Patriarch, he doesn't want to take the imperial examinations

Every year, April is the day for the prefectural examinations of various schools. Although this has nothing to do with the students of the county schools, it is not unrelated, because no matter it is the prefectural examination, the previous county examination, or the subsequent college examination, the candidates are closely related to each other. At the same time, one or two janitors must be found to act as guarantors.

Linsheng is a kind of student, who is given money and meals by the government on time every year and every month.

In the last year's exam, Qin Xuezheng selected another group of granary students based on their performance. Meng Zhen and his group produced a total of six granary students, and two of them with particularly excellent grades were sent to the Imperial College of the Imperial Academy.

The remaining four grannies were invited to vouch for candidates for this year's county and government examinations.Lin students do insurance for candidates through the teachers of the colleges they once studied. Usually, the teachers contact the teachers first, and the teachers introduce them to the candidates of the college. The two parties agree on the time and place. Ask a few words to get an understanding, and some don't even ask.After that, the examinee will pay the insurance fee to the student, and the student will go to the registration place with the candidate to fill out an insurance policy for him.

On the day of the exam, the student will go to the examination room to protect the candidate, that is, after the examiner points out the candidate's name, the student will act as a guarantor for the candidate.

These few days just passed the government examination, and several grannies who had guarantied for the candidates returned to the county school. Many students surrounded these grannies and asked them how it felt to be guarantors for the candidates.

One of them, surnamed Lin, replied: "I used to be guarantors for others, but now I am also a guarantor for others. It feels like turning over and becoming the master. It's a joy."

"Brother Lin's insurance premiums must have been quite high."

The Lin student surnamed Lin stretched out his finger: "It's about the same number."

"Ten taels?"

"The previous county test and this government test are combined."

"That's not a lot." The student who asked the question was sour in his heart, "There will be a college test next, and you can get another sum. If there is no accident, you can easily do nothing at this young age, and you will be able to pay for nothing. Get 60 taels of silver."

The lin student acts as a guarantor for the examinee, and one examinee needs to give two liang of silver to the lin student who guarantors him. Two taels for one person, and 20 taels for ten people. This lin student surnamed Lin has a total of Guarantee for twenty candidates, and the calculated income is 40 taels.Coupled with the hospital examination in July, you can get at least 60 taels of silver a year.

60 taels of silver is not a small amount for an ordinary family. It must be known that many poor families do not even have a yearly income of [-] taels of silver.

So everyone is very envious of the treatment of lin students, not only because lin students enjoy national food subsidies and four taels of silver every year, the main reason is that lin students can provide insurance for candidates for county, government, and hospital examinations every year, and get money from it. A handsome income.

But envy is envy, you have to have good grades in ability, and people have learned it based on their real talents. No matter how jealous they are, they have to get first-class grades in the annual examination, so that they will be recognized. Eligibility to be selected as a student.Thus, like this lin student surnamed Lin, he can get 60 taels of silver every year without doing anything.

"It's not for nothing." The lin student surnamed Lin said, "There are risks in lin insurance. If the candidates who are insured cheat, we will suffer accordingly. .”

This statement is not false at all, as a guarantee for the examinee, he guarantees that he will not have a false identity, no funeral, no substitute, no false name, guarantee that his net worth is innocent, that he is not the descendant of a prostitute, and he has not committed any crimes. .

If the guaranteed candidate commits the above problems, the guarantor for him will be punished accordingly.

For two taels of silver, a lot of grannies usually don’t have a deep understanding of the candidate’s situation. If they really encounter a problematic candidate, they can only consider themselves unlucky, and even be told that they deserve it. Learn more about it.

The conversation between Lin Sheng and the students happened to fall into the ears of Meng Zhen who was sitting behind him. He only knew that the Lin students were treated well, but he didn’t expect to have so much money in one year, and he was just a Zengsheng, Zengsheng The state does not distribute food and monthly granaries to them.

