Tranquility

Just after the New Year was over, Xu Lian was busy packing Tangning's package for going to Beijing before she had time to catch her breath.

Doctor Lu made three big bottles of cooling oil this time, and it is said that the effect is even stronger than last time.Tangning took the neatly filled exam basket from Xu Lian, carried the bookcase on her back, kissed her son at last, waved to everyone, and walked in the direction of the two friends.

The three of them got into the carriage of the Jin family together. The Jin family spent a lot of money on rushing for the exam. Years ago, they found a relationship and booked three rooms at the best Yuelai Inn in Beijing.Originally, according to the relationship of the Jin family, it was easier to find a familiar family to live in the capital, and the environment was quiet and suitable for studying.But the three of them decided to stay in the inn after much deliberation. After all, the inns are full of students who are rushing to take the exam, especially in a famous inn like Yuelai Inn. The students staying in the inn are not necessarily rich and educated, but they must be people with wealth and background. .They could not only open up contacts by staying in a hotel, but also get a lot of information. In contrast, the study a few days before the exam was not so important, and Tangning also had to consider the management of reputation.

As soon as Tangning got in the car, she gave two bottles of cooling oil to her friend - the two bottles of cooling oil were also very heavy.The two took the balm, and their faces were full of surprises. This is a sharp weapon for the exam.

On the way, Zhao Qian and Jin Yongfu were still at odds. Tangning had long been used to this, and it was just their special way of getting along. Besides, in the past few years, Jin Yongfu had two more sons, and Zhao Qian also married a wife after being selected. , and now his wife is pregnant again, both of them are doing well in their careers and families, and most of the quarrels are just teasing each other, which is quite detrimental to friends.

When the Tang family had an accident, Zhao Qian was busy getting married. Later, Tang Ning kept his filial piety, so it was inconvenient for him to attend his wedding, and he was not allowed to come. Jin Yongfu also made many new friends. After the incident, although the two were still friends, they were not as close as before.

Zhao Qian is like his father, even if he passed the Juren examination, he would never accept other people's support. Fortunately, he has a reputation as a Juren, and he can get a salary every year. The family is not impoverished. Dao, reasonable, Zhao Qian was affected by it, and his sourness was reduced a lot, and he didn't have to worry about staying in an inn.Zhao Qian is very satisfied with his wife, but Zhao's mother, who had a crush on his wife at the beginning, was not satisfied with her. Just ignore everything.

The Yuelai Inn is indeed the largest inn in the capital. It occupies a large area. There are several large houses and small independent courtyards. Obviously, no matter how rich the Jin family is, it is impossible to book this kind of house. Tangning and the others live in the kind of On the second floor, a long corridor connects the five-room row house. Fortunately, the decoration and configuration are all upscale, and the room is spacious and bright. Of course, the price is not cheap.

At the time of the booking, the Jin family didn't mention the rent. According to the Jin family's intention, they should bear the rent. But who is Zhao Qian? When the money was actually asking for eight taels of silver, he immediately expressed that he wanted to change the room, but the inn was already full when it was close to Chunwei, so there was no room for him. However, if Zhao Qian backed down, it would not be Zhao Qian.

When Tang Ning finished packing her luggage and went to the lobby to eat, she saw Zhao Qian and the shopkeeper were in a stalemate. After she stepped forward to understand the situation, she felt helpless for her old friend's stubbornness. There was no Datong shop in Yuelai Inn, so Zhao Qian couldn't be allowed to stay elsewhere. The inn, besides, the other inns should also be full.

At this time, a tall Confucian student in Tsing Yi who just entered the shop next to him suddenly interjected: "Brother, Xiaosheng planned to book a room, but because he booked late, he lived in a servant room, and only One tael of silver, since Xiongtai wants to live in the house, why don't we get what we need?"

Ever since Sister Cheng left, Tangning had been wearing plain clothes, which made her look more elegant. At this moment, he saw that man was wearing a green dress. Although he had a strong figure, a dark complexion, and a rough appearance, he didn't fit in with the Confucian uniform. It was the clothes I was familiar with, so I had a good impression in my heart, and saw that the man had bright eyes, spoke straightforwardly, but his tone was very sincere, and he also solved their problems for them, his complexion became a little bit better.

