If I add money to become a layman, I can cultivate immortality

Chapter 122 Meeting Ning Caichen on the road

Yao Niang is not only pretty, but also good at singing and dancing.

She met a mentor in life: Queen Zhou!
The queen of the Zhou Dynasty, nicknamed Ehuang, was a strange woman. She came from a famous family. She was not only proficient in history books, but also proficient in music. She was good at singing and dancing, and was especially good at pipa.

She found the fragmentary score of "The Song of Colorful Feather Clothes" in the palace, and painstakingly restored it, recreating the grand occasion of Tang Xuanzong, Yang Guifei and all the maids dancing "The Song of Colorful Feather Clothes" in the harem of the Southern Tang Dynasty.

Li Yu composed a song "Spring in the Jade House, Evening Makeup Begins to Brighten the Skin with Snow" to record this grand occasion:

"The evening makeup has begun to make my skin bright with snow, and the concubines and concubines in the Spring Palace are lined up.

The phoenix flute blows between the water and the clouds, and press the neon clothes again to sing all over.

Who is more fragrant in Linchun?Drunk pailangan has a deep sense of emotion.

When I return home, I will put on the red candlelight and wait for the horse's hooves to clear the night moon. "

Yao Niang was influenced by the Queen of the Zhou Dynasty, and she was also obsessed with singing and dancing, and she performed brilliantly, which was deeply appreciated by Li Yu and the Queen of the Zhou Dynasty.

Perhaps unintentionally, Yao Niang learned to dance on her toes and even practiced walking on her toes.

Because in this way, the dance steps will be more graceful and graceful, and the walking will be more swaying, which will make Li Yu doubly favored.

As a result, Yao Niang focused more on dancing on her toes, and later came up with a solution: foot binding!

The feet are wrapped as tight as a palm, and then put on special golden lotus shoes to make the dance even more pleasing to the eye.

For this reason, Li Yu specially made a six-foot-high golden lotus platform and asked Yao Niang to lead the dance on the lotus platform.

The competition in the harem was very fierce. Seeing that Yao Niang was favored, all the maids also imitated her, and each one also learned to bind their feet, hoping to win the emperor's favor.

Later, foot binding spread to the people, and many women among the people followed suit.

Of course, this statement is not recorded in official history, so there is controversy. It is also said that footbinding originated in the Han Dynasty, but it was not that popular.

But one thing is that foot binding began to flourish, and even rose to the level of the imperial court and became a compulsory measure in the middle of the Ming Dynasty.

During this period, a large group of literati were born who touted the three-inch golden lotus.

This brings us back to the original topic. The three-inch golden lotus that this group of people touted is not the woman's small feet. It mainly refers to the woman's slender and delicate demeanor after binding her feet.

To put it simply, it is a kind of artistic conception.

Putting aside the artistic conception, what they like is the small and exquisite golden lotus embroidered shoes.

No matter how bad it is, it is still what a woman looks like after her feet are bound.

If those women untied their foot bindings layer by layer... few people would be able to bear the sour feeling.

Putting aside the sour smell, some people may like that sour smell.

However, foot binding is a very cruel practice. It usually starts at the age of five or six, and the purpose is to fix the shape of the feet.

In order to achieve the small goal, the toes have to be forced to the bottom of the sole...

In other words, when these women with bound feet took off the foot-binding cloth, they could not see their toes. The toes had been adhered to the soles of their feet and were completely deformed.

There may be a sense of beauty in wearing small embroidered shoes, but when you remove all the coverings, what appears to people is a deformed side.

Let me ask, what kind of beauty is there at this time?
Closer to home.

Xin Jiuniang is not an ordinary person, she is a fox spirit who has accomplished cultivation, so she can change her body as she pleases.

The three-inch golden lotus she transformed was a real three-inch golden lotus. It was like a slender jade bamboo shoot, so beautiful that it naturally made Ding Xiu very happy, and he would play with it carefully every night.

There is no need to elaborate on the taste.

Sometimes, Xin Jiuniang would also give some advice: "Master, the ancients often said that playing with things makes one lose one's ambition. Of course, the reason why I stay with the master is because I like him in my heart.

However, if this affects the young master's studies and delays the young master's examination, it will be the fault of the slave family. "

Ding Xiu smiled and said: "Jiu Niang, don't worry about this. Studying is not just a matter of rote learning. To use a popular saying, it's called sharpening your knife and chopping firewood..."