But he doesn't envy them. Although it is easy for the janitor to earn money, just like the janitor surnamed Lin said just now, if the candidate who is insured cheats and cheats, the janitor who protects his name will spend his whole life Missed the imperial examination.

Everything has advantages and disadvantages. It is more cost-effective to memorize two more questions when there are envious people. Besides, their family is neither short of food nor money. He can envy them for what they do. He should be envied.

But it's not right, he is so old, who would envy him, I'm afraid he thinks life is too long.

The days in the school were like this. Apart from listening to all kinds of gossip from the students every day, the rest was reading and writing articles. It was like this every day, sunny and rainy.

After April, the weather is getting hotter day by day, the trees are full of shade, the summer is getting longer, and before you know it, it is the midsummer June day.

The cicadas were making a lot of noise, this day Mengzhen came home from school at noon for lunch, and lay down on the bamboo chair for a nap.

Ah Qing knelt beside him to wait for the massage, and said, "My master studies hard, Ah Qing will give you a pinch so that you can relax properly."

Mengzhen enjoyed it very much with his eyes closed. The weather was sultry and hot, making people drowsy.Ah Qing squeezed and pinched, dozed off, one fell on Meng Zhen's body without support.

Mengzhen was hurt by his sucking, and suddenly woke up, and was about to scold Ah Qing a few words, but thinking that Ah Qing was still working hard to serve him in such a hot weather, so he couldn't bear it, and told Ah Qing to go back to her room to sleep.

But Ah Qing said: "Master, Ah Qing is not sleepy, Ah Qing just dozed off carelessly just now, and now he is not dozing off, so I will serve Master and make Master comfortable enough." As he spoke, he wanted to give Meng Zhen a massage.

Seeing him drooping eyelids, Mengzhen was already sleepy, afraid that he would hit him again, so he said that he didn't need anyone to serve him here, and let him go down to do his own business.

After hearing this, Ah Qing didn't say that she wasn't sleepy again this time, she got up and lifted the curtain to leave the door.

Bamboo curtains are hung on the door, people outside can't see what's going on inside, but people inside can see the outside clearly.As soon as Ah Qing lifted the curtain and went out, Meng Zhen saw a young man being led over.

When he got closer, Meng Zhen saw clearly that this boy was Wang Huan, the son of Wang Xiucai's family. He couldn't help thinking, what was he doing here? Could something have happened to Wang Xiucai again.

After the first month, Wang Xiucai's body was recuperated by another doctor from Mengqing. Mengzhen heard from Mengqing that the recovery is not bad, except that his legs and feet are not as flexible as before, other things are the same as before .

The servant said from outside: "Master, Wang Xiucai's young master is asking to see you."

Meng Zhen said: "Come in." He propped himself up from the bamboo chair.

The servants raised the curtain, Wang Huan walked in, saluted Meng Zhen, "Hello, Uncle Meng, Wang Huan has met Uncle Meng."

Meng Zhen nodded, there happened to be a stool next to him, he pointed to Wang Huan to come and sit on it.This child is not very old, but he has good etiquette, Meng really likes it when he sees it.

"How is your father doing?" Meng Zhen asked after Wang Huan sat down.

Wang Huan replied: "Uncle Lao Meng is concerned, father is very good." He took out a few booklets from the bag he was carrying, "My father asked me to send them to you. He said that you took the imperial examination Useful."

Meng Zhen took it over and took a look, and saw that it was Wang Xiucai's accumulated reading experience and dozens of stereotyped essay questions, as well as some test post poems. The handwriting on the booklet was old, and some of them could not be read clearly. for a long time.

"Your father, this is..." Looking away from the brochure, Meng Zhen looked at Wang Huan and made a rough guess in his heart.

"My father said that life is too short, and accidents always happen inadvertently. No one can guarantee whether there will be tomorrow after today. He plans to take good care of his body for the rest of his life, planting flowers and grass, and occasionally writing and writing. Draw, don't think about anything else."

Sure enough, Meng Zhen guessed it right.

