Red Mansion Jia Enhou

Yingchun stared at the clock that kept moving.

People from Rongguo Mansion also came to watch the fun.

Jia She did not stop them. The little maid and the old woman lay in front of the window and by the door.

When Mrs. Xing came over, she saw that Jia She's study was surrounded by people.

"master!"

Mrs. Xing pushed through the crowd and moved into Jia She's study.

Jia She nodded to Mrs. Xing.

"Ying'er, what are you doing?"

Mrs. Xing's curious eyes fell on Yingchun, and Jia She smiled at her.

"I gave Yingchun a test question, and she is reading it now."

"Ok?"

Mrs. Xing's eyes also fell on the clock on Jia She's desk.

"Is this what the master brought back?"

Jia She nodded again.

"There were two foreigners in Dingsheng Building. King Zhongshun invited me over, so I went over."

"This item is what those two foreigners brought to Da Chu."

"lady."

Jia She disassembled the machine watch, sorted out the atlas, and handed it to Mrs. Xing, who took it.

This was the memorial that Jia She usually wrote to the emperor. Mrs. Xing opened it.

Jia She drew on it every step he took in dismantling the house.

Mrs. Xing read it carefully.

Jia She whispered in Mrs. Xing's ear.

"This is how this thing is constructed, you see"

Jia She's hand flipped the booklet, and it stopped at the third page.

The third page shows Jia She taking apart the watch case, revealing the internal gears that are sharpening and working against each other.

Jia She marked the arrow indicating the direction of its operation on it.

Mrs. Xing felt a little dazzled.

“I don’t understand this.”

Mrs. Xing closed the letter and returned it to Jia She.

Jia She shook his head and took it with helplessness in his eyes.

Yingchun is still looking.

Yingchun was so frustrated that she didn't want to think about what this thing was used for that she couldn't figure it out.

Yingchun started to act badly, and Jia She just accompanied her.

Mrs. Xing was also there.

Jia Lian was accompanying the little prince as he wandered the streets of the capital.

This was the first time that the little prince was indulged like this, and he looked at everything with starry eyes.

"Brother Lian, it would be great if I could go out and play every day."

The little prince pulled Jia Lian, and Jia Lian glanced at the streets of the capital.

If you go out every day, the defense of Shenjing City will have nothing to do.

"what is that?"

The little prince pointed at a stall owner who was making some paste.

After making the paste, they still stuff things into it.

This was also the first time Jia Lian saw this thing.

"Let's go over and take a look!"

Jia Lian pulled the little prince to the stall. When the stall owner saw Jia Lian, his eyes lit up instantly.

Finally, a rich young man has arrived.

"What do you want to eat, young master?"

It is assumed that between Jia Lian and the little prince, Jia Lian is the boss and everyone is surrounding him to make recommendations.

Jia Lian's fingers rested on the slightly rose-red cake.

"Two of these first!"

"okay!"

The skillful stall owner wrapped two of them separately in oil paper.

Jia Lian handed one of them to the little prince, and the two of them started to eat it in front of the stall.

It is just ordinary glutinous rice cake filled with flower fillings.

The special and clear taste shocked Jia Lian and the little prince.

"How does it taste, young masters?"

"good to eat!"

Jia Lian said honestly, and the little prince nodded.

"Are the breads here roses?"

The roses that were called in China in ancient times are not the varieties that have been introduced now, but the roses that have existed from ancient times to the present.

The stall owner nodded heavily.

"You can tell from the looks of it that I come from a wealthy family, it's Rose."

The stall owner is a Han Chinese from Yunnan.

In addition to ethnic minorities, Yunnan is also rich in flowers and tea.

"These pancakes don't look cheap, why are you setting up a stall here?"

Jia Lian looked the stall owner up and down.

The stall owner's appearance, looks, and clothing are not those of ordinary people.

And this pancake, with flowers as filling, must be expensive.

Hearing Jia Lian's question, the stall owner sighed.

"Going to the capital is harder than ascending to heaven."

"To be honest, I came to the capital to take the imperial examination."

Jia Lian's eyes widened, and he looked at the stall owner in front of him with some shock.

"Are you here for the imperial examination?"

Jia Lian was a little bit unbelievable.

Then he began to look the stall owner up and down.

This person doesn't look like a scholar at all. Jia Lian and the little prince were both shocked.

The stall owner had a wry smile on his face.

"But I don't look like one?"

Jia Lian and the little prince nodded again.

The scholars are all so arrogant. If they have no money to eat, they probably wouldn't even think of setting up a stall to support themselves.

"To be honest, I can hardly believe that I am a scholar."

"Speaking of which, my family was not considered poor in Yunnan and Yunnan. Grandmother Jia's father owned a small workshop. Only after coming to the capital did I realize how precious it was."

