Good luck with koi carp

Chapter 148

It is already September after the results of the provincial examination are released, and the general examination, which is the Spring Festival, usually starts in February, which means that it is less than five months before the Spring Festival.

The Chunwei examination took place in Kyoto, the capital of a country.

The Chi family is quite far away from Kyoto. Before the improvement of shipping, it took about two months for Chili to return home from Kyoto. Since the improvement of shipping, the official ship travels much faster. If they take the official ship to Beijing , the journey can be shortened to about ten days.

But in general, it still takes a lot of time to get from Dayan County to Kyoto, so if Chili wants to go to the Spring Festival, it is best to leave in advance to avoid being late.

Generally speaking, according to the plans of students from their area who want to go to Beijing to take the exam, they usually only leave two to three months in advance. When they arrive in Kyoto, they will immediately find a place to stay and then get used to it in a few days before entering the school to take the exam.

In order to ensure safety on the road, students from the same area will gather together and pay to hire bodyguards or travel with large caravans. This way they can not only take care of each other, but also reduce the cost of travel.


After all, not everyone has a fortune, and most people are just ordinary people.


The cost of traveling all the way to Beijing is not cheap, and you have to bear the risk of not passing the exam. Even if your income increases after becoming a candidate, you still can't bear this expense a few times.


So most people can still save as much as they can.


The Chi family is different. Instead of following the crowd to Kyoto, they are already preparing to leave now.


This decision was made after careful consideration by the Chi family. Originally, they thought that their daughter would have to be quiet for at least three years before trying to take the Jinshi exam, but now she can't wait to try and challenge for a higher position. , and it’s not like their family can’t afford it, so they naturally have to try their best to accommodate their children’s desire to make progress.


Maybe it's because they gave birth to a girl, so they, as parents, would think more about various situations in advance.


One of them is climate.


Even in winter in the south, it is relatively warm. Even when the temperature is at its lowest, there will only be two light snowfalls at most. Even the leaves on the trees are still green and will not wither or wither.


As people who have lived in this environment for a long time, they can withstand high heat, but they are definitely not resistant to freezing.


As for the north, even if the Chi family and his wife have never been there, they know how cold it is there. The couple are worried that their daughter will not adapt to the environment and will suffer from physical problems after going there, so as not to freeze a good person. broken.


Even if they try to hold it in spring, who doesn’t know that spring is actually the coldest time of the year?


So it's normal for them to have this concern.


Even though Chili has been emphasizing to her parents that she is in good health, even stronger than many of her peers, and is also good at swordsmanship, defeating the invincible opponent of Henglu Academy, her parents don't think so.


The couple of the Chi family skillfully ignored their daughter's small protests and just started arranging their own itinerary for an early trip.


They thought that if they could go to Kyoto earlier, they could adapt to the environment there earlier. If they got sick due to not adapting to it, they could ask a doctor for treatment in time. Maybe they could get it before spring begins. My daughter’s body has adjusted to a point where it is slightly suitable for the northern environment.


This way, you won't get sick when you are not able to adapt to the environment, and ultimately delay the exam.


"It seems to make sense."


Chili was convinced by her parents' theory. No matter how healthy and strong her body was, it was just a mortal body, not comparable to the divine body of an immortal. If she caught too much cold, or if the environment changed too much all of a sudden and she was not acclimated, she would still get sick. of.


She didn't want this trivial matter to affect the scientific examination.


If he loses in lack of knowledge, it can be said that he didn't study enough, so he just goes home and continues to work hard. But if he loses in other aspects, even if no one blames him, Chili will be very upset.


So she finally accepted her parents' arrangement.


The Chi family has no choice but to accompany their daughter to Beijing to take the exam. After all, it will take half a year to go there and back. If both husband and wife leave, no one will take care of this big business at home, leaving it to others. They can't worry about it, so the couple must leave one person in charge.


After discussion, Xu was left at home.


Chi Xiucai accompanied his daughter to Beijing to take the exam.


There are reasons for this decision. Firstly, considering that the journey to Beijing is too long, Xu is more fragile and older, so it is not easy to withstand such a torment. Secondly, the father and daughter are away from home, and Chi Xiucai is there. , it is still relatively safe, at least much better than traveling with mother and daughter, and can save a lot of trouble. Thirdly, compared to his wife who needs to take care of the family's fields and shops and other business affairs, it is easier for Chi Xiucai to spare time. Come.


His private school no longer needs his presence. The other masters are also doing their best to teach the students. Even if Chi Xiucai leaves for half a year, the impact will not be big. It just needs Xu to work harder and help take care of it, so as not to cause trouble in the middle of the private school. Something was not handled in time.


