Infrastructure masters in the red building

Jia Fang read the papers all night, but he himself was unaware of the passage of time. When he raised his head, he saw that the sky outside the official office of the Ministry of Rites was turning white, and it was already dawn.

At this time, a small official from the Ministry of Rites finally came over and took away the test paper in front of Jia Fang.Jia Fang divided the test papers into three piles according to the requirements before. At this time, the petty official also took them away by categories, and then wrote Jia Fang's comments on the papers attached to the test papers, which were probably "upper, middle and lower".

Jia Fang didn't expect that his marking papers would be included in the Ministry of Rites' grading system for examination papers, so he was somewhat surprised.

At this time Xia Xingshen came to Jia Fang, stared at him for a long time, then raised his chin and asked, "What did you copy?"

Jia Fang stretched out his hand and handed his "notes" to Xia Shengshen to read.The other party only read a few lines, then shook his head and said, "What good is it for the country if you focus on the details and have no sense of the big picture?"

Jia Fang didn't care: if Xia Shengshen moved with him and became the owner and manager of Taoyuan Village, he would know that these details are actually very important to him.

In addition, Xia Shengshen's attitude towards him must have something to do with the content of His Majesty's Palace Examination this time - he called on scholars from all over the world to criticize the current imperial examination system. After venting, seeing the emperor forced Jia Fang over to "read the papers", he couldn't bear it any longer, and had to ridicule Jia Fang anyway.

Jia Fang grinned, and said: "Master Xia has worked hard, why bother to worry about what I wrote down?"

Here, Xia Sheng had nothing to do with Jia Fang, who had a top-notch attitude. On the other side, an announcement was made at the gate of the Ministry of Rites that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince had come to visit all the adults.

Xia Sheng had no choice but to let Jia Fang go for now, and he brought all the officials from the Ministry of Rites to welcome the crown prince.

As soon as the prince entered the main hall of the official office of the Ministry of Rites, he accepted the ceremony from Xia Shengshen and others in a solemn manner, and then said to everyone: "Everyone has worked hard all night, and the East Palace specially ordered some breakfast from Wan Qing Building, please enjoy it." Very caring.

"Hey, isn't Mr. Gao Shida Gao here?" The prince asked strangely.

Jia Fang immediately pricked up his ears: as soon as he entered the official office of the Ministry of Rites last night, he wanted to find out where Gao Shida was, but he couldn't find this person anywhere.

"Reporting to the crown prince," Xia Shengshen replied on his behalf, "Gao Shida's family members came here to report the sudden illness..."

Jia thought at ease: This is not the test question that I went out to walk around for a while ago, but now I am afraid that something will happen, so I have to report to the doctor, right?

But this answered the crown prince's doubts, and the lord of the East Palace said: "Gao Shilang had a lot of affairs a while ago, and I think his complexion is really not very good. By the way, have you finished reading this volume? Send those papers to the palace, may your Majesty have a look?"

Before Xia Xingshen could reply, the crown prince slipped around the official office of the Ministry of Rites, saw Jia Fang, and immediately smiled and said, "Zi Fang, I never thought you were here. Earlier when my father ordered someone to interrogate me, I Still can't believe it."

It is indeed unbelievable for a boy of sixteen or seventeen to refer to the country's most important scholar to review the papers.

Jia Fang, however, remained calm and composed: "The Emperor naturally felt that what I had learned was too shallow to deal with various affairs in the south, so he ordered me to learn more from the tributes and see what good policies they have proposed."

These words were answered with emotion and reason, and also fit the questions of this palace examination, the prince and Xia Sheng heard it very pleasantly.The prince immediately smiled and said: "That's true. To be honest, when I first saw this test question, even Gu was taken aback, but after thinking about it carefully, Gu really envies Zi Fang. Father is really thoughtful of you. ..."

This is like saying that the emperor is actually selecting talents and making suggestions for his youngest son who has no name or distinction.

However, Jia Fang believes that the examination questions for this palace examination started from Xiang Fengyi's theory, then went to the reform of the scholar selection system, and finally tested whether the "scholar" currently selected is really a qualified manager and can make this The grassroots affairs of the country are well organized.