For some reason, Xin Jiuniang blushed when she heard this. She always felt that what Ding Xiu said had a special meaning.

Before we knew it, it was almost August, and students from all over Zhejiang were rushing to Hangzhou to prepare for the provincial examination.

Although the rural examination has the word "xiang", its essence is a provincial examination.

In addition to Southern Zhili and Northern Zhili, there are 13 provinces including Shandong, Shanxi, and Henan.

Candidates in each province must go to the location of the Chief Envoy (which can be understood as the provincial capital) to take the provincial examination.

In the Southern Song Dynasty, Hangzhou was the capital of the Southern Song Dynasty and was called Lin'an Prefecture.

There is a poem that says: "Beyond the mountains, there are towers outside the mountains, and when will the singing and dancing in the West Lake stop?"The warm wind makes tourists drunk, and they call Hangzhou Bianzhou.

This is the poet's hatred for the current dynasty, which did not want to make progress or regain the lost territory of the Central Plains. It only wanted to live in peace and contentment. It was drunk and dreaming, and only cared about eating, drinking and having fun, and regarded Hangzhou as Bianzhou.

Bianzhou was the capital city when the Song Dynasty was founded, also known as Bianjing and Tokyo.

The rural examination was an important part of the imperial examination. The examination was divided into provinces, and each province admitted a corresponding proportion of candidates according to the number of candidates.

The mid-level test is called "Ju Ren", No. 1 is called "Jie Yuan", No. 2 is called Ya Yuan, No. 6, [-] and [-] are called Jing Kui, and No. [-] is called Ya Kui.

For example, Tang Bohu, who is famous in history, is called "Tang Jieyuan" by many people because he participated in the provincial examination and won No. 1 honor, that is, he was the top scholar in the province.

After passing the provincial examination, candidates from each province will have to go to Beijing to take the national examination, which is the general examination.

The No. 1 test is called Huiyuan.

The last level: the imperial examination.

The No.1 selected in the palace examination is called the number one scholar, the No.2 is the second, and the No.3 is the top pick.

If someone wins the first place in the provincial examination, the first place in the guild examination, and the first place in the palace examination, it will be Jieyuan, Huiyuan and Zhuangyuan three times in a row. It is known as: winning three yuan in a row.

Of course, since ancient times, not many people have won three yuan in a row.

Among them, a special title must be mentioned: Tanhua.

The third flower is No. 3 in the palace examination, but this does not mean that the knowledge of the third flower is weaker than that of the number one scholar, or weaker than the second place, and may be better than them.

This is an unspoken rule that has been passed down for many years.

In a word, Tanhua Lang must have outstanding literary talent and outstanding talents to win this honor, unless he meets an emperor with a problem with his eyes.

A few days before leaving, Xin Jiuniang sewed two robes for Ding Xiu and asked him to take them with him to change on the way.

In fact, for Ding Xiu, going to Hangzhou is an extremely simple matter. He can fly there in two hours at most.

However, he was not in a hurry and just thought of swimming all the way, so he set off half a month in advance and went on foot.

Walking along the way, it was dark, but I met a man who looked like a scholar on the road. He was carrying a book box. He seemed to be a student going to take the exam.

Generally speaking, most scholars from all over the country go together to take exams.

After all, the world is very chaotic, and it is very dangerous for a person to travel alone. He may encounter bandits, wild beasts, or even ghosts.

Also, you have to eat and sleep in the open all the way. If you catch wind or cold, there will be no one around to take care of you. If you are unlucky, you may die.

Since ancient times, many students have died of illness on the way to exams.

Therefore, many candidates from the same hometown will go together. Those with rich families do not need to go together, but they will be accompanied by book boys, family members, servants and the like.

The reason why Ding Xiu walks alone is because he has strength.But the scholar was obviously just an ordinary person, and he had missed Sutou. Judging from the way he was looking around, he was probably looking for a place to stay.

After all, in this wilderness, who without any strength would dare to find a place to sleep in the wild?

So, Ding Xiu stepped forward and said hello: "Brother..."

The brother turned his head when he heard the sound.

At this moment, Ding Xiu couldn't help but hear a melody in his mind:
"The road of life, the dream is like a long road
The wind and frost on the road, the wind and frost on the face dry
In the world of mortals, how many directions do dreams have

Looking for love in Chi Chi Dream Center
The road is endless..."

