nanming man

Chapter 105 Wang Shiheng

In the last years of the Ming Dynasty, there was a very strange phenomenon. If a person was in the north, seeing the mountains and rivers crumbling, people's livelihood dying, starvation everywhere, and bandits swarming up, he would definitely say that this is the end of the dynasty, and the Ming Dynasty is afraid. It's about to end, the world is about to change.

But if you are in the southern country, but you can see the prosperity of business, singing and dancing, it will be a scene of prosperity.In the same country, the gap is so big that people can't help but sigh.

The late Ming Dynasty was a turning point in Chinese society, but this turning point and social evolution were mainly concentrated in the Jiangnan area, and the northern regions were still in a traditional agricultural society.

The evolution of society requires the accumulation of wealth, and the improvement of production methods and organizational methods. The evolution of Western society relies on plundering overseas colonies to complete the primitive accumulation of society. However, the Ming Dynasty was large enough, and the evolution of Jiangnan was largely absorbed The wealth of the northern provinces was used to complete the evolution of society.

At the end of the Ming Dynasty, large-scale cotton plantings appeared in Henan and other places. In fact, all parts of the north gradually became economic colonies in the south of the Yangtze River.

The Ming Dynasty was a country with a huge population. Although Jiangnan had smuggling trade with the outside world, the Ming Dynasty itself was a huge market. The social evolution of Jiangnan was achieved and maintained precisely because of its dominant position in the economy within the Ming Dynasty. his prosperity.

This unbalanced regional development is also the same today, so people born in the south of the Yangtze River and the north will give people completely different feelings.

In the 15th year of Chongzhen, the north was in turmoil, but the vast area south of the Yangtze River was still very peaceful.

In Wuchang Mansion, in golden autumn season, the city is filled with intoxicating fragrance of chrysanthemums, the area around the mansion is bustling with people, all kinds of pleasant hawking sounds come and go like a competition, the streets are crowded with people, full of noise.Obviously, this place has not been affected by the corruption of the situation in the north, and the city is still full of vitality.

At this time, in front of the screen wall outside the school, there was a crowd of people, and a group of scholars in Taoist uniforms were looking inside on tiptoe.A boy dressed as a book boy sneaked into the crowd nimbly, looked up at the list posted on the screen wall, looked anxiously from left to right, and followed his gaze silently in his heart, "No.1 Xia Rubi~No.5 Wang Fuzhi, ah, the third son has won!"

The book boy exclaimed with excitement on his face, but he didn't leave, but continued to read silently in his heart, and after dozens of names, he saw a familiar name again, and the book boy couldn't help but exclaimed: "No. Among the 40 Wang Jiezhis, the Eldest Prince also won."

After he was happy, the bookboy's face became a little anxious. He had read more than half of the entire list, but he wanted to see the name, but it still didn't appear.

As he got further and further back, the book boy's forehead began to sweat, and he was already a little desperate, but at this moment his eyes were fixed on the last name, and the whole person immediately jumped up excitedly, cheering loudly, "Ah! My family The young master has won! My young master has won!"

Although it was the last place, but after all, it was a middle school. The book boy was so excited that he danced and danced, which attracted the attention of the students next to him.

"Hengyang Wang, this time he hit three people at once, it will definitely become a good story."

The scholars around were talking a lot, but the book boy got out of the crowd in a hurry and ran along the street in a hurry.

One month later, in Funan, Changsha, a young scholar in his twenties, wearing a Taoist uniform and a net scarf on his head, with fair looks and good stamina, said goodbye to his old parents standing in front of his family with tears.

"Father, mother, if the child does not win the gold medal this time, he will not return home!"

After the scholar finished speaking, he knelt down and kowtowed. The old father in front of the door supported the old wife who was crying, and told the scholar not to worry about the family, while complaining to his wife, "Why do you get older and more ignorant? Shiheng is going to Beijing to participate in the Spring Festival. This is a good thing, why are you crying!"

