Promotion and fortune in Song Dynasty

Being a Jieyuan is already a rare chance for him to hit the jackpot, so what else is he fantasizing about saving money?

Do you still have to fight with your head?

Facing Liu Qi's ridicule, Lu Ci quickly calmed down, skipped the topic directly, and asked: "Brother Liu, would you like to be the guarantor with the five of us, and then reward you for being the guarantor?"

Like the solution test, the provincial test also needs to pay public papers and test papers, investment certificates and guarantee certificates, and because of the original guarantee certificates in the solution test, many people may fail, and most people are faced with having to find someone to re-apply. The haste of building insurance.

After all, from the release of the list in September in Qiuwei to the deadline of October 25th to submit the provincial application form and submit the papers, you have to prepare materials and rush to Bianjing as soon as possible. It can be said that you are in a hurry.

However, this resignation means that there will be a huge risk in the future - once the insurer commits a crime, none of the co-insurers will be spared and will be implicated.

It's not that they don't know, it's just that they have no choice but to fight their own luck in many cases.

Compared with them who were forced to reorganize the insurance, Lu Ci's full insurance list is spectacular, not to mention that it is unique in Mizhou City, and if you look at the military supervisors in all the prefectures, there are probably only a handful of them.

The certificate of guarantee stipulates that there must be at least five people in the bond, which is actually enough for Lu Ci.

The reason why he took the initiative to invite Liu Qi to join was obviously to take care of the other party who was not in his hometown, and had no other acquaintances in Mizhou city as friends, and it would be inconvenient for him to form a bond.

Liu Qixin smiled understandingly, bowed his hands solemnly at him, and said happily: "Lu Jieyuan is really a caring person, I have always been a thin-skinned person, even though I have resolved the guaranty certificate for summoning officials, I am still worried about it and want to ask for help." It’s been a long time with you, and I just don’t know how to speak.”

Lu Ci twitched the corner of his mouth: "Then do you agree or not?"

"Fortunately, it rained in time," Liu Qi said with a smile, "I'd rather be respectful than follow my orders."

Lu Ci chuckled, and said unequivocally, "Brother Liu, you're joking. I see your words and deeds, but they don't match the words 'thin-skinned'."

Zhu Shuo, who was listening silently, couldn't help but nodded vigorously.

After being exposed by Lu Ci on the spot, Liu Qi was still smiling, shaking his folding fan casually, and suddenly remembered something, and reminded him in a good mood: "Have Lu Jieyuan ever heard of the ceremony of 'group meeting'?"

Zhu said that his eyes were at a loss, but Lu Ci nodded slowly: "I heard it a little bit. If I remember correctly, I will go to the Imperial College to 'visit the teacher' later, right?"

According to the system of inheriting the Tang Dynasty, all those who came to the province had to participate in a ceremony to meet the emperor, which was called group meeting.

However, there are usually no fewer than 3000 people who have to go to the province to rush for the exam. There have been as many as 7000 people. You can't even see the emperor's face, it's just a formality of the ceremony.

This is probably because Emperor Song simply accepted them as "students of the emperor" in order to prevent the candidates from taking the path of high-ranking officials and suspected of forming a party for personal gain. Naturally, the only teacher to thank him is the emperor.

After the provincial examination, there will be a palace examination, among which there are thousands of people who have been deposed. Of course, the officials will not pay much attention to them, and it is impossible to make more demands on their etiquette. Fan's bad behavior, just turn a blind eye and close one eye.

Liu Qi glanced at Lu Ci with a little surprise, and praised from the bottom of her heart: "Lu Jieyuan is really knowledgeable and knowledgeable."

After Lu Ci automatically filtered the word 'Lu Jieyuan', he looked at Liu Qi and returned to calmness: "Brother Liu is too famous. Although I don't know if I can understand it, I still have some preparations for the provincial affairs. .”

Liu Qi smiled brightly suddenly, and said in a brisk tone: "Then Lu Jieyuan must also know that in the group meeting, you, as Jieyuan, need to be at the front, let alone give a speech, right? Remember to prepare in advance."

Lu Ci was startled, and instinctively retorted: "Brother Liu, don't make up some nonsense to tease me."

Before what, what speech?

He intends to stand as long as he can, and give this precious opportunity to admire the holy face to other progressive scholars, so that he can paddle in the water openly!

"How dare you say half a lie to Lu Jieyuan?" Liu Qi spread his hands innocently, proving his innocence: "If Lu Jieyuan doesn't believe it, you can ask brother Teng before he leaves."

Due to Brother Liu's unscrupulous and bad deeds, Lu Ci seriously abandoned him with shame, and went to ask Teng Zongliang who had just turned back from the pier.

Teng Zongliang thought about it for a while, and when he spoke again, he shattered the little luck in Lu Ci's heart.