When Wang Huan said these words, his expression was a bit gloomy. His father had often warned him in his ears that the current society loves the rich and despises the poor, and it is especially difficult for children from poor families to get ahead. If they want to be respected, the only way is to study the imperial examination Only then can it work.

His father also said that no matter how much hardship he endured, he had to pass the exam and come back, so that he could be an official.But now his father gave up the scientific research path due to physical reasons, which made Wang Huan somewhat regretful and sad.

"Your body is the most important thing. There is nothing wrong with your father doing this. The most important thing in life is leisure and peace, and fame and fortune are second." Meng Zhen enlightened Wang Huan in this way. The young man is still young, and some things are still not very clear. Young people may not understand these words.

But Wang Huan nodded: "Yes, I know." Just as the servants brought melons and fruits up, Mengzhen asked him to eat some fruits to cool down, the young man was still sweating on his forehead since he came in.

Probably because it was not his own family, Wang Huan was a little cautious, and even said that he was not thirsty, so there was no need to bother.Meng Zhen picked up a piece of melon and handed it to him, "You're welcome, this place is not somewhere else, just treat it as your own home."

Wang Huan was embarrassed to take it, and said "thank you".Seeing him like this, Meng Zhen remembered that in his previous life, when his disciples and grandchildren came to worship him, they were also like this.

He presumed it was because he was an elder, and with this relationship, the young man was tied up and couldn't let go.After Wang Huan ate a piece of melon, Meng Zhen handed him another piece, but he refused to take it anyway.

Wang Huan said he wanted to visit his sister's place, so Meng Zhen called a servant to take him there. When Wang Huan got up, he said, "Go back and say hello to your father on my behalf, saying that I will visit you some other day. he."

Wang Huan hurriedly replied: "Uncle Meng, don't worry, I will definitely take your words with you." After speaking, he followed the others.

The weather in June is so unstable. It is clear that the day is still sunny, but it suddenly rains at night.

And it went down for three days straight, with no sign of stopping.Because of the heavy rain, Mengzhen was stuck at home and couldn't go to the county school. The weather was dark, like a black pot on top.

"Master, why are you saying that the rain doesn't stop? It looks like it's about to collapse." Ah Qing stood beside Meng Zhen, watching the rain pouring down in the yard. It was daytime, but the sky was the same as in the evening gloomy.

Meng Zhen stood under the eaves with his hands behind his back, when the rain slanted in and splashed all over his body, but he didn't seem to feel it. Seeing the rain, it might not stop for a while.

"Master, go inside, the rain is frighteningly heavy, and it won't be good if you catch a cold." Ah Qing persuaded.

"Go in." Meng Zhen said, he felt a little cold at this moment, and planned to go into the room to change clothes.Just as he turned to go back to the house, Meng Che ran over with a small umbrella, calling for dad while running.

Waiting for someone to come forward, Meng Zhen saw that he was drenched like a drenched chicken, he was so embarrassed, he said angrily: "It's raining, why don't you stay in your room, why run, get sick like this, after a while Where are you going to find a doctor for you?" While complaining, he brought Meng Che into the room, where there were clothes for children to change into, and he asked Ah Qing to bring a set for Meng Che to change into. I also changed into a dry one.

After the father and son had changed their clothes, before they had time to say a word, Nurse Song rushed over with Meng Yuan in her arms. Meng Zhenxin said, these two did it on purpose. Come together.

"Master, the child can't stay in the house and is clamoring to go outside. I think the child is probably bored, so I will take him to play with you for a while." Nurse Song put Meng Yuan on the ground and put her on her body. Although drenched, the child was dry and refreshed.

As soon as Meng Yuan touched the ground, he ran towards Meng Zhen, and Meng Zhen picked him up and played with him for a while.But Meng Yuan was naturally restless, and after a while he felt uncomfortable being hugged by Meng Zhen, and he broke free from Meng Zhen's body with his hands and feet, and started to play with Meng Che at the side.

