The people around the ridge are like the moon, and the white wrists are filled with frost and snow.

The cold wind in late autumn blew on his body, as if he was holding a knife. Du Zhongxiao shrank his neck and saw the Hanjiajiajiajiao shop selling wine in front of him, and couldn't help but smile.

After stomping his feet, Du Zhongxiao entered the Hanjia Foot Shop.

Bored Han Yueniang, who was holding her cheeks behind the counter, heard the movement, raised her head and saw that it was Du Zhongxiao, and smiled and said, "Why did the brother of the Du family delay? Today is a bit late."

Du Zhongxiao put down the basket he was carrying and chanted, "I have been able to last longer today, but I have walked slowly on the road."

Han Yueniang got up, made a bowl of wine, turned out to the counter and said, "It's windy outside, it's really cold. My brother drank this bowl of wine to warm up his body. It's still early now and there are no customers."

Du Zhongxiao thanked him, brought the wine and swallowed it in one gulp.

The wine is water and wine, and it doesn’t feel hot after drinking it. I swallowed it in a cold mouthful, but instead shivered.

When Han Yueniang saw it, she hurriedly said, "But I forgot, I fry the wine for my elder brother."

Putting down the bowl, Du Zhongxiao said: "Why are there so many things to pay attention to? Drink a sip of wine and stay the last time will be warm."

After saying that, Du Zhongxiao uncovered the cloth covered with the basket beside him and said, "The sheep hooves I bought today are plump and cooked so hard that they taste it. They must be delicious. It's hot now, so my sister might as well try it."

"I don't eat those greasy things." Han Yueniang smiled and turned back to the back of the counter.

Du Zhongxiao shook his head slightly, sat down at the table, rested, and warmed his body.

It is late autumn, and the weather is as cold as it is day by day, and winter is coming. The leaves outside have already withered yellow, with broken branches and leaves from time to time. They fall from the trees with the autumn wind and fly in the wind. There are not many pedestrians on the road, and most of them are in a hurry.

Looking outside, Du Zhongxiao was a little dazed.

It was the late autumn of the second year of Baoyuan in the Northern Song Dynasty. Under the leadership of Fan Zhongyan and Han Qi, the world was settled. After many years of war, the seemingly powerful Song Dynasty spent countless money, but it was ultimately unable to quell the rebellion of Dangxiang in the northwest. Whether it was the government or the people, the government had already suffered a lot. After the remarks of peace talks, they still supported them.

Du Zhongxiao also heard the news of peace talks in the northwest, but there was an indescribable taste in his heart. His soul did not belong to this era. A few months ago, I don’t know why, I dreamed of traveling through thousands of years and came to this seemingly prosperous era, but actually cooking oil, and became an ordinary farmer boy in Linying County, Xuzhou. For a soul of later generations, peace talks? Du Zhongxiao couldn’t help but curl his lips when he heard these two words. In history, the Song Dynasty was so miserable.

As soon as I arrived in this world, before I could plan a grand blueprint for myself for the future, the burden of life came to my face.

The second year of Baoyuan was the year of the competition. Du Zhongxiao's famous Sima Guang was a Jinshi this year. The Du family didn't know how to cultivate the blessings. Du Zhongxiao's father Du Xun also had to give up. Before the Chinese New Year, he went to Kaifeng Prefecture, which is not far from here to take the exam.

My father was a juren. Based on Du Zhongxiao's experience in his previous life, his starting point was so high. But he didn't know that the Du family's nightmare began. From Du Xun's hand-patched money, the Du family quickly became ruined.

The Du family is just an ordinary farmer who barely fed food and clothing. Because the previous generations of officials had been appointed as officials, the family passed on poetry and books, which was considered to be a farming and reading family. Du Xun's travel expenses to Kaifeng Prefecture were all sorts of money, borrowed a lot of debts, and wasted all the money at once.

This time, Du Xun was unlucky in the imperial examination and failed the provincial examination, so he lost his name. His family was poor and he was not named. Du Xun fell ill in Kaifeng Prefecture. He forced himself to return to his hometown from Kaifeng Prefecture, and his condition became worse and worse. When he arrived at the county, there was no news about him at home.

My mother waited at home, but couldn't wait for her husband to come back. After autumn, the crops in the field were harvested, and Xin Yiheng took Du Zhongxiao to the county and lived here to check the news about her husband.

In order to give Du Xun the money to join the capital, the Du family had already been barely living in the county. What should I spend on living in the county? After renting two houses for temporary residence, my mother made some money for people to wash and slap and scrub and let Du Zhongxiao visit everywhere. In just half a month, Du Zhongxiao and his mother had a meal without a second meal.

Thinking of this, Du Zhongxiao couldn't help but sigh secretly. He had gained a thousand years of experience. Seeing that this was not a solution, he thought of a way to make money. The most common people in the Song Dynasty ate mutton. Every day, the butchers had a large amount of sheep hooves, and the price was extremely cheap. Du Zhongxiao went to buy sheep hooves at a low price, and asked his mother to clean up the braised meat at home. He went to these small-foot shops selling wine on the street to sell them to drink wine, and at least helped to make up for the household use.