It is indeed unfair for the crown prince to simply and rudely attribute the reason for His Majesty's examination questions to the bloody reasons of the past, but it made Xia Shengshen and other officials of the Ministry of Rituals very comfortable to hear - this is the emperor's little Willful!Besides, since Jia Fang came to the Ministry of Rites to "mark the papers", his attitude has always been good, and he kept saying that he was "studying".

Xia Shengshen immediately planned to let Jia Fang go. After the imperial examination, he wrote a letter directly to remonstrate that he did not intend to mention Jia Fang and the "third question", and only talked about the first and second questions.He has been in politics for many years, and he has experienced King Qing's "chaotic government" back then, so he knows the pros and cons of the first and second questions, and knows that this opening must never be opened. His Majesty personally admitted that it was a huge mistake to adopt King Qing's theory again.

But before that, he had to fulfill his duties as the chief examiner, finish correcting all the papers of this weird imperial examination given by His Majesty the Emperor, select the best ones, and submit them to His Majesty the Emperor for review.

"When will the name be removed? Gu also wants to see who you have elected." The crown prince smiled and said, "Is it Huiyuan Jiang Shicai, No.2 Lin Hai, or Feng Yuan, the son of General Shenwu?"

Jia Fang is actually quite curious. First, he wonders whether his good friend Lin Hai can still be a high school student as recorded in the original book of the Red Chamber. Second, he wants to know whether his "honest" second brother can successfully obtain the "Jinshi background". ", not "same Jinshi".

But when the crown prince mentioned this sentence, Jia Fang remembered that Feng Tang, the son of General Shenwu, had met Feng Tang once when the rankings were released in the meeting, and he should have helped a younger brother of his family, Feng Yuan, to read the rankings.Feng Yuan is not well-known, but the results of the test are ranked very high.Most of the top ten are talents who came to Beijing from other places, only Feng Yuan is from Beijing.

Like Jia Zheng, the son of a big family in central and central Beijing has a very, very good result if he gets out of the top [-] in the exam.It is also because of this that it is very, very amazing that the concubine of the Shenwu General's Mansion can get such a ranking.

This made Jia Fang couldn't help but think of the day when Jia Zheng met Gao Shida, the Minister of Rites in Wanqinglou, and the other party mentioned that before meeting Jia Zheng, he came from General Shenwu's mansion.

Xia Shengshen said solemnly: "The rules of the scientific examination, after the name is dismantled, and before the emperor grades the paper, no one is allowed to preview the ink scroll except the officials of the Ministry of Rites."

The prince didn't expect that he was also directly excluded, and he happened to look at Jia Fang in surprise.Jia Fang slightly shrugged his shoulders towards his "Second Brother", saying that Master Xia has this temper, and no one can do anything about it.The prince knew what he meant, couldn't help laughing, and said gently: "Lord Xia reminded me that it's not too late to observe the answers of the Jinke scholars after waiting for the father to review the papers."

He waved his hand and said, "Bring them all in!"

The attendants from Donggong brought in a large wooden barrel that seemed to be steaming hot.Someone from the Ritual Department vacated a table and asked the attendants to put the wooden barrel on it.Then someone placed one after another small porcelain pots next to the barrel, and the pots contained various condiments.

Jia Fang knew right away what Donggong had brought from Wanqinglou—it was Douhua!

After staying up all night, I can eat a bowl of hot tofu curd early in the morning, at least I won't treat my stomach badly.

The officials of the Ministry of Rites obviously thought so too, and they all bowed to the prince to thank him, saying that this approach was really considerate.Immediately afterwards, everyone stood in a group around this wooden table, each scooped up a bowl of bean curd, chose the condiments themselves, and then stood directly on the table to quickly wipe out this heart-warming breakfast, and dared to go back after washing their hands Flip the test papers of the candidates.

For a while, Xia Xingshen personally selected [-] test papers that were judged to be "best" by the marking team, found the vermilion scrolls, dismantled the names, and put them in a wooden box for imperial reading.

The prince and the grand master kept whetting people's appetites, and every time he removed a name, he would say: "It turned out to be him!" "It turned out to be him!"

