Chapter 134

Now Hong'er is almost two years old, she looks like a little adult.

At this time, the little boy likes to ask questions the most. Seeing that his father said to let him sleep by himself, he asked back.

"Why did you let Hong'er sleep by herself, I want to sleep with my mother."

"Hong'er has grown up, and she can't sleep with mother when she grows up." Xue Tingxiang earnestly and kindly seduced her.

Hong'er thought for a while, then compromised: "Then I can't sleep with mother, I'll sleep with dad." As he said that, he looked at Xue Tingxiang with small eyes, which seemed to mean that I was more obedient.

Xue Tingxiang froze for a moment: "You can't sleep with dad either, you have to sleep by yourself when you grow up."

Hearing this, Hong'er's little bun face immediately wrinkled, looking at her father and then at her mother.

Zhao'er tried her best to maintain a dignified appearance, pretending not to notice her son's request for help.

Seeing that there was no way to ask for help, Hong'er began to use her own brain, her small face was extremely expressive, frowning for a while, pursing her lips for a while, as if she was very worried.

"Father, you can't do this." He tried to persuade Xue Tingxiang.

My father became interested and looked at him solemnly: "Father is actually doing it for your own good."

"How can you do this for my own good? Although Hong'er is already very big, she is still a child after all. Which family's children don't sleep with their parents."

"Whose children do you see sleeping with their parents?"

"Da Mao and Er Mao from the house next door are sleeping with his mother. And Da Nier from the house next door is also sleeping with his mother."

These are all little friends that Hong'er has just met, he is the youngest among the furry kids, but he is the most popular because Big Nier likes to play with Hong'er.

Da Nier is the little granddaughter of the Huang family next door. She is only four years old this year.

Because of Da Nier's relationship, the big bastard Ermao of the Liu family next door must also like to play with Honger, otherwise Da Nier would ignore them.

"They are all older than me, and they still sleep with mother."

Xue Tingxiang choked for a moment, the child became serious, but very serious, he was speechless for a while. But he didn't intend to give up, but continued to persuade: "But Dani'er is a girl doll, and you are a boy doll, so they can't be compared. As for Da Mao and Er Mao, do you like playing with them?"

Hong'er shook his head, he didn't like playing with Da Mao and Er Mao, they didn't wipe their noses, they were so dirty.

Xue Tingxiang knew what his son was thinking, because Hong'er had told him more than once before, and also told Zhao'er about Da Mao and Er Mao not wiping their noses, and they were very disgusted.

"You know why they always have a runny nose? It's because they're old enough to sleep with their mother."

Hong'er was quite frightened, and looked at Xue Tingxiang suspiciously: "Really."

"Of course." Xue Tingxiang nodded.

Zhao'er couldn't see, so he could only pretend to arrange the bedding, and turned his back to busy.

"So what? I don't want to be a slug."

"So you'll sleep by yourself from tonight."

Hong'er was deceived, with a dejected look, obviously struggling.

Xue Tingxiang continued to persuade: "Look, it's not that you are not allowed to sleep with your mother, or you are not allowed to sleep in the same bed. You are small, sleep in a bed by yourself."

"What about you, dad?" Hong'er asked suddenly.

"I naturally sleep with your mother in the same bed."

"But why can you share the same bed with mother, but Hong'er can't, isn't father afraid of becoming a slug?"

This question is so difficult to answer, Xue Tingxiang could only bite the bullet and said: "You are different from your father, you have grown up. When you grow up, you will be able to sleep in the same bed with your wife."

"It's the same bed with mother." Hong'er corrected.

"It's not a mother, it's a daughter-in-law. Hong'er will also have a daughter-in-law when she grows up. Then you can sleep with her in the same bed."

"But she's obviously a mother!"

Zhao'er couldn't help laughing and got into the quilt, Xue Tingyan became angry and stuffed Hong'er into the quilt, and then went to blow on the lamp on the kang cabinet before getting into the quilt.

In the darkness, Hong'er's eyes were shining brightly.

"Go to sleep."

"Father, why don't you tell me a story." This so-called story is actually a compilation of the Four Books and Five Classics. It is Xue Tingxiang's weapon to coax his son to sleep these days when Zhaoer is away.

"Then close your eyes."

That being said, when Xue Tingxiang was telling stories, Hong'er still opened his eyes from time to time, looking over the quilt. At the end of the story, Hong'er hadn't fallen asleep yet, but Xue Tingxiang was already sleepy.

After finally getting the little boy to sleep, Xue Tingxiang was also very tired.

Zhao'er laughed again under the covers, he rubbed her waist resentfully, and said in a low voice, "This little bastard must have done it on purpose."

"Who told you..." Zhao'er was too vague to understand the last few words.

"What did you say?"

Under the quilt, Zhao'er blushed and pushed him: "Go to sleep, don't wake him up again."

