Great Song Super Scholar

Chapter 122 Study Tour
In the afternoon of the next day, Fan Ning submitted an application for a study tour to Zhao Xiuwen, the chief professor of Luming Academy.

Zhao Xiuwen looked at the application form, and frowned a little, "How can I go to Yin County and nine people?"

Fan Ning scratched his head and smiled, "Can't it be done in Yin County?"

"Of course, it's just..."

Zhao Xiuwen was in a bit of a dilemma. The county's scientific regulations did not allow students to form cliques.

Although other students of the county school jokingly called them the Party of Nine, he also knew that this was just a joking name.

But even so, Zhao Xiuwen felt that it was necessary to remind Fan Ning.

"Fanning, you should know some rules of the school."

"I know, the school rules have always been my extracurricular readings!"

Although Zhao Xiuwen said it very euphemistically, Fan Ning knew exactly what he was talking about.
He smiled at Zhao Xiuwen casually and said, "We didn't fight in groups, nor did we erect a Party of Nine flag on the roof of the dormitory.

Mingren and Mingli are in business, and the others won't get a penny. We just have a good relationship and often sit and eat together. The host doesn't need to be so nervous! "

"I'm just warning you!"

Zhao Xiuwen signed his application form, handed it to Fan Ning and said, "I warn you first, if the nine of you cause any trouble outside, I won't be able to protect you!"

"How can it be? It's just going out for a month to play in the mountains! What trouble can it cause?"

Fan Ning accepted the application with a playful smile, saluted Zhao Xiuwen, turned around and hurried away.

I heard Zhao Xiuwen scolding from a distance, "What are you going to do for a trip to the mountains and rivers? You are going to study!"

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Although it is called a study tour, in the eyes of the students, it is actually a trip to the mountains and rivers, which makes every student enthusiastic and full of expectations.

Everyone quickly made a plan and decided to go to Mingzhou by water. Li Dashou's family opened the cargo, and his father took the initiative to arrange for them a large passenger ship that could seat 20 people.

In fact, Fan Ning wanted to take the sea route, take the Loujiang River to Kunshan County by boat, enter the Yangtze River from there, and then take the sea route to Mingzhou Port.

However, considering that Lu Youwei and Duan Yu were weak and might not be able to withstand the turbulence at sea, Fan Ning finally decided to take the inland river.

In late January, Jiangnan is still at the end of winter, and there is still a bit of chill in the air.

Everyone was sitting in the cabin playing cards and chatting. The card game was initiated by Mingren and Mingli brothers. They played Oiran Dou, which is a bit like the game of blackjack today. They played with money from the cards. They drew three cards and compared their size. The upper limit is nine words.

Simple and clear, just try your luck, win or lose immediately.

This kind of douhuakui was very popular among the folks in the Song Dynasty, suitable for all ages, even in county schools.

Compared with other companions who got together and yelled, Fan Ning sat quietly in front of the window, gazing at the scenery and customs on both sides of the strait.

The scenery in winter is indeed rather monotonous. All the way south is bleak gray and dark, with bare willows, remaining snow on the shore that has not completely melted, and pedestrians in bloated clothes. Everything is no different from the countryside of Wu County.

In fact, Fan Ning was not admiring the scenery. He was thinking about some information secretly revealed in Wang Anshi's letter. He had implemented several reforms in Yin County in the past two years, but the reforms were not smooth.

From the words in the letter, Fan Ning could feel the distress in Wang Anshi's heart, and hoped that he could help him get out of the quagmire of reform.

However, Wang Anshi did not specify in his letter what specific aspects of the reform.

It can be said that Wang Anshi decided to implement some moderate reform measures in Yin County after receiving his own suggestions.

But no matter how moderate the reform is, once the interests of the powerful class are triggered, it will trigger a huge backlash.

Although Yin County is small, it has all kinds of internal organs. Implementing reforms in Yin County as a county magistrate is almost as difficult as implementing reforms in the world as a prime minister.

To a certain extent, Fan Ning hoped that Wang Anshi's reform in Yin County would fail, and this would allow him to understand the difficulties of reform more deeply.
This is why Wang Anshi wrote to him twice last year asking for help, but he never agreed to go to Yin County, but he still came, after all, he had promised Wang Anshi.

"Hey! Still looking at the scenery!"

Su Liang, who was wearing a green robe, smiled and sat cross-legged opposite him, moving as nimbly as a big grasshopper.

"Lost it all?"

Fan Ning glanced back at his companions who were playing cards, and asked with a smile.

"After losing [-] Wen, that guy Lu Youwei's luck is surprisingly good."

"Fan Ning, you seem to have something on your mind?" Su Liang glanced at Fan Ning and asked cautiously.

They have lived in the same dormitory for two years, they know each other very well, and they all get together to have fun, but Fanning sits here alone watching the scenery, which is not his usual style.