He said apologetically, "Brother Liu has a good memory, alas! I was distracted after a few years, and because I failed the ranking at that time, I inevitably avoided the matter at that time. I even forgot to remind you of such an important thing. It’s really irresponsible.”

Lu Ci's eyelids twitched wildly, and he insisted: "...the supervisors of the various prefectures each sent out a Jieyuan, and there were about twenty people in total, and they all went up to give speeches one by one. Wouldn't it be too much delay for the officials? ?”

Teng Zongliang patted him on the shoulder with a smile, and said firmly in a confident tone: "Naturally, only a few people will be selected from them. But Lu Jieyuan, a young and talented man, has such a pleasing appearance. Brother Yu dares to guarantee that you will be selected." .”

Who doesn't like young talents with good looks and outstanding temperament?

Those who are most able to figure out the minds of officials must also like it.

At least Teng Zongliang remembered that the last time those who spoke on behalf of Jietou were all young and well-looking.

Lu Ci exhaled expressionlessly.

...I don't want this kind of comfort, thank you.

After a few days of recuperation at home, Lu Ci and the other four packed up their belongings and bundled their feet, and they were going west by car to Bianjing for the exam.

Compared with Juren in remote areas, the journey from Mizhou to Bianliang can be called short and smooth.

Even if you ride a donkey cart, enjoy the mountains and rivers along the way, and move forward leisurely, you will definitely be able to arrive within a month.

But this important thing with a deadline, of course, is to go early and feel at ease.

Needless to say, Teng Zongliang, who will go home to report earlier, will leave directly from his home. The five people on Lu Ci's side are not cash-strapped masters.

Lu Ci was very alert and prepared for a rainy day. In just a few years, he had accumulated a large amount of wealth that no one knew about. Zhu said that he had been influenced by him, and he also developed the habit of doing small business when he had nothing to do.

The Zhong family benefited from Lu Ci, so of course they could afford to support their only son to go to the capital, and the fact that Lu Ci was in the same company alone was enough to make them feel at ease.

Yiliu's two families are official households and official households respectively, and they have a lot of savings, so it is impossible to worry about it.

Before leaving, Lu Ci also readily agreed to Master Li's request to provide travel subsidies to several elderly scholars whom the other party was quite optimistic about, so as to save them from the embarrassment of selling their land, borrowing money from others, and humbly begging for help.

The kindness gained by giving charcoal in the snow is much better than the icing on the cake later.

Even if they didn't win, Lu Ci didn't care about losing a small amount of money - the one who said this was a mentor who really loved and cared for him.

As far as this is concerned, it is impossible for him to refuse no matter what.

Horse-drawn carts are more comfortable than donkey carts, but they are also more expensive.

When Lu Ci and the others were going to the market to make a selection, Liu Qi, who has always been the most generous, waved his hand on the grounds that he was the 'baotou', the oldest among them, and was always taken care of by Lu Ci. , directly ordered three carriages.

The four of them couldn't refuse, so they had to accept the kindness.

However, when he thought about the arrangement of five people and three cars, Lu Ci had a bad premonition on the spot.

On the day of departure, seeing Liu Qi who pushed Zhu Shuo into the third car as if it was a matter of course, and then took the seat next to him with a smile, Lu Ci was left speechless.

……really.

Just as Zhu said that he successfully used the point of bringing soup for the other people to make it hard for the three soft-spoken drinkers to compete with him for the right to have sex with Lu Ci, Liu Qi also played the exact same trick.

Zhu said that although he was very reluctant, he still went.

"It's really not easy to ask Zhu Di to give up this feng shui throne." Liu Qi pretended to be full of emotions, and soon couldn't pretend, and said with a smile: "The manuscript of the speech, Yu Yu, can write it well." gone?"

In fact, he has the most exquisite mind, and he likes to tease Lu Ci in front of others, but in private, he knows how to joke and doesn't really annoy Lu Ci, so he changed the word 'Lu Jieyuan' back to the usual The '摅Yu brother' is gone.

Lu Ci nodded his head, heard the sound of strings and knew the elegant meaning: "I don't know if Brother Liu is willing to correct one or two with the axe?"

Liu Qi said with a smile: "The ax is not right, but I am very happy to look at it for you."

Lu Ci smiled, turned out the prepared speech, and handed it to Liu Qi.

After Liu Qi read it silently once, he saw that the whole text was concise and clear, and his wording was also decent, polite, and generous, so he couldn't help being surprised again.

He smiled and returned to Lu Ci: "On weekdays, I often say that Brother Zhu is young and mature, but in fact, Brother Yuyu is much more powerful."

Lu Ci said generously: "I'm not good at poetry and Ci, full of spirituality like you, so I can only write these dead articles without mistakes."