Chili has no opinion on whether her father should accompany her or her mother when going out. Even if her parents are inconvenient, she can go alone. It's not like she hasn't experienced it before.


However, her parents would never agree to her dangerous idea.


The previous time had frightened people, and the couple might be really frightened into something wrong again.


Chili also understood this, so she didn't even dare to mention such dangerous ideas.


If the father and daughter want to go on a long trip together, it is natural that they cannot just go like this. First, Chi Xiucai has to arrange everything at home and private school, and then make full preparations before traveling.


Then there was Chi Li. She had to write letters one by one, replying to her relatives and friends' congratulations on her passing the exam, and also telling her that she was going to Beijing to take the exam, so that she could have an explanation in advance.


After sending these letters, Chili probably couldn't wait for others to reply. She just hoped that everyone who received the news wouldn't be too surprised.


After waiting for about a week for their father to prepare, the father and daughter finally decided to officially set off tomorrow morning.


At night, Chili had just finished washing and getting ready to go to bed when her mother came to find her holding a small wooden box.


"Mom, it's so late, what do you want?"


Chi Li sat on the bed and looked at her mother doubtfully.


Mrs. Xu sat down beside her daughter's bed, opened the wooden box in her hand and placed it in front of her. She saw that there were two 50-tael silver notes and two thin gold pieces inside. It looked like there were about one tael each. .


"It is said that poor families are rich. There are many places where you have to spend money when you go out, and things in Kyoto will definitely be more expensive, so the cost is inevitable. You can keep the money yourself, and you can buy whatever you want when you come across it. Even if you buy it, there are still these two gold pieces. Mom specially asked someone to beat them. You can hide them in the soles of your shoes when you go out, just in case. If there is an accident on the road, you can also take them out for emergencies. .”


"Mom, no need, I have money myself."


Chi Li is not here to coax her mother, she is really rich.


Even though she didn't go out of her way to make money, she had received a lot of valuable gifts from being a scholar and a successful candidate before, including some real money.


In addition, since she started studying abroad, the monthly pocket money given by her parents has increased from one tael to five taels. Her grandmother also gave her an additional five taels of silver, which equals Chili's monthly fixed income of ten taels. There is more than enough for an ordinary family of three to live comfortably for a whole year.


Regardless of whether she is at her own home or her maternal grandfather's home, she basically does not need to spend money on food, drink and clothing. She does not need to worry about the expenses for studying. Naturally, her family will arrange everything for her, so the pocket money is basically I didn’t spend much, I saved it all.


Now Chili has almost 200 taels of money saved. She just went to Kyoto to take the Chunwei exam, which is enough to spend.


What's more, her father is still following her this time. With her father here, where can Chili spend money?


Even if she did, it would just be her buying some gadgets she liked.


So Chili really doesn't want the money from her mother.


Don't think she doesn't know. Recently, her family is planning to buy land again. After all, she will be able to get [-] acres of land tax-free after passing the exam. Adding her father's, the family will be able to get a total of [-] acres of land tax-free.


The total number of their fields exceeds this number, but not all of it is fertile land. It would be too wasteful to use this precious tax-free quota to exempt those non-fertile fields from taxes.


Therefore, Mrs. Xu planned to sell some of her family's medium-sized fields and dry land just after the autumn harvest and before a new round of sowing was carried out in the fields, and buy more fertile fields. It would be best if she could collect four hundred. In this way, everything can be placed in the name of the father and daughter and it will be tax-free.


In this way, the family's income will also increase significantly.


"If the family didn't have enough money, why would we sell the land and buy another? The silver taels you gave me are enough to buy several acres of fertile land. Mom, you'd better take it back. I won't take it, so I'll keep it. Buy more fertile land at home." Chili persuaded her mother.


If she hadn't known that her mother was determined not to want her pocket money, Chi Li wanted to use the money she saved to subsidize the family. How could she ask for money from her mother again?


Mrs. Xu refused to give up and tried to persuade her several times. However, her daughter refused to agree, so she had no choice but to take the banknote back, but she still kept the two gold pieces.


This was something she specially asked someone to do. It was a safeguard for the father and daughter just in case. If her daughter didn't even want this, then Mrs. Xu would be angry.


Knowing that she couldn't push further, Chi Li took a step back, accepted the gold piece, and coaxed her mother to go back to rest.


Mrs. Xu will definitely get up early to see them off tomorrow morning, so don't go to bed too late tonight.


Before dawn, two carriages were parked in front of Chi's house.


The servants came and went busily loading the master's luggage into the car one by one. After everything was properly equipped, Chili and her father had almost finished packing and walked out.


Following closely behind was Mr. Xu.


The family of three reluctantly said goodbye at the door of the house for a long time. It was not until they saw that it was getting late that they finally let go, boarded the carriage and left.