The stall owner wiped his tears with his sleeves.

"You can't survive with the ten taels of silver I brought with me."

Jia Lian and the little prince were shocked again.

From Yunnan to the capital, it is at least four or five thousand miles.

You guys just rely on those dozen taels of silver?
Jia Lian and the little prince's eyes fell on the stall owner's feet. I wonder if his feet were worn out?

This thought flashed through the minds of both of them at the same time.

"So where do you live now, and how long have you been gone?"

The government office has records of whether the candidate is really one who has come to the city to take the imperial examination, and we can find out by sending someone to check.

"I've been gone for two years and now live in a dilapidated temple outside the city."

"I bought these with the few taels of silver I had left. I followed my mother's example and set up a stall here to make a living."

Jia Lian and the little prince frowned.

How could a scholar fall to such a level?

The two looked at each other, sat on a neatly arranged small table, and kept looking at the stall owner and his stall.

It was not until they saw the book spread out on the side that Jia Lian and the little prince confirmed it.

This is a scholar.

"There have always been few candidates in Yunnan and Guizhou, and even fewer who pass the exams."

"I didn't understand the reason before, but now I seem to understand."

The little prince sighed a lot today, and Jia Lian's eyes fell on the little prince.

"Most people in the world have to work hard to make a living. If Your Highness has sympathy for him, you can ask His Majesty to allocate some residences in the capital to the poor candidates who come to participate in the imperial examinations, so that they can live and study in peace."

Jia Lian gave the young prince a suggestion, and the young prince nodded. Apart from being playful, the young prince also had the potential to be a wise ruler.

Especially in the face of Jia Lian's suggestions.

Even though it was difficult, he still agreed.

But. The little prince took a deep breath in his heart.

With the advancement and development of Da Chu, Shenjing has been experiencing housing shortage and population expansion, making it difficult to vacate land.

"I will go to see my father when I get there. I will open up half of the East Palace for your use."

Half of the East Palace is a large area.

As long as you are not picky about the environment, it is big enough to accommodate one or two hundred people.

Jia Lian understood the difficulty.

Now that the little prince is willing to give up half of the Eastern Palace, it is enough to see his intentions.

"Your Highness is so merciful!" Jia Lian sat down and bowed to the little prince to praise him. The little prince nodded slightly to Jia Lian.

"but."

The little prince paused.

"I wonder how many other scholars like him there are in the capital."

"The East Palace needs time to vacate."

After all, it is the imperial palace, and we must be fully prepared before doing anything.

If these young and inexperienced candidates were allowed to break into the palace, it would be a case of good intentions leading to bad consequences.

"Brother Lian, could you please help me settle them first?"

Jia Lian's eyes fell on the stall owner. It was true that the Rong and Ning mansions occupied a street to themselves, but there was no vacant space.

Especially the Jia family.
Jia Lian recalled the greedy appearance of some members of the Jia family.

If he were to settle down in the homes of these Jia family members, they would surely explode and curse him, the young master, to death.

"Brother Lian."

The little prince looked at Jia Lian with his big watery eyes.

Jia Lian really couldn't stand it.

"I'll go back and ask my family."

"On behalf of this poor scholar in the capital, I would like to thank you, Brother Lian."

Jia Lian sighed.

He was very curious about why the stall owner had fallen to the point of selling cakes for a living.

It is easy for scholars to survive in this capital city.

But Jia Lian overlooked one point: the differences in regional landscapes lead to differences in regional economic culture.

Just like the uneven college entrance examination scores in later generations.

If no extra points are given to remote areas, it will be very difficult for them to climb out of the mountains, which will create a gap between students from different regions in universities.

The stall owner is a good scholar, but it is still difficult for him to live a decent life in the capital.

There are not many jobs that scholars are willing and able to do. Being a private school teacher is one, selling calligraphy and paintings is the second, and becoming a retainer of a noble is the third.

The rest are things that require knowledge but are not so necessary.

Just like some jobs like accounting, these jobs do not require much education, you can do it as long as you know a few words and can calculate.

In this way, there will be a large number of workers competing for one position.

The shopkeeper will definitely choose someone who is cheaper to do it.

举人
One road is blocked, and all that remains are private school teachers, calligraphy and paintings, and retainers.

Just because there are tens of thousands of nobles in the capital doesn't mean the quality of employment will decline.

Even the three scholars like Jia Zheng were born in the land of the best candidates.

This led to embarrassment for some poor candidates who came from remote areas and whose cultural background was not as good as that of the Huainan Central Plains area.

They had to find a way out.

When Jia Lian returned home, Yingchun was still studying.

Jia Lian squeezed into Jia She's study.

Jia She was still accompanying Yingchun and the other little ones, studying the clock.