……

Both Prince Jian Guo and Jia Fang could only watch from the sidelines, desperately suppressing their curiosity.There was no other way, so the prince had no choice but to chat with Jia Fang.

"Zi Fang, I heard that after the imperial driver visited the garden last time, several landscapes have been repaired in your garden."

Jia Fang replied honestly: "Only two new repairs have been made, and only one is nearly completed."

But the prince said: "But it's getting closer to the turn of spring and summer, the scenery in your garden must be different from the winter scenery last time... How about it, wait until the palace examination is announced and choose a good day, and be the host alone, and borrow your garden. Host a hairpin banquet!"

The hairpin banquet is a tradition of the Beijing-China Science Examination. After the imperial examination, all the scholars who have been named on the gold list will have the opportunity to participate in banquets in various places.Because the season is suitable, scholars attending the banquet have the opportunity to put a peony or peony on their hairpins.

But only the first-ranked, Jinshi and No. [-] scholars, that is, the No. [-] scholar, the second place in the list, and Tanhua, are eligible to participate in the hairpin banquet held by the royal family.

Now what the crown prince proposes is to hold such a banquet in the Grand View Garden built by Jia Fang.

Jia Fang secretly calculated the scale of the banquet in his heart, and thought that the newly built Hongxiang garden was fully capable, and in addition, the peonies in the flower fence in front of the Hongxiang garden would be in full bloom in the past few days, which was just right for Jinshi and the first-ranked students. Talented scholars use hairpins.So he made the decision and agreed: "Your Highness's order, you should obey it, and the entire family will be honored."

The prince laughed: "The fourth child has always said that you have a good temper. When I saw you today, you are indeed so."

As he spoke, he got closer to Jia Fang, and whispered in his ear: "Father thinks highly of you, and so does Gu. He regards you as the fourth brother, and regards you as his right-hand man."

This one compares Jia Fang with the fourth prince. Everyone knows that the fourth prince is the prince's most valued sibling.

When Jia Fang heard the prince say that, he still felt a little uncomfortable - it's not that the fourth prince has never been tricked by the prince.

And he still remembers the matter of parachuting Yu Jiang's bloating patient into the fief that the crown prince gave him earlier!Although these people have now recovered and devoted themselves to the construction of their homes in full swing, the prince's inconsiderate treatment of human life, as well as his weakness and inaction in the face of provocations, are deeply imprinted in Jia Fang's mind. middle.

It seems that he is a person with a good memory, and he has a good memory, so he holds grudges, and when he talks about turning over old accounts, he turns over immediately, but when he turns over, he turns over secretly, and it doesn't show at all on the surface.

Even at this moment, Jia Fang thought that the prince was just trying to win him over because His Majesty the Emperor favored him.It's hard to say how much the crown prince would value a "brother" who couldn't stand on the stage to support him.

But these are just Jia Fang's own mental activities secretly. On the surface, he was very respectful, thanked the prince gratefully, and agreed to undertake the hairpin banquet with all his strength, saying that he would "work hard" The preparations must not disappoint the prince, and make the royal family lose face in front of the new champion.

The prince was very satisfied, and he probably felt that although he hadn't gotten any news about the top few from Xia Shengshen during his visit this time, he had a pleasant conversation with Jia Fang, which was an unexpected gain for him ——This big bucket of bean curd is not in vain.

For a while, Xia Sheng brought several key officials from the Ministry of Rites into the palace, and the crown prince took Jia Fang with him, and followed them.

At the gate of the palace, the emperor ordered only Xia Sheng to face the saint, and the others waited outside the palace——

At this time, Jia Fang finally felt tired. He was standing outside the palace and was still thinking about the answers of the scholars on the scroll, thinking about the different challenges and opportunities that Taoyuan Village in the south might face, thinking about it, he was drifting Suddenly, it seemed that he really rushed to Taoyuan Village, where he built Taoyuan Village into a city, the largest city in the south... When he was shocked, he found that he fell asleep standing up Day dream.