"Thank you, brother, for your timely help. This is Tangning, whose name is Zi'an. This is my good friend. His surname is Zhao Mingqian. I don't have a name yet. I don't know your name?"

"So you are Tang Zian! I have admired and admired you for a long time, Xiaosheng Fanggui's surname Fu, named Jiayan, styled Mengyan, I have admired Brother Tang's name for a long time, Brother Tang's paintings are really unique, oh, and Brother Zhao, it is a pleasure to meet you .”

"Brother Fu, this is not right, how can I make you spend money, it's not fair to you." Zhao Qianyou hesitated.

"Hey, there's nothing wrong with it. We're just taking what we need. The next family's situation is not bad. Eight taels a day is absolutely affordable. Brother Zhao doesn't have to worry about it."

Tang Ning couldn't help laughing from the sidelines. This Fu Mengyan's words were too direct. He was on par with Zhao Qian, but judging by his calm expression, he obviously didn't realize that what he said offended someone. His straightforwardness was cute. Tang Ning had a hunch that the two of them would definitely get along with each other. have to come.

Sure enough, Zhao Qian was not displeased when he heard the words, on the contrary, he was very happy. He could be poor, but he couldn't bear the pity of others.

"That's really thanks to Brother Fu for your help. My room is not far from the backyard. Why don't I take you to unpack your luggage first, and then invite Brother Fu to have a light meal to thank Brother Fu for his help."

"Brother Zhao, don't worry. Let's pay the rent first, and I will benefit from this matter. If you don't dare to take it seriously, let's make friends and have a meal together. By the way, Quning, who lives in the northwest of my next home, doesn't know Brother Zhao. Where are you and Brother Tang from?"

"Zi'an and I are both..."

Tang Ning followed behind, shaking her head secretly. The two of them had forgotten about him as a "person they have admired" and "a close friend" so quickly.

The capital is an ancient city. After continuous construction by successive emperors, many facilities and functions have been perfected. Of course, the imperial palace is still in the center of the city, which is very similar to the Forbidden City. The layout of the entire capital is also square, similar to that of the Weihai Sea. But it is more than twice the size of Weihai, and the atmosphere is completely different.The capital city is undoubtedly bustling and lively, but every night when the people are quiet, people will find her atmosphere of vicissitudes.

On the eve of the Spring Festival, countless candidates poured into the capital from all over the country, bringing a new and different kind of excitement to the capital.At this time, the major inns also take the opportunity to make a lot of money. They provide all the services that students want, basic necessities of life, food, housing and transportation. They also sell maps of the capital city, which details which restaurants serve the best dishes. Delicious food, etc. Of course, the most popular thing among the examiners is the detailed information of the examiners, the previous imperial examination papers, as long as you can afford it, you can buy everything, except the examination questions.Moreover, each inn also has its own unique news, the bigger the inn, the newer and more detailed the news, and you can even buy the identity information of the people around you.

In addition, each inn will also hold a gambling game in the lobby, betting on which games will be won this year, and anyone can bet.

If it was three years ago, Mr. Yu Ge suppressed these activities, and these activities were still carried out secretly, but since the death of Mr. Yu Ge, these people have become more publicized. You must know that anyone who can open a shop in the capital has no one behind him .And Gao Shoufu, who is greedy for money and power, doesn't know how many shops there are behind his back. Anyway, he encourages all the inns to do their best.

Tangning also bet on himself and Zhao Qian freshly in the lobby - he didn't think that in Jin Yongfu's meeting, the second bet next to him knew the customers of his inn like the back of his hand. Seeing Tangning betting on himself, he smiled and said, "It seems that this year's Juren The masters are very confident in themselves, and the bets on themselves are much more than last year."

Tangning felt a little awkward when he heard this, and then smiled indifferently. Since he came to the capital, he has been a little irritable. It belongs to Gao Pu.

