Great Song Super Scholar

Chapter 268 Overseas rumors
[Two chapters for the next day were scheduled last night, one at [-]:[-] am and one at [-]:[-] pm, but for some reason, the system sent them out at the same time, Lao Gao didn't find out until [-]:[-] pm, it was too late Explain to everyone, sorry! 】

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Time flies, nearly three years have passed in a flash, and it is the early spring of Huangyou's fifth year.

It was early spring and early February at this time, and the new imperial examination would be held in 20 days. The city of Bianliang was already crowded with scholars from all over the world who came to take the exam.

At noon that day, the Qingfeng restaurant near the old Caomen was full of people, and most of the guests were young scholars. The scholars were young and full of ambition, so they inevitably spoke a little louder.

In the lobby on the second floor, a young scholar wearing a lotus hat and a scholar's robe said loudly in Bianliang dialect: "Scholars from other places may not know, but our Bianliang spread the word last year. By establishing horse breeding bases overseas, our Great Song Dynasty will no longer worry about war horses, and we will not be afraid to fight the Liao army at all."

It was the first time for many scholars from other places to hear about this incident, and everyone was shocked for a while.

Someone asked loudly: "Excuse me, where is the overseas horse breeding base?"

"I don't know about this at the moment, it is rumored that it may be in Nanyang!"

There was a sudden commotion in the lobby, and someone frowned and said to himself: "Nanyang is a very hot place, is it suitable for raising horses?"

Someone also sneered and said, "Don't listen to his nonsense, the horse breeding base is just a rumor, which has long been denied by the Privy Council. Most people in the capital know that there is no such thing."

Sitting at a wine table by the window were a few young scholars. They were Fan Ning's five juniors. They returned to Pingjiang Mansion last spring. , Lin Hong, Duan Yu and Lu Youwei were admitted to Juren in one fell swoop.

Among them, Dong Kun was No.3 in the middle examination, Lin Hong was No.5 in the exam, Duan Yu and Lu Youwei also entered the top [-], plus Fan Ning, Su Liang and Li Dazhi who were admitted three years ago People, the former county school party of nine unexpectedly passed the exam with seven people, which caused a sensation in the county school and Wu county, and became an anecdote that all schools in Wu county talked about.

The five arrived in the capital half a month ago. They are no longer auditors of the Imperial Academy. Since Fan Ning's parents are both in the capital, the five of them lived in the courtyard of the old Caomen. There is no need for them to pay for Zhu Pei's property here. The rent, and the convenience of living here, close to the Daxiangguo Temple, made their life very comfortable.

Duan Yu lowered his voice and said, "I've heard about this too. Some people say it's true, and some people say it's false. What's going on?"

Everyone looked at Li Dazhi, Li Dazhi and Fan Ning had the best relationship, maybe Fan Ning would reveal some news to him.

Li Dazhi shook his head, "I asked my brother, and he flatly denied it, saying that such a statement is absurd, so let's not believe it."

Lu Youwei pondered for a moment and asked, "When did Dazhi ask senior brother?"

"The spring of the previous year, around this time, there was a lot of rumors at the time, didn't the Privy Council come out to refute the rumors?"

Duan Yu reacted very quickly. He felt that Lu Youwei seemed to have something to say, so he smiled and said, "Did Brother Lu also ask Senior Brother?"

Lu Youwei nodded, "I also asked my brother, I remember it was in October last year, when the second wave of rumors was almost extinguished, my brother told me that if this kind of thing gets to the Khitan people, they will definitely take action to destroy it , let's not talk about it again."

Lu Youwei's words rekindled a glimmer of hope in everyone's hearts. Fan Ning obviously did not deny it. Does Song Dynasty really want to establish a horse breeding base overseas?

At this moment, Lin Hong said with a smile: "It's almost time to eat, we have to buy books in the afternoon, let's check out and go!"

Everyone collected money, settled the bill with the bartender, and got up and walked towards the stairs.

At this time, two people came up from the stairs, the leader walked very fast and almost collided with Dong Kun who was walking in front.

"Is it you?"

This young man saw everyone clearly, his expression changed immediately, and everyone recognized him, it was Liu Ran from Wujiang, Liu Ran was a Jinshi of the Tongzi Division last year, passed the examination by the Ministry of Officials at the beginning of the year, and was named the ninth rank of Yangzhou Of course, the prefect judge is only an alternate. This time, 49 of the 34 boys passed through the department, and all of them were awarded as alternates. After four years, it will be evaluated whether they can be elected as Beijing officials.

Although Liu Ran's father is a senior official in the court, this rule cannot be broken.

Everyone recognized Liu Ran, and they all glared at him. In recent years, everyone knew that Liu Ran was pursuing Zhu Pei desperately. The city walls of the capital are all ashamed of themselves.

He even persuaded his family to help him. It was he and the Liu family who intervened, causing deep conflicts within the Zhu family. There was never a word about the relationship between Fan Ning and Zhu Pei.

Li Dazhi and other five people have received a lot of favors from Zhu Pei. They have long regarded Zhu Pei as their senior sister, and they have never had a good look at Liu Ran.