When Jia Lian came in, Jia She put down the quilt he had just used to drink water, and Jia Lian looked in the direction of Yingchun.

"What is Big Sister doing?"

Jia She asked Jia Lian to lower his voice.

"Your sister is studying the clock on the table. Don't disturb her."

Yingchun is very upset now, but she is not the kind of person who will give up easily, so she keeps competing with him.

Jia Lian nodded.

"I need help from Dad"

Jia Lian felt a little guilty, as taking in a scholar who had no place to stay was no small matter.

He heard from others that the number of people coming to the capital to take the imperial examination today reached a thousand.

Among the thousand people, at least two or three hundred were the stall owner.

And if all of them were to be accommodated in the Rongguo Mansion, it would not even be enough to fill up the mansion.

As for Rongning Street, Jia Lian sighed again in his heart.

Jia She looked at Jia Lian with concern.

"What happened?"

Jia She took Jia Lian out of the door, and Jia Lian shook his head at Jia She.

"Nothing happened, Dad."

"that is."

Jia Lian told Jia She about what he discovered today when he accompanied the little prince to stroll around the capital.

Jia She nodded slightly.

Jia Lian looked miserable.

"Did you promise the little prince?"

Jia Lian nodded again.

"Promise, Dad."

"I didn't mean to, it really is"

"Are you really soft-hearted?"

Jia Lian nodded, Jia She shook his head and glanced at Jia Lian.

"I really regret it now, Dad."

"That's at least two or three hundred people. It would be fine if we could arrange for these two or three hundred people to be stationed at our farm outside the city."

"but."

Jia She took a deep breath.

"But candidates who come to the government office to take the imperial examinations are not allowed to enter or leave the city at will. They can only move a few miles outside the city at most."

But there were no villages within a few miles outside the city, which forced some candidates to live inside the city.

This policy is really annoying.

"So Lian'er, have you agreed to the little prince yet?"

Jia She, who knew his son well, asked Jia Lian.

Jia Lian was not the kind of person who would force himself to do something he couldn't do, so he shook his head.

"I haven't agreed yet. I told His Highness that when I come back, I'll ask you first and then ask him for the answer."

“But that’s the prince.”

Jia She took a deep breath.

"Never mind. I know your heart."

"I just feel sorry for those candidates. Let me ask you one more question, are these people really arranged by the young prince?"

Jia Lian nodded again.

That’s for sure. If not, how could Jia Lian dare to do that?

On the surface, people think you are kind enough to take in the poor scholar.

I don’t know what people will say in private. If it is rumored that I have adopted a retainer, then I’m done for.

This is not just a matter of a few people.

These few are understandable, but if there are only one or two hundred of them, and they are all juren, then that would be forming cliques. If it's not shit, even if it falls out of your pants, that's shit too.

"Go find your uncle Jing, and also call your eighth grandfather, fourth grandfather, and ninth grandfather."

Just as Jia Lian said, Rongguo Mansion definitely cannot accommodate so many people.

But if Ningguo Mansion and some of the Jia family's homes are included, then it can be arranged.

Among the houses of the Jia family members on the street, the worst ones are small courtyards with four rooms.

Excluding those with large families, there will be no problem in arranging a few people.

But how to arrange it is a problem.

Free food and accommodation is definitely not an option, so why ask these candidates to pay for it?

——If you can afford the money, you won’t live in a dilapidated temple outside the city.

Therefore, it is not only difficult to get the Jia family members to willingly accept these scholars, but they also have to be treated with good food and drink.

A Juren is only one step away from becoming a Jinshi.

Becoming a Jinshi is equivalent to half an official status.

Once he holds an official position, no matter when he achieves success, his future is definitely limitless, that is true.

Jia Lian nodded and went to call the person Jia She wanted.

Jia She sat in the yard, thinking about what to do.

After a while, Jia Jing, Jia Daixiu, Jia Dairu and others were called by Jia Lian. Jia She told them what Jia Lian had promised the little prince.

"Ningguo Mansion can only arrange fifty people at most, and it will be difficult to arrange the rest."

This is a good opportunity to gain favor with the future crown prince, and Jia Jing is happy to help.

Jia She looked at Jia Dairu.

Jia Dairu naturally had no objection. He was an authentic old scholar and Confucian scholar, and was happy to do anything that could help the candidates.

Apart from anything else, this can also be considered a kind of affection.

You never know when it might come in handy in the future.

"Eighth Uncle, Ninth Uncle?"

Jia She's eyes fell on Jia Daixiu and his brothers.

Jia Daixiu nodded and agreed. They were all small matters, just a few extra bites and a bother to his old wife.

"My house can accommodate five people, no more."

Jia Daixiu smiled awkwardly. If he said more, his old wife might get mad. (End of this chapter)