Although Gao Pu is the chief assistant of the cabinet, he is not a capable person. It is okay to play tricks and tricks, but he is in a mess when handling government affairs. In the past three years since he came to power, he has been busy with party struggles, eliminating dissidents, and suppressing the government with thunderous force. There was no more objection from the court, and the emperor obeyed his words and trusted him very much. Seeing that those people really couldn't bring him down, they could only swallow their anger, and he drove away a lot of them just like that.

Now Gao Pu can be said to be in power, proud of the spring breeze, the cabinet has become his voice, and the emperor has to get his approval for what he wants to do. Everyone holds him up and admires him. Gold, silver, jewelry, and silk beauties are continuously sent into the Gao Fu.And the examiners of this subject are also selected by him personally, they are all from his own family, as long as he passes this test, he will have his own group of cronies, and after more than ten years, these people will become the mainstay of the imperial court, then At that time, his position will be as stable as Mount Tai, even the emperor can do nothing about him.

This kind of Gao Pu naturally made Tangning feel uneasy. As long as Gao Pu wanted to punish him, he would have to be slaughtered.Therefore, he couldn't wait to express himself even more, and often made wine and tea with Fu Jiayan and Jin Yongfu in the gazebo in the garden of the inn, and met friends through literature.

The purpose of participating in this kind of tea party is to make more friends, expand contacts, and inquire about news; second, to express yourself and improve your reputation, which will be the cornerstone of future official reputation; See who has real materials and who is your rival who will try to rank.Of course, there are also Zhao Qian's nerds who just read books and ignore everything, but obviously, this year, there seem to be more people who are good at making friends.

Tang Ning is obviously more inclined to the second type. Of course, he will not write articles stupidly, pointing out current problems. He focuses more on expressing himself through calligraphy and painting. For painting, all he could do was handwriting. It took too long to paint, so he took the initiative to undertake the most unpleasant recording work.

However, a good handwriting can better reflect a person's literary quality, so even though Tangning seldom speaks, and occasionally writes a few good poems to suit the occasion, others have never doubted his level of knowledge, and when he inadvertently When the wonderful words spoken are recorded and given to that person, it is usually more favorable to that person.

When Tang Ning and the others arrived in the capital, it was only a few days before the beginning of February. The time passed in a flash. Just two nights before the exam, Jin Yongfu knocked on his door suddenly.

Tang Ning opened the door and saw that it was Jin Yongfu. She was a little surprised. These days, they hardly saw each other except for the occasional literary conference together. It was probably because their circles were different. Jin Yongfu often went out to socialize.

"Zian, I don't know two questions here, so I'm here to ask for advice." Jin Yongfu cupped his hands outside the door with a playful smile.

"It turns out that Brother Jin also works hard at times." Tangning opened the door and teased.

After Jin Yongfu entered the room and sat down, Tangning poured a cup of tea and handed it to him before taking the paper from him.

"Scholars have learned from the former sages. If they don't ask questions and distinguish clearly, they will have nowhere to learn from their teachers..." Tang Ning frowned slightly after reading the topic, "This topic is well written. difficult."

Tangning was in a rare mood. She got up and walked a few steps back and forth. When she had a thought, she was about to take a pen to write it down. At this moment, he felt an electric shock in his mind. He subconsciously stabilized his figure and looked at Jin Yongfu.

"Why, what's the matter? Have you got an answer?" Jin Yongfu looked very uncomfortable.

"No, I'll think about it again." Tangning smiled and turned her back to Jin Yongfu, as if she was thinking, before she turned around and said, "This question comes from Cheng Minzheng's "Conference Questions". Or from the place of home..."

As usual, Jin Yongfu listened very carefully and asked about anything he didn't understand. Tangning saw nothing unusual about him, and secretly laughed at himself for being paranoid. The older he was, the more thoughtful he was.

On the ninth day of February, the weather was still cold. Tangning was wrapped in several layers of unlined clothing, carrying a test basket and lining up in a long line, waiting to enter the test room.