Liu Qi had a strange expression on his face, he endured and endured, but he still couldn't hold back and said: "A long time ago, I wanted to ask. Brother Yu Yu is full of knowledge, rich in learning, and well-versed in human feelings, so he is loved by his classmates; he has insight into world affairs, and is valued by his master. And I have read a lot of your articles, there is no lack of pen and ink, flying sand and stones... Now that you have won the title, everyone thinks that the name is well deserved. Now that you have reached this point, why are you still so humble? There are always some absurd thoughts of 'not as good as me and Zhudi'?"

Lu Ci froze for a moment, and was about to speak when he remembered another matter.

This is a good time to bring up the stubble that has been lingering in his heart for a long time.

"Brother Liu is so over-reputed, I am ashamed. I am lucky to get this solution." After Lu Ci dismissed the topic lightly, he said immediately: "Let's go to the provincial test. Brother Liu is willing to make a deal with me." A bet?"

Sure enough, Liu Qi became interested immediately.

It's not that he is addicted to gambling, but when he thinks that this suggestion comes from Lu Ci, who is so steady and mature that sometimes even he feels ashamed, it becomes very interesting with a completely unreal atmosphere. .

He asked enthusiastically, "I would like to hear more about it."

Lu Ci said: "Don't bet on anything else, just bet on the result of this test. The conditions are very simple. If you win the top ten, I will do one thing for you, and vice versa. If you and I fail, this agreement Just treat it as useless."

What he was thinking was to fight for Liu Qi to change his name, hoping that people could get rid of the influence of that song "Crane Soaring to the Sky" as soon as possible.

Liu Qi shook her head: "That's not good."

Lu Ci raised his eyebrows: "Brother Liu, what do you think?"

Liu Qi lazily smiled again, "What's the fun in just betting on the top ten? If you want to bet, just bet on Shengyuan's name."

Lu Ci: "..."

It's not that he looks down on Liu Qi, but because of Liu Qi's misfortune in history, it is very difficult to make it into the top ten. He himself has to work hard, and it depends on luck.

If you want to bet on saving yuan, this bet is probably void.

Unexpectedly, Liu Qi's next sentence completely exceeded Lu Ci's expectations.

He directly changed the rules beyond recognition: "In my opinion, just bet on you, Brother Yu. If you win the provincial yuan, I will give you three things; if you don't win the provincial yuan, you will take my three things. How about ?”

Lu Ci didn't come to his senses at first. After digesting the condition, he thought he had heard it wrong.

However, Liu Qi looked at him with a rare serious face, and asked, "How is it?"

Lu Ci vaguely guessed some of Liu Qi's thoughts. Apart from being moved, he still couldn't laugh or cry: "Brother Liu, don't be joking. I still have some self-knowledge. There are a lot of talents in the prefectures of Luzhou, and they can get Jie Yuan, but Luckily, where can I get some saving money?"

Seeing that Liu Qi was about to open his mouth again, Lu Ci shook his head and laughed: "If I win, don't say three things for you, even twenty things! I'm still willing to jump into the canal right away!"

That is absolutely impossible.

"It's a word."

Unexpectedly, Liu Qi agreed without even thinking about it, as if he was afraid that Lu Ci would go back on his word.

He gave Shang Lu Ci a rare look of astonishment, and he blinked playfully, and said meaningfully: "Then, Lu Jieyuan might as well start practicing winter swimming more from today."

The author has something to say: Notes:

1. The date for submitting the application form to the province is October 25th, which was stipulated in the early Song Dynasty. There is only more than one month from the release of the list to the deadline of the provincial test, which is very rushed.Unless there are special circumstances (such as remote areas), a certain period of grace will be given, or they will be allowed to take care of the guarantee before the courtyard is locked.

2. In addition to forming a mutual bond with the applicant for the exemption, the applicant must also call a security officer to appoint a security officer to try.

3. The brief situation of the group meeting and paying homage to the ancestors is as mentioned in the article (Shen Kuo's "Mengxi Bi Tan").In the beginning, everyone in Xie Ju could see it, but from the eighth year of Jiayou, only Xie Yuan could see it.During the group meeting, it was revealed that the representative of Juren was indeed going to make a speech in the "Speech for the Group Meeting in Kaifeng Mansion"

4. For the case of juren committing a crime and the same insurer sitting together, you can refer to the two cases of Mengzhou Jinshi Zhang.Because of Zhang Liang's "behavior and conduct exceeding violations", the other nine people involved in the same insurance (in the early Song Dynasty, at least 10 people joined the insurance, after 985 it was changed to 5 people, and after 1044 it was changed to 3 people) and they were never allowed to take the imperial examination. Miserable.Therefore, you need to be cautious about closing the guarantee... "Changbian" Volume [-]

5. The administrative units of the Song Dynasty were divided into four types, and the state government supervised the army.