The Age of Discovery: Chinese cuisine swept across Europe

When Min Xi heard that Tao Yuan passed the imperial examination, he patted him on the shoulder and said, "Haha, I knew you would pass. Congratulations, congratulations! All the hard work has finally paid off."

Tao Yuan was so happy that his teeth were exposed: "Hehe, thank you, Brother Jiu! Brother Jiu, you will definitely pass the exam too."

Min Xi laughed: "I know my own worth very well. Anyway, I have experienced the provincial examination and know what it is like. I don't have to worry about it in the future." Finally, he can do what he wants to do.

Tao Yuan saw that there was no disappointment on his face, and he didn't seem to mind whether he passed or not, but he still comforted him by saying, "Brother Jiu, you just studied for too short a time. If you study for another three years, you will definitely pass."

Min Xi said, "Forget it. Actually, I didn't even want to take the provincial examination, but my seventh brother insisted that I take it, so I had to give it a try."

"Why? Don't you want to take the imperial examination?" Tao Yuan asked puzzledly.

Min Xi shrugged: "No, I want to work as a clerk in the Ministry of Industry and do something I like. There are too many people here, let's go to the car and wait."

At this moment, many people have already looked at the list. Some of the people who passed the exam laughed out loud, some knelt down to express gratitude, some cried with joy, and some fainted from excitement. Some of the people who failed the exam beat their chests and stamped their feet, some were furious, and some even cried loudly... All kinds of life can be seen at this moment.

Min Xi was moved by what he saw, so he didn't want to watch it again.

They squeezed out of the crowd, preparing to get on the carriage and wait. Tao Xing squeezed out of the crowd like a swimming fish, shouting as he squeezed: "I got it, Master Min, I got it! You are the last one!"

He was too far away from Min Xi and the others, and the noise around him was too loud, drowning out his excited voice. But when the people around him heard his voice, they were so jealous that their eyes were full of sparks. That lucky guy actually got the last place in the exam. The last place was also on the list! Why wasn't he the lucky one?

Tao Xing completely ignored the strange looks from the people around him. He struggled to push through the crowd and squeezed out.

Min Xi and the other two had already boarded the carriage and were excitedly discussing how to celebrate. Min Xi promised Tao Yuan to cook him a meal, and Tao Yuan asked for more: "Brother Jiu, I want to eat the boiled Chinese cabbage you made, as well as Buddha Jumps Over the Wall and roasted chicken. I'm drooling just thinking about it!"

Although Min Xi cooked for him a lot during this period, they were usually simple home-cooked dishes with vegetables as the main ingredients, because Min Xi said he had hemorrhoids and should eat less greasy meat and fish. Now that he had passed the imperial examination and his hemorrhoids had not recurred, he naturally wanted to eat something good.

Min Xi thought for a moment and said, "Roast chicken can be made, but it's hard to gather the ingredients for Buddha Jumps Over the Wall, and boiling Chinese cabbage is too much trouble. Let's wait until we return to the capital before making it. I think Seventh Brother has probably passed the exam, so we can celebrate together then."

Tao Yuan chuckled: "Well, let's eat boiled cabbage when we get back."

Tao Xing finally squeezed out of the crowd, but he didn't see his master, so he hurried to the carriage. He saw the driver from a distance and asked hurriedly, "Is Master Min back?"

"I came back early!" the driver replied.

Tao Xing shouted loudly: "Master Min, great news! You passed the exam, you passed the exam!"

Min Xi was sitting here discussing what to eat for lunch with Tao Yuan, when he suddenly heard Tao Xing's voice. Thinking he was hallucinating, he quickly stuck his head out and asked, "What did you say?"

Tao Yuan had already reacted, grabbing his arm and shaking it excitedly: "He said you won. Brother Jiu, you won too! Hahaha, that's great!"

Min Xi was still unable to digest this news. He looked at Tao Yuan in disbelief, then at Tao Xing who had already climbed onto the carriage.

Tao Xing's face was filled with uncontrollable excitement: "Congratulations, Master Min, you won! You won in one try! Congratulations, congratulations!"

Min Xi finally reacted: "Is it true?"

Tao Xing nodded fiercely: "Really? 160th place! Last place, really lucky! Congratulations, Master Min!"

Tao Yuan laughed loudly: "It doesn't matter if I'm the last one or not, I've passed the exam anyway, and I'll be a juren in the future!"

Min Xi wiped his face vigorously and said, "How did I pass? Wasn't there a poop mark on my paper?"

Tao Yuan continued to laugh: "What's wrong with a shit? If a shit can pass the exam, it means that you passed it with real talent and knowledge!"

Tao Xing said, "My two lords, let's go back quickly. The messenger will come to announce the good news soon, and we have to prepare the money for the wedding."

"Yes, yes, yes! Let's go back quickly!" When Min Xi passed the imperial examination, Tao Yuan was even more excited than if he had passed the imperial examination himself.

This waterside pavilion has produced two successful candidates in the imperial examinations at once. This waterside pavilion will become famous in the future. It is definitely a Feng Shui treasure land, and its price will surely increase.

They were ranked relatively low, and it was not until the afternoon that someone came to report the good news, but they were also very happy and rewarded the messenger generously.

Min Xi still felt that it was not real. He had always been in the mindset of participating, so how did he win? It was indeed a bit Versailles, but it seemed a bit unfair to those who had studied hard for decades.

But that's how exams are, and the results were not manipulated by him. He can only say that he was really lucky!

Min Xi had a new worry. If he passed the exam, he would definitely be called to participate in the next spring exam. He would definitely not pass the exam next year. Would Yun Ji make him study hard for another three years and take the exam again? This matter seemed to be endless.