Chili did not ride in the same carriage as her father.


Even if they are biological fathers and daughters, under the background of this era, they still have to follow the principle of a daughter avoiding her father, so they can only ride in two carriages separately.
Fortunately, the family later bought a new carriage, otherwise it would not be enough at this time.


There were two people accompanying Chi Li in the same carriage, one was her personal maid Fulv, and the other was Mrs. Wang.


She didn't take any of the newly added Lu family that Xu gave her later, not because they disliked the poor service, but because they wanted to travel in a light and simple way this time and it was not easy to bring too many people.


Moreover, Mrs. Lu was not as capable as Mrs. Wang. Although her children were trained fairly well later, they were still immature and not as useful as Fu Lu, who had been with Chili for a long time, so she did not take them with her.


Anyway, her father has brought enough people this time, and they are all experienced veterans. If Chili has something to do, she can ask them to handle it, so there is nothing wrong with it.


Although shipping has improved, the road on land is still bumpy.


From Da'an County to Nanhuai Prefecture, it takes more than ten days to sway in a carriage, and after more than ten days, you can board the relatively gentle official ship.


However, even in such a torturous environment, Chi Li was still able to study every minute, which greatly admired her mother Wang and Fu Lu who had always been with her.


But the two of them thought that maybe it was because of their young lady's perseverance and determination to learn and her strong mobility that she was able to pass the examination at the age of seventeen and as a woman.


And their young lady is still Jieyuan, No. 1!

It's very proud to think about it. As servants, they are quite honored to follow such a young lady.


After switching from a horse-drawn carriage to an official ship, the study environment suddenly became much better.


Moreover, this official ship is much better than the passenger ship Chili took before. After all, the ships that can travel quickly on the canal are all new ships. This ship has the highest technology in domestic shipbuilding technology, and it is large enough. The cabin conditions for people to live in are not comparable to those of ordinary passenger ships.


Of course, better conditions also mean higher prices.


Chili had heard her father say that the boat ticket they bought cost 15 taels of silver per person, which is directly equivalent to an acre of fertile land. However, that was because the cabins where the father and daughter lived were better, and the accompanying servants only lived in For lower class cabins, the ticket price is actually cheaper, about ten taels of silver per person, well, it's also worth an acre of medium-sized farmland.


But there was nothing they could do. The place they and their group wanted to go was too far, and the price was just as it should be.


And if one of them is not a scholar and the other is a scholar, if they want to buy such an official ship ticket, they are not qualified.


Otherwise, Chi Li would have taken the official ship when she came back. Even though it was expensive, it was safe.


The ship was equipped with naval forces, and it was said that there were some weapons on board the ship, but Chili had not seen them and did not know what the weapons on the ancient ships looked like.


This trip has her lucky attribute bonus, so there should be little chance of seeing her.


Sure enough, their voyage was smooth sailing, and the road was very calm. Not to mention the water thieves they often encountered, they didn't even see a water ghost.


When the ship finally arrived at its destination, Chili was still queuing up to get off the ship when she heard two sailors sighing: "The cargo delivery went really smoothly this time."


In addition to carrying passengers, official ships also have the function of transporting cargo. In other words, people's main business is transporting cargo, and carrying passengers is just a smooth operation. Or it can be said that it is a side benefit provided by the state to facilitate the travel of those with fame.


Now Chi Li has benefited from his own success and enjoys this welfare policy.


After more than a month of journey, the father and daughter...


I haven’t arrived in Kyoto yet.


They had to rent a carriage locally and walk for several days before they could actually reach their destination. Currently, Chi Xiucai was worrying about where to rent a carriage.


His original plan was to go to the local post station to rent a carriage. Under normal circumstances, as long as they showed their certificate of being a scholar or a scholar, they would be able to get the right to rent a carriage first. However, it was such an unlucky thing that all the carriages in the post station were rented by others. , even the number of horses is not enough, so there is no way to rent them to Chili and his party.


Except for official institutions like the inn, other local private rental places also had no carriages available for rent, so the father and daughter were forced to stay here.


"Dad, how about we find an inn and stay there for a few days, and then start again when the carriage arrives?" Chili suggested.


They had already left early, so they had plenty of time now. They were not in a hurry to travel for two days. They could wait until the stagecoach was enough before renting it.


It just so happened that everyone could freshen up a little before heading on the road. It was quite tiring to come all the way. Chi Li even saw dark circles under her father's eyes, which were all caused by fatigue.


"Alright."


Unable to think of any better solution, Chi Xiucai listened to his daughter's suggestion.


This is a port city, and the economy is naturally prosperous. There are many inns and restaurants everywhere in the city. The Chi family and his daughter are not worried about not being able to find a suitable place to stay. They are just afraid that they will be spoiled for choice and don't know which hotel to choose for a while.


