I have a fortune book

Chapter 79

It was okay for Zhou Bai to hear the previous sentence, because what he said really made sense.

Any dragon boat in this river is more than 100 meters long and 30 meters wide, and the bow is also driving a special dragon shooting crossbow, which ordinary Xiaojiao would not dare to do.

The Shelong Crossbow has a great reputation on the Ningjiang River. Almost every year, dragon boats are overturned by the evil dragon boats, but every year, several evil dragon boats are directly crucified to death by the Shelong Crossbow.

The last sentence of the fisherman, Zhou Bai can only be attributed to the vision of ordinary people, what kind of immortals and dragon gods are probably the Taoist priests of the second and third realms and the descendants of the Dragon King.

Zhou Bai had heard similar stories in his previous life.

A certain dragon god changed the rainfall of the month without authorization, and splashed in the Tianjiang River. In the end, the waterspout affected the dragon boats full of tens of thousands of people.

And the Taoist priest on the dragon boat happened to be a Yangshen-level Taoist official who worked part-time in the imperial court. Seeing this situation, he was furious and beat the dragon god half to death, and the rainy day cleared up immediately.

Afterwards, the heavenly court investigated and found that this dragon god was just the most inconspicuous of the many heirs of a certain dragon king.

If it is a real dragon god, it must be a real dragon. Ordinary immortals can't suppress it at all, let alone heavenly immortals who will escort mortal ships.

As for the troublesome Nielong, even if he recovers from his injury, he will be punished by the Heavenly Court, or he will be cleaned up by the Dragon King.

Under the description of the old boatman, the eyes of the two brothers are full of longing, how majestic the dragon god, the immortal, the thousand-meter dragon boat, and the tyrannical Tianjiang that cut off the Daxu Dynasty.

Zhou Bai listened with great interest, and added a few words from time to time, causing the old boatman to give a thumbs up.

It is worthy of saying that he is a scholar, and he has seen big scenes.

Because he had to board a ship, he would inevitably encounter wind, rain and exhaustion along the way, so Zhou Bai took off his talented green jacket. Unexpectedly, the old boatman could still recognize his identity at a glance.

Having lived on the river for many years, among other things, he still has good eyesight.

With such a conversation, and with the scholar's sword on his waist, and it happened to be late June, the old boatman was very sure that this young man in white was a scholar who was going to take the exam.

Of course, he greeted and sent off many people, and he was able to be neither humble nor overbearing.

But the [-]-year-old and [-]-year-old elder brother next to him didn't dare to talk casually anymore. He was a scholar and a gentleman, and he was a big shot to them.

On the contrary, the younger brother, staring at Zhou Bai secretly with a pair of bright eyes, is this the scholar mentioned by storytellers?
There was no words all the way until the dragon boat was connected, Zhou Bai let the two get on first out of politeness.

He has never been stingy with his kindness to this kind of country boy who is shy of strangers and wants to live a better life on his own.

After a while, another hanging basket was lowered, and Zhou Bai stood firmly on it.

The more than 30-meter-wide deck was crowded with passengers, some leaning on the railing to blow the wind, some chatting in groups of twos and twos, and some vendors selling various goods. The oncoming fireworks almost made Zhou Bai think that he was in a lively place. Market concentration.

"Hello, son, pay the boat fare here. Where are you going? The boat ends at Tianjiang Port and crosses Dingzhou along the way." Soon, a maid led Zhou Bai to a cabin, and pointed to the price list hanging in the middle.

There are basically two to three ferry crossings in each county, and there is a price list for each ferry crossing.

Of the eight counties in Dingzhou, only Bei'an County does not have access to Ningjiang.

Before arriving at Zhoucheng, you need to pass through three counties and thirteen cities, including Ruinan County, Longfeng County, and Dingzhou County. The journey is thousands of miles away.

But the price is not expensive, Zhou Bai bought a single first-class cabin, and it only costs ten taels of silver to get off at the nearest ferry in Dingzhou City.

And the [-] taels of boat fare includes food and drink. If there is any need, first-class passengers on board will enjoy priority.

Twelve taels from Bei'an to Dingzhou City, the cost of just changing the horse is more than that, let alone renting a carriage to catch the exam.

There are more than 3000 miles of waterway, and it can be reached in half a month with a smooth journey.

After paying the money, Zhou Bai simply registered his information. At this time, the Central Plains Dynasty included Haichuan, and did not implement any strict travel rules.

Even ordinary civilians can go to various places with their identity documents, and Zhou Bai, as a scholar, will not be stopped even if he passes through ordinary passes.

Zhou Bai looked up and saw that there was another floor above, so he climbed up the stairs. He will be able to enjoy the wide view of the top deck, leaning on the railing, and have a panoramic view of the scenery of Ningjiang.

The top deck is full of first-class guests, who are either rich businessmen or famous scholars, and occasionally a few officials, who also occupy a corner under the protection of attendants.

These officials are all dressed in regular clothes, but they can't hide their style and demeanor, and no one is so blind to them.

Zhou Bai's spiritual sense had already carefully inspected the inside and outside of the dragon boat, and there was no Taoist priest on board, nor any other abnormal extraordinary power.

There was only one official in his 50s or [-]s, with red energy lingering all over his body, and mana flowing faintly in his body.

It should be a seventh-rank official, who has already been taught the Taoist scriptures, and now he is actively practicing in his old age, presumably he is the type who forcibly enters the Tao by taking advantage of the luck of the system.