Thinking of this, Du Zhongxiao sighed in addition to sighing. He had traveled thousands of years in a row, and before he could adapt, the heavy burden of his family was suddenly pressed on his shoulders. He had countless ways to make a fortune, but few could solve the current problem of eating. Every day, he had to worry about the firewood and rice today, and there were no other thoughts on the matter? Sheep hooves were all owed to credit from butchers. If they sold less, they would lose money. He really had no idle thoughts.

Juren? Jinshi? When I think of it, Du Zhongxiao can only smile bitterly. I learned a text "Fan Jin passed the imperial examination" in my previous life. When Fan Jin passed the imperial examination, he was like he went to heaven. Unfortunately, it was the Ming Dynasty, not the Song Dynasty. Juren in the Song Dynasty was just a qualification to take the imperial examination. Unless in special circumstances, the qualifications would disappear after the imperial examination.

The juren of the Song Dynasty had basically no privileges, and even the travel expenses for the exam were borne by themselves. For small peasant families like the Du family, participating in the imperial examination was extremely risky, and their families would be ruined if they were not careful. Lin Ying was not far from Fengfu, and even so, the Du family had already paid all the wealth accumulated over the years and owed foreign debts. In those places far away from the capital, it is conceivable what pressure scholars have to bear to take the imperial examination. It is not an exaggeration to beg for the exam all the way to Beijing.

The ancient times in my previous life were actually two different worlds with the real Song Dynasty he faced, which made Du Zhongxiao very helpless. He had to adapt slowly, and the knowledge in his impression could be used, and there was a big question mark.

The imperial examinations in the Northern Song Dynasty, especially in the middle and early stages, were different from the later imperial examinations to win over scholars. The imperial examinations in this era were designed to gather the wanderers and wanderers scattered among the people and for these social unstable elements. In my previous impression, the imperial court's preferential treatment for scholars was accumulated bit by bit over many years, and there were not many in this era.

Juren, for his father Du Xun, the Du family was already a bare-stricken family, but in the end they had nothing. In this era, studying and becoming an official was a gamble, and the chance of winning was not high. Once the exam was taken, he would have lost all his capital once he failed in the imperial examination in Kaifeng Prefecture. Therefore, after the imperial examination every year, Kaifeng Prefecture always had a gamble who jumped into the river and hanged himself.

Looking at the falling leaves flying outside, Du Zhongxiao rubbed his forehead hard. It was only a few months since this world, Du Zhongxiao had never seen his nominal father. But living with his mother every day and being infected by her, Du Zhongxiao was also extremely anxious and didn't know how to see him.

Han Yueniang saw Du Zhongxiao's appearance behind the counter and whispered: "Brother, do you miss Han Xiucai again? Good people have their own help. Don't worry, you will definitely find the uncle in a few days."

Du Zhongxiao shook his head slightly and said, "I hope this is the case if I lend you auspicious words."

The first step in the imperial examination in the Song Dynasty was to give a trial in our province, participate in the trial examination, and if you pass, you will be a Juren. There is no scholar below the Juren. A scholar is a respectful title for scholars. If you have not passed the palace examination or become an official, you can be called a scholar. After Du Xun passed the trial examination, he can be called a Juren, or a Jinshi in the village, or a scholar.

At this moment, the owner Han Lian came out from behind and looked at the store and said, "Why, there are no customers yet?"

Han Yueniang looked at the gloomy sky outside and said, "The sun has not set yet, so the guests are afraid they will have to wait a while."

Han Lian smiled and said, "It's cloudy, where can I see the sun? Prepare the hot wine first."

Han Yueniang agreed and went to prepare the soup for hot wine.

Looking at Han Yueniang's back as she turned around and left, Du Zhongxiao was slightly ecstatic.

Han Yueniang has a fair skin, a beautiful face, a quiet personality, and a very good heart. These days, Du Zhongxiao always likes to sit in her shop intentionally or unintentionally. A graceful lady is a gentleman, and Du Zhongxiao is seventeen years old and is attracted unknowingly. Han Yueniang doesn't hate this young man who is down-to-earth and calm, and the two of them can speak.

Du Xun is a juren after all, as long as his family is in a better position, his identity will be useful. For example, many local affairs can be used as guarantors, and the government can speak well, and good jobs in the prefectures and counties can be taken first. Such a family background is considered a high-level for the Han family, who sells wine.

The premise of all is that the family background is better. As now, after eating, there is no meal, and still owes debts, the identity of Juren is of no use.

Thinking of this, Du Zhongxiao could only sigh. The most difficult thing in the world is to start. If the family now has hundreds or thousands of chunks of capital, Du Zhongxiao could come up with many ways to make money. But now from dawn to dark, he keeps running around to fill his stomach every day, who can do it?

Even if he found his father Du Xun later, and treated him for his illness, the burden on his family would only be heavier. With the remaining five or six acres of land in the village, how could he solve the current difficulties? We must think of other ways, it is best to do business to change the current situation of the family. But doing business requires capital, where can Du Zhongxiao find capital. When Du Xun went to Kaifeng Prefecture to take the exam, he had already borrowed all the places where the Du family could borrow money, and now there is no place to borrow it.
Chapter completed!