"I can't talk about anything on my mind, I'm just thinking about the imperial examination." Fan Ning said with a smile.

"When you mentioned the imperial examination, I remembered something!"

Su Liang patted himself on the head and said with a smile: "The selection of boys in Kunshan County ended yesterday, and ten county officials were selected. It is said that all of them are very good, surpassing the previous ones."

"I heard that they conduct general examinations?" Fan Ning asked curiously.

Su Liangliang nodded, "I have a relative who is one year older than me. He also participated in the selection of Kunshan County. As long as they are interested, they can take the registration test. I heard that a total of 200 people took the test. For the first and second examinations, ten county magistrates will be selected from among 200 people."

"Actually, it is similar to us, but we are two years ahead of schedule."

"Wujiang County is doing it at the same time as us. They also selected ten people at the time. They heard that they were sent to a certain place for closed training for two years. In comparison, we are like herding sheep, and we can actually go on a study tour!"

"If you don't go on a study tour and learn about the people's livelihood, what should you do to deal with the questions in the imperial examination?"

Fan Ning took a sip of tea, shook his head and said with a smile: "I don't think the Wujiang County's approach may be feasible. In the last session, only one of them passed the Tongzijie Examination. Where did Gao Ming go?"

"Brother, that's because Changzhou County is too powerful. The imperial court only gave Pingjiang Mansion five boys to solve the exams, and Changzhou County took four of them. None of our Wu County passed the exam, and neither did Kunshan County and Changshu County. With the entire army wiped out, Wujiang County is already good enough to pass one of the exams."

Su Liang sighed deeply: "I don't know if it's a good thing or a bad thing, if I don't pass the exam, I have to wait another three years."

Fan Ning patted his arm, smiled and comforted him: "There is still half a year left, don't think too much, we just have to do our best, even if we wait another three years, we are only fifteen or sixteen years old, we are actually more mature than others a chance."

"You're right!"

Su Liang was silent for a moment and said: "We are actually earning money from the boy's exam this time, and there is no burden if we fail the exam."

Having said that, Su Liang couldn't help looking out the window and sighing lowly.

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After sailing for three days, the passenger ship finally arrived at Qiantang County, Hangzhou in the early morning.

The boat only had to replenish supplies in Qiantang County and rest for a day, and everyone disembarked and decided to go to the West Lake for fun.

Fan Ning couldn't go with them, he was going to visit Bao Zheng.

Last year, Bao Zheng visited Pingjiang Mansion twice, and met Fan Ning once. At the beginning of the year, he received a letter from Bao Zheng. He might be transferred back to the capital in a few months.

Bao Zheng specially invited him to come to Qiantang County for a sit down. This time they passed by Qiantang County, so it would be a bit unreasonable not to visit Bao Zheng.

Qiantang County is the capital of the Wuyue Kingdom of the Qian family. It has a large scale, a prosperous economy, and a large population. Many first-level institutions on the Liangzhe Road are located here.

The official office of the transshipment envoy is responsible for the transportation and allocation of grain and grass materials. The taxes and taxes of grain and grass in prefectures and counties are collected by the local government and then handed over to the transshipment office.

Either stored in the warehouse of the transshipment department, or transported to the capital,

Every year, after the budget of each local government is approved by the imperial court, it is allocated to the local government by the Transshipment Department. In a sense, the Transshipment Department holds the power to allocate property.

The transfer envoy on the Liangzhe Road was not far from the West Lake. Fan Ning hired an ox cart and arrived at the office soon.

Still some distance away from the Si Ya, I saw countless people kneeling on the ground and kowtowing for grievances.

This made Fan Ning a little stunned. It had been his third year since he came to Song Dynasty, and it was the first time he saw people kneeling in front of the yamen gate to cry for grievances.

Moreover, the person kneeling was actually the yamen of the Transit Envoy, which is a bit puzzling.

If there is a grievance, go to the county government. If the county government is unfair, then go to the state government or the government government. If you still feel unfair, you can file a complaint at the criminal prosecution department.

If it must be far-fetched, then only the people in the shipping industry will come to redress their grievances. There are not enough official ships for water transport, and sometimes civilian ships will be requisitioned, and then the bill will be settled.

At this time, some conflicts and disputes will arise.

"Master Qingtian, let Xiaomin decide!"

A group of people knelt in front of the gate and cried, "The government is too aggressive, we can't survive."

Fan Ning was even more confused. It seemed that it wasn't the boatmen who filed the complaint. Moreover, Bao Zheng hadn't taken office in the Kaifeng Mansion at this time, and he hadn't yet won the title of "Bao Qingtian". There is no reputation among the people.

At this time, the official gate of the transfer department creaked! It opened with a sound, and the chief officer Bao Zheng came out of the gate with a gloomy face.

(End of this chapter)