In Daxu, Juren is qualified to teach exercises from the imperial court. At this time, those who have no hope of becoming a scholar will start to learn Taoism.

But if there is a decent official as a substitute, Juren will give priority to being an official. After all, Juren can't go very far in practicing Taoism and studying the law.

The same Jinshi can also see clearly, they know that there is no hope of longevity, and they will spend most of their energy in the officialdom in the first half of their lives.

Climb up if you can, if you can't climb up, take advantage of luck to practice Taoism when you are about to retire and return home, try to live longer, and then you can enter the spirit realm or dragon court after death.

Those who make contributions to the dynasty and humanity have the opportunity to be conferred as gods, which is also an alternative kind of longevity.

Needless to say, as for the [-]-A and [-]-A Jinshi, most of them will accept some leisurely official positions, and then concentrate on seeking the Tao.

The list of heavenly records, even after death, can be picked up by the heavenly court, but whether they can be selected as heavenly officials later depends on their own fortune.

At this time, the sun was already three poles high.

The brilliant sun reflects the surface of the river into a hot golden lake, with thousands of waves overlapping and sails dotted on the river.

The gentle river breeze with a little heat aroused the pride in people's hearts, and a few high-spirited scholars even wrote impromptu poems.

This caused the people on the upper and lower decks to applaud, most of them were watching the excitement, but they were suffering from being unable to express themselves. Now that someone can express their feelings, they will not be stingy in their appreciation.

"Thinking about the past, crossing the river, the green moths are reflected on the mountains."

Among them, the poems and essays of two scholars are the most cheering. They stand proudly on the bow of the boat with their hands behind their backs, forcing scholars to pretend to the extreme.

"Falling flowers and flowing water are light and deep red, sailing all day long in the waves."

"Okay, great poem!" Zhou Bai was also among the people around who praised and praised it. Of course, he really thought it was okay.

If there are a few more sentences to form two complete poems, it will not be a big problem to enter the rank of red poems.

Maybe it was because Zhou Bai shouted too loudly, or maybe it was because his unique temperament was difficult to hide, in short, the two scholars noticed him right away.

One of them saluted all around, walked up to Zhou Bai and asked with some dissatisfaction: "Dear brother should also be famous, so there is no good impromptu sentence in this situation?!"

"Oh..." There was a booing sound immediately.

The two brothers who boarded the ship together at the beginning also saw Zhou Bai leaning on the railing on the lower deck.

"Brother, look, it's the talented gentleman who is more knowledgeable than you. He seems to be writing poetry."

"No way, I heard people say that poetry requires great talent, but that young man is a good man, I know."

"Young master, let me say a few words..."

As more and more people shouted, Zhou Bai could only sigh: "I won't write poems, let's just write a few prose poems."

"The majesty of the Kunlun, the steepness of the rocks... the grandeur of the hundred rivers, there is nothing more beautiful than the Ningjiang."

The eloquence of more than a hundred words is not as heartbreaking as the previous poems, but in the eyes of those who understand it, it is a manifestation of a deeper foundation.

Even a few officials standing under the umbrella cast surprised glances, and someone whispered to the entourage beside him, perhaps asking for information about Zhou Bai.

"In Xiayuji, a person from Ruinan County, this is Ma Liang, who is from the same town as me, and both are this year's scholars."

"Brother Ma didn't intend to target him. He has a rough personality and likes to discuss writing styles with his colleagues. He definitely didn't deliberately force the young master to write an essay on the spot."

Soon, another scholar came forward to apologize, and his words were quite sincere.

But in Zhou Bai's view, this person is a bit too smart, obviously he also wanted to test, but he just sat on the Diaoyutai and watched Ma Liang offend him.

Now that he has seen Zhou Bai's literary talent, he immediately posted an apology, and pulled Ma Liang to show his dignity, trying to make friends.

At this time, Ma Liang's face showed some embarrassing ruddy, and he said to Zhou Bo embarrassedly: "I can see at a glance that Xiongtai is unusual, so I am a bit reckless, don't take it to heart, or I will buy you a drink ?”

He watched the booing postures around him, and only then did he realize that he had put Zhou Bai on the fire.

If this person's thoughts are not smooth and he has no inspiration, wouldn't he be ashamed because of him.

Zhou Bai had insight into everything in his heart, but he remained calm and bowed his hands: "Next to Zhou Bai, people from Bei'an, both of them are of the same age, it's a pleasure to meet you."

After careful observation, if Ma Liang is not really scheming, then this kind of performance is outspoken.

"Zhou Bai? Could it be that this year's Bei'an County's trial case is the first! That's really a big explanation." Yu Ji was stunned, and asked in surprise.

Before Zhou Bai nodded and admitted, Ma Liang had already taken a seat under the arbor not far away, with two altars of fine Kaifeng wine on the table.

"Harvest anchor, set sail, and set sail!"

Woo~buzz...

The majestic horn sounded one after another at the Shuiyang Ferry.

At this time, the wind was favorable, and the old captain who was familiar with the sky immediately ordered to set off, and more than a dozen dragon boats set sail at the same time.

The sparkling broad river surface was overcast in an instant, as if man-made dark clouds were covering the heat of midsummer.

The three scholars sat in the shade and had a drink and chatted happily. Who was not high-spirited? Before the provincial examination, the world was still uncertain.

(End of this chapter)