"Don't you wish you could wake him up?"

"How can it be?"

"Since you don't want to, then you definitely want to..."

Covered by the quilt, you can only see the movement inside, but you can't see anything. Even if it moves, the range is very small.

I don't know how long it has passed, Zhao'er couldn't take it anymore, and lifted the quilt to breathe. But as soon as he spit out his breath, he lost his breath.

"You, take it easy..."

"Who made me focus just now?"

The next moment this person was sealed, the moonlight was thick, and the night was still very long.

*

The closer to the end of the year, the busier the capital city will be.

Not only is it the celebration of the New Year, but also many scholars from other places rushed to the capital.

The examination will be in February, but the scholars who go for the examination have to find a place to settle in advance, so many people will arrive early. One reason is to avoid delays on the road, it is better to arrive early than late, and the second reason is to come earlier to inquire about the situation in the capital.

At this time, the scholars who went for the examination were very active. Apart from visiting various guild halls to socialize and inquire about news, naturally they also went around to visit high-ranking officials and dignitaries.

As for who the CEO is this time, some people have long been guessing in private. Someone even published a special tabloid, which listed all the officials in the DPRK and China who were likely to become the president this time, and even the candidates who went to the test this time also listed some people who were in the limelight.

These people are naturally the ones who are very likely to be Jinshi in this examination.

The tabloid is nameless, it publishes one every three days, it is only circulated privately, and almost everyone has a copy.

Xue Tingxiang is not on the list.

Without him, the first reason is that every time the examination is a gathering of talents, Dachang has a vast land and resources, even if Xue Tingxiang can win Jieyuan in Shanxi, he can also be counted as the number one person, but outside of Shanxi, no one knows him. who. In particular, Shanxi is not considered to be a place with a prosperous literary style, but Jiangsu and Zhejiang have been the most affluent places in all dynasties. When the place is rich and people have enough food and clothing, naturally there are more people who study, and when there are more people who study, there are outstanding people. Also many.

There used to be such a saying that talented scholars in the south of the Yangtze River were generals in Shandong, and emperors were buried in the loess in the northwest.

It can be seen!

The area of ​​Jiangsu and Zhejiang has always been a major province of imperial examinations, and the number of talents in Jiangnan is well known both inside and outside the court. So it is understandable that Xue Tingxiang will be unknown on the list.

As for the other point, it was because Xue Tingxiang didn't like going out very much.

The other scholars socialized everywhere, tea parties, poetry parties, wine parties, fellow countrymen's meetings, and even Mao Badou and Li Datian couldn't help but go to the Shanxi Guild Hall to get acquainted, but he was indifferent.

The so-called guild hall is the place where people from the same country and the same industry stop and gather.

At first, there was only one kind of guild hall, which was for Juren who came to the capital to take the exam. These Juren were discriminated against because of their poor family background, or because of their accent, and they came from thousands of miles away, so they would inevitably be bullied by the locals. So some fellow villagers who are officials or businessmen in Beijing, out of the friendship among fellow villagers, established a guild hall for the accommodation of the students who came to Beijing to take the exam.

Of course, apart from these fellowships, since you can come to Beijing to take the exam, you can be regarded as a dragon and a phoenix among the people. If you know more people, you will have more ways to help people. A good man with three gangs, no matter whether he is an official or a businessman, this principle is still understood, and it can be regarded as a kind of invisible investment.

Afterwards, this kind of guild hall gradually multiplied into guild halls such as business and gangs, which will not be mentioned here. And the Shanxi guild hall where Mao Badou and the others went was for those who were going to take the exam.

There are a lot of gossip in this kind of guild hall, and Mao Badou has always been a guy who likes to join in the fun. Especially after being bored for a whole winter, I was really bored. Naturally, I was very excited like a cat smelling fish.

Of course, it is not without benefits, at least I heard a lot of gossip from him.

For example, a certain person went to visit a certain high-ranking official in private, but was bumped into by someone accidentally; for example, someone who has very bad moral character and has a good reputation; for example, someone who has connections can visit the president who is very popular this time. one of the candidates.

Especially the third point, in fact, a large part of the reason why these scholars would jump up and down to haunt everywhere is because of this reason.

The difficulty of the imperial examination is more difficult than going to the blue sky.

Some people start learning from babbling, and they may not even pass the exam if they are gray-haired. Some teenagers become famous, but they fall into the test of Jinshi, once every three years, if they fail to pass the test, they will come back again, and the test lasts for decades. Not only human and material resources, but even spiritual and energy have to be invested a lot.

There are thousands of candidates for each subject, but only three hundred are taken. Those who are not selected have to go home and come back in three years.

It is so difficult, why do so many people still enjoy it so much? Because once you become a Jinshi, it is really a carp jumping through the dragon's gate. From then on, it is not difficult to change your family.