Several people froze on the stairs, all glaring at each other, not wanting to give in to each other. At this moment, the shopkeeper ran up and said, "Everyone, please do me a favor! Don't make trouble in the shop, please help me."

Li Dazhi thought that they were going to take the imperial examination, so he said to everyone: "We are in a good mood today, don't be spoiled by some people, let's go!"

Everyone gave Liu Ran a hard look, and then left in a hurry.

Looking at the backs of the five people walking away, a companion asked: "Liu Xiandi, who are they?"

Liu Ran snorted coldly, "It's just a bunch of dog legs of someone!"

"Who is so-and-so?" The companion asked more curiously.

"It's Fanning, does Brother Li know?"

"It turned out to be him!" The companion couldn't help being stunned.

Fan Ning is currently living in his new house. Apart from him, his mother and sister also came to the capital to reunite with their son last autumn, and they also brought a few maids to make the new house no longer deserted. Hey, he didn't come to the capital this time.

After the new year, Fan Ning will be 17 years old. He has grown a few inches taller, his shoulders have become wider and stronger, and the childlikeness in his appearance has disappeared. His face is slightly thinner and his skin is much paler than when he was a teenager. At least, he looks like a young scholar who is refined and refined.

Fan Ning's official luck in the past two years has been good. The year before last, he made great contributions to offering the crossbow. The emperor Zhao Zhen was overjoyed, rewarded Fan Ning for his meritorious deeds, and awarded Fan Ning the county viscount.

At the beginning of the year, the Jinshi examination of the Tongzi Division was over, and Fan Ning was promoted to the seventh grade Xuande Lang, and was transferred to Tianzhangge Chengzhi. Tianzhangge Chengzhi was only his official position, but his specific dispatch position has not yet been determined. So during this period of time he basically had nothing to do.

He spends most of his time in the outer study in the mansion. The outer study is the third floor of Cuiyun Building. The view here is wide. Through the branches of the big trees that have not yet grown new leaves, he can clearly see the street and the bridge. The situation above, but once the big trees became thick, he couldn't see anything.

Fan Ning was standing in front of the window at this time, looking at Cuiyun Peak in the courtyard, the treasure of the old man Zhou Lin's town house, finally moved into Fan Ning's new house after several ups and downs, and became his town house treasure.

When this piece of Taihu stone was transported to the capital, it attracted the attention of countless good stone lovers. Ruyang Wang Zhao Wenzhi even offered [-] guan to buy it. How could Fan Ning agree? Zhu Pei spent a lot of money on it. It took two tigers to persuade my grandfather to give it to me as a housewarming gift. This kind of favor, let alone [-] guan, cannot be sold even if it is [-] guan.

At this time, there was a soft sound on the stairs, and Fan Ning felt something. When he turned his head, a small face was probing furtively at the door. Fan Ning smiled and said, "Don't hide, I've seen you a long time ago!"

The door opened, and a five or six-year-old girl walked in with a pot of tea and smiled, "Brother, I'm here to bring you tea!"

This little lady is Fan Ning's younger sister, A Duo, who is six years old this year. She likes listening to stories the most, especially listening to Uncle Cao Guo's telling fairy tales from overseas.

Fanning stepped forward to take the teapot. There was only half a pot of tea in it, and she probably spilled the other half when she went upstairs.

Fanning smiled wryly and filled himself with a cup of tea.

At this time, A Duo poked his head and saw a sea chart on the table, and immediately shouted happily, "I know, this is Japan, and there are two-headed fish monsters in the sea to the west of it, as well as General Shrimp and the Dragon King of the North Sea. It is Maoren Island, there are monkey monsters and fur monsters on the island, monkey monsters use spears, and fur monsters use sledgehammers, it is very dangerous for people to go to the island, you have to ride a flying dragon to get to the island."

These are fairy tales that Uncle Cao Guo told her, and he also used a map, but unlike Fan Ning's picture, Uncle Cao's map was the Sea of ​​Cultivation of Immortals.

Fan Ning's sea chart was given to him by the emperor Zhao Zhen. It showed the results of three expeditions to sea, including a small conflict with the local natives on Maoren Island, killing more than a dozen natives, but three crew members were also unfortunate. die.

In the past two years, Zhao Zongshi has been preparing for the official expedition in the area around the mouth of the Yangtze River. The preparations have almost been completed, and he will set off for the expedition after the beginning of spring.

"Brother, I want to hear fairy tales!" Aduo begged, holding his brother's arm, and this was the real reason why she came to him.

"Okay! My brother will tell you a story about the old sacred tree."

Fan Ning hugged his sister on his lap, pointed to the Ryukyu Islands, and told her the fairy tales he made up.

"There is an island hidden in it, and ordinary people can't see it!"

"Can gods see it?" Ado asked.

"Not entirely. Ordinary people can see it as long as they eat a Tianmu fruit from Kunlun Mountain."

A Duo blinked his eyes wide and asked, "Are there any gods on this place?"

"My brother will tell you that this island is called Shenmu Island. There is a sacred tree on the island. 10 years ago, the Queen Mother of the West left a sacred tree seed to the world to grow. It takes 3000 people to enclose the trunk. Forty-eight thousand feet high, straight to the heaven."

(End of this chapter)