Not long after, His Majesty finally sent Dai Quan to take Jia Fang back to Rongguo Mansion, and Jia fell asleep in the car.Jia Amnesty picked him up from the car sent by the royal family and sent him directly to Jia Fang's small courtyard, allowing him to sleep in the dark.

Not long after dawn, Gao Shida, the servant of the Ministry of Rites, came to the gate of Guiyanlou, the largest brothel in Beijing, and coughed.

The tortoise slave in front of the building greeted him and sent him to guard the night. At this time, he had already squatted on the ground and was about to fall asleep. When he heard coughing, he was thinking, who would come to the brothel at this time, and when he saw Gao Shida With that face, he quickly got up and greeted: "Master Shi Da (Shi Da), you are here!"

Gao Shida nodded slightly, and Gui Nu pulled his sleeves and went straight to the building, passing countless rooms along the way, automatically ignoring the mandarin ducks in the room who had just made love the night before.

Gao Shida was taken by the tortoise slave to the farthest hut on the first floor of Guiyan Tower, looked around, and closed the door with a "huo la".Immediately there was a warm body in the room, a pair of soft jade-like arms wrapped around Gao Shida's neck, a pair of tearful eyes stared at Gao Shida, and he said for a long time: "Mr. ?”

Gao Shida nodded: "I can't leave."

The woman hugged his face and looked at it for a while, eyes full of bitterness, slowly let him go, turned around and took out some tools from the makeup box, brought Gao Shida to the makeup mirror, pasted and painted, for a moment, this The dignified servant of the Ministry of Rituals has completely changed his appearance. He used to be fair-faced and beardless and elegant, but now he has a big beard and two thick and black long eyebrows slanted upwards, which is quite martial.

Gao Shida looked at the mirror and felt very satisfied, so he immediately got up and changed his clothes, first put on a fluffy jacket, and then put on a gaudy brocade robe. Put on a pair of thick-soled boots, and immediately you will be a tall, fat warrior with money to shop in brothels.

He grabbed the woman beside him and chanted in a deep voice: "Yunniang, this year is just a good time to be in vain."

With tears in her eyes, Yun Niang continued, "Even if there are thousands of styles, who else should I tell them?"

The two had a symbolic hug, and the woman handed a package that had been prepared to Gold Star, who quickly flipped through the identity documents and bank notes inside, nodded in satisfaction, lifted the package, and stretched out his hand to say goodbye to him. Yunniang said goodbye, and then opened a secret passage in Yunniang's room.

That secret passage leads all the way to Guiyan Tower, and Gao Shida goes out along the secret passage, and can directly enter a carriage. There, the coachman will not ask anything, but directly drives out of the city, drives southward for two hundred miles, and then Gao Shida changed ships there—after six days, Gao Shida would be a rich man for a while in a small village in a corner of the south of the Yangtze River, waiting for the future promised to him by others.

When Gao Shida bowed to enter the secret passage, he looked back at Yunniang and thought to himself: It's better to say hello to the Lord, this woman knows too much, so let's just get rid of it.

Yunniang's eyes were full of bewilderment, and disappeared immediately the moment she closed the secret door.She sneered, thinking to herself that this kind of useless thing is still dreaming of getting promoted and making a fortune when it is about to die.

When Jia Fang woke up, he vaguely heard the sound of firecrackers in the distance——Chinese New Year?

No, no, it must be Jia Zhengzhong.

He quickly got up and pushed open the courtyard door of the hut.Mrs. Sun was waiting outside the courtyard, clasped her hands together, and murmured prayers to the sky. When she saw Jia Fang go out, she turned her head to look at Jia Fang with joy on her face: "Third Master, Second Master passed the high school."

Jia Fang also guessed that this must be the case, and immediately rushed to Sun's face in three steps at a time, and wanted to ask Jia Zheng's ranking.

Unexpectedly, Sun clasped his hands together and bowed to Jia Fang: "The old lady must be happy in the sky... This time, thanks to the third master, the second master can go to high school."

Jia Fang: "Mother Sun... This is the second brother's ability, it's his own high school!"

He really wanted to tell Mrs. Sun: Although he participated in the palace examination, he was just studying and learning scriptures. Jia Zheng's admission to the higher examination institution has nothing to do with him!