It seems that this should be Ning Caichen.

However, Ning Caichen looks younger at this time, after all, it is before the plot timeline.

When he saw Ding Xiu, the scholar was overjoyed. He cupped his hands and said, "Ning Caichen, a young man, has met my brother."

Sure enough it was him!

Ding Xiu also cupped his hands and said with a smile: "So it's Brother Ning, I'm Ding Xiu!"

"Could it be that Brother Ding is also looking for that house?"

"Ok?"

Ding Xiu didn't understand what Ning Caichen said.

"Don't you know, Brother Ding?" Ning Caichen was stunned, and then explained: "That's right, I accidentally heard that there is a house nearby, and there is a red-sleeved girl in it. Not only does it provide free food and accommodation to candidates taking the exam, , and also provided an additional amount of silver."

Ding Xiu looked surprised: "Is there such a good thing?"

Ning Caichen scratched his head in embarrassment: "I don't know if it's true. I just wanted to give it a try, but I haven't found the house yet."

"Are you going astray?"

Having said this, Ning Caichen couldn't help but recall it carefully, and then said with some uncertainty: "I seemed to have gone through a fork in the road before, how about... let's look back together?"

"Haha, okay, let's go."

Ning Caichen became more courageous when there were people accompanying him.

The two walked and chatted.

"I wonder where Brother Ding is from?"

"Guobei County."

"What a coincidence, my little brother is from Linhe County, we are neighboring counties..."

After walking for three or four miles, there was indeed a fork in the road. Ning Caichen looked at it carefully and couldn't help but patted his forehead: "Sure enough, I took the wrong road. I should have taken this way."

I finally got it right this time.

After walking for a while, a house appeared ahead, with two eye-catching lanterns shining outside the door.

"This is it..." Ning Caichen was so surprised that he speeded up his pace unconsciously.

After walking a few steps, he quickly stopped and smiled sheepishly at Ding Xiu: "I'm sorry, I lost my temper for a moment."

"It's okay, let's go and have a look."

So, the two of them walked outside the door together. Seeing that the door was ajar, Ning Caichen couldn't help but raise his hand and knock on the door knocker.

A woman's voice came from inside: "Here we come..."

Not long after, the door creaked, and a woman with a bun and a green dress opened the door.

Looking at this outfit, she is a maid in the mansion.

"Girl..." Ning Caichen bowed his hands and was about to say a few polite words.

But the maid smiled and said: "You two gentlemen, there is no need to be polite. It's dark and it's cold outside. Come in quickly and talk later."

"Thank you girl!"

Ning Caichen thanked him.

Ding Xiu glanced meaningfully at the maid, and smiled as he walked away: "I wonder what I call the girl?"

"You two gentlemen, please call your servant Lu'er."

Ning Caichen subconsciously asked: "Miss Lu'er, can your young lady be called Hongxiu?" "Well, it seems that the two young masters have also heard about my young lady. The young lady has always admired scholars and said that scholars can't study hard in a cold window. It’s easy, so I try my best to support it, hoping that students rushing to take the exam can go to high school.”

Hearing this, Ning Caichen couldn't help but sigh: "Your lady is really a fairy descending to earth!"

Hearing this, Lu'er smiled and led Ding Xiu and Ding Xiu through the front yard to a living room in the backyard.

"You two gentlemen must not have eaten yet? I'll bring you some food."

Ning Caichen said: "Don't bother me girl, Xiaosheng has brought dry food."

Lu'er smiled and said: "Young master should save dry food for emergencies. Naturally, when you come here, you will have some hot meals and dishes."

As soon as Lu'er left, Ning Caichen couldn't help but look around and sighed: "I didn't expect there are still such kind-hearted people in the world."

"Yeah..." Ding Xiu replied, looking thoughtful.

He could tell at a glance that Lu'er was not a human being, but a female ghost.

However, ghosts are different from ghosts. Just like people, there are good and evil, good and bad.

Although Ding Xiu saw through Lu'er's identity, he could not feel a trace of violence in her. Her eyes were very clear, like an innocent girl.

Since it is a ghost, then this house is naturally a ghost house, but it does not have that spooky atmosphere and is similar to an ordinary house.

Therefore, Ding Xiu wanted to see what kind of person that Hongxiu was, or what kind of ghost she was, and what her purpose was.

After a while, Lu'er brought the food and a bottle of wine.