Since such a huge benefit has been brought in, it is inevitable that someone will have a wrong mind.

Not to mention all kinds of cheating methods, these heretics are too dangerous after all, one careless will be the end of being exiled or banned from taking the exam. Therefore, it is more popular nowadays to go through joints, which is the so-called back door.

It's like this test, Zuo, but those who can be elected as the chief executive are those people anyway, and if some are removed based on other factors, there are only a few left. Those who have connections and connections have their own methods, and those who have nothing to do with connections have to find connections even if they change their methods.

If it doesn't work, just try to get lucky next to each house. If someone can support him a little bit, and that person is finally selected as the president, maybe this time he can change his fate from then on.

And whoever has the most people in the capital is naturally the most officials. These officials have relatives and children, and there will always be some opportunities for people to seize.

Of course, there are still a small number of people who follow this heretical way, and more people do it for the sake of communication.

Nowadays, there are three kinds of relationships that are the strongest, fellow township, same year, and same teacher.

Not to mention the same hometown and the same teacher, the same year refers to the person who took the exam in the same subject and was selected. Even if he takes a step back, even if he doesn't win, since he has become a juren, his status is naturally different from before, and he is destined to have a lot of communication with the officialdom. If there are good friends who are good friends who are admitted to Jinshi and then become officials in a certain place, these will be capital for the future.

This year's Spring Festival, the capital was very lively, and this kind of excitement continued until after the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, reaching its peak. As more and more candidates entered the capital, the capital was overcrowded, and all kinds of gossip made people dizzy.

At the same time, a kind of private gambling called "surname" is also spreading in Beijing.

The so-called Wei surname is to use the surname of the examinee as the object of guessing. If you buy it, you win, and if you don’t buy it, you lose.

Before starting the bet, there will be a banker who sets out guessing and buying rules, such as Zhao Qian, Sun Li, etc., or they don’t open, and if they do, the payout is bound to be very small. And the compensation for those surnames is naturally much higher.

This kind of gamble with the surname actually doesn't attract too many people's attention. What attracts the most attention is buying a certain person.

The unnamed newspaper is aimed at this kind of people. Those who can be on the list are all famous talents who went to the test this time. These people are all in the range of guessing. Of course, there are also some unnamed people on the list who will also gamble, and the payouts for these people will be huge, and some can even reach two hundred for one. That is to say, among the people who buy one tael, if this person really wins after the list is revealed, the dealer who started the bet will pay two hundred taels.

This situation is really appalling, and it is very hard to imagine that such a thing happened under the heels of the emperor.

As everyone knows, the imperial court has repeatedly prohibited them, and since these bankers dare to gamble in Beijing, they must have a backer, so they are naturally popular.

Xue Tingxiang still heard about this from Mao Badou, this guy couldn't stand his loneliness, someone who knew him took him to a gambling place to see the world, so he took Li Datian with him.

It doesn't matter if I go, I feel very embarrassed when I come back.

Without him, he and Li Datian were not included in the bet this time, but Xue Tingxiang was there, but it was a pity that he was pressed at the bottom of the box, no one paid attention at all, and naturally no one made a bet.

The reason why Xue Tingxiang was among them was probably because of his reputation as Xie Yuan from Shanxi Province. Unfortunately, Jie Yuan failed in the last test, and he has no talent. He is rarely known, and others don't care if he is With filial piety in his body, he was naturally offered a huge odds.

The biggest payout is two hundred for one, and Xue Tingxiang is one hundred for one. Just looking at his payout, you can tell that he is a big upset, and the possibility of being a Jinshi is extremely low. Isn't this an obvious curse!

"How come they have the names of candidates who are going to take the exam? Isn't this only available to the government?" Zhao'er questioned.

There is no need to ask this question. Naturally, these private bettors have connections in the government. In fact, it is also imagined that if there is no connection, who would dare to try to gamble in the capital.

After listening to Mao Badou's explanation, Zhao'er sighed, "These people are really daring."

More than audacity!

Xue Tingxiang sneered.

Immediately, he cheered up and comforted Mao Badou: "Actually, if you think about it differently, the payout is high, and you will pay more if you win the bet."

Mao Badou's mind has always turned faster, and he immediately reacted: "Ting Xiang, do you want to kill yourself?" He said, he laughed: "Hey, why did I forget this, since you are going to end, you must Yes, I will win. I will buy it for you now, and let those good students who see people as low as dogs see it."

Xue Tingxiang hurriedly stopped him: "How do you say that the wind is the rain, even if it is buying, it is not your way of buying."

"Then what else can you say?" Mao Badou asked curiously.

"Gambling is something that should be avoided as much as possible, but these people—" Xue Tingxiang paused before saying, "I'd better go out with you and have a look."