If I fail to pass the exam next year, I will never take it even if I die.

After passing the imperial examination, I have to attend the Luming Feast. I have to go back to my hometown to worship my ancestors, so it seems that I can't go back for a while. I don't know if I can return to the capital in October. If I go to Mount Tai again, it seems a bit cold.

Before attending the Lu Ming Banquet, Min Xi went to visit the prefect Lou Zhuo. It was because of his care that he was able to return smoothly to take part in the county examination. Now that he has passed the examination, he wants to go and report the good news.

Lou Zhuo had known for a long time that he had passed the exam, and happened to be the last one. It must be said that his luck was really good. The admission quota for Shuntian Prefecture and Jiangsu Province was 160 people. If it were any other province, Min Xi would not have been admitted.

After the results were announced, Lou Zhuo checked Min Xi's paper. Apart from other things, the last few essays on current affairs were written with great skill, not like those written by someone who had never been involved in officialdom. Students brought up by the old Hanlin were different, no wonder he passed the exam.

Lou Zhuo congratulated Min Xi in person: "Congratulations, nephew, you passed the imperial examination in one try."

"Thank you for your praise, sir. I am a student with little talent and knowledge. It is really a fluke that I can pass the exam!" Min Xi said with some shame.

Lou Zhuo waved his hand and said, "This is not a fluke. I have read your test paper and your answers are quite good. You deserve the honor. Don't belittle yourself. You should believe in the level of the examiner. Keep working hard so that you can serve the court in the future. I believe that in the near future, you and I will serve in the same court."

"Students should continue to work hard and try their best to serve the court." Min Xi still wanted to show it.

After meeting the prefect, Min Xi attended the Luming Banquet. Because of the social master Tao Yuan, he was dragged to the banquet to meet many candidates, and even met Wen Yong, the champion of this provincial examination. Wen Yong was only 20 years old, just coming of age, and could be said to be a young talent, but Wen Yong's personality was obviously a bit introverted, not very good at dealing with people, but because of his status as the champion, he was dragged by everyone to socialize.

Min Xi knew too well the pain of being forced to socialize with social anxiety, and he took the initiative to help out twice, making Wen Yong very grateful to him.

Min Xi smiled and said, "My dear brother, you are extremely talented. You will definitely be your Majesty's right-hand man and an important official in the court in the future. You still need to practice getting along with others. After all, being an official is not just about studying. You need to interact with people. With your intelligence, I think you can handle it."

Wen Yong bowed to him and said, "Brother Min, what you said makes sense. I appreciate your advice. When do you plan to go to Beijing to take the exam? Why don't we go together?"

Min Xi said: "I will go to the capital after I return to my hometown to pay homage to my ancestors."

"So early?" Wen Yong asked in surprise.

Min Xi smiled and said, "To be honest, I don't live in Yingtian Prefecture now, but in my brother's house in Beijing, so it can be considered as returning home. When you come to Beijing in the future, you can go to Yunxiang Store in Beijing to find me. You can usually find me by asking the owner of any Yunxiang Store. My brother is the owner of Yunxiang Store."

Wen Yong nodded: "That's great. When I get to Beijing, I will definitely come to visit Brother Min to reminisce about the past."

Min Xi thought he would see the names of familiar people on the list of successful candidates in the provincial examination. However, when he looked around, he found that there were three successful candidates in Jurong County, including himself, but the names of the other two were unfamiliar to him. There were no familiar names, and he had not even seen Li Hefeng, the top scorer in the county examination that year.

Did Li Hefeng fail the exam, or did he not take part in the provincial exam at all? Min Xi couldn't guess the reason, and couldn't find anyone to ask. Perhaps he could find out when he returned to pay homage to his ancestors.

However, Li Hefeng is very young. He was only twelve years old last year. It is possible that he did not even come to the competition this year.

After the Luming Banquet, Min Xi returned to Jurong County to worship his ancestors, and Tao Yuan went with him. On the day when the results of the Guibang were announced, they wrote letters home to announce the good news, so Tao Yuan was not in a hurry to return to Beijing, he wanted to go back to Beijing with Min Xi.

Shopkeeper Qiu knew that they were going to Jurong County, and he had already prepared a carriage and items for them to take back home. Now that Min Xi had passed the imperial examination and had suddenly become a juren, he had to take even better care of him.

Originally, Min Xi had to take care of all these himself, but since Manager Qiu had already taken care of them, it naturally saved him a lot of trouble. Anyway, Yun Ji would definitely not let Manager Qiu suffer any loss when the time came.

When he returned to Jurong County, he was greeted by the magistrate of Jurong County before he even went back to his hometown. As the only three successful candidates in the county, the magistrate attached great importance to him. When a new successful candidate returned to his hometown, he would definitely host a banquet to entertain him and give him certain rewards as a token of encouragement and reward. He might try to get close to him and become his colleague in the future.

At the banquet, Min Xi couldn't help but ask the county magistrate about the news of Li Hefeng, the first suspect in the case.

The county magistrate said with regret: "Li Anshou had a serious illness this year and was weak. He was unable to participate in this provincial examination and can only wait for the next one."

Min Xi also felt sorry: "That's such a pity. But he is still young, it's not too late to prepare for another two or three years. He is very intelligent and will definitely pass the exam."

"Yes, it's a pity. Otherwise, our county might have one more juren this year." After the county magistrate said this, he felt something was wrong, because Min Xi was the last one. If Li Hefeng had taken the exam, Min Xi might not have made it to the list.

Min Xi didn't mind this: "Yes, but I believe he will pass the imperial examination sooner or later."