Although it was just a few ordinary home-cooked stir-fries, for Ning Caichen, it was a feast.

Looking at the clothes he mended again and again, you can tell that his family is in a very difficult situation, and it is rare to have a meal of meat in a month.

Therefore, he naturally looked grateful and said some words of thanks.

Of course, Ding Xiu also pretended to thank him.

After the two of them had eaten and drank enough, Lu'er cleared away the dishes and said, "Miss, I would like to invite you two gentlemen to the study for a chat..."

After some humility, Ning Caichen went to the study room first.

As a result, he came back after just a cup of tea.

Next, Ding Xiu also led Lu'er to the study room located in the east wing.

As soon as he entered the study, Ding Xiu discovered that Ning Caichen probably hadn't even seen Hongxiu's face, because there was a screen in the study. Hongxiu was sitting behind the screen and could only see a faint figure.

Of course, that screen was of no use to Ding Xiu. He didn't use his spiritual sense. He just focused his eyes for a moment and saw Hongxiu's appearance clearly.

It is indeed worthy of the name "Red Sleeves".

Her expression looked a little melancholy, her eyebrows were long and elegant, and her eyes were deep and bright, with some shimmering light.

Her red lips are as beautiful as flowers, and she is wearing a gorgeous red dress.

The gas is elegant and has a kind of gentle beauty.

It's a pity that she is still a female ghost.

"Ding Xiu, I saw the girl with red sleeves."

"It turns out to be Young Master Ding. Sir, please sit down!"

Her voice also sounds very pleasant, with a very special waxy and soft charm.

Next, Hongxiu asked a few simple questions, such as where he came from, and then the topic changed to the content related to the classics and history collection.

This is somewhat beyond Ding Xiu's expectation. After all, most of the books that women like to read are related to poetry and poetry. Unexpectedly, Hongxiu also knows a lot about the Classics and History Collection.

The Classics and History Collection is the content of the imperial examination and a must-read for scholars.

After chatting for a while, Hong Xiu suddenly asked: "What is the purpose of taking the exam?"

Students all over the world take the exam for no other reason than to change their destiny. Once they reach high school, they can become officials.

No matter how poor you are, you still want to be a civil servant. Even if you have no chance to become an official, you will still be very prosperous after returning to your hometown. No matter how poor you were before, once you return to your hometown, you will become a squire in the village.

If you are promoted, you are considered to be half an official, and the court will pay you a certain amount of salary.

Of course, that salary can only be used for living, mainly because its meaning is different.

In ancient times, due to institutional reasons, imperial power was generally pursued and did not go down to the county level.

The so-called imperial power does not extend to the county level, which means that the imperial power only extends to the county level. To put it simply, it means that there are no imperial agencies below the county level.

So the question is, who will take care of the countryside?

It's up to the squire to take care of this.

Judging people is an important part of the squire. Of course, the squire is not just about recruiting people, but also some local famous families.

Each dynasty in ancient dynasties granted special privileges to civil servants, such as being exempted from a certain amount of land tax and exempting a certain number of households from corvee service.

As a result, many people will come to seek refuge, local wealthy people will also come to curry favor, and even officials from the government will come to visit.

In short, passing the Juren exam is equivalent to stepping into the ranks of a wealthy family.

Ding Xiu actually went to take the exam just to have nothing to do, but when Hongxiu asked, he naturally would not say that. He believed that Hongxiu must have a purpose in asking.

After thinking for a while, he replied: "I am taking the exam because I want to see if it is worth studying hard for so many years."

"Ok?"

Hearing this answer, Hongxiu couldn't help but be stunned.

Then he asked: "If the young master can finally graduate from high school, do you hope to become an official?"

Ding Xiu asked back: "I wonder what Miss Hongxiu means by this question?"

Hongxiu was silent for a while and sighed: "Perhaps the young master thinks that the little girl's question is a bit presumptuous. The little girl just can't understand a question."

"What's the problem? Girl, it's okay to just say it."

"My little girl has met many scholars, most of whom came from poor families. Before they became officials, all of them had great ambitions and character.

But once they entered the officialdom, they all seemed to have changed. Some even became greedy and oppressed the people.

Studying just to be an official?Do you want to be an official just to enjoy the glory and wealth?
The little girl is not a man and cannot figure out these problems, so she asks the young master for some advice. "

Ding Xiu smiled: "Girl, this question is a bit broad. The next person cannot represent the world's scholars."