Based on her feeling, Chi Li randomly pointed to an inn, and her father took a group of people there to stay.


"Shopkeeper, please open four upper rooms."


"Okay, gentlemen, please come this way."

Chi Xiucai was not stingy when he was away from home. He not only provided an upper room for the father and daughter, but also opened two upper rooms for the accompanying servants.


They only brought four servants with them in total, so they slept in the same room.


But in the end, the actual arrangement was for Chi Li to have Fu Lu sleeping with her. After all, she was a pretty young lady, and it was too unsafe to live in a room alone. Even if Chi Li felt that she was quite safe, she couldn't bear Fu Lu's side. Lu and Wang's mother would think so.


Anyway, they gave Chi Li two choices, one was for Fu Lu to sleep with her, and the other was for Mrs. Wang to sleep with her. There was no third option.


Wang's mother is not young anymore, and Chi Li didn't want to overwork her, so she had to choose Fulv.


Fortunately, the upper room of the inn was in good condition. In addition to the spacious bed, there was also a couch. Fu Lu was neither fat nor thin, so it was just right to sleep on the couch.


"Miss, please wait a moment. I will help you make the bed first."


This time, Chili was a lot more refined during this trip, or he was used to being a lot more refined by the people around him. Not only did he have to eat well, but he also had to live in a decent way. For example, when he stayed at this inn, Fulu refused to let Chili do it no matter what. Those who come into contact with the pillows and bedding that have been used by who knows how many people have to replace them with the ones they brought from home to feel at ease. In addition, Chi Li even brings his own eating utensils and chopsticks, for fear that the things outside are not clean.


No wonder, Chi Li suddenly realized after seeing this.


She just said that she was just going out, why did she need to bring so many things? It turned out that they were all used in these places.


Fortunately, her father didn't mind the trouble and actively added things to it. He knew they were going to Beijing to take the exam, but he thought the father and daughter were moving.


If there weren't too many things, they wouldn't be able to rent a carriage even if they got off the ship. Even this large amount of luggage was handled by the help of a temporarily hired dock waiter.


There is no means of transportation, all depends on manpower.


Anyway, she didn't have to do it herself, she was the one enjoying it, so Chili didn't stop her family members from moving.


Fu Lu was still busy over there, but Chi Li felt like there was nothing to do, so she just sat at the table, picked up the book and continued reading.


She has basically learned the Four Books and Five Classics thoroughly, and has also dabbled in other extracurricular books that may be involved in other exams. According to the scope of exam textbooks stipulated by the imperial court, Chili's current knowledge level is actually enough to pass the exam, and also Able to pass the admission test.


However, admission to the general examination does not depend on whether the candidate can pass the passing score, but whether his ranking among all candidates can reach the quota.


Just like the modern civil service examination.


There are only so many places, and when everyone is very good, naturally the people who rank higher are more likely to pass the exam.


I just passed the written test, and there will be a more difficult interview later.


Chi Li feels that the general examination is a written test, and the imperial examination after passing the general examination is a combination of written test and interview. As long as you can have a positive sense of presence in front of the empress, your future boss, So even if your ranking in the previous examination was not good, it is possible that you will be promoted to a higher position after the palace examination.


This kind of thing has no precedent before.


But it's too early to think about this kind of thing. Chili hasn't even passed the entrance examination yet.


When she thought of this, she felt like her scalp was tightening, as if someone behind her was urging her with a whip, telling her to keep studying hard and never fall behind even one step!

So in the following days, Chili not only read during the day, but also read in the spiritual world while dreaming at night.


As I said before, time flows faster in the dream world than in reality.


At the beginning, it might be because Chili had just developed this function of his own soul and was not yet proficient in using it, so he did not have good control over the ratio of time flow rate. It was sometimes faster and sometimes slower, and the fastest could only reach the state of one to two.


But later on, as her abilities and proficiency increased, she became more and more able to control the dream world. Not only was she able to rely on her imagination to control the dream world to create any environment that could help her learn better, but she also slowly Slowly increasing the time-to-flow ratio, it has now reached an astonishing one to five.


In other words, Chili's five days of studying in her dream was only equivalent to one day in reality.


Therefore, she has more and even several times more study time than others, and her study progress is naturally increasing rapidly.


Although the sequelae of this is that Chi Li consumes a lot of energy, her soul is strong enough, so it is not a big problem. The method is still the same, just take a real sleep regularly to recover.


Life like this is naturally very hard, it can even be said to be torturous, but Chili has been comforting herself, as long as she passes the Jinshi exam, it will be fine. When she really does pass the Jinshi exam, she will never read this crap book again. ,
(End of this chapter)