The old mother wiped her tears, "Son, mother only hopes that you will come back soon."

The scholar bowed to the ground three times to bid farewell to his old parents, so he took the book boy Ah Chen, carried a large box of sage books on his back, and left the house.

Behind him, the two old men saw his figure slowly disappearing from sight, and the old father turned around, wiped his tears secretly, and then helped his wife back to the yard.

This scholar's surname is Wang, his first name is Yan, and his name is Shiheng. He is Wang Fuzhi's brother of the same clan. He has studied under Wang Fuzhi for many years and failed several exams.

Originally, he had made an appointment with his cousins ​​Wang Fuzhi and Wang Jiezhi to go to Beijing for the exam together. However, Wang Yan’s family moved to Changsha earlier, and Wang Fu’s family was still in Hengyang. Longing, I want to see Jiangnan in the poems earlier, so I decided to start first.

Wang Yan only brought some money, a few books, and the book boy Ah Chen, and set foot on the road to Beijing for the exam.

In this era, transportation is inconvenient, and it takes a year and a half to travel far away, which can torture people to death. However, Wang Yan's departure from Hunan is quite convenient. He boarded a boat from Changsha, followed the Xiangjiang River to Dongting Lake, and finally entered the Yangtze River , The journey went smoothly, and in less than half a month, Wang Yan had already arrived in Nanjing City.

In fact, Wang Yan already knew that he had entered the boundary of Yingtian Mansion without seeing the stone city with tigers and dragons. Near Nanjing, there are many towns along the banks of the river, all of which are mansions with blue bricks and blue tiles. On the river, there are thousands of sails vying to cross, and the sound of silk and bamboo can be heard from the boats from time to time.

Wang Yan and the book boy Chen went ashore at Dasheng Pass. From time to time, boats on the river docked at the pier. Groups of white-faced scholars stepped off the boat, laughing and laughing. Most of them were also going to rush for the exam, which made Wang Yan turn pale when he saw it. , knowing that the competition is fierce.

After disembarking from Dasheng Pass, Wang Yan and Ah Chen walked towards Nanjing City, and found that the closer they were to Nanjing City, the smoother and wider the roadside was, with peaches and plums planted all over the roadside, and lotus in the pond.Now that the season is not right, Wang Yan was unable to see a beautiful scenery, but the scholar was angry in his heart, and he had already imagined the picturesque scenery in the suburbs of Nanjing between spring and summer in his mind.

After entering the Outer Kingdom of Nanjing, the city of Nanjing becomes even more prosperous. The roads are large enough to accommodate ten horse-drawn carriages, and the roads are bustling with vehicles. Groups of caravans are loaded with grain, charcoal, cloth, tea, inkstone, and pork. , fresh fish into the city of Nanjing, blood for the city.

Wang Yan and Ah Chen were walking on the road, and they saw gardens on both sides, with whitewashed walls and fine willows, and there was no open space between the cornices.In these forest gardens, there are attics one after another, and the laughter of the maidservants inside can be heard from outside the courtyard from time to time, so that Wang Yan, a scholar who has never seen the world, can't help but stop, look up at the attics in the courtyard, and laugh while listening to the sound of the piano inside. .

Changsha and Wuchang are both big cities, but compared with Nanjing, none of them can catch up with Nanjing, and they are not even comparable to Waiguo.

Wang Yan was shocked by the prosperity in front of him, not to mention his book boy Chen, who looked around like a bumpkin, staring at the shops lined up on both sides, and sighed every time he walked, "Hua grandson! Well, it’s better than Changsha before entering the city, and it’s even better inside the city?”

Wang Yan came back to his senses, and withdrew his eyes from looking at both sides. Seeing that Ah Chen had never seen the world, and found that many people were looking at them, he couldn't help blushing. He patted Ah Chen on the head, angrily Said, "Don't look around while walking, don't embarrass us Chu people~"

(End of this chapter)