"My little lady, I would like to ask again, if the young master becomes an official one day, will he maintain the integrity of a scholar, be fair and honest, and have a breeze on his sleeves?"

Hearing this, Ding Xiu couldn't help but feel something in his heart, and he vaguely guessed Hong Xiu's intention, or rather what happened to him.

Is it possible that she has a problem with the government?Or is her death related to the government?Is it an unjust case?
With this thought, Ding Xiu couldn't help but smile: "I would like to ask, why did the girl pass away?"

"Ok?"

There was suddenly a chill in the room.

Hongxiu stood up and walked out slowly, looking at Ding Xiu with cold eyes.

However, with her cultivation level, how could she tell the true story of Ding Xiu.You know, when Xin Jiuniang was with Ding Xiu day and night, she only had some vague suspicions.

"Girl, don't panic, I don't mean any harm."

Hongxiu felt calm, walked to the table and sat down. She held the teapot in her delicate hands and poured two cups of tea: "Young master, please give me tea!"

"Thank you!"

Ding Xiu took a sip of tea.

Then he praised: "Good tea!"

Hongxiu suddenly asked again: "Who is the young master?"

"Didn't I already declare my identity?"

"But the young master is not an ordinary scholar."

How could an ordinary scholar see through her identity?

Since Ding Xiu confirmed Hongxiu's identity, he naturally didn't bother to beat around the bush anymore, nodded and said: "Yes, I am not only a scholar, but also a monastic."

"really……"

Hongxiu sighed quietly.

Then he added: "Since the young master is a cultivator, the young lady will not hide anything from the young master. First of all, the young lady can tell the young master frankly that the young lady has never harmed anyone and has no intention of harming others. "

"Yes, I believe this." Ding Xiu nodded: "But, I want to know, why do you do this? What is your purpose of supporting scholars?"

Hongxiu smiled bitterly: "If the little girl says she is doing good deeds, the young master will certainly not believe it.

In fact, the little woman did have the intention of doing good, but there was also another factor, which was that she wanted to find someone who could help the little woman. "

Sure enough!

Hearing Hongxiu's answer, Ding Xiu was not surprised and asked: "I wonder what difficulties the girl encountered? Did the girl die unjustly?"

After hearing this question, Hong Xiu was silent for a while, then her eyes turned red and she cried: "Yes, the little girl did die unjustly."

"Miss Hongxiu, if you don't mind, could you elaborate?"

Hongxiu took a sip of tea and pondered for a while before slowly talking about her experience.

She was born in a scholarly family. Her great-grandfather, grandfather, and father were all well-known local scholars. Her family background was quite good. Although it was not a wealthy family, it could be called a small wealthy family.

That year, a new magistrate named Shi Wenqing was appointed to the county seat.

When he first took office, Shi Wenqing was full of ambition and determined to do his best to be a father-in-law official praised by the people.

First, it is worthy of one's own conscience, and secondly, making political achievements will also help in promotion.

After all, who is an official and doesn’t want to be promoted step by step?
However, Shi Wenqing soon discovered that things were not as easy as he imagined.

Not long after he entered junior high school, he discovered many problems. The accounts in Bili County were quite confusing, and he didn't know where to start.

There are piles of files, and there are even cases from the previous magistrate that have not yet been closed.

However, no matter how chaotic it is, there must be a clue.

So Shi Wenqing cheered up and convened a long meeting with the county magistrate, governor, historians, edicts and other relevant personnel, and ordered everyone to seize the time to sort out the accounts and handle old cases as soon as possible.

Those who said they deserved it were happy, but a month later, Shi Wenqing found that these people basically did nothing.

At this time, he met a person, Hongxiu's father Zhou Yong.

The two hit it off.

Although Zhou Yong has never been an official, as a local, he knows the tricks of the county government.

He said to Shi Wenqing, although you are the head of a county, there is an old saying among the people that "a small official who is made of iron is a great master who is made of water."

The master mentioned here refers to the county magistrate.

In order to prevent local officials from forming cliques, the imperial court usually took some measures, such as serving as officials in other places and relocation.

Being an official in another place means that you cannot serve as an official in your hometown and must be sent to another place.

Relocating to serve as an official means that after serving in one place for a few years, he or she will be transferred to another place. Sometimes it is a flat transfer. If the official has outstanding political achievements, he may also be promoted.

……

(End of this chapter)