boat. If you raise money, when autumn is about to come, I will come to help Zhishui go to Yin County to inquire..." Yao Ran added, who was outspoken.

"No need for such trouble. You may have money tomorrow. Since the two brothers are willing to help, I am very grateful. Today I will eat meat and drink wine. Let's talk about money tomorrow. If I can't even take out a hundred guan, how can I arrange the money to send my two brothers back to their hometown? Come and have a drink!" Zhao Qi raised his glass with a light drink.

The two looked at each other again. Although they felt that Zhao Qi was bragging, they still raised their glasses very happily.

And both of them were also very curious. They didn't know how Zhao Qi, who was poor, lived in a broken kiln, would create hundreds of real money and silver tomorrow.

If you have money, you will naturally be easy to say.

If you don’t have money, then just pretend that you are farting today.

As for going home, both of them were not in a hurry today.

Damn, this little guy I just met is so delicious, and he is generous and loyal. Every meal is full of fish, meat, wine and good dishes. If you can eat, drink, brag, spank and live happily every day, it doesn’t matter whether you go home or not.
Chapter completed!