Sure enough, it's still fun for children to bring children. Meng Zhen saw the two brothers sitting on a small bench having fun, so he ignored them for the time being and let them sit there and play.

Because the weather was dark, the lights were turned on in the room, Meng Zhen sat at the desk and closed his eyes for a nap, and after a while, he heard Meng Yuan crying and wanting to run outside.

"Fifth brother, it's raining heavily outside, so you can't go out." Meng Che pulled Meng Yuan to prevent him from running around. Although Meng Yuan is young, he has a stubborn temper. Going outside, Meng Che almost couldn't hold him back.

Mengzhen came over and hugged him to the door to see the rain splashing outside, the child thought the rain was fun, stretched out his hand to get enough, and felt restless in Mengzhen's arms.

"Don't move, if you move again, I will spank your ass!" Meng Zhen felt that he was uncomfortable twisting and turning, and tried to frighten him. Meng Yuan was frightened when he saw him bluffing, and shrunk his mouth, as if he was about to cry. He continued to say, "Don't cry, I will spank your ass if you cry."

"Wow..." Meng Yuan burst into tears after being frightened by his father, and became even more restless in Meng Zhen's arms. That's enough, it's really tiring to have too much.

"Don't cry!" Meng Zhen pretended to pat his buttocks, this time not only did not have the deterrent effect, but made Meng Yuan cry even harder.

Meng Che on the side couldn't stand it anymore, walked over to his father and said: "Dad, how can you scare the fifth brother, he is so young, I think you still beat him."

Hey, this one is enough to bother people, and there is another one to complain about him, he didn't hit Meng Yuan, it was just a fake slap, and the slap was on the back of his own left hand.

"Come on, come and coax your younger brother." Meng Zhen put Meng Yuan on the ground and said to Meng Che.

Meng Che made a funny face to tease Meng Yuan, and Meng Yuan was immediately amused, and then the two brothers ran back and forth in Mengzhen's room to play, turning everything they saw, and messed up Mengzhen's room in a short while It's a mess.

Meng Zhen is too lazy to take care of it, as long as he can be coaxed not to cry, it doesn't matter even if he goes to the house to remove the tiles.

Maybe it was a coincidence today, the heavy rain made everyone run to Mengzhen's place, here Mengche and Mengyuan were having a fight, and there, Mengqing's servant, A Xing, hurried in.

Meng Qing and Meng Hong are not at home these days, Meng Zhen hasn't seen Meng Qing for several days, seeing his young man running in suddenly, he hurriedly asked: "Why are you alone, where is Meng Qing?"

A Xing said: "Master, a village near the county was hit by a disaster, and the young master was called to rescue the disaster."

Meng Zhen was a little puzzled: "When the village suffered a disaster, it should be the government's relief. What was Meng Qing called to do?"

Ah Xing explained: "The government is short of manpower, so the county magistrate called the young master. Not only the young master, but also other non-government people were called."

In the military system of this dynasty, there are no regular troops in the prefectures and counties, and the government officials will handle everything. If there is a major incident, you need to ask the Shuntian Mansion for help. At that time, the governor will send regular soldiers to help.

The rain was heavy this time, and several villages were seriously affected. The county magistrate had already sent someone to ask for help from the prefect of Shuntian Prefecture, but the soldiers could not arrive in a while, so the county magistrate had to ask some acquaintances in the county for help to rescue the disaster.

"Master, the young master wants me to tell you that it's raining heavily outside. The master and the two young masters will stay in the mansion. Don't run out until the rain stops."

After Ah Xing finished speaking, he opened his umbrella and ran away in a hurry. He had to take care of the food in the store, so he didn't dare to neglect it.

Soon it was completely dark, and the two children had dinner at Meng Zhen's place. Meng Che said that he was afraid of thunder at night and wanted to rest in his father's room tonight.

Meng Zhen didn't refuse, and asked his two brothers to rest at his place tonight, probably because they were tired from running in the afternoon, and soon after going to bed, the two little guys hugged each other and fell asleep.

However, instead of stopping the rain, it got worse during the night.